Israel is “one step away from victory” in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated this at the beginning of the cabinet meeting. “There will be no ceasefire without the return of the hostages,” added the prime minister. “Hamas hopes to benefit from international pressure to gain advantages, but this will not happen,” said Netanyahu, according to whom Israel is “ready to reach an agreement” but will not accept Hamas' “extreme” demands.
“This is the policy of the Israeli government and I welcome the fact that the Biden Administration made clear the other day that this is also its position,” Netanyahu continued, highlighting that “it is not Israel that is preventing an agreement. Hamas is preventing an agreement.”
“His extreme demands were aimed at ending the war and leaving Hamas intact. To ensure its survival, reconstruction, ability to endanger our citizens and our soldiers – he added – surrendering to Hamas' demands will allow him to try to repeat the crimes of October 7, as he promised to do.”
Israel's maneuvers
In the night Israel has withdrawn all ground troops from the southern Gaza Strip, after four consecutive months of fighting in the Khan Younis area based on information released by the Times of Israel. Only the Nahal brigade remains in the Palestinian enclave. This brigade is tasked with protecting the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which runs through Gaza from the Beeri area in southern Israel to the coast.
The corridor allows the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza, prevents Palestinians from returning to the northern part of the Strip and allows humanitarian organizations to deliver aid directly to northern Gaza.
Gallant: “Ready for any scenario against Iran.” Advisor Khamenei threatens Israel: “No embassy is safe”
The Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, meanwhile, stated that Israel has “completed preparations for a response against any scenario that could develop against Iran.” The statement, local media reported, was made following an evaluation made by Gallant with the head of the IDF operations directorate, Major General Oded Basiuk, and the head of the military intelligence directorate, Major General Aharon Haliva , while the question of probable Iranian retaliation for the raid on Damascus in which an important Pasdaran commander was killed continues to take center stage.
“None of the Zionist regime's embassies are safe anymore,” he said Seyyed Yahya Safavi, advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, once again threatening Israel with retaliation for the raid on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. On Friday the Jewish state closed around thirty of its embassies around the world, including the one in Rome, for fear of reprisals.
“The resistance front will determine the fate of this region under the leadership of Iran,” added Khamenei's advisor, as reported by the Tasnim agency. “Obviously,” he underlined, “all the crimes that happen in the region are happening with the support of America and in the silence of some Arab countries.”
Rockets from the Strip, sirens in Eliat for “hostile air intrusion” but it is a false alarm
Five rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. This was reported by Israeli army radio, specifying that the Iron Dome system intercepted some of them. The rockets, the broadcaster underlines, started from the Khan Younis area, in the south of the enclave, precisely from where the Israeli troops were withdrawn during the night.
Instead, it was a false alarm that caused the sirens to sound in Eilat, the southernmost city in Israel overlooking the Red Sea, where the alarm had recently gone off due to an alleged “hostile air intrusion”. The local media reported it.
Gaza Health Ministry: “33,175 deaths since October 7”
Meanwhile, 33,175 Palestinians have lost their lives in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israeli retaliation for the attack suffered by Hamas on 7 October. This was announced by the Gaza Ministry of Health exactly six months after the start of the retaliation. In the last 24 hours, 38 Palestinians have been killed and 71 others injured.
Katz in Rome, meeting with government representatives
The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, left for Rome together with a delegation of family members of the hostages still in the hands of Hamas in Gaza. According to the Jerusalem Post website, which cites the Foreign Ministry of the Jewish State, Katz will see several representatives of the Italian government including the head of the Farnesina, Antonio Tajani, and the Minister of Infrastructure, Matteo Salvini. Katz will also meet with Jewish community leaders in Rome. According to the Maariv website, however, the Israeli minister will also meet the head of the Defense Department, Guido Crosetto, and the Interior Minister, Matteo Piantadosi.
“GB support for Israel is not unconditional”
UK support for Israel is “not unconditional”. This was indicated by the British Foreign Minister, David Cameron, in an editorial written in the Sunday Times exactly six months after the massacre carried out by Hamas which triggered the Israeli retaliation in the Gaza Strip.
“Of course our support is not unconditional: we expect such a proud and successful democracy to respect international humanitarian law, even if tested in this way”, wrote Cameron, who in his speech returned to the Israeli raid that cost life of seven workers of the NGO World Central Kitchen (Wck), including three British citizens.
“The tragic and avoidable killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers was a terrible reminder of the cost of the conflict in Gaza,” he said. “On this occasion, there is no doubt who is to blame: the Israeli investigation has already listed the inadequate processes and unacceptable conduct of the IDF personnel involved. This must never happen again.”
Another 4 Israeli soldiers died in Khan Younis
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have meanwhile announced the death of four other soldiers, killed yesterday afternoon during clashes with Hamas in the southern Gaza Strip. They are Captain Ido Baruch, 21, Sergeant Amitai Even Shoshan, 20, Sergeant Ilai Zair, 20, and Sergeant Reef Harush, 20. According to a statement, the four were shot in Khan Younis by armed men who emerged from a tunnel located in a destroyed building and opened fire on a patrol. This brings the number of Israeli soldiers who have lost their lives since the start of the ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave to 260.
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