2023-11-20 19:46:00
“An agreement for the release of hostages in Gaza will be reached soon.” US President Joe Biden reiterated this when speaking to journalists at the White House on the occasion of Thanksgiving.
An agreement on the release of the hostages “has never been so close”, but there is still work to be done, said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, according to whom the United States “is still working hour after hour, I don’t have an update on the deal, but we’re closer than we’ve ever been. We’re confident, but there’s still work to do. And nothing’s done until it’s all done.” .
A “revitalized” PA is one that “has the support of all Palestinians,” he then responded to reporters who asked him what President Biden means when he talks about a “revitalized” Palestinian National Authority to govern Gaza. “What that will be will depend on the Palestinian people, but what they are referring to is a Palestinian Authority that has credibility, legitimacy, the authority and the support of all Palestinians, so that they can actually help with post-conflict governance in particularly in Gaza,” Kirby explained.
Meanwhile, Israel believes “that the window of opportunity has reopened” and “these will be critical days”, reports the Israeli TV Channel 12 after Biden’s words. According to the broadcaster, reports the Times of Israel, Israel wants to move forward in principle on an agreement for the release of more than 50 people, including women and children. Channel 12 quotes an Israeli diplomatic source as saying that the next “will be difficult days”.
“Hamas will do everything to harm Israeli public opinion – said the source – The agreement is not something that can be concluded between today and tomorrow, the release of the hostages will take several days”. According to the source, Hamas is calling for the release of 100 prisoners, both men and women, a five-day pause in the fighting and for Israel not to use its drones in recent days to monitor Hamas.
Hamas hostages, family members’ anger against Netanyahu
Meanwhile, the anger of the families of the hostages held in the Strip is unleashed. According to reports from the Times of Israel, the prime minister’s office does not authorize everyone to participate in the meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv. According to the reconstruction, the families of the hostages had provided the prime minister’s office with a list with the names of 107 representatives in advance, but upon their arrival many were told that there was not enough space for everyone.
The newspaper Time also reports that some representatives of the hostages’ families were not allowed access to the room set up for the meeting with the Israeli war cabinet, on the grounds of insufficient space. And according to the newspaper, the families who were prevented from entering are thinking of a demonstration at the entrance to the base.
Relatives of the hostages came to meet the prime minister and the war cabinet to “get answers”, said Meirav Leshem Gonen, quoted by CNN, with a daughter kidnapped by Hamas.
Rockets from Gaza, sirens sound in Tel Aviv
Meanwhile, the anti-missile warning sirens have started to sound again in Tel Aviv and in central areas of Israel. This was reported by the Times of Israel which gives news of a barrage of rockets launched from the Gaza Strip in the direction of Israel and of a claim by Hamas. There are currently no reports of casualties or damage.
Hamas: “13,300 dead in the Gaza Strip since October 7”
“More than 13,300” people have lost their lives in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli bombing since October 7. This is the death toll provided by Hamas government spokesperson Ismail Thawabta, according to whom the dead also include 5,600 children.
Lebanon accuses: “Israel hit church”
Meanwhile, Israeli artillery is accused of hitting a church in southern Lebanon. According to news from the Lebanese agency Nna and other media from the Land of the Cedars relaunched by the newspaper L’Orient Le Jour, Israeli artillery targeted the church of Saint-Georges in Yaroun, in the Bint Jbeil region, causing extensive damage .
“300 Hamas terrorists arrested”
So far, 300 “terrorist operatives” from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups have been arrested and interrogated. This was announced by Israeli military intelligence. “We receive thousands of phone calls” from Palestinians in the Gaza Strip ready to provide information, they explain, “at a level never seen before. It is clear that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not satisfied with the barbaric behavior of Hamas”. Dozens of Arabic-speaking soldiers from Unit 504 are on the ground in the Gaza Strip conducting field interrogations and providing information to troops, a statement cited by the Times of Israel said. Unit 504 also made more than 30,000 phone calls, sent 10 million text messages and more than nine million recorded messages to Gazans urging them to leave the combat zones. Four million leaflets were also dropped.
“Attack on Indonesian hospital in Gaza”, the WHO complaint
“The World Health Organization is shocked by the attack on the Indonesian hospital in Gaza which reportedly left 12 dead, including patients, and dozens injured, including some in critical and life-threatening conditions.” These are the words of the director general of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who, commenting via be exposed to such horror, especially inside a hospital”, concludes the DG.
Erdogan: “Atrocities in Gaza like in the Crusades, it’s terrorism”
Since October 7, Gaza has witnessed ”atrocities and cruelty similar to the medieval crusades and the Second World War”. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this. ”What is happening in Gaza can only be called barbarism and state terrorism,” he added at the end of a government meeting in Ankara. “If we do not react to what is happening in Gaza, we will not be able to prevent the fanaticism of the occupiers from reaching our lands tomorrow”, added Erdogan, according to whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ”Netanyahu has lost popularity and is seeking to regain it by deliberately bombing hospitals, schools and mosques in Gaza”.
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