live blog
According to Syrian state media, the Syrian capital Damascus has been hit by Israeli missiles. US officials hope for a ceasefire before Ramadan. All developments in our live blog.
Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7 resulted in serious and systematic violent sexual crimes, according to a new report. “The sexual assaults and rapes were committed by multiple participants and included sadistic acts of a brutal and demonstrative nature,” said the report by the Israel Association of Crisis Centers for Rape Victims (ARCCI). Most of the victims were murdered during or after the rape. Women in particular, but also children and men, were victims of sexual violence.
ARCCI chairwoman Orit Sulitzeanu said in a statement: “The report, which has been handed over to UN decision-makers, leaves no room for denial or disregard.” The Islamist Hamas has chosen to harm Israel strategically, through the kidnapping of its citizens and through sadistic sexual crimes. “Silence is no longer an option,” said Sulitzeanu. “We expect international organizations to take a clear position.”
In many cases, injured women were raped using armed force. In some cases, victims were “raped in front of partners, family or friends to increase the pain and humiliation for all in attendance,” the report said. “Many of the victims’ bodies were found mutilated and bound, with their sexual organs brutally attacked and, in some cases, weapons inserted into them,” the report said. Booby traps were hidden in some bodies.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from the far-right Religious Zionism party caused an outcry by saying that the return of the hostages was not the most important thing. Relatives of those abducted by Hamas in the Gaza Strip blocked several main streets in Tel Aviv in protest on Tuesday evening, Israeli media reported.
In his opinion, the repatriation of the remaining 134 hostages is not Israel’s most important goal, Smotrich reportedly said in an interview with public broadcaster KAN. He condemned those voices that called for a hostage agreement “at any price” as irresponsible. However, he described the destruction of Hamas as “very important”. Relatives of the hostages reportedly reacted with anger and called on the public to join the protest.
In Tel Aviv, relatives of those kidnapped by Hamas in the Gaza Strip blocked several main streets.
War Cabinet Secretary and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz contradicted Smotrich. Freeing the hostages is the most urgent task and not only Israel’s war goal, but also “our moral imperative as a country and as a people,” he wrote on Platform X on Tuesday evening. Opposition leader Jair Lapid described Smotrich’s words as a “moral disgrace.” He blamed the finance minister, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for the fate of the hostages. Under her watch, “Israeli citizens were kidnapped, tortured and raped.”
After Rocket attack on the Syrian capital Damascus State media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least two deaths. The state news agency Sana published images from the alleged attack site in the Kafr Susa district. It shows the outside of a multi-story building, which is partially blackened and whose windows are shattered, as well as a fire in an apartment that was apparently the target of the attack.
After the failure of a UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip due to a US veto, China has warned of a worsening of the situation in the Palestinian territory. China voted in favor of the draft resolution, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning. The USA, however, “once again single-handedly vetoed it and thereby brought the situation in Gaza into an even more dangerous situation.” The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is becoming “increasingly serious,” Mao added. Peace and stability in the region are “severely affected”.
In addition to China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and France also criticized the US decision. The day before, the United States vetoed a resolution in the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The text presented by Algeria received 13 votes in favor, one against and one abstention from Great Britain in New York on Tuesday. The text called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” that must be “respected by all parties.” It also included the release of all hostages, but did not condemn the Islamist Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
According to state media, the Syrian capital Damascus was hit by Israeli missiles. Accordingly, the bullets hit the Kafr Soussa district. Several security agencies have branches there. Iranian military experts were killed in the district as early as February 2023. Iran, which also supports the militant Islamist Hamas, is also a close ally of the Syrian leadership. Israel has repeatedly attacked targets in Syria that are believed to be linked to Iran, but rarely comments on it.
Eight aid organizations have called on the federal government to “unconditionally and comprehensively commit to protecting the civilian population and providing vital humanitarian aid” in the Gaza Strip. In view of the “ongoing humanitarian catastrophe” there and the planned Israeli offensive on Rafah, the appeal must be made by all parties to the conflict to ensure compliance with international law, unhindered access to aid and an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
Behind the call are Welthungerhilfe, Action Against Hunger, Care, Handicap International, International Rescue Committee, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam Germany and Save the Children.
The aid organizations are also appealing to the federal government to release funding for the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA. The allegations against former employees are extremely serious and require a thorough and transparent investigation, but this should not be at the expense of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Because currently no other aid organization can replace UNRWA’s role in humanitarian aid and ensuring basic supplies.
The US Department of Defense has confirmed the destruction of a drone off Yemen. The MQ-9 Reaper crashed into the sea after apparently being hit by a missile fired by the Houthi militia. Initial indications suggested that “the aircraft was shot down by a Houthi surface-to-air missile,” a Pentagon spokeswoman said.
The incident occurred on Monday. It would be the second time in just a few months that the Houthis have managed to shoot down a US drone. This was last the case in November 2023.
According to a media report, Israel’s planned military offensive on the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip will most likely not begin before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, according to a media report. An unnamed senior US official told the Times of Israel this assessment. As the newspaper reported on Tuesday evening, Israel’s army is still in the process of completing major operations in the town of Khan Yunis north of Rafah, which has been hotly contested for weeks.
At the same time, it is planned to bring the approximately 1.5 million Palestinians to safety in Rafah before the military takes action there against the remaining Hamas battalions. Implementing such a plan, including mechanisms to support people after being placed in other locations, would take weeks, the official was quoted as saying.
Gray areas: Built-up areas in the Gaza Strip, hatching: Israeli army
According to insiders, an attack on the US freighter Sea Champion was a mistaken attack by the militant Yemeni Houthi militia. The attack on the ship was accidental, a person familiar with the matter said at the port of Aden. Another port employee in Hodeidah, who also did not want to be named, said the Houthis said the attack was unintentional. Representatives of the Houthis could not immediately be reached for comment. According to U.S. Central Command, the Sea Champion has delivered humanitarian aid to Yemen 11 times in the past five years.
According to a media report, the Israeli army is expanding a road across the Gaza Strip to maintain security control over the Palestinian coastal area indefinitely. This was reported by the US newspaper “Wall Street Journal”, citing unnamed defense officials.
The gravel road divides the sealed-off coastal strip south of the city of Gaza from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean coast along an east-west corridor that has been occupied by Israeli troops since the start of the war against the Islamist Hamas a good four months ago. The road expansion is part of Israel’s efforts to reshape the topography of the Gaza Strip, the report said. This will allow the military to continue to move quickly through the coastal area on a safe route even after most troops have withdrawn. Israel already controls key north-south roads in Gaza.
US officials are confident about a humanitarian pause in the Gaza war before the holy month of Ramadan. There is “great hope” for an early agreement on the release of the hostages held by Hamas in return for a pause in fighting, two Democratic US senators told the Reuters news agency after talks with the Israeli leadership in Jerusalem and Jordan’s King Abdullah. Arab countries, led by Jordan, have expressed concern that Israel’s sustained offensive against Hamas during the holy month of Ramadan could further inflame tensions in the war.
The French Navy destroyed two drones over the Red Sea on Tuesday night. In the UN Security Council, a resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza failed due to the US veto. Tuesday’s live blog for reading.