Middle East live blog: ++ Egyptian delegation expected in Israel ++

An Egyptian delegation is expected in Israel, which could advance talks to release the hostages. There was a moving memorial service for the slain World Central Kitchen helpers. All developments in the live blog.

The police have banned a pro-Palestinian protest camp next to the Chancellery in Berlin that has existed since April 8th. To justify this, a local police spokeswoman said that in the past two weeks there had been repeated suspected crimes such as incitement to hatred, attacks on emergency services and the distribution of propaganda from unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. Among other things, the camp participants protested against the supply of German weapons to Israel and their use in the war in the Gaza Strip.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is traveling to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on Monday for talks about the Middle East conflict. This was announced by a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin. Meetings with “regional partners”, including the United Arab Emirates, are planned. The concrete planning is still ongoing, said the spokesman. The aim is to make progress in releasing the remaining hostages and alleviating the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Israeli army, a civilian worker was killed in shelling from Lebanon. Terrorists from the neighboring country fired anti-tank missiles at the Har Dov area in the Golan Heights, the army wrote.

The Israeli Air Force, for its part, attacked military targets of the Iranian-backed Shiite militia Hezbollah in the area of ​​the village of Shebaa in southern Lebanon. A weapons depot and a rocket launch pad were hit. The army said other Hezbollah positions were attacked near the towns of Kfar Shuba and Ain al-Tineh.

The militant Islamist terrorist organization Hamas has been holding people captive in the Gaza Strip for more than 200 days. It is not known how many of the approximately 130 hostages are still alive. Germany now joins the USA and 16 other countries appealed to the Palestinian Organization to release the hostages immediately. This would also allow for an immediate and longer-term ceasefire in Gaza.

Shortly before Israel’s expected ground offensive in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip, there are new signs of movement in the stalled ceasefire negotiations, according to media reports. Israel’s government is therefore prepared to abandon its original demand for the release of 40 living hostages by the Islamist Hamas in return for a temporary ceasefire.

Israeli media reported Thursday evening that Israel was willing to accept the release of just 20 hostages – 33 hostages, according to a senior official – in a first phase of a deal. These are Israeli women, men over 50 and seriously ill people, it said. Discussions between an Israeli negotiating team and an Egyptian delegation are planned in Israel this Friday. Egypt wants to reach an agreement to avert Israel’s military operation in Rafah.

New York’s renowned Columbia University has postponed the eviction deadline for a pro-Palestinian tent camp. The talks between the university management and the protest participants have “made progress” and will continue as planned, said the office of university president Minouche Shafik on Thursday evening.

The deadline originally scheduled for midnight on Thursday (local time) has therefore been postponed. “We have our demands, they have theirs,” it continued. The management also rejected information that the university had asked the police to come to campus. “This rumor is false,” it said.

The US military has begun building a temporary port off the coast of the Gaza Strip to deliver aid. US naval ships are involved, said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder: “I can confirm that US military ships (…) have begun to build the first sections of the temporary pier and causeway at sea.”

Realistically, the port should be operational at the beginning of May. In the meantime, Ryder said, we are continuing to work with the international community to bring aid to the Gaza Strip.

The military spokesman for the Yemeni Houthi militia, Yahya Sarea, announced an attack on the container ship “MSC Darwin” in the Gulf of Aden in a televised speech. Switzerland-based MSC, which operates the world’s largest container shipping line by fleet capacity, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Houthis also said a number of ballistic missiles and wing rockets were fired at several targets in the Israeli port city of Eilat.

The founder of World Central Kitchen paid tribute to his aid group’s workers killed by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip at a memorial service in the US. The helpers represented the “best of humanity” and risked everything “to feed people they didn’t know and would never know,” said celebrity chef José Andrés at the Washington National Cathedral. At times he seemed to struggle for composure as he spoke about the life achievements, commitment and character of the seven employees.

In early April, aid workers in the Gaza Strip were killed when missiles fired from Israeli combat drones hit their vehicles. A Palestinian driver and three Britons were killed; an American who also has Canadian citizenship, a Pole and an Australian. Israel later called it a tragic mistake and acknowledged that the attack was the result of a misidentification of the group’s car convoy. Two officers were fired and three others were reprimanded for violating the rules of engagement.

According to a media report, up to 200,000 Palestinians have left the city of Rafah in view of the impending fighting. A Greek frigate shot down a Houthi drone in the Gulf of Aden. All developments from Thursday to read.