(Adnkronos) – The Israeli army has announced a “tactical pause” in the offensive in the southern Gaza Strip to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. The stop will begin in the Rafah area at 8am and will remain in effect until 7pm, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, adding that it will take place every day until further notice. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the pause “unacceptable.”
“When Netanyahu learned on Sunday morning about the news of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the fighting, he told his military secretary that this was unacceptable,” the prime minister’s office said, as reported by the Haaretz newspaper. “After the situation was clarified, the prime minister was told that there is no change in the IDF’s policy in Rafah and that the fighting in Rafah continues as planned.”
According to the Israeli news site Ynet, there should specifically be a ‘pause’ in the form of aid deliveries in the area indicated by the IDF announcement, from the Kerem Shalom crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards towards the Khan Younis area.
The same portal had previously reported that the Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, would not have been informed in advance of the plans nor would he have approved the decision communicated by the IDF of the “tactical pause”.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks of a “delusional announcement”. In a long post on “For all the last few months, the management of the humanitarian commitment in the Gaza Strip has been terrible, in the framework of which the aid goes largely to Hamas and helps it to continue with the civil control of the Strip in complete contradiction with the objectives of the war”, states Smotrich in the post, claiming to have repeatedly warned that “this is one of the reasons for the continuation of the war and the resounding strategic failure” of the Israeli military campaign launched against Hamas in the Strip after the October 7 attack in Israel .
Smotrich, an exponent of the far right of the Israeli government, goes further: “For six months the IDF Chief of Staff and the Minister of Defense have rejected the only path that would allow victory, the occupation of the Strip and the establishment of a temporary military government until the complete destruction of Hamas and unfortunately Prime Minister Netanyahu is unwilling or unable to impose it on him.” According to the minister, “the problem is that the General Staff is completely detached from the existence of the forces on the ground if it manages to spread such a message on the day we bury 11 of our best fighters.”
The pause, as we read in the Guardian, would be intended to allow humanitarian trucks to reach the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for incoming aid controlled by Israel, and to travel safely north along the highway Salah a-Din, to deliver supplies to other parts of Gaza. The pause is aimed at “increasing the volume of humanitarian aid” arriving in the besieged Palestinian territory, the IDF said, adding that it was coordinated with the United Nations and international aid agencies.
After eight months of fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas militants, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warns that people in the southern part of the Gaza Strip could soon suffer the same terrible levels of hunger as those found in the north of Gaza. Carl Skau, the agency’s deputy executive director, said Friday that while progress was being made in the north, the situation was deteriorating again in the south. The United Nations relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said on Saturday that more than 50,000 children in Gaza require treatment for acute malnutrition.
Meanwhile, Egypt is reportedly pressuring Hamas to accept without modification the implementation of the first phase of the plan outlined by American President Joe Biden.
Hamas’ response to the latest ceasefire proposal in the Gaza Strip is “consistent” with the “fundamental principles” of US President Joe Biden’s plan, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement. speech on the occasion of Eid Al Adha. According to al-Jazeera satellite TV, Haniyeh said that Hamas is ready to accept an agreement that guarantees a lasting ceasefire, the withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Gaza, reconstruction and an agreement for the exchange of held hostages in the Palestinian enclave with Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
“Our response to the ceasefire proposal is fundamentally consistent with Biden’s speech and the UN Security Council resolution,” Haniyeh said, asserting that “Hamas remains serious about reaching an agreement that declare a permanent ceasefire, withdrawal (of Israeli forces) from Gaza, reconstruction (of the Palestinian enclave) and an exchange of prisoners.
But, he accused, Israel “and its allies have not responded to the flexibility we have shown and have instead plotted and launched incendiary media pressure maneuvers against us.” Haniyeh pointed the finger at the US, whose “cover-up” of Israel “has finally been exposed on a popular, political, legal and humanitarian level”. “The solution for Gaza must be achieved through negotiations culminating in a comprehensive agreement,” the Hamas leader said.
The Israeli army meanwhile announced that two more reservists were killed yesterday when their tank was attacked in northern Gaza. According to Time of Israel, the 28-year-old and the 49-year-old, serving in the 129th battalion of the 8th reserve armored brigade, died when an explosive device was detonated against their tank. Two other soldiers were seriously injured in the attack.
This brings the toll of soldiers killed yesterday in the Palestinian enclave to 10, in what is the episode with the heaviest toll for the IDF in the enclave since January.
The death of the eight Israeli soldiers is “the heartbreaking price of our just war to defend the homeland”, said Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing his “deep condolences”, but insisting that “despite the heavy and shocking price, we must maintain the objectives of war”.
Groups that contest the prime minister have announced several days of mobilizations, starting tomorrow, to urge the calling of elections by October 7, when one year will have passed since the attack in Israel and the start of the Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the Strip of Gaza. An announcement preceded by a mobilization that blocked some of Israel’s main roads this morning. The protests will begin tomorrow, before the demonstration scheduled in front of the Knesset for 7 pm. “Our objective is clear,” said the leader of the ‘Free in our Land’ movement, Eran Schwartz, quoted by the Times of Israel. And that is to “immediately return the mandate to the people and go to the polls before the anniversary of the failure represented by last October 7th”.
The accusation that the Israeli government has “repeatedly failed both in defending Israel’s security and in taking care of its citizens”. And to “put political survival before the country’s interest”, as “demonstrated by the failure to promote an agreement for the release of the hostages” held since 7 October 2023 in the Gaza Strip and by the “abandonment of the citizens of the north” of Israel , targeted by Lebanese Hezbollah attacks.
For another exponent of the movement cited by the same newspaper, Moshe Radman, elections are the only way to restore hope to Israelis. He asks Netanyahu not to be afraid because “only a dictator would be afraid of his own people”.
After the initiatives announced for tomorrow, new protests are planned for Tuesday and Wednesday evening. There are expected to be demonstrations in front of the prime minister’s residences on Thursday.
