Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has contradicted French President Emmanuel Macron and sees Hamas, which rules there, solely responsible for the suffering of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. “While Israel does everything in its power to spare civilians and calls on them to leave the combat zones, Hamas uses them as human shields and does everything to prevent them from leaving for safer areas,” wrote Netanyahu on Saturday on the news platform
Macron had previously called for a ceasefire. “Civilians, babies, women and old people are being bombed and killed. There is no justification for attacking civilians. We call on Israel to stop it,” Macron said in an interview on the British television channel BBC. “I would like to remind everyone of international law, I call for a ceasefire.”
According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 11,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began – the vast majority of them Palestinian civilians. The number of injured was given as around 27,500, so around 2,700 people are considered missing. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told the UN Security Council that on average a child is killed every ten minutes in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu: Israel’s military should control Gaza after the end of the war
According to Netanyahu, Israeli forces should be in control of the Gaza Strip after the war. The military will “retain control of the strip; we will not hand it over to international forces,” said the head of government, according to media reports, at a meeting with representatives of Israeli border towns. Netanyahu had previously said Israel would not attempt to conquer, rule or occupy the Gaza Strip. However, the densely populated coastal area must be demilitarized, de-radicalized and rebuilt.
Baerbock appeals to Gulf states: work together for peace
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock appealed to the Arab Gulf states to work together with the West on a peace solution for Israel and the Palestinian territories. “All people have an interest in peace and in living in dignity,” said the Green Party politician in Abu Dhabi. The Hamas terror has shaken the sense of security of an entire region. “Our common message from all moderates to the extremist actors in the region is very clear: Don’t add any more fuel to the fire.”
Erdogan: Israel is questioning its own legitimacy with its actions
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of expansionism in view of the Gaza war. Israel is trying to “build a state whose history only goes back 75 years and whose legitimacy is questioned by its own fascism,” he said in Ankara. When the state was founded in 1948, Israel “forcibly appropriated the land in which the Palestinian people had lived for thousands of years,” Erdogan continued. The Islamic conservative politician has repeatedly sided with the Palestinians in the past and blamed Israel for the decades-long Middle East conflict.
WHO: 20 of 36 hospitals in Gaza out of operation
Because of the heavy bombing, destruction and lack of medical supplies, 20 of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are out of operation, according to the World Health Organization. Even the clinics that were still functioning were only running in emergency mode due to a lack of materials and electricity. In some cases they have twice as many patients as beds.
Israel now puts the number of terror victims at around 1,200
According to new findings, an estimated 1,200 people were murdered in Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. So far the number of deaths was given as around 1,400. The number could still change, said a ministry spokesman – for example when all the bodies have been identified.
What will be important on Saturday
Foreign Minister Baerbock will travel to Riyadh on Saturday for talks with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and the Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. At the same time, at the request of the Palestinians, the Arab League is also meeting in the Saudi capital for an emergency meeting on the Gaza war. Baerbock also wants to meet Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and opposition leader Jair Lapid in Israel. A conversation with a representative of the Palestinian Authority is also planned.
