He grew up in an agricultural community a few kilometers from Gaza, a village founded by his parents together with other Romanian and Hungarian immigrants who survived the Holocaust, called Kfar Ahim in memory of two brothers killed in the first, that of Independence, of Israel’s many wars. Benny Gantz fought in many, commanded many, spent 38 of his 64 years in uniform. Now he would be willing to join a national emergency coalition, he has already been in government with Benjamin Netanyahu as Defense Minister, he no longer trusts him, but he remains the soldier who answers the call.
The prime minister’s Likud assures that the negotiations are in the final phase, the former general and chief of staff has requested that Itamar Ben-Gvir and other extremist ministers not participate in the security council, in fact he wants to form a restricted war cabinet . As the situation requires: the Israeli soldiers would have managed to clean up the areas invaded by the Palestinian terrorists on Saturday morning, 1,500 of their corpses were on the field, a number that can give an idea of how many entered through the 29 breaches torn in the barrier and that the sappers had now undermined. There remains the risk that some jihadists will move inside Israel, army spokesmen speak of a firefight near Sderot, four extremist infiltrators were killed yesterday morning near Zikim beach.
The siege of the sandy corridor between Israel, Egypt and the sea continues. Nothing gets in and no one should get out. The Strip is surrounded for its 42 kilometers in length and 8-9 kilometers in width. The Egyptians have announced the indefinite closure of the Rafah crossing in the south, yesterday the area was hit by a jet raid. The missiles killed Joad Abu Samalah, who according to intelligence managed the terror funds within Hamas, and Zakaria Muammar, another person responsible for the economic side. Since the beginning of the Israeli response, 900 civilians and militiamen have died, the UN and the European Union are calling for the opening of humanitarian corridors.
Yoav Gallant, the defense minister, visited the border villages that have become the front lines. He leaves no room for compromise: «Whoever attacked us to behead, kill women and Holocaust survivors will be annihilated. Our offensive will be total.” At least 1,000 people died in last Saturday’s massacre, the figure continues to rise, with over 150 hostages held by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, including foreigners. This element suggests the intervention of international secret services – the Germans did it in the past in Gaza – to attempt any type of negotiation. Three days after the attack, security forces found 30 people (16 Israelis and 14 Thais working in the fields in the area) still alive and hiding near a village. There are still many missing people.
Most foreign airlines are canceling flights to Israel and some countries have sent military planes to retrieve stranded citizens. The most massive rocket attack arrived yesterday afternoon, reached Tel Aviv and even further north, sirens sounded in the airport area. A bombing that coincided with a missile attack from Lebanon, after the clashes on Monday evening. Five rockets were also launched from Syria during the night. In recent months, Israeli intelligence has been increasingly worried that the next conflict – this one – could spread to multiple fronts with the possible entry of Hezbollah into the war fray in the north.
2023-10-10 20:53:29
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