After the Israeli army attacked positions of the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the UN Security Council called for a ceasefire that lasted for days. A resolution introduced by Council member Malta calls, among other things, for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days” to ensure humanitarian assistance in accordance with international law.
The United States abstained and vetoed the vote on Wednesday, as did Russia and Great Britain. 12 of the 15 council members voted for the draft, which had been debated for a long time. Israel immediately rejected the demand for longer ceasefires in view of the hostages kidnapped in the Gaza Strip. Resolutions of the Security Council are binding under international law and can thus develop international influence.
Israel: No humanitarian ceasefire without hostage release
Israel rejects any longer humanitarian ceasefires in the Gaza war as long as 239 hostages are still held by the Islamist Hamas. “Israel calls on the UN Security Council and the international community to resolutely demand the release of all Israeli hostages, as set out in the resolution,” the State Department said in a statement. “Israel expects the UN Security Council to unequivocally condemn Hamas and comment on the need to create a new security situation in the Gaza Strip.”
Biden: Am “slightly hopeful” about freeing hostages from Gaza
US President Joe Biden was cautiously optimistic about the release of the hostages held by Hamas. “I’m slightly hopeful,” Biden said at a news conference. There was great cooperation with the Gulf state of Qatar on this issue. “I’m working on how I can help ensure that the hostages are released and that there is a period of time where there is a pause long enough to make that happen,” Biden said, referring to ceasefires in the Gaza Strip .
Asked whether Biden had given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu some kind of deadline for the attacks in Gaza, the US president said: “I think that when Hamas no longer has the ability to murder, it will stop and just do terrible things to Israelis.”
US Ambassador to UN: Don’t want fighting in Gaza clinics
After the adoption of the Gaza resolution in the UN Security Council, the US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield emphasized Israel’s responsibility in the war. “I want to be clear: The United States does not want gun battles in hospitals when innocent people, helpless people, sick people are trying to get medical care,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
Patients must be protected. The ambassador recalled that the parties to the conflict must respect international law, including Israel. “Hamas’ actions do not diminish Israel’s responsibility to protect innocent people in Gaza. Ultimately, it all boils down to one clear, urgent goal: saving innocent lives.”
Egypt: No upper limit for admitting injured people from Gaza
Egypt currently sees no upper limit for the admission and treatment of injured people from the embattled Gaza Strip. Egypt is ready to accept any number of injured people as long as they can reach the Rafah border crossing. Ahmed Mansur, head of the hospital in the coastal town of Al-Arish near the border crossing, said this to journalists. Other hospitals are also still willing to accept Palestinians.
Egypt’s Health Minister Khalid Abdel Ghaffar had also already stated that all injured people entering the country would be treated. “We are ready to treat all medical cases that come through the Rafah border crossing, but the Israeli side controls their number,” Abdel Ghaffar said recently.
Israel’s military shells Hezbollah posts in Lebanon after attack
The Israeli armed forces say they fired on a Hezbollah target in the northern neighboring country after an attack from Lebanon. After an anti-tank missile was fired at the town of Shlomi in northern Israel, the military attacked the launch pad of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah from which the missile was fired, the Israeli army said. In addition, the armed forces attacked several observation posts, additional launch pads, a weapons depot and Hezbollah facilities.
Israeli military operation in Gaza’s largest hospital
During an operation in the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, Israeli ground troops said they discovered a command center with communications equipment. The secret service should now evaluate the material. In addition, weapons, secret service material, military technology and military equipment from the Islamist Hamas were found in Shifa Hospital, the armed forces said in a statement.
According to media reports, soldiers killed at least five armed Hamas members in a battle outside the clinic. The Israeli military believes there is a Hamas command center beneath the hospital. Hamas denies this. The information could not be independently verified.
Israel: Hostage gives birth to baby in Hamas captivity
According to Israeli information, a hostage held by the Islamist Hamas gave birth to a baby in captivity. This is what Sara Netanyahu, the wife of the Israeli Prime Minister, wrote in a letter to American First Lady Jill Biden.
There were also 32 children among the hostages, the letter said. One of them is ten months old. “One of the kidnapped women was pregnant,” she also wrote. “She gave birth to her baby in Hamas captivity. One can only imagine what is going through this young mother’s mind as she and her newborn are held by these murderers.”
What is important today
The Israeli military operation around the Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip is likely to continue. Among other things, the armed forces hoped to find at least information in the clinic complex about the whereabouts of the hostages kidnapped from Israel in the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th.
