Negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a truce in Gaza have been suspended until Tuesday. After a day of intense negotiations, the Hamas delegation that was in Cairo for the talks delivered the group’s response to the mediators of Egypt and Qatar and left for Doha for internal consultations with the movement.
The delegation will be in the Egyptian capital again on Tuesday, reports the Egyptian channel Al Qahera. Also in Doha was CIA chief William Burns “for a meeting with Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani” with the aim of talking “about the commitment to reach an agreement on the hostages in Gaza”. Meanwhile, Israel blocks all Al Jazeera activities in the country.
Netanyahu: “Israel will not accept Hamas requests”
In a video statement Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he reiterated that Israel “will not accept Hamas demands whose meaning is surrender” and the withdrawal of IDF troops from the Strip. “Israel cannot accept this,” he said. “We are not ready to accept a situation in which Hamas battalions emerge from their bunkers, regain control of Gaza, rebuild their military infrastructure and return to threaten the citizens of Israel in neighboring communities. , in the cities of the south, in all areas of the country”. “Israel vwill continue to fight until all its objectives are achieved”, Netanyahu reiterated, accusing Hamas of “remaining entrenched in its positions”, while Israel says it is still open to an agreement.
Eighty years after the end of the Holocaust, Israel again faces a “ruthless and brutal” enemy who seeks its destruction, Netanyahu said during the official Yom Hashoah commemoration ceremony at Yad Vashem. The Hamas attack on October 7 “was not a Holocaust not because of the lack of intention to destroy us, but because of the lack of capacity”, says the Israeli prime minister, insisting on the fact that the Palestinian terrorist group had the “same intention”of the Nazis to wipe out the Jewish people. “The Hamas murderers are driven by the exact same goal,” she insists, underlining that, unlike the Holocaust, Israel today “has the strength to defend itself.” Israel will “complete the elimination of Hamas’ capabilities” and release the hostages, Netanyahu promises.
For his part, the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, accused Netanyahu of “continuing the aggression and widening the conflict, sabotaging the efforts made through mediators and various parties”. Hamas wants to reach a ceasefire agreement that ends the “aggression”, ensures the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the Gaza Strip and includes a “serious” prisoner exchange, Haniyeh said
Gallant: “Soon operation in Rafah”
“We wanted to secure the release of the hostages quickly by halting our operations. We are seeing worrying signs that Hamas does not intend to reach an agreement with us.” And “this means that the operation in Rafah will begin in the immediate future“, said the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, to the Israeli forces (IDF) in Gaza, as reported by the Israeli news site Ynet. In the last few hours the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, warned that the damage of a Israel’s military operation in Rafah would “go beyond acceptable” without a plan to protect Palestinian civilians.
Last week the Biden Administration blocked a shipment of US-made ammunition to Israel. Axios reports this, citing two Israeli officials, underlining that it is the first time since the October 7 attack in Israel and the start of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip that the US has stopped a supply of weapons to the Israeli military.
Israel ‘turns off’ al-Jazeera: “Channel that incites, will be closed”
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi signed the provisions to shut down al-Jazeera in Israel soon after Benjamin Netanyahu’s government gave the unanimous green light to stop the network’s activities, in line with a law passed by the Knesset in April “The government led by me has decided unanimously: the al-Jazeera incitement channel will be closed in Israel”, he wrote on X Netanyahu.
After the decision, there was a raid on al-Jazeera’s offices in East Jerusalem and equipment was reportedly seized. Al-Jazeera reported how cable and satellite providers removed the channel. In a note published on X, Qatar TV accuses: “We condemn and denounce this criminal act by Israel which violates the human right of access to information.”
Israel’s decision is one “blatant violation of freedom of the press”, a “retaliation” for the network’s work. Word of Hamas, which – the same satellite TV reports – asks international organizations for freedom of the press and human rights to “condemn” the Israeli moves and “adopt punitive measures”. In a statement released on Telegram, the group said that the “shutdown of al-Jazeera is a repressive measure and retaliation for the channel’s professional role in exposing crimes and violations of the occupation in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Hamas rockets on Kerem Shalom, injured
The Israeli army announced the death of three soldiers in rocket attack claimed by Hamas against a camp near Kerem Shalom, in southern Israel. This is what ‘The Times of Israel’ reports. The soldiers killed are Sergeant Major Ruben Marc Mordechai Assouline, 19 of the Shaked battalion of the Givati brigade, from Ra’anana; Sergeant Major Ido Testa, 19, of the Shaked battalion of the Givati brigade, from Jerusalem; Sergeant Major Tal Shavit, 21, of the 931st Battalion of the Nahal Brigade, from Kfar Giladi.
Another 11 soldiers remained wounded in the rocket attack, including two soldiers from the 931st battalion and a soldier from the Shaked battalion who are in serious condition. Hamas fired more than 10 rockets from the Rafah area in the attack.
Barrage of rockets from Lebanon
A barrage of rockets, more than 60, were launched from Lebanon in the direction of northern Israel, some of which were intercepted. This is one of the most intense attacks from Lebanon since the beginning of tensions in the Middle East, to which the IDF responded by hitting several sites belonging to the Lebanese group in the south. The targets, ‘The Times of Israel’ reports, included buildings and other infrastructure in the cities of Markaba, Taybe, Kafr Kila and Odaisseh. Another Hezbollah site in Mays al-Jabal was also hit, adds Tsahal, the Israeli army. Hezbollah announced earlier that it fired the rockets in response to Mays al-Jabal’s attack, which killed and wounded civilians.
