Apparently Hamas is calling for suicide attacks

There are plans in the EU to impose sanctions on parts of the Israeli government. There is conflict in the West Bank. All developments in the news blog.

5:14 pm: The foreign policy spokesperson of the Green Party parliamentary group, Deborah Düring, has welcomed possible sanctions against Israel’s extreme right-wing ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Düring tells t-online: “With their inflammatory statements against Palestinians, Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are contributing to the escalation of the situation in Israel and the occupied territories. Sanctions against the two extreme right-wing ministers would be a strong political signal. I welcome the fact that the Federal Government is open to it.”

At a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell suggested punitive measures against the two politicians. They are accused of violating human rights and of inciting hatred. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had not ruled out Germany’s approval.

12:16 pm: According to the leader of the opposition, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, was informed about the danger of Hamas before the massacre on October 7th last year. “The government was aware of Hamas’ intentions,” Jair Lapid told reporters. “It was clear what they wanted.”

The centrist leader of the Future Party said he rejected numerous claims by the government that “the political leadership was somehow unaware that Hamas is no longer suppressed as it once was.” Lapid says that he himself saw relevant intelligence material during his time as head of government, and “of course” his successor Netanyahu and his ministers also saw it.

At a security meeting on August 21 last year, a military adviser reported warnings on all sides of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” – including against the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. His personal impression was that Netanyahu seemed “boring and apathetic,” said Lapid, who was also present at the time. In the following months there were repeated warnings that Israel was in greater danger. Netanyahu’s right-wing conservative Likud party then announced: “Jair Lapid is lying again.” Netanyahu received no warning before October 7th.

11:53 am: According to the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, one of the organization’s local commanders was killed in the latest military operation by the Israeli army in the West Bank. Mohammed Jaber, known as Abu Shujaa, the commander of the Quds Force in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, died “along with several brothers from his brigade” after fighting against Israeli soldiers, the group explains. The Quds Force is the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, linked to the radical Islamist group Hamas.

The Islamic organization further explains that Abu Shujaa escaped “attempts to kill and arrest” by the Israeli army in the past. The Israeli army accuses Abu Shujaa, among other things, of being “involved in several terrorist attacks” and of “ordering a gun attack in June that killed an Israeli civilian.”

11.45 am: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is not ruling out Germany’s approval of EU sanctions against two extreme members of the right-wing Israeli government. The Green politician made it clear at an EU meeting that, in her opinion, only the legal requirements and allegations against the politicians should be decisive. It must be checked in each individual case whether these are sufficient for a sanction, he said.