Israeli forces advance deep into Gaza city, destroying tunnels and killing Hamas commanders. Prime Minister Netanyahu is making people sit up and take notice with his statements about the future of the Gaza Strip. An overview.
Israel will retain responsibility for security in the Gaza Strip indefinitely, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We have seen what happens when we don’t have them,” Netanyahu said in an interview with US broadcaster ABC when asked who would govern the area after the end of the Gaza war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas organization should. “Because if we don’t have control over security, Hamas’ terror will erupt on a scale we cannot imagine.”
Netanyahu made the remarks before a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the Japanese capital Tokyo. Another topic there is the future of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said before departure that Tokyo would “also be about thinking beyond the day, for example discussing practical steps towards a two-state solution”.
Israel reports military successes in the Gaza Strip
A month after the massacre carried out by the Islamist Hamas in Israel, Israeli forces have advanced deep into the Gaza Strip. Ground troops are already deployed in the city of Gaza and are increasing the pressure there, army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Monday evening. According to their own statements, the armed forces had previously divided the Gaza Strip in half and completely encircled the city of Gaza.
In the past 24 hours, several commanders of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, have been killed, said army spokesman Hagari. Two of them were the masterminds of the massacre in Israel on October 7th. The military also destroyed several entrances to underground tunnels. Many of them are close to schools, hospitals and humanitarian facilities. Tank and ground troops discovered launch pads for 50 rockets near a mosque.
Army spokesman: Hamas terrorists are not safe anywhere
Palestinian eyewitnesses reported damage to the roof of Shifa Hospital in Israeli attacks on Monday. Asked whether Israel would also attack the clinic, which the army said also serves as a Hamas command center, the spokesman said: “We will penetrate deeper into the city of Gaza and reach every place where there are terrorists.” There is “no place where Hamas terrorists will be safe from army attacks”
Netanyahu rules out a general ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for the time being
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has initially ruled out a longer ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. “Without the release of the hostages, there will be no general ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu told US television station ABC. “As far as tactical pauses – an hour here, an hour there – we can assess the circumstances to bring in humanitarian supplies and bring out individual hostages. But I don’t think there will be a blanket ceasefire.”
According to Netanyahu, a general ceasefire would contradict Israel’s war aims. “That would hinder our efforts to free our hostages, because the only thing these Hamas criminals understand is the military pressure we exert,” he said in the ABC interview.
On average, 33 trucks carrying aid arrive in Gaza every day
In the Gaza Strip, an average of 33 trucks carrying relief supplies arrive every day for the needy population, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. In total, aid supplies have arrived from 569 trucks since the Egyptian Rafah border crossing reopened on October 21, including 93 trucks on Monday evening. According to the UN, 100 truckloads are needed every day to provide the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip with the essentials.
More foreigners are expected to leave the Gaza Strip
Today hundreds of foreigners and Palestinians with second passports are expected to leave the Gaza Strip and travel to Egypt. Among the approximately 600 people leaving the country, around 150 are Germans, according to a list from the Palestinian border authority. According to the list, the other travelers come from France, Canada, Ukraine, Romania and the Philippines, among others. On Monday, a total of more than 300 foreigners left the Gaza Strip, including 100 Egyptians, Egyptian security circles said.
Emirates want to build a military hospital in the Gaza Strip
In view of the dramatic situation in the Gaza Strip, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wants to build a field hospital there. On the instructions of Emirati President Mohammed bin Sajid, the hospital should provide necessary medical assistance to the Palestinian population in the coastal area, state news agency WAM reported. Five planes have already departed from Abu Dhabi with the necessary equipment for the hospital. The cargo was to be unloaded in the Egyptian town of Al-Arish and then taken to the Gaza Strip. The field hospital should be equipped with 150 beds and cover various medical specialties.
UN chief speaks of “crisis of humanity” in the Gaza Strip
UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the situation in the Gaza Strip as a “crisis of humanity”. He reiterated his calls for the immediate release of the hostages taken to Gaza and a humanitarian ceasefire. “Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children,” said Guterres in New York.
Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan sharply criticized the statements. “It has been more than 30 days since the children of the south of Israel were deliberately slaughtered by Hamas terrorists, but you have said nothing about a ‘cemetery for children’ that the south of Israel has been turned into,” he wrote on the platform X. Guterres has “lost his moral compass” and has to resign.
Jordan draws “red line” in war
Jordan, meanwhile, drew a “red line”. Attempts to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip or the West Bank will be viewed by the kingdom as a “declaration of war,” Jordanian Prime Minister Damit al-Khasawneh said on Monday, according to the state news agency Petra. The “brutal attacks on ambulances and humanitarian aid workers” in the Gaza Strip contradict “the principle of self-defense.” According to Al-Khasawneh, all options are on the table.
What is important today
In view of the plight of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wants to advocate for ceasefires at the G7 meeting in Japan this Tuesday. “We will talk about how we can now join forces to achieve humanitarian breaks in order to alleviate the suffering of the people in Gaza,” announced the Green politician before the working lunch of the G7 foreign ministers in Tokyo. Baerbock demanded that the Islamist Hamas should no longer determine the fate of the people in the Gaza Strip. In Tokyo it will “also be about thinking beyond the day, for example discussing practical steps towards a two-state solution”.
Development Minister Svenja Schulze meets the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Jordan. The conversation in the capital Amman is likely to be primarily about Germany’s suspended payments to the organization. The federal government temporarily stopped its aid payments for the Palestinian territories and for Palestinian refugees in neighboring countries after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th and announced a thorough review of all projects.