1/16/2024–|Last updated: 1/16/202411:51 PM (Mecca time)
The 102nd day of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip witnessed a series of developments, most notably the success of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in confronting the incursions of the Israeli occupation into the northern Gaza Strip, in addition to American and Israeli statements expressing astonishment at the network of tunnels established by the resistance.
Gaza
On the field level, the Palestinian resistance announced that it was Israeli attempts to re-incursion into the northern Gaza Strip, coinciding with fierce battles in the center of the city of Khan Yunis in the southern region, while Israeli raids on Khan Yunis since Tuesday morning led to the martyrdom of 19 Palestinians.
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced that they “targeted with mortar shells the Israeli enemy’s concentrations east of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza City.” The resistance also launched a large missile batch from the Gaza Strip towards about 19 towns in the Gaza Strip and the western Negev, and a building in the city of Netivot was directly hit.
This comes at a time when Israel withdrew part of its forces in preparation for reducing its military operations in the Gaza Strip, after more than 100 days during which it suffered heavy losses in life and equipment, a step that was criticized by Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, who considered that withdrawing the army from the region “is a mistake.” “It is gross and dangerous.”
The White House said that Israel has moved to a less intense phase in its military operations in the southern and northern Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, a report published by the American newspaper The New York Times quoted Israeli officials and soldiers who were in the tunnels, as well as current and former American officials with experience in the region, saying that the scope, depth and quality of the tunnels that Hamas built in Gaza had astonished them, and even some of the machines that were used to build them surprised them. The Israeli army, which now believes there are more tunnels under the Gaza Strip.
Politically, Hamas accused the European Union of bias in favor of the Israeli occupation after imposing sanctions on the movement’s leader, Yahya Sinwar. Leader Taher Al-Nono said, “These sanctions are ridiculous and ridiculous. Everyone knows that brother Yahya Al-Sinwar does not have financial accounts, neither in Palestine nor outside it.”
He added, “Such a decision will have no value against Hamas, but imposing sanctions on Palestinian resistance leaders who resist the occupation as a right guaranteed by international law is bias toward the occupation.”
Al-Dahdouh
Tel Aviv Tribune Media Network announced the arrival of colleague Wael Al Dahdouh, Tel Aviv Tribune’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip, to the Qatari capital, Doha, on Tuesday evening to receive treatment.
Wael Al-Dahdouh lost his wife, son, daughter, and granddaughter, in an Israeli raid that targeted a house to which they were displaced in the middle of the Gaza Strip last October. He was also injured in another bombing last month, and then this month was tragic when his eldest son, Hamza, was martyred.
Qatari mediation
The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Qatari mediation succeeded in reaching an agreement between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel, to bring medicines and humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry added that the agreement includes the introduction of medicines and aid to civilians in Gaza, in exchange for the delivery of medicines needed by Israeli detainees.
The bank
The 102nd day of the aggression witnessed the Israeli occupation forces continuing their raids on cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, and confrontations broke out with Palestinian youth in a number of them, while the occupation arrested dozens.
The Tel Aviv Tribune correspondent said that the Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Anata (east of occupied Jerusalem) and the villages of Nahalin and Husan (west of Bethlehem), where confrontations broke out with Palestinian youths. Similar confrontations also took place south of Nablus and in the Ain al-Sultat camp, north of the city of Jericho.
The occupation forces set up a number of barriers at the entrances to the towns of Qalqilya Governorate and the main entrance to the city, and arrested a young man in front of the entrance to the town of Nabi Elias, east of the city.
Lebanon
The Israeli army said that the air force and artillery launched joint attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, while the party announced that it was targeting occupation sites, and the head of the Lebanese caretaker government, Najib Mikati, said that his country’s choice is diplomatic, seeking permanent stability of the borders with Israel.
On the other hand, Hezbollah said that it targeted Israeli occupation points and sites, including a gathering of Israeli occupation soldiers east of the Efen Menachem settlement, and another gathering in the vicinity of the Ramya site, in addition to targeting with missiles the Al-Samaqa site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms and the Bayad Blida site, and that it “achieved a direct hit.” “.
Politically, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said that his country’s choice is diplomatic, seeking permanent stability on the borders with Israel, and that they are seeking diplomatic solutions, and “are committed to international resolutions regarding Lebanon and we respect all of them.”
Mikati added – in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune – that the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip is the cornerstone of the beginning of all dialogues in the region, and that “Hezbollah enjoys rationality and wisdom,” and said that it “places the Lebanese interest above any other interest.”
The Red Sea
Tension continued in the southern Red Sea, as American forces announced the bombing of Houthi sites in Yemen on Tuesday morning, while European diplomats said that the European Union agreed in principle to form a military mission to deter the Houthis in the Red Sea.
An American official told Tel Aviv Tribune that the American strike targeted 4 anti-ship ballistic missiles belonging to the Houthis that were prepared for launch, and that it came after the Houthis targeted – yesterday, Monday – the American container tanker “Gibraltar Eagle.”
In turn, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that his country is working to confront the “Houthi aggression” in the Red Sea, and that it is nevertheless seeking to reduce the escalation and stop the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East, despite its strikes on the Houthis in Yemen.