Israel Guterres warns of catastrophe in the Middle East - The night at a glance
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urgently warned of a catastrophe in the conflict between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. "A rash act - a miscalculation - could trigger a catastrophe that goes far beyond the border and, frankly, beyond imagination," Guterres warned in New York on Friday. The people in the region and around the world "cannot afford for Lebanon to become another Gaza", said Guterres, referring to the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas allied with Hezbollah in the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian reports, at least 24 people died there on Friday in an attack attributed to Israel on a tent camp with internally displaced persons.
22.06.2024, 07:44
SDA
The Israeli military said on request that initial investigations indicated that the attack in Al-Mawasi near Rafah in southern Gaza was not carried out by Israeli troops. The incident is still under investigation. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority in Gaza, 47 Palestinians were injured in the attack. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Platform X that the nearby field hospital had received 22 dead and 45 injured, with reports of more casualties. The Red Cross statement did not say who was responsible. Bullets of "heavy caliber" had struck just a few meters from the ICRC office and its shelter in Al-Mawasi. The office building, which was "surrounded by hundreds of displaced people living in tents", was damaged.
The town of Rafah, which borders Egypt, has been at the center of an Israeli military offensive since the beginning of May. Israel wants to smash the last Hamas battalions there. Around one million people had sought shelter there in a confined space from fighting in other parts of the Gaza Strip. When the Israeli ground offensive began, they fled again. Many came to Al-Mawasi, where, according to aid organizations, there is a lack of accommodation, sanitary facilities, water and food. Eyewitnesses reported on Friday that Israeli tank shells hit the tent camp there as a complete surprise. This information could not be independently verified.
UN Secretary-General Guterres complained that there was "total lawlessness" in the Gaza Strip. There were "extreme difficulties in the distribution" of aid supplies in Gaza and trucks were being looted. The problem is not just about getting aid to Gaza. "There must be a mechanism in place that guarantees a minimum level of law and order so that distribution can take place," Guterres demanded. The UN chief therefore once again urged an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
According to the mediator state Qatar, some progress has been made in the indirect negotiations. However, there are "still some gaps" between Israel and Hamas, said Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Friday during a visit to Spain. Qatar is continuing its efforts, he added. There had been several meetings with Hamas representatives. Efforts have been underway for months by mediators from the USA, Qatar and Egypt to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire and Hamas to release around 120 people who have been abducted from Israel - but so far without success.
According to a report on the Israeli news website "Ynet" on Friday evening, the foreign head of Hamas, Ismail Hanija, reaffirmed the position of the Islamist organization. It was "open to any negotiation and ceasefire initiative", provided it met the demands to "end the war". Hamas is sticking to its demands, such as a permanent ceasefire and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, it said. However, Israel has so far strictly rejected an end to the war.
Meanwhile, Israel's border with Lebanon saw renewed exchanges of fire on Friday. In response to repeated attacks on areas in northern Israel, the Israeli army said it had carried out air strikes against several positions of the pro-Iranian Shia militia Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as the military announced in the evening. Previously, there had been attacks from Lebanon on areas in northern Israel. There were no reports of casualties, it said. The information could not initially be independently verified. Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, there have been daily military confrontations between the Israeli army and Hezbollah in the border area between Israel and Lebanon. There have been casualties on both sides.
UN Secretary-General Guterres expressed his "deep concern" about the latest escalation in the conflict. The danger of an escalation is "real" and must be avoided. The mutual shelling has already caused severe destruction in villages on both sides of the border. Around 150,000 people have been evacuated or have left the combat zone. Hezbollah is allied with Hamas, but is considered to be much more powerful.
Israel wants to use military and diplomatic pressure to ensure that Hezbollah withdraws behind the Litani River, 30 kilometers from the border - as stipulated by UN Resolution 1701. "The parties must urgently return to the full implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and immediately move towards a cessation of hostilities," demanded Guterres. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is traveling to Israel and Lebanon next week for talks in light of growing concerns about an escalation of the conflict.
