International pressure against Israel is expected to increase today, with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Tel Aviv for meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Washington will pressure Israel to end its large-scale bombing within weeks, betting on the idea of a next phase of the war that will focus more on Hamas, allowing better protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
According to a senior Pentagon official quoted by The New York Times, while the Defense Secretary is expected to express support for Israel’s campaign to undermine Hamas’s ability to conduct military operations, Lloyd Austin will also emphasize the importance emphasizing the consideration of civilian safety during operations and the critical need to increase the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
This Sunday, Israel continued its bombing of the Gaza Strip despite continued calls for a ceasefire. The head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, was among the last to call for an “immediate and lasting” ceasefire during a visit to Tel Aviv. British counterpart David Cameron and German Annalenna Baerbock also drew attention to the high number of civilian casualties in Gaza – more than 18,000, according to calculations by Hamas-controlled authorities – but did not call for a ceasefire. in an article in the Sunday Times.
Calls for a ceasefire are being made by the families of the hostages taken to the Palestinian enclave on the day of the October 7 terrorist attack. This Sunday, the funeral took place for one of the hostages, who was killed by Israeli forces after being mistaken for a terrorist. “My poor brother, what you went through in those moments when you had already seen the light and it turned into darkness. Those who abandoned you also killed you, after you had done everything right,” said Ido, the brother of Alon Shamriz, in the grave interment. Another brother, Yonatan, denounced an “irresponsible government” and a “barbaric terrorist group.”
According to Egyptian security sources quoted by Reuters, Israel and Hamas will be open to negotiating a new ceasefire to allow the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. However, there are still divisions over how to implement this after the first seven days of the ceasefire allowed the release of 100 hostages, most of them women and children. Egypt and Qatar are again helping in the negotiations, and it is expected that the director of Mossad (the Israeli secret) will meet the Prime Minister of Qatar again.
Attacks on trucks
Continued Israeli bombardments prevent the access of sufficient humanitarian aid to meet the needs of the Palestinian enclave. This Sunday, dozens of Palestinians were filmed attacking one of the aid trucks as it crossed the Rafah border – the only one connecting Gaza to Egypt. The Israelis say humanitarian aid is also coming in through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which connects the Palestinian enclave to Israel, potentially doubling the amount of goods entering the area. However, according to the Red Crescent, this help is not yet coming.
Moreover, it remains insufficient. Al-Jazeera’s correspondent on the ground, Hani Mahmoud, says the situation has become “desperate” and incoming aid is insufficient, which is why many Palestinians are already in “survival mode.” And he added: “People are left without anything, without a home, without access to food, without water and without access to medicine,” so “the scenes you see at the Rafah border crossing are the natural reaction. If people die of hunger, if they are hungry, this is what we will see happen,” he indicated.
Gaza’s “largest tunnel” found
The Israeli army announced this Sunday that it had discovered “the largest underground tunnel” built by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which ends just a few meters from the border with Israel. “This vast network of tunnels, divided into several segments, is more than four kilometers long and extends up to 400 meters from the Erez Passage” between Israel and northern Gaza, Gaza’s armed forces said in a statement. . The tunnel is equipped with pipes, electricity, sewage and ventilation systems and allows the passage of small vehicles, according to AFP. According to the Israeli military, construction cost several million dollars and took several years. Weapons were found inside. The Palestinian terror group has built a series of tunnels in Gaza to bypass the blockade imposed by Israel since 2007, when the country began ruling the area.
Source: DN
