… if they leave, they will
- be allowed back someday
- never be allowed back
0
voters
More hostages return to Israel
Two Israeli-Russian hostages were handed back to Israel on Wednesday
Later, 10 other Israeli hostages were returned in an arrangement facilitated by humanitarian organisation the International Committee of the Red Cross. Four Thais were also freed
Israel says it released 30 Palestinian prisoners in return. Qatar said earlier that this group would comprise 16 minors and 14 women - but we do not yet know who they are
Two children killed in the West Bank
Two Palestinian boys - Adam al-Ghoul (8) and Basel Abulwafa (14) - were killed in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank
The Palestinian Authority says the pair were killed by Israeli troops. Israel says its forces shot at suspects throwing explosive devices, and killed two “senior terror operatives”. It hasn’t specifically commented on the deaths of the boys
Fate of infant hostage in question
Hamas says the youngest hostage it was holding - a 10-month-old - was killed during an Israeli bombardment in Gaza alongside his elder brother and his mother
Israel says it is working to verify the claim. On Tuesday, it said Hamas had passed the two young children on to “another Islamist faction”
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“We are asked to look for high-rise buildings with half a floor that can be attributed to Hamas,” said one source who took part in previous Israeli offensives in Gaza. “Sometimes it is a militant group’s spokesperson’s office, or a point where operatives meet. I understood that the floor is an excuse that allows the army to cause a lot of destruction in Gaza. That is what they told us.
“If they would tell the whole world that the [Islamic Jihad] offices on the 10th floor are not important as a target, but that its existence is a justification to bring down the entire high-rise with the aim of pressuring civilian families who live in it in order to put pressure on terrorist organizations, this would itself be seen as terrorism. So they do not say it,” the source added.
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The NYT article is a lot more indepth:
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Just before 06:00 local time (04:00 GMT), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that sirens were sounding for communities near the Gaza Strip
A few minutes later, the military said it had intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza
Then, just before 07:00 local time, there was another alert about sirens sounding in kibbutz Holit, southern Israel
A few minutes after that, the Israeli military released a brief statement, saying:
Quote Message: Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory. The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip."
Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory. The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip."
It is now almost 8am in Israel and Gaza and we are receiving lots of reports about strikes hitting parts of Gaza, with the IDF saying jets “are currently striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip”.
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https://nitter.net/jonathan_shamir/status/1730525453830516821#m
Israel Hayom: One option considered by the war cabinet is the “thinning out the Gazan population to the minimum possible level.” While most of the security establishment oppose this, “Netanyahu sees this as a strategic goal,” and asked Ron Dermer to formulate a working plan
https://nitter.net/hahellyer/status/1730556829619429798#m
This has been clear for weeks as a preferred option by far too many in the higher echelons: reduce the population of Gaza as much as possible, and also reduce the size of Gazan territory (by establishing ‘security zones’). If it happens, it will be in plain sight. No surprises.
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From the Guardian liveblog:
Israel wants to carve out Gaza ‘buffer zone’, says report
Israel has informed several Arab states that it wants to carve out a buffer zone on the Palestinian side of Gaza’s border to prevent future attacks as part of proposals for the enclave after war ends, a Reuters report quotes Egyptian and regional sources as saying.
According to three regional sources, Israel related its plans to its neighbours Egypt and Jordan, along with the United Arab Emirates, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020.
The sources also said that Saudi Arabia, which does not have ties with Israel and which halted a US-mediated normalisation process after the Gaza war flared on 7 October, had been informed.
Non-Arab Turkey was also told, the sources said.
The initiative does not indicate an imminent end to Israel’s offensive – which resumed on Friday after a seven-day truce – but it shows Israel is reaching out beyond established Arab mediators, such as Egypt or Qatar, as it seeks to shape a post-war Gaza.
The Reuters report quoted a senior regional security official, one of the three regional sources who asked not to be identified by nationality, as saying:
Israel wants this buffer zone between Gaza and Israel from the north to the south to prevent any Hamas or other militants from infiltrating or attacking Israel
The Egyptian, Saudi, Qatari and Turkish governments did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jordanian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
A UAE official did not respond directly when asked if Abu Dhabi had been told about the buffer zone, but said: “The UAE will support any future post-war arrangements agreed upon by all the concerned parties” to achieve stability and a Palestinian state.
Asked about plans for a buffer zone, Ophir Falk, foreign policy adviser to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said: “The plan is more detailed than that. It’s based on a three-tier process for the day after Hamas.”
The three tiers involved destroying Hamas, demilitarising Gaza and de-radicalising the territory, he said.
https://nitter.net/ASE/status/1730848233205776674
The #1 song in Israel calls for genocide against Palestinian and specifically for the IOF to kill Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa, and Mia Khalifa.
