The USA urges Israel to take further steps in the humanitarian crisis. Qatar reports that there have been no talks about a ceasefire in Gaza for weeks. All developments in the news blog.
2.12 a.m.: Syrian state media reports of an Israeli attack on the Mediterranean port city of Latakia. The city has become the target of “aggression,” reports the state news agency Sana, citing military circles. There is currently no further information about possible damage or victims. Israel typically does not comment on such reports. However, the Israeli government has repeatedly stated that it will carry out operations in Syria to push back the influence of Iran and its allied militias.
1:24 a.m.: According to the Pentagon, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Israel to take further measures to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip in a telephone conversation with his colleague Joaw Gallant. “The minister encouraged the Israeli government to take further steps to address the catastrophic humanitarian situation and noted Israel’s recent measures to increase humanitarian assistance to Gaza,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. The conversation followed a letter from Washington to Israel earlier in the week urging an improvement in the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
0.02 a.m.: According to Qatar, there have been no more talks about a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in the past three to four weeks. “We’re just going around in circles with silence from all parties,” said Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani after the meeting of the EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council in Brussels. In his second term as foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed served as a mediator in negotiations between Israel and the radical Islamic group Hamas.
7:10 p.m: Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz calls on Germany to supply the weapons used in his country. “We expect Germany to supply the weapons that Israel needs. Germany has a special responsibility for Israel’s security, and now is the time for it,” Katz told the “Bild” newspaper in an interview.
Between March and mid-August, the federal government no longer approved deliveries of military weapons to Israel. It is unclear whether this is currently the case. “We are supplying war weapons to Germany, far more than Germany has to supply to Israel,” Katz added.
In the heated debate about arms deliveries to Israel, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) once again made a clear promise in a government statement on the upcoming EU summit in the Bundestag on Wednesday. “There are deliveries and there will always be more deliveries. Israel can rely on that,” he said. The country attacked by the terrorist militia Hamas must be able to defend itself.
4:22 p.m.: Israel appears to have prepared a response to the Iranian attack on October 1st. The plan is ready, CNN reports, citing a source familiar with the matter.
According to the source, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured the US that a counterstrike against Iran would be limited to military targets, not oil or nuclear facilities.
3:05 p.m.: AfD chairman Tino Chrupalla sharply criticizes the further arms deliveries to Israel announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). “With your arms deliveries to Israel, you are accepting the dehumanization of all civilian deaths on both sides. You are not contributing to de-escalation, but are simply adding fuel to the fire,” the AfD leader accuses the federal government in the Bundestag.
The federal government believes that it can “solve the conflicts in the Middle East with arms deliveries.” But there should be “no delivery of German weapons to any warring party,” demands the AfD leader, who also emphasizes Israel’s right to self-defense.