live blog
US President Biden has made public Israel’s willingness to pause fighting in the Gaza Strip during Ramadan. The US military has again destroyed weapons belonging to the Houthi militia. All developments in the live blog.
After US President Biden expressed optimism about a pause in the fighting in the Gaza war, the Islamist Hamas has now taken a stand. As a member of the organization told the Reuters news agency, the Biden comments were premature. They do not correspond to the situation on site.
The twice-postponed local elections have begun in Israel, which could be a barometer of the mood in the war against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip that has been going on for almost five months.
More than seven million people are called to vote for local councils in most parts of Israel, Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and parts of the annexed Golan Heights from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Soldiers had already cast their votes last week at special polling stations set up in army camps in the Gaza Strip.
The Hezbollah militia in Lebanon said it fired a “large volley of rockets” at an Israeli air surveillance base. It is responding to an Israeli attack on targets near the eastern Lebanese town of Baalbek.
Israel also bombed eastern Lebanon on Monday for the first time since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said it had struck “Hezbollah terror targets deep in Lebanon.”
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah is allied with the Palestinian Hamas, against which Israel is waging war in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war, violence in the Israeli-Lebanese border area has increased significantly. Baalbek is located in the Bekaa Valley. The area is considered a Hezbollah stronghold.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by the Palestinian and Israeli conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
Israel may be ready to pause fighting in the Gaza Strip during the upcoming Muslim month of fasting, according to a statement from US President Joe Biden. “Ramadan is coming, and the Israelis have agreed not to conduct any activities during Ramadan to give us time to release all the hostages,” Biden said in a taped appearance on NBC’s “Late Night With Seth.” Meyers”. The quote was approved for publication early this morning.
Ramadan begins around March 10th. Negotiators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States are currently working on a framework agreement under which Hamas would release some of the remaining hostages. In return, Hamas is demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week break in fighting.
Three Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in clashes in the occupied West Bank, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Sources of information for Middle East reporting
The ARD reports from several studios on developments in the Middle East. In Tel Aviv, a total of five TV and radio correspondents follow developments in Israel and the Palestinian territories. A total of five correspondents also report from Cairo on the situation in Israel’s neighboring states. Reporting on Iran, which also plays an important role in the Middle East conflict, is provided by ARD Studio Istanbul perceived. In addition to their own experiences on site, the correspondents’ assessment is based on a large number of conversations with regional experts and observation of regional media and agencies. In the individual countries that the studios report on and the Palestinian territories, local freelancers, so-called “stringers”, are also employed ARD who provide the studios with additional information about the latest developments, provide correspondents with people to talk to, obtain original sound bites and accompany them on reporting trips.
The US military says it has destroyed three drone ships and two anti-ship cruise missiles that were attempting to launch towards the Red Sea from areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen. In addition, a drone that was over the Red Sea was destroyed, the US Central Command announced on the short message service X. All posed “an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy vessels in the region.”
US President Joe Biden has expressed optimism about an imminent ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza war. “My national security advisor tells me that we are close,” he said on Monday evening while eating ice cream in New York in response to a question from the press present. We haven’t reached our goal yet. “I hope that we will have a ceasefire by next Monday,” Biden said.
The US government has been negotiating for weeks about a new ceasefire, which, among other things, should enable the release of all hostages. However, it is uncertain whether international mediators will be able to negotiate such a deal by the start of the Muslim fasting month on March 10.
In Israel, reports of the activation of Israeli SIM cell phone cards by Palestinian terrorists shortly before their massacre in Israel on October 7th are causing a stir. According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli military was forced to clarify in response to media reports that the secret service had indications that “some” Israeli SIM cards had been activated in Gaza. But these had also been used before without anything happening.
Reports that 1,000 cards were activated simultaneously shortly before the attack are false. The incident also left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in need of explanation on Monday. Israeli media reported that it initially denied that Netanyahu knew about the terrorists switching to Israeli SIM cards. Then the head of government’s office made it clear that Netanyahu had no knowledge of the number of cards activated, supposedly in the hundreds or thousands, as reports said. The Haaretz newspaper wrote that he found out details about a few cards after October 7th.
The Israeli military says it has discovered a tunnel between the central Gaza Strip and Gaza City. Foreign Minister Baerbock has once again called on Israel to respect international law. Monday’s live blog for reading.