Israel-Palestine|The victims

  

Bodies are collected in Kfar Azza. Ohad Zwigenberg / AP 

Israel-Palestine|The victims   

Infants reportedly killed in Kfar Azza massacre  

 

Kibbutz Kfar Azza, a couple of kilometers from Gaza's eastern border, was destroyed by the advance of the terrorist group Hamas on Saturday. Civilians and Hamas men lie dead among burned-out buildings and cars, Reuters reports. 

 

The news agency's reporter on the spot testifies to how the concept of corpses is heavy in the small collective community, where Israeli soldiers go door to door and collect bodies.  

 

Major General Itai Veruv says they discovered babies and their parents killed in the rooms where they took shelter. 

 

- This is not a war, it is not a battlefield. It is a massacre, terrorist activity, he says.  

 

According to the latest official figure, at least 900 people have been killed in Israel since Hamas attacked. Palestinian authorities report 830 killed in the counter-attacks against Gaza. 

 

 

Women mourn dead after an Israeli airstrike. Fatima Shbair / AP  

 

UN: "Gaza's emergency situation is deteriorating exponentially"  

 

The Gaza Strip could face a new humanitarian crisis if supplies are not allowed into the area, authorities told the BBC.  

 

Yesterday, Israel imposed a "total siege" on the area and announced that no electricity, food, fuel or water would be brought into the area. 

 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is "deeply concerned" by the siege and warns that Gaza's already acute humanitarian situation will now "deteriorate exponentially", reports AFP.  

 

Residents say no aid has reached Gaza since Saturday, when the terrorist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel. Israel has responded with airstrikes against the Gaza Strip. The BBC reports on deserted streets covered in debris from collapsed buildings.  

 

Guterres spokesman Stéphane Dujarric says damage to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities affects 400,000 people.  

 

- Gaza's power plant is now the only source of electricity, and it could run out of fuel within days, he says.  

 

The Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, is home to 2.3 million inhabitants, 80 percent of whom are dependent on humanitarian aid.

Palestinians flee an area of Gaza hit by Israeli shelling. Fatima Shbair / AP  

 

UN: Israel's siege is illegal - WHO wants to see a humanitarian corridor to Gaza  

 

Israel's "total siege" of the Gaza Strip is prohibited under international law, according to the UN's human rights chief.  

 

"The imposition of sieges that endanger civilian lives by depriving them of goods essential to their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law," said Volker Turk in a statement.  

 

At the same time, the World Health Organization, WHO, demands an end to the violence and that a humanitarian corridor be established to the Gaza Strip.  

 

- A humanitarian corridor is needed to reach people with critical medical supplies, says spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic

AP Oliver Varhelyi/Gaza.  

 

Upheaval within the EU after posts about support for Palestine

 

There was shock and anger in the EU yesterday after Hungarian Neighborhood Policy Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi wrote a post on X announcing that the EU would immediately withdraw all development aid to the Palestinian territories. This is reported by SvD.  

 

A number of member states kicked back, accusing Varhelyi of acting on his own, without the approval of head Ursula von der Leyen. The press departments of the European Commission have gone into crisis management mode after the post, the newspaper writes.  

 

Josep Borrell, the EU's head of foreign affairs, is one of several who have spoken out critically:  

 

"Freezing aid - punishing all Palestinians - would only harm the EU's interest in the region and strengthen the terrorists." 

 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen. Henrik Montgomery/TT / TT 

 

News Agency Denmark pauses aid to Palestine: "Should go right" 

 

The Danish government has decided to pause development aid to Palestine, reports DR and Danish TV2.  

 

The reason is to ensure that the funds are "given to the right purpose". The decision was made after a meeting between the governing parties on Tuesday morning. 

 

- After such a serious aggression and the terrorist acts that Hamas has subjected Israel to, there is a need to stop so that we can be absolutely sure that the support we pay out goes to the right people and projects, says Dan Jørgensen (S) , Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, in a press release.  

 

Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Vladimir Putin AP/TT  

 

Unrest in Ukraine: "Hamas attacks a gift for Putin"  

 

The war between Israel and terrorist-branded Hamas means an unexpected cloud of worry for Ukraine, writes Politico. An anonymous EU diplomat that the news site has spoken to says that the conflict is the best "present" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

 

- The attack on Israel will divide the attention, says the person and continues: 

 

- We hope that this will not have a dramatic effect on support for Ukraine, but of course much will depend on the length of the conflict in the Middle East.  

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has likened Hamas' attacks in Israel to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

 

- The only difference is that it is a terrorist organization that attacks Israel, and a terrorist state that attacked Ukraine, he says.  

 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov believes that the situation means an inevitable reduction in aid to Ukraine.  

 

- It is a downward trend, he claims.