From the frontlines of the Israel-Palestine war, NDTV brings you daily despatches by journalist Allan Sorensen, Middle East Correspondent for Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad, giving insights and gripping first-hand accounts from the war-torn region.
Four days after the deadly Hamas attack on villages in the southern parts of Israel, the death count is spiralling, in both Israel and Gaza.
At least 1,200 Israelis, soldiers as well as civilians, have been killed. According to Gaza’s health authorities, more than 900 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids.
Israeli fighter jets continue to hit targets in Gaza, and Hamas is responding with rocket attacks on Israel. Israeli media reports suggest that Israel’s jets hit the house of the parents of Muhammed Deif, a long-time military leader of Hamas, considered the mastermind behind Hamas attack last Saturday. The parents are believed to have been killed in the attack.
In a dramatic development on Tuesday, the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was hit twice by Israeli fighter jets. The crossing is closed for now, and in Gaza, around 200,000 people have left their homes to seek out safer places in open areas or UN schools.
The recent sporadic attacks in Israeli villages and cities have ceased. The Israeli army spokesperson says that Hamas fighters are no longer able to cross the border from Gaza to Israel. According to the spokesperson, at least 1,500 Hamas fighters have been killed inside Israel since Saturday morning.
On the northern border between Israel and Lebanon the military build-up continues. In addition to the 300,000 reservists called up for duty earlier this week, Israel has called up an additional 60,000, making it a total of 360,000 – the largest call-up of reservists in Israeli history.
Israel’s northern border is witnessing a gradual daily escalation between the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and the Israeli army. On Tuesday, an anti-tank missile was fired against an Israeli military position and after the Hezbollah had buried five of its fighters, who died in a firefight the previous day, 12 rockets were launched against the northern parts of Israel. There were no casualties, but due to the gradual escalation the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon has ordered its people to stay in shelters.
In an emotional speech on Tuesday night, US president Joe Biden expressed unprecedented moral and military support to Israel. He described the Hamas attack as “an act of sheer evil” and stated, “We’ll ensure Israel has what it needs to respond”.
Biden repeated that Israel will receive what it needs from the US, and suggested that the current situation was a threat to the entire world.
“Parents butchered using their bodies to try to protect their children. Stomach-turning reports of babies being killed. Entire families slain. Young people were massacred while attending a musical festival to celebrate peace. Women raped, assaulted, paraded as trophies…” the US president said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the US President about the Hamas atrocities on a telephone call Biden’s speech.
According to Israeli media outlet Ynet, Netanyahu told Biden that the Hamas fighters beheaded soldiers, raped women and executed children.
The US President’s speech is seen as the biggest moral and military support to Israel since the establishment of the nation in 1948. Biden confirmed that the US is sending a hangar ship to the Mediterranean Sea to assure Israel has what it needs in the coming weeks.
At the same time, negotiations are on between political parties on the possible creation of an emergency government. Netanyahu has declared his readiness to establish a broad consensus government and has invited opposition parties to join. However, the creation of such a government has been stalled so far due to demands from radical right-wing politician Itamar Ben Gvir, the Minister of National Security. Itamar Ben Gvir opposes the opposition getting three seats in the Israeli security cabinet – a cabinet that makes crucial decisions during wartime.
Discussions over the emergency government has been one of the big headlines for Israeli media besides the ongoing fighting. The political establishment is being criticized broadly for not taking the necessary steps to create a broad government while Israel is on the path to a possible regional war. The political squabbling stands in sharp contrast to the civil society and the reservists who are helping each other and standing shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to face Israel’s enemies.
Turkey has offered to mediate between Israel and Hamas to reach an end to the hostilities. Turkey also says it will help the two sides reach a possible agreement regarding hostage swaps. Some 200 are still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an end to the “vicious circle of bloodshed, hatred and polarization”. But so far, there are no reports of any serious attempt to mediate a cease fire between Israel and Hamas. It is still believed that Israel is preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza. Those preps could take days, if not more.
While support for Israel is massive at the moment in the Western world, many demonstrations in support of Gaza and Palestine are taking place in Western capitals. In Copenhagen, Denmark, flowers were laid next to the Israeli embassy in a show of sympathy to Israel, but after a few hours the flowers were taken and thrown away by Arab youngsters. In response, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen went to the Israeli embassy to lay her own flowers while calling the act of the youngsters “lousy behaviour”.
(Allan Sorensen is the Middle East correspondent for the Danish daily newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad.)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.
