In Qatar, after a long standstill, talks about a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the hostages are set to get going again. Meanwhile, Israel continues to take action against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
After Israel's retaliatory strike against Iran, negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza war are to be resumed in Qatar today. Iran should not “make the mistake” of reacting to the Israeli attacks, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a phone call with his Israeli colleague Joav Gallant, according to the Pentagon. There are now opportunities to reduce “tensions in the region through diplomatic channels”.
This includes a deal in the Gaza war and an agreement with Hezbollah in Lebanon that would allow civilians on both sides of the border with Israel to return safely to their homes.
Representatives of Israel want to meet today in the Qatari capital Doha with those of the mediating states Qatar, Egypt and the USA to give new impetus to talks about a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that have been stagnating for months.
Again protests in Israel
The evening before, hundreds of people demonstrated again in Israel for an agreement to release the hostages who are still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Since the killing of Hamas leader Jihia Sinwar in the Gaza Strip in mid-October, negotiators in the region have had a little more hope of restarting ceasefire negotiations.
The head of the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad, David Barnea, is traveling to Doha today. Israel is demanding the release of the approximately 100 hostages still held in Gaza, many of whom are believed to no longer be alive.
Strong criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu
According to Israeli media reports, an official from Barnea's negotiating team is said to have told the relatives of the abductees that a hostage agreement would require an end to the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip – which is currently not foreseeable. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet given his own negotiating delegation a sufficient mandate to lead today's talks in Doha to a substantial result.
At a rally in Tel Aviv, speakers sharply attacked Netanyahu and accused him of delaying the indirect negotiations. “Who do you want to blame now that Sinwar is dead? The hostages?” the Times of Israel quoted the brother of a Hamas hostage as criticizing.
Sinwar's death “perhaps creates an opportunity to actually move forward and reach an agreement,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his recent visit to the Middle East.
No progress in negotiations for months
There has been no progress in the talks for months. There was hope in Israel that this could change after Sinwar's killing. However, Hamas is sticking to its previous positions, including calling for a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip and an end to the war.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army continues to take action against the Islamist terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip. According to local reports, at least 30 Palestinians were killed in an attack in northern Gaza. Five houses were attacked in a residential area of the border town of Beit Lahia. Israel's military has not yet commented on this, and information from both sides cannot usually be independently verified.
Three weeks of offensive in northern Gaza
The Israeli Air Force also said it once again attacked a Hamas command center in the northern city of Gaza. It was said that night that it was in a building that had previously been used as a school. Before the “precise attack”, numerous measures were taken to reduce the danger to civilians, it said. This information cannot be independently verified either.
Israel's armed forces have been carrying out offensive operations in the northern section of the Gaza Strip for three weeks. According to Palestinian sources, hundreds of civilians were also killed.
Hezbollah continues to shell Israel
During the night, Israel's air force also continued attacks against the Hamas-allied Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Lebanon's state news agency NNA reported that Israel had again targeted the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut.
An Israeli army spokesman had previously asked the residents of two neighborhoods via Platform X to leave their homes. They are close to Hezbollah facilities and action will be taken against them soon. Like the Islamist Hamas, the Hezbollah militia is part of the “Axis of Resistance” against Israel led by Iran.
Despite Israel's harsh military strikes against Hezbollah, the militia continues to shell the Jewish state. The Israeli army said late in the evening that around 190 projectiles were fired at Israel over the course of Saturday. Shortly afterwards, warning sirens wailed again in northern Israel. Two drones that entered Israel from Lebanon were intercepted over open terrain, the army said overnight.
Iran reports dead soldiers after attack
Israel carried out the retaliatory strike on Iran that had been expected for weeks on Saturday night. It was in response to an Iranian attack on October 1st in which around 200 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel. According to the Iranian military, four soldiers were killed in the Israeli counterstrike.
