Middle East Crisis

Gaza War
Israel: Leave Khan Yunis Immediately – Attack Near

People in the town of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza are being urged to evacuate westward immediately. Israeli spokesman Avichay Adraee writes on X that the Israeli military is about to launch a major military attack on the town.

“Khan Yunis is considered a dangerous combat zone and has been warned several times,” he writes.

The Al-Amal and Nasser hospitals are also being urged to evacuate their patients.

Israel Rejects New US Ceasefire Proposal

Israel is rejecting the latest US proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, a senior Israeli government source told the Times of Israel.

– Hamas is making impossible demands that mean the war goals will fail and the hostages cannot be released, the source said.

The proposal, put forward by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, concerns a 70-day ceasefire and the release of ten Israeli hostages. It also includes Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas has approved the proposal, according to sources to Reuters and AFP.

Surgeon in Gaza: Never seen so many blast injuries

Victoria Rose, a surgeon in a British medical delegation in Khan Yunis, paints a bleak picture of the situation in southern Gaza.

“I have never seen so many blast injuries in my life, and I have never seen so many injured people in Gaza in my life [...] We see it in very young children too,” she tells AFP.

The severe burns that many suffer in the Israeli airstrikes would be difficult to survive even in Western countries with peace and functioning healthcare, according to Rose.

Often the victims' limbs are blown off completely or partially, and because they live in tents, they seek medical care with large amounts of dirt in their wounds, she adds.

Voices on the Gaza War
Merz on Israel's Warfare: "Not Justified"

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz launched an unusually harsh attack on Israel in an interview with Germany's Westdeutscher Rundfunk today.

He says that the country's actions in the Gaza Strip and how they affect the civilian population "can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas."

- I no longer understand what the Israeli military is doing in Gaza, and what their ultimate goal is, he says.

Merz wants to urge Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to take his warfare "too far," on the same day that Germany's Foreign Minister rejected a Spanish proposal for an arms embargo on Israel, writes Haaretz.

The move shows growing German uncertainty about the country's strong support for Israel, reports the Financial Times.

Demonstrations
Demonstrators storm Norway's Finance Ministry: "Passivity is a choice"

A group of protesters stormed the Finance Ministry's reception in Oslo on Monday in protest against the Oil Fund's investments in companies linked to the Israeli occupation, VG reports.

- There are ten of us Palestinians here today because the Oil Fund is suffocating our people. Stoltenberg's passivity is a choice, says spokesman Rami Samandar.

Around fifty people took part in the demonstration both inside and outside the building. Police intervened at lunchtime and removed several protesters. Jens Stoltenberg has previously rejected demands that the fund sell off its investments, and stresses that it should not be used as a political tool.

Parade in Israel: Thousands shouted “death to Arabs”

Several thousand Israeli nationalists shouted “death to Arabs” during a demonstration in Jerusalem to mark the anniversary of Israel’s annexation of the city’s eastern parts in 1967, reports the AP.

Several political statements were also made during the so-called Jerusalem Day. Among other things, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to unite Jerusalem “under Israeli sovereignty”.

Several fights broke out between Israelis and Palestinians during the parade.

Together with the political comments, the incident can be seen as a provocation that threatens to escalate the conflict in the Middle East, writes TT.