Hamas releases two US hostages as struggle continues to end violence in the region. The situation in the Gaza Strip is getting worse – a summit in Egypt is supposed to pave the way for peace.
Tel Aviv/Gaza – After the release of two hostages held by the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, diplomatic efforts to end the violence in the Middle East are in full swing.
While Egypt wants to pave the way for this with a “summit for peace” today, Israel is staying away from the meeting of numerous heads of state and government in the Middle East region and is letting its own military continue to prepare a possible ground offensive against Hamas. Meanwhile, the situation for the hundreds of thousands of refugees in the south of the sealed-off Gaza Strip is becoming increasingly unbearable. Aid supplies for them continue to be stuck in Egypt.
Photos and video show hostage release
Two weeks after the start of the war, Hamas released two American hostages, Judith Tai Raanan and her daughter Natalie Shoshana Raanan. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli responsible for the abductees and missing persons, Brigadier General Gal Hirsch, received the two at the border of the Gaza Strip.
In one photo they can be seen hand in hand with deer, accompanied by soldiers. Hamas also released a video of the hostage handover. US President Joe Biden then spoke to the freedmen on the phone and assured them of support in recovering “from this terrible ordeal”. “I am overjoyed that they will soon be reunited with their family, who were tormented by fear,” the US President said yesterday in Washington.
Israel: Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization
Israel’s military wrote on Telegram about the release of the two US hostages: “Hamas presents itself to the world as if it returned the women it took hostage for humanitarian reasons, when in reality Hamas is a murderous terrorist organization , which right now is holding infants, children, women and the elderly hostage in the Gaza Strip and continues to commit crimes against humanity.”
Hamas’s military wing had previously announced the release of the two US citizens as a “response to Qatar’s efforts.” After the devastating terrorist attacks by Hamas, Israel wants to eliminate the military capabilities and rule of the Islamist organization. More than 1,400 people fell victim to Hamas attacks in Israel. At least 203 people, including several Germans, were also kidnapped.
Number of deaths increases
Since the Hamas attacks, Israel has been bombing targets in the Gaza Strip. According to the latest information from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, 4,137 people have died in the Gaza Strip since October 7th, 70 percent of them children and women. More than 1,000 people are missing. They would probably be under the rubble.
During the night, the Israeli Air Force continued its bombardment of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Warplanes attacked numerous Islamist positions throughout the coastal enclave, the Israeli military announced on Telegram this morning. These included command centers, launch pads for anti-tank missiles and Hamas’ strategic infrastructure that was used for terrorist purposes. Hamas sniper and observation posts located in multi-story buildings were also bombed.
Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Israel to postpone a ground offensive in the hermetically sealed coastal enclave to allow more time for the release of more hostages held by Hamas, the Wall Street Journal reported. Israel will not take part in the “Summit for Peace” in Egypt, which will be attended by numerous heads of state and government from the Middle East region as well as UN representatives and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. According to a spokesman, they were not invited and did not take part.
Concern about expanding the conflict
Foreign Minister Baerbock hopes that the meeting will send a signal against an expansion of the Gaza war. She warned Iran and its allied Shiite militias such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah against becoming involved in the Gaza war. For days there have been repeated exchanges of fire with Hezbollah on Israel’s border with Lebanon.
The situation for the people in the Gaza Strip is getting worse
Meanwhile, aid supplies for the people of the Gaza Strip continue to be stuck in Egypt. The reason is the requirements that have been placed on the opening of the border post and the forwarding to those in need, said UN Secretary General António Guterres in front of the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side. “Behind these walls we have two million people who are suffering enormously,” Guterres said.
“They have no water, no food, no medicine, no fuel, they are being shot at. (…) And on this side there are trucks (…) with exactly the things that are needed on the other side.” According to his own words, US President Biden expects the first aid deliveries to arrive in the next one or two days can be brought to the coastal strip sealed off by Israel. He received assurances from Israel and Egypt that the Rafah border crossing would be open. The access road was in poor condition and had to be paved.
Expert: Middle East war strengthens enemies of rules-based world order
The war between Israel and Hamas and the threat of regional expansion could drive the West and the rest of the world even further apart, according to an expert. “From a global perspective, the war in the Middle East threatens to strengthen the enemies of a rules-based world order worldwide,” said Israel expert Stephan Vopel from the Bertelsmann Foundation to the German Press Agency.
Iran, but also China and Russia benefited from “anti-Israel sentiment among the populations of Arab and Muslim states.” At the same time, the conflict threatens to “endanger the West’s rapprochement with the states of the Global South” because the West is accused of taking one-sided sides in favor of Israel, said Vopel. dpa
#Aid #supplies #remain #stuck #hostages #released