Israel-Gaza war live: Israeli military says it is ‘approaching decision’ on offensive along Lebanon border
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is facing growing pressure at home and internationally to support a new ceasefire plan for Gaza, a move he is resisting over fears it will collapse his government.
The Israeli prime minister said that Biden, in advancing a plan to wind down the war in Gaza, had published only some of the details. “The war will be stopped for the purpose of returning hostages and then we will proceed with other discussions,” David Mencer, an Israeli government spokesperson, quoted Netanyahu as saying.
The Rafah border crossing critical to aid deliveries into Gaza from Egypt can not operate again unless Israel relinquishes control and hands it back to Palestinians on the Gaza side, Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry said. “It is difficult for the Rafah crossing to continue operating without a Palestinian administration,” he said in a press conference with his Spanish counterpart in Madrid.
About 55% of all structures in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed, damaged or possibly damaged since the war erupted in October, according to preliminary satellite analysis by the UN. The analysis showed more than 137,000 buildings affected, according to Unosat, the UN satellite analysis agency.
Some people in Gaza are now reduced to drinking sewage water and eating animal feed, the WHO’s regional chief said Tuesday, pleading for increased aid access immediately to the besieged territory. Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean regional director, also warned that the war between Israel and Hamas had a knock-on impact on healthcare across the wider region. The child health expert spoke to Agence France-Presse in an interview at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. Inside Gaza, “there are people who are now eating animal food, eating grass, they’re drinking sewage water,” she said. Children are barely able to eat, while the trucks are standing outside of Rafah.”
France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Palestinian Authority should “ensure the governance” of the Gaza Strip, the presidential office said. Macron in phone talks backed the proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal presented by US President Joe Biden, reports Agence France-Presse. “This deal should reopen a credible perspective for the implementation of a two-state solution, the only one able to provide Israel with the necessary security guarantees and to respond to the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians,” he said.
Slovenia recognised a Palestinian state on Tuesday after its parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the move, reports Associated Press. “Dear people of Palestine, today’s final decision of Slovenia is a message of hope and peace,” Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon said on the social media platform X. “We believe that only a two-state solution can lead to a lasting peace in the Middle East. Slovenia will tirelessly continue to work on the security of both nations, Palestinians and Israelis.” Slovenia’s decision came days after Spain, Norway and Ireland recognised a Palestinian state, a move that was condemned by Israel.
A group of UN experts has called for all countries to recognise a Palestinian state to ensure peace in the Middle East. The experts, including the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recognition of a Palestinian state was an important acknowledgment of the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle towards freedom and independence.
The US House of Representatives voted Tuesday to advance a largely symbolic bill calling for sanctions on the international criminal court after its prosecutor applied for an arrest warrant against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.