Fears of a ceasefire in the Gaza war – the nightly update without photos Chocolate giant Barry Callebaut cuts 2,500 jobs worldwide

As international mediators in the Gaza war continue to push for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, mixed signals are coming from the US and Israel on the status of the difficult negotiations. US President Joe Biden was optimistic on Monday evening (local time) that a ceasefire would be reached next week. However, Israeli television stations Channel 12 and Kan quoted Israeli officials as saying that a negotiating framework proposed by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States was still not compatible with Hamas’ demands. Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of adopting a blockade stance. It still remains uncertain whether the mediators will be able to reach an agreement at the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, around March 10.

Biden hopes for a ceasefire on Monday

Biden, however, exuded confidence: “My national security adviser tells me we are close,” he said while eating ice cream in New York in response to a question from the attending press. We have not yet achieved our goal. “I hope we will have a ceasefire next Monday,” the US president said. However, Hamas has not yet provided an official response to the negotiating framework recently proposed by Egypt, Qatar and the US in Paris, according to the Times of Israel. The framework that Israel would accept, according to previous media reports, initially calls for a ceasefire of about six weeks. During this period, forty hostages held by Hamas will be exchanged for several hundred Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. The Arab television channel Al Jazeera estimates the number of Palestinian prisoners that Israel is willing to release at 400.

Reports of a continued wide rift between Israel and Hamas

A major sticking point appears to be Israel’s insistence that a temporary ceasefire will not guarantee an end to the war, the Times of Israel wrote on Monday evening. But that is exactly what Hamas demands. “There is currently no progress,” the Israeli news portal “Ynet” quoted a government representative as saying. “There is a big gap between the parties and the mediators are trying to bridge it. We continue to work on results.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu maintains the war goal of destroying Hamas.

To this end, the army is preparing an offensive on the city of Rafah, which borders Egypt, in the south of the closed Gaza Strip. The hundreds of thousands of civilians seeking protection there must be moved to safety further north. The army presented corresponding plans to the war cabinet on Monday. Details about this are not yet known. The Israeli plans in Rafah have received a lot of criticism internationally, including from allies.

UN aid agency: Humanitarian deliveries to Gaza halved in February

According to the UN, the amount of aid to the needy population halved in February compared to the previous month. “Aid should have been increased and not reduced, given the enormous needs of two million Palestinians in terrible living conditions,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Palestine Relief Agency (UNRWA), said on Platform X on Monday. 98 trucks carrying aid supplies enter the closed coastal strip every day, the UN said. Together with Egypt, Israel controls the border crossings into the closed Gaza Strip.

Israel submits report to World Court

Meanwhile, Israel has submitted the report requested by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on measures to prevent genocide in the coastal region to the seat of the UN court. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported this on Monday evening, citing political circles. The country thus met a deadline set by the court. The newspaper did not provide information about the contents of the report. South Africa had accused Israel of violating the Genocide Convention in the Gaza war. The UN court ruled in an interim judgment that Israel must take protective measures to prevent genocide. Moreover, there must be more humanitarian aid for the suffering people in the Gaza Strip. The court decides on the accusation of genocide in a lengthy procedure.

Outrage over reports that Israeli SIM cards were used before the Hamas massacre

Israel strongly denies the accusations of genocide. She invokes her right to self-defense after the unprecedented terrorist attack by Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7. A big question to this day is how the Israeli secret service, army and political leaders could have been so surprised. In this context, media reports of the activation of Israeli SIM cards by the terrorists shortly before their attack caused a stir on Monday. According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli army was forced to clarify that the secret service had indications that “some” Israeli SIM cards had been activated in Gaza. But these had also been used before without anything happening. Reports that a thousand cards were activated simultaneously shortly before the attack are incorrect.

Israel kills Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon

Meanwhile, dangerous tensions persist in Israel’s border area with Lebanon. The Israeli army said it killed a senior officer of the Shiite Hezbollah militia in an airstrike in southern Lebanon on Monday. Brigade commander Hussein Salami was deliberately killed for commanding rocket attacks on the northern Israeli town of Kiriat Shmona and a local Israeli military command, the report said. Hezbollah confirmed Salami’s death but did not provide information on his rank. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, Israel’s conflict with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia has intensified. Israel has warned several times that it is prepared to take major military action if diplomatic efforts fail.

What will be important on Tuesday

As ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip and hostage-for-prisoner exchanges continue, aid agencies in Geneva report on the humanitarian situation in the closed-off coastal area (sda/dpa)