Probably one of those things Israel doesn't want independent organizations to look at
Haaretz calls for probe into Israeli tank fire during October 7 attack
The leading Israeli newspaper’s editorial board said the Israeli army should investigate an incident where witnesses say an Israeli tank fired at a house in Kibbutz Be’eri with Hamas fighters and Israeli captives inside.
“Above all, it must disclose whether the so-called Hannibal Directive – which states that hostage-taking should be prevented even at the price of harm to our own forces – was used against the Israelis held hostage in that house,” the newspaper said.
The editorial board stressed that a probe must be conducted now, not after the war, because it relates to the fate of the remaining captives who are being held captive in Gaza.
‘Israeli aggression on Gaza has exceeded all limits’: Jordan’s foreign minister
In a phone call with France’s top diplomat, Jordanian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi said: “The Israeli aggression on Gaza has exceeded all humanitarian, legal and moral limits in a way that invalidates any argument used for the Security Council not to take a binding decision to stop it.”
France presides over the UN Security Council this month.
Safadi stressed that the risk of the war widening in scope increases every day that Israel continues its killing and destruction in Gaza and that the inability of the international community to shoulder its legal and moral responsibilities and take a strict position that imposes an end to the aggression reflects a double standard and dangerous selectivity in the application of international law and causes great damage to its standing and to the reputation and interests of many Western countries.
‘The war must stop and not be expanded’: Top EU diplomat
Josep Borrell said that during a trip to the Middle East, he “took stock of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza with unbearable numbers of civilian casualties and the risk of regional escalation”.
“The only way to prevent these tragedies from happening again is to reach a political solution to the conflict. The war must stop and not be expanded,” he wrote on social media.
Three months after the 7 October massacres, I returned to the Middle East where, from Beirut to Riyadh, I took stock of the humanitarian castatrophe in Gaza with unbearable numbers of civilian casualties and the risk of regional escalation.
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— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) January 8, 2024
Israel denies WHO’s request to deliver medical supplies
The World Health Organization (WHO) says Israeli authorities have denied a request it made to deliver medical supplies to the Central Drug Store in Gaza City and al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia.
“This marked the fourth denial of a mission to the al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia and Central Drug Store in Gaza City since December 26, leaving five hospitals in northern Gaza without access to life-saving medical supplies and equipment,” the WHO said.
Israel refused to allow Norway to transfer tax revenues to PA: Shtayyeh
Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says that Israel refused a US proposal for Norway to transfer to the PA the sum of the tax revenues Israel has been withholding.
Last month, Israel refused to transfer roughly $275m in tax revenues that it collects on the PA’s behalf. The sum amounts to what the PA allocates for services and salaries in the Gaza Strip, but also makes up roughly 30 percent of the total monthly revenues owed to the PA.
In response, the PA has refused to accept any of the funds, saying Israel – as an occupying force – is under obligation as per international law to provide services to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The US has been pressuring Israel to reverse its decision, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to backtrack on his decision amid pressure from Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
