Humanitarian aid in Gaza has improved. Meanwhile, fronts in the Middle East conflict are hardening. All developments in news ticker.
- Humanitarian aid: Medicine for Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip
- German military weapons: Israel receives 20 million euros for war against Hamas
- Information about the war in Israel and the struggle against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is processed here Coming from local and international media and news agencies. Most information cannot be independently verified.
Updated as of January 18, 7:30 am: With Qatari-French mediation, an agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas over drug supply. Yesterday, two Qatari planes carrying relief supplies landed in the border town of Al-Arish, Red Crescent officials said. Some of the drugs are also said to be for Israeli hostages.
It was an agreement based on trust: Qatar guaranteed that supplies would be delivered to the hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israeli officials admitted they had no insight into the transaction. The Information from the Minister of Foreign Affairs From Qatar, Dr. Majid al-Ansari said the drugs had already been transported to the Gaza Strip. It is not known if the deliveries have already reached the hostages. Relatives demanded proof of handover.
US strikes Houthi rebels in Yemen again
Updated as of January 18, 5:00 AM: US forces strike Houthi rebel positions in Yemen again The responsible U.S. regional command, Central Command, said Thursday night's strikes targeted 14 Houthi rockets poised to be fired by the militants.
“These cruise missiles posed an immediate threat to commercial and US Navy vessels and could be fired at any time,” the regional command said. US armed forces exercised “their right and duty” to defend themselves.
Media outlets in the US and Yemen have previously reported on the renewed attacks. It was the fourth attack by US forces on positions of Iran-backed Houthi militias in less than a week. Al-Masira TV station, run by Houthi rebels, spoke of renewed “US-British aggression”. Targets include the port city of Hodeidah and the city of Taiz.
Isfreael News: Terrorists Killed in Southern Gaza Strip
Updated as of January 17, 11:15 pm: Israel's military says it has killed dozens of militants in the southern Gaza Strip. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said on television that more than 30 militants were killed in an operation conducted by the army in the last 24 hours in Khan Yunis. The army has expanded its operations to the Hamas Brigade in the southern part of the city. “The fighting there was tough, but unfortunately there were casualties.”
Updated as of January 17, 8:00 PM: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzey Halevi has now assessed that the “possibility of war” in Lebanon is greater than ever. The Times of Israel. The IDF will “increase its combat readiness in Lebanon,” Halevi said at a troop exercise.
The Chiefs of Staff never knew when war would break out in Lebanon. However, Israeli troops learned “many lessons” from the war in the Gaza Strip that “will be very relevant to the fighting in Lebanon.” “We want to achieve a very clear goal in Lebanon, which is the return of the people living in the north, all the communities in the north,” Halevi said.
According to Netanyahu, Israel's war will last until 2025
Updated as of January 17, 2:10 pm: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to have said that the war between Israel and Hamas could last until 2025 during talks with officials from municipalities along the Gaza border. The Times of Israel.
Earlier in the month, Netanyahu and other ministers had already discussed possible solutions to end the Israeli war. The idea was put forward that Palestinian forces not hostile to Israel should take over the Gaza Strip.
War between Israel and Hamas: Two Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza Strip
Updated as of January 17, 10:30 am: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has announced that two soldiers were killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip yesterday. The IDF said the two were killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip. Additionally, two soldiers were seriously injured yesterday – one fighting in the Gaza Strip and the other in communities inside Israel adjacent to the Gaza Strip. This is reported by the haaretz.com portal – the information cannot be independently verified.
Updated as of January 17, 9:40 am: According to Palestinian reports, three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone attack on the Balata refugee camp (see Report from 8:40 am)
According to the Al-Aqsa Brigades, which is close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, the three killed were members of the armed group. They named three names – but Shawls was not among them. His family reportedly denied his death. The information could not be independently verified at first.
War in Israel: Israel says a top terrorist has been killed
Updated as of January 17, 8:40 am: Israel's military says it has killed a top terrorist in the West Bank. That man was Amed Abdullah Abu Shalal. The terrorist commander is said to be responsible for several attacks on Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Abu Shalal was killed in a drone strike on a terrorist position near the city of Nablus. According to Israel, the terrorist leader allegedly received his orders directly from Iran.
War in Israel: US relists Houthi rebels on terror list
Statement from January 17, 2024: Gaza/Tel Aviv – After a series of attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea, the US government wants to put the Shiite group back on the global terrorist list, according to media reports. CNN and the Wall Street Journal reported the news Tuesday evening (local time), citing people familiar with the matter. When it comes to terrorist classifications, the United States distinguishes between global terrorists and foreign terrorist organizations. Differences in the barriers associated with each category play a role.
Shortly before the end of then-US President Donald Trump's term, his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo classified the Houthis in both categories in 2021. Pompeo's successor, Anthony Blinken, changed this shortly after to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen. The impoverished country has been in a civil war since 2014. A large proportion of the population lives in areas controlled by the Houthis. According to the United Nations, millions of people suffer from hunger.
Since the start of the Gaza war between Israel and Islamist Hamas, Houthi fighters have repeatedly attacked merchant ships in the Red Sea with alleged Israeli connections. The United States and Great Britain responded with a comprehensive military offensive against Houthi positions in Yemen. Large shipping companies are increasingly avoiding the Red Sea route, through which about ten percent of world trade typically passes. Houthi militias in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon belong to the “axis of resistance” against Israel.
It could mean more far-reaching sanctions against the organization, which is backed by Iran and has recently fired repeated rockets into Israel's south.
Medicine for Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip
Medicine bought in France for Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip will be flown to Egypt on Wednesday by two Qatari military planes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said. From there they will be taken to the Gaza Strip.
In the attacks and massacres on Israel by the Islamist Hamas and other Palestinian organizations on October 7, approximately 250 people were kidnapped into the Gaza Strip. 136 people are currently detained in the coastal area. Israel estimates that two dozen of them are no longer alive.
German war weapons to Israel for 20 million euros in 2023
Last year, the federal government approved the export of military weapons worth 20.1 million euros to Israel. This includes 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns, submachine guns or other fully or semi-automatic guns. This emerges from the Economic Ministry's response to a request by Bundestag member Sevim Tagtelen from the Sahra Wagenknecht coalition submitted to the German Press Agency. In total, the traffic light government approved arms supplies to Israel worth 326.5 million euros – ten times more than the previous year. (with agency materials)
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