Location at an overview: Israel drives war plan – but checks the Gaza proposal

Movement could have come into the efforts of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, but for the time being, Israel is driving the preparations for taking the city of Gaza. Army chief Ejal Zamir presented the attack plans for approval in the evening. According to media reports, the security cabinet should come together on Thursday. At the same time, however, according to the “Times of Israel”, the government is examining a new proposal for a ceasefire, which the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas had said to be justified.

The operational planning continues, said a senior Israeli official of the “Jerusalem Post”. It was determined to implement the decision of the security cabinet to take the city of Gaza – “unless a framework is presented that includes the release of all hostages and an end to the war on the conditions set out by the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu)”. This includes Hamas putting its weapons down.

“Hamas is under enormous pressure”

So far, Netanyahu only said that he had heard reports on a “positive answer” of Hamas on the proposal for a ceasefire submitted by Egypt and Qatar. “Hamas is under enormous pressure,” he said. An official reaction of Israel will be expected until the end of this week. Media had speculated that the security cabinet’s decision to expand the war could be a negotiation tactic in order to put Hamas under pressure, to return to the negotiating table and to show itself more flexibly.

Committee advises on settlement plans in the West Bank

Meanwhile, a planning committee in Israel is now advising on the approval of controversial construction plans for settlements in a particularly sensitive area in West Bank. It is about the construction of around 3,400 residential units in the so-called E1 area between East Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement. A development there would actually divide the West Bank into a northern and a southern part.

This makes a coherent territory more difficult for a future Palestinian state, if not impossible. Several countries such as France, Canada and Australia want to recognize such a state in September. Israel, on the other hand, rejects recognition as a “reward for Hamas” after the massacre on October 7, 2023.

Israel’s army: kidnapper of Jarden Bibas killed

The massacre, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 more were dragged into the Gaza strips, had triggered the war. The Israeli army said that one of the Hamas fighter, who is said to have been involved in the kidnapping of the father of the family Jarden Bibas that day. Bibas was the only one to his family to survive hostage and had been released during a ceasefire in February.

The corpses of his wife Schiri and the two small sons were buried after the handover with great sympathy. The three also had German citizenship. According to Israel, they were murdered by the kidnappers in November 2023. According to Hamas, they died in an Israeli air raid. Kfir was still a baby, his brother Ariel four years old at the time of kidnapping and his death.

Expert: The ball is now with Israel

According to media reports, the recent proposal for a ceasefire is an updated version of the previously negotiated proposal of the US special envoy Steve Witkoff. This provides for a 60-day break, while the ten living hostages are released in return for Palestinian prisoners. In total there are still 50 hostages in Gaza, of which at least 20 are still alive.

The Arabic mediators would have given the Hamas ahead of the choice: either accepting the temporary ceasefire already offered in the previous negotiating rounds or dispensing with their power and weapons as part of a comprehensive agreement to the release of all hostages and ending the war, the “Wall Street Journal” quoted Arab officials.

Hamas has now approved the first option primarily because Egypt and Qatar put pressure on them to prevent Israel’s planned intake of the city of Gaza, said Michael Milshtein, former head of the Palestinian affairs department at Israel’s military secret service, the US newspaper. “The ball is now with Israel. It gets the same ball exactly,” he said.

Israel examines the proposal, but since he did not provide for the release of all hostages, officials thought it was rather unlikely that the leadership will react positively to this, reported the “Jerusalem Post”.

Reports: Tens of thousands of soldiers for taking the city of Gazas

Israel’s warfare is increasingly criticized internationally. Since the beginning of the Gaza War, according to the health authority controlled by the Hamas, more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the coastal strip, including many women and children. The security cabinet had even decided to expand the war a week ago.

In addition to taking the city of Gaza, the plan also provides for the destruction of Hamas in the central refugee camps. According to media reports, military chief Zamir had warned of major risks for soldiers and the hostages, but in the end the plans to fulfill the requirements of the political leadership worked out. According to Israeli media reports, the army plan to take the city of Gaza provides for the use of at least 80,000 soldiers. It is feared that the planned offensive will be tightened the catastrophic situation of the civilian population in the sealed coastal strip.