Witnessed various axes of fighting in Gaza strip Fierce clashes between the Palestinian resistance and the occupation forces, starting from Jabalia and Gaza City in the north to Khan Yunis in the south, passing through the Bureij camp in the centre, and the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the death of 178 Palestinians during the past 24 hours, in one of the bloodiest days so far since the start of “Al-Aqsa flood“On October 7th last year.
Israeli military commanders spoke of the goal of destroying the Islamic Resistance Movement (agitation) was not achieved, while American intelligence estimates confirmed that the movement is still capable of striking Israel for several months.
Today, Sunday, Hamas issued an official document in which it talked about the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood and its account of the events of the surprise attack launched by the Al-Qassam Brigades and the resistance factions on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip.
In the Arab axes supporting Gaza, the escalation continued between Hezbollah and Israel on the southern Lebanon front, and the United States confirmed that it was dealing “very seriously” with the attack on its forces in Iraq.
Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan expressed his concern that the tension in the Red Sea region due to Houthi attacks and American counter-strikes would lead to the situation getting out of control in the Middle East.
Fierce clashes in Gaza
In the latest developments in ground battles, the Palestinian resistance clashed with the occupation forces in several areas, starting from Jabalia in the north to Khan Yunis in the south. The occupation intensified its artillery shelling in conjunction with these battles.
For its part, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of the Hamas movement – announced that it targeted military vehicles of the Israeli army. Also in the center of the Gaza Strip, the Al-Qassam Brigades reported mowing down crowds of the Israeli army northeast of the Bureij camp with heavy-caliber mortar shells. And published Al-Quds Brigades -The military wing of the movement Islamic jihad– Pictures of the bombing of Israeli vehicles east of Gaza City.
As for the south, Israeli fighters carried out raids targeting the center of the city of Khan Yunis and the Al-Qarara area northeast of Khan Yunis.
On Sunday, the Al-Quds Brigades and the Al-Qassam Brigades also broadcast video clips of their members taking control of two Israeli marches. The Al-Qassam Brigades explained that its fighters succeeded in controlling a “Skylark”-style march while it was carrying out an intelligence mission east of the Jabalia al-Balad area in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, while the model of the march that the Al-Quds Brigades controlled was “ EVO MAX 4T.
Gallant’s statements
In a related development, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the activity of Israeli forces in Khan Yunis is large, and that it will escalate soon. Galant added, after an aerial tour in the skies of the Gaza Strip, that smoke will continue to surround the Gaza Strip until Israel achieves what he described as its war goals of undermining the Hamas movement. and recover the hostages.
A new tally of martyrs
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Sunday that 178 Palestinians were martyred during the past 24 hours.
The ministry added in a statement that the number of Palestinian martyrs as a result of the Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip since October 7 exceeded 25,000, in light of intense Israeli strikes and intense street battles throughout the Gaza Strip.
It indicated that 25,105 Palestinians were martyred and 62,681 others were injured in Israeli raids since October 7.
The toll of the occupation’s losses
On the other hand, the occupation army announced in a statement – Sunday – the killing of two soldiers and the wounding of 6 officers and soldiers during the battles in the Gaza Strip, thus bringing the number of declared deaths of the occupation army to 532 officers and soldiers since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on the 7th of last October. The army statement also reported that 2,659 officers and soldiers had been injured since October 7, including 1,203 since the beginning of the ground attack.
The Israeli army said that 407 officers and soldiers are still receiving treatment after being injured in the Gaza battles, and the condition of 48 of them is serious. He added that 405 officers and soldiers were seriously injured, while 692 were moderately injured and 1,562 were described as minor since October 7.
Al-Qassam sends a message to the families of Israeli detainees
The Al-Qassam Brigades published a photo bearing a message addressed to the families of Israeli detainees in Gaza. She said: “The choice is yours, whether in coffins or alive. Your government is lying. Time is running out.”
The Al-Qassam Brigades previously announced the killing of many of its Israeli detainees in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.
On January 13, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced via a video clip that it had lost contact with a cell responsible for four Israeli detainees it had held in Gaza since 2014.
A Hamas document recounting the events of October 7
On Sunday, Hamas published a long official document in which it spoke about the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood and its account of the events of the surprise attack launched by the Al-Qassam Brigades and the resistance factions on October 7th of last year on the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip.
Hamas said in the document, which was titled “This is our story… Why the flood of Al-Aqsa,” that “the Palestinian people’s battle with the occupation and colonialism did not begin on this date, but rather began before that, in 105 years of occupation: 30 years under British colonialism and 75 years of Zionist occupation.” “.
Hamas stressed in the document that the Al-Aqsa flood was a necessary step and a natural response, to confront the Israeli plans being hatched aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause, controlling and Judaizing the land, resolving sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy sites, and ending the unjust siege of the Gaza Strip.
She stressed that it is a natural step with the aim of getting rid of the occupation, restoring national rights, achieving independence and freedom like other peoples of the world, the right to self-determination, and establishing the independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The goal of destroying Hamas was not achieved
The Wall Street Journal confirmed – today, Sunday – that officials in the administration of US President Joe Biden have begun to reduce their expectations for the Israeli war, from completely destroying Hamas to weakening its security threat, noting that US intelligence estimates confirmed that Hamas still possesses ammunition sufficient to strike Israel several times. Other months.
American intelligence estimates indicated that Israeli forces killed between 20 and 30 percent of Hamas fighters.
The newspaper quoted Israeli officials as admitting that the goal of destroying Hamas during the war on Gaza “was not achieved” despite the air and ground campaign and the massive destruction.
The newspaper quoted American officials as confirming that the Hamas movement is restructuring its police force in parts of Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, in addition to providing emergency services, stressing that the movement’s survival raises questions about the possibility of Israel achieving its goals in the war.
Prisoners file
Regarding the latest developments regarding the prisoner file, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected what was published by the Wall Street Journal about the existence of a proposal for a prisoner exchange deal, which includes Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu said that he categorically rejects the proposal because it amounts to demanding that Israel surrender, considering continued military pressure the only way to recover the Israeli hostages.
Strategic Communications Coordinator at the US National Security Council, John Kirby, confirmed that talks to reach a new agreement to release Israeli prisoners detained in Gaza are still ongoing, but the features of a deal are not yet on the horizon.
Kirby added in an interview with NBC that US Middle East Coordinator Brett McGurk visited the Qatari capital, Doha, last week for this goal.
The American website Axios quoted officials in the administration of President Joe Biden as saying that concluding an agreement to release prisoners and detainees between Hamas and Israel may be the only way to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Arrests and violent clashes in the West Bank
In the latest developments in the occupied West Bank, violent clashes took place – at dawn on Sunday – between the Palestinian resistance and the occupation forces, in the town of Maithalun, south of Jenin, after the Israeli army stormed the town and launched an arrest campaign that included other towns in the West Bank. The occupation also blew up the homes of the two martyrs who carried out the tunnel operation in November. Last November.
Palestinian media said that the resistance fighters opened fire and fired homemade bombs at the occupation forces that stormed the town of Maithlon. They also detonated explosive devices in Israeli military vehicles, while the occupation soldiers fired gas and sound bombs, without causing any casualties.
The Israeli occupation forces demolished the homes of the martyrs Abdul Qadir and Nasrallah al-Qawasmi in Hebron, after they raided the Traffic Circle neighborhood, closed all roads leading to it, and proceeded to demolish and blow up the two homes in an operation that lasted for several hours before they withdrew from it. It also arrested 15 Palestinians in several areas of the West Bank, including freed prisoners.
Continuing escalation between Hezbollah and Israel
On the Lebanese front, a security source reported to Al Jazeera that two people were killed and five others were injured in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a car in the town of Kafra in southern Lebanon, close to a Lebanese army checkpoint.
Israeli fighters also launched four raids targeting the town of Markaba and its surroundings in the central sector of southern Lebanon. Israeli artillery bombed the surroundings of the towns of Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras, Yaroun, Khiam, Aita al-Shaab, and Shehin.
For its part, Hezbollah announced that its fighters targeted the Israeli Pranit barracks in the Western Galilee with missile weapons, confirming that the barracks had been hit directly.
Meanwhile, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted senior officers in the Israeli occupation army as suggesting that a ceasefire be declared on the border with Lebanon for two days, with southern Lebanon being attacked forcefully if it is violated.
An Iraqi group targets two American bases in eastern Syria
On the Iraqi front, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced – today, Sunday – the targeting of two American bases in eastern Syria.
The Islamic Resistance – which includes a coalition of armed Iraqi factions – said that it targeted the Al-Shaddadi and Al-Omar bases of the American forces in eastern Syria with drones.
It also announced in a statement that it bombed a military target in the occupied Syrian Golan on Saturday with drones as part of a response to the Israeli aggression against Gaza, which continues for the fourth month in a row.
For its part, the United States confirmed on Sunday that it is dealing “very seriously” with the attack launched by Iraqi factions on Saturday on the Ain al-Assad base, which hosts American forces in western Iraq.
The US military said that these factions fired “several ballistic missiles and rockets” at the base late Saturday, wounding one Iraqi and possible casualties among US forces.
Houthis: Dozens of ships crossed the sea safely
The Houthi group announced that 64 ships crossed the Red Sea “safely,” after raising a banner: “We have no relation to Israel.”
A member of the group’s Supreme Political Council, Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi, said on the “X” platform that the simplest solution that allows ships to pass safely while crossing the Red Sea is to put the phrase “We have no relation to Israel” on their automatic identification plate.
Our message has been received
It caught their attention
They confirmed that the Yemeni naval armed forces and others no longer possess anything except Moser rifles
Thanks to God AlmightyThe British Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that it will spend 405 million pounds ($514 million) to modernize a missile system that the Royal Navy is now using to shoot down… pic.twitter.com/52ScepUPEE
– Muhammad Ali Al-Houthi (@Moh_Alhouthi) January 21, 2024
In the same context, John Kirby, coordinator of strategic policies at the US National Security Council, said on Sunday that his country is not at war in Yemen and that his country’s measures aim to stop the threats of Ansar Allah “Houthis” in Yemen and are consistent with United Nations laws.
Kirby said in an interview with NBC: Ansar Allah (the Houthis) still have offensive capabilities, but they must make the right decision, otherwise we will continue our operations.
Saudi Foreign Minister: There are no normal relations with Israel without a path to establishing a Palestinian state
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan warned that the Red Sea region is going through a difficult and dangerous time.
Bin Farhan said in an interview with the American CNN network that his country is concerned about the continuation of the American strikes and those carried out by the Houthi group, warning that they may lead to an expansion of the conflict in the region.
The Saudi Foreign Minister called for stopping the escalation and calming down, noting that his country believes in freedom of navigation.