Biden Mulls Visit to Israel as 30 Americans Confirmed Killed; Hezbollah Clashes Escalate; Egypt to Open Border
Israeli military spokesperson continued to confirm that forces are preparing to implement a wide range of operational offensive plans which include combined coordinated strikes from the air, sea and land, while their goal is to completely destroy the governing and military capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist organisations. Furthermore, the spokesman said the operation will take a long time and that residents of Gaza should leave and not return until told to for their own safety but Hamas has been preventing people from leaving, according to Reuters.
At least 199 people are being held hostage by Hamas, according to Israeli officials who said on Monday that they had intelligence about the whereabouts of hostages taken on Oct. 7. Hamas has said that 22 hostages have died in Israeli retaliatory bombing of Gaza, a claim that couldn’t be verified.
Israeli military spokesperson said Hezbollah is escalating the situation on the Lebanon border to hinder the Gaza counter-offensive and Israel is prepared to fight on two fronts and even more if required, while an Israeli military spokesman said more than 600,000 Gazans have relocated southwards and that more than 200 Hamas members in the West Bank were detained since October 7th.
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s national security adviser said Israel is not trying to be drawn into a two-front war and that Hezbollah’s actions are under the escalation threshold so far, while the adviser added they hope Hezbollah won’t de facto bring about the destruction of Lebanon, according to Reuters.
Additionally, Iran is becoming even more vocal as President Raisi said in a phone call with French President Macron that “the Zionist regime’s actions are a reminder of Nazi actions”, while he also stated that Palestinian resistance groups make their own decisions and urged France to prevent oppression and injustice.
US President Biden said deploying US troops in the Middle East war is not necessary and Israel has one of the finest fighting forces, while he is confident Israel is going to act under the rules of war and said it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza. Biden stated he believes Hamas must be eliminated entirely but said there must be a path to a Palestinian state and his message to Iran is don’t come across the border and don’t escalate the war, while it was also reported that President Biden is considering visiting Israel in the coming days.
US National Security Adviser Sullivan said the US does not have new intelligence that the threat on the ground is different today and there is a risk of conflict escalation. Sullivan added that they cannot rule out that Iran would choose to get directly engaged in some way and that the US is concerned about proxy forces, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran, according to a CBS interview.
US Secretary of State Blinken will head back to Israel on Monday for further consultations with Israeli leaders.
Latest Developments
Iran Says Hamas Is Ready to Release Hostages but Can’t Do So Under Israeli Bombing
And in perhaps the most positive news of the day, The Wall Street Journal reports that Hamas is ready to release hostages held in Gaza but isn’t able to do so under Israeli bombing, an official from Iran, a major Hamas backer, said Monday.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that any move to free the civilians would “require preparations that are impossible under daily bombardment by the Zionists against various parts of Gaza.”
Not exactly a promise, but perhaps some diplomatic progress.
