This is a first since the start of the conflict. The Israeli army announced early Tuesday April 9 that it had deployed its new “C-Dome” defense system, the naval version of its “Iron Dome” anti-missile shield, to counter a “suspicious” aircraft that had penetrated its airspace.
The day before, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that a date had been set for an offensive on Rafah, one of the last strongholds of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to him. “It will be done – there is a date,” he said in a video message, six months after the start of the war, without giving the date.
Information to remember
⇒ Israel deploys its sea “Iron Dome” for the first time
⇒ Hamas studies a draft truce agreement in Gaza
⇒ Macron, Al-Sissi and Abdallah II call for an immediate ceasefire
Israel deploys its sea “Iron Dome” for the first time
Monday evening, the military reported an alert in the area of Eilat, a city at the southern tip of Israeli territory which had been the target in February of intercepted ballistic missile fire from the Yemeni Houthi rebels, allies of Palestinian Hamas. “After sirens sounded in the Eilat area regarding the infiltration of a hostile aircraft, naval forces identified a suspicious aerial target crossing Israeli territory. The target was successfully intercepted by the naval defense system C-Dome”, the naval version of the iron dome, the army said early Tuesday in a brief statement which reported “no injuries and no damage”.
This anti-missile defense system is the naval version of the “Iron Dome”, used for more than a decade by Israel in particular to intercept rocket fire from Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army has invested in this new technology in recent years in particular to protect the country’s important gas deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Hamas studies draft truce agreement in Gaza
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced on Tuesday that it was studying a project for a truce lasting several weeks in the fighting and air raids in Gaza, accompanied by the release of dozens of Israeli hostages, despite the rejection of some of its demands. Six months after the start of the war, the mediating countries of Qatar, Egypt and the United States have put on the table a proposal in three stages, the first of which provides for a six-week truce, a source said. within Hamas.
In addition to a six-week ceasefire, the proposal also initially provides for the release of 42 Israeli hostages in exchange for 800 to 900 Palestinians detained in Israel, the entry of 400 to 500 trucks of food aid per day and the return home of residents of the northern Gaza Strip displaced by the war, according to the Hamas source.
Turkey restricts exports to Israel
Turkey on Tuesday restricted exports to Israel of many goods, a response to the war in Gaza and growing anger among the Turkish population against maintaining trade relations with Israel.
“This decision will remain in force until Israel declares an immediate ceasefire and allows continued access of humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the Turkish Commerce Ministry said in a statement. The restriction concerns 54 products, including many construction materials made of steel, iron or aluminum, but also aviation fuel.
Israel’s security is ‘at the heart’ of German foreign policy, Berlin tells ICJ
Germany told the UN’s highest court on Tuesday that Israel’s security is “at the heart” of its foreign policy and strongly rejected Nicaragua’s accusations that Berlin is facilitating a “genocide” in Gaza. .
“Israel’s security is at the heart of German foreign policy” and Germany “strongly rejects” Nicaragua’s accusations, lawyer Tania von Uslar-Gleichen said, speaking on Germany’s behalf before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague.
Palestinian membership in the UN: the Security Council will respond by the end of April
The UN Security Council decided on Monday that it would respond by the end of April to the Palestinians’ request for full membership in the United Nations, a move described as “historic” by the Palestinians and virulently denounced. by Israel.
In September 2011, the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas launched the procedure requesting “the accession of the State of Palestine to the UN”, which was never completed. The Palestinians finally obtained the status of “non-member observer state” in November 2012. Highlighting the Israeli offensive in Gaza, last week they relaunched their request for membership in a letter addressed to the Security Council, which initiated the examination process on Monday.
Macron, Al-Sissi and Abdallah II call for an immediate ceasefire
French President Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian Head of State Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and Jordanian King Abdullah II called Monday evening for an “immediate” and “permanent” ceasefire, for a release of ” all hostages” in Gaza and warned Israel against the “dangerous consequences” of an offensive in Rafah.
“The war in Gaza and the catastrophic human suffering it causes must end immediately,” they wrote in a joint column published in four newspapers, including the French The world. While earlier in the day, the Israeli Prime Minister announced that a date had been set for an offensive on Rafah, one of the last bastions according to him of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “It will be done – there is a date,” he said in a video message, six months after the start of the war, without giving the date.
The United States reaffirms its opposition to an operation in Rafah
The United States forcefully reaffirmed on Monday its opposition to any major Israeli operation in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, at a time when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had set “a date”. “We have made it clear to Israel that we believe that a massive military invasion of Rafah would have an extremely detrimental effect on these civilians and would ultimately harm Israel’s security,” the Israeli official told reporters. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The United States advocates targeted operations against the last Hamas strongholds in Rafah and doubts the feasibility of evacuating so many inhabitants before an offensive.