The European Union has called on UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, to authorize an independent audit of its functioning, Monday January 29. “We ask them to agree to an audit being carried out by independent experts, chosen by the European Commission”said the Commission spokesperson, who added that it would decide whether or not to suspend its funding to UNRWA depending on the results of the investigation opened by the UN. Several states have announced that they are suspending their funding to this organization, essential to the operation of humanitarian aid in Gaza, several employees of which have been accused by Israel of being involved in the deadly attacks perpetrated by Hamas on October 7. Follow our live stream.
After drone attack in Jordan, Iraq calls to “stop the spiral of violence”. Iraqi authorities on Monday condemned the drone attack that occurred on Sunday on the border between Jordan and Syria, which resulted in the death of three American soldiers and injured at least 34 people. US President Joe Biden accuses “radical fighter groups supported by Iran operating in Syria and Iraq” for having carried out this attack, and threatened those responsible with reprisals. This is the first time that American soldiers have been killed in the Middle East since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Six dead in Syria in strike attributed to Israel. “Three Israeli missiles targeted a base of the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in the neighborhood of Sayeda Zeinab [dans le sud de Damas]leaving at least six dead”, including pro-Iranian fighters, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP, without being able to specify whether civilians were among the victims.
Four men executed in Iran. They were accused of spying for Israel and were hanged at dawn, according to the Iranian justice agency Mizan Online. The four convicts were arrested in July 2022 while they were preparing an operation against a Defense Ministry center in Isfahan, a large city in central Iran, on behalf of the Mossad, the agency said. Their death sentence was handed down in September 2023.
Thousands of Israelis are demanding settlements in Gaza. During this gathering held on Sunday evening in Jerusalem, 12 ministers were present, including the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who declared that he wanted “encourage voluntary emigration”, referring to a group of Israeli settlements once established in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far never supported the plan to relaunch settlements in Gaza, declaring that it was not “not a realistic goal”.