US media reports an Israeli retaliatory strike against Iran. Hesse disinvites the Iranian Consul General. More information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
According to media reports, Israel has carried out a retaliatory strike against Iran. However, there are no official confirmations. Here you will find an overview. You can follow all current developments here in the blog:
Explosions at Iraqi military base
12:30 a.m.: There have been several explosions in the south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The cause is still unclear, reports the Reuters news agency. The scene is said to be a military base of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which is considered to be close to Iran. According to Arab media reports, drones were spotted in the air. Apparently the explosion caused ammunition to catch fire.
Two sources told Reuters the explosion was the result of an airstrike that occurred around midnight on Friday. There were no casualties, but there was property damage. It is said to be the PMF headquarters at the Kalso military base near the city of Iskandariya, around 50 km south of Baghdad. It is unclear who is responsible for the attack. The PMF was originally a coalition of armed groups, many of them close to Iran, and was later recognized by the Iraqi authorities as part of the official security forces.
United Nations concerned about mountains of rubbish in Gaza Strip
8:20 p.m.: The United Nations is concerned about the large amounts of garbage in the Gaza Strip. The UN emergency relief office OCHA said these pose an environmental and health hazard. According to local authorities, there are 270,000 tons of garbage lying around the entire Gaza Strip that cannot be disposed of. The reason is that garbage trucks were destroyed in the Israeli attacks or ran out of gasoline and the Israeli authorities did not grant access to the main garbage dump in the eastern part of the city of Gaza.
There were problems with waste disposal even before the war, but they have gotten significantly worse since then. Due to the mass expulsion of people to the southern part of the Gaza Strip, the amount of garbage there has more than doubled. The local authorities had no capacity to deal with it. In most camps for displaced people there are uncontrolled garbage dumps.
Erdogan receives Hamas leader Haniya
5:35 p.m.: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives the head of the terrorist organization Hamas, Ismail Haniya, on Saturday. The meeting is scheduled to take place in Istanbul. Erdogan has been one of Israel’s harshest critics since the beginning of the war triggered by the Hamas attack on Israel. The Turkish president regards Hamas as a “resistance group.” Erdogan last received Hanija in Ankara in July 2023. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also took part in the meeting.
USA sanctions right-wing activists and confidants of Itamar Ben-Gwir
4:29 p.m.: Right-wing activist Benzi Gopstein is also affected by the USA’s third round of sanctions against Israeli settlers. He is a confidante of Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gwir. Gopstein founded the Lehava group, “whose members have engaged in destabilizing violence in the West Bank,” explains the US State Department. Under his leadership, acts of violence and threats of violence were committed against Palestinians.
Scholz: De-escalation remains the order of the day in the Middle East
1:14 p.m.: After the alleged Israeli attack on Iran, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on everyone involved to exercise restraint. “De-escalation remains the order of the day,” said the SPD politician on the North Sea island of Norderney on the sidelines of an SPD conference. “We will also talk about this with all our friends and allies and work together with them in this direction.”
According to US media reports, Israel attacked a target in Iran with one or more missiles on Friday night. There were initially no reports of damage. Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of drones and missiles last weekend – in retaliation for a suspected Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Syria.
