Israel has planned to expand operations in Gaza with new vigor. A security cabinet meeting has been called for today, Sunday at 7 PM local time (10 PM Bangladesh time) to approve this. Thousands of reserve troops have been called up as part of expanding operations in Gaza. In this situation, the Houthis of Yemen claimed a missile attack on the interior area of Israel’s main international airport yesterday, Saturday morning.
Regarding the call-up of reserve troops (who are not serving in the regular forces), several Israeli media outlets have published news today. They claim that the military has begun calling up reserve troops. They will replace conscripts (those who join the military mandatorily) and regular troops serving in various locations in Israel and the occupied West Bank. And these conscripts and regular troops will be deployed to Gaza.
A military spokesperson neither confirmed nor denied the aforementioned reports. However, some relatives of Israeli journalists from the news agency AFP said they have also been called up.
These events are occurring at a time when Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked mediator Qatar yesterday. He called on Qatar to “stop playing both sides” in the ceasefire talks. Qatar has rejected this.
After 14 months of Israel’s all-out attack, they went into a ceasefire with Hamas last January. But two months later, on March 18, Israel violated it and launched new attacks on Gaza. Since then, mediator countries – the United States, Qatar, and Egypt – have been trying for a new ceasefire agreement.
Netanyahu against Qatar Attacking Qatar regarding the new ceasefire efforts, Netanyahu wrote on social media platform X that Qatar “is trying to please both sides with double-speak.” Qatar must decide “whether they are on the side of civilization or standing with Hamas’s barbarism.” He also stated that “Israel will win this just war in a just way.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari rejected Netanyahu’s comments in an X post. He wrote, “Qatar strongly rejects provocative statements… Such statements completely fail to meet the minimum standards of political and moral responsibility.”
Before launching full-scale new attacks on Gaza, Israel imposed a complete blockade on the war-torn strip from March 2. As a result, aid to the country has been further reduced. Various international humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, have issued warnings that famine of various levels is ongoing in the country.
Gaza’s Health Department has reported that 11 more Palestinians, including 3 children, were killed in Israeli attacks in various parts of Gaza last night. At least 2,396 people have been killed since Israel resumed attacks in mid-March. A total of 52,495 people have lost their lives since the beginning of the war. However, various monitoring organizations believe the actual number of deaths is much higher.
Meanwhile, Hamas has released a video of a hostage today. In the video released by Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, an injured person is seen. His name is Maxim Harikin. He turned 37 this month. He is a Russian-Israeli dual citizen. In the four-minute video, Harikin is seen with bandages on his head and left hand. He speaks in Hebrew.
There are currently 58 hostages in the hands of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, 34 of whom have been reported dead by the Israeli military.
Houthi attack A missile struck the Ben Gurion Airport area in Israel today. Six people were injured. The explosion created a large crater in the ground. Aircraft movement was temporarily suspended after the attack. Yemen’s Houthis have claimed they carried out this attack with a “hypersonic missile.” Israel has announced it will respond severely.
The Israeli military said “multiple attempts were made” to intercept the missile fired from Yemen. It could not be confirmed whether the injuries occurred from the missile strike or during attempts to intercept the missile.
Hamas praised the Houthis for successfully carrying out an attack that evaded Israel’s advanced technology. The Houthis have been attacking various ships in the Red Sea and Israel since a few months after the Gaza war began. The Iran-backed group has claimed these attacks are being carried out in solidarity with the Palestinians. The United States and the United Kingdom have been conducting retaliatory air and drone strikes targeting the Houthis in various locations, including Yemen’s capital Sanaa.
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