The Israeli political question is increasingly tense. At the cabinet meeting on April 22, the first to arrive was the former/current number one of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar. In the afternoon, a statement to the Israeli opposition parties read: “In continuity with the statement of the leaders of the opposition parties, the members of the Knesset collected 25 signatures for an emergency session at the General Authority of the Knesset on the following issues: the statement of the head of the Shin Bet, the danger to state security and the government’s shortcomings and inaction in the recovery of the kidnapped”.
During the cabinet meeting, disagreements arose between some ministers and the Chief of Staff, who rejected the direct distribution of aid to Gaza and threatened to replace her. Smotrich, Strok and Cohen called for the expansion of the operation in the Strip. The army recommended exhausting the opportunity to conclude an exchange agreement with Netanyahu, decided to end the session without decisions and announced that the Council will meet again today, April 24, to make decisions. The Israeli security and political cabinets will meet to discuss the army’s plans to find a mechanism to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth: Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boycotted the words of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar during the security cabinet meeting, and also criticized the Chief of Staff, General Eyal Zamir, for the way the war is being conducted. According to the newspaper, there is a division within the government over Gaza. “As part of the pressure that Smotrich is exerting to intensify the war on Gaza, the last 3 meetings with Netanyahu took place on Sunday… And he stressed the need to move to the “decisive phase” and justified that we cannot keep the state in a state of war forever. In return, Netanyahu and Defense Secretary Katz believe that negotiations should be given another opportunity before resorting to escalating the war. Another part of the government meeting was devoted to discussing the issue of sending humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through international organizations protected by the army. With the aim of preventing this aid from reaching Hamas.
Israel Army Radio: “During the trial, Netanyahu asked for clemency due to back pain and the judges responded by suggesting that he be provided with pillows. Netanyahu responded: “I have tried everything, but nothing works. You have to remember that I am not 20 years old.”
And again, we learn from Israel Army Radio that the five female soldiers released under the deal refused to participate in the lighting of the torch for Independence Day.
Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar reveals that Netanyahu asked him to crack down on protests against him. Yedioth reporter Ben Doror Yemni: “The possibility that Ronen Bar is lying is close to zero, Netanyahu has crossed all limits, Netanyahu attempted a coup from within power. He is the one who asked to follow the protesters, who called for the violation of court orders, and his office is a Qatari hacker. He is the one who damaged relations with Egypt with personal interests, and he is the one who deliberately damaged the initiatives for the release of prisoners. He is trampling on national interests for his own economic, political and corrupt interests, his own and those around him. It is unclear what will happen after Netanyahu resigns, so Israel begins its journey towards a better future. The statement of the head of the Shin Bet is an earthquake. If his permanence in Netanyahu’s heart is a sign of interest in this country, he should not wait for a protest, a commission of inquiry or the Supreme Court’s ruling. He must leave.”
According to Al-Maariv: “The issue of dismantling Hamas is never on the government’s agenda because it simply considers that it is not a realistic goal. Hamas still has a fighting force with a considerable number of members, some of whom are organized in Saraya and Brigades. Hamas operates with the doctrine of guerrilla warfare, which makes the mission of the “Israeli army” difficult.
Kan 11 revealed that the Israeli military faked the discovery of a tunnel in the Philadelphia Corridor in Gaza to delay the ceasefire and hostage-taking agreement. The “tunnel” was just a shallow trench. Former Defense Minister Gallant admitted that it was a ploy to loosen negotiations. Reserve Colonel Yossi Langotsky, geologist and former advisor to the IDF Chief of Staff on countering the tunnel threat: “Israel has failed miserably in managing the tunnels in Gaza.”
Egyptian sources said that “Israel has shown flexibility on several points of the new Egyptian-Qatari proposal.”
British Foreign Secretary: “Israel has prevented aid from reaching Gaza for more than 50 days, and this is unacceptable. Vital supplies in Gaza are running out and Palestinians are facing famine.” In a joint statement by France and Germany and the United Kingdom read by the British Foreign Secretary: “We, together with France and Germany, urge Israel to immediately resume the flow of aid to Gaza.” “Aid should never be used as a political tool.” “Israel is legally obliged to allow aid to enter the country without hindrance.”
France continues its path of recognition of Palestine even though Rami Abdo, head of the Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights, revealed information “regarding the involvement of the French Embassy in Jerusalem in direct coordination with Israel to implement a plan to evacuate Palestinian professionals and their families from the Gaza Strip”. “The data indicate that graduates, including doctors, physicists and engineers, as well as specialists in history, culture and archaeology, have been clearly targeted in an organized evacuation operation that threatens to deprive Gaza of its intellectual and professional potential”.
Egypt’s commitment extends not only to the release of prisoners held by Hamas and Israel but also to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 for Lebanon. Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Migration Badr Abdel Aty: “We confirm Egypt’s full support for President Aoun’s efforts to restore security and stability in Lebanon”.
Abdel Aty in a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart said: “the need for a complete Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon”.
The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon visits Moscow to discuss developments in Lebanon and how the international community can best support the implementation of Resolution 1701.
Hamas condemned the speech Mahmoud Abbas, of the Palestinian Authority in a press release issued by the Resistance Committees in Palestine: “We denounce and condemn in the strongest terms the offensive speech delivered by President Mahmoud Abbas against our people, our cause, the blood of our martyrs and the suffering of our prisoners. In it, he called for the handing over of Zionist prisoners and described the heroes of the resistance with offensive descriptions, alien to the customs and traditions of our struggling Palestinian people”.
And now a look at the military scenarios updated at 17:00 on April 23. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornets of Carrier Air Wing One (CVW-1) aboard the aircraft carrier CVN-75 Harry S. Truman in the Red Sea continue to conduct day and night strikes against the Houthi rebels in western Yemen. The Houthi spokesman reports having shot down another US MQ-9 drone, the 22nd since the start of the war.
In the early hours of the morning, huge rocket launch by Hezbollah against northern Israel (direction Nahariyya). This attack is probably a response to repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon. Alarms are ringing as far away as Haifa, in the south. It was later discovered that it was an Ansarullah ballistic missile launched towards northern Israel, but it was intercepted, Sirene in northern Israel, near the Lebanese border, due to fire from Yemen.
Fire in Safed, on the Golan Heights, Syria.
Attacks continue in Lebanon. Israeli drones fly low over cities around Tyre, in southern Lebanon. Lebanon is battered by a sandstorm, Beirut. Despite the storm, Israeli drones are violating Lebanon’s sovereignty over Beirut. According to the count of Al-Manar, Hezbollah TV, the IDF has violated the ceasefire with Lebanon at least 2,970 times. The number is divided into: 1,488 ground violations; 1,411 Air Violation; 71 maritime violation. Israel has killed 147 people and wounded 343 others. One civilian was injured after an Israeli drone fired a nail bomb at him while he was inspecting his house near the wall in Kfarkela, southern Lebanon.
A large fire spreads through the settlement of Beit Shemesh, built on Jerusalem land. Channel 13: “Dozens of firefighting teams, supported by aircraft, are trying to put out the large fires in Beit Shemesh and several other areas. A general recruitment call has been published for all firefighters in six sectors.”
Traffic congestion and panic among settlers after the fire broke out and spread in the Jerusalem settlement of Beit Shemesh. As we go to press, three firefighters were injured while trying to put out large fires in Beit Shemesh, east of Tel Aviv.
Channel 12 reports: “The fire and the large fire in Jerusalem have spread to Highway No. 1”. Israel Broadcasting Authority: “The fires in Jerusalem are large and Israel may ask neighboring countries for help in putting them out”. Air pollution and hazardous materials concerns.
Saraya al-Quds: “We bombed a barrage of 60 mm mortar shells belonging to the Israeli engineering forces, which penetrated east of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza”. Israel bombed solar panels that serve hospitals to treat Gazans.
Yesterday, Israeli warplanes targeted the alternative energy panels of the Al-Durra Children’s Hospital, in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City. Israeli artillery also targeted the hospital’s intensive care unit.
The IDF destroyed several residential buildings north of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. The IDF fired on Palestinian families residing in a building in the Al-Sikka area of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, 8 dead.
Heavy gunfire from tanks and helicopters northeast of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. There are reportedly 40 dead and dozens injured in Gaza on April 23 alone.
The siege of Jenin has entered its 93rd day, with demolition and burning operations against citizens’ homes continuing, converting some into military barracks, amid widespread destruction and devastation. The IDF has placed iron gates at the main entrance to the Jenin camp and at the entrance to the Roundabout of Return, has besieged the camp, intensified aggressive actions and deployed large military reinforcements.
Saraya al-Quds – Jenin Battalion: “Our fighters from Yamoun Company managed to detonate several pre-prepared explosive devices along the route of military vehicles assaulting the city. Clashes between IDF and Saraya al Quds on multiple fronts, depending on the needs and conditions on the ground.”
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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