Israeli forces have dropped leaflets in the southern Gaza Strip, asking residents to provide information about prisoners taken by Hamas on October 7, as bombing of the besieged enclave continues.
The leaflets launched on Saturday showed photos of dozens of captives still in Gaza, as well as a message suggesting that anyone who provided information to Israel would benefit.
“Do you want to go home? Please report if you have identified any of them,” read the message, which also listed a phone number and a link to a website with images and names of the captives in Arabic.
“They are asking people for help because they cannot find their hostages because of the resistance,” said Abu Ali, a resident of northern Gaza. “End the war, Netanyahu, and get your people back,” he told the Reuters news agency.
The Israeli army published leaflets indicating that it conditioned the forced displacement of Palestinian citizens (a war crime) on the return of the hostages. So, although their kidnapping has nothing to do with them, Palestinian citizens are collectively punished (war crime).
– Naks Bilal (@NaksBilal) January 20, 2024
The prisoners were captured during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which more than 1,100 people were killed. Since then, Israel has relentlessly bombed Gaza, killing more than 24,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
More than 100 prisoners were freed during a short-lived truce in November between Israel and Hamas. Israel says 132 remain in Gaza and 27 have died in captivity.
“Captives matter”
In the Israeli capital on Saturday, dozens of relatives of the captives gathered outside the private residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding that he reach a deal with Hamas to secure their release.
Protesters plan to spend the night in tents outside Netanyahu’s home in the coastal city of Caesarea – about 60km north of Tel Aviv – to protest his lack of progress.
“The protesters said they wanted Netanyahu to come out and talk to them,” said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Laura Khan, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem.
“One person, whose brother is in captivity and whose mother was freed under the latest deal, said Netanyahu looked her in the eye and said the captives were important. She thinks he’s lying. She said there was blood on her hands,” she added.
People standing outside Netanyahu’s house held signs that read: “We want a deal now,” Khan noted.
On Friday, Israeli War Minister and former military leader Gadi Eisenkot said a deal would be needed to ensure that captives still held in the Gaza Strip are released alive, adding that a blitzkrieg would have little effect. chances of success.
However, Netanyahu said he would work toward “complete victory” against Hamas, but did not specify how he would achieve it.
Meanwhile, in Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, an anti-war protest took place on Saturday with Israeli Jews and Palestinian citizens of Israel coming together to call for an end to the fighting in Gaza.
“The message here is to end the war and that (Israelis) can only live in peace, side by side, with a political solution for the Palestinians,” said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from the protest , which Israeli officials only allowed to take place for two hours.
No end in sight
In Gaza, the attacks show no signs of stopping as the Health Ministry said Israeli attacks killed 165 people and injured 280 others in the past 24 hours.
“The intense shelling in the Gaza Strip has not stopped and it appears to have resumed in the north, where more residential buildings have been targeted,” Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hani Mahmoud said from Rafah.
“There appears to be an increase in the intensity and scale of bombardment, with remaining buildings near al-Shifa Hospital and the western part of Gaza City, as well as Jabalia and Beit Lahiya being hit . »
The area around Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis was also subjected to heavy shelling, Mahmoud noted. This facility is one of the few partially functional hospitals in Gaza.
In more than 100 days of war, Israel’s air, land and sea offensive has devastated much of Gaza, displacing most of the 2.3 million residents, many of whom have been forced to move several times. times and seek shelter in tents that do little to protect them from the elements and disease. , according to the United Nations.
