2023-12-15 13:48:48
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Fighting continues to intensify in northern Gaza. The Israeli military ignores calls to reduce the intensity of attacks and protect civilians from its allies, and promises a protracted war.
⇒ The remains of a Franco-Israeli hostage discovered in Gaza.
⇒ Fighting intensifies in the north.
⇒ The war will last “more than a few months” according to the Minister of Defense
Macron works “tirelessly to free all the hostages”
Emmanuel Macron promised Friday to “continue to work tirelessly to free all the hostages” taken by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel during its attack on October 7, after the announcement of the death of the young Franco-Israeli Elya Toledano.
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“Profound sadness this morning upon learning of his death in Gaza. I share the shock and grief of his family. He was 28 years old,” wrote the French president on the social network (ex-Twitter).
The body of a Franco-Israeli hostage discovered in Gaza
The Israeli army announced on Friday December 15 that it had recovered from the Gaza Strip and brought back to Israel the remains of 28-year-old Franco-Israeli hostage Elya Toledano. He was kidnapped on the morning of October 7 from the scene of the Tribe of Nova music festival in which he participated with his friend Mia Shem, a Franco-Israeli who was released as part of a truce agreement at the end of November.
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“During the operation in Gaza, the body of hostage Elya Toledano (28 years old) was recovered by army special forces and repatriated to Israel,” the Israeli army said in a statement, specifying that the forensic doctors had correctly identified the remains. The families of the hostages said they were “shocked” this week by the announcement by the director of Mossad of the refusal to carry out new negotiations to free them and demanded explanations from the authorities.
In Lebanon, the Israeli army launches leaflets against Hezbollah
The Israeli army launched leaflets over a village in southern Lebanon this Friday, for the first time, warning residents against providing aid to the powerful pro-Iranian Hezbollah, which claims to have entered the battle for support Palestinian Hamas, residents told AFP.
“To the residents of southern Lebanon, we inform you that the terrorist Hezbollah is infiltrating your homes and lands,” the leaflet states. “You must stop this terrorism for your safety,” adds the text, warning the population that helping Hezbollah exposes them “to danger.”
The war will last “more than a few months”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned American Secretary of State Jake Sullivan, visiting Israel on Thursday, December 14, that this war was expected to last “more than a few months.” The White House encourages “lower intensity operations” in the “near future”, and is concerned about the number of civilian deaths, said Jake Sullivan. “Hamas has established underground and aerial infrastructures that are not easy to destroy. It will take time – more than a few months – but we will defeat and destroy” Hamas, Yoav Gallant responded.
“We think it doesn’t make sense for Israel, or that it would be right for Israel to occupy Gaza, reoccupy Gaza in the long term,” Jake Sullivan said Friday morning during a press briefing after meeting with Israeli officials and before a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.
The battles continue to intensify
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“There will be more difficult battles in the coming days,” warned one of the military spokesmen. During the night from Thursday to Friday, the Israeli army reported “fighting” particularly in the Choujaya sector (north), where earlier this week it had suffered its biggest losses (10 soldiers killed in one day) since the start of its ground offensive in this small, densely populated Palestinian territory. Telecommunications are once again cut “due to the ongoing aggression”, according to the Palestinian operator Paltel.
Houthis attack new cargo ship
READ ALSO >> Attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea: why France is on the front line
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed responsibility for an attack on a cargo ship in the Red Sea, the Maersk Gibraltar, which was heading to Israel, “by targeting it with a drone.” They say the ship was hit head-on, adding having acted in response to “the oppression of the Palestinian people.” An American official nevertheless indicated that the missile had “missed the ship” and fell into the water. According to Centcom, the missile was fired just north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a narrow passage between Yemen and Djibouti, a key route to the Suez Canal and the Israeli port of Eilat, through which a significant part of the world’s maritime traffic passes.
The rebels “represent a concrete threat to free navigation” in the Red Sea, American national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday in Tel Aviv. “The United States is working with the international community and its partners in the region to confront this threat,” he added to journalists, after meeting Israeli officials.
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