• It is the 105th day of the war: According to Hamas, 24,620 Palestinians have been killed, including around 10,000 children. In Israel, 1,200 people died in the attack on October 7th.
• USA: “Missiles fired against Houthis”. Fifth attack in a week.
• Netanyahu: “I am against a Palestinian state.” The White House: “Biden believes in a two-state solution.”
• Why Iran is attacking Pakistan, what does it have to do with Hezbollah and Hamas?
7:55 a.m. – The first birthday of Kfir, the youngest of the Hamas hostages: love, anger and balloons
(Davide Frattini) The orange balloons fly over Tel Aviv in a sky so blue that it hurts even more if it had been a beautiful day. Orange balloons fill the kindergarten room in Kibbutz Nir Oz; it should have been a normal day. Tal Mosseri – one of children's favorite television characters – sings “They call me Gingi”, the Hebrew nickname for red-haired people. Little Kfir Bibas is now the little carrot that all Israelis would like to cuddle with, the protagonist of a horror story in which the country hopes for a happy ending.
Here is the full article.
7:54 a.m. – The open fronts in the Middle East, from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean: wars, terrorism, proxy fights
(Guido Olimpio) CIA Director William Burns traveled to Mogadishu, Somalia. An official visit highlighting one of the points of an extensive war front. It begins in the Mediterranean and reaches the Indian Ocean.
Israel is at war with the Palestinians from Hamas in Gaza, Lebanon's Hezbollah, pro-Iranian militias and the Syrian regime. The duel with Tehran continues: directly or through a “proxy fight”.
Here is the full article.
7:48 a.m. – IDF announces death of one soldier, 194 Israeli casualties in Gaza
The IDF announced the death of a soldier who died on Wednesday from injuries sustained during fighting in the southern Gaza Strip. The death of Ori Gerby, 20, a Givati Brigade reconnaissance sergeant from Herzliya, brings to 194 the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground offensive in Gaza against Hamas.
7:44 a.m. – Protests in Tel Aviv, thousands demand a ceasefire
Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv last night to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and peace with the Palestinians. Demonstrations are taking place again in Israel as anger grows at the Netanyahu government for its failure to release prisoners despite a devastating war. Some families of prisoners were also present at the protests. Many protesters carried signs reading “Peace begins with hope” and “Peace is the only solution.” “People say that only peace will bring security for Israel,” Al Jazeera reported. “We are told that many do not carry Palestinian flags because they fear arrest.”
6:43 a.m. – Houthi rebels: We guarantee safe passage through the Red Sea for Chinese and Russian ships
Yemen's Houthi rebels guarantee Chinese and Russian ships “safe passage” in the Red Sea. This was said by Mohammed al Bukhaiti, one of the heads of the political office of the pro-Iranian Shiite militiamen, to the Russian newspaper Izvestia. “The folly and idiocy of the United States and the United Kingdom have backfired on them: from now on, none of their ships will be able to pass through one of the world's most important trade routes. The losses for the aggressor countries are higher than those of Yemen,” al Bukhaiti said. “For other countries, including China and Russia, maritime traffic in the region is not at risk. “In addition, we are ready to ensure the safe passage of their ships in the Red Sea,” the Houthi official added. “But Israeli ships or those that have even a weak connection to Israel will not have the slightest chance of crossing the Red Sea,” al Bukhaiti stressed.
6:15 a.m. – Mahmoud Abbas: “Peace only with the creation of a Palestinian state”
“Without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital within the 1967 borders, there will be no security and stability in the region,” said the official spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as reported by state news agency Wafa (quoted by Al Jazeera). “The entire region – he added – is on the brink of a volcanic eruption due to the aggressive policies of the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights.” The statement follows the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech on the war on Gaza reiterated its opposition to Palestinian statehood.
2:19 a.m. – The US confirms the Houthi attack on an American merchant ship
The US has confirmed a new attack by Houthi rebels on one of its ships. “There were no injuries or damage,” reports Centcom central management. Houthi fighters reportedly targeted an American cargo ship. The ship's crew, the Chem Ranger, “saw the missiles hit the water near the ship” and “there were no reports of injuries or damage,” the ship “continued its course.”
1:07 a.m. – Tel Aviv, 7 arrests in demonstration for release of Hamas hostages
Israeli police arrested seven people in Tel Aviv during a demonstration to call on Benjamin Netanyahu's government to reach a deal to guarantee the return of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israeli media reported on this. According to representatives of the organization coordinating the protests, some of those arrested are relatives of the Israeli hostages.