Israel-Palestine|Voices on the conflict

 

Benjamin Netanyahu Mary Altaffer / AP  

 

Israel-Palestine|Voices on the conflict 

Analysis: "The hostages can hinder Netanyahu's revenge plan"  

 

Israel has formally declared war on Hamas following Saturday's attacks by the terror-labeled group.  

 

Something that will lead to enormous humanitarian challenges in the Gaza Strip, notes Sky News' Mark Stone in an analysis. 

 

“Will Israel distinguish between Hamas and civilians? Can they do it? How can civilians avoid the violence?” asks Stone.  

 

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's promise to strike back hard and fast against Hamas could be limited by concerns about the many Israelis taken hostage by the terrorist group, write Maayan Lubell and Michael Georgy in Reuters. 

 

According to Lubell and Georgy, Israel has a far-reaching principle of leaving no one behind. 

  

"A nation scarred by several previous hostage crises now faces perhaps its worst yet."

 

A mosque in Gaza destroyed in an Israeli airstrike. Adel Hana / AP 

 

Israel-Palestine|The attacks  

Israel orders full blockade of Gaza Strip: 'No food, petrol or electricity'  

 

Israel has ordered a full blockade of the Gaza Strip, the country's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announces.  

 

"We are completely besieging Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no gas – everything is closed,” he said in a video statement according to AFP.  

 

The announcement comes after Saturday's attacks against the country by terrorist-classified Hamas.  

 

Israel and Egypt have imposed varying levels of blockade on Gaza since 2007 and there is already a major lack of access to water and electricity, as well as a lack of medicine and doctors, for the Gaza Strip's roughly two million residents, writes Al Jazeera.

Rockets are fired from Gaza at Israel. Fatima Shbair / AP  

Rockets are fired from Gaza at Israel. 

The pressure is increasing on Israel to launch a ground offensive: "Everything else is a mistake"  

On Sunday, Israel formally declared war on Hamas, and on Sunday evening, fighting was still going on in Israeli territory against the terror-classified group. Troops and tanks have been sent to the southern parts of the country to prepare for the next stage of the war. The NYT writes that this appears to be a ground invasion of Gaza.  

According to the Financial Times, pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Benjamin Nethayahu and his right-wing coalition to act even more aggressively, which would include a ground invasion. 

 "We must break the legs of the enemy," reads a comment in the Israeli right-wing newspaper Hayom. 

And Itamar Yaar, who was previously the deputy head of the National Security Council, does not see a situation where the answer can only come from the air.  

- I don't see how the Israeli government will be able to avoid any kind of ground operation. How big, where, what timing, I don't know, he tells the newspaper.  

Amir Avivi, former deputy commander of Israel's Gaza division, agrees.  

- Anything less than an invasion would be a serious mistake. We need to conquer Gaza, or at least most of it, and destroy Hamas, he told the newspaper.  

Israel has not sent ground troops into Gaza since 2014, during the country's longest and deadliest war against Hamas. 

Francesca Albanese at a press briefing in July 2023. Salvatore Di Nolfi / AP 

"Must stand by both Israelis and Palestinians"  

The UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, warns of a "dangerous narrative" in which the historical violence against Palestinians is ignored.  

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Albanese says she is shocked, horrified and appalled by the violence. She urges world leaders to put the development in a historical context and focus on diplomacy and peaceful conflict resolution methods. 

- It is possible, and necessary, to stand by the side of both the Israelis and the Palestinians without indulging in ethical relativism, selective rage, or worse, incitement to violence.

Josep Borrell. Claudio Furlan / AP  

 

EU foreign ministers are called to a meeting about Israel and Gaza 

 

On Tuesday, the EU's foreign ministers will hold a lightning call on the situation in Israel and Gaza, announced EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell in a post on X. 

 

"We will discuss the situation in Israel and the region," he writes.  

 

On Monday, Israel's defense minister ordered a "total siege" of the Gaza Strip in response to Saturday's attacks. 

  

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Alexander Wilf / AP 

 

Kremlin: Extremely concerned - a "great danger" for the region  

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov is extremely concerned about the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories. At a daily press conference, he said that the events pose a "great danger" for the region, writes Reuters.  

 

According to Peskov, the Russian embassy does not yet have any information on how many Russian citizens in Israel may have been injured or killed in the terror-listed group Hamas' attacks on Saturday morning.