Despite fears and calls for restraint from the international community, Israel was still preparing, on Saturday April 27, to launch a ground offensive in Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip where a million and a half Palestinians are crowded together. , many in tent camps, without water or electricity.
Hospital officials in Rafah said that bombings left more than a dozen dead on the night of Friday April 26 to Saturday April 27.
Elsewhere in the city, people searched through the rubble of houses which, according to a young witness at the scene, had been “bombed without prior warning”. On Saturday, the Israeli military said its planes had struck more than twenty-five targets over the previous day in the enclave.
In twenty-four hours, at least 32 additional deaths were recorded, according to a statement from the Hamas health ministry, which reports more than 34,388 Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip in more than 200 days of war. On the Israeli side, the conflict started on October 7, 2023 led to the death of more than 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to a report from Agence France-Presse (AFP) established from official Israeli data.
An Israeli counter-proposal studied by Hamas with a view to a truce
Hamas announced on Saturday, ” to study “ an Israeli counter-proposal for a truce in the fighting in Gaza associated with the release of hostages, the day after the arrival in Israel of a delegation of Egyptian mediators to try to relaunch the deadlocked negotiations.
“Today, Hamas received the official response to our position which was delivered to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13”declared the number two of the political branch of the Palestinian group for Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya. “The movement will study this proposal and submit its response once its study is completed”he added in a press release published the same day.
Hamas had previously insisted on a permanent ceasefire, a hypothesis rejected by Israel, which instead insists on a several-week pause in fighting. The details of the Jewish state’s counter-proposal have not been filtered but the Israeli press mentioned earlier this week the possible release, initially, of twenty hostages considered to be “humanitarian cases”.
Hamas releases video showing two Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7
Hamas released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli hostages it kidnapped during its attack on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, and taken to Gaza.
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These two people, filmed sitting on a plastic chair in front of a faded white wall and who are probably speaking under duress, introduce themselves as Keith Siegel, 64, and Omri Miran, 47. The Israeli Hostage Families Forum confirmed their identities.
This new video is not dated but Omri Miran claims to have been in the hands of Hamas for 202 days. Sound 202e day of captivity corresponds to Thursday.
Shortly after the video was broadcast, demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv, demanding an agreement from the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to release the hostages. Among them, Mr. Miran’s father who asked Hamas to “make a decision now”.
Mahmoud Abbas and international leaders in Riyadh to discuss the situation in Gaza
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and several international leaders will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this week for talks on a peace deal in the Gaza Strip, on the sidelines of a meeting of the World Economic Forum.
At a press conference, the president of the organization, Borge Brende, said: “We now have the key players in Riyadh and we hope that the discussions can lead to a process of reconciliation and peace. » There will also be “discussions, of course, about the humanitarian situation in Gaza”while “regional aspects, including with Iran, will be discussed” during a meeting which could “become very important”he added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend the meetings in the Saudi capital alongside regional leaders, including the prime minister of Qatar, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, the crown prince of Oman and officials Bahrainis, said Mr. Brende.
In Lebanon, three dead in Israeli strikes
Three people, including two Hezbollah fighters, were killed in Israeli strikes that targeted several towns in southern Lebanon during the night from Friday to Saturday, the Shiite party reported. The official National Information Agency, ANI, for its part said that “Israeli warplanes carried out [samedi] at dawn two raids on the towns of Kfar Chouba and Chebaa »which led to “the death of Qasim Asaad” in Kfar Chouba.
Hezbollah said on Saturday it had targeted three military positions in northern Israel “in response to enemy attacks” against “civilian dwellings” which left three people dead and around ten injured. In a first press release, the Lebanese Islamist movement announced that its fighters have “carried out a complex attack using explosive drones and guided missiles against the headquarters of the Al-Manara military command and a gathering of forces of the 51e battalion of the Golani brigade”. Then, on Saturday night, the party said it had launched dozens of rockets at the Meron military air traffic control base in northern Israel.
“The Iron Dome air defense system successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target crossing from Lebanon towards the Al-Manara region in northern Israel”said the Israeli army in a statement. “Moreover, numerous anti-tank missile fires coming from Lebanon have been identified towards the Al-Manara region”, added the army, which said it had bombed the place where the shots came from. She also stated that she had aimed for “Hezbollah military infrastructure in the Srebbine area”.
The number two of the pro-Iranian party, Naïm Qassem, declared for his part that “any extension of Israeli aggression will lead to an extension of the response (…) of Hezbollah »according to ANI.
Two young Palestinians killed near Jenin
Two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli soldiers near a military base at the entrance to the West Bank city of Jenin, the Israeli army announced on Saturday, saying its soldiers had returned fire. The Palestinian Authority announced in a press release “the martyrdom of Mustapha Sultan Abed (21 years old) and Ahmad Muhammad Shawahneh (20 years old), who fell under the bullets of the occupier last night in Jenin”.
Jenin, home to one of the most populous and poor refugee camps in the Palestinian territories, is a stronghold of armed groups fighting against the Jewish state, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967. In recent months, the Israeli army has led several operations in Jenin and its surroundings, to dismantle “terrorist cells”.
And also
The influential Shiite religious leader Moqtada Sadr, troublemaker of Iraqi political life, welcomed, on Saturday, the pro-Palestinian demonstrations which are shaking American campusescalling for an end to ” repression “ aimed at the movement. “The voice of American universities calling to stop Zionist terrorism is our voice”, he insisted. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations starting from Columbia University in New York have spread to several American campuses, including prestigious establishments such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton.
The “freedom flotilla” for Gaza remained stuck in Turkey on Saturday, deprived of its navigation flag following Israeli “pressure”, according to the organizers. The coalition of NGOs and associations denounced “administrative obstacles” which prevent them from going to sea after Guinea-Bissau withdrew its flag, surrendering ” partner in crime ” of Israel, she accuses in a press release.