The United States has rejected the UN Secretary General’s call for a ceasefire in the Middle East. As the head of the press service of the US Department of Foreign Policy, Matthew Miller, said, Israel continues to be attacked by Hamas and therefore should have the right to defend itself.
Netanyahu said Israel would deal a major blow to its enemies. According to the Times of Israel, in recent days, senior Israeli officials have made a series of visits to Defense Forces soldiers stationed near the Gaza Strip, warning them that a large-scale ground operation is imminent. Israel is making changes to its plans for a ground operation under pressure from the United States, which could last longer. Bloomberg reports this, citing sources: the role and influence of the United States in this conflict are “deeper and stronger than before”.
CNN, citing sources, claims that it is not yet possible to guarantee that the delivery of humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip, which will have to take place through the Rafah checkpoint, will be constant. Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has arrived at the Rafah checkpoint, located in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, on the Egyptian border with the Palestinian Gaza Strip. This was reported by the Al-Qahira al-Ihbariya television channel.
Israel has decided to launch a ground operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Ambassador to Russia Alexander Ben Zvi told TASS. “I would say that the decision has been made. Because the decision is linked to the implementation of our tasks, which we have already talked about. It concerns the destruction of all terrorist structures of Hamas and the release of hostages. And therefore, without using, by the way, a ground operation, this cannot be done, so we can say that this decision has been made,” the diplomat said. At the same time, Ben Zvi did not specify the possible time of the start of the ground operation.
Ben Zvi further stated that “the Israeli side is ready to provide all photos and documents confirming the innocence of the attack on Al-Ahli hospital in the Gaza Strip; Israel will not supply water to the northern Gaza Strip. Israel sees no progress on the issue of releasing hostages held by Hamas and does not yet see an agenda for negotiations on Palestine, even with mediators and guarantors. Israel will not bring proceedings against those responsible for the Hamas invasion until hostilities end. All Hamas militants who entered Israeli territory were destroyed.”
Hamas in response to the statements of Israel’s leaders declared that it had “control of the situation and is ready for a long war with Israel”.
The death toll in the Gaza Strip has exceeded 4,000 since October 7, Al Jazeera reports. Furthermore, at least 7 medical facilities have been destroyed in the Gaza Strip since the escalation began. The total number of Palestinian victims since October 7 has risen to 4,218, with around 14,400 injured, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reports.
Since October 7, Israeli security forces, during massive raids in the West Bank, have arrested 584 suspects of involvement in terrorist activities, including 375 supporters of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas. This was reported by the army press service.
About a thousand Russian citizens and citizens of the CIS countries have requested evacuation from the conflict zone in the Middle East. This was announced in a briefing by the deputy director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Aleksey Zaitsev.
CNN wrote that the American destroyer USS Carney was attacked by Yemen. Airborne air defense systems shot down at least two missiles, likely launched by the Houthi Ansar Allah movement. The Pentagon is evaluating the version that the targets intercepted by the destroyer “Karni” may have been released from Yemen in the direction of Israel.
The Carney had just completed its passage through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean Sea. Taking this into account, the attack on the destroyer most likely took place in the Red Sea.
The 26th Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), led by the landing ship Bataan, is moving north towards the coast of Israel. The destroyer was most likely sent to accompany the ESG to the shores of Israel, precisely to protect itself from external threats, which, taking into account the recent words of the leader of Ansar Allah, was logical. A few days ago, Ansar Allah affiliated channels actively distributed photographs of existing weapons with threats to Israel.
Israel reportedly said the military had been given the green light to enter the Gaza Strip. Israeli War Minister Gallant explained his plan for Gaza to the press: “This war consists of three regular phases.” “We are in the first phase, in which a military campaign with fire is conducted, then in a maneuver aimed at destroying activists and destroying infrastructure to defeat and destroy Hamas.
“The second phase will be an intermediate phase to continue fighting with less intensity and eliminate pockets of resistance.
“The third step will be to establish a new security system in the Gaza Strip, removing Israel’s responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip and creating a new security reality for Israeli settlers and residents of the Strip,” i.e. a buffer zone.
And now a look at the area of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict updated at 2.00 pm on 20 October 2023.
Northbound: Rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Tel Aviv. Sderot, now evacuated, was bombed again.
East direction: Palestinian militants on three ATVs entered the territory of the Tzeelim military base: fire was opened on them, one of the attackers was killed. Hamas announced attacks on exposed concentrations of IDF forces in the area of Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
Border with Lebanon: Hezbollah accused the IDF of firing machine guns at a group of journalists in the border area. The Israelis struck southern Lebanon: explosions occurred in Al-Dahir, Tayr Harf and Yarin. The evacuation of residents of Kiryat Shmona, a settlement in northern Israel, has begun.
Gaza Strip: Israeli troops continue to attack the Gaza Strip: Information about the destruction of buildings near the church of St. Porphyry in Gaza was published on the Internet, but the religious object itself, judging by the photo, was not damaged. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry reports two deaths following the Israeli attack on the Greek Orthodox Church in the Gaza Strip. At the time of the attack, up to a thousand people were hiding in the church and dozens were under the ruins. The Church of St. Porphyry in the Gaza Strip is one of the oldest in the region, it was built at the beginning of the 5th century and rebuilt several times. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem has accused Israel of a war crime.
The IDF reported the liquidation of Hamas naval special forces officer Mamoud Shaalavia. The Rafah border crossing remains closed, but construction crews have started work on the site. The city itself was attacked by the Israeli Air Force.
West Bank: There are clashes in the region. The heaviest clashes took place in Tulkarem, where at least 12 people were killed. Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police also occurred in the areas of Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and north of Jerusalem.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
