UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called for an “immediate” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the return of hostages and an increase in aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.
“I reiterate my call, the call of the entire world for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for the unconditional release of all hostages and for an immediate increase in humanitarian aid. But a ceasefire will only be the beginning. It will be a long road to recovery from the devastation and trauma of this war,” he said in a video address to an international donor conference in Kuwait.
The armed wing of Hamas announced Saturday on Telegram the death of an Israeli hostage, held in Gaza since the Islamist group’s attack on October 7, and of whom it had broadcast images of him alive a few hours earlier.
Questioned by AFP, the Israeli army did not wish to comment on the information immediately. The fate of this hostage was also not mentioned by the army spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, in his press briefing on Saturday evening.
In the video, the hostage was identified by the Hostage Families Forum – an association representing some of the hostage families, as Nadav Popplewell, a 51-year-old Israeli-British citizen from Kibbutz Nirim. The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades claimed in a video that he died on Saturday, and blamed his death on “injuries sustained after Zionist fighter jets [israéliens] targeted the place where he was detained more than a month ago.”
US President Joe Biden said on Saturday that a ceasefire was possible “tomorrow” in the war between Israel and Hamas if the Palestinian group released the hostages.
“There would be a ceasefire tomorrow if Hamas released the hostages,” assured Joe Biden during a fundraising reception near Seattle, in the northwest of the United States, at the home of a former Microsoft executive, after avoiding the subject under similar circumstances on Friday.
Hello everyone. The writing of 20 minutes remains mobilized to inform you about the conflict shaking the Middle East. Yesterday, US President Joe Biden said he believed in the possibility of a truce this Sunday.