Full steam ahead, no one is stopping Israel inside the Gaza Strip

The words were these: "finish the job." Whether or not this was always his government's intention, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear once again that he intends to achieve total control of the Gaza Strip and end the Hamas threat once and for all. Speaking to reporters, he said that, "given Hamas's refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and defeat Hamas." He added: "The war can end tomorrow if Hamas lays down its arms and releases all remaining hostages." Yesterday, with this same purpose, the head of the Israeli army approved the new military operations plan for Gaza—the same man who had clashed with Defense Minister Israel Katz over his doubts about the "job."

New ceasefire?

Meanwhile, in a new attempt to find peace in the Middle East and to counter Benjamin Netanyahu's plans, Egypt announced this week that it is working, alongside the United States and Qatar as mediators, on a new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. According to Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, active work is being carried out "in full cooperation with the Qataris and the Americans" to restore the focus to the initial proposal: a 60-day ceasefire, the release of some Hamas hostages in exchange for those held in Israeli prisons, as well as "the unconditional and unrestricted delivery of humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza." The AFP news agency, citing Palestinian sources, reported that a Hamas delegation is expected to travel to Cairo to meet with Egyptian mediators. "The efforts of Egypt and [the other] mediators" to implement the proposal will be discussed. "So far, we cannot say that there is anything new to be optimistic about, especially since the [Israeli] occupation is preventing any agreement," the sources told AFP.

On Tel Aviv's side, this proposal was flatly rejected by Netanyahu. "I think we're past that. We tried, we made all kinds of attempts [...], but in the end, they were just deceiving us," the Israeli prime minister commented, regarding other rounds and other proposals. The idea seems to be the total occupation of the enclave.

As troops advance and a ceasefire still seems to be on the horizon, camouflaged and timid, obscured by the smoke of daily bombs, the last few days have also been marked by the news of the murder of five journalists from the Al-Jazeera television station by Israeli troops. One of them, Anas Al Sharif, was killed following an attack on a tent near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City. He joins four others: Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammed Noufal, and two other civilians who also died in the attack. "Anas Al Sharif was the head of a terrorist cell within the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for launching rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers," the Israeli military said in a statement, citing intelligence information and other documents found in Gaza that they claim are evidence. The journalists' deaths were criticized by the European Union. European Foreign Minister Kaja Kallas, head of European diplomacy, stated after a video conference of European bloc foreign ministers that the EU "condemns the murder of five Al Jazeera journalists in an airstrike outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, including Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif." UN Secretary-General António Guterres, in addition to condemning the attack that led to the journalists' deaths, called for an "independent and impartial investigation" into the case. It should be noted that at least 242 journalists have died in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war.

Humanitarian aid

On Tuesday, as images and videos of the extreme hunger that continues to affect Palestinians continued to circulate, more than 20 countries, including Portugal, called on Israel to allow international aid into Gaza. "Famine is unfolding before our eyes. Urgent action is needed to halt and reverse the famine," the 26 partners argued in a joint statement.