Even Israel’s closest ally, the USA, is increasingly urging the country to show more consideration for the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Does Israel have to bow to the pressure?
Almost ten weeks after the start of the Gaza war, pressure is growing on Israel to show more consideration for the civilian population in its actions against the Islamist Hamas. The tone is also becoming sharper from the USA, a close ally of Israel. A visit by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to Israel is expected to result in “extremely serious discussions,” Washington said.
Meanwhile, the federal prosecutor’s office in Berlin and Rotterdam, Netherlands, arrested a total of four suspected members of the Islamist Hamas on suspicion of membership in a foreign terrorist organization. It was about weapons that should be kept ready for possible attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe, it said in a statement.
According to the Israeli foreign secret service Mossad, there were also several arrests of terror suspects with ties to the Islamist Hamas in Denmark.
Criticism of Israel is becoming louder not only because of the many war victims in the Gaza Strip, but also because of the violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank. According to a report, the US is already holding back arms shipments out of concern that they could end up in the hands of radical settlers. Great Britain’s Foreign Minister David Cameron announced entry bans against radical settlers.
When it comes to the question of what will happen next in Gaza after the war, a rift is also opening up between Israel and its allies. While a two-state solution continues to be seen internationally as the best path to peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians, Israeli government officials have once again cast doubt on such a solution.
US security adviser for “serious talks” in Israel
According to the White House, Sullivan wanted to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the War Cabinet about the next phase of military operations in the Gaza Strip. It’s about being more precise and reducing the damage to the civilian population. The opening of the Kerem Shalom border crossing for aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip should also be on the agenda.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had clearly rejected calls for a ceasefire the day before. “We will continue until the end, until victory, until the destruction of Hamas, even in the face of international pressure,” he told soldiers on Wednesday, according to a statement from the government press office. “Nothing will stop us.”
Arrests in Berlin after suspected Hamas attack plans
The federal prosecutor’s office in Berlin and Rotterdam, Netherlands, arrested a total of four suspected members of the Islamist Hamas on suspicion of membership in a foreign terrorist organization.
According to a statement, three men were arrested in Berlin. Another was caught in Rotterdam. The defendants are accused of membership in a foreign terrorist organization. One of the Berlin-based suspects is said to have been commissioned by Hamas to locate an earth depot with weapons in Europe that the organization had set up there in the past. The weapons should therefore be brought to Berlin and kept ready for possible attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe.
CNN: Most Israeli ammunition not precision-guided
According to a report by the news channel CNN, around 40-45 percent of the air-to-ground munitions dropped by Israel in the Gaza war are not precision-guided. The US broadcaster based its information on intelligence information. Israel has used a total of around 29,000 pieces of ammunition against targets on the ground since October 7th. Unguided munitions are typically less precise and can pose a greater danger to civilians, the report said.
Israeli military spokeswoman Keren Hajioff said yesterday that the military plans its operations very carefully and uses special ammunition to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. US President Joe Biden had previously criticized that Israel was beginning to lose support due to its “indiscriminate bombardment”.
The war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, which terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups carried out in Israel on October 7th. More than 1,200 people were killed and around 240 hostages were taken to Gaza. Israel responded with massive air strikes and began a ground offensive in late October. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, around 18,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip so far.
US withholds weapons for Israel because of radical settlers
According to a newspaper report, the USA is reluctant to deliver more than 27,000 rifles intended for Israel’s police. The government is concerned that the weapons could end up in the hands of radical settlers in the West Bank, wrote the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed government officials. Israel’s previous assurances that the rifles would only remain with the police were therefore not enough. The US State Department has therefore called for concrete steps to curb violence against Palestinians from settlers in the West Bank, the newspaper said.
Israeli ambassador to London: No two-state solution
Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely has ruled out a two-state solution following the war in Gaza. In an interview with the British news channel Sky News, when asked repeatedly, she said that a two-state solution was “absolutely out of the question” for the period after the Gaza war.
The Oslo peace process failed because the Palestinians never wanted their own state alongside Israel, but rather one that included Israel’s territory, said the ultra-right ex-politician, who has already held several cabinet positions in her homeland. The Israeli Minister for Social Equality, Amichai Chikli, from the ruling Likud party, did not even rule out the establishment of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.
Israel asks Egypt to mediate hostage deal
According to a media report, Israel asked Egypt to broker a new hostage deal with Hamas and negotiate a ceasefire. Part of such an agreement should also include a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Israel, reported the Arabic-language newspaper Al Arabi Al Jadid.
Hamas confirmed that mediators were in “serious discussions about a ceasefire.” A senior Hamas official told the German Press Agency that there would be no exchange of hostages and prisoners before a ceasefire comes into force.
At the end of November, Israel and the Islamist Hamas agreed to a one-week ceasefire with the mediation of Egypt and Qatar, during which 105 hostages kidnapped by Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip were released.
Mossad: Hamas terror suspect arrested in Denmark
According to the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad, authorities in Denmark arrested several terror suspects linked to the Islamist Hamas. The security services had thus “thwarted an attack whose aim was to kill innocent civilians on European soil,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. According to the information, a total of seven people were arrested. The Danish police initially spoke of three arrests. The target of the planned attack was initially unclear.
US destroyer responded to attack in Red Sea
A US Navy destroyer responded to a distress call in the Red Sea from a tanker that US officials said was attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The responsible regional command of the US military announced on X (formerly Twitter) that forces of the Iranian-backed Houthis had tried to get on board the tanker. However, the attempt failed. Two rockets were then fired at the ship from areas in Yemen controlled by the Houthis. Both would have missed their target.
Telecommunications services down in the Gaza Strip
According to the provider Paltel, telecommunications services have failed again in the Gaza Strip. All communications and internet services have been completely suspended due to the “ongoing aggression,” the West Bank-based Palestinian company wrote on Facebook.
Since the beginning of the war, the communication networks in the sealed-off coastal area have failed several times. Connections to the outside world were only possible with satellite cell phones and sometimes from tall buildings in the south of the Gaza Strip with Israeli SIM cards.