The Israeli army resumed the war after blaming Hamas for not adhering to the ceasefire agreement, while 137 hostages remain in captivity. Under pressure from the US not to repeat the devastation that devastated northern Gaza Strip and killed thousands of women and children, Tel Aviv published a map of the area to help the Palestinian population withdraw. The army also distributed leaflets warning people to leave an area east of Khan Yunis, which is now a “dangerous battle zone.” The Israeli government, on the other hand, shows no restraint in its words and promises Hamas “the mother of all blows.” Mediators say they are redoubling their efforts to resume the ceasefire.
“Hamas has violated the operational pause and fired into Israeli territory,” the Israeli army said in a statement shortly after intercepting a rocket launched from Gaza, the first since November 24, when the ceasefire began. Dozens of rockets, backed by Hezbollah, followed from southern Lebanon throughout the day, saturating Israeli air defenses. Conversely, artillery and air strikes hit 200 targets in the middle of the day, Tel Aviv said. The Hamas side regrets the deaths of at least 178 people. At the same time, Israel again blocked the entry of trucks carrying humanitarian aid.
Tel Aviv and Hamas began denouncing the ceasefire violation resulting from the attack committed by the other side in the early hours of Friday, and announced the resulting return to armed action. But hours later the arguments were different. The ceasefire fell through as even the efforts of the mediators could not lead to an extension of the agreement due to disagreements over the exchange of hostages and prisoners. Israel said Friday that 137 hostages remained in captivity, including 115 men, 20 women and two children. Of this group, 126 are Israelis and 11 are foreigners. Ten of the remaining hostages are 75 years or older. On the Palestinian side, 240 prisoners were released, all of them women or minors.
“Unfortunately, Hamas has decided to end the ceasefire by not releasing all the kidnapped women,” Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said. “Now that Hamas has chosen to continue the kidnapping of our women, it will now suffer the mother of all abuses,” he declared. The Islamist movement, in turn, said in a statement that it had “proposed an exchange of prisoners and elderly people” and the transfer of the bodies of hostages “who lost their lives in the Israeli bombings” in Gaza. Speaking to the Associated Press, Hamas leader Osama Hamdan explained that Israel’s request to release 10 military women had been rejected.
According to sources heard by The New York TimesTel Aviv wants all women and children released before moving on to the next round of negotiations. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hoped that at least one more round of exchanges would take place. It is in this sense that Qatar and the US say they will continue to work towards resuming a ceasefire.
Security breach with opposing theories
Hamas leaders Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar knew they were being watched by Israel and therefore chose to communicate about preparations for the October 7 attack through alternative methods. Jerusalem Post. According to the Israeli daily, Israeli military teams had left listening devices in Hamas strongholds in 2018, but the Islamist group found them. The article concludes that the fact that Hamas was aware of the surveillance means that Israel was unprepared for the attack.
However, on the same day the The New York Times points in the opposite direction. Israeli authorities had been in possession of a 40-page battle plan codenamed “Wall of Jericho” for more than a year, which detailed a hypothetical Hamas attack on kibbutzim in southern Israel. The plan called for Hamas to bombard Israel with rockets, use drones to eliminate Israeli surveillance capabilities at the border wall and take control of southern communities and military bases.
The document has reportedly been seen by Israeli military and intelligence officials, although it is not clear whether Netanyahu or other ministers have seen it. In addition to Egypt saying it had warned Israel days before the terrorist attack, two soldiers guarding the border warned the hierarchies that they had noticed Hamas’s preparations for an attack but were ignored, it was reported in Israel. “These types of issues will be analyzed at a later stage,” the army responded to the news of the NYT.
Netanyahu’s trial resumes
The Israeli prime minister’s trial – paused like all trials deemed non-urgent on October 7 – will resume on Monday, The Times of Israel reported. Netanyahu is accused of fraud, breach of trust and corruption in three separate scandals, but they have been brought together in the same trial, which began in May 2020. He has since forced a controversial judicial reform tailored to his needs, but it has not come into effect due to public opposition. His popularity, already low, plummeted due to the Hamas terrorist attack. Polls show that at least seven in ten voters want Netanyahu out of government once the war is over.
Source: DN
