The situation at a glance: Israel continues to act against enemies – reports of deaths

According to local reports, several people have been killed in renewed Israeli attacks against pro-Iranian militias in Yemen, Lebanon and against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. After bombings by the Israeli Air Force in Yemen, the Houthi militia’s TV station reported one dead and nine wounded that night, citing preliminary information from the Ministry of Health. The information could not be independently verified. Another Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon killed five people in the capital Beirut, according to the Health Ministry.

There were also at least seven deaths in the embattled Gaza Strip when the Israeli army hit a group in Al-Bureij in the center of the sealed-off coastal strip, said a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled civil defense. When asked, the Israeli military said it had attacked Hamas targets in Al-Bureij. The army did not provide any details. This information could not initially be independently verified.

Israel’s defense minister calls for plan to defeat Hamas

Israel’s army always emphasizes that it is taking measures to protect civilians in the fight against Hamas. Meanwhile, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported further deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip. At least 15 Palestinians are said to have died. This, too, could not initially be independently verified. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the army to present to him as soon as possible “a plan for the complete defeat of Hamas in Gaza.”

Hamas must be completely dismantled if those abducted from Israel are not released by the time US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20th. Katz probably wants to increase the pressure on Hamas to give in to the negotiations currently underway in Qatar regarding a ceasefire and the release of the 100 hostages still being held by Hamas. However, so far there has been no breakthrough in the talks, in which Qatar, Egypt and the US are acting as mediators.

US negotiator: Gaza deal possible in the next few weeks

“I believe that the negotiations that are currently underway are quite serious and at least offer the possibility of bringing them to a conclusion in the next few weeks,” CIA chief William Burns told US radio station NPR. Israel has been fighting the Islamist terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip since the unprecedented Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023.

Since then, according to Palestinian figures, more than 46,000 people have been killed and more than 109,300 injured. The figures, which cannot be independently verified, do not distinguish between civilians and fighters. Already at the beginning of the war, Israel’s leadership had defined the destruction of Hamas’ military capabilities and government apparatus in Gaza as one of its war goals. However, this goal has not yet been achieved.

In Yemen, Israeli warplanes again attacked Houthi militia targets on the west coast and inland, according to the army. The reason given was that the Houthis had repeatedly attacked Israel, its citizens and civilian infrastructure. “The State of Israel has the right and duty to defend itself,” it said in a statement. According to the Saudi Arabian news channel Al-Arabija, there were a total of around 30 air strikes in Yemen. The Houthi militia claims to be acting in support of Hamas.

There is still a ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and the Hezbollah militia, which, like the Houthis and Hamas, is allied with Iran. Nevertheless, according to the Ministry of Health, five people died again in the capital Beirut in the south. A rocket hit a delivery truck near the town of Tair Debba, east of the coastal city of Tyre. According to information from Lebanese security circles, there were weapons in the vehicle.

When asked, the Israeli army said terrorists had loaded the vehicle with Hezbollah weapons. It was destroyed in compliance with the ceasefire agreements to eliminate the threat. Israel will continue to take action against any threat, the army emphasized in a statement.