Four more hostages are said to have been killed in Hamas captivity. The USA presents a draft for a Gaza deal, but Israel is sticking to its conditions. The news at a glance.
According to Israeli information, four hostages kidnapped by the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas have been killed in captivity. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the four men died several months ago in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip. The exact circumstances were initially unclear.
In December, Hamas released a video showing three of the older men. In March, Hamas announced that they had been killed in Israeli attacks. The information cannot be independently verified. It is feared that a large proportion of the 124 hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip are no longer alive.
USA insists on Israel’s commitment to Gaza offer
The US is maintaining pressure on its ally Israel after an offer to negotiate a settlement of the Gaza war. “We have every expectation that Israel would say yes if Hamas agrees to the proposal that was sent to them as an Israeli proposal,” National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby told ABC News.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also indirectly took Israel to task. In a conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant, Blinken praised Israel’s willingness to conclude an agreement, his spokesman said.
US President Biden surprisingly presented details of a draft Gaza deal to which Israel had agreed. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to clarify that his country’s conditions for an end to the war had not changed: the destruction of the Islamist Hamas and the release of all hostages.
Israel’s war cabinet discusses negotiation offer
US officials were encouraged that Netanyahu did not reject Biden’s speech or deny that it reflected an Israeli proposal made to Hamas a few days ago, reported the US news portal Axios. According to the report, the White House had informed Netanyahu’s office about two hours in advance that Biden would make details of the offer public in the speech.
Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners promptly threatened to collapse the coalition if Israel agreed to the deal. Opposition leader Yair Lapid warned on Platform X that if Israel were to withdraw the offer it had already accepted, it would be a “death sentence” for the hostages and a crisis of confidence in the Americans and the mediating countries. Against the backdrop of this confusion, Israel’s war cabinet met to discuss the proposal made public by Biden.
Netanyahu: No ceasefire without fulfilling our conditions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has commented on the latest US push to end the Gaza war. “The claim that we have agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met is not correct,” Netanyahu told members of a parliamentary committee on foreign and security policy, according to his office.
Netanyahu made it clear that Israel’s conditions for ending the war had not changed: the destruction of Hamas and the release of all hostages.
In a video message, Netanyahu said: “We are working in countless ways to bring our hostages back. I am always thinking of them, their families, their suffering.” The destruction of Hamas remains the goal, parallel to the efforts to bring them back.
Body of German-Israeli identified
Eight months after the Hamas massacre, the remains of a 35-year-old German-Israeli have been identified. The Israeli army announced that the medic’s body had been found in the Nir Oz kibbutz. His identity had been confirmed with the help of forensic and anthropological experts. Until now, it had been assumed that the man was being held hostage in the Gaza Strip. According to the Jewish organization European Jewish Association, the 35-year-old was also a German citizen – as was his sister who had been kidnapped in the Gaza Strip.
On October 7, the medic left his pregnant wife and three children in the shelter of their house in Nir Oz to help the injured. The kibbutz was one of the places particularly badly affected.
Reports of deadly air strike in Syria
Meanwhile, Syrian state media reported several deaths and damage in a suspected Israeli attack in the northwest of the country. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, reported that rockets had hit positions belonging to a pro-Iranian militia north of Aleppo. Twelve militiamen were reportedly killed. The information cannot yet be independently verified. There was initially no comment from the Israeli side.
Israel’s air force repeatedly bombs targets in neighboring Syria. The Jewish state wants to use the attacks to prevent its arch-enemy Iran and its allied militias from expanding their military influence in the country. Iran is one of Syria’s most important allies. Since the war in the Gaza Strip began around eight months ago, Israeli attacks, which are usually not officially confirmed by Israel, have increased.
Tug of war over reopening of Rafah border crossing
Meanwhile, the US is trying to reopen the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza for humanitarian aid. To this end, representatives from Egypt, the US and Israel met in Cairo for consultations. However, little progress has been made, reported the Wall Street Journal.
The talks are expected to continue in the coming days. The Egyptian state-run TV station Al-Kahira News had previously reported that Egypt’s position was still that Rafah would not be reopened until the Israeli military had completely withdrawn from there.
Meanwhile, according to the Times of Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Galant said during a visit to troops that they were working to create an alternative to Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip. To this end, they wanted to isolate areas in Gaza and, once Hamas had been removed, bring in “other forces” so that they could administer these areas in the future. The war would only end when Hamas had been defeated.
Galant recently said that Netanyahu’s government lacks a plan for who should govern the Gaza Strip after the war. Hamas can only be permanently ousted from power if Palestinian representatives take control, accompanied by international actors who would create a government alternative to Hamas rule.
Heavy shelling again on the Israeli-Lebanese border
The Israeli military says it has killed a member of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. In addition, the pro-Iranian militia’s “terrorist infrastructure” was attacked. The Lebanese news agency NNA had previously reported that one person had been killed in an Israeli attack in the border town of Nakura. Another person was reportedly injured. Lebanese security sources said that Hezbollah had previously fired several rockets from there in the direction of northern Israel. The Shiite militia also claimed responsibility for several attacks on Israeli targets.
Mutual attacks between the Israeli military and Hezbollah have intensified in recent days. There has been heavy shelling on both sides. There are fears of a much larger military confrontation if diplomatic efforts fail. Security sources described the situation in southern Lebanon as a “real war zone”.
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.
