“The chances of war in the North are higher than ever“. This is the warning launched by the Israeli Chief of Staff, General Herzl Halevi, in reference to a possible conflict with Lebanon, therefore an extension of the war between Israel and Hamas. Yesterday, in a meeting with soldiers in northern Israel, during an exercise simulating an offensive in Lebanon, Halevi said that the Israel Defense Forces “are increasing readiness for a clash in Lebanon, we have learned many lessons from the fighting in Gaza, many of which are very relevant to the fighting in Lebanon, and there are some that need to be adjusted.”
“We want to achieve a very clear goal in Lebanon, to bring the residents back to the north, all the communities in the north,” he added, referring to some 80,000 Israelis displaced by daily attacks by Hezbollah. “I don't know when the war in the north will happen. I can tell you that the probability of this happening in the next few months is much higher than it was in the past,” reiterated the Chief of Staff.
The point about the hostages
I am 253 people were taken hostage in Israel during the Hamas attack on 7 October. This was announced by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel believes there are still 132 hostages in Gaza, including 105 alive and 27 dead. The other hostages were released or freed. According to what was indicated by the Israeli broadcaster Channel 13, Netanyahu is said to have obstructed in recent days a proposed agreement on the exchange of prisoners drawn up by the ministers of the war cabinet.
Furthermore, according to media reports from the Jewish state, the Israeli prime minister ordered the army to inspect the trucks with drugs to be delivered to the Gaza Strip, some of which were destined for the hostages still in the hands of Hamas.
There CNN aired a video showing a Hamas terrorist beheading two Israelis on October 7. This was reported by Haaretz, according to which the images were taken by a security camera at the Nir Oz kibbutz and were given to CNN by an Israeli source.
Hamas leaders will not leave Gaza: “It will be victory or martyrdom”
Meanwhile, a Hamas source in Beirut told Dpa that Hamas leaders will not leave the Gaza Strip voluntarily, in anticipation of an increase in the number of Israeli soldiers in the Palestinian enclave. “It will be victory or martyrdom,” the source said. The Gaza Strip is the land of the Palestinians and Hamas, he said, adding that the blood of the group's leaders is not worth more than that of the population.
Eliminating the leaders of Hamas in the Palestinian enclave is one of the most important objectives of the retaliation that Israel is carrying out for the attack suffered on 7 October. Hamas leaders are believed to be mostly hidden in the dense network of tunnels built in the Gaza Strip and this poses a major challenge to the Israeli military. The number one target is Yehya al-Sinwar, head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
MSF: air attack near hospital entrance in Khan Younis
Israeli forces heavily shelled the area near Nasser Hospital without any evacuation orders, causing patients and many of the thousands of displaced civilians who had sought refuge to flee in panic. This was reported by a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) surgeon at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.
“The situation is catastrophic. There are too many patients that the staff are not able to manage – said Leo Cans, MSF head of mission for Palestine, during a visit to Nasser hospital, currently the largest functioning health facility in Gaza, which is operating at 300% capacity of capacity – The fighting is very close to us. We hear a lot of bombing and a lot of shooting. There was an air attack (January 15) 150 meters from the hospital entrance which killed eight people and injured more than 80.”
Islamabad recalls ambassador to Iran
In the spotlight the tension between Iran and Pakistan. Islamabad has recalled its ambassador to Iran following the “unjustified violation” of its airspace by Tehran and has decided not to allow “for the moment” the return to Islamabad of the Iranian ambassador, who is currently in the Islamic Republic . This was stated by the spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad, Mumtaz Zahrah Baloch, in the aftermath of the Iranian attack with drones and missiles which targeted two bases of the Sunni separatist group Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan, which claimed responsibility several attacks in the south-east of the Islamic Republic.
“Pakistan reserves the right to respond to this illegal act and the responsibility for the consequences will fall directly on Iran,” the spokeswoman said during a press briefing, specifying that the Pakistani authorities have “conveyed this message to the Iranian government”. Baloch also added that Islamabad has suspended all high-level visits ongoing or planned between Pakistan and Iran.
“Our missiles and drones did not target any of the citizens of the friendly and brotherly country of Pakistan. Our target was the terrorist group Jaish-al-Adl, which is based on the Iran-Pakistan border,” said the Minister of Tehran Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in his speech at the Davos forum.
Tehran's Foreign Minister spoke on the phone with his Islamabad colleague, Jalil Abbas Jilani, and, Iranian media report, confirmed to his counterpart that Iran's security has been repeatedly threatened by Jaish al-Adl, underlining that the Islamic Republic “respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan”.
Meanwhile a Revolutionary Guards colonel, Hossein Ali Javadanfar, was killed in an attack “terrorist” in the province of Sistan and Baluchistan. The Tasnim news agency reported this, specifying that the colonel was shot dead on the Khash-Zahedan road.
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