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Operation Iron Swords - Day 49 - 24 November 2023

A total of 24 Hostages in Gaza were released to the International Red Cross by Hamas, with the Hostages being Transferred through the Rafah Border Crossing into Egypt. The release of 12 Thai hostages was a side deal reportedly facilitated by Iran, who had separate channels with the Thai Govt. There are thousands of Thai contract workers in Israel: 31 were murdered on 7/10/23 and up to 25 abducted to Gaza.

IDF Special Forces and ISA Forces met with the released hostages. The released hostages underwent an initial medical assessment inside Israeli territory. They will continue to be accompanied by IDF soldiers as they make their way to Israeli hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families. The IDF Spokesperson reiterated the importance of demonstrating patience and sensitivity during this time out of respect for the released hostages and their families. The Israel Defense Forces salutes and embraces the released hostages upon their return home. The IDF, together with the entire Israeli security establishment, will continue operating until all the hostages are returned home.

Palestinian armed group Hamas launched thousands of missiles at Israel and deployed its militants to infiltrate Jewish settlements near the country’s border with Gaza on 07 October 2023. The 1,200 Israelis killed on the first day would be the equivalent of 36,000 Americans killed in an attack, as a proportion to Israel’s population of 9.3 million people (compared to 332 million in the USA). Israeli President Isaac Herzog stated: “Not since the Holocaust have so many Jews been killed in one day". PM Netanyahu stated "On October 7th, Hamas murdered 1,400 Israelis. Maybe more. This is in a country of fewer than 10 million people. This would be equivalent to over 50,000 Americans murdered in a single day. That’s twenty 9/11s. That is why October 7th is another day that will live in infamy."

It is the second largest loss inflicted on the Israeli forces after the 1973 war, as the Palestinian resistance killed more than 1,200, wounded more than 5,132 others, and captured more than 250, most of them military personnel, some of whom were high-ranking officers in the army.

Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs

Either a martyr or a projected martyr. This is said to be the condition of the people of the Gaza Strip.

About 15,000 Palestinians, including about 6,150 children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Press Office said. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory reports that it had "counted up to this moment about 17,500 dead Palestinians". The Hamas-run government said more than 4,000 women were among the dead, with more than 33,000 more people wounded. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said the number of missing people had risen to more than 6,800 [nearly doubl the 3,750 previously reported], including 1,800 children still under the rubble. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of wounded as 31,000 [previously announced as about 32,000 wounded],

Israel revised down the death toll from the October Hamas attacks in southern Israel from 1,400 to 1,200. IDF had said previously it was holding 1,500 bodies of terrorists, a total that now would increas to about 1,700.

The number of Israeli soldiers that the IDF admitted were killed in ground battles with the Palestinian resistance reached 72, while the death toll for the Israel forces had risen to 392 soldiers since the beginning of Operation al-Aqsa Flood. At least 7,771 Israelis were injured. The IDF previously announced that more than 260 soldiers had been injured since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip, including 100 in serious condition.

Israeli army (IDF) reported the total number of casualties since October 7th to 392 and the number of troop deaths there to 72 since the ground war began.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry released its first official casualty numbers in fighting, saying 77 people were killed and 251 wounded since the start of the war on Gaza.

Hostages

According to some estimates, Hamas is holding nearly 210 of the 240 hostages, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad is holding the remaining 30. About 40 Israelis remained missing.

Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said on Hamas’ telegram account that 23 bodies of the 60 missing Israel hostages were trapped under the rubble. “It seems that we will never be able to reach them due to the continued brutal aggression of the occupation against Gaza,” he said.

The main points known about the hostage deal so far:

  • there will be a ceasefire from both sides in the Gaza Strip,
  • There is no ceasefire on the northern front with Lebanon, and the truce will be limited to the southern front with Gaza. But the ceasefire deal would also apply as a truce on the northern border with Lebanon, according to a Lebanese report in Nidaa al-Watan. "Hezbollah will adhere to the ceasefire on the condition that Israel does too," the first report announced, following a meeting between the leaders of the Lebanese and Palestinian organizations. An official source from Hezbollah later told Al-Jazeera that the group will respect the ceasefire also in Lebanon, reiterating the condition that Israel does too, adding that the Lebanese group was not consulted on the deal.
  • there will be a halt to the movement of Israeli military vehicles penetrating into the Gaza Strip,
  • During the days of the truce, the Israeli forces remain as they are and in their positions, provided that Hamas and the rest of the resistance forces adhere to a complete ceasefire.
  • Israeli military overflights in the southern Gaza Strip will be halted for four consecutive days. Israeli military overflights in the northern Gaza Strip will be limited to six hours daily, in order to allow Hamas to locate the other hostages who are being held by Hamas terrorists and Islamic Jihad.
  • Israel agreed to refrain from targeting or arresting any individuals throughout the truce's timeframe.
  • freedom of movement will be ensured for all Palestinians along Salah al-Din Street, which connects the districts of the Gaza Strip.
  • "The movement of residents from the south of the Gaza Strip to the north will not be allowed in any way, but only from the north to the south. Uncoordinated movement of trucks from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip will also not be allowed" the Israeli army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said via “ X ”.
  • The prisoners in Israeli custody will be handed over to the Red Cross, which will transport them to the Rafah area, and there, under the auspices of Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators, they will be transferred to the Israeli side.
  • Upon their receipt by the Isreeli army, the occupation authorities begin releasing Palestinian female prisoners and children according to the agreed upon number
  • 10 hostages will be released every day
  • Minimum of 53 hostages will be released, mostly minors (under 19) and their mothers, [the 50 prisoners, who appear to be 30 children, eight mothers, and 12 elderly women]. Hamas has 80 captive children, mothers, and elderly women, but at least in the first stage, if Hamas does not find more, at least seven children and five mothers will remain in captivity. The number of foreign workers is 41 prisoners, meaning that Hamas has 195 Israelis, more than 100 of whom will remain in Gaza even after this deal.
  • Israel will release approximately 150 Palestinian prisoners, women and minors (under 19), held in its prisons, and who do not have Jewish blood on their hands.
  • potential of the total number released reaching 80 prisoners, out of about 300 minors (under 19), and 33 female prisoners, detained in its prisons. The mechanism of the process is for Hamas to send through mediators a list of Israeli prisoners who will be released the next day, and the Israeli government approves it, so that the implementation process begins the next day. The number of those released will be increased in later stages of implementing the agreement.
  • hostages to be released do not include foreigners who do not have Israeli citizenship or foreign workers who were around the Gaza Strip.
  • it is also possible that foreigners such as Thai citizens will be released, but this has nothing to do with the truce agreement.
  • The deal does not include Israeli soldiers.
  • on the fourth day of the truce, new names will be given to the Israeli detainees. Hamas will announce its desire to release them in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners, according to the agreed-upon equation, which is one Israeli for 3 Palestinians.
  • Israel would extend the pause in fighting for one further day for each additional 10 captives released.
  • Hamas expressed its approval for the Red Cross to visit the remaining kidnapped persons in Gaza, and that it had committed to searching for the remaining kidnapped persons not in its custody, with the aim of seeking their release at later stages. But Hamas refused to allow the workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the hostages and evaluate their health condition. Hamas believes that "any information related to the hostages must come at a price paid by Israel."
  • The agreement would also include the entry into the Gaza Strip, including in the north, of 4 trucks of fuel daily and two trucks of gas, in addition to at least 200 to 300 trucks of food, medicine and humanitarian aid
  • HAMAS said the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip will continue beyond the days of the agreement, and that the aid that will enter the Strip includes basic materials and clothing.

Operational Update

Two Palestinians were martyred and others were injured when the Israel army opened fire on citizens who tried to return to the northern Gaza Strip , after the start of the temporary humanitarian truce. Ambulances transported the injured from the area separating the south and north of the Gaza Strip at the “Martyrs” intersection on the outskirts of Gaza City to the “Martyrs of Al-Aqsa” Hospital in the city of Deir al-Balah. On Friday morning, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning to their neighborhoods and homes in various areas of the Gaza Strip to inspect them, with the entry into force of a temporary humanitarian truce lasting 4 days.

Israeli Cabinet member Israel Katz told Channel 12 that "the army is trying to prevent tens of thousands of Palestinians from returning to the northern Gaza Strip," stating that "the situation in the north will not return to what it was before." Israeli Security Minister Yoav Galant reiterated that "the ceasefire is a short truce, and the Israeli army will return with full force at its end."

The Israeli army warned the displaced in the southern Gaza Strip against heading to Gaza City and the north, and said in leaflets dropped by Israeli aircraft over the southern areas of the Gaza Strip: “To the residents of the Gaza Strip, the war is not over yet. The humanitarian pause (truce) is temporary, and the area north of the Gaza Strip is a war zone.” It is dangerous and forbidden to travel around.” It continued, "You must remain in the humanitarian zone located in the south of the Strip and not go to the north."

The Israeli army said that movement is only available “from north to south via the Salah al-Din Road,” warning that “returning to the north is forbidden and dangerous. Your fate and the fate of your families are in your hands.” Israeli army spokesman Avichai Adraee noted in a tweet on the “X” platform that “the war is not over yet. The suspension of fire for humanitarian purposes is temporary.”

Despite the threats from the Israeli occupation forces, which deployed tanks and military vehicles in the north and had targeted the displaced who left the northern Gaza Strip for the south, those same displaced people, upon the implementation of the ceasefire in the early hours of Friday, began to return to the North of Gaza. They flocked to their homes, hospitals, and cemeteries in a blatant challenge to the Israeli occupation.

"The residents have started to return to Beit Hanoun with the withdrawal of occupation forces and the beginning of the ceasefire," he added, noting that the occupation forces, with their soldiers stationed in the town, prevent residents from advancing. Residents of Beit Hanoun confirmed that the occupation forces are opening fire at those who try to pass a certain point in Beit Hanoun while our correspondent explained that residents insist on inspecting their properties regardless of the threats being made by the Israeli occupation forces.

Some residents on Salah al-Din Street in the central Gaza Strip stated that the occupation was opening fire toward gatherings of residents who came out to inspect their properties, with its tanks positioned in front of Kuwait Square.

When the agreement negotiations were maturing and their near completion was gradually announced over the past few days, former military officials in Israel raised an issue that carried “fears and apprehension” that the truce would negatively affect “the military momentum of the Israeli army.” While these fears remained, their scope expanded with the entry into force of the agreement, and the influx of recently displaced residents to the south, due to the intensification of the bombing campaign.

The Times of Israel newspaper believes in a report that “thousands of Gazans heading north represents a potential challenge to the Israeli army’s campaign after the truce,” and considered that “Hamas is encouraging civilians to return to the war zone, while the Israeli army is using limited force to prevent the flow.” The newspaper quoted retired General Israel Ziv, a former head of Israeli army operations, as saying, “Hamas is trying to encourage many of the hundreds of thousands of Gazans who were evacuated to the south to return, in order to completely disrupt the Israeli military campaign to destroy the movement ruling Gaza.”

Ziv added: “Hamas has no problem sacrificing all the residents of Gaza, as it has proven,” expecting that “Hamas will intensify its efforts during the four days scheduled for the truce, which represents a very complex challenge, as the Israeli army seeks to resume its campaign when the cessation of fighting ends.”

Retired Palestinian Major General Wassef Erekat says, "Israel does not want the displaced to return, because it wants to empty the area completely." Despite this, “the Palestinian people will not accept this reality,” as he put it. Erekat explains to Al-Hurra website that “the residents of Gaza had originally rejected displacement and migration. Those of them who left from the north to the south migrated as a result of pressure... but they will return.”

Since Israel issued evacuation orders for the first time in the northern Gaza Strip on October 13, an estimated 1.7 million people have been displaced out of the Strip's 2.2 million population as Israel seeks to overthrow Hamas. Despite the Israeli army's entry into Gaza City and other areas in the northern Gaza Strip three weeks ago, hundreds of families remained trapped in hospitals and in several camps, led by Jabalia. “There are currently attempts to return the displaced,” and retired Major General Erekat believes that “the longer the truce extends, the more there will be a chance for the displaced to return, regardless of Israel’s desire or not.”

The Times of Israel quoted a senior officer in the Israeli army's Southern Command as saying on Friday afternoon that "the forces will respond to any attempt to harm them amid the ceasefire, while the army spends its time preparing for the resumption of fighting." He added: “Anyone who poses a threat to our forces will be struck. The security of our forces is a top priority.” He continued: “This is how we acted, and this is how we will continue to act. We are preparing to continue the attack with all our strength as soon as the truce ends.”

Regarding the Israeli position, analyst and political researcher Yoav Stern explains that “the issue of the northern Gaza Strip and the return of residents constitutes a challenge to Israel because after the end of the truce it wants these areas to remain empty.” “The presence of the population makes military missions in the region difficult, and Israel is trying to avoid civilians,” Stern said in an interview with Al-Hurra website, “Their presence in the northern Gaza Strip means that they are at risk of being targeted, which limits the capabilities of the Israeli army to operate freely.”

The Israeli war in the northern Strip, which lasted for a month and a half, resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians in Gaza, the majority of whom were women and children, and pushed nearly a million people to flee south. Over 45 percent of all homes across the Strip are too damaged to live in, according to United Nations estimates.

According to the American magazine "Politico", the destruction of vital infrastructure "has consequences for years to come" for the residents of the coastal strip, which is home to 2.3 million people. Analyst Stern believes that "the return of the population to the north means that after the end of the truce, the Israeli army will be forced to direct them again to the south." Since the Israeli army issued warnings and threatened to prevent movement, the analyst believes that it “cannot prevent the return completely, because it does not intend to come into contact with them.”

The return of residents from the south of the Gaza Strip to its north does not represent the only challenge that Israel is concerned about, and former Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat points to another, in an article published by the “Israel Hayom” newspaper, on Friday afternoon. Under what he called “the necessity of avoiding the Hamas trap,” Ben-Shabbat said that “Israel must keep its war machine running during the ceasefire,” and “there is no doubt that the movement wants to see the ceasefire as a turning point in the conflict,” according to His expression.

Hamas believes, as Ben Shabbat believes, that “the ceasefire will cause the IDF to lose momentum and it will gradually reduce its operations through a series of limited ceasefires and restrictive conditions, until a complete cessation of offensive actions is reached.” At the same time, the article stated, “Israel will lose its legitimacy to fight a high-intensity war, and the international community will increase its diplomatic efforts in order to reach broader arrangements, and in the meantime Hamas will recover.”

“The ceasefire agreed upon as part of the hostage deal will pose many operational challenges for Israel,” and “the biggest challenge is how to ensure that the Israeli army is able to resume firing instead of falling into Hamas’ trap,” the Israeli national security advisor considers. the previous. In turn, researcher Stern explains, "Israel is now concerned with releasing more detainees as much as possible, because it knows that a significant portion of the soldiers will remain in the hands of Hamas."

Israel will be concerned with the release of the elderly, women and children, and after that the battles will continue. “We could see an extension of the truce,” Stern believes, “Hamas will procrastinate and there will be a lack of clarity on its part, which will push Israel to rush back to the battle, so that there is no doubt.”

Before the truce entered into force, the Israeli army published a video recording of the Chief of Staff, Herzl Halevy, in which he said: “We will not end the war. We will continue until we win. We move forward and continue in other Hamas areas.” Before that, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before a meeting to approve the humanitarian truce: “Let me be clear: We are at war - and we will continue the war.”

While the Israeli Prime Minister's position was partly aimed at appeasing hardliners who strongly oppose any concessions to Hamas, he also emphasized that even after six weeks of fighting in which it occupied northern Gaza and caused unprecedented destruction there, Israel is still far from achieving its military goals, according to a report published by the Financial Times on Thursday.

A report published by Politico described Gaza City as having become like the surface of the moon in a state of war, and quoted Emily Tripp, director of Airwars, a conflict monitoring organization based in London, that the Israeli bombing in the seven weeks following the Hamas attack on October 7 was unprecedented. October unleashed more munitions than the United States has used in any year in its campaign against ISIS, a barrage that the United Nations describes as the deadliest urban campaign since World War II.

The American website report stated that the Israeli military attack turned most of the northern Gaza Strip into an uninhabitable area, as entire neighborhoods were wiped out and homes, schools, and hospitals were subjected to aerial bombardment and burned by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most of them were damaged by artillery shelling.

According to an analysis of Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data conducted by Corey Scher of the Graduate Center at the City University of New York and Jamon van den Hoek of Oregon State University; Nearly half of the buildings across northern Gaza were damaged or destroyed. According to the analysis, southern Gaza was spared the greatest firepower, yet the scarcity of food, water and fuel led to a humanitarian crisis. But this is changing. In the past two weeks, satellite data shows a sharp increase in damage in the southern city of Khan Yunis. Residents say that the occupation army rained evacuation warnings on the eastern parts of the city.

Despite the horrors of war, Yasser El-Sheshtawy, a professor of architecture at Columbia University, hopes that reconstruction will provide an opportunity to transform Gaza's dilapidated refugee camps and long-deteriorating infrastructure into "a more livable, more equitable and more humane place." But Palestinians say it is not just the destroyed infrastructure that needs rebuilding, but also the psychologically traumatized society.

A total of 137 trucks carrying food, water, medicine and other essentials have been unloaded in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas truce began Friday, the United Nations said. Four tankers of fuel and four tankers of cooking gas were transferred from Egypt to UN humanitarian aid organizations in the southern Gaza Strip via the Rafah Crossing. This was approved by the government of Israel as part of the pause and the framework for the release of the hostages agreed with the United States and mediated by Qatar and Egypt. The fuel and cooking gas are designated for operating essential humanitarian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas was actively employing new tactics to surprise Israeli forces invading central Gaza City, Israeli media reported. Israeli Ynet News military affairs correspondent Yoav Zitun reminded that senior Israeli commanders overseeing the ongoing operations a month ago said the tide of battle would sway in favor of those who innovate and learn quickly.

In areas such as the al-Zaytoun neighborhood and Jabalia in the northeast, Hamas had intensified its hit-and-run attacks featuring lone wolves emerging from hiding, firing, and swiftly retreating to tunnels connecting to the opposite side of the street, the Israeli journalist said. The attacks, he added, involve the coordinated firing of Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) from multiple directions.

He also noted what he called a "sophisticated" approach that has emerged in the past week, wherein the al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, has been placing speakers in alleys that had been hit by Israeli bombardment, which are being used to broadcast Arabic conversations to instill further chaos among the invading Israeli soldiers. Reportedly, said speakers will have interlocutors, who are mostly children and teenagers, talking to each other in Arabic, which has had a chaotic effect on the Israeli soldiers invading such areas.

The Israeli military journalist stressed that the Palestinian Resistance is utilizing this tactic when the Israeli IDF soldiers, whether infantry or in tanks, approach. They activate the speakers when they approach to disorient them. In a recent incident, he reported, an infantry force followed by tanks investigated sounds coming from an alley leading to a previously attacked street. As they advanced, Resistance fighters hidden on a high floor of a nearby building opened fire with machine guns and anti-tank missiles.

The confrontation saw the Palestinian Resistance fighters used explosive devices and frag grenades to take down the invading Israeli soldiers, highlighting how the guerilla warfare methods used by the Palestinian Resistance are serving them and undermining the Israeli effort to invade Gaza and completely curbing it, even.

Bystanders

The head of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory, Dr. Rami Abdo, said that evidence and evidence confirm that Israel has committed genocide crimes against the residents of the Gaza Strip, during the war it has been waging in this sector since the seventh of last October. Abdo said - in an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Net - that the crimes of genocide claimed the lives of about 20,000 Palestinians, who together with tens of thousands of wounded represent about 2.5% of the population in the Strip, in addition to the massive destruction of residential homes, civilian objects, and all means of life.

"There is no doubt that Israel has committed a wide range of violations and crimes in the Gaza Strip, and I do not believe that there is a place in this world that has witnessed such crimes in terms of quantity and diversity. We can definitively conclude that Israel has committed genocide, and this genocide, by definition, includes vocabulary. Essential, 3 of these clear terms were implemented by Israel, most notably the mass killing operations, and we witnessed from these operations the direct targeting of civilian gatherings, not only in the north of the Gaza Strip, but throughout it, north and south.

"We focused - from the beginning - on the fact that what the occupation is committing are crimes of genocide, and we communicated with United Nations experts and with international officials and academics, to examine these crimes. Indeed, more than 800 professors of international law issued a unified statement and confirmed that what is happening are crimes of genocide....

"UNRWA and other international agencies, in the first days of the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, contributed to spreading a state of terror among citizens, when they withdrew their vehicles and crews and closed their headquarters in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, in response to Israeli desires, which gave indications to citizens that not any type of protection can be offered....

"Also, we witnessed the World Health Organization, which did not make efforts. It could have at least provided protection for Palestinian hospitals, and refuted Israeli allegations, such as the presence of members of this organization, examining hospitals and confirming their safety, as well as delaying the supply of medicines and medical supplies...."

Sources told Al Mayadeen today that only 3 trucks loaded with aid arrived at areas in northern Gaza. UNRWA has proven time and again that it is colluding with the Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing the northern part of Gaza during the period of the aggression on the Strip, as the head of the Government Media Office Salamah Maarouf said on October 31. Maarouf said that UNRWA and its officials are not living up to their obligations and that they are conspiring with Israel which seeks to forcibly displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

On his part, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qudra, said that the UN agency has turned its back on the residents of the Gaza Strip in general, leaving children unvaccinated, and terminally ill individuals without medication, as well as neglecting the needs o hospitals all over the Gaza Strip. Footage circulated on social media platforms, depicting UNRWA storage rooms filled with aid, while Palestinians are being killed by the Israeli war machine.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced on Friday that the idea of reviving the "two-state solution" has been exhausted for over 30 years and has not achieved much. He emphasized that "the only solution to the Palestinian issue," as explained by el-Sisi, is "the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital."

El-Sisi expressed Egypt's readiness for a demilitarized Palestinian state with security guarantees from NATO, the United Nations, or Arab and foreign forces. He also affirmed his efforts to extend the temporary ceasefire to release more prisoners. The Egyptian President emphasized that the current priority is containing the escalation and providing aid to Gaza sufficient for the relief of all its inhabitants.

Following talks with the Prime Ministers of Spain and Belgium at the Presidential Palace, el-Sisi clarified that Egypt "has not and will not close the Rafah Crossing," placing blame on Israel for hindering the exit of individuals with dual citizenship. El-Sisi addressed the gravity of the situation in Gaza, describing it as forced displacement beyond the sector's borders, adding that Egypt "will not permit the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip." He stressed the need to establish safe zones in each part of Gaza to accommodate those who have lost their homes.

Axis of Resistance

Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Brigadier General Ali Fadavi, confirmed that the image that the Zionists tried to create of their power evaporated in one operation, and they suffered a resounding defeat for their reputation in the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, due to the patience and resistance of the Palestinians, which breathed life into the veins of the Front of Truth for the oppressed of the world.

Brigadier Fadavi, in a speech to the crowds of mobilizationists supporting Palestine in the city of Ahvaz (southwest) today, Friday, described the support provided by the resistance in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon to the Palestinian mujahideen as “shrewd,” and added that 92 countries in the world have organized demonstrations against the Zionist entity. These demonstrations are still continuing and 100 countries in the world are screaming about the oppression of Palestine and the injustice of the Zionists.

The Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guard said that the Zionists are launching, with all humiliation and indignity, bombing residential areas from afar, bringing the number of victims of their massacres to more than 14,000 people, and that the entire world of arrogance has been attacking a small group for nearly 50 days and they do not even have mercy on infants, but it is incapable of achieving his goals.

The spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran, Brigadier General Ramadan Sharif, confirmed that the Zionist entity submitted to the truce today after the course of events and the results of the operations were all in favor of the resistance movement, despite the Zionists not abiding by any covenants.

Brigadier General Sharif added in a speech in the Rosmarud region in northern Iran, at a ceremony commemorating the martyrs of that region, that the foundations for the survival of the Zionist entity are based on four pillars: first, the most advanced military and security systems, and then arrogance and aggression against the oppressed with the support of America. And the West, then terrorism and terrorizing others using a media empire that promotes the inability to defeat them, and after all this the presence of the American air bridge supporting them, but all of these Zionist strategic foundations collapsed in the Al-Aqsa flood at the hands of 3,000 mujahideen from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Brigadier General Sharif continued that the Palestinian resistance has been holding out in the field for 46 days with the minimum available capabilities, and the Palestinians did not initiate the slightest possible movement stating that they would leave their homeland after more than 40 days of bombing and the sacrifice of thousands of martyrs, and the patient Palestinian people have taught the arrogant people a harsh lesson.

The spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stressed that the strategy of the resistance movement, the Palestinian mujahideen, and the Hamas and Jihad movements is to look forward and in the face of the enemy, because they have suffered from this enemy and they are looking at it, face to face, in order to liberate the homeland.

He also pointed out that the Zionists are thinking about displacing the Palestinian people and eliminating Hamas, but they must know that Hamas is a school and approach to liberation and that the idea of liberation cannot be eliminated by bombing and shooting. Brigadier General Sharif stressed that the response to the Zionists is the language of force and fighting, and that Israel has submitted today to the truce and that all the course of affairs and operations were going in favor of the resistance despite the Zionists not adhering to any covenants and covenants.

In conclusion, he stressed that with the blessing of the jihad of the mujahideen in the axis of resistance, God Almighty will liberate Holy Jerusalem, and that the future belongs to those who stand firm in the field and are patient and do not fear anyone in the jihad for the sake of God Almighty.

The Friday preacher in Tehran, Hojjat al-Islam Kazem Seddiqi, said that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is the ideal of the Iranian Islamic Revolution. There is no point in negotiating with the aggressor and usurper. Hojjat al-Islam Kazem Siddiqi added in his Friday sermon to the latest developments in the occupied territories.

He added, in the past 44 years, the Palestinian people’s uprising had a defensive stance, but this time it took an offensive stance. The people who were trained in the school of faith, jihad and steadfastness, in a day and a half, dealt a fatal blow to the Zionists. He continued, “The presence of the heads of Western countries, led by the American president [in the occupied territories], and then the support of the entity by the German Chancellor, the British Prime Minister, and the French President, proved that the Zionist entity is a spider’s house and all powers are snowmen. If man trusts in the power of God, their weakness and strength will be proven empty words."

He stressed that the Hamas movement broke the back of the Zionist entity by relying on faith and force. In this brave and unprecedented attack, the resistance proved that if it took an offensive stance, it would have the upper hand. The Zionists wanted to eliminate Hamas, but they failed in all arenas. He pointed to the brutality of the Zionists in killing women and children and launching attacks on medical centers, and said: “The killing of this large number of children awakened the consciences of humanity in the world and even the American people supported the resistance in front of the White House.

The Friday preacher in Tehran said that the presence of people in the streets of London and France indicates that the collapse of Israel is near. He added that the attacks of the resistance movement in Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon prove that the back of the Zionists was broken under the heavy resistance fire.

The political advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, said today, Friday, that the ceasefire, which began this morning in the Gaza Strip, between Hamas and the occupation, is considered a complete failure for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Shamkhani added, through his account on the “X” website: “Hamas was not destroyed, and is steadfast in its positions, and its infrastructure is still effective, especially the tunnels. The prisoners have not been released, but will be exchanged.” He continued: "Netanyahu's goals, announced 50 days after the racist genocide, were not achieved. This is an absolute defeat."

Political Assistant to the Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri, confirmed that the future of the region belongs to its people and owners, including the Palestinians, and that there is no place for the Zionists in the region and that their inevitable fate is nothing but defeat.

Baqeri stressed that what is happening in Gaza is not a war, but rather genocide and a clear war crime, but the victors in Gaza are the children and women, and that the Zionists have been unable during the past 45 days to target any military center, but rather they are targeting homes, hospitals, mosques and churches.

He considered that there is no way for the Zionists but to end their occupation and aggression, and that increasing their aggression will increase the fires of anger of the Palestinians and free peoples against them, and that there is no inevitable fate for the Zionists other than defeat, and they must know that victory in the war between missiles and children is for the children, and that resistance is a confirmed right for the Palestinians and has not No one bestows it upon them, and no one can take it away from them.

He stressed that the Zionists are suffering today from confusion in their strategies and loss. If they end the aggression against Gaza and return to the previous conditions, they will have admitted their failure, and if they continue their aggression to escape defeat, they will have increased the file of their crimes, for which they will soon be held accountable before international and national courts, and they have increased global hatred. towards them, and therefore the Zionists do not see any passable path in front of them now. In response to a question from a journalist, Bagheri said, “We should not ask why Iran supports the resistance, but rather America and European countries should be held accountable for why they do not support the resistance of the Palestinian people against the occupation. Regarding the two-state solution and the Iranian position on it, Bagheri said that no one can allow himself to make the decision instead.” Regarding the Palestinians who do not need a guardian or delegate over them, as the Palestinians are the owners of the land and the inevitable fate of any occupier is to leave the land. There is no legitimacy for the presence of the Zionists anywhere in Palestine and the passage of time does not grant legitimacy to the occupation.

The Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister also stressed, in answering a question about the possibility of the war expanding, that the Zionists must stop their brutality and genocide in Gaza as soon as possible. Otherwise, the resistance will decide when and how to respond to the occupiers according to what it deems appropriate.

Israel and the United States have made no gains whatsoever, failing to accomplish any achievements on the political and military fronts, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said. During a meeting with Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian underlined that the reverberations of Operation al-Aqsa Flood were felt all around the world, though human casualties suffered by the Palestinian people in Gaza were "devastating, but the resounding victory garnered by these people was greater and changed the balance of power in favor of Palestine."

The United States and Israel, despite their aggression going on for nearly 50 days, "they did not achieve their declared goal, which is the destruction of Hamas," Amir-Abdollahian said. Neither party made any achievements, and they had to have indirect negotiations with Hamas to reach a ceasefire and release their prisoners. Hamas and the Palestinian Resistance factions' diplomacy "will invalidate and render obsolete the political plots that were being prepared for Gaza."

“The consequences of Operation al-Aqsa Storm shook the world,” the top Iranian diplomat said, Press TV reported. “Although the human losses of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip were high, bitter and unfortunate, the dimensions of victory and achievement of the Palestinian nation were much bigger and tipped the strategic balance in different dimensions in favor of Palestine and the detriment of the usurping Zionist regime,” he added.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani welcomed the four-day truce in Gaza, describing the development as the first step in halting the “usurping and child-killing Zionist regime’s war crimes against the Palestinian citizens, women and children.” Describing the truce as the result of over 45 days of indescribable resistance shown by the Palestinian people and historical perseverance of the resistance combatants, the spokesman said the development marks the first step to victory for Palestine.

He then noted that Iran will continue to make efforts, use initiatives and hold diplomatic consultations with various regional and international parties to support the oppressed people of Palestine and make joint efforts with the friendly and like-minded countries in order to take immediate measures to stabilize and stretch the ceasefire, stop the Zionist regime’s massacre machine, and provide urgent relief aid for the people of Gaza.

“The Palestinian nation proved that it will decide its own fate and the fate of its homeland either in the battlefield or at the political arena, and will show an appropriate and determining response to any plot or ill-advised, aggressive and short-sighted measure by the usurping Zionist regime and its notorious sponsors,” Kanaani added.

The Hamas chief hailed as “honorable” the support of the resistance movements in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria to their brothers and sisters in Gaza, noting that it bears a “clear” message to the Zionist regime and the US. Pointing to various dimensions of the Israeli regime’s war crimes against the people of Gaza, its hospitals and urban infrastructure, Haniyeh said the US was the “main axis” of the Israeli war on Gaza.

“Despite the initial opposition to the ceasefire, the United States, understanding the realities of the battlefield, was finally forced to surrender to the will of the Palestinian people and the will of the world nations and the positive vote of 120 countries to the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly for a ceasefire with Hamas, which shows the US dominance over the international order has diminished,” he added.

Haniyeh, during his talks with the Iranian foreign minister, hailed the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for their unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and people, especially throughout the ongoing war on Gaza. The Hamas leader saw that the support offered by the Resistance movements in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria to their brothers in Gaza was a "source of pride" that clearly sent a message of unity to the Israel and the United States.

Secretary-General of the Islamic Jihad movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, confirmed Friday, that the temporary truce is “an explicit acknowledgment of the setback to the goals” of the Israeli occupation, which “was forced to complete the agreement, as a result of its forces’ faltering in advancing on the fighting axes, which do not exceed more than 50 square kilometers.”

Al-Nakhalah explained , in a televised speech, that “further Israeli aggression was met with more resistance, which forced the occupation to negotiate over the civilians it captured.” He added that the truce deal and the prisoner exchange process would not have been accepted by the occupation "had it not been for its losses in the field." He stressed that the remaining officers and soldiers of the occupation prisoners "will not be released without the freedom of the remaining Palestinian prisoners, and this will not happen before the end of the aggression."

Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), will release a number of Israeli captives, in line with the clauses of the mediated prisoners exchange deal between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli occupation, the spokesperson for the Brigades, Abu Hamza, said in a broadcast address.

The military spokesperson confirmed al-Quds Briagdes' commitment to ceasing all military actions during the period of the humanitarian truce, which went into effect on Wednesday. However, Abu Hamza stressed that the Brigades will respond appropriately to any Israeli breaches of the agreement. Moreover, the official underscored the Palestinian Resistance's dedication to the Palestinian cause and to freeing all Palestinian territories from the Israeli occupation.

"We are a nation that will never abandon [Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails]," the military spokesperson underlined. He underlined that Palestinian prisoners "deserve [much more] from their Resistance and people." Abu Hamza commended the Palestinian people and Resistance who faced the "region's most powerful, most oppressive, and most lethal army," confirming that the occupied West Bank is still an integral part of the "battle in the defense of Arab and Islamic honor."

The spokesperson for al-Quds Brigades dedicated a section of his address to Resistance factions in the region, thanking the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon and Iraq, as well as the Yemeni Armed Forces for taking significant military action in support of Palestine. Abu Hamza highlighted the "deadly concentrated hits" that the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon -Hezbollah is striking the Israeli occupation forces with on the border with Palestine. He also hailed the Resistance in Iraq that has been targeting the United States bases in Syria and Iraq.

The spokesperson paid special attention to the Yemenis' role in supporting the Palestinian Resistance, as they heavily target the occupied Palestinian town of Umm al-Rashrash or "Eilat". He also pointed to Yemen's seizing of an Israeli ship at the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, saying the action restored the Arab identity of the Red Sea. Abu Hamza said the Yemeni Armed Forces sent a clear message to the occupation, telling Israel that it would never hold the maritime and legal rights in the Red Sea.

The Secretary-General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, affirmed that achieving the temporary truce is an explicit recognition of the occupation's failure to achieve its objectives of unconditionally retaining its captives held in Gaza. He stated that the agreement was reached due to the setbacks and losses suffered by the Israeli occupation forces while advancing on the battlefront, noting that the invading forces barely infiltrated an area of 50 square kilometers.

Al-Nakhalah explained in a televised speech that the intensified Israeli aggression faced increasingly valiant resistance, forcing the occupation to negotiate for the release of their captives. The PIJ Secretary-General also added that the temporary truce wouldn't have taken place if the occupation hadn't suffered intense casualties on the battlefield.

Al-Nakhalah further affirmed that the Resistance "will not be broken nor will it surrender. We will continue to fight. This is our choice today more than ever." He pointed out that the Palestinian people, after all these sacrifices, express the will of all the free people of the world. He concluded his speech by acknowledging the efforts of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon and the Resistance in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, who are supporting the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza in the fight against the Israeli occupation.

The head of the Hamas movement abroad, Khaled Meshal, said Friday evening that what happened from the Zionist occupation towards Al-Aqsa, the acceleration of demolition plans, and the plans of extremist ministers to complete the Judaization of the West Bank and Jerusalem and displace its people were the motive for October 7.

Meshaal added during his speech at a conference organized by the International Islamic Forum for Parliamentarians that the suffering of more than 5,000 thousand Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons, the slow death of Gaza after 17 years of siege, and returning the issue to its true essence that it is a battle of occupation and settlement, were all present at the leadership of the movement. And our victorious brigades, when they decided to unleash the Al-Aqsa flood.

He emphasized the development of the resistance’s work from the uprisings and wars on Gaza, to taking a big step like the Al-Aqsa flood, on our long road to liberating Palestine. He stressed that the impressive performance of the Qassam elite mujahideen to confront the ground forces invading Gaza shows the quality of the training, in addition to their sincere faith and adherence to the Qur’an. Meshaal said: “If the Algerians, Afghans and Vietnamese had listened to the advocates of defeatism who are demanding that we surrender, Algeria, Afghanistan and Vietnam would not have been liberated from colonialism and occupation.”

He added, “The terrorist Zionist occupation failed to achieve its declared goals of eliminating Hamas and displacing the entire population of the Gaza Strip, and the majority of the northern population remained in the north despite everything that our great steadfast north is exposed to.”

On Friday, after the start of the truce in the Gaza Strip, Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the "Sadr Movement" in Iraq, expressed his hope that the truce would be the beginning of the end of Zionist-American terrorism. Al-Sadr said, “Praise be to God, who gave victory to his servant, strengthened his soldiers, and defeated the Zionists alone. To Him belongs eternal and unceasing praise.”

He continued, “May God salute the heroic Palestinian resistance that humiliated the Zionist enemy and comforted the oppressed in the east and west of the earth... with its steadfastness and steadfastness in the face of the most powerful forces of evil, the Zionist, American, German, French, and British, and their henchmen... And here is another victory written on their hands with the start of the truce that the enemy was forced to enter into. ” oppressive and unjust colonialism.”

He expressed his hope that "this truce will be the beginning of the end of the Zionist-American terrorism that affects our beloved people in Palestine in general and our people in Gaza in particular."

He warned of “the enemy’s treachery and his breaking of covenants and promises... There is no covenant with them and there is no good in them, as you know and we know... We also hope that peace will continue and that God will keep away terrorism and Zionist crime, stop the massacres against civilians and their livelihood and dignity, and that the Zionist enemy, its stinky leader, and its senile old supporter will be criminalized.” As war criminals for the crimes they committed against humanity against children, women, hospitals, mosques and churches.”

Al-Sadr added, “And you should know, dear resistance fighters in occupied Palestine, that we are with you in your war and peace and in all your decisions, and the Zionists will remain our enemies, and there will be no normalization with them or peace as long as we live. God and history have immortalized October 7 as a victory that will not be erased or forgotten. So thank you.”

Allied for Democracy

A poll conducted by the Maariv newspaper showed that the leader of the Blue and White party and a minister in the War Cabinet, Benny Gantz, is growing more popular among Israelis while the far-right coalition headed by Netanyahu is growing less popular. In response to a question in the poll about the parties the respondents would vote for in the next Knesset elections, the answers were as follows: "State Camp" 43 seats (a coalition which includes Benny Gantz's Blue and White party), "Likud" 18 seats, and "There is a Future" 13 seats. Election poll shows coalition parties would crash to 41 seats, opposition parties would skyrocket to 79; respondents prefer Gantz to Netanyahu as PM, 52%-27% Maariv poll published before hostage release.

Israeli Likud party MK, Tali Goitein, said Israel has conceded "everything" to Hamas in the ceasefire agreement "without receiving even a sign of life from the prisoners in Gaza." Goitein added that "agreeing to hours of ceasefire and fuel entry are actions that strengthen Hamas, and it would be interpreted as weakness on our part."

Israeli journalist Nahum Barnea who writes for the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said that "public pressure" has prompted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a prisoner exchange deal and temporary truce in the Gaza. "A week ago," Barnea explained, Netanyahu, had "rejected" the deal that was "on the table", however, he changed his mind a couple of days ago, thus indicating that "what prompted him to agree to what he had rejected was public pressure."

The report also noted that public pressure was not the only reason for his "fluctuations", adding that "the position of the army, the Shin Bet, and the Mossad" also played a significant role, likely referencing the losses Israel faced amid the difficulty of the confrontations with the Resistance.

Haaretz reported that while much can go wrong, vis-à-vis occupation interests, "there was no other option, except to approve the proposed deal." As for Yedioth Ahronoth, Barnea held a similar opinion, saying, "There was no other option but to agree to the proposed deal," given that allegedly in the occupation's government "no one in the leadership has the authority" to make a decision to further postpone the decision so that the IDF would advance another kilometer.

Keir Starmer's defence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza has unleashed a harsh rebellion against him within the Labour Party. According to The Guardian, the issue could lose them so many votes among Muslims, young people, and urban progressives that it could cost them up to ten seats in marginal areas at the next year's elections. Eight frontbenchers and two parliamentary private secretaries resigned to vote for a Commons amendment that backed a full ceasefire. The amendment was tabled by the Scottish National Party (SNP), whose leader Humza Yousaf is married to a Palestinian-Scottish psychotherapist. His in-laws had visited their relatives in Gaza before October 7 and were stuck there for weeks.

While support for a ceasefire and solidarity with Palestine is growing in Great Britain – the past weeks have seen the largest anti-war demonstrations in London since the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 – Starmer remains unashamedly pro-Israeli. Labour MPs were whipped to abstain from the SNP amendment, but 56 rebelled. Labour had 198 MPs before the vote; over 25 per cent refused to follow Starmer's lead.

Sources close to The Guardian say Starmer is facing more resignations if he does not shift his policy on Gaza. The paper wrote that several of those who remained loyal and kept their jobs are nonetheless angry about how the issue has been managed and are willing to quit. The rebellion in the House of Commons came after weeks of growing splits within the UK Labour Party. Several Councillors have resigned, and in total, 76 Labour MPs have in some way publicly called for an immediate ceasefire – this is almost 40 per cent of the party's MPs.

One of the first to speak out against Starmer was Lubaba Khalid, Labour MP and former leader of Young Labour's BAME (Black and Minority Ethnic) group. She drew the line and initiated a wave of resignations. "As a Palestinian with family in Gaza, I am shocked by Starmer's statements", she emphasised in her resignation letter: "I've been afraid for my family for days and have received no support from Labour". The party is no longer a safe place for Palestinians and Muslims, said Khalid.

Nine leading members resigned in Glasgow, and six in Edinburgh. The Labour leader in Leicester, Peter Soulsby, emphasised to LabourList that there was great discontent within the party. The Labour man also told Left Foot Forward that he had never seen approval for Labour fall as rapidly as it is currently.

Dozens of Labour councillors have left the party since October 7, including almost a dozen members in Oxford, which meant the party lost the majority in the town hall there. Days later, 150 Labor Muslim Councillors Network members published an open letter calling on Starmer to call for a ceasefire. Hundreds of MPs and Councillors later signed it.

A Muslim Census poll released in late October shows the party under Starmer has lost 93 per cent of its Muslim voters. In 2019, 71 per cent of British Muslims planned to vote for Labor. In October 2023, only 5 per cent intend to do so. The survey also shows that British Muslims feel little represented by parties: only 38 per cent of respondents plan to vote for one of the parties currently represented in the House of Commons in the 2024 elections. Forty per cent no longer want to vote at all, and 20 per cent plan to support independent candidates. Another 17 per cent of the Muslim electorate would vote for the Greens, 10 per cent for the Liberals and only one per cent of those surveyed for the ruling Conservatives.

The latest census shows that over 4.2 million Muslims live in the UK, most in England. That is almost seven per cent of the population. They are among the most socially and culturally disadvantaged population groups: 39 per cent of the Muslim population lives in the poorest regions of England and Wales.

Similar debates emerged below the radar in Austria's social democratic SPO. While the mayor of Vienna, Michael Ludwig (SPO), had "Israel's" flag raised at the town hall and the entire party leadership, including leader Andreas Babler, expressed their solidarity with Israel at a rally in front of the Federal Chancellery, an opposite picture can be seen in party events.

The SPO-affiliated Bruno Kreisky Forum was invited to the former Chancellor's villa on October 23 for a book launch by Lebanese academic Munira Khayyat. The associate professor from New York University in Abu Dhabi talked about the "resistance in Northern Galilee" against Israel in "occupied Palestine". Instead of opposition from the audience, there was interest in what was said and agreement with the terminology.

Former President Heinz Fischer made similar statements at the federal congress of the SPO-affiliated Federation of Social Democratic Academics (BSA): "We must always listen to the Palestinians" and must not forget that "the founding of the state of Israel was a harrowing process for them". Here, too: Instead of opposition, he received applause.

To ensure that such voices do not gain the upper hand, the party leadership is taking aggressive action against left-wing, anti-imperialist voices within its ranks. An example has been made of the leftwing group "Der Funke" (The Spark), which has been working in social democracy and trade unions for three decades. The group has been visible at pro-Palestinian and anti-imperialist events in Austria since October 7.

As a consequence, in mid-October, almost all daily newspapers simultaneously published articles accusing the group of supporting Hamas. The party establishment was quickly on the scene. Sandra Breiteneder, SPO federal manager since June, issued a press release stressing the party was "fully on "Israel's" side".

The "Funke" is among the more influential left-wing forces in the country. According to the editor of a newspaper with the same name, Emanuel Tomaselli, there are "several hundred members throughout Austria". The organisation has the most substantial influence in the Western county, Vorarlberg, and Austria's capital, Vienna. In Vorarlberg, expulsion proceedings have been initiated against two members of the Socialist Youth (SJ) Vorarlberg, who are also on the executive council of the SPO. Financial support to the youth organisation was stopped.

The SPO Vienna went one step further: In the 9th district, the whole Funke-led Socialist Youth has been made to stand down and seven members expelled. The reason: Their members showed "anti-Israel attitudes" by attending and organising Palestinian solidarity rallies and demonstrations, the former chairman of the Socialist Youth in the 9th district, Martin Halder, told the author. It is an all-round attack on the entire "Funke" movement "because we are against the oppression of the Palestinians," he emphasises. Other regional associations are also facing divisions due to the anti-Palestinian stance of the party leadership, according to SPO sources.

Despite pressure from party leadership and media, the public is increasingly on the side of Palestine: Last weekend, well over 12.000 marched in solidarity with Palestine at one of the largest demonstrations in Austria's capital in years.

In Germany, the two historical parties of the left, the social democratic SPD, and the former GDR state party LINKE (The Left), are also firmly in the pro-Israeli camp, as they have been in the pro-Ukraine camp since February 2022. Influential politicians of the LINKE – once a party of peace – such as the Prime Minister of Tubingen, Bodo Ramelow, are even calling for the German armament of Ukraine.

However, a new party puts pressure on both. In October, ten MPs around the popular Sahra Wagenknecht left the LINKE and are preparing to form a new party. In conversation with the author, their North Rhine-Westphalia MP Sevim Dagdelen explained the new group's foreign politics: "We advocate for a ceasefire and negotiated solution in the Ukraine war and the Middle East. Arms deliveries are not a solution but part of the problem. Demands for the delivery of German tanks like Bodo Ramelow's add fuel to the fire." Instead, she explains, "Our actions are guided by international law, not a morally-disguised foreign policy."

In the Middle East, the "only way to peace is through immediate ceasefire negotiations. Without implementing the two-state solution and recognising an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as capital, there will be no solution to the conflict. "The new party promises to put enormous pressure on other parties." In nationwide polls, it stands well beyond ten per cent, and in some Eastern German states, it polls beyond 20 per cent.

In contrast, the LINKE sticks to their support for Israel, which could seal the fate of the party – polls suggest it will not be re-elected to parliament at the next elections.

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that Hamas's release of the first group of hostages it held during its attack on Israel was "only the beginning," stressing that there were "real opportunities" to extend the four-day truce that entered into force in Gaza. Biden said that there are real opportunities to extend the truce between Hamas and Israel. He added during a press conference that it was necessary to "end the cycle of violence in the Middle East."

Biden stressed that “stopping the fighting is a crucial opportunity to bring humanitarian aid into Gaza,” while making it clear that “Hamas does not care about the Palestinians.” He added, "One of the reasons for the Hamas attack is America's work with Saudi Arabia and Israel to reach normalization of relations."

He mentioned that there are two American hostages and a child, who are still in the Gaza Strip, saying, “There are still two women and a child, and they are Americans, among the kidnapped.” Then he confirmed, "I expect more hostages to be released in the coming days."

 



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