Die Verhandlungen über eine Waffenruhe im Gaza-Krieg sollen nächste Woche fortgesetzt werden. Die Vermittler sprechen von konstruktiver Atmosphäre. Die Kämpfe in Nahost gehen derweil weiter.
Während die Verhandlungen über eine Waffenruhe im Gaza-Krieg mit dem Ziel einer Einigung in der kommenden Woche fortgesetzt werden sollen, gehen die Gefechte zwischen Israel und der Hisbollah-Miliz im Libanon weiter. Bei einem israelischen Luftangriff im Südlibanon gab es nach libanesischen Behördenangaben mindestens zehn Tote, darunter eine Frau und zwei Kinder. Als Reaktion feuerte die Hisbollah nach eigenen Angaben zahlreiche Raketen auf das Nachbarland ab.
Das israelische Militär gab an, in der Nacht in der Gegend von Nabatäa ein Waffenlager der libanesischen Hisbollah-Miliz angegriffen zu haben. Zudem habe das Militär mit Artilleriegeschützen angegriffen, um eine Bedrohung in weiteren Gebieten im Südlibanon zu beseitigen, hieß es.
Lebanon: Syrian citizens among the dead
Five more people were injured in the incident in the Nabatäa area, according to Lebanese authorities, as the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported. Two of the injured are in critical condition. According to reports, the victims were mostly Syrian citizens.
The Lebanese news agency NNA reported that a factory building was hit in the attack. A Syrian family is said to have lived there. Initially, reports spoke of an attack on a residential building.
Army: 55 projectiles fired from Lebanon into Israel
According to the Israeli military, around 55 projectiles were subsequently fired from the neighboring country towards Israel. Some reportedly landed in open areas. There were no reports of injuries in the latest attack, but several fires broke out.
Since the start of the Gaza War between Israel and the Islamist Hamas more than ten months ago, the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon has been firing almost daily at targets in northern Israel. The Israeli military, in turn, regularly targets sites in the neighboring country.
New evacuation calls
Meanwhile, the Israeli army called on residents of several neighborhoods in the center of the Gaza Strip to evacuate before a new military operation. They should move to an area designated by Israel as a humanitarian zone, according to a call issued by an Israeli military spokesperson in Arabic.
According to Palestinian reports, at least 17 people were killed in Israeli attacks in neighboring areas. Additionally, six people were reported dead in an airstrike on a house near the Nuseirat refugee camp, also located in the central Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. The information could not be independently verified. Israel’s army stated that they were investigating the reports.
Ministry: First polio case in Gaza Strip
According to Palestinian reports, the war-ravaged coastal strip has seen its first case of polio. An unvaccinated, ten-month-old infant in Deir al-Balah in the center of the area was diagnosed, as reported by the Ministry of Health in Ramallah. Tests in the Jordanian capital of Amman confirmed this.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres previously called for a ceasefire in the sealed-off coastal strip to vaccinate hundreds of thousands of children against polio. The virus is often spread through contaminated water. There is currently no cure for polio.
Biden hopes for a ceasefire
Although mediators in the Qatari capital of Doha did not achieve a breakthrough for a ceasefire on Friday, they stated that the talks were constructive. There is a proposal to „narrow the remaining gap,“ which also aligns with the principles of the peace plan presented by US President Joe Biden in May and which Hamas does not want to renegotiate.
Another high-level meeting is scheduled to take place in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, by the end of next week. Until then, negotiators will continue to work to close any remaining gaps.
Biden expressed optimism. „We are closer than ever before,“ he said on the sidelines of an event at the White House. „We are much, much closer than we were three days ago.“ US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Israel this weekend to continue „intensive diplomatic efforts“ on the ground, as announced by a spokesperson for the State Department. The goal is to finalize the agreement. „No one in the region should take actions to undermine this process,“ Biden warned in a statement.
„It’s too much at stake“
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and colleagues from France, the United Kingdom, and Italy expressed encouragement in a statement regarding the prospect of another high-level meeting and the preparations for it. „We urge all parties to continue to participate positively and flexibly in this process,“ they wrote. They emphasized the importance of avoiding actions that could lead to escalation and undermine the prospect of peace. „It’s too much at stake,“ they cautioned.
According to Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, a ceasefire could prevent further escalation in the region. After the killing of Hamas foreign chief Ismail Hanija in the Iranian capital Tehran and a Hezbollah military commander over two weeks ago, Iran and Hezbollah had vowed revenge. An attack has been anticipated since then. If a ceasefire is reached in the Gaza Strip, both Iran and the heavily supported Hezbollah could refrain from a larger, possibly coordinated attack against Israel.
Biden proposed a plan in May to end the Gaza War in three phases. In the first phase, a specific group of hostages would be released during a six-week ceasefire. In return, Palestinians imprisoned in Israel would be released. In the following phases, the fighting would be permanently halted, the remaining hostages released, and the reconstruction of the largely destroyed Gaza Strip would begin.
Hamas and other terrorists from Gaza invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing more than 1,200 people and abducting over 250 as hostages. The massacre triggered the war. According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry, more than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then. The number does not distinguish between civilians and combatants and cannot be verified.