what to remember from January 22, 2024

International pressure is mounting on Israel to prepare an outcome to the war that includes the creation of a Palestinian state. Visiting Tel Aviv, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu expressed the hope that medicines would be sent to Gaza.

Fierce fighting took place on Monday, January 22, in Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where 200 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground operation at the end of October, according to an Israeli military official. The Israeli army announced that it had taken control of Hamas command posts. While according to the Islamist movement, “120 people” were killed in the area “during the last 24 hours”. Franceinfo summarizes what you need to know about the day.

A two-state solution as a way out of war

International pressure is mounting on Israel to prepare an outcome to the war that includes the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel must accept a two-state solution to guarantee its security, the European Union stressed on Monday before meeting the heads of Israeli and Palestinian diplomacy in Brussels. “What are the other solutions? Make all the Palestinians leave? Kill them?” asked the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. Monday in Brussels, the head of Israeli diplomacy pleaded before the 27 for “dismantling” of Hamas and the release of the hostages.

A way of insisting while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “categorically” Sunday rejected Hamas’s demands as well as international calls for a humanitarian truce and a two-state solution.

Relatives of hostages disrupt Knesset

Relatives of the hostages, mobilized for their return, interrupted a meeting in the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, on Monday as protests against the government intensified in Israel. “If this was your family, what would you have done? I need my brother, you understand? Now!” shouted one protester. The security service had to evacuate demonstrators.

Sébastien Lecornu visiting Tel Aviv

In Tel Aviv, Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu spoke with his counterpart and expressed the hope that the medicines sent to Gaza, under an agreement recently negotiated with Qatar, will be distributed “to each of the hostages”. In the Gaza Strip, where at least 1.7 of the 2.4 million inhabitants have had to flee their homes, the humanitarian and health situation is catastrophic, according to the UN. The minister also returned to the risks of escalations in the region. “No one, neither in Tel Aviv, nor in Jerusalem, nor in Beirut, wants war”he said in an interview given to franceinfo.

Death toll rises on the Israeli-Lebanese border

Since the attack by Palestinian Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7, there have been daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, on the border between Israel and Lebanon. The pro-Iranian movement announced the death of two fighters “on the road to Jerusalem”, Monday, an expression designating its fighters killed by Israeli fire, which brings the number of deaths to 200, according to an AFP count. The count is based on press releases from Hezbollah and other allied groups, including Palestinian factions, as well as official and civilian sources.

An attack claimed by the Houthis off the coast of Yemen

The conflict is also exacerbating tensions between Israel and Hamas’s pro-Iran allies, notably Lebanese Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthi rebels. The Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on a US military ship off the coast of Yemen on Monday. In response, the US and UK armed forces confirmed on Monday evening that they had carried out new strikes targeting the Houthis in Yemen, saying they had targeted eight targets.