Israel is preparing for “many months of war”, the number of deaths is rising and a minister from Netanyahu’s cabinet wants the settlers to return to the Gaza Strip. A ceasefire is not an issue.
Israel’s ground troops are now increasingly fighting in the south of the Gaza Strip. They are supported from the air. The army said it had discovered additional tunnels and defused explosive devices planted in a kindergarten.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said the armed forces were engaged in a “complex battle”. He expects a war that will last for many months.
No progress on Negotiating table
However, negotiations over a ceasefire and the release of further hostages kidnapped in the Gaza Strip are stalling. Egypt had proposed a ceasefire lasting several weeks in order to release 40 to 50 hostages. The radical Islamic group Hamas is also reportedly calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. Israel’s goal in the war is to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
War causes more and more deaths
Israel’s army released the names of more soldiers killed in northern and central Gaza. In total there have been 172 soldiers since the ground offensive began at the end of October.
According to figures from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, 21,800 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. The United Nations, among others, consider these figures to be plausible; they estimate that 70 percent of the dead are women and minors. According to Israeli figures, more than 8,000 fighters from Hamas and other terrorist organizations were killed in the Gaza war.
The UN emergency relief office reports that more than 5,300 seriously injured and sick people cannot be adequately treated in the Gaza Strip and must be evacuated urgently. According to the latest information, only 13 of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are currently able to operate with restrictions. Around 1.9 million people in the Gaza Strip have become internally displaced – around 85 percent of the population. According to the UN, 40 percent of the population is at risk of famine.
Settlers return to Gaza?
Israel’s right-wing extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich meanwhile spoke out in favor of Israeli repopulation of the Gaza Strip. He said on army radio: If Israel does things right, there will be an exodus of Palestinians and Israelis will live in the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has so far ruled out repopulating the Gaza Strip. Israel evacuated the area in 2005. By then, 5,000 to 8,000 settlers had lived there. Since then, the area has been largely sealed off from Israel and Egypt.