Hamas says it is prepared to respect any International Court of Justice decision calling for a ceasefire in Gaza if Israel does the same. In a statement published on Telegram and relaunched on the Aljazeera website, Hamas says on the eve of the hearing in which the court must announce whether it will grant emergency measures that it will release all Israeli hostages if Israel releases all Palestinian prisoners . “The Zionist enemy must end its 18-year siege of the Gaza Strip and provide all necessary assistance for the population and reconstruction,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Israeli bombings against Hamas in the Gaza Strip continue. At least 20 Palestinians were killed in a raid on crowds waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani is in Israel and Ramallah today.
Meanwhile, Gazans returned to the streets today in Khan Younis, in the southern Palestinian enclave, to call on Hamas and Israel to end the ongoing conflict. Dpa speaks of dozens of city residents who took to the streets in protest, while hundreds demonstrated, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Those in attendance called for a ceasefire from both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader in Gaza Yehya al-Sinwar. As can be seen from the video published on the Haaretz website, mainly boys and men took part in the march.
Twenty Palestinians were reportedly killed and at least 150 others injured when Israeli forces struck people waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City, according to broadcaster al-Jazeera. The broadcaster reported that the attack took place in Kuwait Square in the Zeitoun district, east of Gaza City in the north of the enclave. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra spoke of a massacre of “hungry mouths.” There is a risk that the death toll will rise as many of the injured are seriously and have been taken to Al-Shifa hospital, where there is no medical care and few doctors work, al-Qudra said. Civil protection spokesman Mahmoud Basal reported on the difficulties the rescuers had in reaching the site because the Israeli military prevented them from doing so.
At least one person was killed and others injured when an Israeli warplane bombed a residential building in Rafah at dawn. This was reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources. The raid took place in the Tal as-Sultan neighborhood west of Rafah, where more than 1.3 million Palestinians live in overcrowded conditions.
Dozens of “terrorists” were instead killed in the al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Yunis, as military operations continue in the Palestinian enclave’s second-largest city.
Biden sends CIA director to negotiations
President Biden plans to send CIA Director William J. Burns in the coming days to help negotiate an ambitious deal between Hamas and Israel that would include: the release of the hostages still in Gaza in return for the longest pause in hostilities since the Gaza war began last year. This was revealed by The Washington Post, citing informed sources, who said Burns will be in Europe for talks and will meet with Israeli and Egyptian intelligence chiefs David Barnea and Abbas Kamel, as well as Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani .
The clash with Qatar is the latest act of “encirclement” around Netanyahu, besieged by the families of the hostages and by Biden, by the European leaders and those of the Arab countries, but always careful not to give in to the war in Gaza and other countries with the goal of destroying Hamas. At the same time, with Hamas weakening, the question in Doha is who the Palestinians will be able to govern Gaza when the war is over. including those who eventually manage to “rehabilitate” themselves within the ranks of Hamas.
A discussion linked to the hostage crisis negotiations that, despite the stalemate, “Doha is not giving up because it has no alternatives; Giving up participation in the negotiations would be a great harm to a country that has mediation skills “its central asset of its politics”.
Tajani on mission, meeting with Abbas and Netanyahu
Tajani began his mission in Israel with a meeting with the President of the Republic of Israel, Isaac Herzog. During the meeting with the head of state, Tajani once again expressed his outrage at the October 7 Hamas attack on the Israeli civilian population in the Gaza Strip and confirmed the Italian government's call to the Israeli government to protect the lives of Palestinian civilians during the military operation, whatever the impact protect operations. “We strongly support the Israeli government's actions against terrorist organizations and at the same time would like to discuss with our Israeli friends the preparations for a return to political and diplomatic confrontation.” After the military operations in Gaza, a political way must be found immediately to prevent the current conflicts repeat and spread to other conflicts in the region. But it will also be necessary to take the political path that will inevitably lead to a formula aimed at the “two peoples, two states” solution. After the meeting, he was accompanied by some family members of the hostages held in Gaza since October 7th.
Tajani then met with Foreign Minister Israel Katz and “War Cabinet” member Benny Gantz. “We agreed with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz to strengthen joint humanitarian initiatives. Italy is at the forefront of supporting the Palestinian people. Ready to treat 100 children from Gaza in Italy. “Exciting meeting with family members of Israeli hostages,” he said., said the owner of the Farnesina.
“I met Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, a true friend of Israel. My main message to him was that we have no choice but to fulfill our mission in Gaza: bring all the hostages home and neutralize Hamas. I asked him to intervene.” “We ask the Lebanese government to expel Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, otherwise Lebanon will suffer a devastating blow from which it will not recover,” Katz wrote on the social network
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani then met with Palestinian Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and Foreign Minister al-Maliki. Tajani himself wrote this in a tweet, emphasizing that “Italy is the protagonist of peace in Gaza.” The Farnesina leader reiterated that “the two-state solution is the only possible one” and that “Hamas is not Palestine.” The commitment, he explained, was “to work with the Palestinian Authority to strengthen its institutions and support the civilian population.”
On the two-state solution: “At the moment the Israeli side is certainly not enthusiastic about this proposal. I also understand this because they are at war and it is difficult for the internal front to talk about this hypothesis.” I noticed “The PNA and Abu are cheaper, I met Mazen, but we must not give up because “It is the solution that concerns the future,” the Italian minister then explained in a press conference, underlining the need “not to relax security around Israel. Israel must be able to live in security.”
“We are for a ceasefire, we are for seeking a break in the armed conflict in Gaza,” he repeated when asked whether the International Court of Justice would decide tomorrow to impose a ceasefire on Israel. “It cannot be a proposal that is directed against Israel,” Tajani specifies, emphasizing that “Hamas should not be underestimated: the population of Gaza is one thing, Hamas is another.”
For Tajani, he adds, “we must now work for peace,” and that is what he is doing Italy, which will treat 100 Palestinian children. Italy is ready to set up a field hospital.
“Of course we also have to work for reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, but without Hamas, no euros or dollars for Hamas. Hamas uses the people's money to wage war. We want to help the Palestinian people, we don't.” “I don't want to help Hamas. “Everything that happens is the exclusive responsibility of Hamas, which has done everything to prevent Israel from concluding an agreement with Saudi Arabia,” he stressed.
Then the meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuto which the minister explained in a tweet: “I asked for the strengthening of humanitarian initiatives for the Palestinian civilian population and offered the Italian government its commitment to reconstruction.” For Italy, the “Two Peoples, Two States” solution is the only path to a future of peace and development for the Israeli and Palestinian people“.
Ceasefire negotiations, where do we stand?
Israel is no longer calling on the Hamas leadership to leave the Gaza Strip in ceasefire negotiations. This was reported by the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al Jadeed. Egyptian sources also told the newspaper that negotiations for a deal were at a critical point due to Hamas's demand for a permanent end to the fighting.
West Bank
Violent clashes broke out overnight between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters in the West Bank city of Jenin. The local media reported about it. Israeli forces raided various areas of the city and arrested a Palestinian.
Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces also destroyed monuments to fallen Palestinians. Footage shared by local media shows city streets destroyed by Israeli military bulldozers. During the clashes, Palestinian fighters targeted Israeli forces with explosive devices and gunfire, Shehab news agency reported.
A suspected fighter from the Al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, was killed during an Israeli operation in Bir al-Basha, a town not far from Jeni. The victim's name was Walid Khashan, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa Wissam, and his brother was arrested during the operation. The al-Qassam Brigades confirmed that the man was one of its agents and announced that he had died a “martyr” during a “clash with the occupying army.”
UN: Houthis have ordered US and British personnel to leave Yemen
The United Nations has confirmed that Yemen's Houthi rebels have ordered American and British U.N. personnel stationed in the capital Sanaa to leave the country within a month amid shelling in response to attacks on ships in the Red Sea. UN General Secretariat spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told a news conference that he had “received communications from the de facto authorities” calling for a withdrawal from controlled areas of the country, which include Sanaa and other areas to the north and west belong, be called. “Any requirements for United Nations personnel based solely on their nationality are incompatible with the UN legal framework,” the spokesman said, adding that this measure also “hinders” the organization’s ability to support its mandate of the Yemeni people.
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