As of: February 8, 2024, 7:24 p.m
By: Nils Hinsberger, Nail Akkoyun, Christian Stör
Comments
Press
Split
Israel reports 31 hostages killed.
Hamas confirms willingness for ceasefire.
The news ticker on the situation in the Middle East.
Dwindling hope: 31 Hamas hostages apparently killed
Peace proposals
for
the Middle East conflict
: Hamas reiterates calls for a ceasefire with Israel
Red Sea
crisis area
: Houthi rebels announce more intensive attacks on US ships
The information processed here about the war in Israel and the fight against Hamas in the Gaza Strip
comes from local and international media as well as news agencies.
Much of the information cannot be independently verified.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
This ticker has ended.
We provide information about current developments in the Middle East war in our new news ticker.
Update from February 6th, 9:58 p.m.:
The Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip has submitted its response to the latest proposal from international mediators to bring about a temporary ceasefire in the war with Israel.
“We have received a positive response from Hamas, it has several reservations but is generally positive,” Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Doha.
In a statement posted on its Telegram channel, Hamas said it and its allies had handled the mediation proposal "in a positive spirit."
However, the agreement must lead to a complete and comprehensive ceasefire, an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the reconstruction of the war-torn coastal area and the full release of Palestinian prisoners.
No more hope: military declares 31 Israeli hostages dead
Update from February 6th, 8:20 p.m
.: The Israeli army has announced that 31 of the remaining hostages kidnapped in the Gaza Strip have died.
“We have informed 31 families that their captured relatives are no longer among the living and that we have declared them dead,” Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari told a news conference.
According to this, 136 Israeli hostages are still in the hands of Hamas.
Israelis demand the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip at a demonstration in Tel Aviv.
© Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
Hamas reiterates call for permanent ceasefire
Update from February 6th, 7:48 p.m
.: Hamas is said to have strengthened its demands for a permanent ceasefire in the war between Israel and the terrorist organization.
As the
Times of Israel
reports, Hamas would also demand the release of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip and reconstruction.
My news
2 hours ago
German soldier unpacks Ukraine’s Leopard strategy – read “that’s not how the offensive works.”
1 hour ago
Ukraine power struggle over?
Zelenskyj dismisses commander in chief – and raises questions
Kristina Schröder: “I will not go to any event where there is a demonstration against the 'right'” read
Major NATO maneuvers on Russia's border are imminent - Kremlin announces huge reaction
Divided like a traffic light?
Opposition fights against Söder and Aiwangerlesen's “squabble coalition”.
Is this Putin's plan?
Report outlines possible Russian attack on NATO members
Israel rejected these conditions again.
The country is seeking shorter ceasefires to free the Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
On October 7, 2023, members of the terrorist organization attacked the country and abducted 239 people to the Gaza Strip.
Houthi rebels want to intensify attacks on US ships
Update from February 6th, 4:56 p.m.:
The Iran-backed Houthi militia has announced that it will intensify attacks on US and British ships as long as the war in the Gaza Strip continues.
This was reported by the US portal
CNN
.
“More military operations will be carried out against all hostile American-British targets,” said a spokesman for the Houthis.
The spokesman said the attacks would continue “until the siege is lifted and the aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is stopped.”
Update from February 6th, 4:17 p.m.:
The Israeli armed forces say they found a United Nations vest and a machine gun during house searches in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The machine gun is said to have been a model used by Hamas.
The Israeli military has released recordings of the house search.
Employees of the Palestinian relief agency UNRWA are accused of being involved in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th.
UN Secretary-General Guterres has already set up an independent investigation group.
Argentine President Milei arrives in Israel for a visit
Update from February 6th, 2:47 p.m.:
Argentine President Javier Milei arrived in Israel for a visit.
Foreign Minister Katz welcomed the head of state on Tuesday at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.
Upon his arrival, Milei confirmed his intention to move the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, but is not recognized as such by the United Nations.
Many member states – including Germany – therefore operate their embassies in the Mediterranean metropolis of Tel Aviv.
Update from February 6th, 1:05 p.m.:
Two Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers were slightly injured in renewed rocket attacks in the border region between Israel and Lebanon.
As Israel's military leadership announced, Hezbollah had claimed responsibility for the attack.
This is reported by the Times of Israel
portal .
There had been “sporadic rocket attacks” from Lebanese territory throughout the day.
Even though Hezbollah is not officially a warring party, it has carried out repeated rocket attacks on northern Israel since Hamas' attack on October 7th.
Hamas health authority gives new number of victims in the Gaza Strip
Update from February 6th, 11:20 a.m.:
According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 107 Palestinians were killed in attacks by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip within 24 hours.
More than 140 others were injured during the period, the authority said on Tuesday.
This means that the number of people killed in the coastal strip since the war began on October 7th has risen to at least 27,585.
Almost 67,000 others were injured.
The numbers could not initially be independently verified.
Particularly fierce fighting has been raging for weeks in the area of the city of Chan Yunis in the south of the coastal strip.
Israel suspects the leadership of the Islamist Hamas in an underground tunnel network.
It is also likely that hostages are being held there by Hamas.
Houthi rebels attack freighters in the Red Sea again
Update from February 6th, 9:30 a.m.:
Merchant ships have again been attacked and damaged in the Red Sea.
A British cargo ship was attacked with a drone off the coast of Yemen, which is largely controlled by the Houthi rebels, the British security company Ambrey said on Tuesday.
The Houthi militia later released a statement saying it had attacked a British and a US cargo ship.
According to Ambrey, the Barbados-flagged British ship suffered “minor damage” to its left side and no one was injured.
The attack reportedly occurred west of the Yemeni port city of Hodeida.
According to Ambrey, the cargo ship made several “evasive maneuvers” and continued toward the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
Houthi spokesman Jahja Saree said the rebels had attacked ships in two separate attacks in the Red Sea.
The first is the US cargo ship “Star Nasia” and the second is the British ship “Morning Tide”.
USA fires on Houthi rebel drone ships
Update from February 6th, 5:45 a.m.:
US forces say they have fired on two remote-controlled boats belonging to the Houthi rebels in Yemen that were loaded with explosives.
The two “explosive unmanned watercraft” posed an “acute threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region,” said the US Central Command, the US regional command responsible for the Middle East, on Monday (February 5, local time).
The attack on the two drone ships was therefore carried out “in self-defense”.
In recent weeks, the US - alone or together with Great Britain - has bombed a number of positions belonging to the Iran-backed Houthis.
Washington and London are responding to the militia's series of attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Hamas is not safe anywhere in the Gaza Strip
Update from February 5th, 10:06 p.m.:
Israel's Defense Minister Joav Galant has warned the leadership and fighters of the Islamist Hamas that nowhere in the Gaza Strip is safe from the Israeli armed forces.
This applies even to the last remaining areas in the coastal strip, where - like in the southern city of Rafah - there are no Israeli ground troops deployed, Galant said at a press conference in Tel Aviv.
“Any terrorist hiding in Rafah should know that they will end up like those in Khan Yunis and (the city of) Gaza,” Israeli media quoted him as saying.
Galant alluded to the fact that the army in Gaza and Khan Yunis has destroyed numerous Hamas combat units and killed thousands of its fighters.
“A good half of the Hamas terrorists are dead or seriously wounded,” he said.
18 Hamas battalions have been wiped out and no longer exist as combat units.
Update from February 5th, 7:59 p.m.:
Against the backdrop of the war in Israel, Chancellor Olaf Scholz insisted on a two-state solution to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
From the federal government's perspective, only a negotiated two-state solution would open up the prospect of a sustainable solution to the Middle East conflict, said the SPD politician in a telephone conversation with Netanyahu on Monday, as government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit announced.
This must apply to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
A reformed Palestinian Authority will play a central role, the Chancellor continued.
Netanyahu has so far rejected such a solution.
War in Israel: Attacks on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon
Update from February 5th, 6:43 p.m.:
Former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is to lead an independent group of experts to examine the serious allegations against the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The United Nations announced this on Monday.
The group is scheduled to start work on February 14th.
An interim report is planned for the end of March.
Some employees of the aid organization are accused of being involved in the terrorist acts carried out by the Islamist Hamas on October 7th in Israel.
Several Western countries temporarily suspended payments to UNRWA because of the allegations, including the two largest donors, the United States and Germany.
UN Secretary General António Guterres promised comprehensive information.
The collaboration with several employees has been terminated.
Update from February 5th, 4:48 p.m.:
While the terrorist militia Hezbollah continues its attacks on northern Israel, the Israeli army says it has attacked targets in southern Lebanon.
The targets included a military complex and a Hezbollah command center in Jibbain, as the
Times of Israel
reported, citing the IDF.
Nothing is known about any deaths or injuries.
According to Netanyahu: Israel’s army “on the path to total victory”
Update from February 5th, 3:42 p.m.:
During a visit to Latrun, a town a few kilometers west of Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to soldiers.
According to the Times of Israel
, he claimed
that 75 percent of Hamas battalions had been destroyed.
However, there is “no substitute for total victory.”
However, we are “on the path to total victory” and we will not “end the war without achieving this goal”.
The prime minister did not explain what such a victory would look like.
However, Netanyahu warned that otherwise it would be “only a matter of time” before terrorist groups would attack Israel again.
According to Hamas-controlled authority: At least 128 people killed by Israel's military
Update from February 5th, 1:55 p.m.:
Spain wants to provide additional financial aid to the UN Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA).
Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said it was worth 3.5 million euros.
Other countries, however, had recently suspended their regular funding for UNRWA.
There are allegations that around a dozen employees of the organization were involved in the Hamas attack on Israel.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians are employed by UNRWA.
Update from February 5th, 11:36 a.m.:
According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, at least 128 people were killed in Israeli military operations during the night in the Gaza Strip.
These numbers cannot be independently verified.
Hamas also spoke of ongoing Israeli attacks in the center and south of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli army said its troops continued to carry out “targeted” attacks in the center and north of the coastal strip.
Israeli army kills dozens of Hamas terrorists in Gaza during war in Israel
Update from February 5th, 10:15 a.m.:
Israeli forces say they have killed dozens of terrorists in operations throughout the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.
A large number of them are said to have died in air raids and in close combat in the city of Khan Yunis, which has recently been the scene of the heaviest fighting.
Update from February 5th, 9:00 a.m.:
Israel continues the bombing in Khan Yunis.
According to the Palestinian news agency
Wafa,
“Al-Amal and Kamal Nasser hospitals in the center of the city” remain under siege.
In addition, the Israeli army attacked “large areas east of the city of Deir al-Balah”.
War in Israel continues unabated: rocket alarm in the south and north of the country
Update from February 5th, 8:16 a.m.:
Rocket alarm has been triggered again in Israel.
This time the sirens sounded in settlements in both the southern and northern ends of the country.
The authorities announced this via Twitter (X), among other things.
The population in the south must expect shelling from the Gaza Strip by Hamas units.
In the north, one must expect attacks from the terrorist militia Hezbollah.
Update from February 5th, 6:30 a.m.:
The USA says it has destroyed four more anti-ship missiles belonging to the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
According to US information, the projectiles were aimed at ships in the Red Sea.
Hezbollah position in Lebanon becomes the scene of the Israel war
First report from February 5th:
Tel Aviv/Beirut - While Israel's army (IDF) is fighting Hamas in Gaza, there are also increased tensions on the northern border with Lebanon.
Israel's military said it attacked a Hezbollah military facility there.
The army announced late on Sunday evening that warplanes had attacked a Shiite militia command center and a military compound in the city of Yaron.
In addition, an observation post in the city of Marun ar-Ras was attacked.
The information could not initially be independently verified.
The army did not say whether there were any casualties.
Hezbollah and Israel's armed forces had previously fought again in the border area.
According to army spokesman Daniel Hagari, three troop divisions were moved to the northern border.
A war is not Israel's first priority, "but we are definitely prepared."
Hezbollah is currently firing repeatedly from the buffer zone that was set up in the border area after the end of the second Lebanon war in 2006.
Israel's army responds with counterattacks.
According to army spokesman Hagari, the armed forces have targeted more than 3,400 Hezbollah positions since the start of the Gaza war.
More than 200 terrorists were “eliminated”.
Hezbollah is considered to be significantly more powerful than Hamas in Gaza.
No agreement on a ceasefire in the Israel war: Hamas discusses proposal
Meanwhile, there is still no agreement in the negotiations about a new ceasefire and the release of further hostages.
Hamas has a proposal recently negotiated in Paris by the United States, Egypt and Qatar that calls for the gradual release of the hostages in return for a longer ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
A representative announced that they would comment on this soon, but discussions were still ongoing internally.
The Israeli side, however, is said to have already accepted the draft framework.
(talk to agencies)