CNN reports this, citing American sources. IDF strikes “100 targets” of Hamas in Gaza, evacuates Israeli city on the border with Lebanon. Abbas would have meanwhile rejected Biden’s call. Today Sunak in Egypt, rockets against US forces in Iraq. Russia against USA: “They benefit from wars”
Will remain the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip closed, which should have been reopened today for the passage of humanitarian aid to the population of the Palestinian enclave. CNN reports this, citing well-informed American sources and according to which the situation at the border remains ”unstable”. There are around twenty trucks with humanitarian aid that were supposed to enter the Gaza Strip today, but “I wouldn’t bet money on the trucks that will pass through tomorrow”, said a source quoted by CNN.
IDF: “100 Hamas targets in Gaza hit during the night, militiaman killed”
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck over one hundred Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip during the night and killed a militiaman who was part of the group’s naval forces and who took part in the attack against Israel on 7 October. The IDF reported this in a note shared in a tweet.
”Overnight, fighter jets attacked over a hundred operational targets of terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, destroying wells, tunnels, ammunition depots and dozens of operational headquarters,” the tweet reads. ”During the attacks, the IDF and the Shin Bet eliminated a terrorist who was in the naval force of the terrorist organization Hamas,” the post continues. This is Amjad Majed Muhammad Abu Odeh who ”took part in the massacre of Israeli civilians in southern Israel”, states the IDF, explaining that he ”neutralized a terrorist team of the terrorist organization’s air force which planned to launch missiles at an Israeli jet.
Furthermore ”the weapons and assets of the terrorists who were in the mosque in the Jabaliya neighborhood which was used as an observation point for Hamas terrorists were destroyed”.
Israeli city on the border with Lebanon evacuated, 20,000 of them leave Kiryat Shmona
The Israeli authorities have decided to evacuate the city of Kiryat Shmona, which is located just two kilometers from the border with Lebanon. This was announced by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. There are approximately 20 thousand inhabitants of Kiryat Shmona. Their evacuation was decided due to the increased instability on the border with Lebanon and due to the launch of rockets from Hezbollah after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th.
Media: “Abbas refused Biden’s phone call”
Palestinian National Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas rejected a phone call from US President Joe Biden when he was in Israel on Wednesday. This was reported by the Israeli television station Kan, quoting a Palestinian source from Ramallah on condition of anonymity. Biden Administration officials tried to arrange a telephone conversation between the two leaders, but Abbas rejected the request, the source cited by Kan said.
Sunak in Egypt today
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to Egypt today to meet his counterpart and to underline the need to ”prevent an escalation” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the region. Downing Street announced this in a note. Yesterday Sunak was in Israel and then in Saudi Arabia.
“Throughout these conversations the Prime Minister has underlined the imperative to avoid regional escalation and prevent further unnecessary loss of civilian life,” Downing Street added.
Rockets against US forces in Iraq
Meanwhile, the military base hosting US forces and advisors near the international airport of the Iraqi capital Baghdad would have been targeted by an attack. According to security sources cited by the Iraqi news site Shafaq, two rockets were fired, one of which fell near the base, while the second was intercepted by the C-Ram air defense system.
Russia against USA: “They benefit from wars”
The United States benefits from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the fact that US President Joe Biden spoke of an ”investment” in the security of Americans proves this. This was stated by the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on Telegram, commenting on the passage of Biden’s speech to the nation in which she defines aid to Israel and Ukraine as ”an intelligent investment for the security of generations of Americans” .
Zakharova said that ”they call it ‘the fight for freedom and democracy”, but ”now it turns out that these are just calculations. It has always been like this, they simply deceived the world by using values that Washington has never really defended”. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry states that it is therefore ”just business” and ”wars have traditionally been ‘investments intelligent’ for the United States because they did not take place on American soil and do not care about the costs incurred by others.”
“China ready to coordinate with Russia to de-escalate the crisis”
Meanwhile, China is ready to coordinate with Russia and maintain open communication with the Kremlin for the de-escalation of the crisis in the Middle East. This was stated by Beijing’s special envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, quoted by the Chinese media. ”China and Russia have the same position regarding the Palestinian issue,” said Zhai Jun who yesterday, in Doha, had a meeting with Russia’s special representative for the Middle East and African countries.
Source-www.adnkronos.com