Two Palestinians were killed in Israeli army strikes in the West Bank city of Jenin, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA. Around a hundred military vehicles and excavators entered the city, writes WAFA. Hamas’ Al-Qassam Brigades claim they are fighting Israeli forces in the city with explosive devices, among other things, as “The Times of Israel” reports. The Israeli army has not yet provided any information.
+++ 03:36 Israel is apparently bombing the north of the Gaza Strip +++
Israeli airstrikes hit areas near the Shifa and Al-Kuds hospitals in Gaza City, according to Palestinian media reports. There are also clashes between Palestinian militants and Israeli troops in the border area east of the town of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian media. Neither Hamas nor the Israeli military commented on the fighting when asked. Images posted online show Israeli soldiers waving an Israeli flag deep in the Gaza Strip, suggesting a possible attempt to encircle Gaza’s capital, two days after the Israeli government ordered an expansion of ground attacks on the country’s eastern border. Portal could not immediately independently confirm the reports and images.
+++ 03:07 von der Leyen on Jew-hatred: defending the beginnings +++
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, told the newspaper “Bild” that supporting terrorism, anti-Semitism or violence against minorities is vile and has no place in Europe. “Our open and democratic societies are Europe’s greatest strength. But openness also makes us vulnerable. That’s why we must resist the beginnings wherever hatred against those who think differently is demonstrated, whether online or in our streets.”
+++ 02:20 Largest daily convoy of relief supplies to date arrives in Gaza +++
According to an Israeli media report, a convoy of nearly three dozen trucks carrying aid supplies arrived in the isolated Gaza Strip. As the Israeli news website Ynet reported, citing officials at the Egyptian Rafah border crossing, 23 trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed the border into the Gaza Strip. A total of 33 trucks arrived in the area that day. It is the largest daily convoy since the start of the war. However, according to humanitarian organizations, this is still not enough to support the more than 2.2 million residents of the Gaza Strip.
+++ 00:54 Galante: Hamas plays “psychological games” +++
Israel accuses Hamas of “psychological games” in connection with the hostages it kidnapped. “Hamas is cynically exploiting those dear to us,” Defense Minister Joav Gallant told families of those kidnapped. “The stories spread by Hamas are part of their mind games,” Gallant said, according to a statement released by his office. He is apparently referring to a Hamas statement on Saturday that the radical organization would release all hostages if in exchange all Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli prisons.
+++ 23:30 Israel bombs positions in Syria +++
The Israeli army claims to have fired at targets in Syria in response to rocket attacks. The military said the target was the missile launch site. The rockets landed in open areas. It is unclear which group was responsible for the shooting in Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several positions along the border were attacked. Witnesses report gunshots and explosions.
+++ 22:56 Jordan asks the US for Patriot missiles +++
Jordan, a close U.S. ally, said it asked Washington to station Patriot air defense systems in Jordan. The objective is to strengthen border defense at a time of high tensions and regional conflicts, an army spokesman said on state television.
+++ 22:36 Israel: Russia must guarantee the safety of Jews +++
Following anti-Jewish incidents, Israel calls on Russian authorities to protect its citizens. An anti-Semitic mob had previously stormed Makhachkala airport in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan because a plane from Tel Aviv had landed there. “Russian law enforcement authorities are expected to ensure the safety of all Israeli citizens and Jews and to take decisive action against rioters and wild incitement against Jews and Israelis,” Prime Minister Benjamin’s office said. Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Ministry in a joint statement.
+++ 21:59 Israel is now “urgently” asking people to leave northern Gaza +++
Israel is now expressly “urgently” calling on residents of the northern Gaza Strip to move south. “This is for their personal safety,” said military spokesman Daniel Hagari. “We emphasize today that this is an urgent call.” The spokesman did not provide further information about Israel’s ground offensive.
+++ 21:43 Biden calls for more humanitarian aid immediately +++
US President Joe Biden calls for a significant increase in humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. In a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he demanded that aid supplies to the Gaza Strip be increased “significantly and immediately.” This is the only way to meet the needs of the civilian population, the president said, according to a White House statement. Biden also spoke on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. According to the information, the two heads of state agreed to “accelerate and increase the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip from today and on an ongoing basis”. They also emphasized “the importance of protecting civilian lives and complying with international humanitarian law.”
+++ 21:13 Nine more hostages identified, now 239 +++
The number of known hostages held in the Gaza Strip continues to rise. Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in the evening that the families of the 239 abducted had been informed by Sunday. There are nine more than the previous day. The expectation is that the number could rise even further. Foreign workers were also among the hostages, Hagari said. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs spoke of 19 kidnapped people with Thai citizenship. In total, citizens of 25 countries are among those kidnapped. According to Israeli information, at least twelve have German citizenship. According to military information, the four hostages already released by the terrorist organization Hamas are not included in the 239 now mentioned.
+++ 20:55 Scholz defends abstention from UN resolution +++
Chancellor Olaf Scholz defends Germany’s abstention from voting on the resolution on Gaza at the UN General Assembly. Germany “worked hard to reach a United Nations General Assembly resolution that does justice to the situation,” Scholz said on Sunday during his visit to Nigeria. “When we were unsuccessful, we abstained from voting.” The main objective of the negotiations was not to ignore “the fact that it was an aggression, a brutal and murderous aggression on the part of Hamas that killed many people, children, babies, grandfathers and grandmothers”, emphasized Scholz. “This cannot be accepted and we will clearly support Israel in defending its own security.”
+++ 20:16 The Russian crowd tries to reach the plane from Tel Aviv +++
In the predominantly Muslim North Caucasus, there are increasing attacks on Jewish people. In Makhachkala, Dagestan, a crowd of people forced their way into the airport because a plane from Tel Aviv had landed there. Many people rush to the airfield. The airport will be temporarily closed and arriving aircraft will be diverted to other airports. On Saturday, a crowd of indignant people surrounded a hotel in the city of Khasavyurt, in Dagestan, because it was rumored that refugees from Israel were staying there. Dozens of men broke into the hotel to allegedly check the passports of hotel guests. The police isolated the hotel. In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Russian Muslims support their Palestinian brothers.
+++ 19:53 Lindner: It had nothing to do with the abstention on the UN resolution +++
FDP leader Christian Lindner was not involved in the decision on Germany’s abstention in the UN resolution on the war between Israel and Hamas. “I have not yet had the opportunity to speak with Ms. Baerbock about the considerations that led to this voting behavior,” he said on ARD. Without directly addressing Germany’s voting behavior in New York, Lindner added: “I only notice that Hamas is celebrating the vote and strongly criticizing Israel.” Regardless of the UN decision, he wanted to “make it explicitly clear to the federal government that we are on the side of Israel,” the FDP leader continued. “We know that Israel has the right to self-defense.”
+++ 19:23 Israel appoints Russian ambassador +++
Israel summons the Russian ambassador after representatives of the Islamist Hamas visit Moscow. Anatoly Viktorov has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman in Tel Aviv said. It was made clear to him that Israel considers Moscow’s “lack of a clear and clear condemnation of the terrorist organization Hamas by Moscow” to be serious. Receiving Hamas representatives as guests sends “a message of the legitimacy of terrorism against Israelis.” Diplomats from the Russian Foreign Ministry met with Hamas representatives in Moscow on Thursday. The Russian ministry said the release of foreign hostages had been discussed. The evacuation of Russian citizens and other foreign citizens from the Gaza Strip was also a problem.
+++ 18:59 35,000 demonstrate in Madrid for a ceasefire +++
Around 35,000 people demonstrate in Madrid for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “The whole world calls for an immediate ceasefire,” Spanish Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz, from the left-wing Sumar alliance, said at the rally. Many participants in the demonstration in the capital waved Palestinian flags and shouted “Freedom for Palestine”. Spanish authorities estimate the number of participants in Madrid at 35,000. Several pro-Palestine protesters also took to the streets in Valencia.
+++ 18:35 Another rocket launch from Lebanon against Israel +++
According to the Israeli army, several rockets were again fired from Lebanon into Israel. The army said around ten rockets penetrated Israeli territory and announced counterattacks. By late afternoon, the army had already reported the launch of nine rockets from Lebanon. In response, shots were fired at the rocket launch site, hitting launch pads, among other things. It remains unclear which group in Lebanon is responsible.
You can read about previous events here.