Concerns about escalation of violence during Ramadan – the night update without photos Concerns about escalation of violence during Ramadan – the night update without photos

Hours before the start of the Muslim holy month, Qatar-based head of the Islamist Hamas, Ismail Haniya, on Sunday reiterated calls for a permanent ceasefire. The hostages would not be released unless Israel ended the war and withdrew its troops. Israel, on the other hand, blamed Hamas for the fact that negotiations between mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US have not yet led to an agreement. “Their strategy is to increase international pressure on Israel and lead the international community to prevent Israel from achieving the final defeat of Hamas forces,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published by “Bild”, Welt TV and “Politico”. (Sunday) at his official residence in Jerusalem.

Current developments at a glance:

Head of the European Commission: Gaza maritime corridor absolutely necessary

Meanwhile, aid is being transported by sea to the distressed people of Gaza. The ship “Open Arms” of the Spanish aid organization of the same name, loaded with relief supplies, would leave the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Monday morning at the earliest, Cypriot Radio (RIK) reported on Sunday evening. Larnaca is located about 400 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. It was initially unclear where exactly the ship would land and how help would reach the people.

The maritime corridor is absolutely necessary “because we are currently experiencing a humanitarian catastrophe,” Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said in the ZDF “heute journal” on Sunday. The procedure had been agreed with Israel, but she also expected more help from there. The country is fulfilling its duty to care for people only “to a limited extent” and must do more to protect the lives of citizens, she said.

Tense situation at the beginning of Ramadan

Meanwhile, rising tensions are expected in the West Bank and around holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City during Ramadan. According to Israel’s foreign intelligence service Mossad, Hamas is trying to “set the region on fire” during the month of fasting. Thousands of police officers are deployed in the narrow streets of Jerusalem’s Old City, the Times of Israel reported.

The government has allowed Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount – also known as Haram al-Sharif – during Ramadan. However, the security situation must be reassessed on a weekly basis. The place is sacred to both Jews and Muslims. According to the Times of Israel, a video circulated on social media on Sunday evening showing a scuffle between Israeli police officers with batons and worshipers at the entrance to the site.

Netanyahu: “We are very close to victory”

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was determined to soon launch the planned military offensive against Hamas in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, despite international warnings. “We are very close to a victory,” said the right-wing politician in the interview of “Bild”, Welt TV and “Politico”. Once the offensive begins, it will be a matter of four to six weeks before the intensive phase of fighting is completed. “We have destroyed three-quarters of the Hamas battalions,” Netanyahu said. Giving up now would be absurd. Hamas would “reposition itself and start over.” The war was sparked by a massacre in which terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups killed about 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 in Israel on October 7.

Netanyahu rejects Biden’s allegations

Netanyahu rejected accusations from US President Joe Biden, who had criticized Israel’s harsh military actions. “If the American president means that I am pursuing a private policy that goes against the wishes of the majority of Israelis and that this is detrimental to Israel’s interests, then he is wrong on both counts,” he said in the interview. His policies are supported by an “overwhelming majority” of Israelis. “They support the measures we are taking to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions.”

The US criticizes the planned offensive in Rafah because 1.5 million people are seeking protection in a very small space from the fighting in other parts of Gaza. First they must be brought to safety, Biden said. For him this means a “red line”.

Report: Hamas relies on Ramadan to survive

Launching a ground offensive in Rafah during Ramadan would be risky, Udi Dekel, a retired Israeli brigadier general and researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, told the Wall Street Journal. Israel has so far postponed major operations in Rafah to buy time for negotiations on a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages. If the talks do not yield results, there will no longer be any reason for Israel to hold back, Dekel said.

For weeks, Israel and Hamas have been fighting for a temporary ceasefire in indirect negotiations. The Hamas leadership is counting on Ramadan to turn the momentum of the war in their favor, the Wall Street Journal wrote on Sunday. She hopes that diplomatic pressure will lead to a halt to the offensive and thus ensure Hamas’s survival.

Hamas leader Haniya said on Sunday that if mediators announced Israel’s determination to end the war and withdraw from the Gaza Strip, they would be willing to be flexible in the talks. The mediators’ proposal has so far only called for a six-week ceasefire and an initial phase of hostage-for-Palestinian prisoner exchanges. Hamas “does not want to give up the only card it has, which is the hostages, in exchange for a temporary ceasefire,” Ghassan Khatib of Birzeit University told the Wall Street Journal.

Netanyahu contradicts Hamas’s casualty figures

The number of Palestinians killed during the war rose to more than 31,000 on Sunday, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza. The information does not distinguish between civilians and armed combatants. Hamas authorities emphasized that the vast majority of victims were women, minors and elderly men. Netanyahu contradicted this story in the interview. The number of civilian casualties in Gaza is much lower, he said. His country’s army killed “at least 13,000 terrorists.” (sda/dpa)