Israel shells the Gaza Strip on Tuesday at a time when its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks of the end of the “intense” phase of fighting with Palestinian Hamas, and when fears of a “new escalation” with Lebanese Hezbollah are growing. . In the early hours of Tuesday, Palestinian civil defense reported 13 dead in Israeli strikes in Gaza City and witnesses of bombings in Rafah (south), near Egypt, where Israel launched a ground operation in early May.
Information to remember
⇒ The United States wants to avoid an “escalation” of the conflict in Gaza in Lebanon
⇒ Humanitarian aid to Gaza: the appeal from Macron and Abdallah II
⇒ Israeli army announces death of hostage held in Gaza
The United States wants to avoid an “escalation” of the conflict in Gaza in Lebanon
In Washington, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant about efforts for a truce agreement in Gaza, associated with the release of hostages, but also tensions in Lebanon.
Blinken “stressed the importance of avoiding a further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic solution that allows Israeli and Lebanese families to return home,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The exchanges of fire in recent months between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah, an Islamist movement allied with Hamas, armed and financed by Iran, have led to the displacement of tens of thousands of inhabitants of the border areas of southern Lebanon and from northern Israel.
The call from Macron and Abdallah II
French President Emmanuel Macron and King Abdullah II of Jordan called on Israel on Monday to lift all land “restrictions” on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the French presidency said in a statement.
During a lunch at the Elysée, they reiterated the “need to put in place, without further delay, an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and again called for the release of all the hostages” , including that of two French people.
Families of victims of the October 7 attack file a complaint against UNRWA
The families of those killed during the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 filed a complaint on Monday against UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing it of having contributed to this unprecedented massacre , according to court documents seen by AFP.
Considered by the international community as essential for humanitarian aid to the Palestinians for decades, UNRWA has been in crisis since Israel accused 12 of its employees of being involved in this attack.
Israeli army announces death of hostage held in Gaza
The Israeli army and the Hostage Families Forum announced Monday the death of a Bedouin soldier, killed on October 7 during the attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Israel and whose body was taken to the Gaza Strip .
Until now presumed to be a hostage of Hamas, Sergeant Major Mohammad Alatrash, a 39-year-old Bedouin from the village of Moulada (southern Israel), “fell in combat and then was held hostage by a terrorist organization,” he said. the army said in a statement.
Palestinian governance in Gaza after the war
The head of German diplomacy and the American ambassador to Israel called on Monday for a reformed Palestinian Authority to play a key role in post-war governance in Gaza, during a conference in the Israeli city of Herzliya.
“The Palestinian Authority must be part” of the “day after” in the Gaza Strip, said US Ambassador Jacob Lew, emphasizing the need for a “civil administration” in the territory currently ravaged by war.
Beirut defends its airport
Senior Lebanese officials defended the “reputation” of Beirut airport during a visit organized for the press and diplomats on Monday to deny reports from a British daily according to which Hezbollah stores weapons there. The movement armed and financed by Iran opened a front against Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of Palestinian Hamas in Gaza.
In an article published online Sunday, The Telegraph claimed that Hezbollah was storing Iranian missiles and explosives at the airport, south of the capital, in an area where Hezbollah is predominant.
AFP office hit in Gaza: an investigation by international media
The AFP office in Gaza, seriously damaged on November 2, 2023 by a strike, was probably hit by Israeli tank fire, according to an investigation carried out by the AFP and several international media, published Tuesday.
Around fifty journalists from 13 organizations, including the Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Monde and the Arab press organization ARIJ, investigated for four months under the aegis of Forbidden Stories, an international network of journalists specializing in investigation.