THE Hamas and Islamic Jihad reacted, Tuesday, June 11, in a joint statement to the ceasefire plan announced on May 31 by Joe Biden and supported Monday by the UN Security Council. Their response “prioritizes the interests of the Palestinian people and emphasizes the need for a total cessation of the ongoing aggression in Gaza,” the two Islamist groups said, adding that they were ready to “engage in a manner positive to reach an agreement that puts an end to this war.” The United States “examines” Hamas’ response on Wednesday, June 12.
Information to remember
⇒ Hamas and Islamic Jihad want a “total end to aggression” in Gaza
⇒ Washington “examines” Hamas’ response
⇒ UN: Israel denounces “systematic discrimination” against it
Hamas and Islamic Jihad want a “total end to aggression”
The response of Hamas and Islamic Jihad to a ceasefire plan announced on May 31 by Joe Biden, proposed according to him by Israel, calls for a “total cessation of aggression” in the Gaza Strip, announced Tuesday the two Palestinian movements.
“The response prioritizes the interests of the Palestinian people and emphasizes the need for a complete halt to the ongoing aggression in Gaza,” Hamas and Islamic Jihad said in a joint statement, adding that they were ready to “engage in a positive way to reach an agreement that puts an end to this war.” The United States, Qatar and Egypt have been engaged in discreet negotiations for months over the details of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Washington “examines” Hamas response
The United States “examines” on Wednesday Hamas’ response to a ceasefire plan in the Gaza Strip promoted this week in the Middle East by its head of diplomacy Antony Blinken against a backdrop of incessant Israeli strikes in the territory Palestinian. And this response, the content of which has not been announced, gave rise to different interpretations on Wednesday, with Israeli media and the American site Axios affirming that the Palestinian movement had rejected the plan.
This prompted a Hamas leader, Izzat al-Rishq, to issue a brief statement saying that the response was both “responsible, serious and positive” and that it “opened the way to an agreement.” “Israeli media allegations regarding Hamas’ response demonstrate attempts to shield Israel from the obligations of the agreement,” he wrote in Arabic, suggesting that these press reports allowed Israel to continue its strikes.
West Bank: Palestinian Health Ministry reports six deaths
The Palestinian Health Ministry and Red Crescent announced that six people were killed Tuesday in an Israeli army raid on a village near the town of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army said it carried out an “anti-terrorist operation” in the area during which four activists were killed. The men aged 21 to 32 were “shot dead by occupying forces in the locality of Kafr Dan, Jenin district,” the Ministry of Health in Ramallah said in a statement. The Palestinian Red Crescent, for its part, said it had transported six deceased people from Kafr Dan.
Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike in Lebanon
A senior Hezbollah military commander was killed Tuesday evening in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Shiite movement allied with Palestinian Hamas confirmed. “It is with great pride and honor that the Islamic Resistance announces the martyrdom of Commander Taleb Sami Abdallah, known as ‘Hajj Abou Taleb’, born in 1969 in the town of Adchit in southern Lebanon , who rode as a martyr on the road to Jerusalem,” wrote the movement.
According to a Lebanese military source, the airstrike took place in the town of Jouaiyya, about 15 km from the Israeli border, and caused the deaths of three people in addition to the commander. The commander “is the most important Hezbollah to be killed so far since the start of the war,” said this source, without specifying his precise role in the Lebanese Shiite movement.
In Gaza or Sudan, “extreme levels” of violence against children
Violence against children during conflicts has reached “extreme levels” in 2023, particularly in Gaza and Sudan, according to a UN report seen by AFP on Tuesday, which includes the Israeli and Sudanese armies on its “list shame.”
“In 2023, violence against children in armed conflict reached extreme levels, with a shocking 21% increase in grave violations,” says UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ annual report, despite incomplete data at Gaza.
Israel denounces “systematic discrimination”
On Wednesday June 12, Israel accused the UN commission of inquiry, which found the Israeli authorities “responsible” for crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, of “systematic discrimination” against it. The Commission of Inquiry “has proven once again that its actions are all in the service of a political agenda focused against Israel”, denounced the Israeli ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Meirav Shahar, in a communicated.