By Ken Afor
Despite international pressure, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was prepared to take tactical breaks in order to allow humanitarian aid or hostages to be brought in or out of the Gaza Strip, but rejected any calls for a ceasefire.
Israel’s military reported that it had taken possession of a militant compound and was all set to assault fighters covertly situated in a complex of subterranean tunnels after encircling Gaza City, situated in the north of the enclave and held by the Hamas Islamist group.
On October 7, the deadly assault on Israel by Hamas fighters, resulting in the fatalities of 1,400 people and the kidnapping of 240 hostages, triggered an onslaught of the enclave, as documented by Gaza health officials, claiming the lives of more than 10,000 Palestinians, including 4,100 kids.
Despite numerous entreaties to both Israel and Hamas to put an end to the conflict, neither has complied. Israel has insisted that Gaza’s captives must be freed before peace can be achieved, whereas Hamas has refused to release them or to put a stop to the struggle while under attack.
Prime Minister Netanyahu stated that a full ceasefire would obstruct Israel’s military operations, however, halting battles for humanitarian purposes – an idea backed by Israel’s Chief Ally, the United States – would remain a possibility based on the circumstances.
“As far as tactical little pauses – an hour here, an hour there – we’ve had them before. I suppose we’ll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave,” Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday.
“But I don’t think there’s going to be a general ceasefire.”
On Monday, US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone to talk about potential halts and prisoners’ releases, showing his favour towards Israel but stressing that it needs to safeguard civilians at the same time, according to the White House.
Furthermore, both the US and Israel are apprehensive that Hamas may use a full ceasefire to reorganize itself.
Hospitals have been overwhelmed by the numerous wounded, leading to a lack of accessible food and clean water. Furthermore, the aid that has been delivered has been insufficient in providing relief.
Netanyahu said that when the conflict is over he thinks “Israel will for an indefinite period have the overall security responsibility (in Gaza) because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have that security responsibility.”
“We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now,” said a statement from the heads of several United Nations’ bodies on Monday, including U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths.
On Monday, the Israeli military revealed footage showing tanks moving through bombed-out streets and personnel on foot.
Additionally, Rear Admiral Hagari stated that Israeli troops were aiming to locate Hamas field commanders. Furthermore, the Israeli army has reportedly surrounded Gaza City, thus separating the region into a northern and southern part.
“Eliminating the Hamas field command significantly undermines Hamas capabilities to carry out counter attacks,” Hagari said.
On Monday, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres stated his deep concern, warning that Gaza is rapidly becoming a ‘graveyard for children’ and imploring for a prompt ceasefire.
“Ground operations by the Israel Defense Forces and continued bombardment are hitting civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches and U.N. facilities – including shelters. No one is safe,” Guterres told reporters.
“At the same time, Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields and continue to launch rockets indiscriminately towards Israel,” he said.
On Monday, the United Nations Security Council held a meeting behind closed doors. After four failed attempts within the last two weeks to reach a consensus, the fifteen members are still attempting to pass a resolution.
According to diplomats, one significant struggle is deciding if they should call for a ceasefire, a cessation of military activity or permit humanitarian pauses to assure aid is available in Gaza.
On Monday, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood informed reporters that there had been no conversations at the United Nations regarding the eventual outcomes for Gaza when hostilities conclude.
He said, “Obviously there is concern about what happens the day after, but we’re not at that point.”
The Biden administration has notified Congress of a plan to transfer $320 million worth of precision bombs to Israel, as revealed by a source close to the plan on Monday.
In response to a number of rockets that were sacked at the northern Israeli cities, the Israeli military confirmed the detection of approximately 30 launches from Lebanon within an hour; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that a campaign against Hezbollah had been initiated.
Since the start of the Hamas-Israel war on October 7, Hezbollah, supported by Iran, have engaged in a cross-border confrontation with the Israeli forces along the Lebanon-Israel border – the most severe violent clash since the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.
Additionally, Hamas announced that it had fired 16 missiles towards Nahariyya and southern Haifa in Israel.
