Israel-Hamas Bus Stop Attack on a Gazan Infant, as Declared by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Tel Aviv High School on Wednesday
The Secretary of State arrived in Israel and saw an early morning shooting that killed three Israelis on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It is the first Palestinian attack on civilians since the Israel-Hamas war began last month.
During the week-long pause in fighting, Hamas and other militants in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, most of them Israelis, in return for 240 Palestinians freed from prisons in Israel.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum thinks that Hamas has over 100 hostages from the 7th of October.
Two Israeli-Russians were also released as part of what Hamas has described as a side-deal facilitated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the third such release since the exchanges began on Friday.
Blinken met Thursday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who thanked the U.S. “for the immense work it is devoting to the release of the hostages.” He mentioned that the Bibas family was being held hostage. Israel says the family, including the parents, a four-year-old girl and 10-month-old infant, were handed off by Hamas to another Palestinian militant group, but Hamas says the mother and children were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
“From day one, the U.S. has focused on trying to secure hostages’ release,” said Tony Blair’s deputy. He called the swaps of captives this week “a very positive development.”
“It’s also enabled an increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately,” Blinken said. “So this process is producing results. It’s important, and we hope that it can continue.”
Netanyahu said on X that his government would be expanding its efforts to give weapons to Israeli civilians.
The bus stop attack is proof of our obligation to fight with strength and determination against murderers, according to the war cabinet minister. In Jerusalem, Gaza, in Judea and Samaria, and everywhere,” he wrote. Judea and Samaria are biblical names used to refer to the West Bank.
On Wednesday, Palestinian officials said Israeli troops killed an 8-year-old and a 15-year-old during a raid on the Palestinian city of Jenin. Israel’s military says it killed two militants in the raid.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s air and ground campaign against Hamas.
While the cease-fire has allowed desperately needed aid to reach many Gazans, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Wednesday that the delivery of aid “remains completely inadequate to meet the huge needs of more than two million people.”
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in its most recent update that aid convoys were able to reach areas north of an informal line dividing Gaza.
It said that the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and UNRWA, the U.N. relief agency that oversees the Palestinian territories, “delivered food and non-food items, medical supplies, and fuel to shelters hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as to warehouses and hospitals. There are two hospitals in Gaza who received 10,500 liters of fuel, enough to run generators for seven days.
According to the health ministry of the Gaza Strip, at least 13,300 people have died in Israel’s war on the Hamas-controlled territory and the cease-fire has allowed desperately needed humanitarian aid to reach it.
Hamas turns civilian sites into military targets while using civilians and facilities as a human shield, according to the military which issued an interactive map for residents in Gaza to orient themselves.
Hamas members said in a statement that Israel won’t achieve anything by continuing its aggression after the truce. The Hamas militant group tried to negotiate an extension of the truce until the very last moment, but Israel was only interested in continuing the aggression on the Palestinians, said Osama Hamden.
“With the return to fighting we will emphasize: the Israeli government is committed to achieving the goals of the war — to release our hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza will never again pose a threat to the residents of Israel,” the prime minister’s office said.
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s warplanes began pounding targets in Gaza early Friday, shortly after the collapse of a cease-fire deal that had allowed the release of more than 100 hostages seized by Hamas militants and hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli jails.