UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – Israel’s energy minister said his country would not allow humanitarian aid to Gaza until Hamas released the abductees last Saturday.
Israel is increasing pressure on Gaza to secure the release of hostages taken there last Saturday by Hamas Islamists during their deadly expedition into the Jewish state’s territory. Iran, for its part, calls for the unity of “Muslim countries” against Israel. Le Figaro takes stock of the clash between Hamas and Israel.
This Thursday, October 12, Israel continues its relentless shelling of the Gaza Strip after vowing to “crush” and “destroy” Hamas, which is responsible for the deadliest attack in history against the Jewish state. On the sixth day of the war between the two enemies, which has already left thousands dead, Israeli attacks against the Gaza Strip continued overnight, firing several volleys of rockets towards southern Israel.
LIVE – Hamas-Israel conflict: The Hebrew state continues its shelling of the Gaza Strip and promises to “destroy” Hamas.
Until the hostages are released, there will be no water or fuel in Gaza
Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday his country would not allow basic necessities or humanitarian aid to enter Gaza until the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas freed people kidnapped in Israel on Saturday.
“Humanitarian aid for Gaza? “No electric switch will be turned on, no water tap will be opened and no tanker truck will enter until the kidnapped Israelis return home,” he said in a statement. According to the Israeli government, around 150 Israelis, foreigners and dual nationals were taken hostage by Hamas.
Israel has attacked Gaza with 4,000 tons of explosives since Saturday
The Israeli army announced on Thursday that it had bombarded the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas, with 4,000 tons of explosives since Saturday, a press release said. “Around 6,000 bombs with a total weight of 4,000 tons of explosives were dropped in the Gaza Strip,” the press release continued.
Abbas calls for an “immediate end to aggression” against the Palestinian people
The Palestinian Authority president called on Thursday for an “immediate end to the aggression” against the Palestinian people, who have since fired thousands of bombs and rockets into Gaza, in a first public statement since Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel on Saturday.
During a meeting in Amman with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Mahmoud Abbas called for an “immediate end to maximum aggression against the Palestinian people” and “insisted on rejecting practices that involve killing or mistreating civilians on both sides.” said a statement from the Palestinian presidency. He also warned of the consequences of closing Gaza’s only power plant “due to a lack of fuel,” estimating that it would mean “a real disaster for all health and humanitarian services” in this territory of 2.4 million people.
Humanitarian aid for Gaza begins to arrive in Egypt
Egypt received a first shipment of humanitarian aid for Gaza from Jordan on Thursday, media close to power in Cairo reported, where the only Palestinian enclave not in Israeli hands is opening to the world. Al-Arich airport, the capital of North Sinai, 50 kilometers west of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, “has been selected to receive international humanitarian assistance,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said. On Wednesday, UN chief Antonio Guterres spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi about his trip to Egypt.
On the sixth day of the bombing, Gaza’s only power plant is shut down, its hospitals are overwhelmed and the other two terminals for transporting goods and people have been closed by Israel. Rafah is currently closed after it was bombed three times by the Israelis in less than 24 hours, but Egypt says it is committed to sending humanitarian aid there. However, according to local sources, no convoy approached at midday on Thursday.
Iran calls on “Muslim countries” to unite against Israel
Iran is calling on “Muslim and Arab countries” to form a united front against Israel, while Western leaders led by Joe Biden are warning Tehran to “be careful” not to expand the war that has already claimed thousands of lives.
After “welcoming the success” of the attack launched on Israeli territory on Saturday, Tehran is trying to organize an international mobilization against Israeli airstrikes in retaliation against Gaza. President Ebrahim Raïssi called on “Muslim and Arab countries” to “coordinate” to “stop Israel’s crimes.” “The Islamic Republic will try to establish this coordination as quickly as possible by contacting the leaders of Muslim countries,” he added, according to the president.
Darmanin orders ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations
Gérald Darmanin on Thursday ordered the ban on “pro-Palestinian demonstrations as they are likely to cause disturbances to public order,” adding that “the organization of these banned demonstrations should lead to arrests.”
The Interior Minister sent this directive to the prefects in a telegram, seen by AFP, in which he lists “the strict instructions” that they must follow. The ministry told AFP that the arrests would affect “the organizers and troublemakers.”
12 Frenchmen were killed and 17 missing
The number of French nationals killed has continued to rise, the French Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Thursday. “We must deplore a new death that brings to 12 the number of French victims of terrorist attacks in Israel,” said Anne-Claire Legendre during a press conference, adding that in France “there is no news of 17 compatriots whose disappearance is considered “very serious.” is worrying. She also announced that the head of diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, would travel to Roissy airport on Thursday evening to personally greet the first French people returning from Israel.
France organizes “several special flights” for its nationals
Several special flights will be organized between Israel and France on Friday and Saturday to allow nationals who have not yet found a commercial flight to return to the national territory, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. “Vulnerable people (particularly unaccompanied minors and pregnant women) with disabilities or in a medical situation constituting a particular emergency will have priority,” specifies the Quai d’Orsay, which pledges to cooperate “with Air France to resume its flights”. Commercial flights as soon as possible.
More than a hundred anti-Semitic acts in France
A risk that Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin takes seriously, who has identified “more than a hundred anti-Semitic acts” since Saturday, affecting Europe’s largest Jewish community of around 500,000 people. The interior minister emphasized to France Inter that “24 people had been arrested” and that Pharos, the online hate reporting platform, had received “more than 2,000 reports.” But he added that “there are no signs to the intelligence services in the neighborhoods and on the streets that the conflict is being imported into France.”
United Kingdom: Jewish community security has been strengthened following a sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks
The British government announced on Thursday that it was releasing additional funding for the security of the Jewish community after 139 anti-Semitic acts were recorded in four days, five times more than in the same period last year.
Three million pounds sterling (3.5 million euros) in additional funding will be made available to the organization responsible for protecting the security of the Jewish community, Downing Street said in a statement following a meeting on the outbreak of war in Israel bloody attack by Hamas, which left thousands dead and almost 150 hostages.
“We will dismantle and destroy Hamas like the world destroyed Daesh”
“Every member of Hamas is a dead man,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday during a first ceremonial speech to his emergency government, formed the same day with Benny Gantz, a key opposition leader. “Hamas is Daesh (the jihadist group Islamic State, editor’s note) and we will smash and destroy them, just as the world destroyed Daesh,” he added, after describing the attack as “an unprecedented one since the Holocaust “Cruelty” had described.
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