“I feel a happiness full of excitement,” Yael Raz-Lahiani told Israeli public broadcaster Kan as news broke of the return to Israel of three members of his kibbutz Nahal Oz. Yesterday, 13 Israelis returned from captivity in Gaza, and it was announced that four more were on the way, including three foreigners (one Russian and two Thais).
«We breathe three sighs of relief. But we will not be relieved until the seven kidnapped kibbutz members return,” he added at a press conference at Kibbutz Mishmar Ha’emek near the town of Afula, where the kibbutz members had been displaced. their community. About 400 people lived in Nahal Oz, 14 were killed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad on October 7th.
And after today’s quick exchange, in contrast to yesterday’s events, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu entered the Gaza Strip for the first time since the outbreak of war and assured that his troops there would continue the offensive until the Islamist group was “eliminated” when the temporary ceasefire ends. During the day, another 200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip.
“We have three goals for this war: to eliminate Hamas, to bring back all of our abducted people and to ensure that Gaza does not become a threat to the state of Israel again,” Netanyahu said during a tour of the Palestinian enclave, where he is a Hamas visited tunnels and met with Israeli troops stationed in the area.
“We will continue until the end, until victory.” “Nothing will stop us and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the war goals and we will do it” the president added, according to a statement from his office. The exact location in Gaza where Netanyahu was is unknown, but photos and a video were released showing the Hebrew prime minister wearing a helmet and bulletproof vest amid Israeli troops.
These statements come on the third day of a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that will last at least until today.
For his part, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi conducted an assessment of the situation in the Southern Command this Sunday and approved plans to continue the war after the end of the ceasefire, the army said in its report. of the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Yesterday, Hamas confirmed the deaths of several high-ranking members of its organization during fighting against Israel in the Gaza Strip.
The Izz ad Din al-Qassam Brigades statement said Ahmed Ghandour, Ayman Siam, as well as Wael Rajab and Raafat were “martyrs” and did not clarify when they died. Ghandour was the commander of the Northern Brigade in the northern strip and Siam was the head of the missile launch system, according to Israeli media. Israel has not commented on the matter, but the Israeli military had previously said they had attacked Ghandour and Siam without confirming whether they were dead.
Regarding the northern front, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said yesterday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed more than 100 members of Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite militia, and destroyed dozens of its observation posts, weapons depots and other locations before the ceasefire was agreed.
“The combination of all these tactical achievements will lead to a different situation that will subsequently allow the return of the residents (of northern Israel) under completely different conditions than we had at the beginning of this campaign,” Gallant assured.
Since the outbreak of war, around 250,000 Israelis have been displaced, both from communities bordering Gaza and communities bordering Lebanon.
The fifteenth telephone conversation between United States President Joe Biden and Netanyahu was scheduled to take place last night, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced on NBC’s Meet the Press, to discuss the ongoing ceasefire and the hostage agreement. Sullivan emphasized that Biden had been involved in the negotiations throughout and that he called the Emir of Qatar again on Saturday when Hamas delayed the release of the second group of hostages.
Despite the ceasefire, hostilities continued. A suicide drone was shot down in the Arabian Sea early Friday as it headed toward a large merchant ship owned by Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer. The ship suffered some damage, but there were no injuries, Army Radio reported. This is the third such attack in the region in recent days, all claimed by the pro-Iranian Yemeni Houthi organization.
