In the Israel war, both sides are negotiating a new ceasefire. A German citizen dies after being deployed in the Gaza Strip. The news ticker.
- Negotiations for the release of hostages: Hamas leader offers to release Gaza hostages
- Under the Gaza Strip: Israeli soldiers discover 1,500 Hamas tunnels
- The information processed here about the war in Israel and the Gaza Strip come from local and international media and news agencies. Much of the information cannot be independently verified. We remain transparent in these cases too.
Update from December 20th, 3:48 p.m.: A German citizen is said to have been killed in the war in Israel. That reports it Picture-Newspaper. The 20-year-old is said to have volunteered for service in the Israeli army and was part of an elite unit. He suffered a head injury in the Gaza Strip last Thursday and was buried yesterday, Tuesday. The Foreign Office confirmed the Picture the death.
Update from December 20th, 3 p.m.: Since Hamas’s negotiations over the release of more hostages and possible ceasefires in the war against Israel, the airspace over Israel is said to have remained surprisingly quiet. There has probably been no rocket attack from the Gaza Strip in the past 17 hours Times of Israel reports. According to Palestinian media reports, Israel is continuing attacks on areas in Gaza.
War in Israel: Homes and mosques in the Gaza Strip hit
Update from December 20th, 2:17 p.m.: Israeli airstrikes have hit several homes and a mosque in the Gaza Strip, according to broadcaster Al Jazeera. Several injured people were taken to surrounding hospitals in the attacks on the city of Rafah. An Israeli rocket is also said to have struck the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. The attack killed at least 46 people and injured dozens, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
Hamas in talks with Fatah boss
Update from December 20th, 2:05 p.m.: Hamas says it has contacted Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. They want to “make decisions together” in the war with Israel, Ghazi told Hamad AlJazeera. Fatah controls the Palestinian autonomous areas in the West Bank.
Update from December 20th, 1:57 p.m.: Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, said on television AlJazeerathat Hamas has no interest in freeing hostages without concessions from Israel. “We will not play this game,” emphasizes Hamad. After the release, Israel would commit “a new round of mass killings and massacres of our people,” said the Hamas official. However, if Israel assured a longer ceasefire or an end to the war, Hamas would be ready for a “grand compromise.”
Israel should free hostages “at any cost.”
Update from December 20th, 1:17 p.m.: Liran Berman, the brother of two hostages held in the Gaza Strip, is calling for a deal to release hostages “at any price.” He has not received any information about his two brothers Ziv and Gali for a month, reports Times of Israel. Berman’s family is doing “everything we can to bring the two men home.”
Hamas makes offer to Israel for hostage release
Update from December 20th, 12:39 p.m.: Hamas appears ready to release more hostages. According to several US media, there is even a concrete offer. Accordingly, the terrorist group is said to have promised the release of 40 hostages. In return, Hamas is demanding a one-week ceasefire in the ongoing Israel war. This is reported by the news portal, among others Axioswhich refers to sources from the Hamas leadership.
Hamas’ offer reached Israel through contacts in Qatar. There are different information about where the Hamas leadership is currently located. While Israeli media reports that Hamas leader Ismail Haniya is in Egypt, Iran’s Foreign Ministry reports a meeting in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Soldiers find Hamas long-range rockets in Israel war
Update from December 20th, 12:00 p.m.: Israeli soldiers say they found long-range rockets in a Hamas truck. In addition to the explosive devices, other weapons caches were discovered during the storming of several of the terrorist organization’s locations in the northern Gaza Strip.
In addition to the weapons found, the army attacked several Hamas fighters with air strikes. In the south of the Gaza Strip, additional tunnel entrances are said to have been found when the houses of high-ranking Hamas members were stormed.
Negotiations about further hostage releases in the Israel war
Update from December 20th, 11:30 a.m.: In Egypt, there are likely to be intensive discussions between the leadership of Hamas and Israel about the possible release of further Israeli hostages. This was reported by the news agency Reuters citing a source present at the negotiations. Accordingly, the hostages should be exchanged again for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Israel is demanding that women and sick people be given priority when it comes to release.
Israel War: 1,500 tunnel shafts under the Gaza Strip
Update from December 20th, 10:45 a.m.: Israeli troops have discovered a total of almost 1,500 tunnel shafts in the Gaza Strip. As the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported on X (formerly Twitter), most of the underground passages would have been found under schools, hospitals or mosques. Meanwhile, the search for tunnels in the Gaza Strip continues and the soldiers “continue to work on dismantling their underground terrorist network.”
Hamas leader arrives in Egypt
Update from December 20th, 10:20 a.m.: Negotiations are underway in Egypt about a new ceasefire in the Israel war. Ismail Haniyya, one of the leaders of Hamas, is said to have already arrived in Israel’s neighboring country. That’s what she reports Jerusalem Post. The main aim is to release more hostages from the Gaza Strip.
Israel reported dead soldiers
Update from December 20th, 9:52 a.m.: Another Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier has died in fighting with Hamas. That’s what she reports Haaretz. But the fighting continues not only in the Gaza Strip, there are also attacks in northern Israel. In response to attacks by Hezbollah, Israel’s army says it has attacked additional positions belonging to the Hamas-allied group.
Hamas leader narrowly escapes Israeli troops
Update from December 20th, 9:10 a.m.: Apparently the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, narrowly escaped capture by Israeli soldiers twice. This was reported by the broadcaster Reshet 13, citing its own sources. Over the past few days, Israeli soldiers have twice entered the tunnel systems in the Gaza Strip where Sinwar was recently staying. Intelligence information would indicate that Sinwar was not stationary but was always moving.
Israel hopes to release more hostages from the Gaza Strip
First report from December 20th: Tel Aviv – According to a media report, Israel has offered a renewed pause in fighting for at least a week in negotiations to release more hostages from the Gaza Strip. Like the news portal Axios on Wednesday night (December 20), citing two Israeli officials and another informed source, reported that Israel expects the Islamist Hamas to release more than three dozen hostages in return.
Negotiations for a new ceasefire: Israel is trying to release hostages
Israel’s President Izchak Herzog had promised a new break in fighting the day before. “Israel is ready for a further humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian assistance to enable the release of hostages,” he told diplomats, according to a spokesman.
Israel’s proposal for a ceasefire of at least a week in return for the release of around 40 hostages was made through the mediator Qatar, the news portal reported. It is about the remaining women, men over 60 years of age and other hostages still held in Gaza who are sick or seriously injured and in urgent need of medical help, it said. It is Israel’s first proposal since a week-long ceasefire expired last month, reported Axios. 105 hostages were released. In return, Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons.
Hamas boss in Egypt: talks about ceasefire and end to “aggression”
Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was also expected in Egypt for talks about a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange. Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, will lead a “high-level” Hamas delegation in Egypt on Wednesday, sources close to the Palestinian organization said. Among other things, talks are planned with the powerful Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
The aim of the meetings was to “stop the aggression and the war in order to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners and an end to the siege of the Gaza Strip,” Hamas circles said. It is also about a delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip, a withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Palestinian territory and a return of the population to the north of the Gaza Strip. (bb with AFP)