Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has announced further heavy blows against Hamas – so there is no relief in sight in the war in the Middle East. Not even at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Mothers bend over their dead children on the ground, crying. A man wearing rubber gloves closes the zippers on the body bags. Once again there have been many casualties in suspected air strikes by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. In Rafah in southern Gaza, residential buildings were hit. There were more than 30 deaths in one night, most of them children, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is run by the terrorist organization Hamas.
Umm Kareem has a breathing mask over his face. Through tears, she says she is related to some of the children: “These children were sleeping. What did they do? Was it their fault? Her husband’s aunt was 80 years old. What did this woman do? Did she fire rockets? Us We can only complain to God!”
Netanyahu wants to increase pressure on Hamas
The Israeli army carries out air strikes almost every day, including on the city of Rafah, where, according to the UN, more than a million people are said to be living and seeking protection from the war. They are not safe here. Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi announced that an evacuation of Rafah was expected shortly. The Israeli army still suspects there are four Hamas battalions there.
At the start of Passover, one of Israel’s most important holidays, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to further military operations in Gaza. Hamas has rejected all of Israel’s offers to release the hostages, the prime minister said: “That’s why we will inflict additional and painful blows on Hamas. That will happen soon. In the coming days we will increase our military and political pressure on Hamas because that is the only way to free our hostages and win the war.”
The relatives of the hostages in Israel and their supporters accuse him of the fact that the policy of pressure has not worked so far and that the Prime Minister has not achieved any of his war goals. In the central square commemorating the hostages in Tel Aviv, relatives of the hostages gathered around a set table where no one was sitting.
133 empty chairs – They represent the hostages who have been held by Hamas since October 7th.
Empty chairs represent Hamas hostages
In this way, they symbolically want to draw attention to the 133 people who are still being held captive by Hamas, says Dalit Shtivi. Her 28-year-old son Idan was a photographer at the Nova Festival and was kidnapped by Hamas: “I can’t imagine celebrating our holiday, which is about the freedom of our country, without my son. It’s so hard. I “I can’t describe the pain. I can’t think of spending the holiday without him. I beg and beg that there should be an arrangement so that he can come back tonight.”
But reality looks different. Israeli media reports that authorities fear that of the 133 Israeli citizens believed to be in Gaza, no more than 40 are still alive.
Meanwhile, fighting continues not only in Gaza, but also in the north on the border with Lebanon with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia. There were also several terrorist attacks in the West Bank over the weekend. According to authorities, at least 14 people, including terrorists and civilians, were killed in an army raid.