US increases pressure on Israel again over Rafah – the nightly update without photos Why Elon Musk is the useful idiot of Donald Trump (and the right-wing radicals).

Biden again calls for abandoning the Rafah attack

US President Joe Biden has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call to send a team of representatives from the military, intelligence services and humanitarian aid specialists to Washington in the coming days, Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Monday. Netanyahu agreed. A major ground operation in Rafah would be “a mistake,” Sullivan said. The goal is to explain American concerns to the Israelis and discuss possible alternatives. At the same time, Sullivan reaffirmed Israel’s progress in the fight against Islamist Hamas. The Israeli army killed Hamas’ number three in Gaza, Marwan Issa, last week, he said, after days of speculation. Israel said it had tracked down Issa but did not initially confirm his death.

Current developments in the live ticker:

New negotiations on a ceasefire and hostages

Meanwhile, new negotiations began in Qatar for a ceasefire and the release of more hostages. Israeli television reported that the head of Israel’s foreign secret service Mossad, David Barnea, met with mediators in the emirate. It is believed the talks could last at least two weeks. Hamas recently presented a new proposal to mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US. In it, Hamas no longer demands that Israel end the war before the first hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. However, according to the media, Israel is pessimistic and continues to talk about unrealistic demands from the terrorist organization. Hamas has set a number of different conditions in the new proposal, Sullivan said. Some people went too far in Israel. Still, an agreement is possible in the negotiations, according to Sullivan.

US: Ground offensive in Rafah would worsen humanitarian situation

Given the terrible humanitarian situation and the many dead civilians, many countries have now criticized the actions of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. From Israel’s perspective, however, a victory over Hamas is not possible without an operation in Rafah. In this case, there are fears that the terrorist organization will regain its strength after the war. “There is international pressure to prevent us from entering Rafah and completing the work,” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said recently. He has been rejecting this pressure for months and will continue to do so. But now Washington, as Israel’s most important ally, is increasing the pressure. “We believe that Hamas should not have a safe haven in Rafah or elsewhere, but a major ground operation there would be a mistake,” said security adviser Sullivan.

“It would lead to more innocent civilian deaths, worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis, deepen anarchy in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally,” Sullivan added. More than a million people had sought refuge in the city in the south of the closed coastal strip, which borders Egypt, and Israel has not presented either the US or the world with a plan on how to get these people seeking protection into the country are being brought. safety and care, it said. “We assume that they will not move forward with the major military operation in Rafah until we have had this conversation,” Sullivan said, referring to the Israeli delegation now summoned to Washington. A meeting is planned at the end of this week or early next week. There is no specific date yet, it was said.

The US lacks a sustainable strategy towards Israel

There are ways Israel can gain the upper hand in the conflict and end the terror threat from Gaza without invading Rafah, Sullivan said. He gave no details. The US shared the Israeli goal of defeating Hamas. “But we believe this requires a coherent and sustainable strategy,” Sullivan said. He cited the renewed operation at Shifa hospital on Monday as an example of the weaknesses of Israel’s strategy. Israel had previously taken action against Hamas in the hospital. However, Hamas has returned. “This raises the question of how to ensure a sustainable campaign against Hamas so that the country cannot regenerate and retake territory,” the security adviser said.

Israel’s Army: More than 40 terrorists killed in Shifa operation

More than 20 terrorists were killed in the overnight operation in the hospital area, including Faik al-Mabhouh, head of Hamas’ internal security department, Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said Monday evening. More than twenty others were eliminated in the area. More than 200 terror suspects have been arrested. The information could not initially be independently verified. There was initially no confirmation from Hamas about Al-Mabhouh’s death. The terrorist organization continues to fight from hospitals and civilian facilities, using civilians and patients as human shields, the military spokesman said. They tried to rebuild their base at Shifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, and use it as a refuge. “We will not allow this and will strike wherever Hamas tries to regain control,” he said.

The EU wants to impose sanctions on Israeli settlers for the first time

Meanwhile, the EU wants to impose sanctions on radical Israeli settlers in the West Bank for the first time. Member States’ foreign ministers agreed on corresponding plans at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced. They will now be formalized in the coming days. According to information from the German news agency, Hungary announced that it no longer wanted to block the measure. The background to the sanctions plans are violent acts by extremist settlers against Palestinians – especially after the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7. The attacks, like settlement construction itself, are seen as one of the obstacles to efforts to find a long-term peace solution to the Middle East conflict. (sda/dpa/con)