Hamas offers the release of 20 hostages for a six-week truce

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas “proposed the release of 20 hostages for a six-week truce, in exchange for the release of hundreds of detainees by Israel”. This is what an Israeli official quoted by the “Walla” information website said, according to which Hamas reduced the previously agreed number of hostages to be released to 40 as part of the negotiations because “some names proposed concern people who are no longer alive, while others are in the hands of other factions.”

Israel: “We will respond to the Iranian attack”

Israel will respond to the Iranian missile attack in recent days. This was stated by the Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Herzl Halevi. Israel is still evaluating what actions to take, but the Iranian attack with missiles and drones “will have a response”, Halevi explained. The war cabinet of Israel concluded the meeting to discuss the response to Iran’s attack, which occurred between last Saturday and Sunday. According to reports from the Israeli broadcaster “Channel 12”, various options were discussed, each of which represents a “painful” retaliatory response against theIran, but not enough to trigger a regional war. The broadcaster specifies that the Israeli war cabinet also aims to choose a reaction to the Iranian missile and drone attack on Saturday evening that is not blocked by the United States.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the US Department of Defense, Major General Pat Ryder he made it known that the military resources mobilized by the United States in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East in anticipation of the Iranian attack against Israel will remain in the region awaiting the response of the Jewish State. “As stated publicly and privately by the Secretary (of Defense, Lloyd Austin), we don’t want an escalation, but obviously we will take the necessary measures to protect our forces in the region as demonstrated over the weekend, and the necessary measures to defend Israel.”

Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, he had already clarified yesterday to the US Secretary of Defense that the Jewish State “has no choice” but to respond to the attack conducted by Iran on the night between Saturday and Sunday with drones and missiles, according to what the information site reveals ” Axios” citing a US government source and another source familiar with the dossier. What appears clear, therefore, is that there will be a response to the Iranian attack which occurred during the night between Saturday and Sunday, when 170 drones were launched towards Israeli territory (none entered Israeli territory), 120 ballistic missiles (some penetrated Israeli territory), and 30 cruise missiles (none entered Israeli territory) from Iran and pro-Iranian groups active in the Middle East.

According to the Israeli Army, to deal with the attack on April 13-14, the anti-aircraft cost between 4-5 billion dollars, while the Treasury Ministry reports a cost of around 2.5 billion dollars. The response to the diversified Iranian attack has seen both the use of fighter jets, the Iron Dome air defense system (the production of each interceptor costs between 40 thousand and 50 thousand dollars), especially against the Shahed 136 kamikaze drones , and the Arrow anti-missile interceptor system, capable of intercepting and neutralizing the threat in the stratosphere. In a telephone conversation held by the defense chiefs of Tel Aviv and Washington yesterday, Gallant explained to the Pentagon chief that the Jewish state “cannot accept an equation according to which Iran responds with a direct attack every time Israel strikes targets in Syria,” nor that its territory is targeted without an adequate response. According to sources, Austin responded with a message similar to the one communicated the day before, Saturday 13 April by President Joe Biden to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, underlining the need to do everything possible to avoid a further spread of the conflict.

In the public account of the phone call offered by the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Gallant also expressed “deep appreciation” to Austin for the cooperation and coordination between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the US military and other international partners who contributed to the shooting down of Iranian drones and missiles in flight. The Pentagon, for its part, underlined how Austin has made it clear that the United States does not want an escalation of the conflict, and will continue to take “all actions necessary to defend Israel and US personnel”. Furthermore, the US statement highlighted how the two discussed the hypothesis of an international and regional coalition against Iran.

If Israel were to respond to the Iranian attack”Tehran will be forced to react more forcefully.” This is what the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said during a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, as reported by the Iranian press agency “Irna”, during which they discussed the attack launched by Tehran against Israel during the night between Saturday and Sunday. The Iranian response came after a raid on April 1 against the Iranian consulate in Damascus attributed to Israel killed at least seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Pasdaran), including Qods Force general Mohammad Reza Zahedi. “This limited action is intended to deter, punish and warn the Zionist regime (Israel), that if it takes new action against the Islamic Republic of Iran, it will certainly face a very strong response,” Amirabdollahian said. The Iranian minister also highlighted Russia’s role in efforts to end “Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.”

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