2024-09-07 09:42:12
Israel publishes images of a Hamas tunnel near a kindergarten. Baerbock criticizes Israel’s actions in the West Bank. All developments in the news blog.
This blog has been terminated and will no longer be updated.
3.05 am: According to the United Nations, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains “more than catastrophic”. More than a million Palestinians did not receive humanitarian food rations in August, said UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric in New York. The number of meals cooked daily fell by 35 percent to 450,000 compared to July.
Dujarric attributed the drastic drop in cooked meals in part to the repeated evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces, which have forced at least 70 of 130 kitchens to either cease operations or relocate. The United Nations’ humanitarian partners also did not have sufficient food supplies to meet needs in central and southern Gaza for the second month in a row, he said, adding that they would only be able to distribute one food parcel to families in central and southern Gaza in September.
1.20 am: According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, 90 percent of a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip has already been agreed. However, there are still important issues that remain to be resolved, says Blinken. It is necessary for both sides to agree to the remaining open points. “I expect that in the coming days we will communicate our thoughts to Israel and they (Qatar and Egypt) to Hamas on how exactly the remaining issues can be resolved,” adds Blinken, referring to the US and the mediators Qatar and Egypt.
10.30 p.m.: During her visit to the Middle East, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) called on Israel to exercise restraint in the West Bank and sharply criticized Israeli government ministers. “The new outbreak of violence in the West Bank is a major concern for us,” said Baerbock during her visit to Jordan. Israel must maintain law and order in the Palestinian territory “instead of endangering it.” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called on Germany to support sanctions against Israel.
Israel must ensure “the protection of the population from attacks by violent, radical settlers” in the West Bank, said Baerbock in the Jordanian capital Amman. At the same time, Israel has the right and the duty “to take action against all perpetrators of violence and acts of terror.” With regard to Israel’s intervention in the West Bank, Baerbock also stressed: “You don’t fight terror by tearing up streets, destroying water pipes and power grids, or blocking trains to hospitals.”
Israel must adhere to the principle of proportionality. “Otherwise, the people there will be left with the leaden feeling of living in a lawless area,” she says. This creates “new mistrust and new hatred.”
11.05 am: The second phase of the polio vaccination campaign is starting in the Gaza Strip. In the south of the Palestinian territory, crowds have gathered in front of medical centers. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is drawing a positive interim conclusion. So far, around 187,000 children have been vaccinated. The polio vaccinations are made possible by temporary and local ceasefires between Hamas and the Israeli army. A total of 640,000 children are to be vaccinated.
Israel attacks command center in humanitarian zone
11.05 am: According to Palestinian reports, an Israeli attack in the Gaza Strip within a designated humanitarian zone has left several people dead. Four people were killed and several injured on the grounds of a clinic in the city of Deir al-Balah, reports the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Israel’s army said it carried out an air attack on a command center of the Islamist Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the humanitarian zone last night. “The attack was carried out to eliminate an immediate threat,” the army said in a statement.
According to Wafa, minors and women were among the dead and injured. When asked, Israel’s military did not initially comment on the allegation. The information could not initially be independently verified.