Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is under pressure. Relatives of the hostages in the Gaza Strip are calling for an end to the war. But when it comes to the question of the future of the coastal area, he is tough. The overview.
As Israel’s army continues the fighting in the Gaza Strip and as tensions rise throughout the Middle East, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing sharp headwinds at home.
Thousands of people demonstrated in Israel on Saturday against him and his government and demanded an immediate end to the war in order to free the more than 100 hostages held by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip. In the evening, army spokesman Daniel Hagari presented photos of an underground dungeon where the terrorists had held hostages “in stuffy air with little oxygen and terrible humidity that makes breathing difficult.”
Attack on base with US soldiers in Iraq
Meanwhile, according to US information, a military base used by US soldiers has been attacked in Iraq. Iranian-backed fighters in western Iraq fired several rockets at the Ain Al-Assad base, the responsible regional command of the US military said on the X platform, formerly Twitter, on Saturday. Most of the rockets were intercepted by the air defense, others hit the base. A number of US soldiers are being medically examined. At least one Iraqi soldier was wounded.
In response to Israel’s military operation in Gaza, pro-Iranian militias have increased their attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks. The attack on the Ain Al-Assad base came just hours after a suspected Israeli air strike in the Syrian capital Damascus that killed five members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, including four “military advisers” and a soldier, the elite unit said.
Iran threatens retaliation
While Israel’s military initially did not comment, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi threatened the arch-enemy with retaliation. The Islamic Republic will not leave the “crime of the Zionist regime” unanswered, state radio quoted him as saying.
The air strike in Syria and the attack on the military base in Iraq used by the USA are part of a whole series of attacks and retaliatory strikes in the Middle East since the beginning of the Gaza war a good three months ago and are fueling concerns that the conflict is becoming worse could escalate into a larger regional war.
Netanyahu contradicts Biden
The US is pushing for the creation of an independent Palestinian state to resolve the crisis. However, on Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected US President Joe Biden’s claim that a two-state solution after the Gaza war was feasible with him as head of government. “I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area west of the Jordan – and that is contradictory to a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu wrote on Platform X (formerly Twitter).
After a phone call with Netanyahu, when asked by journalists whether a two-state solution was impossible as long as Netanyahu was still in office, Biden said: “No, it is not.” According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli prime minister’s office made it clear in a statement that in his conversation with Biden, Netanyahu had reiterated the position that he has consistently held for years.
Netanyahu: Israel retains security control
“After eliminating Hamas, Israel must maintain full security control over the Gaza Strip to ensure that the Gaza Strip does not pose a threat to Israel, and this contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty,” Netanyahu’s office was quoted as saying.
Just before the talks with Biden, Netanyahu had rejected a two-state solution that the important US ally was pushing for, saying: “Israel’s prime minister must be able to say ‘no’ when necessary, even to our best friends. ” Biden told reporters in Washington after the phone call with Netanyahu that he thought they would be able to find a solution. There are “different types of two-state solutions.”
Guterres also calls for a two-state solution
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also once again spoke out in favor of a two-state solution. “The right of the Palestinian people to create their own state must be recognized by all,” Guterres said on Saturday. The denial of the right to statehood to the Palestinian people is unacceptable.
The Gaza war was triggered by an unprecedented attack by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7th in southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 hostages were kidnapped. Israel responded to the worst massacre in its history with massive air strikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. After exchanging 105 hostages for 240 Palestinian prisoners at the end of November, Hamas only wants to release the others it abducted when Israel’s military withdraws from Gaza.
Relatives of hostages demand an end to the fighting
“Stop the fighting, pay the price!”, Israeli media quoted one of the participants in a protest against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel’s coastal city of Tel Aviv, whose cousin is among the hostages held in Gaza. Netanyahu and his colleagues, however, say that only the military defeat of Hamas can lead to the liberation of the abductees. There are currently 136 hostages being held in the coastal area. Israel believes that around 25 hostages are no longer alive.
In a tunnel under the home of a Hamas terrorist in the hotly contested town of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, the army discovered a dungeon in which 20 hostages were being held. They were there at different times, and some of them have since been released through an exchange for Palestinian prisoners, said army spokesman Hagari. He also showed images of children’s drawings said to have been made by a five-year-old girl who was among the hostages released at the end of November.
What is important today
Iran has announced retaliation for the deaths of several Revolutionary Guard members after a suspected Israeli airstrike in Syria. Despite this, Israel continues the fighting in Gaza against the Iranian-backed Hamas. The situation is terrible for the Palestinian civilians in the sealed-off coastal area.