Middle East conflict: Hezbollah commander killed in Lebanon

Middle East conflict: Hezbollah commander killed in Lebanon

The Gaza war is entering its fourth month. While concerns about an expansion of the conflict are constantly growing, Foreign Minister Baerbock reiterates an old call for peace in the Middle East. The overview.

The conflict between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah has escalated further with the apparently targeted killing of an important Shiite militia commander. The commander was killed in a suspected Israeli drone attack not far from the border area, as the German Press Agency learned from Shiite organization circles and security authorities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Hezbollah: “We have shown them what is happening to their friends (in the Gaza Strip) in the south. This will also happen here in the north” if Israel cannot otherwise restore the security of its citizens. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived again for talks in the Middle East.

According to security sources, the commander, Wissam al-Tauil, belonged to an elite Hezbollah unit. Israel has asked them to withdraw from areas near the common border. There is regular exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel’s army, which has increased since the beginning of the Gaza war. There have already been fatalities on both sides.

The danger of an even greater military confrontation is growing. Hezbollah had already responded to the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Aruri in Beirut – presumably ordered by Israel – with the strongest attacks on Israeli targets since the beginning of the Gaza war. Experts suspect that neither Hezbollah nor Israel wants another major war. Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah recently said that Israel had crossed a red line with the killing of Al-Aruri, which would not go unpunished.

In the afternoon, Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock wanted to speak to people from northern Israel who had to flee their homeland because of the conflict with Hezbollah in the Israeli coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv. A meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant was also planned. This is also likely to be about the escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah.

The Gaza war was triggered by a terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas and other extremist Palestinian groups on October 7th. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. According to the latest figures from the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 23,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began. In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sealed-off coastal area and the high number of civilian casualties, Israel has recently come under increasing international criticism.

After three months of war: 136 hostages still in the Gaza Strip

As the war begins its fourth month, Israel estimates that 136 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip. An Israeli government spokeswoman said 25 of them were probably no longer alive. Among the hostages, Israel also includes the bodies of two soldiers who were kidnapped during the last major Gaza war in 2014, as well as two other Israelis who have been held in the coastal strip since then.

Baerbock: Settlement construction undermines lasting peace

During a visit to the West Bank, Baerbock emphasized the call for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. She emphasized: “Settlement construction is illegal. It undermines lasting peace and endangers the two-state solution and thus also endangers Israel’s security.” The two-state solution means that Israel and an independent, democratic Palestinian state live peacefully side by side. The construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is seen as a major obstacle to a peace settlement because it makes a contiguous territory impossible for the Palestinians.

Medical team has to stop work in clinic in Gaza due to war

Aid organizations describe the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip as catastrophic. According to an aid organization, aid workers are also being forced to leave the Al-Aqsa hospital there due to Israel’s increasing military operations in the central section of the Gaza Strip. This clinic remains “the only functioning hospital in the center of Gaza,” said the private aid organization International Rescue Committee (IRC), headquartered in New York.

The Israeli army dropped leaflets that marked the area around the hospital as a “red zone,” the statement said. There are therefore fears that attacks will occur and the medical emergency team from Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP/Great Britain) and IRC will not be able to return. Because of the conflict, many local employees also have no access to the hospital to care for hundreds of patients. MAP and IRC were “shocked that the medical emergency team was forced to withdraw and thus stop work.”

Israel accuses the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas of using hospitals for military purposes, storing weapons there and attacking Israeli soldiers from there. Hamas denies this.

Israel: Not all goals achieved in three months of Gaza war

Since the start of its offensives, Israel has not achieved all of its self-imposed starting points for the war. Government spokesman Eylon Levy admitted this in a conversation with journalists. The goals continue to be the destruction of the Islamist Hamas, the release of all hostages kidnapped in the Gaza Strip and ensuring that Israel can never again be attacked from the coastal strip. “Particularly on the issue of hostages, the fact that more than half of the hostages are still trapped in Hamas’ terror dungeons is a source of intense pain and frustration for Israelis,” Levy said.

Nevertheless, Israel has had significantly more success overall than expected, he said. “Hamas’ terrorist infrastructure has been significantly decimated” and has even been completely demolished in the north of the coastal strip. A total of around 1,500 tunnel entrances were discovered in the Gaza Strip. Many of them were hidden in civilian facilities. 8,000 Hamas terrorists were killed and more than 700 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad were arrested. The information cannot be independently verified.

Source: Stern

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