“Today there is a northern Gaza and a southern Gaza,” Israeli forces spokesman Vice Admiral Daniel Hagari said as the air force continued to pound targets non-stop in an attempt to hit Hamas infrastructure.
It is characteristic that for the umpteenth time there was a “complete interruption” in communication and internet services last night (5/11) for the third time.
For his part, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army Lt. Gen. Erzi Halevi stressed that the army is “ready at any moment to proceed to the attack in the north”, as in recent weeks it has been defending itself against daily rocket and rocket attacks by Hezbollah.
“About him Lebanon, we attack based on intelligence and we will continue to attack. This is our mission. Whoever threatens us, we will attack him”, emphasized Hagari.
Earlier it Israel had released evidence showing that the Hamas uses medical facilities in Gaza Strip for its purposes. Alongside it was becoming known that forces of the Israeli army discovered the whole arsenals inside houses.
Israel’s decision to further tighten the cordon in Gaza, in addition to destroying Hamas, may be explained by the fact that it wants to push for the release of hostages held in Gaza. A diplomatic source dealing with the issue left open the possibility of developments on this front, even if a ceasefire is needed, which has been rejected by both the US and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who are pushing for humanitarian ceasefires.
For the first time yesterday Tel Aviv admitted that former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen met with an Arab world leader over the Gaza hostage issue with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval.
This is the first confirmation from the prime minister’s office of Cohen’s active participation in negotiations to release the hostages, after previously issuing a statement saying that the only way for the hostage negotiations is the coordinator Gal Hirsch.
In the meantime, the prospect of humanitarian pauses does not agree with the other countries of the region and the Palestinian Authority, as was seen in the meeting they had unexpectedly in the West Bank on Sunday (5/11) the American Secretary of State Anthony Blinken with the president Mahmoud Abbas.
The most difficult station for Blinken is Turkey
Undoubtedly, the most difficult stop on Blinken’s tour of the region will be in Anchor, where he will meet on Monday (6/11) with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan as Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to fire heavily at Israel and try to cast himself as the champion of the Palestinians.
It is clear that Erdogan wants Turkey to remain a key player in the Palestinian negotiation phase whenever it begins. The differences in the positions of the US and Turkey are obvious. Ankara prioritizes an immediate ceasefire.
Washington seems to be waiting for the end of Israel’s deadly military operation in Gaza.
This is not the only area of disagreement. Blinken will raise the issue of Sweden’s accession to NATOwhich Turkey is delaying which in turn is sure to try to push for positive developments on the F-16 issue.
Blinken meetings in Cyprus and Iraq
This was not the only surprise meeting the head of US diplomacy had with his schedule not announced for security reasons. After the West Bank he suddenly found himself in Cyprus and Iraq
The purpose of the trip to Cyprus was twofold. First, to discuss with President Nikos Christodoulidis the Cypriot plan for the creation of a humanitarian corridor in Gaza, which is viewed positively by Emmanuel Macron’s Paris, but also by Athens. According to the Cypriot side, Blinken left Larnaca with a plan that outlines step by step everything that needs to be done.
The second purpose was to personally thank Cyprus, which played an important role in the removal of American citizens who were trapped in Israel and managed to return to their homeland. Cruise ships first took them from the port of Haifa to Larnaca and then they flew back to America.
In the Iraq Blinken discussed how Iran could stop being involved by proxy in those attacks that also targeted US troops in neighboring Syria.
Between October 17 and November 3, approximately 17 attacks were carried out in Iraq and 12 in Syria. Nearly 2,500 US troops are deployed in Iraq. Their mission is to advise their Iraqi counterparts in the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group.
It is noted that Iraq does not recognize the state of Israel and the Iraqi government is close to Iran, a country that supports the Palestinian Hamas.
Another interesting news from the region is that Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniya, who met with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is to visit Lebanon in the coming days for talks on a possible hostage and prisoner exchange, they said. the Hezbollah-affiliated al-Jadeed media;
