Israel-Hamas war

Guterres sharpens tone against Israel: Humanitarian disaster  

UN Secretary-General António Guterres sharpens his tone against Israel and demands an immediate ceasefire after Israel's offensive in the past 24 hours, writes AFP. 

 

Guterres had expected a pause, not least after this was requested by a vote in the UN General Assembly, but instead he saw an "unprecedented escalation of the bombardment".  

 

The UN chief's statement comes after Israel announced that the war against Hamas is now entering a "new phase".  

 

- A humanitarian disaster is unfolding before our eyes, says Guterres. In connection with the speech, he also called for Hamas to unconditionally release its hostage, and for humanitarian aid to be allowed in.

 

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Erdogan stands up for Gaza - Israel takes diplomats home 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stands by the Palestinians in the conflict with Israel. He made that clear in connection with a pro-Palestinian demonstration with hundreds of thousands of participants in Istanbul on Saturday, writes Reuters.  

 

- I repeat that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. Israel has been very upset by this [...] but Israel is an occupier, I speak plainly because Turkey does not owe them anything, he told the audience.  

 

Erdogan clarified that the connections between Gaza and Turkey are many and go back a hundred years.  

He then went further and singled out "the West" as the main actor behind what he calls Israel's "massacre" in Gaza, reports AFP.  

 

As a direct result, Israel chose to recall all its diplomats from the country. 

 

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Netanyahu: The war in a "second phase" - is being drawn out 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference on Saturday evening regarding the ongoing war against Hamas. 

 

In the speech, Netanyahu said that the country is now in a "second phase" of the war. He also rejected all accusations that the country had committed war crimes.  

 

- We will explore every possibility to get the hostages back, says the Prime Minister and adds that the war will be difficult and protracted.  

 

Netanyahu then reiterated to the people of Gaza to obey the call of the Israeli military and leave the parts of the Gaza Strip now considered a battlefield.