- The war between Israel and Hamas was sparked by the Palestinian Islamist movement’s unprecedented attack on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip on October 7.
- In retaliation, Israel vowed to “destroy Hamas,” relentlessly shelling the besieged area home to 2.4 million Palestinians and launching a ground operation on Oct. 27.
- This Wednesday, two new Russian hostages were released, while Turkish President Erdogan called Benjamin Netanyahu the “butcher of Gaza.”
News of the day
Hamas welcomes Vladimir Putin’s “efforts” and releases two Russian hostages held in Gaza. Yelena Trupanov, 50, and Irena Tati, 73, were handed over by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) earlier on Wednesday, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, the Palestinian Islamist movement said in a statement. a statement.
On Sunday, Hamas released Ron Krivoi, an Israeli-Russian hostage, in gratitude for the Russian president’s “support of the Palestinian cause.” The two released women entered Egypt through the Rafah border crossing, Egyptian television confirmed.
The number of the day
10 months. Like the age of Sfir Bibas, the youngest hostage to be kidnapped. The Israeli army said on Wednesday it was “reviewing” the announcement by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas about the deaths of a 10-month-old baby, the youngest of the hostages kidnapped on October 7, his mother and his four-year-old brother. Years. The army is “verifying the accuracy of the information” and its representatives have “spoken to the Bibas family,” it said in a statement. “The responsibility for the safety of all hostages in the Gaza Strip lies with Hamas, which is endangering the lives of the hostages, including nine children. Hamas must return them immediately.”
Sentence of the day
Netanyahu has now written himself into history as the “Butcher of Gaza.”
These are the words of Turkish President Erdogan to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And that’s not all. The head of state estimated that Netanyahu “endangers the security of the Israeli people and all Jews by provoking anti-Semitism with the murders he committed in Gaza.”
An ardent supporter of the Palestinian cause, the Turkish president took up Hamas’ cause as the number of Palestinian casualties in the Gaza Strip mounted due to Israeli retaliation following the Islamist movement’s deadly attack on October 7 that left 1,200 people dead in Israel. mostly civilians.
The Turkish leader has repeatedly described Israel as a “terrorist state” and believes Hamas is a “group of liberators protecting their country.”
Today’s trend
The current ceasefire between Hamas and Israel is officially scheduled to end this Thursday. However, a source close to the Islamist movement said it had “agreed to a four-day extension of the ceasefire.” The three mediating countries (Egypt, Qatar, USA) are working on a permanent ceasefire.
US diplomatic chief Antony Blinken is also expected to try to extend the ceasefire in Israel, which would also lead to new hostage releases. A source close to Hamas announced on Wednesday evening that a new group of Israeli hostages had been handed over to the Red Cross.
Since Friday, around ten Israeli hostages, all women and children, have been released every evening by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In return, three times as many Palestinian prisoners, including women and young people under 19, will be released from Israeli prisons.