Iran has sent a message to Israel through the UN envoy to the Middle East explaining that it does not want a further escalation in the war between Hamas and Israel, but that it will have to intervene if the Israeli operation in Gaza continues.
The Israeli army announced a vast offensive on Gaza by land, air and seawhile Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, exactly one week after the Hamas attack, visited the border kibbutzim, victims of the massacre, inviting the soldiers to be ready “for what is about to happen”.
Israel, Netanyahu warns Hamas: “This is just the beginning”
The preparations in the final phase, said the military spokesperson, concern “a significant ground operation” in Gaza which will be expanded with a “wide range of operational plans” which include attacks from the air, sea and land. And it is no coincidence that the Strip was subjected to “a large-scale attack” on Hamas targets.
Action, according to military analysts, to reduce Hamas resistance as much as possible, once the army has entered by land. During the entire day, it was not only the logistical and command structures that were hit, but also the leaders of the Palestinian faction directly.
Starting with Ali Qadicommander of the elite Hamas unit ‘Nukhba’: the one who led the terrorist attack on the Israeli communities near the Strip last Saturday. «In 2005 – the army recalled, as if to underline the common thread between the present and the past – he was captured for the killing and kidnapping of Israeli civilians and then released in the prisoner exchange for the soldier Gilad Shalit». The army said it had eliminated other components of the ‘Nukhba’ company that appeared to be priorities.
The second high-level figure killed in the targeted raids was Merad Abu Merad, commander of the Hamas air system and also considered responsible “for last Saturday’s massacre”. As for Hamas, it announced that 9 of the hostages were killed today in the Israeli attacks on the Strip (13 yesterday, for a total of 22), while a A demonstration took place in Tel Aviv by relatives of the kidnapped people who contested the government’s actionsaccusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by shouting “Resign”.
The media then reported that during the commando operations inside Gaza, “bodies” of Israelis missing since the beginning of the Hamas attack were located and recovered – perhaps thanks to satellite or drone observations. Information that the army initially claimed not to be aware of and which the military spokesperson then confirmed in the evening. The military also announced that it had contacted more than 120 families of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas and taken to the Strip.
Meanwhile in Gaza the exodus of the population from the north of the Palestinian enclave towards the south, following the order given by Israel, is taking place in a chaotic manner even though the army had indicated that two protected routes they would have been guaranteed between 10am and 4pm local time. But the military themselves accused Hamas (which in turn denounced Israeli raids on fleeing Palestinians) of having hindered the movement of Palestinians both in the morning and in the afternoon.. Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh made it clear that “Gaza residents are deeply rooted in their territory and will never leave it.” “We have only one path which is the right to return to our lands throughout Palestine.” And according to Haniyeh there will be no “immigration from Gaza to Egypt”.
The only willingness shown by the Palestinian factions was the request to Egypt to open the crossing to allow the wounded to leave and humanitarian aid to enter.. Egypt and the USA, with the consent of Israel and apparently also of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have agreed the exit of the Americans and Palestinians with American citizenship from the Rafah crossing.
If the raids do not stop, the rocket fire from Gaza will not stop (although to a lesser extent) both in the south and in the center of the country, including Tel Aviv. The death toll is rising: in Israel it is above 1300, while in the Strip it is 1,900 with over 6,000 injured (256 deaths yesterday alone with 20 minors).
If the situation in the south it appears on the eve of a decisive development on Israel’s part, in the north the confrontation with Hezbollah continues to take a turn for the worse with exchanges of rockets and artillery fire. The toll: Israeli wounded and one death among Scythian militiamen. Israel, warned Israeli Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, does not want to open a front in the north of the country, but Lebanon risks “destruction” if Hezbollah decides to launch an attack. Beirut instead announced the presentation of a complaint to the UN Security Council for “the intentional killing by Israel of the Lebanese journalist Issam Abdallah”.
To know more
The point – Israel, total attack
Reportage – Middle East, fleeing the bombs towards the South: “There is neither water nor food”
Diplomacy – Six hundred Americans stuck in the Strip, Blinken pressures the Arabs to get them out
History – Zili Wenkert: “My Omer taken by the new Nazis. As a survivor I relive the Holocaust”
Interview – Jonathan Safran Foer: “A violence worse than September 11th, we have witnessed a new pogrom”
The case – In Germany the specter of creeping anti-Semitism
What happened yesterday
Egypt links American output to humanitarian aid input
The agreement between Washington and Cairo to allow over 500 Americans to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing comes to a standstill. Egypt has explained that it will only give the green light if humanitarian aid can flow in the opposite direction, according to the Wall Street Journal. The agreement stipulated 5pm on Saturday as the deadline for the crossing but the crossing remained closed.
USA, 29 American victims of Hamas, 16 missing
The number of American citizens killed in Hamas attacks in Israel has risen from 27 to 29: a spokesperson for the US State Department reported this, adding that 15 US citizens and one legal permanent resident were also missing. “We are working around the clock to determine where they are,” she assured, recalling the collaboration with the Israeli government “on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including the sharing of intelligence information.”
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