In Egypt, Foreign Minister Baerbock is calling for an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip – and is warning of an offensive in Rafah. Meanwhile, Israel continues its attacks – targeting Hamas terrorists and their supporters.
At crisis talks in Egypt, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock once again spoke out against an Israeli ground operation in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. “There cannot be a major offensive on Rafah,” said the Green politician at the airport in Cairo. “People cannot disappear into thin air.”
In the city on the border with Egypt, it is estimated that 1.5 million of the 2.2 million residents of the Gaza Strip are currently seeking shelter in a confined space from the fighting in other parts of the coastal area. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on an offensive in the city because the military suspects there are many Hamas members and leading figures there. The army had apparently drawn up plans to bring the civilians to safety, it was said.
Gray areas: Built-up areas in the Gaza Strip, hatching: Israeli army
In Cairo, Baerbock also spoke with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Schukri about a ceasefire and the release of hostages, against the background of the stalled negotiations between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas. In the evening, the Foreign Minister is expected in Ramallah for talks with her Palestinian colleague Riad al-Maliki and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
UNRWA reports that aid is blocked
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said during a visit to Jordan that there was growing international agreement that Israel should be asked for a ceasefire. There is also growing consensus to make it clear to Israel that a ground offensive on Rafah could mean a humanitarian catastrophe, said the UN chief.
According to the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA on Sunday, Israel no longer allows food deliveries to the north of the coastal strip. UNRWA is being prevented from bringing life-saving aid to northern Gaza, its chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on the X platform, formerly Twitter. A representative of the Israeli military authority responsible for coordinating emergency aid said last week in Geneva that there are no restrictions on aid convoys. Rather, the problem lies within the Gaza Strip because the actors there are not in a position to distribute more material.
Fights for clinics continue
Meanwhile, Israel continued its attacks on clinics in the Gaza Strip. The army said it was carrying out new “precise” operations at the Al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City. In doing so, the soldiers avoided injuries to civilians, patients and medical staff as well as damage to medical facilities.
Over 500 members of the terrorist militias Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been arrested since the attacks against the Al-Shifa hospital began a week ago. The Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said hundreds of patients and medical staff were being held at the facility.
The advances launched on Sunday against the Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in the southern city of Khan Yunis also continued. The army said 20 terrorists were eliminated there. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as bases and weapons depots. Hamas and the hospital staff deny this.
Doctors report 30 deaths in Rafah
Palestinian medics said 30 people had been killed by Israeli attacks in the refugee-crowded city of Rafah in the past 24 hours. “Every time we bomb in Rafah, we fear that the tanks will come. The last 24 hours have been one of the worst days since we moved to Rafah,” said Abu Khaled, a father of seven, who was in fear, according to Reuters news agency did not want to give his full name because of reprisals.
In response to the unprecedented Hamas attack on October 7th last year, Israel is taking massive military action in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, more than 32,100 people were killed. The mediators USA, Egypt and Qatar have been trying for weeks to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the hostages.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by the Palestinian and Israeli conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body.