Israel Freed Gaza hostage appeals for common sense
During mass protests in Israel against the government, a hostage freed from the Gaza Strip addressed the public for the first time with an appeal against hatred. "I wish us all more peaceful days, calmer days, when we are surrounded by family, friends and good people. The most important thing is that we learn to love and not hate," said Noa Argamani in a video message on Saturday evening. The 26-year-old Israeli woman was freed with three other hostages three weeks ago during a dramatic operation by the Israeli military in Gaza. "Although I am back home, we must not forget the hostages who are still being held captive by Hamas," said the student. The Islamist Palestinian organization "and we must do everything possible to bring them home," she added.
30.06.2024, 04:36
SDA
Israel reacts to Iran's threat
Meanwhile, the verbal sabre-rattling in the Lebanon conflict between Israel and the Shia militia Hezbollah, which is allied with Iran, continues. Iran's UN representative in New York warned on Platform X on Saturday morning that should Israel launch a full-scale military aggression against Lebanon, "it will lead to a devastating war". Israel's foreign minister responded to this on Saturday evening with the words: "If Hezbollah does not cease fire and withdraw from southern Lebanon, we will act against it with all severity until security is restored and the residents can return to their homes," wrote Israel Katz on the same platform, adding: "A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed".
Saudi Arabia also calls on compatriots to leave Lebanon
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has called on its citizens to leave Lebanon immediately. The reason for this is likely to be fears of a war between Israel and Hezbollah. The Saudi state news agency SPA reported on Saturday that the embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut had appealed to its citizens to leave the country "immediately". In addition, people from Saudi Arabia should no longer travel to Lebanon. Recently, Canada, for example, also called on its citizens to leave the country. The Federal Foreign Office in Berlin has been warning Germans against traveling to Lebanon for some time. German citizens are urgently requested to leave the country. "A further deterioration of the situation and expansion of the conflict cannot be ruled out.
Israel continues bombardment in Gaza
Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost nine months ago, Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah have been shelling each other almost daily, especially in the border area. The intensity of the fighting has recently increased significantly. The Shia militia is demanding that Israel cease fighting against its ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, the Israeli army is continuing its operations there. According to Palestinian reports on Saturday, at least twelve people were killed in attacks in parts of the city of Gaza in the north of the sealed-off coastal strip. The Israeli army announced that the air force had bombed targets in the east of the city. Ground troops had found large quantities of weapons and ammunition.
At the beginning of the year, Israel had still described the north of the Gaza Strip as largely secure and Hamas there as decisively weakened. In the meantime, however, the terrorist group has apparently regrouped there. The war was triggered by an unprecedented massacre carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7. They murdered 1,200 people and abducted another 250 as hostages in the Gaza Strip, including the young student Argamani and her boyfriend. The latter is still being held by the terrorists. "It is a great privilege to be here after 246 days in Hamas captivity," said Argamani in her video, which was played at the protest rally against the government in the metropolis of Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.
Protests against Israel's head of government
According to Israeli media reports, there were clashes with the police on the sidelines. Participants in the protests on Saturday evenings, which have recently grown considerably, accuse Israel's head of government Benjamin Netanyahu of not seriously pursuing indirect negotiations with Hamas. They assume that Netanyahu is not acting because he wants to show consideration for his ultra-religious and far-right coalition partners. The political survival of Netanyahu, who has been on trial for corruption for years, depends on these partners. Argamani said in her video that her greatest concern during her months of imprisonment had been for her family.
The fate of the young woman who was abducted from the Nova music festival had triggered great sympathy in her home country and around the world. Footage of her being abducted by the terrorists on a motorcycle, crying desperately for help, has been circulating on social media for months. According to Israeli media, she learned Arabic well during her time as a hostage. As a result, she had become a kind of "representative" of other female hostages with whom she had been temporarily held.
According to the Israeli army, the dramatic military operation to free her involved fierce fighting with armed Palestinians. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, 274 Palestinians were killed. Since her liberation, Argamani has been intensively involved in the care of her mother in hospital, according to recent media reports. The woman, who is originally from China, has terminal cancer.
