Gaza updates: Germany joins US in hint at Israel arms pause

05/10/2024May 10, 2024

Netanyahu says would fight with 'fingernails' if necessary

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to strike both an untroubled and a conciliatory tone on the comments from Israel's main ally in on Thursday. 

"If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails," he said in a statement. 

Military officials also sought to play down the potential impact of any changes in weapons deliveries in the short term. 

"The army has munitions for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah, too — we have what we need," top military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a press conference. 

Civilians, many of whom fled to Rafah earlier in the conflict, were rushing to clear eastern Rafah this weekImage: Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/picture alliance

In a US TV interview, though, Netanyahu also voiced hope that any differences with Biden could be resolved, trying to signal a strong relationship more generally. 

"We've often had our agreements but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them," he said on the "Dr. Phil Primetime" show. "I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country."

Israel's military said on Thursday that its forces had killed 50 militants and uncovered 10 tunnel shafts during operations it describes as limited in scope in eastern Rafah this week.

05/10/2024May 10, 2024

UNRWA says closing East Jerusalem office after fires laid

The UN agency coordinating aid in the Palestinian territories, UNRWA, said late on Thursday that it would be closing its headquarters in East Jerusalem temprorarily. 

UNRWA, or the UN Relief and Works agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, reported two fires set by protesters in the space of a week on the premises. 

"Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem," agency boss Philippe Lazzarini said online. "This took place while UNRWA and other UN Agencies' staff were on the compound." 

"In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I have taken the decision to close down our compound until proper security is restored," he said. 

Israel and the UNRWA have quite frequently been at loggerheads in recent months. 

Israel accused around a dozen members of the agency of participating in or supporting Hamas' October 7 attacks. An independent report, led by French former Foreign Minister Cathine Colonna, recently found "neutrality-related issues" in the group but said Israel had not provided evidence for its most serious allegations. 

The agency, the main provider and organizer of Palestinian aid, has long been unpopular in some more nationalist circles in Israel and this has only intensified amid the conflict and the allegations and investigation.

According to Lazzarini, the protests have been relatively regular for two months and were "called by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality." 

05/10/2024May 10, 2024

Germany's Pistorius can 'understand' US questions on Israel arms

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, speaking on German TV during his visit to the US this week, hinted that weapons deliveries to Israel were not unconditional and that a broader assault on Rafah might jeopardize them. He stopped short of an explicit warning, however.

This follows US President Joe Biden suggesting some US deliveries could be put on hold, as one shipment was last week, if such an attack materializes.

"Yes, I can understand," Pistorius said on ZDF when asked about Biden's comments this week. 

He said that issues like this were discussed behind closed doors during his talks in the US with his counterpart Lloyd Austin, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and others.

But Pistorius said that responsibility for such decisions by Germany lay more clearly with the Foreign Ministry and the Chancellery than with his office. 

The defense minister repeated that the "order of the day" in the conflict was to de-escalate it as quickly as possible, a message he had also delivered at the UN. 

Germany has however defended its weapons exports to Israel more generally, including against a challenge at the UN's top court last week, securing a preliminary ruling that its assistance to Israel need not be halted on humanitarian grounds. 

A larger-scale assault on Rafah has not really materialized to date despite months of warnings and threats from all sides. Israel did however launch limited operations this week in the east of the city as cease-fire talks hit another roadblock, renewing the focus on the issue.

05/10/2024May 10, 2024

Egypt appeals to Israel, Hamas, for 'flexibility' in stalled talks

Egypt's Foreign Ministry released a statement on Friday saying that both Israel and Hamas needed to show "flexibility" to break the long-running impasse in their cease-fire talks. 

A readout of a call between Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his US counterpart Antony Blinken released by Cairo said the pair had agreed on "the importance of urging the parties to show flexibility and make all the necessary efforts to achieve a cease-fire agreement and put an end to the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza."

Egypt is hosting and helping to mediate the talks, along with Qatar and the US. 

The latest negotiations hit a major snag this week.

After waiting for some time for a Hamas response on a proposal Israel had said it would accept, Hamas then said it had accepted "a proposal" from mediators, which Israel subsequently said was different and was not satsifactory.

Hamas said early on Friday that its negotiators had left the talks for the city of Doha, saying "the ball is now completely in the hands" of Israel. Israel's delegation was also reported in Egyptian media to have left Cairo.

msh/rc (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)