Daily Archives: 19. März 2024


19.03.2024 - 23:40 [ Middle East Eye ]

Marwan Issa: Hamas and Israel silent on fate of commander announced dead by US

Hamas and Israel have remained silent on the fate of a senior military figure of the Palestinian group after his alleged death was unusually announced by the United States.

During a press conference on Monday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: “Israel has made significant progress against Hamas… Hamas’ number three, Marwan Issa, was killed in an operation last week.”

(…)

Issa, 59, is the deputy to Mohammed al-Dief, the general commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, and his right-hand man.

19.03.2024 - 23:25 [ NDTV.com ]

Hamas, Houthis Hold Rare Meet To Discuss Their Actions Against Israel: Report

(March 16, 2024)

Senior figures from Hamas and Yemen‘s Huthi rebels held a rare meeting to discuss coordinating their actions against Israel, Palestinian factional sources told AFP on Friday. (…)

The Houthis confirmed they would continue their attacks on Red Sea shipping to „support the Palestinian resistance“, according to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad sources.

The rebels‘ leader Abdul Malik al-Huthi said on Thursday their attacks would expand to target ships avoiding the Red Sea by navigating past South Africa‘s Cape of Good Hope.

19.03.2024 - 23:00 [ theNationalNews.com ]

Hamas political leaders were unaware of Israel incursion plan, Egypt officials say

(Oct 09, 2023)

Most of the movement‘s political leaders have lived in exile outside the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for years, deepening the divide between them and the group‘s military wing known as the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, who are spearheading the continuing fighting with Israel.

The political leaders have mostly been living in Qatar, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Egypt.

Speaking to The National, the officials said a handful of Gaza-based Hamas leaders, reportedly as few as three who once served in the Al Qassam Brigades, knew of the attack in advance. As a precaution, they were made to believe that the operation would begin 48 hours after it got under way on Saturday.

19.03.2024 - 22:55 [ Times of Israel ]

Deif’s alleged death certificate sparks online debate

(21 August 2014)

However, Israeli intelligence sources told Fox News Wednesday that the Hamas leader was believed to have been killed.

Addressing the public on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dodged the question of Deif’s fate, saying only that “the commanders of terror organizations are a legitimate target, of the highest priority… No one is immune,” he said. Asked again, he refused to elaborate.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, in a Hamas TV interview earlier Wednesday, described Deif as “the dead man” in an apparent slip of the tongue.

19.03.2024 - 22:36 [ Economist.com ]

Hamas’s deadly “phantom”: the man behind the attacks

(Oct 20th 2023)

Yet hardly anything is known about Deif. For years, Western spies would respond to questions about him with a shrug. Only a handful of photographs have ever appeared in the media – grainy images from his youth. Some speculate that he died long ago and is nothing more than a mythical figurehead cultivated for propaganda purposes.

19.03.2024 - 21:21 [ Times of Israel ]

Likud ministers promote conference on reestablishing Israeli settlements in Gaza

(23.01.2024)

The conference, under the heading “Only settlement will bring security,” is organized by a group of movements that want to resettle Gaza, led by Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan and the Nachala Settlement Movement. It is scheduled for Sunday at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem.

So far, Zohar and Katz, and Likud MKs Hanoch Milwidsky, Nissim Vaturi, Amit Halevi, Tally Gotliv, Etty Hava Atia, Moshe Passal and Ariel Kallner have all said they will attend, according to the report.

19.03.2024 - 21:14 [ Middle East Eye ]

Likud MP joins group planning to create Israeli settlements in northern Gaza

Nissim Vaturi, an Israeli lawmaker belonging to the ruling Likud party, has announced he is joining an Israeli group that is planning to create illegal settlements in northern Gaza.

He made the announced on X on Tuesday, accompanied by a picture of a poster which states „only settlement will bring security„.

19.03.2024 - 20:45 [ Middle East Eye ]

Israel-Palestine live: Israeli forces kill 50 Palestinians in al-Shifa hospital raid

Israeli forces killed 50 Palestinians and detained 180 people during a raid on Gaza‘s al-Shifa hospital on Monday, according to Israel‘s military.

The military said that those killed were fighters, and those arrested were suspected members of Hamas. It did not provide any evidence of those claims. Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of operating inside hospitals – a charge which the Palestinian group has consistently denied.

19.03.2024 - 20:37 [ Times of Israel ]

Netanyahu says he made clear to Biden Rafah ground op crucial to destroying Hamas

“We have a disagreement with the Americans about the need to enter Rafah,” Netanyahu told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “Not about the need to eliminate Hamas — the need to enter Rafah. We do not see a way to eliminate Hamas militarily without destroying these remaining battalions. We are determined to do it. ”

“I made it clear to the president in our conversation, in the clearest way, that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah,” said Netanyahu. “There is no way to do it, except by going in on the ground.”

19.03.2024 - 20:31 [ Middle East Eye ]

Netanyahu makes it ‚supremely clear‘ to Biden that Rafah invasion necessary

Briefing lawmakers on Tuesday, Netanyahu said that he made it „supremely clear“ to US President Joe Biden „that we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah, and there‘s no way to do that except by going in on the ground“.

19.03.2024 - 20:26 [ White House ]

Readout of President Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel

The President affirmed the need to defeat Hamas in Gaza while also protecting the civilian population and facilitating the safe and unhindered delivery of assistance throughout Gaza. The President and Prime Minster agreed to have their teams meet soon in Washington to exchange views and discuss alternative approaches that would target key elements of Hamas and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground operation in Rafah.

19.03.2024 - 20:05 [ Axios ]

Scoop: Biden privately told Bibi he‘s not trying to push him out

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a briefing with reporters on Monday that Netanyahu „did raise his concerns about a variety of things that have come out in the American press.“

Sullivan added that from Biden‘s perspective „this is not a question of politics. It‘s not a question of public statements. It‘s a question of policy and strategy.“

One source said the fact that Netanyahu aired his grievances with Biden helped to somewhat clear the atmosphere.