In the fourth month of the war between Israel and Hamas, tensions are escalating in the region between Israel and the forces of the international coalition on the one hand, and the “axis of resistance” led by Iran in support to the Palestinian movement Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah. In Iraq, soldiers of the international coalition were targeted by a strike claimed by pro-Iran militias. At the same time, Israel continues its military operations in Gaza and the West Bank this Sunday morning.
Information to remember
⇒ Several soldiers from the international anti-terrorist coalition injured in rocket attacks in Iraq
⇒ Hamas leader met with Turkish foreign minister
⇒ Israel continues its operations in the West Bank and Gaza
In Iraq, international coalition soldiers injured by missile fire
Pro-Iran fighters fired ballistic missiles on Saturday, January 20, at a base housing American troops in Iraq, announced the American military Command in the Middle East (Centcom), reporting an injured Iraqi soldier and possible wounded on the American side. “Around 6:30 p.m. (Baghdad time) on January 20, ballistic missiles and rockets were fired by Iranian-backed fighters at al-Assad air base in western Iraq “, Centcom announced on social networks.
The attacks were claimed in a press release by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a network of fighters from pro-Iran armed groups, who have already carried out dozens of strikes against the anti-jihadist coalition since mid-October. Saturday’s shootings come in an explosive regional context, fueled by the repercussions of the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel, an ally of the United States, and the Palestinian movement Hamas, supported by Iran. On Saturday, five members of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, were killed in a strike in Damascus blamed on Israel by Tehran, which threatened reprisals.
Hamas leader meets with Turkish foreign minister
The leader of Palestinian Hamas Ismaïl Haniyeh, based in Qatar, met on Saturday January 20 in Turkey with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, diplomatic sources announced this Sunday, without specifying the exact location of the meeting. During the latter, “issues such as establishing a ceasefire in Gaza as quickly as possible, increasing humanitarian aid, releasing hostages and a two-state solution for a permanent peace were discussed,” the sources detail.
The last official contact, by telephone, between the two officials dates back to October 16. From the start of the conflict, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered to mediate between Hamas, a “liberation movement” according to him, and Israel, which he has several times described as a “terrorist state”. But the discussions have so far been mainly led by Qatar and Egypt.
Bodies “still under the rubble” after bombings in Khan Younes
This Sunday, January 21, Hamas reported dozens of airstrikes and artillery fire in the Gaza Strip, claiming that Israeli forces had targeted the surroundings of the Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals in the town of Khan Younes (south). , now the epicenter of military operations.
Dozens of bodies “are still under the rubble,” said the Palestinian Islamist movement. According to witnesses to an AFP correspondent, the Israeli army also resumed attacks around the Jabaliya refugee camp this Sunday morning.
Israel carries out operations in the West Bank, whose sovereignty Netanyahu contests
Furthermore, the Israeli army is carrying out several operations in the West Bank, in Hebron, Qalqilya and Jenin, indicated the Palestinian news agency WAFA. Patrols and arrests took place, assures the same source, which reported two houses demolished in Hebron. They belonged to Palestinian fighters.
During the week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his opposition to “Palestinian sovereignty” in the territory of the occupied West Bank, as well as in Gaza. In an interview given Thursday, January 18, the Prime Minister argued that Israel must control the security of “the entire territory west of the Jordan River”, including the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Comments already criticized by the United States and the European Union, in favor of a two-state political solution at the end of the war. This Sunday, January 21, the British Minister of Defense, Grant Shapps, considered the comments of the Israeli Prime Minister “disappointing”. The day before, the head of French diplomacy Stéphane Séjourné had also declared that the Palestinians “have the right to sovereignty and to a state”.