Israel wants to withdraw its delegation from negotiations for a new ceasefire. Meanwhile, fighting in the Gaza Strip continues. Aid organizations are horrified by the situation of civilians.
According to Israel, negotiations over a new ceasefire in the Middle East war in Qatar are at a dead end. The head of the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad, David Barnea, has therefore asked his negotiating team to return to Israel, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Israel’s head of government gave the instruction. “The terrorist organization Hamas has not kept its part of the agreement,” the statement continued.
Specifically, it is about the release of all children and women kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. Israel suspects that 20 women and two children are still in the hands of Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government also counts a woman and her two small sons who were reported killed by the militant Islamist Hamas a few days ago. However, according to a military spokesman, her death has not been confirmed.
The ceasefire negotiated by Israel and Hamas last week with the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the USA expired on Friday. During this time, Hamas released 105 hostages, including 14 Germans, and Israel released 240 Palestinian prisoners in return.
Macron warns of “war without end”
According to French President Emmanuel Macron, Israel’s renewed goal of destroying Hamas after the end of the ceasefire could mean years of war in the Middle East. The “total destruction of Hamas” would require at least “ten years” of war, Macron said on the sidelines of the UN climate conference in Dubai.
Israel must therefore “specify” its goal. “The total destruction of Hamas – does anyone think that is possible?” Macron asked journalists. “If that is the goal, then the war will last ten years.” There is even a danger of a “war without end,” warned the French president.
Entire Gaza Strip under attack
The Israeli military attacked further targets of the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip during the night – apparently also increasingly in the southern part of the area. The fighting was concentrated in the area around Khan Yunis. Parts of the Hamas leadership are said to be in the city. According to the army, areas with explosive traps were targeted, as well as tunnel shafts, launch pads and Hamas command centers – both in the south and north of Gaza.
As The Times of Israel reported, citing residents of the sealed-off Gaza Strip, the Israeli military dropped leaflets in Khan Yunis urging residents to flee to Rafah in the south. The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip reported almost 200 deaths since fighting resumed on Friday morning. The information cannot be independently verified.
Previously, Hamas said it had fired rockets at the center of Israel for the first time after the end of the week-long break in fighting. According to Israeli figures, around 10,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. Israel also came under fire again from Lebanon in the north.
The director of the aid organization Care, Tibi, on the situation of civilians in the Gaza Strip: “They don’t know where to go.”
Aid organizations are horrified
Israel’s bombing of southern Gaza has sparked horror and outrage among aid groups. Hiba Tibi, director of the aid organization Care, told CNN about the situation of civilians: “They don’t know where to go.” There are no sufficient places to accommodate people. “Hundreds and hundreds of explosions. In a place so densely populated with civilians, everything has to hit something…someone,” UN Children’s Fund UNICEF spokesman James Elder wrote on X on Saturday.
50 trucks with aid arrive in Gaza
Meanwhile, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 50 trucks carrying aid supplies arrived in Gaza again on Saturday. The trucks were loaded with food, water, medical supplies and medicine. After the ceasefire ended and the fighting continued on Friday morning, aid deliveries came to a standstill.
Care Director Tibi demanded: “We must protect the civilian population and the vital infrastructure on which they depend.” The Islamist Hamas hostages remaining in the Gaza Strip must be released immediately and unconditionally. “We need a humanitarian ceasefire,” Tibi said. “The fighting must stop.”