- Israel has attacked Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, as well as Gaza, where air raids killed at least 54 people on Monday.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Gaza’s more than 2 million people “will be moved” in a new ground offensive as Israel’s total blockade on the enclave reaches 65 days.
- Hospitals in Gaza are 48 hours away from collapse and the lives of thousands of sick and wounded are at risk, the Gaza Media Office says.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 52,567 Palestinians and wounded 118,610, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The Government Media Office updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
- An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.
Osama Hamdan outlines Hamas’s stance on disarmament, truce talks
The senior Hamas leader has spoken to Drop Site News about the group’s position 18 months into the Gaza war, discussing prospects for a truce, Israeli demands for disarmament, and the future governance of Gaza.
Key points from the interview:
- Hamas rejects any short-term truce that does not include firm commitments to a full Israeli retreat and an end to the war.
- The group refuses to disarm, as doing so would leave Palestinians defenceless against displacement. “You can’t talk about de-weaponising the nation who is under occupation, while they are occupied by the most powerful army in the region,” said Hamdan. He added that Palestinians have a legal right to armed resistance.
- Hamas will only surrender its weapons if the war ends and an independent Palestinian state is established. “If there was a Palestinian state, those weapons would be handed to the Palestinian government,” he said.
- The movement is open to a long-term truce – lasting five to seven years – which could help “build trust” and bring “stability”.
- After the war, Hamas is prepared to step down in favour of an independent or technocratic authority that prioritises Gaza’s interests ahead of general elections.
- Hamdan criticised the Palestinian Authority (PA), accusing it of cooperating with Israeli forces and failing to resist the occupation. He said PA President Mahmoud Abbas has “lost credibility” and respect among Palestinians, and described Abbas’s deputy and potential successor, Hussein al-Sheikh, as someone Israel sees as willing to “handle this dirty job” for it.
Medical sources report today’s death toll in Gaza
Eleven people have been killed in Israeli air attacks on the Gaza Strip since this morning, the sources tell Al Jazeera.
In the most recent attack, two were killed by Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza, one in Beit Lahiya and the other in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.
‘Word truce should be deleted from lexicon’, says Israeli minister
Asked whether Israel should prioritise defeating Hamas or returning the captives, Energy Minister Eli Cohen said the government is committed to both.
“No one will give up on either of them,” he was quoted by Israel’s Reshet Bet radio as saying. “The word truce must be erased from the lexicon. The Gaza Strip will be demilitarised.”
Cohen also addressed Israel’s response to Houthi-claimed missile attacks, saying retaliation “should not be limited to Yemen alone”.
“The one behind it all is Iran – and it must pay a price,” he said.
People eating ‘expired, rotten food’ if they can find it
The situation continues to escalate across Gaza. Last night, we could hear the sound of warplanes and helicopters hovering in the sky all night. Some people, expecting attacks at any moment, could not sleep. In the last couple of hours, there have been two air attacks, specifically in the northern part of the Strip.
Meanwhile, people are suffocating as they try to find food for their children. Some are saying they are forced to eat expired or rotten food. Others do not even have that, and their children are going to sleep hungry.
People are devastated, and the situation is not getting any better.