A media report paints a bleak scenario for the further course of the war in Gaza. The USA makes a prisoner exchange proposal. More information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
Report: Israel faces endless guerrilla war in Gaza
4 o’clock: According to a media report, Israel’s army is in danger of being drawn into an endless guerrilla war by the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip due to a lack of an obvious strategy. The Israeli armed forces are fighting in more and more places in the Gaza Strip that they had previously taken and from which they had withdrawn, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. This shows how hard Israel is fighting to eliminate Hamas and bring the Palestinian coastal area under its control. With its war goal of eliminating Hamas militarily and politically, Israel’s leadership has set a high bar that will be difficult to achieve, Yossi Mekelberg, Middle East analyst at the London-based think tank Chatham House, told the newspaper. “Anything below that will be perceived as a failure.”
Israel’s war efforts are being hampered by the fact that there is no plan to stabilize the coastal area after the defeat of Hamas militants, wrote the Wall Street Journal. Now, with much of Gaza destroyed and Hamas fighters reemerging and using guerrilla tactics, Israeli leaders are divided over what a coherent war plan should look like, they said.
Israel needs a coherent plan, otherwise it will get tangled up in an uprising that it will not be able to get under control, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also said last week at the meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the War Cabinet, as the US Portal “Axios” reported. If the war continues as it is, Hamas would remain in control of the Gaza Strip or anarchy would break out, resulting in even more terror. Netanyahu responded that “we will have our hands full for decades,” the news portal reported.
Gaza war: rapprochement in hostage negotiations
9:14 p.m.: According to Israeli media reports, there has been some movement in the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages. Israel has accommodated the Islamists with the number of Palestinian prisoners who would be exchanged for 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, reported the Channel 12 television station and the walla.co.il portal.
The extent of progress in the negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha, in which the USA, Egypt and Qatar are mediating between Israel and Hamas, was not initially clear. The Israeli delegation had accepted a compromise proposal from the American mediators, it was said.
This must now be approved by Hamas. This could take several days. Observers see as a positive sign that the Israeli delegation leader David Barnea and his team are expected to stay in Doha for the next few days.
UNRWA: Israel blocks food packages for Gaza
6:39 p.m.: Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN relief agency UNRWA, accuses Israel of no longer allowing food convoys through to the Gaza Strip. Israel informed the United Nations about this.
Israel would intentionally block “life-saving aid during a man-made famine,” writes Lazzarini on Twitter. The clock is now ticking faster towards famine. “Many more will die from hunger, dehydration and a lack of shelter.”
US Vice President Harris criticizes Israel
5:52 p.m.: Kamala Harris has sharply criticized Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip. “A major military operation in Rafah would be a big mistake,” the US Vice President told ABC News. She cannot rule out that an attack could have consequences from the USA.