The USA is withdrawing the aircraft carrier “Dwight D. Eisenhower” from the Red Sea. Israel’s Supreme Court demands clarification about a prison camp. More information in the news blog.
19:20: The European Union has agreed on further sanctions against the radical Islamic Hamas and violent Israeli settlers. This was stated by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. He did not provide any further details on the punitive measures.
18:26: At least seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, according to hospital sources. 22 others were injured, according to an employee of the European Hospital in Khan Yunis. An Israeli army spokesman says the reports are being investigated.
According to residents of the city, those killed had accompanied humanitarian aid deliveries on behalf of Hamas. Recently, there have been increasing reports of looting by desperate civilians in the Gaza Strip. Aid organizations are warning of a collapse of public order and chaos.
17:36: For the first time in several weeks, there was a rocket alert in the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. According to paramedics, two people were injured when they ran to shelters. Several others suffered shock. Warning sirens also sounded in towns on the edge of the Gaza Strip, according to the military. The Palestinian terrorist organization Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Israeli military reported that two missiles fired from the northern Gaza Strip were intercepted by the missile defense system.
Previously, Israel’s missile defense system reportedly intercepted a missile fired from Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. Israel’s military has been deployed in Rafah since the beginning of May. The declared aim was to destroy the last battalions of the Islamist Hamas in the city on the border with Egypt.
10.14 am: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock describes the situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon as more than worrying and warns of even more violence. “A further escalation would be a catastrophe for everyone in the region,” said the Green politician before traveling to the region. This is another reason why it is absolutely important that a ceasefire in Gaza is finally reached. “Israel can only live in safety if Palestinians live in safety. And Palestinians can only live in safety if Israel is safe,” said Baerbock.
Specifically, it is calling on Hamas in particular to agree to US President Joe Biden’s peace plan. This initially provides for a complete and unrestricted ceasefire of six weeks. During this period, a certain group of hostages is to be released. In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released. In the next phase, the fighting would then be permanently stopped and the remaining hostages released. In a final phase, according to the draft, the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip is to begin.
6.48 am: According to US Chief of Staff CQ Brown, an Israeli offensive in Lebanon could increase the risk of a wider conflict involving Iran. “Hezbollah has greater capabilities than Hamas,” the air force general told journalists during a stopover in the island state of Cape Verde on a trip to Botswana. “And I would say that Iran would be more inclined to support Hezbollah more.” However, he does not predict Israel’s actions and recognizes Israel’s right to self-defense.
5.42 am: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated his willingness to agree to a temporary ceasefire in the Gaza war, but rejects an end to the war before achieving its own goals. “It is Hamas that rejects an agreement, not Israel,” the Prime Minister’s office said after an interview with Netanyahu on Israeli broadcaster Channel 14.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has made it clear that we will not leave Gaza until we have returned all 120 of our hostages, living and dead,” the brief statement said. Netanyahu told the broadcaster on Sunday that the phase of intensive fighting against the Islamist Hamas in Rafah in southern Gaza would soon come to an end. However, the war will only end when the terrorist organization no longer controls the Gaza Strip.