DrGuterres explained that the Gaza Strip „is running out of water, electricity and other basic supplies.” The United Nations has stocks of food, water, medical supplies and fuel in Egypt, Jordan, the West Bank and Israel that can be dispatched “within hours.” However, UN staff must be “able” to bring these supplies safely and without interruption to the Gaza Strip and distribute them throughout the Palestinian territories.
The extremist Islamic movement Hamas called on Guterres to release all hostages “immediately” and “unconditionally.” The UN Secretary-General stressed that both of these objectives – the release of hostages and the delivery of aid – stand alone and should not be misused as a “bargaining tool.” He believes it is his duty to fight for both goals “in this tragic moment” when “we are on the brink of the abyss in the Middle East.”
The Palestinian Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, launched a major attack on Israel on October 7. Thousands of missiles were launched and hundreds of fighters invaded Israel. Hamas fighters carried out bloody massacres in several towns in southern Israel and kidnapped people to the Gaza Strip, including a number of Germans.
In response, the Israeli army put the Gaza Strip under continuous fire and completely closed off the Palestinian territories. Delivery of fuel, food and drinking water stopped. Israeli sources reported that water supplies had returned to the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday. Israel also called on residents of the northern Gaza Strip to flee to the southern part of the coastal strip. The Israeli army says it is preparing for a ground attack in the Palestinian territories.
All developments in the live stream:
3:30 AM – Foreign Minister Baerbock: There is still no contact with the Germans who were kidnapped by Hamas
According to Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Green Party), the federal government does not have any contact with German hostages of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. In an interview with the “An Well” program on the ARD channel on Sunday evening, Baerbock said that the issue was the focus of her visits to Israel and Egypt, as well as the recent visit of the Emir of Qatar to Berlin.
Regarding the potential mediation role of Egypt and Turkey in the release of the hostages, the minister said that Qatar and Turkey in particular have “channels to talk to Hamas.” Therefore, the federal government “strongly appealed” to these states to “activate these channels now.”
During the talks, the government also clarified again that it was about “German hostages” and provided appropriate photographs. “We’re trying to do this on all channels,” Baerbock said. A special team at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is dedicated to this issue “around the clock.”
02:10 AM – Biden does not believe it is necessary to send US troops
According to US President Joe Biden, sending US forces to Israel is not necessary. Biden said in a television interview with the “60 Minutes” program that Israel has “one of the best fighting forces.” But it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy the Gaza Strip. While he believes that Hamas must be completely eliminated, there must also be a path to the formation of a Palestinian state. Biden is confident that Israel will adhere to the rules of war.
01:13 AM – Comparison to Nazism by Colombia’s president: Israel draws conclusions
After Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s strong criticism of the counterattacks launched by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, Israel wants to stop its exports to Colombia in the security sector. This was Israel’s first step in response to Petro’s statements, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Hayat wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday. Petro then proposed severing relations between the two countries. “If we have to sever foreign relations with Israel, we will sever them,” he wrote.
Previously, Petro repeatedly condemned Israeli counterattacks in the Gaza Strip following attacks launched by the Palestinian Hamas movement in Israel. The left-wing politician compared the actions of the Israeli army to the crimes of the German National Socialists and the Gaza Strip to the Auschwitz extermination camp and the Warsaw Ghetto.
01:04: Anti-Semitism Commissioner calls for tightening the law on incitement to hatred
The Federal Government’s Anti-Semitism Commissioner, Felix Klein, calls for the criminal law to be tightened so that he can take more effective action against hatred and incitement. “Against the backdrop of reactions in Germany to Hamas terrorism in Israel, the police and judiciary must be put in a better position to control threats from the Islamic environment,” Klein told the Funke Mediengruppe newspapers. .
Therefore, he believes it is necessary to introduce a change to the incitement clause in the Criminal Code. In practice there are often difficulties in application. In the future, this paragraph should be applied without the need to prove that the inciting act disturbed the public peace, as was the case previously. “This clarifying legal change must happen immediately so that we as a country can clearly show the red lines – against any form of hatred and incitement on our streets.”
12:22 AM – A man in the US is accused of killing a boy due to hatred of Muslims
A man in the United States of America is said to have killed a six-year-old boy because of his Islamic faith. Local police said on Sunday that the 71-year-old man stabbed the boy 26 times with a knife and seriously injured his mother. According to police, this act was said to be a reaction to the war between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Israel. The accident occurred on Saturday in Plainfield, a suburb of Chicago. The man should now be charged with hate crimes, among other things.
Police said that the suspect did not provide any information about his involvement in this “heinous attack.” “Investigators were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect because they are Muslim and because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Hamas and the Israelis.” The conclusion has arrived.
Ahmed Rehab of the Council of Islamic Organizations for American-Islamic Relations in Chicago said that the suspect was the owner of the two victims’ house and knocked on the apartment’s door. Then the mother opened it. Rehab quoted text messages said to have been sent by the mother to the boy’s father. Accordingly, the suspect is said to have shouted, “You Muslims must die!” They said the mother ran to the bathroom to call the police. The suspect is said to have killed the boy in the meantime.
12:06 AM – Abbas: Hamas’ actions do not represent all Palestinians
According to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the actions and policies of the Islamist Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip do not represent the Palestinian people. Abbas, who heads the Automobile Authority in the West Bank, confirmed on Sunday, during a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, that he rejects the killing of civilians on both sides. He called on all concerned to release the prisoners.
Abbas also spoke in favor of peaceful resistance to end the occupation of Israel. At the same time, he stressed the need to stop the “Israeli aggression” against the Palestinian people.
A week ago Saturday, hundreds of terrorists crossed the border into Israel in a surprise attack on behalf of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and caused a bloodbath there. Since then, Israel has been bombing targets in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian President Abbas leads the Fatah movement within the Palestine Liberation Organization. Fatah and Hamas, the largest Palestinian organizations, have competed in recent years. The extremist Islamist Hamas movement expelled Fatah from the Gaza Strip in a bloody power struggle in 2007. Since then, Abba’s influence there has been considered low.
Reconciliation talks have been taking place between the two groups for several years. In his phone call with Maduro, Abbas stressed that the Palestine Liberation Organization is the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.