Israel captures a border crossing near Rafah. Foreign Minister Baerbock warns of the consequences of this offensive. More information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
Press: US company should get control of border crossing
3:24 a.m.: After the end of the Israeli military operation in Rafah, according to an Israeli media report, a private American security company will take over the management of the border crossing in the city near Egypt. Israel, the USA and Egypt had agreed on this, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Tuesday evening. It was initially unclear which company this was supposed to be.
Israel’s government declined to comment on the report when asked. The US National Security Council communications director, John Kirby, said he knew nothing about it.
Israel’s military advanced into parts of Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday night. According to its own statements, the army also took control of the border crossing on the Palestinian side.
USA: Hamas does not agree to draft compromise
2:03 a.m.: The US government has rejected reports that the Islamist Hamas agreed to a negotiation proposal for a ceasefire shortly before Israeli troops advanced into Rafah. “Hamas has responded and made several counter-proposals in its response,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in Washington on Tuesday. “But that’s not the same as accepting a proposal.”
Miller explained that the draft under discussion was an offer from the end of April. “That was the proposal that was on the table,” said the spokesman. Hamas appears to have publicly announced that it had accepted this offer. But that’s not true. “They have responded with changes – you can call it a counter-proposal – and we are currently working on those details.”
Hamas hostage was already kidnapped as a corpse
10:59 p.m.: According to an organization of hostage families, an Israeli-Argentine man who was kidnapped in the Gaza Strip was killed in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th and brought dead to the Palestinian territory. The Forum of Families of Hostages and Missing Persons said Tuesday that it “discovered with pain and heartbreak” that 61-year-old Lior Rudaeff “was murdered on October 7 and his body was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists to Gaza.”
At the time of the attack by the radical Islamic group Hamas, Rudaeff was living in Nir Yitzhak, a kibbutz community in southern Israel. According to the forum, he had Israeli and Argentine citizenship and was the father of four children and grandfather of two.
“The Israeli government has a profound moral obligation to exhaust all options in the ongoing negotiations to bring Lior home,” the forum said. “The government must also ensure the rapid return of all living hostages so that they can begin the long road to healing and recovery.”
The USA has been delaying arms deliveries to Israel for two weeks
7:17 p.m.: The U.S. government has withheld arms shipments to Israel over the past two weeks, according to a person familiar with the matter. The insider confirms a report from “Politico” to Reuters. The paper, citing a US government employee, reported that the move was intended to send a political message to Israel.
The US government under President Joe Biden has repeatedly warned that an offensive by Israel in the border town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip would not be supported by the US without a credible plan to protect the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the city.
The deliveries that have been stopped for the time being also include kits for small-diameter unguided bombs manufactured by aircraft manufacturer Boeing, the insider said. Other planned sales to Israel were also blocked. This will make it more difficult for Israel to replenish its arsenal. Boeing initially did not comment on the representations.
Baerbock to Rafah: “People cannot disappear into thin air”
5:00 p.m.: Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is again warning of a major offensive by the Israeli military in Rafah. “A million people cannot disappear into thin air. They need protection,” writes Baerbock on the platform
