Skip next section Gaza death toll rises to 42,792 — Health Ministry
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
Gaza death toll rises to 42,792 — Health Ministry
Israel’s offensive in since the October 7 terror attacks last year has killed more than 42,792 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s Health Ministry.
There were at least 74 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 100,412 people have been wounded since the latest conflict began.
Around half of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants are children.
Israel launched its Gaza operation after the Hamas attacks in southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people.
https://p.dw.com/p/4m8pl
Skip next section Germany’s Baerbock warns Lebanon is ‘on the brink’
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
Germany’s Baerbock warns Lebanon is ‘on the brink’
has warned that Lebanon is close to collapse after arriving for a visit to the country as Israel clashes with the militant group Hezbollah.
Baerbock is on her 12th trip to the Middle East since the Hamas attack of October 7 last year that sparked Israel’s war in Gaza and now against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is becoming more desperate by the day,” she said at the start of the trip, which was not previously announced because of security concerns.
“Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing with their last belongings, children are being separated from their parents, hospitals are working at the limit of their capacity.”
“Lebanon is on the brink of collapse.”
Baerbock said Hamas allies Hezbollah are “hiding behind civilians and continuing to fire rockets at Israel.”
She also cautioned that Israel must operate within “the narrow limits of the right to self-defense and international humanitarian law”.
The minister said that “any deliberate attack on UN peacekeepers violates international humanitarian law.”The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has accused Israel of attacking its peacekeepers multiple times in recent weeks.
“All parties to the conflict also have an obligation to protect UN peacekeepers,” said Baerbock. “The soldiers of UNIFIL have our full support. They are needed for a political solution to the conflict.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4m8k6
Skip next section Blinken to talk to Arab counterparts in London
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
Blinken to talk to Arab counterparts in London
The US State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken is slated to meet Arab counterparts in London on Friday to discuss Israel’s wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
He will speak with foreign ministers in the British capital after talks on Thursday in Qatar, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters as Blinken flew from Israel to .
https://p.dw.com/p/4m8FR
Skip next section Drone strike reported in Lebanon’s Tyre
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
Drone strike reported in Lebanon’s Tyre
state media has reported an Israeli drone strike on a street in the historic southern coastal city of Tyre.
“An enemy drone targeted” a “street in Tyre”, the National News Agency said. Video footage from AFP news agency showed a plume of black smoke rising from the city.
Earlier, the Israeli military issued a new evacuation call for Tyre, warning of impending operations that would target Hezbollah.
The warning sparked a new evacuation from the city.
The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted a map of the affected streets in Tyre on X.
“You must immediately move out of the area marked in red and head north of the Awali River,” he said.
“Anyone who is near Hezbollah elements, facilities and combat equipment is putting his life in danger.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4m7O3
Skip next section US rejects any reoccupation of Gaza, says Blinken
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
US rejects any reoccupation of Gaza, says Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has repeated that Washington rejects any Israeli reoccupation of Gaza.
He added that he had been assured by that there were no such plans, despite pressure from within his own political party to allow settlers to return.
“I can be very clear on that because I’ve been clear on that for the last year. We fully reject it. We reject any Israeli reoccupation of Gaza.”
“It’s been US policy, it will remain US policy, and it’s also, to the best of my understanding, the policy of the Israeli government. That I heard from the prime minister, who is the authoritative word on these things,” he said.
Hundreds of far-right demonstrators, including legislators and , gathered near the Israel-Gaza border on Monday to demand the establishment of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territory. The event was titled “Preparing to Resettle Gaza.”
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July maintained that Gaza has remained effectively occupied even after Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, because Israel maintains control over its land sea and air borders.
https://p.dw.com/p/4m7L7
Skip next section Baerbock in Beirut says diplomatic solution needed for Israel, Lebanon
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
Baerbock in Beirut says diplomatic solution needed for Israel, Lebanon
has arrived in Beirut for talks saying that, after Israel had succeeded in weakening Hezbollah, work was needed to find a viable diplomatic solution with Lebanon.
“The task now is to work with our partners in the US, Europe and the Arab world to find a viable diplomatic solution that safeguards the legitimate security interests of both Israel and Lebanon,” Baerbock said in a statement.
She added that attacks on UN forces in Lebanon “violate international law.” Peacekeepers with the UN’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, were injured by Israeli fire earlier this month.
https://p.dw.com/p/4m7Lt
Skip next section Blinken says ‘now is the time’ to end Gaza war
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
Blinken says ‘now is the time’ to end Gaza war
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv on Wednesday that the war in Gaza should end now, and added that Israel needed to do more to allow in aid despite some improvement in deliveries.
Blinken said he had pressed Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into and reiterated his warning that the failure to do so could lead to a reduction in US military aid.
“There’s progress made, which is good, but more progress needs to be made,” on that front, he said.
Blinken said Israel needed to pursue an “enduring strategic success” after its recent tactical victories against .
“Since October 7 a year ago, Israel has achieved most of its strategic objectives when it comes to Gaza.”
“Now is the time to turn those successes into an enduring strategic success. And there are really two things left to do, get the hostages home and bring the war to an end with an understanding of what will follow,” Blinken told reporters.
Speaking as he prepared to leave Israel for Riyadh, Blinken also said Israel should grasp the “incredible opportunity” to normalize relations with Saudi Arabia, a process put on hold by the war in Gaza.
“There remains, despite everything that’s happened, an incredible opportunity in this region to move in a totally different direction,” he said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4m7HD
Skip next section Lufthansa suspends flights to Beirut, Tehran until early 2025
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
Lufthansa suspends flights to Beirut, Tehran until early 2025
Germany’s flagship has extended the suspension of its flights to Tehran and Beirut until early next year over concerns of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Flights to Tehran will be suspended until the end of January while those to Beirut are suspended until the beginning of March, said the group that includes Swiss and Austrian Airlines.
The group has said it is avoiding Israeli airspace until the end of October and will not use Iranian and Iraqi airspace “until further notice,” except for a corridor in Iraqi airspace for departures and arrivals to Erbil in northern Iraq.
https://p.dw.com/p/4m7HX
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
Blinken urges Netanyahu to ‘capitalize’ on Sinwar death and seek to end war in Gaza
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Prime Minister held talks in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, .
Blinken called on Netanyahu to try to use the moment as a catalyst to halt the conflict in Gaza.
As Hamas’ Gaza leader, Sinwar is considered to have orchestrated the October 7 terror attacks on Israel.
The top US diplomat “underscored the need to capitalize on Israel’s successful action to bring Yahya Sinwar to justice by securing the release of all hostages and ending the conflict in Gaza in a way that provides lasting security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Blinken’s spokesperson said of the meeting.
He also stressed the need to provide assistance to displaced Palestinians and the importance of “charting a new path forward in the post-conflict period,” the spokesperson said.
Netanyahu’s office meanwhile called the meeting “friendly and productive.” It also referenced Sinwar’s death and the prospect of an end to the fighting, but made no explicit mention of seeking a cease-fire.
“The prime minister emphasized that the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is likely to have a positive influence on the return of the hostages, the achieving of all the objectives of the war and the day after the war,” it said.
Blinken has been a key component of cease-fire negotiations for a year now that have yielded little fruit since a one-week cease-fire accompanied by hostage and prisoner exchanges in November 2023. He has visited the Middle East 11 times since October 7.
https://p.dw.com/p/4m74v
Skip next section IDF confirms death of likely successor to slain Hezbollah leader Nasrallah
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
IDF confirms death of likely successor to slain Hezbollah leader Nasrallah
Israel’s military confirmed late on Tuesday that it had killed top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, considered the heir apparent to late Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was in an Israeli attack targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that Safieddine was killed in a strike approximately three weeks ago in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The confirmation of Safieddine’s death comes after weeks of reports that he was likely killed in a bomb strike in early October.
Hezbollah had yet to comment on Israel’s claim.
“We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah’s senior leadership,” Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herz Halevi said. “We will reach anyone who threatens the security of the civilians of the State of Israel.”
The IDF said that the head of the militant group’s intelligence branch was among several other commanders killed in the attack in the southern Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut.
https://p.dw.com/p/4m74u
Skip next section FBI probing leak of Israel’s potential Iran attack plans
10/23/2024October 23, 2024
FBI probing leak of Israel’s potential Iran attack plans
The FBI is investigating the public disclosure of a pair of highly classified intelligence documents describing Israel’s possible preparations for a retaliatory strike on Iran.
“The FBI is investigating the leak of classified documents and working closely with our partners in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community,” it said in a statement on Tuesday.
Earlier, on Monday, White House spokesperson John Kirby said US President was watching the results of the investigation closely, and that it was not clear whether it was a hack or a leak.
“We’re not exactly sure how these documents found their way into the public domain,” Kirby said. “The president remains deeply concerned about any leakage of classified information into the public domain. That is not supposed to happen, and it is unacceptable when it does.
The documents began circulating last week on the Telegram messaging app. They appear to be based on satellite imagery monitoring from mid-October.
Iran , saying it was a response to the deaths of Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah, Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh and an IRGC general. Israel had threatened to retaliate.
rc,zc,msh/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
https://p.dw.com/p/4m74t
The post US says it’s time to end Gaza war after Hamas leader killed appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
