The Gaza war continues on the annual day of remembrance for the fallen soldiers. Israeli and Palestinian victims’ relatives campaign for peace and reconciliation. The news at a glance.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog underlined Israel’s will to assert itself on the annual day of remembrance for the country’s dead soldiers and victims of terrorism. “I remind us and the entire world: We never wanted this terrible war. Not this one and not its predecessors,” he said at the central ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
“But as long as our enemies want to destroy us, we will not lay down the sword.” The Gaza war between Israel’s army and Palestinian extremists continues, with further fighting taking place in the north and south of the Gaza Strip. Although the US government does not want to support Israel’s planned major offensive in the city of Rafah, it has once again assured its ally of its support.
At the beginning of the memorial ceremony, the war dead were remembered with a minute’s silence after the sound of sirens. President Herzog wore a torn shirt collar – torn clothing is a Jewish symbol of mourning. Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said in his speech that as a wartime army commander, he bears responsibility “for the failure to defend our civilians on October 7. I carry the weight on my shoulders and in my heart every day.”
Addressing the family members, he said: “I am the commander who sent your sons and daughters to the battles from which they never returned and to the posts where they were taken hostage.”
The Gaza war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other Islamist groups in Israel on October 7th. They killed 1,200 people, took 250 more hostage and kidnapped them to the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian figures, around 35,000 people were killed in the war that followed, although the number, which can hardly be verified independently, does not distinguish between civilians and fighters.
Israeli-Palestinian appeal for reconciliation
Relatives of the hostages gathered outside the army headquarters in Tel Aviv. Many of them carried lighted candles, others held signs saying “We don’t want any more graves.”
The Association of Grieving Israeli and Palestinian Families organized its own event on Remembrance Day that focused on the hope for peace and reconciliation. “We have to change reality to create a better future for our children,” said a Palestinian woman who lost her brother in the Gaza war.
“How many more generations of grief will it take until we are free of it,” said the son of the well-known peace activist Vivian Silver, who was killed on October 7th. “We must all recognize that the occupation, October 7, the war in Gaza, Jewish and Arab terrorism, any political violence are not our fate.”
Military actions in the Gaza Strip continue
Meanwhile, the war continues. The Israeli military announced the killing of a senior Hamas member in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip. The man belonged to an Islamist combat group and was one of the fighters responsible for guarding the kidnapped Israeli soldier Noa Marciano. Marciano was kidnapped to the Gaza Strip after the terrorist attack on October 7th and later murdered there.
There were military actions in various regions of the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers have begun a new operation in the refugee district of Jabalia in the north of the coastal area, the military said. Hamas’ military wing also reported serious clashes between its fighters and Israeli troops in Jabalia.
The Israeli army is also continuing what it says are “precise” advances in the refugee-crowded city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip and in the Al-Saitun neighborhood in the north of the coastal strip. Palestinian media reported Israeli air and artillery strikes in eastern Rafah overnight.
Biden adviser: Don’t abandon Israel
The US government wants to carry out further investigations after the publication of a report on possible violations of international law by Israel. There are “a number of incidents that we continue to investigate in order to get the best possible assessment,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on US television.
With regard to the use of American weapons in the Gaza war, there is concern about incidents in which “given the totality of the harm inflicted on children, women and men,” it is justified to assess that Israel has acted in a certain way in certain cases that is not compatible with international law. However, the military environment is “complex”, which is why no final assessment can be made.
Despite all concerns, the US government assured that it would continue to stand behind its ally Israel. President Joe Biden does not want US weapons to be used in a major invasion of the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, Biden security advisor Jake Sullivan said in an interview with US broadcaster ABC News. But that doesn’t mean “that he is abandoning Israel or cutting them off from weapons.”
In a phone call, Blinken urged Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant to ensure the protection of civilians and aid workers in Gaza, the US State Department announced after a meeting between the department heads. Humanitarian aid must be able to reach the war zone unhindered and be distributed there – even while Israel is fighting Hamas.
Army: New border crossing to northern Gaza opened
According to a military spokesman, Israel has opened the new Western Erez border crossing to the northern Gaza Strip for humanitarian aid transport. This is intended to increase the number of aid transports to the Gaza Strip and especially to the northern area, it said. Dozens of trucks carrying flour from the port of Ashdod have already passed through the crossing.
The World Food Program (WFP) had warned of hunger in the north of the Gaza Strip. Malnutrition among children there is progressing at a rapid pace, according to a report on the situation in the area.