Report: Israel offers new ceasefire

Middle East - Report: Israel offers new ceasefire

There are increasing signs of a new ceasefire in the Gaza war. According to a media report, Israel has offered a ceasefire of at least one week in the ongoing negotiations for the release of further hostages held by the Islamist Hamas.

According to the news portal "Axios", Israel expects Hamas to release more than three dozen hostages in return. Israeli President Izchak Herzog himself had held out the prospect of a new pause in fighting the previous day. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council again postponed a vote on a new resolution on the war at the request of the USA.

Israel: release of hostages in return for ceasefire

In return for a new ceasefire, Israel expects the release of the remaining women and men over the age of 60 still being held in Gaza as well as other hostages who are ill or seriously wounded and in urgent need of medical assistance, reported "Axios", citing two Israeli officials and another informed source. During a week-long ceasefire in November, 105 hostages were released. According to Israeli estimates, at least 109 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip. Hamas is also reportedly not releasing bodies of several kidnapped people.

Reports: Islamic Jihad releases hostage video

According to Israeli media reports, following Hamas, the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad has now also published a video of Israeli hostages. The video shows a 79-year-old man and a 47-year-old man, reported the "Times of Israel" on Tuesday evening. Both men warn that they could die at any moment due to attacks by the Israeli military, it said. It was initially unclear under what circumstances the video was made and when it was filmed. The news website Ynet also reported on the video. According to the report, the men were abducted from a kibbutz in the border region to the Gaza Strip on October 7.

Meanwhile, the USA is insisting on the start of a new phase in the Gaza war. Israel's army is currently fighting with "high intensity", but in future there will be more targeted operations against the Islamist Hamas in the sealed-off coastal strip, said the US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, during a recent visit to Tel Aviv. He did not say when exactly the new phase would begin. According to the media, however, it is expected to begin in the coming weeks.

Report: Israel considers humanitarian camp

Israel is considering setting up a humanitarian camp after the end of the current fighting phase in the north of the Gaza Strip. As the US television station CNN reported, citing two Israeli officials and a representative of international humanitarian aid operations familiar with the plans, the plans are still in the early stages. However, it was the first indication that Israel was thinking about how Palestinian civilians could return to the northern Gaza Strip.

According to Israel's own account, the army has now conquered the Hamas stronghold of Jabalia. "Operational control" of the town had been gained, it said on Tuesday. Defense Minister Joav Galant now wants to expand the ground offensive. According to the "Times of Israel", this could mean the center of Gaza or the city of Rafah in the south, where the border crossing to Egypt is located.

More foreigners have left Gaza

Aid supplies are reaching Gaza from there, even if, according to aid organizations, they are nowhere near enough to provide the civilian population with sufficient supplies. On Tuesday, around 100 more foreigners and Palestinians with a second passport left for Egypt via the border crossing, including around 20 Germans, according to a list compiled by the Palestinian border authority.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council now intends to vote on a resolution today, diplomats told the German Press Agency. The paper submitted by the United Arab Emirates calls, among other things, for a suspension of violence in the Gaza Strip in order to allow more humanitarian aid deliveries. Aid organizations speak of a "humanitarian catastrophe".

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, more than 19,600 people have been killed in the fighting in Gaza so far. The figures cannot currently be independently verified. This was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, in which terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist groups murdered more than 1,200 people in Israel on October 7. Around 240 people were deported to Gaza.

Israel attacks position in Lebanon

Meanwhile, according to the Israeli army, it again intercepted several rockets from Lebanon in northern Israel and fired at the launch site. As the army announced late on Tuesday evening, a fighter plane then fired on both the rocket launcher and a "terrorist cell". A military facility belonging to the Hezbollah militia was also hit.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, there have been repeated confrontations between Israel's army and militant groups such as Hezbollah. The day before, Israel's military had warned Hezbollah, which has close ties to Iran, of an escalation of hostilities on the border. "We are closer to war today than we were yesterday," said a military spokesman.

What will be important today

The UN Security Council is planning a vote on a new Gaza resolution, which has already been postponed several times. The paper submitted by the United Arab Emirates calls, among other things, for a suspension of violence in the Gaza Strip to allow more humanitarian aid deliveries. Following attacks on ships by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the US government hopes that other countries will join the new military alliance it has initiated to protect ships in the Red Sea. According to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, Germany is examining a request to participate.