The word that could characterize the clashes between Israel and Hamas on 12 and 13 December could be revenge. The Israeli Prime Minister’s Spokesman said that. “Calling for a ceasefire serves Hamas and we will not allow it now.”
The Israeli Communications Minister and Likud member on Platform X said: “There will be no Palestinian state here. We will never allow another state to be created between the Jordan and the sea.”
In the meantime, Hamas has posted online live photos of the Israeli soldiers from the Golani battalion, killed in an ambush yesterday in Al-Shuja’iya east of Gaza. The soldiers were the same ones who occupied the Gaza City municipality. Via social media we learned that in the clash the Hamas men were carrying M16s and Israeli uniforms. Hamas wrote that it avenged its brothers killed in Gaza.
Every moment, every hour, every day someone avenges someone. Palestinian deaths stand at 18,608 and according to a recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Politics and Polling Research: around 90% of Palestinians believe that Mahmoud Abbas should step down.
Even number one Benjamin Netanyahu is not enjoying success among Israeli moderates but the revenge continues. As we have already written, this war is not a conflict for the State of Palestine but it is a fight for survival: either us or them.
The Saudi delegate yesterday said that the Israeli campaign of eliminations and displacements continues due to the absence of international accountability mechanisms. Hamas has released a poster in which it reiterates to the Israeli government that the only way to free the Israelis is through conditional negotiations.
The poster shows two free settlers who were exchanged and one settler killed during an Israeli raid to release him alive.
And now the actions of the Houthis are raising the costs of the war and worrying all the countries bordering the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. The media monitors Israel’s losses due to the rerouting of ships heading towards Israel away from Bab al-Mandab. According to Israeli media, the attacks carried out by the Yemeni group “Ansar Allah” against ships heading to Israel through the Red Sea could delay the arrival of those ships for weeks, causing them to travel another 13 thousand kilometers until they reach Israel.
The Houthis said in a statement that: “As long as Gaza dies of hunger and thirst, there will be a ban on passage for Israeli ships. The only solution to this problem is to bring aid to Gaza. Otherwise it is not acceptable at all.”
Sanaa once again warns all ships in the Red Sea to avoid sailing to Israeli ports to avoid the risk of being exposed to Yemeni missiles and drones monitoring all movements. “Rest assured that, should Yemen be exposed to Zionist-American aggression, Bab al-Mandab and the Red Sea will be completely closed and all foreign bases in the region will be attacked, including oil installations in the vicinity and beyond.”
Literally, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi declared that to confirm the demarcation of the borders, resolve the legal problems on the oil fields, reposition the military forces in their barracks and normalize the situation due to alienation, Yemen must function and it will only work after that “the Republic of Yemen will have agreed to mediate and facilitate between Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC countries developing equitable solutions. To rally the ranks and fill the gaps so that the Israeli government does not benefit from their exploitation, God willing, at this stage, and to get rid of continued American blackmail.”
According to the Red Crescent, the situation in the Jenin camp continues to worsen due to the continuous incursions by Israeli forces that have been ongoing since yesterday. Israeli army prevents ambulance crews from reaching medical cases in Jenin camp. There is a serious shortage of milk and bread for babies and Israeli forces occupy homes and prevent citizens from leaving.
According to the Assistant Governor of Jenin: Israel imposes a siege on the city’s hospitals and the camp. According to Mansour Al-Saadi, deputy governor of Jenin, Israeli army forces are still present within the city and the Jenin camp, and until now clashes between them and the Palestinian resistance continue. On the afternoon of December 13, violent clashes occurred in Jabal Abu Dhahir, in the city of Jenin.
Clashes continue in eastern Gaza. The Al-Shuja’iya neighborhood has become a hub for the Golani unit, which suffers heavy losses there. The dead officers and soldiers are the same officers and soldiers who boasted a few weeks ago about taking a photo of the Legislative Council in Gaza City, and the eight were killed in the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City.
Israel has begun to attack southern Lebanon on a regular basis. During the night between 12 and 13 December, the Israeli army destroyed a 3-storey building in Kfarkila, southern Lebanon. The media reported casualties, but no subsequent updates.
Overall, the Israel Defense Forces are making progress in the northern Gaza Strip. Fighting is taking place in the Kamal Adwan hospital area, as well as in the Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya areas. The advance of the IDF can also be seen in the southern part of the Khan Younis enclave. The tanks operated in the area of Al-Dara Street, where Yahya Sinwar’s house and the Indonesian mosque are located.
In the West Bank the situation remains unchanged: Israeli security forces carry out raids, which often lead to clashes with young Palestinians. During the latest operation, the IDF had to use attack drones to neutralize the armed Palestinians.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
