Deputy Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Jamil Mezher, put the brakes on the Paris Agreement and said: “We are wary of what was proposed at the Paris meeting and consider it a recipe for blackmail to liquidate the resistance of our people and their cause. A national consensus to refuse to address any idea that does not guarantee a complete cessation of aggression. American and Western moves are aimed at forcing surrender on our Palestinian people, resisting them, and extricating the enemy from its chronic situation in Gaza. The Paris meeting did not provide serious solutions to stop the aggression against our people, but rather found a political approach that serves the goals of the Israeli enemy.”
The White House had a different opinion and declared: “We see the opportunity for a long pause in the fighting in Gaza which would allow the release of the hostages.”
The fact is that, in the words of Benjamin Netanyahu: “Israel does not intend to withdraw its troops from the Gaza Strip and will not release thousands of Palestinians from prison; the military operation in the enclave will continue ‘until complete victory’.”
A former Israeli official estimates that fighting in Gaza could last up to 18 months, and Prime Minister Netanyahu plans to double the defense budget for “decades.” And if Gantz is preferred to Netanyahu in opinion polls in Israel, the prime minister is going straight with him: according to the new results, Gantz is expected to gain a larger bloc in the Knesset than Netanyahu’s Likud. This is one reason why Netanyahu has rejected any calls for early elections in Israel, which could lead to the collapse of his government and ruin his chances of forming a new one.
What is worrying now is not only the Gaza Strip but the opening of a front with Lebanon. According to Israeli media, in the event of war with Hezbollah in the country, 60% of users should be ready to turn off electricity in the first 24 hours.
Israeli army general Yitzhak Brik said that however “the army cannot fight on two fronts. Even fighting on the same front, we failed to destroy Hamas.” The scandal involving UNRWA, the United Nations agency, continues. According to the Israeli army, its troops found weapons and explosive devices in the cargo of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) during an operation in the Gaza Strip.
A statement read: “Soldiers found numerous weapons, including explosive devices, in UNRWA bags, Kalashnikov assault rifles, RPG charges, magazines, IEDs, hand grenades and more,” the army press service said in a statement. According to its information, this occurred simultaneously with a raid in the western part of the city of Khan Yunis, the target of which was a plant used by the radical Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad for the production of weapons”.
Amnesty International says the suspension of financial support to UNRWA is an unjust and devastating decision for refugees in Gaza and today urged countries that have decided to suspend funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to reverse this unjust decision.
UN agencies said: “Stopping funding to UNRWA is “disastrous” for Gaza. The heads of United Nations humanitarian agencies announced on Wednesday that cutting funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) would have “catastrophic consequences” for Gaza. A UN official said: “no organization can replace UNRWA.” The UN aid coordinator in Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, confirmed today that no organization can replace UNRWA, which Israel has accused of allowing Hamas to use its infrastructure, after accusing its employees of involvement in the operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
An open mass sit-in by Hamas was organized in Beirut in favor of UNRWA. Raafat Marra, head of the mass action of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas in Lebanon, confirmed that the decision of some donor countries to stop funding UNRWA is dangerous and directed primarily against the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.
The WHO has also entered the field: “The controversy over UNRWA diverts attention from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The World Health Organization has confirmed that the controversy over the work of UNRWA, after Israel claimed the involvement of some of its employees in the Hamas attack, “diverts attention” from the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip”.
News comes from Great Britain that, together with its allies, London could consider the possibility of recognizing a Palestinian state, said the kingdom’s Foreign Minister David Cameron. “We have a responsibility because we have to begin to define what a Palestinian state will look like, what it will include, how it will work… As this happens, we, together with our allies, will consider the question of recognition of a Palestinian state, including at the United Nations,” he said Cameron to the Financial Times. The head of the British Foreign Office expressed this position in a meeting with the ambassadors of the Arab countries.
New arrivals in the Red Sea to ensure navigation safety. According to the Telegraph newspaper, the United Kingdom is preparing to transfer the aircraft carrier R08 Queen Elizabeth or R09 Prince of Wales to the Red Sea to replace the American aircraft carrier CVN 69 Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is expected to return to the United States. The EU naval mission in the Red Sea could be launched by February 17, Borrell said.
The Houthis continue the naval blockade in the Red Sea and threaten the safety of American and British ships at sea. As of January 29, 21 ships have already been attacked by the Houthis.
Houthi spokesperson in Yemen says on January 31: “We fired a missile at the USS Gravely (DDG-107) warship, we will continue to fire missiles at US and UK warships ‘as an act of self-defence’.”
Houthi sources also speak of the launch of a missile attack against the destroyer USS Gravely. The American side claims that the missile was intercepted.
The official spokesperson of the Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree in an official statement states: “The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces, with the help of Almighty God, launched several suitable naval missiles against the American destroyer “USS Greeley” in Red Sea”. “The aggression against our country is part of the objectives of our forces and will be targeted in accordance with the legitimate right to defend our country, our people and our nation, and in confirmation of the continued Yemeni position in support of Palestine. The Yemeni armed forces confirm that they will continue to prevent Israeli shipping or direct shipping to ports in occupied Palestine until the aggression against Gaza ceases and the siege is lifted.” […] “all American and British warships in Red and Arab Bahrain participating in the aggression against our country are within range of our forces.”
The North Yemeni Shura Council blesses the armed forces’ operation against the American destroyer US Gravely. Council President Muhammad Hussein Al-Aidaroos said: “The Shura Council blessed the heroic operation of the armed forces which today targeted the American destroyer US Gravely, and the previous operations in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and Bab al-Aidaroos. Mandab, as a victory for the oppression of the Palestinian people.”
And now a look at the comparison of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The IDF announced that Hamas tunnels in Gaza were flooded with huge amounts of water. The communication is dated January 30th, the aim of which is to destroy the vast network of underground tunnels used by Hamas members. The operations also continued on January 31st.
In northern Gaza, the Mujahideen Brigades report clashes with Israeli forces near the passport area in the western part of Gaza City. And still used mortar hits against tanks and Israeli infantry. They also claim to have suffered major losses in the north. Israel bombed Beit Lahia killing thirty people. Violent clashes reported between the resistance in the vicinity of the Abu Al-Kass area, south of the Al-Rimal neighborhood in central Gaza City.
In central Gaza, Israeli air strikes are recorded at the Nuseirat camp.
The situation in southern Gaza remains very difficult, with clashes between Hamas allies and Israeli forces in the area of Al-Arayshiyah and Jouret Al-Aqada, west of the city of Khan Yunis. Clashes in the New Abasan area, east of Khan Yunis. Clashes with bombing near the Citadel Towers and the Khaled bin Al-Walid Mosque, west of Khan Yunis.
The Islamic resistance in Lebanon claimed to have struck a building where Israeli soldiers are stationed the colony of Metulla. The IDF sounded sirens in Ya’ara, northern Israel. After that, the IDF identified a series of launches from Lebanon towards the Yiftah, Ya’ara and Hanita area in northern Israel. No injuries were reported and the IDF targeted the sources of the fire, which hit a Hezbollah compound consisting of a series of military bases in the Rachaf area of southern Lebanon. IDF artillery fired towards the area of Aalma El Chaeb and Aitaroun.
The Islamic resistance in Lebanon targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Hadab Aita with missile weapons in response Israel bombed the area of Lebanon in Aita al-Shaab and Muhaybib.
Arrests continue in the West Bank by the Israeli army northwest of Ramallah.
Finally the IDF attacks near Salah al-Din Gate, south of Rafah.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
