To better understand the latest events in the conflict between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Israel, 20 minutes takes stock every evening. Between the strong declarations, the diplomatic advances or the dramatic results of the fighting, here are the main points of the day.
The fact of the day
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his opposition to “Palestinian sovereignty” in Gaza, saying that Israel must maintain “control of security” of the territory where fierce fighting continues on Saturday on the 106th day of war against Hamas.
Israel must “ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat” and this requirement “contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty”, explained Benjamin Netanyahu during a telephone interview on Friday with US President Joe Biden, according to the Prime Minister’s Office .
The number of the day
Four Members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, including two senior officials, were killed Saturday in an Israeli strike on a
building in Damascus, according to a military source and Iranian media, with a Syrian NGO reporting at least ten deaths.
The strike destroyed a four-story building in the Mazzé neighborhood, where a “meeting of pro-Iran leaders” was taking place, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), an NGO with a vast network of sources in war-torn Syria.
Sentence of the day
The right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognized by all”
This was declared by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Saturday, during the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Uganda, adding that any “denial” was “unacceptable”. Do you see the problem with the news of the day two paragraphs earlier and Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement?
Today’s trend
Thousands of people carrying Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against Israel marched Saturday in Madrid and other Spanish cities to demand “an end to the genocide in Palestine.” In the capital, some 25,000 people, according to the government.
The head banner, in the colors of the Palestinian flag, called on the Spanish government to “end the arms trade and relations with Israel”. Some demonstrators held signs reading “Stop genocide” in English.
Within the European Union (EU), Spain has been one of the most critical voices towards Israel in the conflict generated by the Hamas attack on October 7 in Israel which killed 1,140 dead, mostly civilians.