Other six or eight weeks of war on a large scale in Gaza Strip. These are, according to sources Israel Defense Forces (Idf) quotes yes Reutersthe medium-term plans of Israel for the conflict in the Palestinian enclave, while the troops are preparing to expand the offensive on Rafah, the last city south of the Strip where more than 1.5 million civilians who fled the bombing are currently refugees. Because the government’s goal of Tel Aviv remains to destroy the structures as much as possible Hamaseliminate its leaders and free them hostages. Everything, however, without diplomacy, but with the use of weapons.
While the Israeli strategy in Gaza is being discussed, tension is also rising in West Bankafter the rumors about the prime minister’s wishes Benjamin Netanyahu to satisfy the Minister for National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvirplacing limitations on Palestinian access to al-Aqsa mosquea Jerusalem. News arrived a few days before the start of Ramadannext March 10, and which risks sparking violence in the Esplanade of the Mosques. It is no coincidence that Hamas rejected what it called the “criminal decision” by “the extremist minister Ben-Gvir to limit Palestinian access to the al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan”. The closure of the Temple Mount to the Palestinians promotes, Hamas claims in a statement, “the Zionist crime and the religious war conducted by the group of extremist settlers of the terrorist occupation government against our Palestinian people and the violation of freedom of worship in the mosque.” For this reason, Hamas asks “our Palestinian people in the occupied territories, in al-Quds (Jerusalem, ndr) and in the occupied West Bank to reject this criminal decision, to resist the arrogance of the occupation” and to “mobilize, go and station in the al-Aqsa mosque”. Furthermore, Hamas warns Israel that “any damage to the structure or freedom of worship will not go without consequences” and announces a “blessed Intifada and explosion in the face of injustice, arrogance and aggression”. The Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katzresponded to the rumors by explaining that the government will allow freedom of worship in the mosque during the holy month of Ramadan: “Any restriction that is imposed will be for security reasons,” he declared.
Meanwhile fromEuropa the pressure continues to arrive at a cease-fire. Il Luxembourg harshly criticizes the actions of the Netanyahu government, explaining that after almost 5 months of war it is complicated to continue justifying the raids with the right to self-defense: “It is difficult to explain that this is self-defense so long after the October 7 attacks. I speak with Israeli politicians, I told them that we have the data, more than 70% of the people killed, women and children, were civilians, so we cannot talk about targeted measures. I explained to them that they will also lose whatever support they have left”, declared the Foreign Minister, Xavier Bettel. The High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, Joseph Borrellhe asked again sanctions towards violent settlers in the Occupied Territories: “If we want to have credibility we must denounce the situation in West Bankwhere they happen terrorist actions against the Palestinian population. I asked the Member States to sanction violent settlers but we have not yet found unanimity, let’s see what the ministers have to say today”. As the Irish Foreign Minister laments, Michael Martin“one or two countries still prevent us from reaching unanimity on sanctions against violent settlers, today we will not have a decision at the Foreign Affairs Council and if we fail to make progress, Ireland will move alone”.
Benny Gantz However, he announced that military operations in Rafah will expand if the hostages are not returned by the start of Ramadan: “The world and the leaders of Hamas must know that if our hostages are not home by Ramadan, the fighting will continue into Rafah area – he said – We will do it in a coordinated way, in dialogue with our American and Egyptian partners, to facilitate evacuations and minimize civilian casualties”.