Israel's war against Hamas serves the freedom of the world. From the podium in Davos, Israeli President Isaac Herzog warned of the ongoing conflict with the Hamas Palestinian faction with the photo of little Kfir Bibas – the red-haired baby who turns one today as a Hamas prisoner in Gaza. And he also pointed out, after the October 7 massacre, the main point of the post-war period in the event of the possible emergence of a Palestinian state. “What security guarantees will there be for Israeli citizens?” asked the head of state as hundreds of balloons rose into the sky in Tel Aviv to pay homage to little Kfir Bibas on the “ugliest birthday in the world.”
According to Herzog, “the preliminary question” remains precisely that which concerns “the security of Israeli citizens.” “Israel,” he continued, “wants to live in peace and there is a strong desire for coexistence among both Israelis and Palestinians, but terrorism must be eliminated.” “I do not deny the human tragedy in Gaza,” added he added. “It is painful to see our neighbors suffering so much, but we have the right to defend ourselves. What can we do when terrorists are hiding among the civilian population?” It was Benjamin Netanyahu who put a damper on US expectations of the establishment of a Palestinian state as a driving force to resolve the crisis. According to NBC rumors, the prime minister has rejected a proposal from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia in return for a “pathway” to establish a Palestinian state. According to the same rumors, Blinken also called for a change in the current leadership in Jerusalem if the current conflict situation did not want to “recur”.
“The day after Netanyahu” means the birth of a Palestinian state that is “against the majority of citizens of Israel,” the prime minister interrupted, reiterating his rejection of the US proposal. “For 30 years,” he said, “I have held on to one simple thing: the conflict is not about the absence of a state, but about the existence of a state.” “In every area from which we withdraw,” he declared, “we will experience terror. This happened in southern Lebanon, Gaza, Judea and Samaria (West Bank).” Netanyahu added that the war against Hamas “will continue on all fronts until all objectives are achieved,” including the release of the hostages, for which “military Pressure” is crucial. “Victory,” he emphasized, “will take a few more months, but we are determined to achieve it.” And he reiterated that in the post-war period in Gaza “there will be no party that educates about terror or finances it and sends terrorists against Israel.” On the 104th day of the war, the Israeli army continued to shell the Gaza Strip from north to south. The death toll has risen to 24,620, according to Hamas, which does not differentiate between civilians and militiamen killed. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that an Israeli attack killed 19 people, “mainly children and women,” in Rafah, in the south near Egypt. According to Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera, the attack occurred in an area declared “safe” by Israel.
UNRWA – the UN agency for Palestinian refugees – has announced that 151 of its staff have been killed since hostilities began in Gaza. Not far from Rafah, in Khan Yunis, the Israeli army captured the Shuhada outpost, the largest Hamas stronghold in the region. And it destroyed Hamas's largest rocket and weapons manufacturing plant in central Gaza, in the center of the Gaza Strip. Tensions are not easing in Lebanon either, where Hezbollah rockets continue to arrive, followed by Israeli airstrikes. Defense Minister Gallant warned that Israel must “prepare for a worsening” situation.
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