Benjamin Netanyahu remains motionless as hostage relatives disrupt his speech. The killed Hamas leader al-Sinwar probably wanted to use hostages as a means of pressure. All developments in the news blog.
5:39 p.m.: The UN Security Council is due to consider the latest Israeli attack on Iran tomorrow. The Swiss Council Presidency said Monday’s meeting was requested by Iran, with the support of China, Russia and Algeria. Israel’s close ally, the USA, has veto power in the Security Council. On Saturday, Israel attacked targets in Iran, calling it retaliation for an Iranian attack on October 1. The development has fueled fears of a major war breaking out.
5:06 p.m.: Iran will give an “appropriate response” to the latest Israeli attack, according to President Massoud Peseschkian. His country is not looking for war, he is quoted as saying in the Islamic Republic’s state media.
4:02 p.m.: Israeli President Izchak Herzog apologized on behalf of the Israeli state to the families of the victims of the Hamas massacre on October 7 last year. “I stand here as President of the State of Israel and apologize,” said Herzog at a memorial event in Jerusalem.
Unlike Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet apologized. Although he has admitted mistakes by the security apparatus, Netanyahu does not want to allow an investigation into responsibilities, which could also cost him from office, until after the war is over.
Herzog expresses himself clearly. “We are sorry that we failed to defend your loved ones, we are sorry that we broke the most fundamental contract between a country and its citizens, which is to defend their lives and their security,” he says.
3:16 p.m.: In Israel, relatives of Hamas hostages loudly interrupted a speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during October 7 commemorations. Netanyahu stood motionless at the lectern during the ceremony in Jerusalem as listeners in the crowd shouted and interrupted him for more than a minute, as shown on Sunday in a live broadcast of the speech marking the anniversary of the Islamist Hamas attack on Israel on March 7. October last year according to the Jewish calendar.
“My father was murdered,” one of the family members present repeatedly shouted. After the killing of Hamas leader Jahja Sinwar in early October, hopes of reaching an agreement grew. However, critics accuse Netanyahu of dragging out the indirect negotiations.
2:48 p.m.: The foreign ministers of Germany, Canada, Australia, France, Japan, South Korea and Great Britain are warning the Israeli parliament against an anti-UNRWA law. The background is a Knesset debate about lifting the immunity of the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees in the Middle East and banning any contact between Israeli government agencies and UNRWA. “Without UNRWA’s work, the delivery of assistance and services, including education, health care and fuel distribution, in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank would be severely hampered, if not impossible,” the joint statement said.
This would have “devastating consequences” for the already critical and rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip. “We urge the Government of Israel to abide by its international obligations, to uphold the privileges and immunities of UNRWA and to fulfill its responsibilities to provide comprehensive, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms and to provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance To provide basic services for the civilian population.”