Palestinian authorities
Israel outlines plans for the Gaza Strip
January 4, 2024, 8:56 p.m
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There is still no end to the war in the Gaza Strip in sight. Israel’s Defense Minister Gallant has now outlined the next steps. Accordingly, the focus of operations is in the south. After the war ends, civilian management of the region will be transferred, but the military will be able to intervene at any time.
Israel has unveiled its plans for the next phase of the war against the radical Islamic group Hamas. Defense Minister Joaw Gallant said that more targeted action will now be taken in the north of the Gaza Strip. In the south, however, the Hamas leadership continues to be persecuted. After the war, Israel will reserve operational freedom of action in the Gaza Strip, his statement continued. There will be no civilian Israeli presence. The Gaza Strip is no longer controlled by Hamas. Instead, the Palestinian authorities should take charge as long as there is no threat to Israel. There was initially no statement from Hamas or the Palestinian government in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the military says it has ended a raid in Nur Shams in Tulkarm in the northwest of the West Bank after more than 40 hours. Eleven people were arrested in the anti-terror operation, the army said. What exactly they are accused of was not disclosed. Hundreds of suspects were therefore questioned. Israeli forces also confiscated weapons and destroyed explosive devices.
According to the information, the Israeli forces also found a booby-trapped building on the ground floor of which there is said to be a kindergarten run by the Palestinian relief organization UNRWA. The information could not initially be independently verified. According to the army, two soldiers were injured by splinters from an explosive device.
Great destruction in the camp
According to Palestinian reports, several people were injured by Israeli forces during interviews. When asked, the army said it was investigating the allegations. According to media and eyewitnesses, the army left great destruction in the camp.
According to the Health Ministry in Ramallah, a 29-year-old man was killed in confrontations during another army operation in the town of Tamun in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. According to military reports, an Israeli soldier was seriously injured by an explosive device during another raid in the north of the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s army regularly carries out raids in the West Bank, and has become more frequent since the start of the Gaza war after the Hamas massacre on October 7th. The military announced the day before that it had arrested 2,570 suspects since then. 1,300 of them have connections to Hamas. Since then, 311 Palestinians have also been killed in the West Bank, according to the Health Ministry. Last year, according to the ministry, a total of 502 Palestinians died in Israeli military operations in the West Bank, confrontations or their own attacks.
The war began on October 7 with a surprise attack by Hamas on Israel, which responded with an invasion of Gaza and air strikes. The Israeli government says it expects the conflict to last longer.