War in Israel: Netanyahu: “There is no ceasefire”

According to Palestinian and Egyptian sources, a 5-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was to take effect on Monday morning to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of foreigners. Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas officials deny that an agreement has been reached, and the Rafah border crossing remains closed.

Crowds of people wanting to leave Gaza gathered at the Rafah border crossing on Monday after reports of a temporary reopening of the border. However, the crossing remains closed at the moment.

Despite the fact that Egyptian security forces and the representative of the Palestinian Embassy in Rafah said that the border was to be opened to aid and foreign nationals, possibly with a temporary ceasefire, doubts have now arisen on both aspects. Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq said there was no truth to these reports.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said Monday morning that “there is no ceasefire or humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the evacuation of foreigners.” However, humanitarian aid trucks enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt’s Rafah crossing.

Several Likud ministers are vehemently opposed to a US-brokered temporary truce to allow aid into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Energy Minister Israel Katz says he “strongly opposes the opening of the blockade and the introduction of goods into Gaza on humanitarian grounds.” “Our commitment is to the families of the hostages killed and kidnapped – not to the killers of Hamas and those who helped them,” he says. The Minister of Culture, Miki Zohar, also objects. “Those who massacre children, rape women and kidnap babies deserve no mercy.”

The Israeli military said on Monday it would “refrain” from striking the evacuation corridors linking the northern and southern Gaza Strip during the morning as it prepares a ground offensive targeting Hamas, according to AFP. Israeli forces “will refrain from striking the demarcated axes between 08:00 (05:00 GMT) and 12:00 (09:00 GMT),” an army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said on X ( formerly Twitter).

2,750 Palestinians killed  and another 9,700 people were injured by Israeli strikes, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced. That’s 80 more dead and 100 injured than the ministry’s last update yesterday. In Israel, 1,400 people were killed and 3,500 injured in Hamas attacks.

Meanwhile, Egypt fears that any exodus of Palestinians to its Sinai Peninsula could become permanent, while Palestinians fear that Israel will not allow them to return to their homes in Gaza. Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi hinted at the consequences of the Palestinian exodus from Gaza last week, saying that allowing them to settle in Sinai, even temporarily, would be tantamount to allowing Israel to control an empty Gaza Strip.

US President Joe Biden says Israel must eliminate Hamas, but occupying Gaza would be a “big mistake.” Biden said on Sunday that he believes the militant group Hamas must be eliminated, but there should be a path to a Palestinian state, after senior US officials warned that the war between Israel and Hamas could escalate, reports Reuters.

Biden does not believe US troops would be needed on the ground because Israel has one of the “best fighting forces”, even though US warships have moved into the area amid escalating clashes on Israel’s northern border. Israel with Lebanon. Israel has launched a fierce bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip in response to unprecedented attacks by Hamas eight days ago, in which around 1,300 Israelis, mostly civilians, were killed.

Asked if he thinks Hamas should be eliminated entirely, Biden replied: “Yes, I think so. But there must be a Palestinian Authority. There has to be a path to a Palestinian state,” he said in an interview broadcast Sunday by CBS 60 Minutes.

The American president warned though that it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza, but that the “elimination” of Hezbollah and Hamas is “a necessary requirement”. He said that “it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza again.”

Iran: We will not engage in war unless Israel attacks us 

Iran says its forces “will not engage” in the war between Israel and Hamas as long as Israel does not attack its territory. Iran’s UN mission in New York states that “the resistance front can defend itself.”

The announcement comes just a few hours after Iran’s foreign minister threatened that the country would go to war if Israel did not stop its “aggression” against Gaza. “If the Zionist aggression does not stop, the hands of all the parties in the region are on the trigger,” said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Hezbollah “escalates the situation” on the Israel-Lebanon border 

The Israeli army spokesman said Sunday evening that Hezbollah is “escalating the situation” on the border between Lebanon and Israel, with the aim of hampering Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza, writes Sky News.

Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel was prepared to fight on two or more fronts “if necessary”.

Speaking about the situation in Gaza, the spokesman said that more than 600,000 people had moved to the south, and evacuations were continuing. He also stated that Israel’s strikes in the enclave are designed to hit as many terrorists as possible, and as few civilians as possible.