According to Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, Israel should not think that everything is allowed to it now because of the past horrors of the Holocaust. On January 19, a Hamas delegation arrived in Moscow and met with the deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mikhail Bogdanov, the Safa agency reports, citing a statement from the Palestinian group.
This is the same deputy minister who recently visited Libya and other African countries. The delegation included a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, Musa Abu Marzuk, and one of the members of the movement’s leadership, Basem Naim. They discussed ways to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and “clarified the movement’s position” regarding the hostages taken in Israel. The statement also said that Hamas “highly appreciates Russia’s diplomatic efforts and the humanitarian assistance provided to the Palestinian people.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry also reported the meeting. “During the conversation, the main attention was paid to the ongoing conflict in the zone of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, against the background of which the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip has reached catastrophic proportions,” the department said in a statement. During the negotiations, the Russian side emphasized the need for a quick release of the hostages – “including three Russian citizens – A. Kozlov, A. Lobanov and A. Trufanov”.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, believes it is highly probable that a genocide is underway in the Gaza Strip. “I strongly support South Africa’s decision to ask for preventive measures [from the International Court of Justice] “because I think it is very likely that a genocide will be committed in Gaza,” he said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País, “the result of three months of bombing. The prohibited weapons were weapons that should not be used in densely populated areas such as Gaza.”
Mexico and Chile have joined calls for an investigation by the International Criminal Court into “possible war crimes” in the Gaza Strip since October 7.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warns that Israel must “take into account the possibility of a worsening of the [security] situation in the north” in the context of daily Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon.
“If this happens, we will ask a high price from Hezbollah and Lebanon, but there will be casualties,” Gallant said. He said Israel intends to return around 80,000 displaced Israelis to their homes in northern Israel, but “if this scenario is not achieved through diplomatic means, we will be faced with a situation where we will have to create security conditions that will allow them to return.” “I don’t want to talk about timing and I don’t want to talk about methods, but it will happen,” he said.
Regarding the Gaza Strip, Gallant observes: “Hamas is weakening. It has no supply, it has no talent pool, it has no organizational capacity to initiate action and it has no ability to actually control what happens. Hamas planned to launch hundreds of rockets every day in various areas of the country. Now it manages to launch dozens of missiles in a kind of one-off attack on a specific location. I don’t underestimate it, it’s a very important thing and we will fight [this threat] with raids, air strikes, it will take time.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated during a national press conference that he does not believe the creation of a Palestinian state is possible after the end of the operation in the Gaza Strip, and explained this position to the United States.
The Associated Press reports Netanyahu’s words: “Based on any future agreements (…) Israel needs security control over all territory west of the Jordan River. This is contrary to the idea of sovereignty. So what can we do? The Prime Minister must be able to Say no to our friends,” – the agency said.
From the Israeli media we learn that Tel Aviv is worried and is looking for alternative ways to intercept the drones sent by Hezbollah, since the war has been prolonged and the cost of launching a missile from the Iron Dome is very high.
The UN said in a statement that it had not given the United States the right to strike Yemen, as it did in Libya before, Lavrov said. He then called Washington’s apology for everything that was happening pathetic because it is illegal. On January 19, Belgium announces its joining the US-British naval coalition against the Yemeni armed forces in the Red Sea.
The Houthis also attacked on January 18, and in the late evening of January 18, at 11.02 pm Italian time, the Yemeni Saba press agency reports a statement from the official spokesperson of the Yemeni armed forces, General Yahya Saree: “The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a operation against the American ship Kim Ranger, in the Gulf of Aden, with naval missiles, and they hit it”. “The Yemeni armed forces confirm that a response to the American and British attacks will inevitably come and that any new attack will not go without response and punishment.” “The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm the continuation of maritime traffic in Arab and Red Bahrain to all destinations in the world except the ports of occupied Palestine.” “The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that the ban on Israeli shipping or travel to ports in occupied Palestine will continue until the aggression ceases and the siege of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.”
According to sources in the Gulf of Oman it was a direct hit by an anti-ship missile. The vessel, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, was traveling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Kuwait.
On January 18, Saudi Arabia says a Saudi soldier was killed during a Houthi attack on the Saudi-Yemen border.
The Leader of the Yemeni Revolution, Abdul-Malik Badr al-Din al-Houthi said that: “America’s classification and its raids have no importance and there is no concern about their consequences. He renewed his appeal to the people Yemeni to organize two million demonstrations in Al-Sabeen square in the capital Sana’a and in the squares of the governorates in procession “firm with Palestine… and America is the mother of terrorism”.
On January 19 in Yemen under Houthi control, six marches were held in Saana entitled “Standing with Palestine and America is the mother of terrorism”. Pro-Palestine marches are taking place in all governorates.
There are clashes between IDF patrols and groups of Palestinians in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The restoration of control of Hamas units is hampered by Israeli air strikes against suspected targets.
In the south-central part of the Wadi Gaza valley, clashes are taking place on the outskirts of the Al-Maghazi and Al-Brej refugee camps. The IDF is carrying out multiple air and artillery strikes on settlements in the rear. Hamas-affiliated militias respond with drone and rocket attacks.
In the vicinity of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, unlike the northern part of the enclave, fierce fighting continues. Clashes also broke out in nearby Abasan. In nearly every major city and refugee camp, the IDF is conducting police operations to detain Hamas-linked suspects. Local cells of Palestinian groups are trying to resist by organizing firefights and placing IEDs in the path of the Israelis. Clashes were also recorded south of the Zaytoun neighborhood.
In the Northern District of Israel, air defense warning systems are activated from time to time and Hezbollah attacks border infrastructure. Lebanese-populated areas all along the border are affected. In response, the Islamic resistance in Lebanon targeted Israeli soldiers between the “Samaqa” and “Ramtha” sites in Lebanon’s Shebaa farms with a Burkan missile.
Many families have left Kiryat Shmona and will not return due to the security situation, and have moved to live in Haifa and Tel Aviv. A drone launched from Lebanon arrived in Haifa Bay and was heading towards a security factory in Hakriot.
Campaign of raids and arrests launched by Israeli forces in the West Bank, in particular on 19 January there were arrests and clashes with injured people west of Ramallah.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
