Israel’s military remains tough: the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip is coming, they say. Meanwhile, the delivery of urgently needed aid to the population in the enclave appears to be imminent.
Shortly before Israel’s impending ground offensive against the Islamist Hamas attackers in the Gaza Strip, the struggle for urgently needed help for the desperate population is beginning to move.
According to an Israeli army spokesman, the relief supplies stored in Egypt at the Rafah border crossing are expected to arrive in the Gaza Strip by Saturday at the latest. Meanwhile, according to media reports, Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant announced an imminent ground offensive. “The order will come,” he told the troops deployed near the border to the coastal enclave sealed off by Israel. Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden wants to ask Congress for an aid package that should also contain “unprecedented help for Israel”.
Biden: “We must not give up on peace”
“We will ensure that other hostile actors in the region know that Israel is stronger than ever and prevent this conflict from expanding,” Biden said in a speech to the nation on Thursday evening (local time). Israel and the Palestinians alike deserve to live in security, dignity and peace. “We must not give up on peace. We must not give up on a two-state solution,” Biden said. However, the people in the region cannot currently even dream of peace.
Bloody urban warfare threatens
Experts warn of bloody urban warfare if Israel sends ground troops into the densely populated Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean as expected. After the devastating terrorist attacks by Hamas, Israel wants to eliminate the military capabilities and rule of the Islamist organization. More than 1,400 people have fallen victim to Hamas attacks in Israel and more than 200 people have been kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. According to Israeli media reports, there are almost 30 children and young people among them. 100 to 200 people are missing.
Israel’s army launches further attacks against Hamas
The Israeli Air Force has continued its bombardment of Islamist Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip. Warplanes attacked more than 100 positions overnight and also killed a Hamas member involved in terror attacks in Israel nearly two weeks ago, the Israeli army said. Among other things, a tunnel, weapons depots and dozens of command centers were bombed, it said. The man killed belonged to the Hamas navy and took part in the massacre of more than 1,400 people in towns near the border on October 7th.
In addition, a terrorist squad was “deactivated” in a targeted attack in Gaza City after it tried to fire rockets at a fighter plane, the army said. Hamas facilities and weapons were also destroyed in a mosque in Jabalia, north of the city, which was used by terrorists as an observation post and staging area. Since October 7, 3,785 people have died in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
Aid deliveries appear to be imminent
According to the UN, around a million residents of the northern Gaza Strip have fled to the southern part in the past few days. Israel’s army, which had called for this to happen in order to avoid civilian casualties if the fighting escalated, spoke of around 600,000 people. In the south is the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt. Dozens of trucks carrying humanitarian supplies are piled up on the Egyptian side. The first deliveries would arrive in Gaza “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow at the latest,” said Israeli army spokesman Arye Sharuz Shalicar on the “RTL Direkt” program.
“We need quick, unhindered access for humanitarian aid. We need food, water, medicine and fuel immediately,” wrote UN Secretary-General António Guterres that night on the X platform (formerly Twitter). He is in Egypt to talk to the government about opening the border crossing.
Germany announces help for people in Gaza
Germany is increasing its support for the suffering civilian population in the Gaza Strip with emergency humanitarian aid worth 50 million euros. The money is intended to support international organizations such as the World Food Program, the UN Children’s Fund Unicef and, above all, the United Nations Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA), as Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) announced yesterday in Jordan. Today she is traveling to Israel and then to Lebanon.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has assured his Israeli colleague Joav Galant of Germany’s support in the fight against Hamas. The most urgent task is to achieve the release of those abducted, said the SPD politician on Thursday in Tel Aviv at a meeting with Galant. Germany also wants to support this wherever possible and is prepared to support Israel’s military with material. Meanwhile, Israel has completed preparations for a ground offensive. When exactly this begins is confidential, said the army spokesman.
Sharp criticism from human rights activists
The human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused the USA and its allies of failing to criticize Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. Tom Porteous, HRW deputy program director, asked where “the clear condemnation of the cruel tightening of the 16-year closure of the Gaza Strip” was. This amounts to “collective punishment, a war crime.”
More gunfire on Israel’s border with Lebanon
Meanwhile, the Israeli military also attacked pro-Iranian Hezbollah positions in Lebanon and suspected terrorists during the night. In response to shelling by the Shiite militia on Wednesday, the army attacked Hezbollah observation posts, among other things, the military said. In addition, a fighter jet hit three people who tried to fire rockets towards Israel. It is unclear whether there were any injuries or deaths.
Since the terrorist attacks on Israel by the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas and Israel’s counterattacks on the Gaza Strip, there have been regular incidents on the border between Israel and Lebanon in recent days. There are international fears that Hezbollah could intervene more intensively in the Gaza conflict and force a second, northern front on Israel. Hezbollah has close ties to Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Foreign Office called on German citizens and their relatives in Lebanon to leave the country because of the security situation.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
