Location at a glance: Israel threatens Hamas: “Gates to hell are opened for them”

The Israeli government does not want to tolerate that Hamas initially no longer releases any further hostages from their violence – and threatens the terrorist organization with relentless military hardness. “If Hamas does not expose the Israeli hostages by Saturday, the gates of hell will be opened to them, just as the President of the United States promised,” said Defense Minister Israel Katz. “In its intensity, the new Gaza war will differ from the previous, in front of the ceasefire-and it will not end without the Hamas defeating and all hostages are released.”

Katz said nothing about whether Hamas should release all Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip until Saturday or only three, as is intended in the agreements. Meanwhile, according to information from the German Press Agency, representatives of Hamas had discussions with the international intermediaries in the Egyptian capital Cairo. The question is also whether there may be some Israeli hostages on Saturday.

In view of the impending rebuild of the Gaza War, Hamas fighter, according to a report by the Israeli television station I24 News, was re-positioned in various parts of the Gaza Strip. The management of the Islamist Palestinian organization had instructed the units not to use mobile phones to make location difficult.

Hamas: Israel delays aid deliveries

Hamas had postponed the release of the next hostage group, which was actually intended for Saturday. It accuses Israel of not adhering to the agreement on the ceasefire. Auxiliary deliveries such as residential containers and tents as well as heavy construction machinery to clear rubble would not be released into the sealed coastal area to a sufficient extent. In addition, 92 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during the ceasefire.

The Israeli authority Cogat responsible for Palestinian affairs rejected the allegations to the aid deliveries. During the ceasefire, around 15,000 trucks with humanitarian aid drove into the Gaza Strip, it said. They would have transported food, drinking water, fuel, medication, medical equipment, tents, accommodations and heavy clearing units.

With his controversial plan on the future of the Gaza Strip, US President Donald Trump had recently caused unrest in the Middle East. According to this, the approximately two million residents of the area are to be permanently relocated to Arab countries in the region and the destroyed coastal strip under control of the United States should be transformed into an economically flourishing “Riviera of the Middle East”. According to media reports, Hamas called on to protest against Trump’s Gaza advance worldwide on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

US foreign minister travels to Munich and the Middle East

In the middle of the violent tensions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio travels to the Munich Security Conference to discuss international partners and take part in the G7 Foreign Ministers’ meeting. From February 15th to 18th, Rubio wants to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. According to his ministry, the focus of the trip is on efforts to release the hostages in Gaza, discussions about the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as well as steps against destabilizing actions by Iran and its allies in the region.