By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM/BETHLEHEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s army has rescued 70 orphans from wartorn Gaza and rushed them to safety in Bethlehem in the Biblical region of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, several sources confirmed Friday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out the unusual operation this week with the approval of several authorities, officials said.
About 11 staff members and their families from the charity group SOS Children’s Villages International were evacuated from Rafah and transferred to Bethlehem, known in the Bible as the birthplace of Jesus.
The children believed to be Palestinians and between the ages of 2 and 14, were already in the care of the organization before the start of the war. However, they did receive permission from legal guardians to be relocated, the SOS added in a statement.
“The successful evacuation gives a glimmer of hope,” said Angela Maria Rosales, Chief Programme Officer at SOS Children’s Villages International.
The group passed through Israeli territory to reach Bethlehem, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli media said the operation was completed at the request of Germany but without the knowledge of Israel’s war cabinet or Hamas, deemed a terror organization by Israel.
RAISING TENSIONS
The operation raised tensions within the government. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich both condemned the operation. They suggested that it ‘only‘ saved Palestinian lives while more than 100 Israeli hostages remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza after five months of war.
“He who is compassionate to the cruel will ultimately become cruel to the compassionate,” Smotrich wrote on social networking platform X, formerly Twitter, quoting a rabbinic adage.
“I demand clarification from the prime minister on who gave this immoral order and with what authority while our hostages and their children are held captive by the enemy.”
It comes at a time of mounting international pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt military operations in Gaza
Netanyahu has rejected a ceasefire till all hostages are released. Some 1,200 people were killed in the October 7 attack by Hamas, according to Israeli officials, while another around 250 were kidnapped.
Netanyahu says he will press ahead with an invasion of the city of Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas, which he has pledged to destroy.
However, U.S. President Joe Biden, who views himself as a strong ally of Israel, has expressed concerns about the military operations and called Israel’s entry into Rafah “a red line.”
PRESSING AHEAD
Yet Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the offensive in the south of the enclave but added Israel would give Rafah’s civilians plenty of time to get out of harm’s way.
As fighting escalated, Biden announced plans earlier this week to build a temporary port on the Gaza coast to facilitate direct aid delivery.
More than 31,200 people have been killed in Gaza in the military campaign that Israel launched in response, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
However, those figures remain difficult to verify independently.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said last Sunday that at least 13,000 “terrorists” were among Palestinians killed during Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
He has regretted the killing of innocent Palestinians but says Hamas is using civilians as human shields.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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