The Israeli army is continuing operations in the western area
of
Khan Yunis
, the Hamas stronghold in the southern Gaza Strip, a stone's throw from Rafah.
This was announced by the military spokesperson, according to whom "over 30 terrorists were killed" and control of the area was "strengthened with raids on terrorist infrastructures, snipers and patrols" by Hamas.
"In the western part of Khan Yunis two terrorists attempted to move under the cover of the civilian population", continued the same source, adding that they were "eliminated".
"This is another example," he said, "of Hamas' systematic use of the civilian population as a human shield."
The soldiers then "destroyed two weapons depots located in the terrorists' residences".
In addition to the south, the army also operated in the center of the Strip.
China
today
called on Israel to stop the military operation in
Rafah
"as soon as possible."
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated this in a statement.
“China… opposes and condemns actions that harm civilians and violate international law,” the statement said.
Beijing urges Israel to "stop its military operations as soon as possible and make every effort to avoid innocent civilian casualties... to prevent a more serious humanitarian disaster in the Rafah area."
Russia
also
views an Israeli military operation in the city of Rafah "extremely negatively", according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov quoted by Tass.
For his part, Foreign Minister
Antonio Tajani
observed that "at this point Israel's reaction is disproportionate, there are too many victims who have nothing to do with Hamas".
And he asked the Jewish state to "avoid reprisals against the Palestinian civilian population".
But the Foreign Minister also said he did not agree with
Francesca Albanese
's words : "the Hamas attack was a military attack aimed at hunting Jews and which had inhuman consequences with violence and desecration of corpses, things never views. What Mrs. Albanese says is not correct and I understand Israel's reaction. In the face of a conflict we must be cautious", Tajani reflected after Israel's ban on entry to the United Nations special rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, for his statements about responsibility on October 7th.
"Calls to limit Israel's defense only strengthen Hamas",
denounced the Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, in response to the head of EU foreign policy, Josep Borrell, who asked to limit the supply of weapons to Israel.
Katz recalled that Israel adheres to "the international laws of war and ensures the safe movement of civilians in Gaza, unlike Hamas which prevents it."
"Israel - he concluded - is determined to dismantle Hamas".
Yesterday the Israeli army, with a special forces blitz, freed two hostages kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October in Rafah, in the south of the Strip.
The latter had said they had been held 'in a family's house', while
Hamas
had instead announced the death of three others kidnapped in the bombings.
And he said that at least one hundred people had died in the Israeli raids.
Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
, who had given the green light to the action in recent days, called the blitz "one of the most successful rescue operations in the history of Israel".
For Defense Minister
Yoav Gallant
, the operation represented "a turning point in the campaign against the Hamas terrorist organization which is vulnerable and penetrable".
American President Joe Biden furious with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for the military campaign in Gaza.
According to NBC, he and his collaborators also indulged in insults.
'Enough is enough, the Jewish state must stop', Great Britain and the EU also said.
Clash in Holland on F35s.
High tension also between Israel and the UN, after Francesca Albanese, envoy of the Human Rights Council, was denied access to the country.
New attack by the Houthis against a merchant ship in the Red Sea
A Greek-owned merchant ship was hit yesterday by
Houthi
rebels while sailing in the
Red Sea
and suffered minor damage: the forces of the United States Central Command (Centcom) announced this on X.
The Houthis launched two missiles from areas of Yemen under their control towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the message said.
Both missiles were aimed at the MV Star Iris, a Marshall Islands-flagged merchant ship carrying corn to Iran from Brazil.
No one was injured on board the ship, which resumed sailing.
Lavrov, 'the US is pushing the Middle East towards catastrophe'
Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov
accused the US of "pushing Palestine, Israel and the entire Middle East towards a catastrophe", and Washington and London of proposing "recipes" which "do not consist in moving towards a Palestinian state but in place Gaza under control that will be convenient for the Israeli authorities."
This was reported by the Russian state news agency Tass.
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