AGI – There is no diplomatic breakthrough in sight to stop this War in the Middle Eastand it gets more dramatic every hour Humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has said there are “not enough body bags” in Gaza and that access to drinking water is limited More than a million people were displaced.
L’World Health Organization He warned that only “24 hours of water, electricity and fuel” remain in Gaza before “a real catastrophe” occurs.
The death toll continues to rise
According to the Palestinian Authority, 2,808 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 10,000 injured since Israeli crackdowns began after October 7.
Ten days after the Hamas attack that killed 1,400 Israelis and injured nearly 4,000 people, Israel claims to have killed the head of Hamas intelligence. Khan Yunis.
And the head of the Shin BetIsraeli intelligence, which is responsible for combating terrorism, claims responsibility for the Islamist group’s attack last Saturday: “Despite a series of measures we took, we failed to generate sufficient warning to stop the attack “The responsibility is mine,” said Shin Bet number one Ronan Bar.
The Efforts of Diplomacy
There is currently no solution in sight that would limit the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza: this United StatesIn the afternoon they informed us that the restaurant would be opening soon Rafha crossing between Gaza and Egypt to provide displaced people with an escape route. However, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the Israeli government had not yet made a decision.
“We’re hoping it can be open for a few hours later today, but again, we’ll just have to wait and see how it goes,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council. Instead, Israel maintains that humanitarian aid from Egypt is entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing under Egyptian supervision, as requested by the United States.
Tensions on the Lebanese border
It is now growing the fear of an expansion of the conflict: On the northern front, Israel has evacuated 28 villages on the border with Lebanon, where clashes with the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah have intensified in recent days. Residents will be transferred to state-sponsored pensions.
The Israeli army confirmed that Hamas was holding 199 people hostage in Gaza who were captured in the Oct. 7 attack, and army spokesman Daniel Hagari said the Israel Defense Forces were working “around the clock to return those abducted” to their families . Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, offered himself in exchange for the hostage children.
Israel today claimed to have killed Hamas’ intelligence chief in an airstrike on Gaza, while the possibility of a land attack by Tel Aviv’s defense forces remains in the background.
© Said Khatib/AFP
Bombing of Gaza
Blinken returns to Israel, Putin also moves
As the US Secretary of State’s activism continues, Antony BlinkenBack in Israel for its second visit since the Hamas attack, the Biden administration is putting pressure on Israel to prevent a ground attack while warning Iran to avoid an escalation that could have devastating consequences.
Also on the field today Wladimir Putinwhat the Israeli Prime Minister heard Benjamin Nethanyauthe Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisithe Syrian Bashar al-Assadthe Iranian Ebrahim Raisi and the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Putin expressed support for the Palestinian cause and expressed concern about large-scale escalation.
The Kremlin chief calls on Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to say that “the operations carried out by the Israeli army are of an indiscriminate nature and the danger of a ground operation and intrusion into the Gaza Strip remains.” “There is a high risk – this is Moscow’s position – that the conflict will spiral out of control.”
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