Middle East live blog: ++ British freighter badly hit off the coast of Yemen ++

According to Houthi information, a British cargo ship attacked in the Red Sea is in danger of sinking. The Palestinian Prime Minister calls on the international community to develop a reconstruction program for the Gaza Strip. The developments in the live blog.

French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the situation in the Gaza Strip with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sissi. The two spoke on the phone on Saturday, the French presidential office said.

Israel declares Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva persona non grata unless he withdraws his comparison of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to the Nazi genocide in World War II. “We will neither forget nor forgive,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told Brazil’s ambassador, according to his office. “It is a serious anti-Semitic attack. Tell President Lula on my behalf and on behalf of the citizens of Israel that he is persona non grata in Israel until he takes it back.”

Israel has accused Lula of trivializing the Holocaust and insulting the Jewish people. Katz had summoned the Brazilian ambassador because of the statements.

In view of the tensions in the West Bank, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell continues to push for sanctions against extremist Jewish settlers. However, the consent of all 27 member states is still missing, he said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. With a view to the upcoming Islamic month of fasting, Borrell warned of a tipping point in the situation. “The West Bank is boiling,” he said literally. If people in the West Bank are prevented from attending mosques during Ramadan, the situation could become even worse.

The attacks by Israeli settlers should be described as “terrorist acts against the Palestinian population,” said the foreign representative. “If we want to maintain our credibility, we must denounce what is happening in the West Bank.” Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) also spoke out in favor of sanctions “to make it clear to extremist settlers: This is a clear violation of the law and we as the European Union will not let it go uncommented.” The Israeli government must prosecute the crimes, she said before the start of the consultations.

According to the health authority there, which is controlled by the terrorist organization Hamas, 29,092 people have been killed since the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip began. More than 69,000 Palestinians were injured. In the past 24 hours alone, 107 people were killed and 145 others were injured.

At the start of the hearing on the legality of almost 60 years of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories at the International Court of Justice (ICC), the autonomous authority’s foreign minister called for justice for his people. Israel has been deliberately violating international law for decades, Riad al-Maliki said at the United Nations’ highest court in The Hague. “The power of law must prevail.”

The UN General Assembly requested a legal opinion from the ICC in 2022. It is intended to examine to what extent the 57-year occupation is legal and what legal consequences arise from it. Although the report is not binding, it could further increase international pressure on Israel in the Middle East war.

According to Palestine’s legal representatives, Israel has been violating international law since 1967 by annexing land and not granting the Palestinians the right to self-determination. A total of 52 states and three international organizations are taking part in the six-day hearing – a record number in the history of the ICC. Israel itself does not want to speak, but wants to take a written position. It can take months for the report to be presented.

The Israeli Air Force says it has targeted extremist Palestinians in various attacks in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army announced that the day before, immediately after a rocket was fired from the area of ​​​​the city of Gaza on the Israeli Kibbutz Beeri, the perpetrator was identified and killed in an air strike. “Other armed terrorist cells operating in the area close to the troops were also eliminated,” the statement continued.

During another operation in the west of the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, soldiers used a drone “to identify a terrorist cell that was approaching the troops.” They then instructed a fighter plane to shoot at them. “Shortly afterwards, four other terrorists were identified in the area and also eliminated by an Israeli fighter jet.”

Ralph Gladitz from the ARD studio Tel Aviv, on the significance of the hearing before the International Criminal Tribunal for Israel.

The foreign ministers of the EU states have decided to start a new military operation to secure merchant shipping in the Red Sea and neighboring sea areas. This is what several EU diplomats told the dpa news agency in Brussels.

The plan for Operation Aspides involves sending European warships to the Red Sea and neighboring sea areas. These are then intended to protect merchant ships there from attacks by the militant Islamist Houthis from Yemen. The militia wants to force an end to the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, which followed the Hamas massacre in Israel, by shelling ships.

The Houthi militia in Yemen say they hit a cargo ship so badly that it could sink. It is the British ship “Rubymar,” said Houthi spokesman Jahjah Sarea. The crew is safe.

British maritime protection provider Ambrey said yesterday that a Belize-flagged, British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo ship was attacked off the coast of Yemen. The crew abandoned the ship after an explosion. Ambrey had not given the name of the ship.

The British authority UKMTO had that night Shelling of the freighter “Master” reported.

Egypt has warned Israel strongly against an offensive in Rafah. “We view the possibility of an Israeli offensive in Rafah with great concern. We have made it very clear that this must not happen,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Schukri told the newspaper Die Welt.

Such an offensive would further increase the number of civilian deaths, especially women and children, he warned, citing Israeli plans to attack the southern Gaza city, home to more than a million Palestinian refugees.

On the question of whether Egypt could suspend the peace treaty with Israel that has existed since 1978 in the event of an advance on Rafah, the Foreign Minister replied that the agreement serves to maintain peace and security in the region, but added in a qualifying way: “It will continue to respect the legal framework for relations between the two countries, provided that all its articles are implemented fully, correctly and in good faith.”

There has been a new incident involving a cargo ship in the Red Sea. The Liberian-flagged freighter “Master” reported an explosion in the immediate vicinity, as reported by the British Navy authority UKMTO. The ship was damaged. All crew members are safe. The incident occurred 35 nautical miles from Al Mukha on the coast of Yemen, it said.

The militant Islamist Houthis from Yemen have recently repeatedly attacked ships on the important sea route through the Suez Canal. The militia wants to force an end to the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip by shelling merchant ships, which followed the unprecedented massacre by the Islamist Hamas in Israel on October 7th.

Israel’s military continued its operations against the militant Islamist Hamas in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip over the weekend. The army took control of Nasser Hospital, one of the larger hospitals in the coastal area. According to employees, the hospital is no longer functional. The army announced on Sunday evening that hundreds of terrorists and terror suspects who were hiding in the clinic had been captured. Some of them are said to have posed as medical staff.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Joav Galant sees the Islamists’ fighting spirit broken after more than four months of war. “200 terrorists surrendered in Nasser Hospital, dozens more in Amal Hospital,” Galant said on Sunday at a meeting with army commanders. “This shows that Hamas has lost its fighting spirit.” The information could not initially be independently verified.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtaje has called on the international community to launch a reconstruction program for the badly damaged Gaza Strip. “We need a Marshall Plan for the Gaza Strip,” Schtaje told the DPA news agency on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. This plan must consist of three components: emergency aid, reconstruction and a revival of the economy.

The foreign ministers of the European Union want to finally approve the naval mission for the Red Sea in Brussels. The EU wants to protect merchant ships from attacks by the Yemeni Houthi militia with three warships and escort aircraft. The German frigate “Hessen”, which has around 240 soldiers on board, is also planned for the operation. The mandate for the EU mission “Aspides” requires the approval of the Bundestag. The vote is expected next Friday.

The EU foreign ministers’ meeting will also discuss options for further support for Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East war. The wife of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, also takes part in the meeting.

Israeli Minister Benny Gantz has threatened to launch the planned offensive on Rafah at the start of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. “The world needs to know and the Hamas leadership needs to know: If the hostages are not home by Ramadan, the fighting will continue everywhere, including in the Rafah region,” said the former Israeli army chief, who was part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet heard. The Islamic fasting month of Ramadan is scheduled to begin around March 10th.

The Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis is no longer functional, according to the WHO Director-General. Egypt wants to accuse Israel of illegal practices before the highest UN court. Sunday’s live blog for reading.