Qatar confirmed on Saturday that it had suspended its mediation between Israel and Hamas with a view to a ceasefire agreement in Gaza associated with a release of hostages, until the belligerents show “seriousness” in the negotiations. At the end of October, “during the last (negotiations) to try to reach an agreement, Qatar informed the parties that it intended to suspend its mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel if an agreement was not reached during this round “Qatar Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said in a statement. “Qatar will take them back when the parties show will and seriousness” to end hostilities, he added, while Hamas and Israel accuse each other of blocking any agreement.
With the United States and Egypt, Qatar had participated for months in mediation efforts to end the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, triggered on October 7, 2023 by an attack by Palestinian Hamas against Israel. In vain. The only truce in this war emerged at the end of November 2023. It lasted a week and allowed the release of hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack and taken to Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Information to remember
⇒ Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza announces the death of 30 people, including 13 children, killed in two Israeli strikes
⇒ At least 33 people killed in Israeli strikes on south and east Lebanon
⇒ Israeli army disavows soldiers who burned Lebanese flag
Gaza: Civil Defense announces 30 dead in two Israeli strikes
The Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza announced this Sunday the death of 30 people, including 13 children, killed in two Israeli airstrikes on two separate houses in the Gaza Strip. A first strike left “at least” 25 dead, “including 13 children”, in a family home in Jabalia, in the north of Gaza, and “more than 30 injured” early in the morning, Civil Defense said. Palestinian emergency services also reported another Israeli strike on a house in the al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, which left five people dead and others missing. “A number of civilians are still under the rubble,” they said.
At least 33 dead in Israeli raids in Lebanon
At least 33 people were killed Saturday in Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, strongholds of Lebanese Hezbollah, the Health Ministry said. In eastern Lebanon, “raids by the Israeli enemy against the Baalbeck-Hermel region left 20 dead, including 11 in the locality of Knaisseh” and 14 injured, the ministry said in a statement.
In the south of the country, neighboring Israel, five people died in a strike on the town of Hanaouay, he added. Eight people, including seven rescuers – six from the al-Rissala Association, affiliated with the Amal movement, ally of Hezbollah, and one rescuer from the Islamic Health Committee, affiliated with Hezbollah – were killed in a strike in Deir Qanoun (south ), according to the same source.
Elsewhere in southern Lebanon, 12 people were injured in a “strike by the Israeli enemy” targeting a neighborhood in the town of Nabatiyeh, according to the ministry. Earlier in the day, on Saturday, the Israeli Air Force struck “Hezbollah terrorist sites in the Tire and Baalbeck regions,” the army said. “The targets included terrorists, apartments used for attacks and weapons storage facilities,” she said.
Israeli army disavows soldiers for burning Lebanese flag
The Israeli army on Saturday condemned a scene of Israeli soldiers burning a Lebanese flag in southern Lebanon, arguing that it was a “violation of orders”. A video posted the same day on social networks shows what appears to be two Israeli soldiers setting fire to a Lebanese flag on a terrace in the presence of other soldiers who sing a song in Hebrew referring to a psalm with warlike overtones. The video, which AFP could not authenticate, is described as having been filmed in a village in southern Lebanon.
“We consider the act of some soldiers burning the Lebanese flag in southern Lebanon as a violation of orders, incompatible with the values of the defense forces and out of step with the objectives of our military activities in Lebanon,” commented on the social network X a spokesperson for the Israeli army, Avichay Adraee. “Our war is against the terrorist Hezbollah,” he said.
Iran calls on Donald Trump to “change” his policy towards it
Iran sent Donald Trump a signal of openness on Saturday by calling on him to adopt a new policy against it, after Washington accused Tehran of involvement in a plan to assassinate the elected American president. “Donald Trump must show that he is not following the wrong policies of the past,” Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters.
On Friday, American authorities announced the indictment of an “agent of Iran”, accused of having received orders from Tehran to organize assassination plans in the United States, notably targeting Donald Trump. Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the accusations “totally unfounded.” “As a killer does not exist in reality, screenwriters were invited to create a comedy in bad taste,” criticized Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday evening on X.