BERLIN: Germany, Britain and France on Friday called for an “immediate” halt to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza City and condemned Israel’s strike in Qatar this week.
The foreign ministers of the three European powers said in a joint statement that “the focus must remain on reaching a permanent ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages and flooding Gaza with aid to stop the famine.”
“We urgently call for an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in Gaza City, which are causing mass civilian displacement, civilian casualties and destruction of essential infrastructure,” they added.
“We call for the UN and humanitarian NGOs to be able to work safely and at scale across the entire Strip, including the North,” they said.
The statement said Israel’s strike Tuesday that targeted senior Hamas officials based on Doha, “violate Qatar’s sovereignty and risk further escalation in the region.”
The ministers said Qatar was playing a “vital role” in seeking to mediate between Israel and Hamas, which unleashed the war with its October 7, 2023 attacks.
US President Donald Trump will meet Qatar’s prime minister on Friday, the White House announced.
The United States backed a UN Security Council resolution on Friday that condemned the strikes in Qatar, without naming Israel. The UN General Assembly voted meanwhile to back a resolution on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, a vote immediately denounced as “disgraceful” by Israel.
Germany, Britain, France call on Israel to halt Gaza City offensive
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Germany, Britain, France call on Israel to halt Gaza City offensive
- “We call for the UN and humanitarian NGOs to be able to work safely and at scale across the entire Strip, including the North,” the foreign ministers said in a joint statement
- Israel’s strike on Doha “violate Qatar’s sovereignty and risk further escalation in the region“
Israeli military says its forces shot dead Palestinian rock-thrower in West Bank
- Palestinian Red Crescent said one person had been killed and one wounded in the incident
- Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have risen sharply, while military has tightened movement restrictions and carried out sweeping raids in several citie
RAMALLAH: Israeli soldiers shot at three Palestinians who were throwing rocks at cars in the occupied West Bank on Sunday and killed one of them, the Israeli military said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said one person had been killed and one wounded in the incident. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. The Israeli military said that apart from the fatality, one other person was “neutralized” and one arrested.
A day earlier, Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian teenager who was driving a car toward them as well as a bystander at a checkpoint in the West Bank city of Hebron.
The military initially said two “terrorists” were killed after soldiers opened fire at a car accelerating toward them, before later clarifying that only one was involved.
An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a 17-year-old was driving the car and that a 55-year-old bystander was the second person killed.
Palestinian state news agency WAFA reported that 55-year-old Ziad Naim Abu Dawood, a municipal street cleaner, was killed while working. It said another Palestinian was killed but did not report the circumstances that led the soldiers to open fire.
The Palestinian health ministry identified the teen as 17-year-old Ahmed Khalil Al-Rajabi.
The military did not report any injuries to the soldiers.
Violence has surged this year in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have risen sharply, while the military has tightened movement restrictions and carried out sweeping raids in several cities.
Since January, 51 Palestinian minors, aged under 18, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Palestinians have also carried out attacks on Israeli soldiers and civilians, some of them deadly.
