Israel wants to intensify the battle despite criticism – the night update The Israeli army is suffering increasing losses – the night update

As the Israeli army intensifies its fight against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, another rocket alarm has gone off on the Israeli side. As the Israeli army reported on Tuesday evening, sirens sounded again at the border with the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier said Israel would “deepen the fighting in the coming days” during a rare visit to troops fighting in Gaza. The dismantling of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza are conditions for peace, Netanyahu wrote in a guest article published on Tuesday for the Wall Street Journal newspaper.

Report: Israeli Strategy Minister expected in Washington

According to a media report, his Secretary of Strategic Affairs, Ron Dermer, is expected in Washington for talks the same day. Dermer wants to discuss his own plans with Israel’s main ally for a new, low-intensity phase in the war, expected to begin in late January, the news portal ‘Axios’ reported, citing two Israeli and US officials. The US wants Israel to carry out more targeted operations against Hamas. Given the high number of civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military operation has been heavily criticized internationally.

Netanyahu: Act in accordance with international law

Netanyahu protested this in the “Wall Street Journal”: Israel “continues to act in full accordance with international law.” Israel is doing its best to keep the number of civilian casualties ‘as low as possible’. More than 20,600 people have been killed so far, according to Hamas’ health authority. “Falsely blaming Israel for these victims will only encourage Hamas and other terrorist organizations around the world to deploy human shields,” Netanyahu wrote.

Protest choirs in the Israeli parliament

“To debunk this cruel and cynical strategy, the international community must fully blame Hamas for these victims. “It must recognize that Israel is waging the greater struggle of the civilized war against barbarism,” the head of government wrote. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is also receiving protests in his own country. The day before, during a speech by the head of government in parliament, relatives of the Israeli hostages in Gaza called on Netanyahu to take immediate measures to free the more than a hundred hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. “Now, now, now,” they sang again and again from the parliamentary gallery.

Hamas rejects a new ceasefire

Many are calling for a second ceasefire so that the kidnapped can be exchanged for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. During the first days-long ceasefire in late November, 105 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinians. However, Hamas rejected a temporary new ceasefire on Monday evening and called for a permanent ceasefire. The terrorist organization responded to a report in the Arab media that Egypt had drawn up a draft to end the Gaza war in several phases. This includes a ceasefire of at least two weeks, it was said.

Netanyahu: There can be no peace without destroying Hamas

“Hamas must be destroyed, the Gaza Strip must be demilitarized and Palestinian society must be deradicalized. These are the three conditions for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli head of government wrote in his guest article. During his visit to the troops on Monday, he spoke of a long battle with no end in sight. Nevertheless, diplomatic discussions are already underway in the background about what will happen next. According to Axios, Netanyahu’s Minister of Strategic Affairs, Dermer, also wants to discuss this during his visit to Washington on Tuesday.

Discussions about reformed autonomous authority

The US is betting on a revived and renewed Palestinian Authority (PA) led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Washington wants to pave the way for the ailing authority that governs the West Bank to take back control of Gaza, the Washington Post wrote on Tuesday. Netanyahu has so far rejected this idea. In recent weeks, however, Dermer and other officials have begun talking to US counterparts about a “reformed” PA, Axios reported.

But first Netanyahu wants Gaza demilitarized after Hamas is destroyed, as he wrote in the Wall Street Journal. The fact that the PA is demilitarizing the Gaza Strip is a ‘pipe dream’, he continues in his article. “It did not make it before Hamas drove it out of the area in 2007, nor did it make it in the areas it controls today,” Netanyahu wrote. For the foreseeable future, Israel will have to retain “ultimate security responsibility” for the Gaza Strip.

What will be important on Tuesday

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Dermer is expected in Washington for talks on the war at the White House and the State Department, according to Axios. Dermer will meet with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken and members of Congress, the report said. (sda/dpa)