Terror attacks in the Middle East
Israel continues counterstrikes in the Gaza Strip
Palestinian women mourn their relatives killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis. photo
© Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
Following the Hamas attacks, Israel may launch a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. The Islamist organization is holding around 150 hostages there – including Germans. The news at a glance.
The Israeli army has massively massed troops on the border with the Gaza Strip, from where Hamas began its attacks over the weekend. 300,000 reservists were mobilized. Apparently a large-scale military operation is planned.
The number of deaths is also rising in the Gaza Strip
According to the Ministry of Health there, at least 900 people have died in the Gaza Strip due to the ongoing counterstrikes by the Israeli Air Force. 4,500 more people were injured.
Biden compares Islamist Hamas to IS
US President Joe Biden compared Hamas to the terrorist organization IS. Hamas’s “brutality” and “bloodthirst” are reminiscent of the worst acts of the Islamic State (IS) organization, Biden said yesterday at the White House. “This is terrorism.” Hamas does not stand for the “right of the Palestinian people to dignity and self-determination.” The declared goal is the “destruction of the State of Israel through the murder of the Jewish people.”
Israel continues shelling targets in the Gaza Strip
The IDF announced early this morning that large-scale attacks had been carried out in the Gaza Strip for the third time within 24 hours. More than 450 targets were hit. Al-Furqan, a neighborhood in the northern Gaza Strip, is used by Hamas as a terrorist center. The IDF explained that numerous terrorist attacks against Israel were carried out from there. The conflict is expected to continue to escalate. An Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip may now be imminent. The government has ordered the closure of the Gaza Strip.
Israel receives military support from the USA
During the night, the first transport plane carrying American weapons arrived at the Nevatim air base in southern Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on the X platform (formerly Twitter). According to the Israeli Internet newspaper “The Times of Israel”, it is “highly sophisticated” American ammunition that enables “significant attacks and preparations for further scenarios,” it said.
Germans also among the victims
Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA, the EU and Israel, caused the worst massacre of civilians since the founding of Israel on Saturday. According to the IDF, around 150 people were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, including at least five Germans. A German was killed, as ZDF reported yesterday. The information about the five kidnapped German citizens, which also came from the broadcaster, was confirmed to the German Press Agency from parliamentary sources.
Baerbock defends stance on aid money for Palestinians
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) assured yesterday evening on ARD’s “Tagesthemen” that her office was working around the clock to free the abductees. Lufthansa will operate special flights to evacuate Germans from Israel on Thursday and Friday. At the same time, Baerbock defended her position of checking German aid funds for the Palestinians, but not stopping them completely.
It is important “that we do not stop providing food, water and humanitarian aid to the two million Palestinians who depend on it.” Because the terrorists would use that too. “Of course we don’t finance terrorism,” the Foreign Minister emphasized to ZDF’s “heute journal” yesterday evening.
What will be important today and tomorrow
It is eagerly awaited to see how the Israeli military will proceed and whether there will be a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. On Thursday, the defense ministers of the 31 NATO states want to meet via video link with Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant about the devastating terrorist attack by Hamas. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive in Israel on the same day. He said he wanted to discuss with his Israeli partners how best to support Israel “in the fight against the terrorists who carried out these terrible attacks.”