UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – During an interview with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken notably addressed the issue of tensions in Lebanon.
While Antony Blinken asks Israel to avoid an escalation on the Lebanese border, the IDF continues to strike the towns of Gaza and Rafah and Emmanuel Macron calls, with King Abdullah II, for the lifting of restrictions on sending aid humanitarian. Le Figaro takes stock of events linked to the conflict between Palestinian Hamas and Israel.
Fears of a “new escalation” in Liban
In Washington, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant about efforts for a truce agreement in Gaza, associated with the release of hostages, but also tensions in Lebanon.
The blink “stressed the importance of avoiding a further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic solution that allows Israeli and Lebanese families to return home”said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
Israeli strikes on Gaza
Israel shells the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks of the end of the phase «intense» fighting with Palestinian Hamas. In the early hours of Tuesday, Palestinian civil defense reported 13 dead in Israeli strikes in Gaza City and witnesses of bombings in Rafah (south), near Egypt, where Israel launched a ground operation in early May.
Strike on AFP office: international media investigation points to Israeli tank fire
The AFP office in Gaza, seriously damaged on November 2, 2023 by a strike, was probably hit by Israeli tank fire, according to an investigation carried out by the AFP and several international media published on Tuesday. The strike against the AFP office did not cause any casualties, the team having then evacuated the city.
Five experts judged it likely with a good degree of certainty that the office was hit by a tank shell, a weapon not available to Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip. Other experts consulted did not speak so affirmatively, but ruled out air or drone strikes in view of the damage observed. The hypothesis of a rocket or an anti-tank missile, ammunition available to Hamas, has been ruled out with a good degree of certainty by several experts.
Families of victims of the October 7 attack file a complaint against UNRWA
The families of those killed during the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 filed a complaint on Monday against UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, accusing it of having contributed to this unprecedented massacre , according to court documents seen by AFP. «L’Unrwa (…) spent more than a decade before the October 7 attack helping Hamas establish (son) terrorist infrastructure”accuse the victims’ families according to court documents.
They believe that the agency provided “knowingly giving Hamas the US dollars in cash it needed to pay traffickers in weapons, explosives and other terrorist materials”The complaint was filed in New York, the headquarters of the UN and where UNRWA uses banking services, according to the same court documents. Contacted by AFP, UNRWA did not immediately respond.
Macron and King Abdullah II call for lifting restrictions on sending humanitarian aid
French President Emmanuel Macron and King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday called on Israel to lift all «restrictions» land transport for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, the French presidency indicated in a press release. During a lunch at the Élysée, they repeated the “need to establish, without further delay, an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and once again called for the release of all hostages”, including that of two French people. Emmanuel Macron and Abdallah II also “marked their deep concern about the situation in West Bank and strongly condemned the violence committed by the settlers”specified the Élysée.
The two leaders agreed to “continue their joint work towards a lasting and credible solution to the crisis based on the two-state solution”. “In this perspective, the Palestinian Authority should be supported and not weakened”they stressed, noting that “any obstacle to the transfer of its income or to its banking system was unacceptable”.
They also greeted the “reforms initiated by the Palestinian government and called for to continue and deepen them”. Referring to the intensification of tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border, they warned of a“conflagration which would be catastrophic for the region”and reiterated their calls to all parties to “responsibility and restraint”.
