The negotiations in Qatar are making little progress and the war in the Gaza Strip continues. Foreign Minister Baerbock is now traveling to the region again – and is calling for an immediate end to the fighting. Israel rejected this.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire from Israel and the Islamist Hamas. Only such a ceasefire, which leads to a permanent ceasefire, can keep hope for peace alive, said the Green politician before new crisis talks in Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories. It is Baerbock’s sixth visit to Israel since Hamas’ bloody terrorist attack on the country on October 7th.
The deaths of the people in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the more than 100 hostages still held captive by Hamas are intertwined, said Baerbock. “The suffering must end for everyone.” The negotiations in Qatar must now finally lead to success. At the same time, the Foreign Minister again called on the Israeli government to “finally open the border crossings to a lot more help.” Air drops or sea bridges for relief supplies are not a sustainable solution.
At the same time, Baerbock emphasized: “We accept our responsibility for Israel’s security.” Hamas must lay down its arms and never again bring the terror of October 7th to the people of Israel. “But this goal cannot be achieved purely militarily. And military action has its limits in international humanitarian law.”
Israel rejects Baerbock’s demand
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz reacted negatively to Baerbock’s call for a ceasefire. “We expect our friends to continue to support Israel in these challenging times and not to weaken it against the terrorist organization Hamas,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. A humanitarian ceasefire cannot be announced without the release of the Israeli hostages. Regarding humanitarian assistance to Gaza, “we need to work on it together,” he added.
So far no breakthrough in negotiations in Qatar
A new agreement for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and for the release of hostages has been being negotiated in Qatar for weeks. International efforts have recently intensified again. They are being run under the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the USA, but have not yet achieved a breakthrough.
After another round of talks, US intelligence chief William Burns and his Israeli colleague David Barnea apparently left the Qatari capital Doha late on Saturday evening. As the AFP news agency learned from negotiating circles, the two intelligence chiefs of the CIA and Mossad traveled from Doha to inform their respective teams at home about the latest round of talks. Most recently, a proposal for a six-week ceasefire and an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners was apparently on the table.
Israel launches new military operation in Khan Yunis
Despite international efforts to reach a ceasefire, the Israeli army said it had begun a new military operation in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. The aim of the operation in the west of the city is to “continue to destroy terrorist infrastructure and eliminate terrorists in the area,” the military said in a statement. The operation began with “a series of air strikes on around 40 terrorist targets.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service reported that Israeli troops had surrounded two hospitals in Khan Yunis. There is heavy shelling. In Al-Amal Hospital, a paramedic was fatally injured by gunfire and another suffered a gunshot wound to the head. An Israeli soldier was killed during an operation at Al-Shifa Hospital in the northern city of Gaza, the army said.
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.
Foreign Office criticizes further settlement construction
In the West Bank, Israel’s civil administration declared 800 hectares of state land, according to Israeli media reports. This corresponds to an area of more than 1,100 football fields. Among other things, hundreds of settler apartments are to be built in the area. Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
The Foreign Office clearly criticized Israel’s plans. “We strongly condemn the announcement to confiscate over 800 hectares of land in the Palestinian territories as Israeli ‘state land’. This would be the largest appropriation in over 30 years,” the Foreign Ministry said on X in Berlin. The settlement construction violates international law and “contributes to further tensions in the extremely fragile situation.”
Israel Minister of Defense travels to Washington
Because of Israel’s actions in the Middle East war, tensions between Israel’s government and its most important partner, the US government, had recently increased. Israel has now announced that Defense Minister Joav Gallant will travel to Washington on Sunday. Gallant will speak there with his counterpart Lloyd Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, among others. The talks should be about “the development of the war against the terrorist organization Hamas”.
In recent days, US President Joe Biden has warned more and more emphatically against an offensive planned by Israel in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, where around 1.5 million of the 2.4 million residents of the Palestinian territory are now seeking protection. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday after consultations with US Secretary of State Blinken that he would stick to the planned Rafah offensive even without Washington’s support.