Israel has pledged to destroy Hamas
Rafah, Palestinian Territories:
Hamas released two American hostages held in Gaza, offering a “splinter of hope” to desperate families, while Israel on Saturday stormed the densely populated area where millions waited for promised aid deliveries. The Islamist group took more than 200 people hostage when it stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 and killed at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians who were shot, mutilated or burned to death on the first day of the raid, Israelis said. civil servants.
The fate of the hostages is shrouded in uncertainty, so the release of mother and daughter Judith and Natalie Raanan offered a rare “glimmer of hope,” said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
US President Joe Biden said he was “overjoyed” by the release, which comes days after he visited Israel to express solidarity with the wounded country and urge humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Trucks carrying aid that the United Nations calls a “lifeline” are still stuck on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza, although Biden said the movement could begin within the “next 24 to 48 hours.”
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and says about 1,500 of the group’s fighters were killed in fighting before the army regained control of the attacked area on October 7.
Biden said Friday he believes the attack was partly motivated by Saudi Arabia’s plan to recognize Israel.
According to the Hamas-led Health Ministry, Israel’s military campaign has leveled entire city blocks in Gaza, killing 4,137 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Israeli troops have gathered at the Gaza border ahead of an expected ground invasion that officials have promised will begin “soon.”
But a large-scale land offensive carries many risks, including for the hostages from Israel and the rest of the world held by Hamas.
There were no immediate details on the health of the released hostages, but Biden said he had spoken to them and promised US support “as they recover from this terrible ordeal.”
He thanked Qatar, where Hamas’s political office is based, for helping secure the release and said he was working “around the clock” to secure the return of other Americans who were detained.
Natalie Raanan’s half-brother Ben told the BBC he felt an “overwhelming sense of joy” at the release after “the most terrible ordeal”.
Hamas said Egypt and Qatar had negotiated the release and that it was “working with all mediators to implement the movement’s decision to close the civilian file (hostages) if appropriate security conditions allow.”
There is little information about the hostages, although the Israeli army said on Friday that “the majority” are still alive, and anguished families have demanded more action.
“Absolutely nothing has been done,” Assaf Shem Tov, whose cousin was kidnapped from a music festival, said Friday.
“We ask humanity to intervene and bring back all those young boys, young girls, mothers and babies.”
In Gaza, Israeli fighter jets continued a brutal bombing campaign, with the army saying it hit more than 100 Hamas targets in a single night.
AFP reporters heard loud explosions and saw plumes of smoke rising from the northern Gaza Strip, which Israel has demanded Palestinian civilians leave for their own safety.
About 2.4 million Palestinians live in the densely populated enclave, and the UN says nearly half have been displaced.
Israel has cut off supplies of water, electricity, fuel and food to the long-blocked area.
UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday that humanitarian aid stuck in Egypt “is the difference between life and death for so many people in Gaza.”
And Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s emergencies director, said Biden’s deal for an initial delivery of 20 trucks was “a drop in the bucket” and that 2,000 trucks were needed.
At least 30 percent of all homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, the UN said, citing local authorities, and thousands have taken refuge in a tent city in southern Gaza’s Khan Yunis.
Fadwa al-Najjar said she and her seven children walked for 10 hours to reach the camp, breaking into a run at some points as airstrikes descended around them.
“We saw bodies and limbs being torn off and we just started praying, thinking we were going to die,” she told AFP.
“I would have preferred not to leave, I would have stayed at home and died there,” her daughter Malak added.
The Israeli operation will not last “a day, nor a week, nor a month,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Friday, and will result in “the end of Israel’s responsibilities in the Gaza Strip.”
An Israeli Foreign Ministry source, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said Israel planned to “hand over the keys” to neighboring Egypt, which has strongly rejected attempts to place Gaza residents under its responsibility .
“I fear that the current destruction is part of a clear plan to leave people without a place to live,” said Omar Ashour, a retired general in Gaza.
“This will cause a second Nakba,” he added, referring to the 760,000 Palestinians who were driven from or fled their homes when Israel was founded.
Israel is strongly backed by international allies and Biden on Friday requested $14 billion in emergency military aid from Israel as part of a massive security spending package that faces an uphill battle in the paralyzed US Congress.
He argued the money would safeguard US interests in the region, where there are fears of a wider conflagration.
The United States moved two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean to deter Iran or Lebanese Hezbollah, both allies of Hamas, and France said it had directly warned Hezbollah about involvement.
However, the cross-border firing continued overnight, with the Israeli army saying it had hit Hezbollah targets after rocket and anti-tank missiles.
Israel ordered the evacuation of 25,000 residents of the northern city of Kiryat Shmona on Friday.
Debris from an intercepted missile fell on a schoolyard in the city on Wednesday, resident Lianne Abutbul told AFP.
“It could have killed children, it’s really scary.”
Protests have erupted across the region over the conflict and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will host a peace summit on Saturday attended by regional and some Western leaders.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
