From Le Figaro with AFP
Published 52 minutes ago, now updated
Israeli soldiers walk next to military vehicles and ambulances near Israel's border fence with Gaza, Israel, January 22, 2024. AMIR COHEN / Portal
UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – This is the highest daily damage since the Jewish state began its ground offensive in Gaza on October 27.
On Tuesday, January 23, heavy fighting continued between the Israeli army – which announced on Monday the loss of 21 soldiers during the day – and Hamas in Khan Younes in the southern Gaza Strip, against the backdrop of negotiations for a “Pause” in the war. for a few weeks as there is no longer term solution. Le Figaro takes stock of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
21 Israeli soldiers were killed in one day
The Israeli army spokesman announced on Tuesday the deaths of 21 “reservists” who were killed in the Gaza Strip the day before. This is the highest daily death toll on the Israeli side since the ground offensive against this Palestinian territory began on October 27. Gen. Daniel Hagari noted during a televised press conference that most of these reservists were killed by the explosion of “an RPG” (shoulder-mounted rocket) that targeted a tank and a building mined by the army with a view to its demolition South of the Gaza Strip.
The army had previously published the identities of ten of these reservists on its website. “We worked until the last hours to locate the victims,” General Hagari said, citing the difficulty of recovering bodies buried under the rubble.
“War has a high, even very high, price. “Our reservists have sacrificed what they care most about so that we can all live here in complete safety,” General Hagari added. The Israeli army said it had taken control of Hamas command posts in Khan Younes and reported a death toll of 200 since the start of its ground offensive in Gaza.
Fighting in Khan Younes is increasing
Early Tuesday evening, Palestinian witnesses reported Israeli artillery fire near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younes, the southern capital of the territory where Israel says local Hamas leaders are hiding. According to the UN Humanitarian Coordination Office (Ocha), “hostilities are increasing” in Khan Younes, while the Palestinian Red Crescent complained of an “extremely dangerous” situation near another hospital, Al-Amal.
Palestinian telecommunications operator Paltel announced a renewed restriction on internet and mobile communications, a consequence of Israeli military operations in the area where the situation for the civilian population was already critical.
Two months of ceasefire?
Israel, through the mediation of Egypt and Qatar, has offered Hamas a two-month break in fighting and raids in Gaza in return for the release of all hostages, the American website Axios reported on Monday evening. This proposal does not mean the end of the war in Gaza, but a second ceasefire after a week that allowed the release of a hundred hostages in exchange for at least 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Israel's proposal calls for the return of living hostages to Israel and, according to Axios, consists of several phases, the first of which would include women and men over the age of 60. This was followed by female soldiers, men under 60 but not in the military, male Israeli soldiers and then the remains of hostages.
As part of the plan, Israel and Hamas would have to agree in advance on the number of Palestinian prisoners released in exchange for each hostage according to their category, Axios continued. At a meeting on Monday with family members of the hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke of an Israeli “initiative” but claimed he could not explain it “in detail,” according to the local press.
Diplomatic meetings in Brussels
When the Netanyahu government discusses a ceasefire, it is refusing to think longer-term about the “two-state solution,” an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, European foreign ministers complained on Monday. At their meeting in Brussels, they met one after the other and separately with their Israeli counterparts Israel Katz and the Palestinian Riyad al-Maliki.
Israel Katz said he was seeking European support for Israel's war against Hamas and for the release of hostages. “The (Israeli) minister could have used his time better and worried about the security of his country and the high number of deaths in Gaza,” reacted the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell, irritated by Israel's refusal to talk about it Two-state solution. “What other solutions are you thinking about?” asked Josep Borrell. “Let all Palestinians go? “Kill them?” he added. Israelis are “sowing the seeds of hatred for generations to come.”
Regionalization of the conflict
Beyond the Palestinian territories, the conflict is heightening tensions between Israel and Hamas's pro-Iranian allies, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthis. In support of the Gaza Strip, they are increasingly carrying out attacks on international traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, causing headaches for major shipping companies and increasing the costs of sea transport.
On Monday night, the United States and the United Kingdom again bombed Houthi sites in Yemen in the hope of “weakening” these rebels' military arsenal to encourage recreational traffic in the Red Sea. But for Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior Houthi official, these attacks “only strengthen the determination of the Yemeni people to fulfill their moral and humanitarian responsibilities to the oppressed in Gaza.”
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