Israeli ground forces have completed theencirclement Of Khan Younis, the main city in the south of the Gaza Strip, strengthening its presence there. This was announced by the military spokesman of the IDF (Israeli defense forces), Daniel Hagari. The area – Hagari explained – is considered a Hamas stronghold: “We have eliminated dozens of terrorists and taken possession of weapons warehouses”, he said. Parachute units and armored vehicles participated in the operation, assisted by commando units. The Tel Aviv army asked the civilians who live in six districts of the city of leave their homes: “For your safety you must move immediately to the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi,” read a tweet published by IDF spokesperson for Arab media, Avichay Adraee.
#urgent ???????? To the residents of the Khan Yunis area in the neighborhoods of Al-Nasr, Al-Amal, City Center and the camp (the camp) in Blocks 107-112: For your safety, you must immediately move to the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi via Al-Bahr Street. pic.twitter.com/2JJJ9dkrmh
– Avichay Adraee (@AvichaiAdraee) January 23, 2024
This morning, meanwhile, the militiamen in the government of the Strip made it known that they had not “officially received” any proposal for a ceasefire in exchange for an agreement for the release of other Israeli hostages. He told the Turkish agency Anadolu Hamas spokesperson in Lebanon Walid Kilani, referring to what was leaked yesterday by Israeli sources to the American media. Kilani recalled that the “main condition posed by Hamas is a total and complete ceasefire, not a temporary one.” The reconstruction provided by the company is different Associated Press, according to which Hamas actually received the proposal but the negotiations stopped precisely because the Palestinian request is that of a permanent truce. The source ofApa senior Egyptian official, added that in the Israeli proposal the possibility was given to Yahya Sinwar and other Hamas leaders in the Strip to move to other countries. Among the conditions, Hamas would then demand that Israel completely withdraw from the enclave, allowing the Palestinians to return to their homes. The official explained that Egypt and Qatar are working on a multi-phase plan in an attempt to bring the parties closer together. This would include ending the war, releasing the hostages and presenting a proposal to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Despite this, the United States, according to the spokesperson of the National Security Council, John Kirbythey said they were available and that they had started “serious discussions” for long humanitarian pauses for the release of the hostages and for the delivery of further aid to Gaza.
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The prospect of a truce, in any case, still seems distant. Confirmation came this morning 21 soldiers Israelis were killed yesterday afternoon in the Strip, in what is currently the bloodiest of clashes with Hamas since the ground operation began in late October. Israeli army spokesperson Hagari gave the news of the victims. Initially, the death of ten soldiers was announced, followed by the announcement of another eleven after notifying their families. According to Hagari, the soldiers were operating in an area approximately 600 meters from the border, engaged in the destruction of Hamas structures and sites which was supposed to “create a buffer zone and allow residents to return to their homes. As far as we know – the spokesperson reconstructed – around 4pm the terrorists hit a tank protecting the armed forces with a rocket launcher, and at the same time an explosion occurred in two buildings two floors. The buildings collapsed due to the explosion, while most of the forces were inside and nearby them.” According to Hagari, the explosion was probably caused by mines planted by troops to demolish the buildings, but an investigation is still underway to better ascertain the circumstances.
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The episode sparked comments from political and government forces, starting with the Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant: “This is a war that will determine Israel’s future for decades to come. The death of those fighters must spur us to achieve their goals,” Gallant said. “This is a heavy and painful morning, with bitter news reaching the families of those soldiers. We rally around them in this hour of mourning,” he added. The words of the Israeli president are no different in tone, Isaac Herzog: “The names of the best of our children have been added to the tombstones of heroes.” The one underway in Gaza “is a war that has no justice”, she wrote in a tweet.
An unbearably difficult morning, in which more and more names of the best of our sons – the silver tray in the full sense of the word – are added to the hero’s tombstone, in a war that has no justice.
Behind every name is a family whose world has fallen on one, a family that we embrace to our hearts with grief and pain, and at the same time with pride – for the heroism of the generation, for the mission and the bad, for sticking to the goal…
— Isaac Herzog Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) January 23, 2024
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