Hamas published a video on Monday showing three hostages taken by the Islamist organisation on 7 October. The video shows three women seated side by side against a bare wall, identified by Netanyahu as Yelena Trupanob, Danielle Aloni, and Rimon Kirsht, with Aloni sending an angry message to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. “You were supposed to free all of us. You committed to free us all. But instead we are carrying your political, security, military, diplomatic failure,” Aloni stated. Netanyahu has since denounced the video as “cruel psychological propaganda.”
On Monday, Israel announced that it had freed Israeli soldier Ori Megidish from captivity during the ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. Hamas gunmen kidnapped the soldier during the 7 October attack on Israel. Megidish has undergone medical checks since then and is “doing well.” Subsequently, Israel reaffirmed its commitment to freeing all those taken hostage by Hamas and bringing them back home.
Armoured Israeli soldiers attacked the Gaza Strip’s major city from two directions on Monday, targeting the key route connecting it to the south of Gaza, witnesses stated. Residents reported dozens of airstrikes on Gaza City’s eastern side, with some describing a surge of tanks moving in amid exchanges of fire. Witnesses said Israeli tanks also reached Gaza’s key coastal north-south Salahudeen route during the day in a possible effort to increase the siege in the north by isolating Gaza City from the enclave’s southern half.
Following clashes with Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, Saudi Arabia’s military is in a state of high alert. As the Israel-Hamas conflict escalated, the Houthis also fired a missile towards Israel, which was downed by Riyadh. In the fight with Houthi forces in the southwestern Jazan Province on the border with Yemen, four Saudi soldiers lost their lives.
Kyiv military officials reported on Monday that Russia had increased its forces near the embattled city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine but that the Ukrainian army was prepared to withstand any consequent attacks. Ukraine’s commander of ground troops, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, said on Telegram, “In the Bakhmut area, the enemy has significantly strengthened its grouping and switched from defence to active actions.”
A Japanese high court on Monday ruled that the North Korean government was guilty of human rights abuses against plaintiffs who alleged they were lured to the secretive country under a 1959-1984 programme, which made false promises of living in “paradise on Earth.” Under its banner, the North promised free health care, education, jobs, and other benefits. The decision is being hailed as a victory by survivors.
China’s military said on Monday that a Filipino military vessel had “illegally entered” its waters near the Scarborough Shoal without authorisation and urged Manila to stop its provocations immediately.
At the 4th Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) on Monday, Indian Defence Minister (DM) Rajnath Singh urged the participant nations to work together to reduce carbon emissions and switch to sustainable practices to tackle climate change. Further, he called upon countries to adhere to international laws for a free and rule-based maritime order. The DM also advocated the establishment of a multinational collaborative mitigation framework in the Indian Ocean Region to tackle common maritime challenges like climate change, piracy, terrorism, drug trafficking, overfishing, and freedom of commerce on high seas.
Chinese President Xi Jinping lauded the critical role of women in society in establishing a “new trend of family,” as the nation struggles to deal with a rapidly ageing population and a record drop in the birth rate. He added that it is necessary to “actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing and strengthen guidance on young people’s view on marriage, childbirth and family.”