18 people died in an air strike in the West Bank on Thursday – according to Israeli and Palestinian information, more than half of them were members of terrorist organizations. The Foreign Office, however, complains about the high number of civilian casualties. Israel’s embassy reacts.
In the world of diplomacy it is a small affront: In an article on According to Palestinian information, ten of those killed and according to Israeli information at least twelve of those killed were members of terrorist organizations.
The background is an air strike in the city of Tulkarm (note also transcribed as Tulkarem) in the West Bank on Thursday. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 18 people, including two children, were killed in the attack on a residential building with a café. This information cannot be independently verified.
The Foreign Office, led by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), reacted to the air raid on Friday. “The high number of civilian casualties in an Israeli airstrike in Tulkarem is shocking. In the fight against terror, the Israeli army is obliged to protect civilians in the West Bank. Palestinians and Israelis alike have the right to live in safety,” the ministry wrote on X.
Israel’s embassy responded to the Foreign Office’s post on Saturday to, as the embassy wrote, set the record straight. “At least twelve terrorists from Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist organizations were eliminated in the attack — including Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, the head of the Hamas terror network in Tulkarm, and Jit Radwan, a key Islamic Jihad player in the Tulkarem region. In the following text, the embassy lists ten additional names of people who were said to have been killed, including men with ties to Hamas and a member of “Islamist Jihad.”
“What is truly shocking and disturbing is the fact that certain people are tweeting accusations that lack context,” the embassy continued. “Or do they simply consider the safety of Israeli civilians not important enough?” the post ends.
Hamas said eight of the men killed were members of the group. Islamic Jihad named one person as its member. The armed wing of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party in the West Bank also said a man was a member. The Israeli army initially said seven extremists had been killed.
Doubts about Baerbock’s attitude towards Israel
On X, the Foreign Office was heavily criticized for its contribution. It is not the first time that Baerbock and her ministry have been accused of giving Israel’s security less priority than other members of the traffic light coalition. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) assured Israel of “unrestricted solidarity” after October 7th.
Baerbock, on the other hand, declared after the death of Hezbollah boss Hassan Nasrallah that this could lead to a “destabilization” of Lebanon, which was “in no way in the interest of Israel’s security.” Baerbock also welcomed anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activists to a dinner.
The Foreign Office has not had a lucky hand on social media several times: the ministry also commented on the TV duel between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on X. But the article about the alleged successes of the energy transition was incorrect; the former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, accused the ministry of interfering in the election campaign.
see with dpa