Gaza - The Hague: Europe and the Arabs

Amid the ongoing escalation in the Gaza Strip, uncertainty has shrouded the background to the intense Israeli attack on Khan Yunis on Monday morning, amid questions about whether the operation was aimed at freeing hostages or part of a broader military escalation.
The Walla news site quoted an informed source as saying that Israel carried out a special operation in Khan Yunis, raising speculation about an attempt to free kidnapped soldiers.
However, the Israeli army spokesperson denied this, saying that the army is "carrying out Operation 'Gideon's Wagons' and operating throughout the Gaza Strip." He added, "There is no change in the situation," referring to what was reported in the media.
The choice of the name "Gideon's Wagons" for the operation in the context of the escalating war on the Gaza Strip reflects a trend toward unprecedented escalation. Israel previously used this name during the 1948 Nakba, during the operation aimed at seizing control of the city of Beit She'an and forcibly displacing its Palestinian residents. According to what was published by the European News Network in Brussels on Monday morning, "Euronews," Israeli Army Radio described the military spokesman's statement as "vague," and considered it to hint at the failure or absence of any successful operation to free hostages from Khan Yunis this morning. It added that the army launched approximately 30 raids on the city at dawn.
Israel also continued its attacks on northern Gaza, where it launched a large-scale ground operation on Sunday. Palestinian medical sources confirmed that at least 103 people, including dozens of children, were killed in the ongoing nighttime bombardment, which also led to the closure of the main hospital in the area. The Israeli blockade of food, medicine, and vital supplies is now in its third month, amid UN warnings of an imminent famine threatening the Strip's population of more than two million.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of The Hague on Sunday, wearing red clothes, in an unprecedented scene described by organizers as "the largest demonstration in the Netherlands in two decades," demanding that their government take a firm stance against the bloody Israeli war on Gaza.
According to estimates by human rights organizations With the participation of relief organizations such as Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Save the Children, the number of participants exceeded 100,000, who walked a 5-kilometer route through the heart of the city, forming a "symbolic red line," a reference to the government's failure to set clear limits on Israeli violations. The march passed prominent political and judicial landmarks, including the Peace Palace, the headquarters of the International Court of Justice, which had previously ordered Israel to take immediate action to prevent genocide in the Gaza Strip.