Hamas threatens to kill hostages, EU suspends aid to Palestinians… The latest news

2023-10-09 19:37:32

Three days after the first surprise attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel, the death toll continues to rise. More than 700 Israelis and 560 Palestinians were killed according to provisional reports from local authorities.

Seeking to regain control, Israel ordered, this Monday, October 9, the “immediate” shutdown of the water supply to the Gaza Strip, as part of a “complete siege” of the territory controlled by Hamas. The European Union has suspended its development aid to the Palestinians. L’Express takes stock.

Hamas threatens to kill hostages in response to Israeli raids

The Islamist movement Hamas threatened this Monday evening to kill Israeli hostages in Gaza in reaction to Israeli raids on the Palestinian enclave, according to a press release.

“Every time our people are targeted without warning, it will result in the execution of one of the civilian hostages,” Hamas’ military wing, the Ezzzedine al-Qassem Brigades, said in a statement.

Netanyahu: “We will change the Middle East”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that his country would “change the Middle East” in the context of the war with Hamas, according to a press release from his office.

“What Hamas will experience will be difficult and terrible […]we are going to change the Middle East,” Benjamin Netanyahu told senior local officials in southern Israel, where Hamas fighters carried out a surprise attack Saturday morning.

Second Frenchman killed in Hamas attack

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this Monday the death of a second French national, killed in the Hamas attack against Israel.

“France deplores the tragic death of a second French national, victim of the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas against Israel,” according to a statement from spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre. “We are continuing the steps taken to clarify the situation of our unlocated nationals,” she added.

In a separate statement, a French MP said Monday that “at least eight French people are either missing, dead or taken hostage by Hamas.” This deputy for French people abroad, Meyer Habib (right), whose constituency includes Israel, had indicated earlier that among the missing French people, Avidan T., 26 years old, a young Frenchman from Bordeaux (southwest) and living in Israel, would be held hostage by the Palestinian Islamist movement.

EU suspends aid to Palestinians

The European Union has suspended all payments of its development aid to the Palestinians and decided to reassess all of its current programs, which represent a total of 691 million euros, European Commissioner Oliver announced on Monday Varhelyi.

“All payments immediately suspended, all projects re-examined, all budgets concerning projects, including for 2023, postponed until further notice, re-evaluation of the entire program”, indicated the Hungarian commissioner in charge of neighborhood and enlargement, on X (formerly Twitter).

The German and Austrian governments had also recently announced the suspension of their development aid programs in the Palestinian territories.

Israel killed ‘armed suspects’ infiltrating from Lebanon

The Israeli army announced on Monday that it had killed “several armed suspects” who had infiltrated Israel from Lebanon, according to a press release.

Previously, the army had claimed that “several suspects had entered Israeli territory from Lebanon” and that military forces were present in the area. “Combat helicopters are currently carrying out attacks in this area,” the army added.

An attack since claimed by the al-Quds Brigades, the military branch of the Islamic Jihad movement. This other Palestinian armed organization, classified as terrorist by the European Union, claimed Monday “responsibility for the border operation in southern Lebanon” in a press release.

Israel imposes ‘complete siege’ on Gaza Strip

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Monday that he was imposing “a complete siege” on the Gaza Strip: “No electricity, no water, no gas.” In the process, his Energy counterpart, Israel Katz, ordered the “immediate cutoff” of the water supply to this Palestinian enclave to which Israel supplies 10% of annual consumption.

Detonations in Jerusalem

At midday on Monday, rocket warning sirens sounded in Jerusalem and were quickly followed by several detonations.

The sirens sounded around noon (11 a.m. in France). They were heard in the Holy City on Saturday on the first day of the military offensive launched by Palestinian Hamas from the Gaza Strip, and rockets were then intercepted by Israeli air defense. The sirens did not sound on Sunday.

123,000 displaced in the Gaza Strip

The war has displaced more than 123,000 people in the Gaza Strip, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced on Monday.

“The hostilities have caused internal displacement” of the population, writes OCHA, speaking of “more than 17,500 families representing 123,538 people […]mainly because of fear, concerns for their protection and the destruction of their homes.”

The Israeli army says it has “control” of the towns attacked

The Israeli army has regained “control” of localities in southern Israel attacked since the launch of the Palestinian Hamas offensive from Gaza on Saturday, a military spokesperson declared on Monday, the third day of fighting. “We have control of the communities,” said General Daniel Hagari, army spokesman, during a televised press briefing, adding, however: “there could still be terrorists in the area.”

“We have completely evacuated [la population de] 15 of the 24 neighboring communities [de la bande de Gaza et] We are on track to complete the evacuation in the next 24 hours,” General Hagari added. Since the start of the Hamas offensive, “there have been 4,400 shots fired [de roquettes, mortiers ou autres projectiles] towards Israel from the Gaza Strip, and on the Israeli side, “300,000 reservists were recalled in 48 hours,” the officer further declared.

Iran allegedly helped Hamas, Tehran denies

Iranian security officials allegedly helped plan the surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, October 7, according to the American business daily The Wall Street Journal. They also reportedly gave the green light to the offensive during a meeting in Beirut last Monday, “according to senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed militant group.”

A project which would have been developed in August to plan for air, land and sea incursions. Several meetings in Beirut would have made it possible to refine the assault, in which officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would have participated. “We have no information at this time to corroborate this narrative,” a U.S. official said of the meetings.

For his part, Mahmoud Mirdawi, a senior Hamas official, indicated that the group planned the attacks on its own. “This is a Palestinian and Hamas decision.” “We are not involved in Palestine’s response, as it is decided solely by Palestine itself,” said a spokesperson for the Iranian mission to the United Nations.

“The accusations linked to the role of Iran” in the Hamas offensive against Israel “are based on political motives”, declared Monday the spokesperson for Iranian diplomacy, affirming that Tehran did not intervene “in the decision-making of other nations, including Palestine. “The resistance of the Palestinian nation has the capacity, the strength and the will necessary to defend itself, defend its nation and try to recover its lost rights,” Nasser Kanani said during a press conference in Tehran.

The Kremlin fears the entry of “third forces” into the conflict

The Kremlin judges that the risk of the entry of “third forces” into the conflict between Israel and Hamas is “high”, its spokesperson said on Monday. “The risk of involvement of third-party forces in this conflict is high,” explained Dmitri Peskov, calling for a “negotiation process to begin as soon as possible,” according to the Russian agencies Ria Novosti and Tass.