Liveblog: ++ Israel attacks “terror cell” in the West Bank ++

Israel’s military says it has eliminated the head of a “terrorist infrastructure” in the West Bank. According to media reports, the USA wants to put the Houthi militia back on its terrorist list. All developments in the live blog.

Among the victims of the attack on a Terror cell in the West Bank According to Israeli information, it is said to be Amed Abdullah Abu Schalal and two other people. They are said to have planned a large-scale and imminent attack. Schalal also committed several attacks with injuries last year.

The army attacked the terrorist organization from the air in a vehicle in a refugee camp near Nablus in the north of the Palestinian territory, it said. Emergency services then found several weapons in the group’s car. The terrorist cell was reportedly financed and directed by “Iranian sources”. She worked with forces in the Gaza Strip and abroad. The information could not initially be independently verified.

According to the Al-Aqsa Brigades, which is close to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, the three killed were members of the armed group.

The Federal Government’s Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, has criticized the Belgian EU Council Presidency for its handling of the war in Israel. “When the Belgian Minister for Development Aid and Urban Policy, Caroline Gennez, compares the actions of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip with those of the Wehrmacht in the Second World War, she is not speaking for Germany,” Klein told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.

Klein appealed to the Council Presidency “not to act in such a divisive manner.” He also called for the EU Commission’s powers to be strengthened in the fight against anti-Semitism. The issue must be more institutionalized in the European Council. The anti-Semitism commissioner suggested that the issue be put on the agenda at the meeting of EU interior and justice ministers at least once per Council presidency.

According to a report by the Reuters news agency, six Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, including the Hamas officer in the southern district responsible for interrogating suspected spies, the Israeli military said.

A statement summarizing operations over the past few hours said the killing of counterintelligence officer Bilal Nofal had a “significant impact on the terrorist organization’s ability to develop and improve its capabilities.”

The Israeli military says it has eliminated a Palestinian terrorist cell in an air strike in the occupied West Bank. The military announced that the head of a “terrorist infrastructure” who had planned a large-scale attack with his group was eliminated in the refugee district of Balata in the city of Nablus.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health says an unidentified charred body was taken to a hospital in Nablus after Israeli forces bombed a vehicle near Balata.

Last year, the federal government approved the export of war weapons worth 20.1 million euros to Israel. These included 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for machine guns, submachine guns or other fully or semi-automatic firearms. This emerges from a response from the Ministry of Economic Affairs to a request from Bundestag member Sevim Dagdelen from the “Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht”. In total, the traffic light government approved arms deliveries to Israel worth 326.5 million euros – ten times as much as the previous year. The Ministry of Economic Affairs announced this number at the beginning of January. In 2022, the arms export permits for Israel were only worth 32.3 million euros.

The US Senate has overwhelmingly stopped a bill that would freeze security aid to Israel until an investigation into possible human rights violations in Israel’s military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is completed. 72 senators voted to reject the resolution and 11 supported it. The vote was initiated by independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who is in coalition with the Democrats.

The proposal reflects growing concerns among some Democrats about U.S. arms sales to Israel despite the high death toll. The request sought to suspend security assistance to Israel if the State Department does not submit an investigation report within 30 days into whether Israel has committed human rights abuses in its campaign against Hamas in Gaza. The United States provides Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid annually. Biden called on Congress to approve an additional $14 billion.

According to US media reports, US President Joe Biden’s government wants to put the Iran-backed Houthi militia back on the list of global terrorists. This was reported by CNN and the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. When classifying terrorism, the USA differentiates between globally active terrorists (“Specially Designated Global Terrorists”, SDGT) and foreign terrorist organizations (“Foreign Terrorist Organizations”, FTO).

The distinction plays a role in the sanctions associated with each category. In 2021 – shortly before the end of the term of office of the then US President Donald Trump – his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ordered the Houthis to be classified in both categories. Pompeo’s successor, Antony Blinken, reversed this shortly afterwards to make it easier to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen.

According to an agreement brokered by Qatar between Israel and the Islamist Hamas, the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip are to receive medication. In addition, aid deliveries for the civilian population would be brought to the sealed-off coastal strip, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, the drugs purchased in France were initially scheduled to be flown to Egypt on Wednesday aboard two Qatari military planes. From there they would be taken to the Gaza Strip.

Because of the attack on Israel, the EU puts Hamas’ political leader Sinwar on its sanctions list. Israel’s army has ended intense fighting in northern Gaza, according to the defense minister. All developments from Tuesday to read.