As of: February 19, 2024, 8:33 p.m
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The Israeli military continues to attack targets in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, near the Egyptian border.
© Hatem Ali/AP/dpa
The threatened offensive in Rafah is leading to clear words from Brussels: The EU states are calling for an immediate pause in the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
The news at a glance:
Tel Aviv/Gaza/Beirut/Brussels - Germany and 25 other EU states are calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza war.
This should lead to a permanent ceasefire, the unconditional release of the hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
The 26 EU member states also called on Israel not to take military action in Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip.
Critics fear that this could further worsen the already dramatic humanitarian situation in the area.
More than a million civilians currently live in the city - most of them refugees from other parts of the Gaza Strip.
Hungary did not want to support the joint appeal, as the German Press Agency learned from several diplomats.
Hungary is considered particularly Israel-friendly in the EU.
Attack on possible weapons depot in Lebanon
According to Lebanese security circles, at least eight people were injured in two Israeli air strikes near the coastal town of Ghazieh south of Sidon.
An industrial area about 60 kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border was hit.
The Israeli military confirmed the attack.
The target was therefore a weapons depot of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
The attack was a response to a drone attack near the Israeli city of Tiberias.
According to initial findings, the drone was launched by Hezbollah, the army said.
It is still unclear whether the injured in Lebanon were Hezbollah fighters or civilians.
It is the first time since the Gaza war broke out that a town near Sidon, Lebanon's fourth largest city, has been hit.
So far, the Israeli army has mainly attacked targets near the border.
Israeli army takes hospital in Khan Yunis
Over the weekend, the Israeli military continued its operations against the Islamist Hamas militia in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The army took control of Nasser Hospital, one of the larger hospitals in the coastal area.
According to employees, the hospital is no longer functional.
The army announced on Sunday evening that hundreds of terrorists and terror suspects who were hiding in the clinic had been captured.
Some of them are said to have posed as medical staff.
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Meanwhile, Defense Minister Joav Galant sees the Islamists' fighting spirit broken after more than four months of war.
“200 terrorists surrendered in Nasser Hospital, dozens more in Amal Hospital,” Galant said at a meeting with army commanders.
“This shows that Hamas has lost its fighting spirit.” The information could not initially be independently verified.
Controversial advance to Rafah
In Rafah, the Israeli army is preparing to move in to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions and free suspected hostages there.
However, the Israeli government has not yet issued an operational order in this regard.
Military action in the Gaza Strip's southernmost city is highly controversial because it is crowded with 1.3 million Palestinians, most of whom have fled fighting in other parts of the coastal area.
Meanwhile, despite resistance from the US government, the UN Security Council has so far stuck to a voting date on a resolution on the Gaza war.
The resolution submitted by Algeria includes, among other things, a demand for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and is scheduled to be put to the vote at 5:30 p.m. CET.
Amid concerns about a major offensive by the Israeli army in the southern city of Rafah, this is increasing pressure on Israel's ally, the United States.
US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States would again use its veto in the Security Council if a vote were to take place.
The US put forward a counter-proposal that calls for a “temporary ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible” and if all hostages are released.
Both draft resolutions - should they actually be voted on - are expected to receive vetoes in the 15-member UN Security Council.
The five permanent members of the most powerful UN body - the US, Russia, China, France and Britain - have the ability to block any substantive actions by the council.
In recent days, Washington has tried to prevent a vote on the Algerian text - according to its own statements, in order not to endanger important negotiations between Israel and the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas.
According to observers, Washington is also concerned with not being seen as a pioneer in Israel's increasingly criticized conduct of the war.
Hamas: More than 29,000 dead since war began
Since the Gaza war began more than four months ago, more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the health authority controlled by the Islamist Hamas.
The authority said 107 Palestinians were killed and 145 others injured within 24 hours.
This means the total number of deaths has risen to at least 29,092.
In addition, more than 69,000 people have been injured in the Gaza Strip since October 7th.
The information could not initially be independently verified.
It is assumed that many bodies are still buried.
According to UN estimates, the majority of those killed were women and minors.
Israel's chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, recently said that the army had "eliminated more than 10,000 terrorists in the Gaza Strip so far, including many commanders."
Marshall plan for the reconstruction of Gaza called for
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtaje called on the international community to come up with a reconstruction program for the badly damaged coastal area.
“We need a Marshall Plan for the Gaza Strip,” Schtaje told the German Press Agency on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
This plan must consist of three components: emergency aid, reconstruction and a revival of the economy.
“We know from satellite images that 45 percent of the Gaza Strip is destroyed.
That means 281,000 residential units that are completely or partially destroyed.”
A repair could sometimes be possible in weeks or months.
“That means we need a lot of money for this,” Schtaje continued.
An investigation is underway with the United Nations into how the greatest need can be met.
The head of government is in office with his autonomous authority in the West Bank and has no de facto control over the Gaza Strip, which was solely controlled by Hamas until the outbreak of war.
Report: Iran now advises allies to exercise moderation
Hamas owes much of its money, weapons and training to Iran.
Since October 7, other armed groups supported by Iran have also been stoking tensions in the wider Middle East region.
The Shiite militia Hezbollah is shelling northern Israel from southern Lebanon, from where 80,000 residents had to be brought into the interior of the country to safety.
Shiite combat units in Syria and Iraq are increasingly attacking US bases.
The Houthis in Yemen fire rockets at ships in the Red Sea.
The formations, together with their sponsor Iran, see themselves as an “axis of resistance” that has set itself the goal of destroying Israel.
The USA and Great Britain have so far responded by bombing bases and missile sites belonging to militias allied with Tehran, but have avoided attacking Iran itself.
A further escalation on any of these fronts, but especially in Lebanon, could – it is widely feared – trigger a conflagration in the Middle East.
According to a report in the Washington Post, Iran is now pushing to avoid such a scenario.
Iranian emissaries recently advised their allies in the region to exercise moderation in discreet meetings, the newspaper wrote.
“Iran is making every effort to prevent an extension of the war and irreversible escalation,” the paper quoted an unnamed Iraqi official close to a pro-Iranian militia as saying.
In Lebanon, Tehran also appears to be discouraging its ally, Shiite leader Hassan Nasrallah, from seeking the ultimate confrontation with Israel.
There, according to the Washington Post, the narrative was agreed upon not to help Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu out of his political pressure situation by opening a new war front.
The Israeli is currently “pushed into a corner” and the Gaza war has called into question the emerging normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the paper quoted a Hezbollah member as saying.
A war in Lebanon, on the other hand, would “make Netanyahu the winner.”
The Iranian persuasion appears to be having an effect, according to the US newspaper.
There have been no attacks by pro-Iranian forces on the US military in Syria and Iraq since February 4th.
Despite all his threatening gestures, Nasrallah in Lebanon avoided declaring war on Israel.
Only the Houthis in Yemen still shoot at ships in the Red Sea.
Hearing in The Hague begins
At the start of the hearing on the legality of almost 60 years of Israeli occupation at the International Court of Justice, the Palestinian Foreign Minister called for justice for his people.
Israel has been deliberately violating international law for decades, Riad Malki said at the United Nations' highest court in The Hague.
“The power of law must prevail.”
The UN General Assembly requested a legal opinion from the Court of Justice in 2022.
It is intended to examine to what extent the 57-year occupation is legal and what legal consequences arise from it.
Although the report is not binding, it could further increase international pressure on Israel in the current Gaza war.
dpa