Egypt’s president announced on Sunday (October 28, 2024) that his country has proposed a two-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas During this time, four hostages kept in Gaza will be freed. There was no immediate reaction from Israel or Hamas as the latest talks were expected to take place in Qatar, another key mediator.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Said that the proposal includes the release of some Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza. The aim was to “deescalate the situation”, he said, adding that talks would continue to make the ceasefire permanent.
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Talks seeking a longer, phased ceasefire have repeatedly stalled. Hamas wants to pull the Israeli army out of Gaza as a pre-condition, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu They have said that they will remain until Hamas is destroyed. There has been no ceasefire since a week-long pause in fighting in the early weeks of the war in November.
Israel’s Mossad chief travels to Doha on Sunday for talks with Qatar’s prime minister and CIA chief in the latest effort to end fighting and ease regional tensions since Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel Was doing.
Those tensions now see Israel at war with both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in LebanonAnd openly attacking iranFor the first time this weekend, their supporters. Iran’s supreme leader said on Sunday that Israeli attacks in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack this month “should not be exaggerated nor underestimated”, while stopping short of calling for retaliation.
During an official commemoration for the Hebrew anniversary of October 7 attackIsraeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that “not every goal can be achieved through military operations alone,” adding that “painful compromises will be required” to return the hostages.
At the same event, protesters interrupted Mr Netanyahu’s speech, shouting, “Shame on you.” Many Israelis blamed him for the security failures that led to the attack and held him responsible for not bringing the hostages home yet.
Inside Gaza, the latest Israeli attacks in the north killed at least 33 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said, as the offensive in the hard-hit and isolated territory entered its third week. The UN Secretary-General described the plight of Palestinians there as “unbearable”. Israel said it targeted the terrorists.
Mr Netanyahu said in his first public comments on the attacks, “We seriously Iran’s defense capabilities were damaged And its ability to produce missiles aimed at us.”
Satellite images show damage to two secret Iranian military bases, one linked to work on nuclear weapons, which Western intelligence agencies and nuclear inspectors say was closed in 2003. The second is related to Iran’s ballistic missile program. Iran said one civilian was killed, but gave no details. Earlier it was said that four military air defense personnel were killed.
Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, “It is up to the authorities to convey the power and will of the Iranian people to the Israeli regime.” Khamenei will make any final decisions on how Iran responds.
The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting for Monday at Iran’s request. Switzerland, which holds the rotating presidency of the council, said Russia, China and Algeria, the council’s Arab representative, supported the request.
Iran’s most powerful proxy is Hezbollah, which has stepped up shelling of Israel in recent weeks in response to Israel’s ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
Eight people were killed and 25 injured in two Israeli strikes in Sidon, southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The Israeli military said four soldiers, including a military rabbi, were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon, without giving details. An explosive drone and a projectile fired from Lebanon injured five people in Israel, officials said.
A truck rammed a bus stop in Ramat Hasharon, near Tel Aviv, killing one person and injuring more than 30. Israeli police said the attacker was an Arab citizen of Israel and had been “neutralized”. The attack took place outside a military base and near the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad spy agency.
Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group praised the attack but did not claim it.
Tensions have risen in Gaza since the war began, and Israel has carried out regular military attacks in the occupied West Bank, killing hundreds.
The Gaza health ministry’s emergency service said 11 women and two children were among the 22 people killed in the attacks late Saturday in Beit Lahiya in the north. Israel’s military said it attacked the terrorists.
Ministry official Hussein Mohsen said 11 people were killed and several wounded in an Israeli attack on a school-shelter in the Shati refugee camp in the north. “Most of the injured are children and women, and most of them are in very serious condition,” he said. Israel’s military had no immediate comment.
Israel has launched a massive air and ground offensive in northern Gaza since early October, saying Hamas militants have regrouped there. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands of Palestinians have fled in the latest wave of displacement.
Aid groups have warned of a dire situation. Israel has severely limited the entry of humanitarian aid in recent weeks, and the three remaining hospitals in the north say they are overwhelmed. The UN Secretary-General noted “the appalling level of death”.
The current war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza, about a third of whom are believed dead.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli counter-attacks. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 terrorists without providing evidence.
The attack has devastated much of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
published – October 28, 2024 12:11 pm IST