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Israel’s defense minister says the country’s armed forces have ended intense fighting in northern Gaza. Three Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israel’s army in the West Bank. All developments in the live blog.
Qatar’s Prime Minister, Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, called on Israel to agree to a time-bound, binding path to a two-state solution at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Such a commitment is the key to future stability in Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Palestinians must decide for themselves whether the Hamas movement, which governs the Gaza Strip, will continue to play a political role in the future, said al-Thani.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck does not expect any major supply chain problems for the German economy due to the conflict with the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. “Well, there are already delays in the supply chain because the ships are now taking the long way around,” said the Green politician on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. But you can adjust to that. “Everyone tells me it’s going to work out again,” said Habeck. The transport costs do not play such a big role that there will be massive problems.
Since the beginning of the Middle East war between the militant Islamist Hamas and Israel, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked ships with alleged Israeli connections in the Red Sea.
Israel’s army says it has killed terrorists in the Gaza Strip again. In Beit Lahia in the north of the coastal region, dozens of members of Palestinian terrorist organizations were killed in an army operation, the military said. Soldiers also discovered around 100 rocket launchers and 60 ready-to-use rockets. Hamas and other extremist groups still occasionally fire rockets toward Israel.
According to reports, Israel’s army attacked nine terrorists in the Al-Shati refugee camp, also in the north. The military killed two armed terrorists in the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Palestinian territory. The information cannot initially be independently verified.
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.
According to Israeli reports, a female soldier was slightly injured in an exchange of fire on the border with Egypt. The Egyptian military said suspected drug smugglers were involved in the incident. One person was killed on the Egyptian side and six other people were later arrested.
The Israeli military said the incident occurred near the Nitzana border crossing on the Sinai Peninsula. Israeli soldiers and 20 armed suspects exchanged fire.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has called for criminal prosecution for crimes in the Middle East conflict between the terrorist group Hamas and Israel. It is to be hoped that the many crimes in this war on both sides do not remain legally unpunished, Türk told the epd news agency. Otherwise it would be a disastrous signal. Once the perpetrators and those responsible have been found and arrested, national or international courts must determine what crimes were committed and convict the guilty, said the UN’s top human rights watchdog. He mentioned the killings carried out by Hamas in its terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, as well as the massive bombings that left more than 23,000 dead in the Gaza Strip, many of them children and women. “If we look at history, it becomes clear that at some point the perpetrators will be held accountable,” said the Austrian lawyer.
Three Palestinians have been killed in violent clashes with the Israeli army in the West Bank. The army said soldiers opened fire on Monday during an operation in the south of the Palestinian territory after a group of about 100 people threw Molotov cocktails and stones at them. According to eyewitnesses, two Palestinians were killed in the incident in Dura. According to the West Bank Ministry of Health, another person was killed in Tulkarem province, further north.
Also on Monday, students at a West Bank university were arrested for their alleged support of Hamas. The University of Nablus announced that 25 students were arrested. According to the Israeli army, “nine wanted persons” linked to a “Hamas student cell” were arrested.
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.
According to the Defense Ministry, the intense fighting by the Israeli armed forces against the Islamist Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip has ended. The intensive phase of the ground offensive will soon be over in the south of the sealed-off coastal strip in the area of the city of Khan Yunis, the newspaper “The Times of Israel” quoted Israeli Defense Minister Joav Galant as saying.
“At the end of the war, there will no longer be a military threat from the Gaza Strip. Hamas will not be able to control the Gaza Strip and act as a military force. The Israel Defense Forces will have full freedom of action to do whatever it takes Defense of the citizens of Israel is necessary,” Galant said. “It may take a long time, but this is how it will end – with total victory.”
Jan-Christoph Kitzler, ARD Tel Aviv, tagesschau, January 16, 2024 7:06 a.m
Three UN organizations are demanding access to the port of Ashdod to bring aid supplies to the Gaza Strip. According to information from Ramallah, two people were killed during an Israeli operation in the West Bank. All developments in the live blog.