Netanyahu calls for a “total victory” for Israel. Tensions in the Red Sea continue. The news ticker on the situation in the Middle East.
- Loud Netanyahu: Israel’s army “on the path to total victory”
- Use in Gaza: Army kills dozens of Hamas terrorists
- Increased Tensions: Israel attacks Hezbollah position in Lebanon
- The information processed here about the war in Israel and the fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip come from local and international media and news agencies. Much of the information cannot be independently verified.
Update from February 6th, 5:45 a.m.: US forces say they have fired on two remote-controlled boats belonging to the Houthi rebels in Yemen that were loaded with explosives. The two “explosive unmanned watercraft” posed an “acute threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region,” said the US Central Command, the US regional command responsible for the Middle East, on Monday (February 5, local time). The attack on the two drone ships was therefore carried out “in self-defense”.
In recent weeks, the US – alone or together with Great Britain – has bombed a number of positions belonging to the Iran-backed Houthis. Washington and London are responding to the militia’s series of attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Hamas is not safe anywhere in the Gaza Strip
Update from February 5th, 10:06 p.m.: Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant has warned the leadership and fighters of the Islamist Hamas that nowhere in the Gaza Strip is safe from Israeli forces. This applies even to the last remaining areas in the coastal strip, where – like in the southern city of Rafah – there are no Israeli ground troops deployed, Galant said at a press conference in Tel Aviv. “Any terrorist hiding in Rafah should know that they will end up like those in Khan Yunis and (the city of) Gaza,” Israeli media quoted him as saying.
Galant alluded to the fact that the army in Gaza and Khan Yunis has destroyed numerous Hamas combat units and killed thousands of its fighters. “A good half of the Hamas terrorists are dead or seriously wounded,” he said. 18 Hamas battalions have been wiped out and no longer exist as combat units.
Update from February 5th, 7:59 p.m.: Against the backdrop of the war in Israel, Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted on a two-state solution to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. From the federal government’s perspective, only a negotiated two-state solution would open up the prospect of a sustainable solution to the Middle East conflict, said the SPD politician in a telephone conversation with Netanyahu on Monday, as government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit announced. This must apply to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. A reformed Palestinian Authority will play a central role, the Chancellor continued. Netanyahu has so far rejected such a solution.
War in Israel: Attacks on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon
Update from February 5th, 6:43 p.m.: Former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is to lead an independent group of experts to examine serious allegations against the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The United Nations announced this on Monday. The group is scheduled to start work on February 14th. An interim report is planned for the end of March.
Some employees of the aid organization are accused of being involved in the terrorist acts carried out by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th in Israel. Several Western countries temporarily suspended payments to UNRWA because of the allegations, including the two largest donors, the United States and Germany. UN Secretary General António Guterres promised comprehensive information. The collaboration with several employees has been terminated.
Update from February 5th, 4:48 p.m.: While the terrorist militia Hezbollah continues its attacks on northern Israel, the Israeli army says it has attacked targets in southern Lebanon. The targets included a military complex and a Hezbollah command center in Jibbain Times of Israel citing the IDF reported. Nothing is known about any deaths or injuries.
According to Netanyahu: Israel’s army “on the path to total victory”
Update from February 5th, 3:42 p.m.: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to soldiers during a visit to Latrun, a town a few kilometers west of Jerusalem. He claimed that Times of Israel According to reports, 75 percent of Hamas battalions have been destroyed. However, there is “no substitute for total victory.” However, we are “on the path to total victory” and we will not “end the war without achieving this goal”. The prime minister did not explain what such a victory would look like. However, Netanyahu warned that otherwise it would be “only a matter of time” before terrorist groups would attack Israel again.
According to Hamas-controlled authority: At least 128 people killed by Israel’s military
Update from February 5th, 1:55 p.m.: Spain wants to provide additional financial aid to the UN Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA). Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said it was worth 3.5 million euros. Other countries, however, had recently suspended their regular funding for UNRWA. There are allegations that around a dozen employees of the organization were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are employed by UNRWA.
Update from February 5th, 11:36 a.m.: According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, at least 128 people were killed in Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip overnight. These numbers cannot be independently verified. Hamas also spoke of ongoing Israeli attacks in the center and south of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army said its troops continued to carry out “targeted” attacks in the center and north of the coastal strip.
Israeli army kills dozens of Hamas terrorists in Gaza during war in Israel
Update from February 5th, 10:15 a.m.: Israeli forces say they have killed dozens of terrorists in operations across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours. A large part of it is said to be in the city of Khan Yunis, which has recently been the scene of the most difficult battlesdied in air raids and in close combat.
Update from February 5th, 9:00 a.m.: Israel continues bombings in Khan Yunis. According to the Palestinian News Agency Wafa “Al-Amal and Kamal Nasser hospitals in the center of the city” remain under siege. In addition, the Israeli army attacked “large areas east of the city of Deir al-Balah”.
War in Israel continues unabated: rocket alarm in the south and north of the country
Update from February 5th, 8:16 a.m.: Rocket alarms have been triggered again in Israel. This time the sirens sounded in settlements in both the southern and northern ends of the country. The authorities announced this via Twitter (X), among other things. The population in the south must expect shelling from the Gaza Strip by Hamas units. In the north, one must expect attacks from the terrorist militia Hezbollah.
Update from February 5th, 6:30 a.m.: The US says it has destroyed four more anti-ship missiles used by the Houthi rebels in Yemen. According to US information, the projectiles were aimed at ships in the Red Sea.
Hezbollah position in Lebanon becomes the scene of the Israel war
First report from February 5th: Tel Aviv/Beirut – While Israel’s army (IDF) is fighting Hamas in Gaza, there are also heightened tensions on the northern border with Lebanon. Israel’s military said it attacked a Hezbollah military facility there. The army announced late on Sunday evening that warplanes had attacked a Shiite militia command center and a military compound in the city of Yaron. In addition, an observation post in the city of Marun ar-Ras was attacked. The information could not initially be independently verified.
The army did not say whether there were any casualties. Hezbollah and Israel’s armed forces had previously fought again in the border area. According to army spokesman Daniel Hagari, three troop divisions were moved to the northern border. A war is not Israel’s first priority, “but we are definitely prepared.”
Hezbollah is currently firing repeatedly from the buffer zone that was set up in the border area after the end of the second Lebanon war in 2006. Israel’s army responds with counterattacks. According to army spokesman Hagari, the armed forces have targeted more than 3,400 Hezbollah positions since the start of the Gaza war. More than 200 terrorists were “eliminated”. Hezbollah is considered to be significantly more powerful than Hamas in Gaza.
No agreement on a ceasefire in the Israel war: Hamas discusses proposal
Meanwhile, there is still no agreement in the negotiations about a new ceasefire and the release of further hostages. Hamas has a proposal recently negotiated in Paris by the United States, Egypt and Qatar that calls for the gradual release of the hostages in return for a longer ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners. A representative announced that they would comment on this soon, but discussions were still ongoing internally. The Israeli side, however, is said to have already accepted the draft framework. (talk to agencies)