UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – The Palestinian Islamist movement published these images while negotiations are underway with Israel for a truce in the fighting and the release of hostages.
Two Israeli hostages appear in a video released by Hamas. The Hamas Ministry of Health announces a new death toll of 34,388. Two young Palestinians killed by the Israeli army near Jenin. Hamas says “to study” a counter-proposal for an Israeli truce. Le Figaro takes stock this Saturday April 27 on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas releases video showing two Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7
Could a truce lead to their release? Two hostages who fell into the hands of Hamas terrorists during the bloody attack on October 7 appear in a video published by the Palestinian movement this Saturday afternoon.
The Hostage Families Forum identified these two hostages as Keith Siegal and Omri Miran. The Palestinian Islamist movement had already released a video on Wednesday of another Israeli hostage, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23 years old.
Hamas Health Ministry announces new death toll of 34,388
The Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Saturday a new death toll of 34,388 in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7. In 24 hours, at least 32 additional deaths were recorded, according to a press release from the ministry which reported 77,437 injured in more than 200 days of war.
Two young Palestinians killed by Israeli army near Jenin
Two Palestinians were shot dead overnight by Israeli soldiers near a military base at the entrance to Jenin, a city in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army announced on Saturday, claiming that its soldiers had responded to the shots. The Palestinian Authority announced in a statement “the martyrdom of Mustapha Sultan Abed (21 years old) and Ahmad Muhammad Shawahneh (20 years old), who fell under the bullets of the occupier last night in Jenin”.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the two men had been killed “near the Salem military base, west of Jenin”adding that two “other young men had been injured”. “Soldiers identified several terrorists driving in a vehicle towards the Salem military base and opening fire in its direction. The soldiers, pre-positioned due to several similar incidents previously, eliminated the terrorists.the Israeli army said in a statement, specifying that no injuries had been recorded in its ranks.
Hamas says it is “studying” a counter-proposal for an Israeli truce
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas said early Saturday “to study” an Israeli counter-proposal for a truce in the fighting in Gaza and the release of hostages. “Today, Hamas received the official response from the Zionist occupation to our position which was delivered to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators on April 13. The movement will study this proposal and submit its response once its study is completed.declared in a press release the No. 2 of Hamas’s political branch for the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya.
Hamas indicated in a statement on April 13 that it had submitted its response to Egyptian and Qatari mediators on a proposed truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip, insisting on a permanent ceasefire.
Without explicitly rejecting the content of the truce project, Hamas reaffirmed its “requirements”either “a permanent ceasefire”the withdrawal of the Israeli army “from the entire Gaza Strip”, “the return of displaced people to their areas and places of residence”, and “the intensification of the entry of humanitarian aid”. However, Israel is particularly opposed to a permanent ceasefire, insisting instead on a pause of several weeks in the fighting to then carry out, for example, a ground operation in Rafah, and refuses to withdraw from the entire territory.
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Construction of a pier in Gaza: a British ship in support
A British ship which is to accommodate hundreds of American soldiers involved in the construction of an artificial pier in Gaza to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid has set sail from Cyprus, AFP learned on Saturday from a military Source. Construction of this infrastructure began on Thursday and it should be operational “from the beginning of May”according to the Pentagon.
The operational capacity will initially be 90 aid trucks per day, then 150 per day, according to the United States. The aid will first arrive in Cyprus, where it will be subject to verification, then will be prepared for delivery to Gaza.
Lebanon: a group allied to Hamas claims that two of its executives were killed in an Israeli strike
A Lebanese Islamist group close to Palestinian Hamas said two of its leaders were killed Friday in an Israeli strike in eastern Lebanon. The Israeli army announced earlier that its air force had “hit and eliminated Mosab Khalaf in the Meidoun region of Lebanon, a high-ranking terrorist of the Jamaa Islamiya terrorist organization who prepared a large number of terrorist attacks against Israel”.
Read alsoLebanon: Hezbollah announces having launched dozens of rockets at Israel after the deaths of civilians
In a statement, Jamaa Islamiya announced the death of Mosab Khalaf and Bilal Mohamed Khalaf in the Israeli strike, which comes as violence between the powerful pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel has increased in intensity in recent days. A Lebanese security Source who requested anonymity previously told AFP that“a Lebanese executive of the Jamaa Islamiya was killed by an Israeli drone strike which targeted his car”on the Meidoun road.
