“Let’s put all differences aside” for fighting “a worse enemy than ISIS”. This evening at the center of the latest news of today 11 October 2023 on the war between Israel and Hamas are the declarations in a speech to the country by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who announced an emergency government with opposition leader Benny Gantz. “Let’s put aside all other considerations because the fate of our country hangs in the balance,” he said, explaining that he accepted Gantz’s proposal for a unity government because “the fate of the country is at stake.” “The unity between people in times of pain and sadness resonates throughout the world,” he said, and then again compared Hamas to ISIS: “We will crush and eliminate them just like they did with ISIS.”
“Every member of Hamas is a dead man” Netanyahu chanted, saying that in Saturday’s attack the Palestinian terrorist group beheaded and burned people alive and raped women. Netanyahu then called US support for Israel’s fight “fundamental”.
The attack carried out by Hamas last Saturday was “the worst terrorist attack the world has ever seen”, declared the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, according to which “what happened had not happened to the Jewish people since 1945.” Speaking to the country alongside Netanyahu and National Unity leader Gantz, the minister said: “We will wipe out Hamas. Hamas, Daesh in Gaza, will be wiped off the face of the earth“.
“There is a time for peace and a time for war, now is the time for war“, said Gantz. “I understand the fear, I understand the pain”, but “Israel has the strongest army in the region”, he assured, underlining that its cooperation with the Netanyahu government is not political, but “it is a partnership for our destiny” which “will lead to a clear victory and change reality”.
Hamas releases three hostages
Meanwhile, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, have announced that “they were an Israeli settler and her two children released who had been captured during the clashes”. This was reported by al-Jazeera.
Erdogan negotiates with Hamas for hostage release
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is negotiating with Hamas to obtain the release of over 100 hostages taken to the Gaza Strip. The private Haberturk TV reported this, specifying that Erdogan started this process as part of his efforts to prevent a further escalation of tensions in the region.
USA at work for humanitarian corridor
While Israel continues towards the “final offensive” against the Gaza Strip, with the risk of a very high number of civilian victims, the United States is committed on two fronts: support for Israel is total, as demonstrated by the imminent arrival of Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but thediplomatic action to prevent the population of Gaza from being massacred. “We are actively discussing with the Israelis and Egypt about a safe corridor for foreigners to exit Gaza and aid to enter the Strip,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
The October 7 was “the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust”declared the President of the United States, Joe Biden, speaking at a White House meeting with leaders of the American Jewish community. “Silence is complicity and I, I think you understand, refuse to be silent,” Biden added.
According to Washington, 17 American citizens are missing, perhaps because they were held hostage in Gaza after the Hamas attack. The White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, updated the data during a press briefing. At the same time the State Department announced that at least 22 Americans died in attacks in Israel.
UNRWA, 11 employees dead in Gaza
Eleven employees of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) have been killed since Saturday in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. “We are very saddened to confirm that 11 UNRWA colleagues have been killed since 7 October in the Gaza Strip,” the UN agency said in a statement, without specifying whether they were Palestinian or foreign personnel. UNRWA specified, however, that the victims include five teachers, a gynecologist, an engineer, a psychological counselor and three support staff members.
Five staff members of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), including four paramedics, lost their lives. “The IFRC is shocked to confirm the deaths of five members of our network as a result of armed hostilities in Israel and the Gaza Strip,” the Red Cross said in a statement.
Zelensky in Israel?
Meanwhile, news is spreading that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly expressed his intention to visit Israel to show solidarity with the Tel Aviv government. Axios reported this, citing Ukrainian and Israeli officials, according to whom Zelensky’s office sent an official request to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, asking to coordinate a visit. The sources specify that the discussions are still at a preliminary level and that a date for the visit has not yet been hypothesized.
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