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Israel has provided the Islamists with the number of Palestinian prisoners that would be exchanged for 40 Israeli hostages held by Hamas, television channel Channel 12 and the portal walla.co.il reported on Saturday evening. According to his ministry, Defense Minister Joav Galant will leave for Washington next Sunday. The talks with Israel’s most important ally concern a planned ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The US rejects this because approximately 1.5 million people currently live there.

The extent of progress in the negotiations in the Qatari capital Doha, in which the US, Egypt and Qatar mediate between Israel and Hamas, was initially unclear. It was said that the Israeli delegation had accepted a compromise proposal from the American mediators. This must now be approved by Hamas. This may take several days. Observers see it as a positive sign that Israeli delegation leader David Barnea and his team are expected to remain in Doha in the coming days.

The Gaza War was sparked by the attack by Hamas and other groups in southern Israel on October 7. The terrorists killed 1,200 people in the massacre and kidnapped 250 others as hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israel attacked the coastal area to crush Hamas. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed so far – both civilians and fighters.

Many disagreements between Israel and its ally the US

In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the closed coastal area, Israel is increasingly exposed to international pressure – including from its ally the US. The US and Israel are at odds over the Rafah ground offensive planned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin plans to present alternative military options to the Israeli delegation in Washington. There are fears that a major military offensive could lead to much bloodshed.

Netanyahu had already announced the Rafah offensive in early February and had approved the army’s plans for it several times. It was necessary to destroy the last four battalions of Hamas and thus destroy the Islamic organization’s military fighting capability, it was said. The civilian population in Rafah will be brought to safety before such an offensive begins. Israel has not yet clarified how exactly this would work. Military experts in Israel point out that it would take weeks for such an offensive to begin, as the army would need to gather much larger forces in Gaza for this purpose.

Israel attacks Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

The Israeli air force again attacked targets of the pro-Iranian Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon on Sunday evening. The Israeli military said a Hezbollah weapons production facility near the northeastern city of Baalbek was attacked. Shortly afterwards, approximately 50 rockets were fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah, according to the Israeli army. Some missiles were intercepted, others fell in open areas. Initially there were no reports of injuries or damage. The military then targeted the locations from which the rockets were fired, according to Israeli media reports.

Current developments in the live ticker:

Since the start of the Gaza war following the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel, there have been frequent mutual attacks between Hamas-affiliated Hezbollah and Israel, mostly concentrated in the border area. Israel wants to ensure that Hezbollah withdraws behind the Litani River, 30 kilometers from the border – as stipulated in a 2006 UN resolution. The border had remained relatively quiet for the past ten days.

UN chief labels obstruction of humanitarian aid a ‘moral disgrace’

UN Secretary General António Guterres on Saturday visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, where the bulk of humanitarian aid reaches – or should reach – the Gaza Strip. Due to an agreement between Israel and Egypt, each individual shipment must be approved by the Israeli military. Aid agencies accuse Israel of delaying formal procedures. Israel rejects the accusations and complains that aid agencies distribute the goods inefficiently.

In Rafah, Egypt – the city is divided between Egypt and Gaza – Guterres was able to see the situation firsthand when he saw a convoy of trucks waiting to enter Gaza. “Here we see the heartbreaking and callousness of it all,” he said at a news conference outside the border crossing. On one side of the border you can see the blocked aid supplies, “on the other side the shadow of hunger”. “This is more than tragic, it is a moral disgrace.”

Israelis demonstrate for hostages and against Netanyahu

Thousands of people demonstrated in Israel on Saturday evening for the release of hostages held by Hamas and against the Netanyahu government. In Tel Aviv they shouted “Time is running out, bring her home!”, as Israeli media reported. The demonstrators set several small fires in the streets of the center of the coastal metropolis and blocked a main road.

The slogans also targeted Netanyahu, whom critics accuse of failing in crisis management following the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7. Moreover, the head of government would subordinate the fate of the hostages to the needs of his political survival. As on previous Saturdays, they called for the resignation of the Netanyahu government and for new elections. One of the speakers said: “My cousin Ofer has been a prisoner of Hamas for 169 days. And we have been prisoners of our government for 169 days.” Several hundred people also demonstrated in front of Netanyahu’s official residence in Jerusalem. (con/sda/dpa)