Aid deliveries for the people in the Gaz Strip, which is sealed off by Israel, are making slow progress. The Israeli army leaves no doubt that a ground offensive is imminent. The overview.
The Israeli Air Force increased its attacks on the Gaza Strip over the weekend in preparation for a ground offensive against the Islamist Hamas. Israel’s Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi announced: “We will enter the Gaza Strip for an operational, professional mission: to destroy Hamas operatives and infrastructure.” Meanwhile, the number of deaths and injuries in the Gaza Strip continued to rise.
Deliveries of aid to the people in need in the area sealed off by Israel with a good two million inhabitants made slow progress. A second convoy of 17 trucks, mainly carrying medicines and food, drove from Egypt to the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The day before, the first delivery since the start of the Gaza war on October 7th crossed the border.
Thousands of people demonstrated in Berlin on Sunday against anti-Semitism and for solidarity with Israel. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on citizens in Germany to protect Jewish life in the country.
In view of the threat of escalation in the Middle East conflict, the USA is moving additional weapons systems to the region. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that he had ordered the deployment of missile and air defense systems. The USA had previously deployed warships to the eastern Mediterranean, including the aircraft carriers “USS Dwight D. Eisenhower” and “USS Gerald R. Ford”. .
Army: At least 212 hostages are being held in the Gaza Strip
According to the Israeli army, the number of hostages in the Gaza Strip is at least 212. Their families have been informed so far. There are also Germans among those kidnapped. Two US hostages were released on Friday.
Hundreds of terrorists attacked Israel on October 7th on behalf of Hamas and carried out massacres in the border area. Since then, Israel has suffered more than 1,400 deaths, the majority of them civilians. The identification of the bodies is ongoing.
Hamas Ministry: More than 4,651 dead in Gaza since the war began
Since the attack, Israel’s army says it has attacked hundreds of targets in the densely populated Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, the number of Palestinians killed in the coastal area rose to 4,651, a spokesman said. The numbers could not initially be independently verified. 14,245 Palestinians were injured.
According to the UN, around 1.4 million people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced from their homes as a result of the air strikes. More than 544,000 of them sought protection in facilities run by the Palestinian relief organization UNRWA. According to the Israeli military, around 700,000 Palestinians fled to the south of the coastal strip following calls to evacuate people in the northern Gaza Strip.
UN: 100 trucks with aid supplies needed daily for Gaza Strip
According to UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths, at least 100 trucks with relief supplies would be needed every day to supply the civilian population. A total of only 37 trucks have come through since Saturday – after two weeks of complete border closure.
The United Nations called for a ceasefire to help the people. According to the UN, there is hardly any food or drinking water left in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of sick and injured people therefore need medical care.
Israel’s army: attack on Hamas post in West Bank mosque
The Israeli Air Force says it fired on a Hamas terrorist cell in the Al-Ansar Mosque in the West Bank. There was an underground “terror complex” of Hamas and Islamic Jihad there, it was said. The group had planned an attack, the military said on Telegram. The information could not be independently verified. The mosque is located in the Jenin refugee camp. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, two Palestinians were killed in the attack.
Israel evacuates 14 more towns in the north of the country
Israel wants to evacuate further towns in the north in view of the escalation of attacks by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Defense Minister Joav Galant approved the evacuation of 14 additional communities, his office said. A week ago, Israel declared a four-kilometer exclusion zone in the border area with Lebanon. Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said Hezbollah was “escalating the situation” and playing a “very, very dangerous game.”
The second man at the head of Hezbollah, Naim Kassim, did not rule out even greater involvement in the conflict with Israel. “We can’t guarantee anything,” Kassim said in Beirut. Since the escalation, at least 19 militia fighters have been killed in Lebanon, their press office said.
In Israel’s northern neighbor Syria, runways were also damaged in a new attack on the airports in Damascus and Aleppo. Experts assumed that rocket attacks were probably Israeli. The airports were attacked just over a week ago. Israel’s air force repeatedly bombs targets in neighboring Syria, but usually does not confirm this.
Jordan’s king at Cairo summit: “It’s a war crime.”
Heads of state and government from the Middle East as well as representatives of the UN and Western countries met at the “Summit for Peace” in the Egyptian capital Cairo. At the meeting hosted by Egypt, there was sharp criticism of Israel’s attacks – as well as the terror on behalf of Hamas. The “relentless bombardment in Gaza” is “cruel and ruthless at every level,” said Jordan’s King Abdullah II. “It is a collective punishment for a besieged and helpless population. It is a blatant breach of international humanitarian law. It is a war crime. “
Steinmeier calls on citizens to protect Jewish life in Germany
Federal President Steinmeier told thousands at the rally at the Brandenburg Gate that protecting Jewish life is a state task, “but it is also a civic duty.” In view of anti-Semitic riots, he called it “unbearable that Jews are afraid again today – in this country of all places.”
A new synagogue was inaugurated in Dessau-Roßlau, Anhalt. There, Chancellor Scholz said: “This synagogue in the middle of Dessau says: Jewish life is and remains a part of Germany. It belongs here.”
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.
