live blog
There is still no breakthrough in negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire. Israel has again attacked Hezbollah positions in Lebanon. The developments in the live blog.
According to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran, Iran will respond to any possible US attack on its territory. “The Islamic Republic will not hesitate to use its capabilities to provide a response that will cause remorse among the aggressors,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said.
The White House had previously not ruled out the possibility of a direct attack against Iran. Kanani went on to say that others had “already seen this ability and strength” and would “think a hundred times before every bad act.” However, he stressed that Iran is not trying to exacerbate tensions and crises in the region.
The Israeli bank Leumi has blocked the account of a radical settler. It is the first financial institution in Israel to respond to the sanctions that US President Joe Biden imposed on four extremist settlers on Thursday, as Israeli media reported. Biden justified his actions by saying that violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinian civilians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank had reached an “unbearable level.”
The owner of the blocked account is Yinon Levi, whom the US accuses of being the leader of a settler group that attacked Palestinian and Bedouin civilians, threatened them and destroyed their fields and property. Both his private and business accounts were blocked.
Christian Wagner, BR, currently Tel Aviv, tagesschau, February 5th, 2024 12:34 p.m
Spain wants to provide additional financial aid to the UN Palestinian Relief Agency (UNRWA). It’s a volume of 3.5 million euros, says Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares to MPs in Madrid. However, other countries, including the USA and Germany, had recently suspended their regular funding for UNRWA.
There are allegations that about a dozen employees of the organization were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are employed by UNRWA. The government in Madrid supported UNRWA with a total of 18.5 million euros last year.
The situation of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip is dramatic – hundreds of thousands of people are starving. Nevertheless, some Israelis are calling for an end to all aid deliveries because they end up with Hamas.
A report by Jan-Christoph Kitzler:
The Israeli military has deployed three troop divisions to the northern border with Lebanon. The army sees a possible escalation with Hezbollah, reports ARD correspondent Natalie Amiri from Tel Aviv. There were eight rocket attacks from Lebanon in the morning alone. The Iranian-backed militia is “much more professional” than Hamas in the Gaza Strip, she says.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken set off on another trip to the Middle East on Sunday (local time). This should also involve a new ceasefire and the release of hostages from the Gaza Strip. Blinken is expected in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and the West Bank. His fifth trip to the Middle East since the war began almost four months ago comes after the comprehensive US military strike on pro-Iranian militia positions in Iraq and Syria and renewed attacks on positions of the pro-Iranian Houthi militia in Yemen.
Meanwhile, the World Security Council is meeting in New York at Russia’s instigation to discuss the US attacks in Syria and Iraq. Moscow accuses Washington of deliberately wanting to escalate the conflict in the Middle East.
According to the Health Ministry, which is controlled by the militant Islamist Hamas, at least 128 people were killed in Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip overnight. Most of them are women and children, said the Ministry of Health. Hamas also spoke of ongoing Israeli attacks in the center and south of the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive, at least 27,365 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip – the authority makes no distinction between civilians and armed fighters.
The Israeli military said it had killed dozens of Palestinian gunmen in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, including in Khan Yunis in the south of the coastal strip.
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.
Gray areas: Built-up areas in the Gaza Strip, hatching: Israeli army
There is still no agreement in the negotiations between Israel and the terrorist militia Hamas about a new ceasefire and the release of further hostages. Hamas has a proposal recently negotiated in Paris by the US, Egypt and Qatar, which envisages the gradual release of the hostages in return for a longer ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners. A representative announced on Sunday that they would comment on this soon, but it was still being discussed internally. Israel’s negotiators are said to have already accepted the draft framework.
Hamas and other extremist groups attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping around 250 hostages. Israel responded to the worst massacre in its history with massive air strikes and a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. 105 hostages were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli prisons during the only ceasefire to date in November. According to Israel, 136 hostages are currently being held in the coastal area. Israel assumes that almost 30 of them are no longer alive.
The US says it has destroyed four more anti-ship missiles belonging to the Houthi militia in Yemen. According to US information, the projectiles were aimed at ships in the Red Sea.
The Israeli military said it attacked a military facility belonging to the Shiite militia Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The army announced late Sunday evening that warplanes had attacked a Hezbollah command center and a military compound in the city of Yaron. In addition, an observation post of the Iranian-backed militia in the city of Marun ar-Ras was attacked. The army did not say whether there were any casualties.
Hezbollah and Israel’s armed forces had previously fought again in the border area. Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the massacre by Hezbollah-allied Hamas and other extremist groups in Israel on October 7 last year, there have been repeated confrontations between Israel’s army and militant groups such as Hezbollah in the Israeli-Lebanese border region.
Israel’s army says it has stormed a Hamas training facility in the Gaza Strip. The US is threatening further retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed militant groups in the Middle East. Sunday’s developments to read.