War in the Middle East, Qatar and France: “Agreement for medicines in Gaza and the hostages”, Netanyahu confirms. The US reinstates Houthis on the list of terrorist organizations

Israel and Hamas, at war in the Gaza Strip, have reached an agreement for the entry of humanitarian aid for the population of the Palestinian territory and medicines for the Israeli hostages, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced yesterday evening. The agreement, negotiated by Qatar and France, concerns “the entry of a load of humanitarian aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the most affected areas, in exchange for the delivery of medicines to the hostages”, according to the spokesperson of the ministry, Majed al-Ansari. “The medicines and aid will be sent on Wednesday to the city of Al-Arich” in Egypt, “on board two planes of the Qatari armed forces, in view of their transfer to the Gaza Strip”, added Ansari, quoted by the agency Qatar Official Press (QNA). According to Israeli authorities, more than 130 of the 250 people kidnapped in southern Israel during the October 7 Hamas attack are still missing, and at least 25 of them have died without their bodies having been returned.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office confirms successful brokering of a deal with Hamas to transfer medicines to hostages, shortly after Qatar announced the deal.

Meanwhile, the American envoy for the Middle East Brett McGurk was in Doha in recent days to discuss a possible agreement for the release of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza: this was reported by US national security spokesman John Kirby, explaining that McGurk is involved in “very serious and intense discussions”.

The Biden administration will reinstate Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on the list of global terrorist organizations. The Times of Israel reports it. The US military has launched a series of strikes in Yemen against anti-ship ballistic missiles in a Houthi-controlled part of the country, in response to attacks by the rebel group that disrupted shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthi militia, allied with Iran, has threatened to expand its attacks to include US ships in response to American and British strikes on its sites in Yemen. The movement threatened a “strong and effective response”.

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