Against the backdrop of preparations for the expansion of fighting into Gaza City, IDF Arabic spokesman Col. Avichai Edraei issued a statement to all residents of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon. The statement warned Palestinians against approaching the combat zones, and stated that in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone - which has been defined as the"only safe zone" - there will be improvements in health, water and food services."Approaching or returning to combat zones or areas where IDF forces are operating exposes you to danger," Edraei wrote.
His announcement was intended, among other things, to encourage residents to evacuate to the Al-Mawasi area in the Khan Yunis area in the southern Gaza Strip, after in recent months there has been a phenomenon of Palestinians leaving their homes as the fighting intensifies - but returning to them later.
A compound of tents and rubble in Gaza City: "A dangerous combat zone" (Photo: BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Bombings in Gaza, today (Photo: AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
At the same time, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari emphasized at a press conference that Israel has not yet responded to the ceasefire proposal, as part of a deal that Hamas agreed to more than two weeks ago."There are contacts to return to negotiations, but so far there are no results," he said, adding that"we see nothing from Israel except escalation, which is expressed in the dangerous step towards occupying Gaza City."
He said,"Israel's plan to occupy Gaza threatens everyone, including the hostages. The humanitarian issue cannot be linked to the deal. The crossings must be opened and aid must be allowed into Gaza. There is no point in waiting for a peace process when no Israeli side wants it. Israel's steps are now encountering clear regional and international opposition. We emphasize the importance of an appropriate Palestinian presence in all international forums."
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"The victory - that all the kidnapped will return home"
Meanwhile, with the hostages in Gaza having been held for 697 days, the mother of the kidnapped soldier Nimrod Cohen, Vicky, shared this morning in an interview with Ynet that she feels"a sense of frustration and anger that we have reached this situation." She emphasized that "the only victory that can be is for all the hostages to return home - and this will only happen if the Israeli government decides to end the war and signs an agreement that will bring everyone home. If it is not a comprehensive agreement, and it is in stages, then we will know when the last hostage returns home. It cannot be that we are almost reaching the 700th day, almost two years - and they are still there in hell! It is simply incomprehensible."
These developments come after the stormy debate in the political-security cabinet the day before yesterday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and demanded that he"stop the media briefings." Zamir nevertheless presented the outline of the deal with Hamas - which includes the release of ten live hostages and 18 martyrs in exchange for hundreds of terrorists and a 60-day ceasefire - but most ministers opposed it.
During the discussion, after Minister Orit Struck quoted a verse from the Torah about"the fearless and tender-hearted man," Chief of Staff Zamir believed that this was an allusion to the army and responded angrily: "I have made fateful decisions about the future of the Middle East." He emphasized to the ministers: "If you want blind discipline - bring someone else." Netanyahu tried to balance the two sides and concluded: "I don't want blind discipline, but I don't want a breach of the framework either."
Regarding the conduct of the cabinet, Vicky said that they"didn't talk about the deal at all. Nitzan Alon was not a participant in the meeting, it's not on the agenda at all. They (the kidnapped - ŞK) are still there, languishing; we go out to demonstrations, shout for the voice of our loved ones underground - and their voices are not heard. No one listens to us. Total disregard, disconnection." She also mentioned the visit of Netanyahu and the ministers to a restaurant in Jerusalem when crowds across the country demonstrated for the kidnapped: "How can there be such an absurdity? That is why we have decided to intensify the struggle, to go to Jerusalem starting tomorrow. We will demand and cry out in a call to end the war and return all the kidnapped."
