Situation at a glance: Netanyahu in the USA – Hostage relatives hope for agreement

While the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip continues, the relatives of the hostages held by the Islamist Hamas are pinning their hopes on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has arrived in the USA. “We firmly believe that his speech to Congress on Wednesday will be the announcement of the hostage agreement we have all been waiting for,” the newspaper “Times of Israel” quoted the father of an American-Israeli hostage in Washington as saying.

A meeting between Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden planned for today was in jeopardy because of Biden’s Covid infection. Biden wants to work for an agreement in his remaining months as president: “I will work very closely with the Israelis and the Palestinians to figure out how we can end the Gaza war, secure peace in the Middle East and bring all the hostages home,” he said by phone during Kamala Harris’ visit to the Democrats’ campaign headquarters.

“I think we’re close to getting that done,” added Biden, who joined his vice president’s visit via video link. His relationship with Netanyahu is strained because of his handling of the war. Indirect negotiations, in which the US, Qatar and Egypt mediate between Israel and Hamas, are set to continue on Thursday. A three-stage plan is on the table that includes exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners and ways to achieve a permanent ceasefire.

Reports: Israel’s security chiefs also in favour of agreement

According to Israeli media, all of the country’s senior security chiefs are said to agree that the military could withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip in the first six-week phase of a possible agreement. The relatively short period of time would not allow Hamas to regroup, Israel’s Defense Minister Joav Galant, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and the heads of the intelligence services told Netanyahu, who reportedly told him that they supported a hostage agreement.

In his speech to both chambers of the US Congress on Wednesday, Netanyahu will comment on the actions in Gaza. If the speech does not include the announcement of the signing of a hostage agreement, it would be a “total failure,” the father of the American-Israeli hostages was quoted as saying. Around 120 hostages are believed to still be in the sealed-off coastal strip, but many of them are probably no longer alive. Israel’s army has just declared two more hostages held by Hamas dead.

Reports of many deaths again in Gaza

Meanwhile, according to Palestinian reports, a new advance by Israeli forces in the southern Gaza Strip resulted in many deaths. Eyewitnesses said the army attacked in the east of the city of Khan Yunis. At least 71 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed and another 200 were injured, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, citing hospital staff. The information could not be independently verified.

The Israeli army had previously called on residents in the eastern part of the city to leave the area immediately. Intelligence reports had shown that Hamas was launching rocket attacks on Israel from there. According to eyewitnesses, thousands of civilians fled. Many of them had already fled from other parts of Gaza before the war. The frequent evacuation orders led to further destruction of the health system, complained the UN emergency relief office OCHA.

UN emergency relief office complains about water shortage

According to aid organizations, people in the sealed-off coastal area continue to suffer from severe water shortages, OCHA said. Between July 8 and 21, the average daily water volume was about 90,000 cubic meters – about a quarter of the amount produced before the war began almost ten months ago. Damage to infrastructure, lack of electricity, fuel, spare parts and chlorine hampered water production and treatment, as well as the pumping of wastewater.

The war was triggered by the massacre in Israel on October 7, which left more than 1,200 people dead, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other groups. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. In view of the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel is increasingly being criticized internationally. The violence of radical settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is also causing outrage. The German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, criticized a new attack.

Ambassador criticizes violence of radical settlers

“International and Israeli activists, including a German citizen, were attacked by extremist settlers in the West Bank while they were peacefully helping Palestinians in their olive groves,” Seibert wrote on Monday on the X platform. “These attacks represent well-documented criminal behavior and must be prosecuted using all legal means.” He posted a video that is said to show the attack.

According to media reports, the incident occurred on Sunday in the town of Kusra near the Palestinian city of Nablus. A group of volunteers had accompanied Palestinian farmers to their olive groves. The volunteers wanted to ensure the protection of the Palestinians through their presence. In the video, which was recorded by the activist group, masked men can be seen hitting them with wooden sticks. Several victims, including a young German, were subsequently treated in hospital.

Report: Israel army confirms attack

The “Tagesschau” and the US broadcaster CNN, among others, reported on the incident, and their reporters spoke to the victims. The Israeli army confirmed the attack to CNN. It fired warning shots into the air at the scene and condemns all violence in principle. According to the reports, however, the activists said that the military fired shots in the direction of a Palestinian. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, violence by militant settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased significantly.

In the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, among other areas. Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among three million Palestinians. Only on Friday, the International Court of Justice declared the Israeli occupation and settlement construction illegal in a non-binding legal opinion.