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Israel’s ambassador to the UN says the UN cooperates with Hamas
Gilad Erdan told Israeli Army Radio that the UN “has become a terrorist body itself”.
“Since Israel withdrew from Gaza – the UN cooperates with Hamas, it covers for it, and the secretary-general is quick to condemn Israel for everything that gets published,” he claimed.
More than 35,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7.
Following the attack by Hamas, Guterres said: “I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented 7 October acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians – or the launching of rockets against civilian targets”.
Guterres has also repeatedly criticised Israel for its war on Gaza. He recently said Israel has brought “relentless death and destruction” to Palestinians in the Strip.
Australian senator breaks ranks, accuses Israel of ‘genocide’
Senator Fatima Payman has become the first member of the Australian Labor Party to call Israel’s war on Gaza a “genocide”, and called for her colleagues to “stand for what is right”.
In a thinly veiled swipe at her party leader, Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese, Payman criticised “performative gestures” on the issue and “gaslighting” about Israel’s right to self-defence.
“My conscience has been uneasy for far too long and I must call this out for what it is,” she said. “This is a genocide and we need to stop pretending otherwise. The lack of clarity, the moral confusion, the indecisiveness is eating at the heart of this nation.”
May be impossible to return all captives, says far-right Israeli MP
Zvi Sukkot, a member of Israel’s Knesset representing the far-right Religious Zionism Party, says it may be impossible to free all Israeli captives in Gaza and that “national security” concerns should take precedent.
“I wish it were possible to return all the hostages. I’m not sure that’s possible,” Sukkot told Israel’s Radio 103FM. “We need to do everything to return them but not anything that will critically harm national security.
“We think the way to return [the captives] is when Hamas understands it doesn’t have a choice but to return them,” Sukkot added, saying that he believes Israel should intensify its Rafah operation to put more pressure on the group.
There are 132 captives remaining in Gaza, Israel says, but at least 30 are believed to have died during the war.
Israeli officials voice concern over breakdown of relations with Egypt: Report
Israeli officials are concerned that Egypt’s defence and intelligence cooperation with it could be under threat due to the assault on Rafah, Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting.
“The situation with Egypt right now is the worst it’s been since the war started,” an official told Haaretz. “At the beginning of the war, the Egyptians showed understanding toward our position.”
After recent Israeli operations in Rafah, which included the seizure of the Rafah border crossing, the official said Egypt had worked deliberately to obstruct Israeli operations “and to try to force an end to the war”.
The official added that this was “something that’s never happened, not even during previous operations of ours in Gaza”.
Turkey will ‘continue to stand by Hamas’, says Erdogan
President Erdogan says Turkey will “continue to stand by Hamas, which is fighting for its own land’s independence and defending Anatolia”.
Anatolia is the peninsula that today constitutes the Asian portion of Turkey.
Hamas has had an office in Turkey since 2011, when Turkey helped secure the agreement for the group to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and Erdogan has maintained links with Ismail Haniyeh, the group’s political leader, who has been a frequent visitor.
Speaking at a parliamentary group meeting in Ankara, Erdogan said: “Israel will not stop in Gaza, and if not stopped, this rogue state will eventually target Anatolia with its delusions of [a] promised land.”
He said Israeli PM Netanyahu and “those complicit in genocide will be held accountable, we will ensure they face justice”.
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