Egypt has put talks on the table with Israel a proposal for the release of 33 hostages, held in Gaza, women, the sick and the elderly, who are believed to be the only ones left alive of the 133 who were still in Hamas hands. This was written by the Jerusalem Post, which quotes an Israeli source aware of today’s meeting between an Egyptian delegation and one from Tel Aviv, according to which “at the moment there are no talks on hostages between Israel and Hamas, nor is there a new Israeli offer in this regard”.
“What there is – he continued – is an attempt by Egypt to restart talks with an Egyptian proposal that provides for the release of 33 hostageswomen, the elderly and the sick”. According to Israeli intelligence, the 33 hostages are still alive in Gaza.
Cairo is working to secure an agreement to prevent the operation Israeli, announced to dismantle the remaining Hamas stronghold in Rafah, in the south of the Strip. Israel’s war cabinet has authorized the country’s negotiating team to take a more flexible approach in negotiations, Jewish media reported yesterday.
Meanwhile, the number of Palestinians killed and 77,368 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October has risen to at least 34,356. This was reported by the Strip’s Ministry of Health, adding that 51 people were killed and 75 injured in the last 24 hours.
Israel ready to enter Rafah, tanks on the border
Israel is ready to enter Rafah. According to the Times of Israel, the army has massed dozens of tanks and armored vehicles along the border with the Gaza Strip in what appear to be preparations for an invasion of the city. In particular, vehicles were spotted moving near the Israeli Kerem Shalom crossing. According to Israeli public television, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the plans for the operation but has not yet given the green light that would allow the defense forces (IDF) to go into action. According to the latest news, attributed to military sources, between 150 thousand and 200 thousand people have left Rafah since April 7 in view of the possible attack by Israel. Since the beginning of the war, 1.5 million refugees, out of the 2.2 million residents of the Strip, have sought refuge in the city.
Eighteen year old stabbed on street in Israel, suspected terrorist killed
An 18-year-old was stabbed in Ramle in central Israel, writes the Times of Israel, in what Israeli police called a suspected terrorist attack. First aid service Magen David Adom explained that the attacker was shot dead, while the girl was transported to Shamir Medical Center. The police have opened an investigation.
The baby girl born to her dying mother dies after a raid on Rafah
Sabreen al-Sakani, the baby born by emergency caesarean section in Rafah hospital, did not make it, in the southern Gaza Strip, while his mother died after her house was hit by an Israeli air raid. The BBC reports it, writing the end to a story that was one of hope, to a success of the doctors who managed to extract the newborn alive from the womb of her dying mother and resuscitate the little girl, pumping air into her lungs.
The mother, 30 weeks pregnant, was killed together with her husband Shukri and her other three-year-old daughter Malak, while they slept. The baby she was carrying was alive after the caesarean section and had been transferred to an incubator after being stabilized. However, her condition was immediately judged to be critical. Her maternal grandmother Mirvat al-Sakani told the BBC that she would adopt the child. Now Sabreen, named after her mother, has been buried alongside her.
Sabreen was among 16 children who were killed in two airstrikes launched by the Israel Defense Forces on Rafah last weekend. All were killed in a bombing that targeted the residential complex where they lived. The IDF reported targeting Hamas militants and infrastructure.
Protests in front of Gantz’s house, protesters ask him to leave government
A demonstration, which was also attended by families of hostages still in the hands of Palestinian factions in Gaza, was held in front of Benny Gantz’s home in Rosh HaAyin. The demonstrators – according to the Times of Israel – called on the leader of National Unity and a member of the war cabinet to leave the government.
During the protest, demonstrators unfurled a long banner reading “Israel needs leadership” and held signs calling for a change of government. The crowd also chanted slogans calling for the release of those still held hostage in Gaza. Police arrested two protesters.
Construction of the aid pier begins
Meanwhile The United States has begun the initial stages of construction of the temporary pier off the coast of Gaza, which will serve to distribute humanitarian aid for the Palestinian population. A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed this, adding that the delivery of aid could begin as early as the beginning of May.
Raid against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) conducted air strikes against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. The IDF reported this, explaining that they had hit the Shiite group’s infrastructure in Kfarchouba and Markaba. This is an action in response to the launch of two anti-tank missiles from southern Lebanon towards Mount Dov on the border between Lebanon and Israel. In the attack, an Israeli civilian who was carrying out work at an infrastructure in the area was hit and died.
Houthis: Israeli ship attacked in the Gulf of Aden
The spokesperson of the Houthi rebels, Yahya Sare’e, Iran’s representative in Yemen, said that the Houthis attacked the “Israeli ship MSC Darwin in the Gulf of Aden using several naval missiles and UAVs” and added that “the operation He achieved his goal.” Sare’e also said the Houthis launched “a number of ballistic missiles and cruise missiles against Israeli targets in Eilat.”
Blinken in Israel on Tuesday
Antony Blinken is expected to go to Israel on Tuesday. This was reported by the Israeli broadcaster Kan, adding that the US Secretary of State should discuss the imminent IDF operation in Rafah and the negotiations to suspend the fighting and free over 100 hostages, held by Hamas in Gaza since 7 October. It would be Blinken’s seventh trip to the region since the war broke out in Gaza.
Biden will not sanction Israeli Netzah Yehuda battalion
Joe Biden will not impose sanctions on the Netzah Yehuda battalion, ABC News reported, citing a letter written by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Biden administration has ruled that three Israel Defense Forces battalions have committed “serious human rights violations” against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, but they will remain eligible for U.S. military aid regardless of what steps Israel says it will take to address the problem.
The administration’s assessment, which has not yet been made public, was outlined in a letter from Blinken to House Speaker Mike Johnson and obtained by ABC News, in which the secretary of state said the U.S. decision “will not delay the provision of any American assistance and Israel will be able to receive the full amount appropriated by Congress.” The allegations involving each of the units occurred before the October 7 war began. None of the cases involve operations against Hamas in Gaza or against Iran or its proxies. However, the decision risks angering critics of the Biden administration who argue that not enough is being done to hold Israel accountable for military operations in Gaza that pushed the civilian population into famine.
Administration officials counter that the review process for human rights violations was fair and that Israel was not given preferential treatment. “Each of these situations is different, and we must do our best to gather the facts and follow them and that’s what we’re doing,” Blinken told reporters at a news conference Monday when asked for details on the U.S. review.
Erdogan: “US support for Israel distances a solution”
”The US Administration’s unconditional military and diplomatic support for Israel does not contribute to the solution, but rather aggravates the problem”. This was stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, quoted by the Anadolu news agency. Turkey, Erdogan underlined, ”is the only country to apply export restrictions to Israel on 54 groups of products”.
”Despite everything, the Palestinians in Gaza have been resisting for 203 days. No one can expect us to remain silent in the face of the genocide taking place in the Palestinian enclave. ”We will continue to fight with determination with the conviction that defending Jerusalem means defending humanity, peace, respect for different faiths,” added the Turkish president. Erdogan then denounced the fact that ”the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem is increasingly subjected to harassment, while the identity of the old city is being erased step by step by Israel”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ”Netanyahu, like the wicked before him, has shamefully written his name in history as the butcher of Gaza”. “We will continue to consider our brothers in Hamas, who defend their homeland from the occupiers, as the National Resistance of Palestine.” Stressing that ”we will continue to support the noble and honorable cause of the Palestinians”, Turkish President Erdogan.
