According to Israel, several of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Islamist Hamas were temporarily taken to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Israel’s army released footage from the clinic’s surveillance cameras on Sunday evening, which is said to show a kidnapped Nepalese and a Thai national in the facility on October 7th.
“These findings prove that the terrorist organization Hamas used the Shifa Hospital complex as terrorist infrastructure on the day of the massacre,” it said.
In the footage, a suspected hostage can be seen being pushed into a room on a hospital bed with a visible injury to her arm. The second suspected hostage is dragged through the hallways of the medical center by several armed men. The recordings could not initially be independently verified. Reactions were pending from Thailand and Nepal.
Israel’s army releases video of tunnel under Shifa clinic
Israel’s army also released more details about a suspected Hamas tunnel under the hospital complex. The shaft, which was uncovered a few days ago, leads to a tunnel with a length of around 55 meters and a depth of 10 meters, the army said on Sunday. The military provided recordings from two devices that are supposed to show the tunnel from the inside. At the end of the tunnel there is an “explosion-proof door”.
It was initially unclear what exactly was behind the door. Israeli troops are also busy “discovering the route of the tunnel,” the military said. According to the army, the tunnel entrance was exposed under a vehicle in the area of the hospital. The information could not be independently verified. As army spokesman Amnon Shefler explained early in the morning, terrorist weapons were also found in the clinic complex, including AK-47 assault rifles (Kalashnikov) and other combat equipment.
Despite international criticism, Israeli soldiers have been deployed in and around the largest clinic in the Gaza Strip for days. Israel accuses the Islamist Hamas of using the hospital for “terrorist purposes” and of operating a “command center” under the buildings. Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the US, denies this.
Hamas: Already more than 13,000 dead in the Gaza Strip
According to Hamas, the number of Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip rose to more than 13,000. More than 30,000 people were injured, the government press office said on Sunday evening. These figures cannot currently be independently verified. French President Emmanuel Macron reminded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the absolute need to distinguish between terrorists and the population, the Elysee Palace said on Sunday evening. There are too many civilian losses.
The break in fighting is apparently getting closer
Meanwhile, a break in fighting to release hostages is reportedly imminent. As part of an agreement allegedly reached to release Israeli hostages, a pause in fighting will come into effect at 11 a.m. local time today, a Hamas official reportedly told the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad, the Ynet news site reported. But an Israeli official denied this and said there was no such agreement. There was no official confirmation of this from Israel.
U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said on U.S. television on Sunday that there was no agreement yet to release the hostages, but that they were closer to an agreement at this point “than we have perhaps ever been since “these negotiations started weeks ago”. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose emirate plays an important mediating role, said there are now very low hurdles for an agreement between Israel and Hamas. There was initially no confirmation from the Israeli side on Sunday.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7th in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. On the Israeli side, more than 1,200 people were killed, including at least 859 civilians. In addition, around 240 hostages, including from Germany, were kidnapped to Gaza.
Report: Relatives of hostages meet Israel’s war cabinet
According to a media report, members of the Israeli war cabinet want to meet family members of the hostages today. As the newspaper “The Times of Israel” reported that night, it was initially unclear how many relatives would take part in the meeting expected that evening. There was initially no official confirmation of the meeting from Israel.
Israel’s army complains of hundreds of deaths in its own ranks
According to the military, 64 soldiers have been killed since Israel began ground operations in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas terror. Since the massacre by terrorists from Hamas and other groups, a total of 385 Israeli soldiers have been killed, an army spokesman said on Sunday. This number also includes soldiers who died on the border with Lebanon.
What is important today
According to an unconfirmed media report, a Hamas representative is said to have announced a pause in fighting that would supposedly come into effect at 11 a.m. local time. Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell ends a trip to the Middle East with political talks in Jordan. At 6.30 p.m. there will be a video link between the EU foreign ministers and Borrell and the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. The EU’s chief diplomat and Faisal bin Farhan want to report on talks in the Middle East.
