A phone call between US President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu is having an impact. Israel wants to let aid into the Gaza Strip via new routes. The news at a glance.
After Israel announced that it would allow more aid into the Gaza Strip, the USA and other countries called for the plan to be implemented quickly. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels that Israel must deliver results. The USA would check how many trucks would actually arrive permanently in the crisis region. It would also be important that relief supplies be distributed throughout the coastal area, especially in the north. The Federal Government and the EU Commission also expect that the Israeli government’s announcements will quickly be followed by action.
After a clear warning from its ally the USA, Israel decided to take “immediate steps” to increase humanitarian aid for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. The war cabinet decided to temporarily open the port of Ashdod and the Erez border crossing for aid deliveries. This will make it easier for help to reach northern Gaza, which is particularly affected by food shortages. The aid coming from Jordan via the Kerem Shalom border crossing will also be increased.
According to the White House, US President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call yesterday to take a series of “specific, concrete and measurable steps” to reduce the suffering for the people of Gaza and to protect aid workers increase.
“The people of Gaza need every aid package, and that is why we expect the Israeli government to implement its announcements quickly,” said a spokesman for the Foreign Office in Berlin. The measures are “important and right, but of course they are also overdue.” Deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said it was assumed that at least the equivalent of 500 trucks would be needed to ensure minimum supplies and meet minimum humanitarian needs. The UN also recently deemed 500 trucks a day necessary.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also reiterated the urgency of aid deliveries. In his opinion, there is a catastrophic hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip. “Children in Gaza are dying today from lack of food and water,” said Guterres. This is completely avoidable. “When the door to help is closed, the door to starvation opens.” More than a million people, around half the population of the sealed-off coastal strip, are at risk of catastrophic hunger. “Nothing can justify collective punishment for the Palestinians,” Guterres continued.
Army fires officers
After the Israeli army’s deadly attack on employees of the aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) in the Gaza Strip, the military wants to remove two officers from their posts. Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi has decided to dismiss a responsible commander and the chief of staff of the responsible brigade from their positions, the Israeli military said. Other commanders are warned.
An army investigation concluded that Monday evening’s incident represented a “serious failure” by emergency services. They attacked the aid convoy because they suspected that two armed Hamas members were in the car. The attacks on the vehicles were carried out in “a serious violation of the army’s orders and standard operating procedures.” “The results of the investigation indicate that the incident should not have happened.”
Blinken emphasized that it was critical that an independent, thorough and public investigation into the aid workers’ deaths be conducted. WCK itself described the dismissal of the officers from their positions as “important steps forward”, but at the same time called for fundamental changes. “Without systemic change, there will be more military failures, more apologies and more grieving families,” the Washington-based organization wrote.
Cameron calls for independent review
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has announced that he will closely examine the initial investigation results into Israel’s deadly attack on several aid workers in the Gaza Strip. “These results must be fully published and followed by a fully independent review to ensure the greatest transparency and accountability,” Cameron said on Platform X (formerly Twitter). He also welcomed the suspension of two officers.
Lessons must be learned from this, demanded Cameron. A comprehensive reform of Israel’s mechanisms is needed to ensure the safety of aid workers. “The death of these brave heroes is a tragedy and it must never happen again.”
New negotiation push for Gaza agreement?
According to a media report, the USA wants to help the indirect negotiations on the release of hostages and a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to achieve a breakthrough. As the usually well-informed Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported in the news portal Axios, citing two sources familiar with the matter, CIA Director Bill Burns is scheduled to meet this weekend for talks with the head of the Israeli foreign intelligence agency Mossad, David Barnea, and senior officials Qatar and Egypt travel to Cairo to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
According to the “Axios” report, Burns is scheduled to meet Barnea, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel in Cairo. For weeks, the USA, Qatar and Egypt have been mediating between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in order to achieve a ceasefire and an exchange of hostages kidnapped from Israel for Palestinian prisoners. According to Israeli estimates, almost 100 people abducted by Hamas are still alive.
Concern about Iranian retaliation
According to media reports, 28 Israeli embassies around the world remained closed on Friday due to fears of an Iranian retaliation. This was reported by the newspaper “Times of Israel” and the news site ynet. After the suspected Israeli airstrike on an Iranian embassy building in the Syrian capital Damascus on Monday with several deaths, Iran announced retaliation.
Two brigadier generals and five other members of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard were killed in the attack in Syria earlier this week. Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced “punishment” against Israel. How and when Iran’s state power will react is completely open. According to the Times of Israel, the reason for the embassy closures is also global demonstrations as part of Al-Kuds Day. Kuds rallies always take place on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The spiritual and political leadership of Iran calls for the conquest of Jerusalem.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah describes the suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy compound as a “turning point” with consequences. In a speech, the secretary general of the pro-Iranian Shiite organization said the Iranian response would inevitably come. Hezbollah is not afraid and is “well prepared” for any war. The militia has not yet used its strongest weapons. Regarding Hezbollah’s relationship with Iran, Nasrallah said: “Our relations and our support for Iran are a medal on our chest.” The Lebanese Hezbollah is considered Iran’s most important non-state ally in the Middle East.
UN calls for an end to arms exports to Israel
The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted three resolutions on Israel and the Palestinian territories at the end of its spring session in Geneva. Among other things, it called for an end to arms deliveries to Israel. This is necessary “to prevent further violations of international humanitarian law and human rights violations,” the resolution said.
Germany voted against the text. It does not mention the Islamist Hamas, denies Israel the right to self-defense and contains prejudgments against Israel, argued German Ambassador Katharina Stasch. Resolutions of the 47-member Human Rights Council are calls. The committee has no means of forcing its enforcement.
The Human Rights Council also commissioned a report on Israeli settler violence in Palestinian territories. An existing commission of experts should establish the identities of those settlers and settler groups who terrorize or intimidate the Palestinian civilian population, as it called for in its second resolution. The report should be available in just over a year. It should also shed light on whether and how Israel is taking action against legal violations. A third resolution emphasized the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.