War in the Middle East
Updated on October 23, 2023, 11:01 p.m
Israeli men pray during a rally calling for the return of more than 200 people captured by Hamas members.
© dpa / Petros Giannakouris/AP/dpa
Israel continues to fly counterattacks in the Gaza Strip, but the USA is apparently pushing for a postponement of the ground offensive against the Islamist Hamas. According to a report, this also has to do with the suffering population – and the hostages. Meanwhile, two Hamas hostages are released.
While the Israeli military continues to carry out intensive air strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip, the US is advising Israel to wait before launching a ground offensive against the Islamist Hamas, according to a report. According to the New York Times, the US government hopes to get more time for negotiations to release the more than 200 hostages in the hands of Hamas.
Red Cross: Two more hostages released in Gaza Strip
At least two Hamas hostages were released this Monday. A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed in Geneva that his organization supported the liberation and brought the two people out of the Palestinian territory on Monday evening. “We hope they will be reunited with their loved ones soon,” he said.
According to Israeli media reports, they are two older Israeli women. They were kidnapped from the town of Nir Oz in the border area with the Gaza Strip. Both of their husbands remain in Hamas captivity. All four are between 80 and 85 years old.
Hamas’ military wing had previously said it had released two more hostages in the Gaza Strip. The state-affiliated Egyptian television channel Al-Kahira News reported that the two women had arrived at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
According to Hamas, the release of the two women was brokered by Qatar and Egypt. The hostages were released “despite the crimes of the occupation” for “humanitarian reasons,” said Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida on the Al-Qassam Brigades’ Telegram channel.
Meanwhile, the third delivery of aid from Egypt across the border into the sealed-off Gaza Strip began on Monday. However, there is still a lack of fuel, which the hospitals urgently need for operations.
In the video: Wife and daughters under Hamas hostages: father of a family relies on the German government
Gain time by delaying the ground offensive
The US’s insistence on postponing the ground offensive should also prevent further civilian casualties and allow more aid to reach the population in the sealed-off Gaza Strip, as the New York Times writes. The US also wanted to gain more time to prepare for attacks by pro-Iranian groups on US targets in the region, the newspaper continued. Such attacks are likely to increase as soon as Israel’s troops move into the Gaza Strip.
Israel bombs more than 320 targets in Gaza
Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th and carried out massacres in the Gaza border area. Since then, Israel has suffered more than 1,400 deaths, and according to the latest information, 222 people have been abducted from Israel to Gaza. Two US hostages were released on Friday.
In response, the Israeli military is carrying out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, which have continued over the past 24 hours, according to the army on Monday morning. She said more than 320 targets had been attacked. These included Hamas tunnels as well as dozens of command centers and surveillance costs.
29 UN staff killed in Gaza war
The Israeli airstrikes killed more than 5,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry. Accordingly, more than 15,000 people were injured. As a spokeswoman for the UN Palestinian relief organization UNRWA confirmed to the German Press Agency, at least 29 United Nations employees have been killed since the beginning of the war.
WHO: Evacuating hospitals “almost impossible”
Israel had called on the population to leave the north of the Gaza Strip towards the south. Israel also wants hospitals to be evacuated. The World Health Organization (WHO) once again warned that this was “almost impossible” and called on Israel to withdraw the call. “There are patients there who simply cannot be moved, many are on ventilators, there are newborns in incubators, people in unstable condition, and it is very difficult to transport them,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jašarević told the BBC: “We “Call on Israel to reconsider this order.”
Also read: Calls for a ceasefire in Gaza divide the EU
Aid deliveries continue – but the need is greater
The third aid delivery from Egypt began across the border into Gaza. However, the delivery quantities are still very low compared to the actual needs in the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people live. A third convoy of 40 trucks set off, the Egyptian Red Crescent said. According to the WHO spokesman, four trucks with surgical and dressing materials as well as medication for chronic diseases have been brought to Gaza so far. “But that’s not nearly enough.”
UNRWA: Fuel reserves in Gaza soon to be exhausted
Urgently needed fuel has not yet been brought to the Palestinian territory. Without fuel, people in the Gaza Strip, including children and women, would continue to be “strangulated,” warned Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the UN Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA). UNRWA reserves will be used up within the next three days.
Germany against EU demand for a humanitarian ceasefire
Meanwhile, Germany is opposing calls in the EU for a humanitarian ceasefire for the Gaza Strip. The fight against terrorism is essential, said Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Monday at a meeting with counterparts in Luxembourg. It can be seen that massive rocket attacks continue to be carried out on Israel. “There will only be peace and security for Israel and the Palestinians if terrorism is fought,” said the Green politician.
Germans should leave Lebanon
The situation is also tense on Israel’s northern border and in the West Bank. Israel’s army says it foiled a planned missile launch from Lebanon. Israel wants to evacuate further towns in the north of the country in view of the escalation of attacks by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. The Foreign Office once again called on Germans in Lebanon to leave the country.
Two Palestinians killed in West Bank
According to Palestinian reports, two men were killed in an Israeli army operation in the West Bank. The men, aged 20 and 22, died in Ramallah, the health ministry of the ruling autonomous authority said on Monday. It was initially unclear whether they were members of a militant group. (dpa/br)
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