War in the Middle East
Mass exodus in Gaza ahead of Israel’s ground offensive
Plumes of smoke rise over the Gaza Strip after Israeli air strikes. photo
© Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa
As Israel’s army prepares a ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, hundreds of thousands of civilians are seeking shelter in the south. Your situation is catastrophic. The developments at a glance.
Fearing Israel’s expected ground offensive Gaza Strip against the Islamist Hamas attackers Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are seeking protection under catastrophic conditions in the south of the hermetically sealed coastal strip.
After several calls for the civilian population to evacuate, more than 600,000 people have now moved there, said Israel’s army spokesman Daniel Hagari. However, supplying the densely packed masses of people is dramatic. At least they should get water again. Israel’s Energy Minister Israel Katz announced this on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
Israel is preparing to destroy Hamas
This will help the civilian population – as desired by Israel’s army – clear the north of the narrow coastal enclave and move to the south, said Katz. This would allow Israel’s military to intensify the destruction of Hamas’ infrastructure in the north. Observers assume that the Israeli military has asked the more than one million Palestinians in the north of the coastal strip to evacuate to the south because a ground offensive is imminent.
Israel confirms kidnapping of 155 hostages in Gaza Strip
Israel wants to destroy the Gaza Strip’s ruling Hamas, which killed more than 1,300 people and injured more than 3,600 people in the unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel more than a week ago. Israel’s army has now confirmed the kidnapping of 155 people from Israel to the Gaza Strip. Their relatives have been informed. The army will do everything possible to bring them home.
There are also eight Germans among those kidnapped. According to Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, the federal government still has “no direct contact” with the German hostages.
Abbas: Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people
According to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas’ actions and policies do not represent the Palestinian people. He rejects the killing of civilians on both sides, emphasized Abbas, who heads the autonomous authority in the West Bank, in a telephone conversation with Venezuelan head of state Nicolás Maduro, as the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Abbas called on everyone involved to release prisoners.
UN chief Guterres: Middle East “on the edge of the abyss”
In view of a Middle East “on the edge of the abyss”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres also urgently called for the immediate release of the hostages and rapid humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip. “Each of these two goals is legitimate,” Guterres said in New York on Sunday, according to a statement. Meanwhile, the only border crossing from the Gaza Strip to neighboring Egypt will be opened for the departure of foreign nationals on Monday, according to an Egyptian security source.
According to the information, preparations are underway. The import of humanitarian aid supplies should also be made possible via the Rafah border crossing. Due to Israeli air strikes, the border crossing is currently out of service. There is no way for the people of Gaza to leave the area.
The number of deaths continues to rise
Israel’s airstrikes in response to Hamas’s unprecedented massacres have wreaked havoc. More than 1,000 people were buried under rubble, including injured and dead, the civil defense in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday. Meanwhile, the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip rose to 2,670, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, which is also under Hamas. Around 9,600 other people were injured. That was more deaths in just one week than in the last major Gaza war in 2014, which lasted 50 days.
Concern about expanding the conflict
French President Emmanuel Macron warned Iran against escalation and expansion of the conflict, especially in Lebanon. Given Iran’s close ties to the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the leadership in Tehran bears responsibility, Macron said in a phone call with Iranian President Ebrahim Raissi. He called on him to do everything possible to prevent a regional conflagration. Hezbollah, which is financed by Iran, is considered to be much more powerful than Hamas.
Another exchange of fire on the border with Lebanon
Since Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel and Israel’s counterattacks on the Gaza Strip, incidents have occurred regularly on the border between Israel and Lebanon. On Sunday evening, Israel’s army said it attacked Hezbollah positions again. Hours earlier, Hezbollah had attacked targets in the neighboring country. According to Israeli media reports, eight people were injured in Israel, some seriously. On Sunday, the Unifil headquarters in Nakura, southern Lebanon, was hit by a rocket. Nobody was injured. It was initially unclear who fired the rocket.
Meanwhile, the Bundeswehr took German nationals out of Israel with another plane late on Sunday evening. The A400M military transporter landed in Wunstorf at around 2:45 a.m., the operations command announced on X.
This will be important on Monday
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wants to travel to Israel again this Monday after visiting various countries in the Middle East. It was initially not known which dates were planned in Israel. The only border crossing from the Gaza Strip to neighboring Egypt is to be opened for foreign nationals to leave the country. The water supply for Palestinians in the south of the Gaza Strip is also to be restored.