Israel is fighting again in the clinic. Meanwhile, the government is sending a new delegation to mediation talks on a ceasefire. The events at a glance.
According to the Israeli army’s renewed deployment in the area of the Shifa Hospital in the embattled Gaza Strip, firefights broke out with terrorists from the Islamist Hamas. During the “precise” operation, terrorists opened fire on the Israeli soldiers from the hospital, the army said. The troops returned fire and “found hits”. The army and air force’s operation on the site of the largest hospital in the sealed-off coastal area in the city of Gaza continues, and terrorists are being arrested, the army said.
Israel’s army: Hamas has regrouped
Intelligence information had shown that the hospital was being used by senior members of Hamas to carry out terrorist activities, it said. It is known that the Islamists have regrouped there to command attacks against Israel, said army spokesman Daniel Hagari. The soldiers were instructed to proceed “cautiously” and take measures to avoid harm to patients, civilians, medical personnel and medical equipment. There is no obligation for patients and medical staff to leave the hospital. But opportunities have been created for them.
Israel sends delegation to Qatar
Meanwhile, Israel will take part in indirect negotiations for a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages in the Gaza war for the first time in two weeks. The Israeli security cabinet approved the departure of a delegation led by the head of the foreign intelligence service Mossad, David Barnea, to Qatar this Monday, Israeli media reported. In the capital Doha, mediators Qatar, Egypt and the USA are trying to advance the recently stalled talks on a temporary ceasefire and an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Israel’s security cabinet only gave the delegation a general mandate, wrote the well-connected Israeli journalist Barak Ravid from the news portal “Axios” on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
Netanyahu confirms commitment to Rafah
According to Israeli officials and analysts, the threat of an imminent offensive in Rafah in the south of the sealed-off Gaza Strip is an important means of pressure by Israel in the talks, the Wall Street Journal reported. In Rafah, it is estimated that 1.5 million Palestinians are currently seeking protection in a confined space and under miserable conditions. Aid organizations warn of many more civilian deaths. Before his meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear once again that he was committed to a military operation in Rafah and was firmly opposed to an end to the Gaza war before all Israeli goals had been achieved.
However, Israel has not yet deployed any troops to invade the city that borders Egypt, the Wall Street Journal reported. Netanyahu’s government is in a quandary, the newspaper quoted a military analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv as saying. Netanyahu could not order troops to Rafah until he had drawn up a clear evacuation plan for the people there. Action will be taken in Rafah, Netanyahu said at the beginning of a cabinet meeting. It will take a few weeks, but it will happen. It was unclear whether he meant that the operation in Rafah would take place in a few weeks or would last several weeks.
Netanyahu: New elections would end war and paralyze Israel
Some in the international community were trying to end the war before all goals were achieved, the Jerusalem Post further quoted Netanyahu as saying. “They do this by making false accusations against the Israel Defense Forces, against the Israeli government and against the Israeli prime minister,” Netanyahu added. “They are doing this by trying to bring about elections now, in the middle of the war. And they are doing this because they know that elections now would end the war and paralyze the country for at least six months,” the newspaper quoted Netanyahu as saying.
Biden: More aid for Gaza and ceasefire urgently needed
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden once again made it clear that he believes an increase in humanitarian aid for the people in the Gaza Strip and an agreement on a ceasefire are urgently needed. We must also move forward with a two-state solution, which is the “only path” to lasting peace and security. This means an independent Palestinian state that exists peacefully side by side with Israel. Netanyahu rejects such a two-state solution, as does Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to hunt down Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip. The army said it would continue to act in accordance with international law against Hamas, which systematically uses hospitals and civilian infrastructure, when it announced a renewed operation in Shifa Hospital. The US government had also supported Israel’s claim that Hamas used the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip as a command center and weapons depot. The Israeli military had already entered the Shifa Hospital in mid-November despite massive international criticism. The army said it found a Hamas tunnel complex there.
Report: Destruction of the tunnels could take all year
According to Israeli military expert Miri Eisin, the destruction of the Islamists’ extensive underground tunnels could take the entire year, reported the Wall Street Journal. “All it takes is an open tunnel, which we didn’t know about, for Hamas fighters to come from the south to the north,” the former Israel Defense Forces officer told the US newspaper. The ongoing fighting suggested how difficult it could be to subdue Hamas, the newspaper wrote. Hamas has lost control of much of the Gaza Strip, but is continuing the fight from the tunnels. The fights would become more sporadic.
Hamas recently presented a new proposal to mediators. In it, Hamas no longer demands that Israel end the war before the first hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. According to the proposal, the Islamists would make Israel’s cessation of hostilities a prerequisite for a second phase of hostage releases. In doing so, Hamas came closer to the contents of a multi-stage plan that the mediators had presented several weeks ago and which Israel had accepted. Because Hamas has now moved, Israel is ready to take part in the indirect mediation talks in Qatar for the first time in two weeks. Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly.
On October 7th last year, terrorists from Hamas and other groups kidnapped around 250 people in a massacre in Israel. During a ceasefire at the end of November, 105 hostages were released. According to the Israeli government, around 100 hostages are still alive. The massacre was the trigger for the war in the Gaza Strip.