From the front lines of the Israeli-Palestinian war, NDTV brings you daily reports from journalist Allan Sorensen, Middle East correspondent for the Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad, who provides insights and gripping first-hand accounts from the war-torn region.
US President Joe Biden’s arrival in Israel on Wednesday was confirmed late on Monday.
“He comes here at a crucial time for Israel, for the region and for the world,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said of the visit during a meeting with the press in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv. Antony Blinken had just completed an unprecedented eight-hour meeting with the entire Israeli War Cabinet at military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
While Biden’s visit is described as a show of strong support for Israel, it is also a warning to regional powers such as Iran and Hezbollah against an escalation of the situation.
“This is much broader than a war between Israel and Hamas. The American president sees the current situation as a war between good and bad. Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas are on one side, while the US, Europe and Israel are on the other. “, Amos Yadlin, former head of Israeli military intelligence, tells Channel 12. He adds that if Iran and Hezbollah attack Israel, Israeli and American soldiers will fight side by side.
The US Navy has deployed two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent to Israel’s enemies.
The USS Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group recently joined the USS Gerald R Ford group in the Mediterranean, bringing the total number of US warships assigned to 10.
On Monday, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said 35 planes carrying ammunition were on their way to Israel.
“We always look around us, throughout the Middle East. The IDF (Israeli Defense Force) will operate throughout the Middle East to fulfill Israel’s security objectives. We are very well prepared in all arenas,” said Daniel Hagari. The times of Israel.
Over the past week, Israeli fighter jets have carried out attacks on the airports of Damascus and Aleppo in Syria.
Just before the eleventh day of the fighting, Abu Obeida of Hamas’s military wing stated that the group is holding 200 people hostage in Gaza, and another 50 are being held by other Palestinian groups.
Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas’s diaspora office in Qatar, said Hamas is demanding the release of 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israel to facilitate a possible prisoner swap.
Last night, Hamas released a video showing Mia Shem, one of the hostages in Gaza. Mia Shem has dual French-Israeli citizenship. In the video recording, she says she is being treated well and that Hamas also treated a wound on her hand. In Israel, the video is seen as an expected part of psychological warfare, with Hamas using hostages to increase public pressure on the government.
According to Shimrit Meir, a former adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Hamas divided the hostages into three groups. One group consists of Israeli soldiers, the second consists of Israeli children, women and the elderly, while the third group consists of Israelis with dual nationality.
The situation at the Egypt-Gaza border escalated dramatically on Monday when Israeli fighter jets bombed the area for the fourth time since the latest fighting began.
The Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt remains closed as thousands of Palestinians wait in the border area. The massive and sustained Israeli bombardment of Gaza continues and every day more Palestinians seek shelter by moving to southern Gaza as requested by the Israeli army. At the same time, the Israeli blockade and the closure of the Rafah border are escalating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by the hour and pushing the city closer to total collapse.
Egypt and the US on Monday submitted a request to Israel to allow a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to cross from Egypt to Gaza. Israel rejected this request, which contributed to the spiraling humanitarian crisis.
According to UN staff in Gaza, hospitals are running low on medicine and fuel. Water is scarce and no food products have been delivered since the middle of last week.
The European Union said on Monday it would launch a humanitarian airlift of “multiple flights” to Egypt with aid to the population in Gaza.
“The first two flights will take place this week and will carry UNICEF humanitarian cargo, including shelter items, medicines and hygiene kits,” the EU said in a statement.
According to the al-Arabiya channel, about a hundred trucks are already waiting at the Egyptian border for the green light to cross the border with Gaza.
In an interview with NPR, John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, emphasized the importance of avoiding a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
“We believe that it is imperative that humanitarian aid continue to flow to the people of Gaza. They have every right to expect food, water and medicine. And the United States will continue to work with our partners toward that end,” he said.
Tensions remain high at Israel’s border with Lebanon. After a relatively quiet start to the day, Hezbollah attacked Israeli positions on Monday evening with at least five anti-tank missiles. No one was injured in the attacks, but later in the evening Israeli fighter jets flying at low altitude over the city of Haifa hit targets in Lebanon. Among them were four Hezbollah fighters who tried to cross the border between Lebanon and Israel.
In a television interview with Iranian state television on Monday, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian revealed that Iran is considering pre-emptive action if Israel continues to attack Gaza.
Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are part of the so-called axis of resistance against Israel. Hossein Amir Abdollahian’s comments come after his return from regional meetings with representatives of these groups.
“Preemptive action is possible in the coming hours because the leaders (of the resistance axis) will obviously not allow the Zionist regime in Gaza to do what it wants,” he said.
He added: “If the war crimes against the Palestinians are not stopped immediately, multiple fronts will open and this is inevitable.”
(Allan Sorensen is the Middle East correspondent for the Danish daily Kristeligt Dagblad.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.
