As part of the offensive in the area of ​​the Al-Shifa clinic in Gaza City, 800 suspects were reportedly interrogated. UN Secretary General Guterres travels to Egypt.

Ruins in the Jabalia refugee camp Photo: Mahmoud Issa/dpa

Israel: “terrorist infrastructure” discovered

According to the army, Israeli troops have killed more than 170 “terrorists” in the clinic area as part of their sweep of the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City. More than 800 suspects were questioned. Additionally, numerous weapons and “terrorist infrastructure” were discovered, the Israeli military said.

Armed forces entered the hospital on Monday. According to them, beneath the clinic runs a network of tunnels that are used by Hamas fighters and other Palestinian militants. Hamas and hospital officials deny accusations that the clinic is being used for military purposes or as a shelter for militant groups. Hamas also accused Israel of killing patients and displaced people rather than fighters at the hospital. (rtr)

Security Council vote postponed to Monday

The United Nations Security Council will vote on an alternative resolution to the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Monday, according to a source. This was drafted by elected members of the Security Council, says a diplomat. The vote was scheduled for Saturday but was postponed because discussions were still ongoing, he added. The draft calls for an immediate ceasefire during the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the release of all hostages and an expansion of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. (rtr)

Israeli delegation on the way to Doha

As disagreements between Israel and the United States over the approach to the Gaza war become more evident, an Israeli delegation has headed once again to Doha to negotiate a temporary ceasefire and the release of hostages. Led by the head of the Mossad foreign intelligence service, David Barnea, the delegation plans to meet this Saturday in the Qatari capital with the director of the CIA, William Burns, the Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and the minister of Egyptian intelligence, Abbas Kamel.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt mediate the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas that have been going on for several weeks. Their goal is for the Islamists to free 40 Israeli hostages during a six-week ceasefire. In exchange, Israel should release several hundred Palestinian prisoners from jails. Hamas also demands that the Israeli military allow Palestinians displaced in the southern Gaza Strip to return to their homes in the central and northern coastal area. Currently, Israel only wants to allow the return of women and children.

Cautiously optimistic signals have recently come from Washington. “We believe we are getting closer (to an agreement), that the differences are narrowing,” the communications director of the US National Security Council, John Kirby, said on Friday (local time). The way the talks went was a “good sign.” However, there is no date for a conclusion, which can only occur once agreement is reached on the entire package. (dpa)

Guterres visits the Egyptian border town of Rafah

UN Secretary General António Guterres traveled to Egypt, to the border with the Gaza Strip. Guterres is expected to arrive in Egypt on Friday night “for his annual Ramadan solidarity trip,” his deputy spokeswoman, Farhan Haq, said Friday. Among other things, he will travel to northern Sinai, where he will visit a hospital in Al-Areesh, and on Saturday “to Rafah, on the Egyptian side”, where a meeting with humanitarian workers is planned.

In Cairo, Guterres is expected to meet with representatives of the Egyptian government and share an Iftar meal to break the fast with Sudanese war refugees. He then plans to travel to Jordan to meet with employees of the controversial UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

Guterres had already visited the Egyptian border city of Rafah in October. During his new visit, the UN Secretary General wanted to “reiterate his calls for a humanitarian ceasefire” in the neighboring Gaza Strip, but also in Sudan, Haq said.

In Rafah, 1.4 million internally displaced Palestinians now live in a confined space after the Israeli army launched a military operation in the Palestinian territory in response to the Islamist Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7. (afp)

US military attacks Houthi militia camps

The US military said it attacked three underground camps of the Yemeni Houthi militia on Friday. US forces carried out “self-defense strikes” against three underground storage facilities of the Iran-backed Houthi militia, Central Command (Centcom) said. They were in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis. In addition, four drones were successfully destroyed.

Four anti-ship missiles launched by the Houthi militia towards the Red Sea were also recorded. No injuries or damage to U.S. or allied ships or merchant vessels were reported, Centcom said.

The Houthi militia has been attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November to show its solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis see themselves as part of the “Axis of Resistance” directed against Israel and supported by Iran, which includes Hamas and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Due to the attacks, many shipping companies now avoid the important maritime trade route through which twelve percent of the world's maritime trade is normally carried. In response to the ship bombing, the United States and Britain are carrying out airstrikes against Houthi positions in an attempt to prevent further attacks on merchant ships. (afp)

Blinken warns Israel not to continue war without a strategy

According to a media report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel not to continue the war in the Gaza Strip without a clear strategy. Israel's security and its place in the world are in danger, Blinken said in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the War Cabinet, news portal Axios reported, citing an anonymous source said to be familiar with the content of the conversation.

Israel needs a coherent plan, otherwise it will be embroiled in an uprising it will not be able to control, Blinken said. If the war continued as it is, Islamist Hamas would continue to control the Gaza Strip or anarchy would break out, breeding even more terrorism. According to the source, the portal continues, Netanyahu would have responded that “we will have our hands full for decades.” (dpa)