The USA is providing Israel with new military aid. Iran does not see the ceasefire negotiations as being at risk. All developments in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
7.06 am: According to the Israeli army, the attack on a school in the Gaza Strip was aimed at Hamas terrorists. A statement said that the terrorists’ command center was located there. Next to it was a mosque that served as a shelter.
According to the Israeli army, Hamas is said to have prepared several attacks on soldiers and the State of Israel from this hideout. Before the attack, various measures were taken to reduce the risk of injuring civilians. The army cites “precise ammunition, aerial surveillance and intelligence information” as examples. The information cannot be independently verified. The military does not provide a number of injured or fatalities.
5.34 am: According to medical and security sources in Gaza, at least 100 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a school in the Gaza Strip. Israel’s army attacked the school, which is used as a shelter for displaced persons, during Muslim prayers early in the morning, according to the Hamas-controlled media office. The information could not be independently verified.
5.23 am: According to a statement from the US Central Command, American forces have destroyed a rocket launcher and an unmanned ship in areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels in the past 24 hours. In addition, two Houthi drones were shot down over the Red Sea, the US Central Command said on X: “These weapons posed a clear and immediate threat to US and coalition forces and to commercial vessels in the region.”
4.23 am: The US government is not imposing sanctions on an Israeli army unit in connection with the death of a US Palestinian in the West Bank. A US State Department committee decided against imposing sanctions on the Netzach Yehuda Battalion after receiving Israeli government information, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said on Friday. “After carefully examining this information, we have concluded that the violations committed by this unit have been effectively remedied.” The unit can now continue to receive support from the US.
According to a US government official, two soldiers involved in the incident will not be prosecuted, but have been removed from their posts and have left the army. The Israeli army has also taken measures “to prevent a recurrence of the incidents.” These include increased screening of recruits and a two-week training seminar specifically for this unit.
The Netzach Yehuda Battalion is a unit of the Israeli army in which only strictly religious young men serve. It was originally founded in 1999 with 30 soldiers as a showcase project to make it easier for ultra-Orthodox Jews, who had long been exempted from military service, to gain access to military service. The combat unit is considered a success and now comprises around a thousand soldiers. In addition to young men from the ultra-Orthodox spectrum, over the years the battalion has increasingly taken on members of the national-religious settler movement who are close to the right-wing extremist parties of ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, among others.
3.42 am: According to the US military, US soldiers in Syria were attacked by a drone. “According to initial reports, there were no injuries. We are currently conducting a damage assessment,” a US official who wished to remain anonymous told the Reuters news agency. The attack occurred in the Rumalyn landing zone, where US troops and troops from the US-led coalition are stationed.
3.11 am: Washington is providing Israel with an additional $3.5 billion for the purchase of US weapons and military equipment. This was announced by the US State Department. Congress has been informed. According to a report by the television channel CNN, the funds are part of an additional $14 billion in funding for Israel approved by the US Congress in April.
2.14 am: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stressed in another telephone conversation with Israeli Defense Minister Joaw Galant that an escalation in the Middle East serves no one. At the same time, Blinken underlined the need for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the US State Department said. “The Secretary reiterated the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and discussed that escalation is in neither party’s interest.”
