The U.S. is not only leaving Israel against Hamas and confirming its military support, but is pushing decisively for an increase in humanitarian aid to the Strip.
At the same time, international pressure is growing to arrive at a second truce, evoked by a new resolution of the United Arab Emirates on which work is being done at the UN headquarters in New York after the American veto in recent weeks.
However, the complex diplomatic game underway does not stop at the UN Security Council. In Warsaw, Mossad chief David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani and CIA chief William Burns met to discuss the possibility of reopening negotiations on the truce and a new exchange of Palestinian hostages and detainees. All agreed that these negotiations were "long, complicated and more difficult than before". At the same time, a new video released by Hamas has emerged with the intervention of three elderly Israeli hostages still in captivity in the Strip.
Video Hamas publishes new video of 3 hostages
"A criminal terrorist video," said military spokesman Daniel Hagari, in which the three kidnapped say they do not want to die under the raids of their own army and call for their release "at any cost." The one-minute video ends with a Bible quote: 'Do not forsake me in old age.' The second member of the Biden administration to arrive in Israel in a political-military shuttle in a week, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reiterated American support for his longtime ally.
The head of the Pentagon stressed that there is "no U.S. timetable" for the war, the conduct of which, however, requires a reduction in civilian casualties through "surgical" and targeted strikes, along the lines already expressed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. "We will continue to provide Israel with the necessary equipment, including mission-critical munitions, tactical vehicles and air defense systems," Austin said. And we will support Israel's effort to free the hostages." At the same time, he insisted on the need to take care of "the most urgent needs" of civilians battered by more than two months of conflict. "We need to ensure that more humanitarian aid is delivered to the two million displaced people in Gaza," he said. The general political framework, he summarized, remains that of the two-state solution.
"We know how difficult it is, especially after October 7, but the continued instability and insecurity play into Hamas' hands," said Austin, who for the post-war period confirmed to the Israeli leadership (from Netanyahu to Gallant) that Washington is in favor of control of the Strip by the Palestinian National Authority. This, despite the U.S. line, remains one of the most controversial points of the resolution being worked on at the UN, given Israel's well-known opposition. Netanyahu's government has also warned Americans about what is happening on the country's northern border with Lebanese Hezbollah: "If diplomatic efforts are not successful, we will not hesitate to attack the north," the defense minister warned. On the ground, meanwhile, the Israeli army appears to have firmly taken control of Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Strip, conquering Hamas strongholds.
In Gaza City, the military spokesman announced that many militants had been captured, including some of those responsible for the October 7 attack. In all, in the last 24 hours, more than 150 targets have been hit. Hamas said 24 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli attacks in Jabalya in the past 110 hours. The total number of dead - according to the Gaza authorities who do not distinguish between civilian casualties and militants - has reached 19,453 in the Strip, with 52,286 injured. And if in the West Bank the situation is boiling over - with 4 Palestinians killed in Tubas in an army operation but also with an attack on an Israeli - in Lebanon the reality is increasingly one of open conflict with rockets from across the border and Israeli raids
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