Another dark day in the Middle East. The Israeli war in the Gaza Strip left seven workers of an American NGO dead this Monday, April 1, which delivers food in the Gaza strip. For his part, Washington says he is “heartbroken.”
Information to remember
⇒ Seven workers from an American NGO killed by a strike in Gaza
⇒ The White House says it is “heartbroken” by the deaths of humanitarian workers in Gaza
⇒ Israeli raid on Damascus: eleven dead including seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards
US NGO workers killed in Gaza strike
Seven employees of an American non-governmental organization that delivers food in the Gaza strip threatened with famine were killed in an Israeli strike on Monday April 1, according to its founder.
“World Central Kitchen is devastated to confirm that seven members of our team were killed in Gaza in an IDF strike,” the Israeli armed forces, the US-based NGO said in a statement, adding that the victims were “originating from Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, (which they also included) a citizen with dual American and Canadian nationality and a Palestinian person”. The NGO assured that it had suspended its activities in the region.
White House says it is ‘heartbroken’ by deaths of aid workers in Gaza
The White House said Monday that it was “heartbroken” after the death in the Gaza Strip of several workers from the American humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen (WCK), killed according to the latter by an Israeli strike.
“We are heartbroken and deeply troubled by the strike,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said on the social network “Aid workers must be protected as they provide desperately needed aid, and we urge Israel to promptly investigate what happened,” she added.
Israeli raid on Damascus: eleven dead including seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards
A raid blamed on Israel targeted the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Monday, killing eleven people including seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards, in a tense regional context in the midst of war in the Gaza Strip.
Tehran has vowed to retaliate for the unprecedented raid on an Iranian diplomatic building in Syria, where Iran and its allies support the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, and Russia has requested a UN Security Council meeting which should be held on Tuesday. “The Israeli enemy launched airstrikes from the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting the Iranian consulate in Damascus,” the Syrian Defense Ministry said.
Netanyahu to ‘act immediately’ to ban Al Jazeera in Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Monday that he wanted to “act immediately” to ban the broadcast of the Qatari channel Al Jazeera in Israel, after Parliament voted on a law authorizing it to do so. “The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the activities of the channel,” declared Benjamin Netanyahu on the social network This was expressed shortly after Monday’s vote in the Knesset – the Israeli Parliament – for a law to prohibit the broadcast in Israel of foreign media that undermine state security, a text targeting the Qatari channel.
Gaza: Israelis promise to “take into account” American concerns about Rafah (White House)
Israeli officials spoke remotely with their American counterparts on Monday and “agreed to take into account” American concerns about Israel’s planned offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza, the White House said. The situation in this city in the south of the Gaza Strip, where there are 1.5 million Palestinians, most of them displaced, was already to be the subject of an in-person meeting in Washington, but Israel had canceled sending his delegation a week ago.
During two hours of a “constructive” video exchange, the United States “expressed its concerns on several action plans in Rafah”, according to a press release from the American executive.
Blinken urges Abbas to carry out reform of the Palestinian Authority
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his call to reform the Palestinian Authority on Monday in an interview with its President Mahmoud Abbas, the State Department said. The telephone call comes a few days after the formation of a government under the leadership of the new Prime Minister, Mohammed Mustafa, an economist close to President Abbas and appointed on March 15. The international community is urging Mahmoud Abbas to undertake institutional reforms, in particular to prepare for the post-war period in the Gaza Strip, which is led by Hamas.