Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated this Thursday, during his visit to the Tel Nof air base, five kilometers from Rehovot (center), that they will not hesitate to “hit” those who want to attack to Israel, alluding to the retaliatory threats launched by Iran since the death on April 1 of seven revolutionary guards in an attack against its consulate in Damascus.
“We established a simple principle: Anyone who attacks us, we will hit them,” the Israeli president warned today surrounded by pilots, whom he wanted to thank for their work in these “difficult times” of war in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu assured that the country is prepared “to satisfy all security needs” both in defense and “offensively,” and said he would continue his “tireless efforts” to return the 133 hostages from the Palestinian enclave, many of whom would already be dead.
Threats from Tehran
Tehran has been threatening an attack on the Jewish State for days. According to a Bloomberg exclusive, according to Intelligence sources, Iran could attack “in the coming days” with high-precision missiles and drones against Israeli military and government targets.
Given the imminent threat, the head of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), Michael Kurilla, landed in Israel today to meet with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other officials to address possible scenarios.
Tonight the War Cabinet, headed by Netanyahu, will meet to address the latest efforts to reach a truce and a hostage agreement in Gaza, after mediated talks in Cairo that have so far proven fruitless again.
Hamas may not return to negotiations
On the other hand, the Palestinian group Hamas may not return to the negotiating table in Cairo, where the round of consultations to reach a truce in Gaza was taking place, by rejecting most of the mediators’ proposals.
Palestinian sources familiar with the conversations informed EFE this Thursday that the Islamist group plans to send the new document with its reformulated proposals to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators, without a delegation traveling to the Egyptian capital again.
In this document, the group will express that it rejects most of the proposals reached last Sunday in Cairo by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, according to the informants.
Fear for the condition of the hostages
In recent hours, Hamas has informed negotiators that it is currently unable to identify and locate the 40 Israeli hostages needed for an exchange for Palestinian prisoners, according to CNN.
The message from Hamas, which an official Israeli source and another related to the negotiations informed the US network, raises fears that there may be more hostages killed than is publicly known.
The framework established by negotiators to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza imposes a six-week pause in the Israeli offensive and the release by Hamas of 40 hostages, including all women, as well as sick and elderly men.
In exchange, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli jails.
But Hamas has told international mediators – which include Qatar and Egypt – that it does not have those 40 live hostages in its possession who meet the criteria for their release, both sources have told CNN.
Young soldiers as currency
Investigations carried out by the US network on the situation of the hostages also suggest that there are fewer than 40 hostages alive who meet the criteria proposed in the negotiations.
And since Hamas appears unable to hand over the requested 40 hostages, Israel has pushed for the Islamist organization to complete the initial release with younger male hostages, including soldiers, according to the Israeli official.
Most of the nearly 100 hostages still alive are believed to be male Israeli Army soldiers or men of military reserve age.
Hamas is expected to try to use them in later phases to try to negotiate more significant concessions, including more high-level prisoners and a permanent end to the war.
Haniye: “The blood of my children is not more precious than that of our people”
Many voices see it as even more difficult to reach an agreement after the death yesterday by Israeli fire in northeastern Gaza of three children and three grandchildren of the leader of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh.
Last night, Haniyeh thanked Allah for the “honor” of three of his sons becoming martyrs, after the bombing of the vehicle in which they were traveling in Gaza, and said that their death does not differ from that of the rest of the Gazan people, in a war that already exceeds 33,400 deaths.
“The enemy is deceived if it thinks that by killing my children we will change our position,” Haniyeh told the Qatari channel Al Jazeera last night, referring to the demands to reach a truce, including the definitive end of the conflict.
“The blood of my children is not more precious than the blood of our martyred people in Gaza, because they are all my children,” added the leader, who has lived in exile in Qatar for years.
The Israeli Army confirmed having attacked Haniyeh’s sons, whom it described as “three Hamas agents” aimed “at carrying out terrorist activities,” according to a statement issued last night.
Killed in the bombing of a school and homes
Meanwhile in the Gaza Strip, at least five people were killed this morning, and an unknown number were injured in Israeli airstrikes against a residential building and a school in the Nuseirat camp, in the center of the enclave.
Local sources have informed EFE that Israeli tanks entered the north of the Nuseirat camp while it was being bombed by helicopters, and destroyed “a large number” of residential buildings.
In addition, at least two mosques, located in this camp, were also attacked, as well as one of the Salhi towers, north of Nuseirat.
For its part, the Israeli Army confirmed this Thursday that it had carried out an “operation” in the last few hours, based on intelligence information, against Hamas militants and infrastructure in this town.
Warplanes also intensified their attacks on Gaza City in the north, causing injuries and “high destruction,” and bombed the Wadi Gaza bridge, which connects the north of the enclave with the south.
BY: TTU
