French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a joint statement Monday endorsing the latest push by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. The European leaders also called for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid, and asked that Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliation that would further escalate regional tensions after the late-July killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
After more than 10 months of fighting, the Palestinian death toll is nearing 40,000 in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry there.
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Here’s the latest:
Israeli minister Ben-Gvir visits flashpoint holy site. Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemns his behavior as a ‘provocative intrusion’
JERUSALEM — Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site Tuesday, in a pilgrimage Palestinians see as provocative.
Tensions over the compound have fueled rounds of violence before. Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist settler leader, last visited the compound in July, which the Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned as a “provocative intrusion” that endangered the fragile status quo regarding the Jerusalem compound.
Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint site Tuesday morning as Jews marked Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning commemorating the destruction of the biblical Temples. Jews revere the site as the Temple Mount, believed to be the location of the First and Second Temples, and it is a holy site for Muslims as Haram al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary.
The visit elicited a rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it was a “deviation” from decades-old understandings at the site that prohibit Jewish worship there.
In video released by his office, Ben-Gvir was seen strolling through the compound singing, “The people of Israel live!” while accompanied by dozens of supporters. One supporter yelled a Jewish prayer, which is not permitted under the longstanding arrangement in place at the site meant to ease regional tensions. Ben-Gvir has said he is changing the policy and, despite previous assurances to the contrary by Netanyahu, he repeated the stance Tuesday, adding that “very large progress” had been made to allow Jewish prayer at the site. Netanyahu said there was no change to the policy.
Iran’s president tells UK prime minister that retaliation is a nation’s right
A Tuesday report by the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a late Monday phone conversation with Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said that a punitive response to an aggressor is “a right of nations and a solution for stopping crimes and aggression.”
Pezeshkian said that the West’s silence about “unprecedented inhumane crime” in Gaza and Israeli attacks elsewhere in the Middle East was “irresponsible” and encouraged Israel to put regional and global security at risk.
The report said the two leaders discussed ways for restoring peace and stability in the region and the world as well as improving bilateral relations, without elaborating.
Israel has not confirmed nor denied its role in the July killing of Haniyeh, but Israel earlier pledged to kill him and other Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The assassination has sparked fears of a wider regional conflict and of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran if Tehran retaliates.
Iran does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israeli militant groups including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Iran rejects European leaders’ call to refrain from any retaliatory attacks
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a joint statement Monday endorsing the latest push by mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States to broker an agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. The European leaders also called for the return of scores of hostages held by Hamas and the “unfettered” delivery of humanitarian aid, and asked that Iran and its allies to refrain from retaliation that would further escalate regional tensions after the late-July killings of two senior officials in Beirut and Tehran.
“Such demands lack political logic, are entirely contrary to the principles and rules of international law, and represent an excessive request,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said.
The country’s foreign ministry said Iran is decisive about defending its rights and does not need any permission to retaliate over the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, state-run IRNA news agency reported.
Israeli strikes kill at least 16 people overnight in Gaza
Ten people were killed in a strike late Monday on a house near the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel ordered mass evacuations in recent days, saying it must act against Palestinian militants.
Nasser Hospital, where the bodies were brought, said another four children, including a 5-month-old infant, were wounded. The infant’s parents and their other five children were among those killed. The parents of the other three wounded children were also killed, according to the hospital’s list of casualties. An Associated Press journalist counted the bodies.
A separate strike near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed a woman and her twin babies, who were four days old, and their grandmother. Another strike in central Gaza killed a man and his nephew.
An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies at the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and spoke to the father of the twins, who had planned to register their birth on Tuesday.
Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in residential areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
