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CONFLICTSMIDDLE EAST
Israel-Hamas war: Netanyahu hints at new hostage talks
Published 5 hours agoPublished 5 hours agolast updated 20 minutes agolast updated 20 minutes ago
The Israeli prime minister said he gave instructions to negotiators regarding a possible new hostage release deal. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have been accused of raiding a hospital in northern Gaza. DW last the latest.
https://p.dw.com/p/4aG36
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the hostage with media on SaturdayImage: Ronen Zvulun/AP Photo/picture alliance
Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to keep up military pressure against Hamas militants
German and British foreign ministers have called for a sustainable cease-fire
The World Health Organization said it had helped deliver essential medical supplies to the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza
Here are the latest developments around Israel’s war on the militant group Hamas in Gaza, on December 17:
Skip next section French diplomatic official killed in Gaza
20 minutes ago20 minutes ago
French diplomatic official killed in Gaza
The French Foreign Ministry has said one of its diplomatic officials has died of injuries sustained during an Israeli bombing raid in the Gaza Strip.
The man had been “working for France” since 2002, the ministry said.
“He had found refuge in the house of one of his colleagues at the Consulate General of France, alongside two other colleagues and numerous members of their family,” the ministry said.
The house was hit by Israeli bombing on Wednesday, injuring the official and killing around 10 people, the statement continued. The man later died.
The ministry has condemned the bombing and demanded, “Israeli authorities shed full light on the circumstances of this bombing, as soon as possible.”
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
https://p.dw.com/p/4aGCv
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Skip next section Al Jazeera to refer killing of cameraman to ICC
2 hours ago2 hours ago
Al Jazeera to refer killing of cameraman to ICC
The Qatari news outlet Al Jazeera has said it will refer what it called “the assassination” of its cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Abu Daqqa was reportedly killed after a drone strike on Friday while reporting on an earlier bombing of a school used as a shelter for displaced people in the southern Gaza region of Khan Younis.
“Al Jazeera Media Network reiterates its denunciation and condemnation of the assassination crime of its colleague, Samer Abudaqa, who devoted 19 years with the Network to covering the ongoing conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories,” the network said in a statement.
Al Jazeera has said it will also provide the ICC with additional information on “recurrent attacks on the Network’s crews working and operating in the occupied Palestinian territories and instances of incitement against them.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization promoting press freedom worldwide, said on Saturday that at least 64 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza and West Bank since the war began.
Targeting journalists is a war crime, as per the Rome Statute of the ICC.
https://p.dw.com/p/4aGBG
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Skip next section Baerbock and Cameron call for sustainable peace
5 hours ago5 hours ago
Baerbock and Cameron call for sustainable peace
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her British counterpart, David Cameron, have urgently called for a “sustainable peace” in Gaza, but stopped short of calling for an immediate and permanent cease-fire.
“We must do all we can to pave the way to a sustainable cease-fire, leading to a sustainable peace. The sooner it comes, the better — the need is urgent,” they wrote in an op-ed in the Sunday Times.
The pair of foreign ministers also said “too many civilians have been killed” in the conflict.
However, Baerbock and Cameron also wrote that they “do not believe that calling right now for a general and immediate cease-fire, hoping it somehow becomes permanent, is the way forward.
“It ignores why Israel is forced to defend itself: Hamas barbarically attacked Israel and still fires rockets to kill Israeli citizens every day. Hamas must lay down its arms,” they said.
Israel has come under pressure from its allies over the number of civilian casualties in its war in Gaza. According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the war has killed more than 18,800 people. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths but said most of the victims were women and children.
The war began after Hamas militants launched attacks on southern Israel on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas, which Israel, Germany, the United States and other governments designate a terrorist organization.
https://p.dw.com/p/4aG3O
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Skip next section Israeli forces reportedly raid Gaza hospital
5 hours ago5 hours ago
Israeli forces reportedly raid Gaza hospital
Israeli forces raided the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza over several days, according to footage obtained by the Reuters news agency.
“They raided the building, and they took all the employees for investigation, also the injured people were being investigated,” Ahmed Al Kahlot, a doctor at the hospital, told Reuters.
The Israeli military claimed the hospital was being used as a Hamas “command and control center” and added that soldiers had detained around 80 militant fighters before leaving the site on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization said on Saturday that it delivered aid to the al-Shifa Hospital, including medicines, surgical supplies, orthopedic surgery equipment and anesthesia.
It said the hospital was “currently minimally functional.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4aG3Q
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Skip next section Netanyahu hints at new hostage negotiations
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Netanyahu hints at new hostage negotiations
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted that a new round of Qatar-mediated negotiations could get underway to free hostages held by the Palestinian militant-Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.
When asked about a recent meeting between Mossad chief and Israel’s lead negotiator, David Barnea, with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Netanyahu confirmed he had given instructions to the team.
“We have serious criticisms of Qatar, about which I suppose you will hear in due course, but right now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,” he said on Saturday.
Netanyahu also vowed to continue military pressure against Hamas, which is considered a terror group by the US, the EU, Germany and others.
“The instruction I am giving the negotiating team is predicated on this pressure, without which we have nothing,” he said.
However, the Israeli prime minister did not provide specific details of the talks.
“There is one mistake that we can make, which is to relay our calculations to Hamas, to the world,” he said. “We shall not be getting into the details of the negotiations.”
Hamas said Saturday that it would not “open any negotiations to exchange prisoners unless the aggression against our people stops completely.”
zc/sms (AP, Reuters, AFP, DPA)
