Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira reported today that after the meeting of the G20 members in Rio de Janeiro, there is "practical unanimity" among the members of that group in support of the two-state solution in the Middle East.
"He didn't just say 'unanimous', because not all interventions focused on that topic, but those who came forward to speak were in favor, and there were many of them," a Brazilian diplomatic source explained to AFP.
During a short address to journalists at the end of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting, the head of Brazilian diplomacy underlined "practical unanimity in support of a two-state solution as the only possible one for the conflict between Israel and Palestine."
Brazil has been chairing the G20 since December, and the meeting in Rio was mainly focused on the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
The Israeli parliament yesterday overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution proposed by the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which expresses its opposition to any "unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state", which, it says, would be a reward for the "unprecedented terrorism" that took place on the 7th. committed by the Palestinian militant movement Hamas in October 2023.
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Israel will send negotiators to truce talks in Paris on Friday, Israeli media reported, as Gazans hope for a ceasefire that could halt an all-out Israeli assault on Rafah after the city suffered one of the worst bombings of the conflict. Reuters agency.
Israel's Channel 12 television reported today that the war cabinet has approved sending negotiators, led by the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service, to Paris for talks on a potential deal to free more than 100 hostages believed to be held by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was in Egypt this Sunday, the strongest sign in weeks that talks remain alive, according to Reuters.
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said in a statement: "We will expand the powers given to our hostage negotiators as we prepare to resume intensive ground operations."
At least 23 Palestinians were killed on Thursday in Israeli bombardment of houses in central Gaza, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, Reuters reports.
Israeli forces today raided the Nasser Medical Complex, the largest functioning hospital in Gaza, shortly after withdrawing from it, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said, reports Reuters.
The World Health Organization said the hospital in Khan Younis, the second largest and crucial to Gaza's crippled health services, stopped working last Sunday after a week-long Israeli siege followed by a raid.
Nasser Hospital is the latest health facility to become a battlefield in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, now in its fifth month.
Israel says Hamas, the Islamist group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, is using the hospitals as shelters. Hamas denies this and says Israel's accusations serve as an excuse to destroy the health system.
The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, in which, according to Israeli data, 1.200 people were killed and 253 were taken hostage. Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel responded with an air and ground attack that killed more than 29.000 Palestinians and wounded more than 69.000, according to Gaza authorities. The war displaced most of the enclave's 2,3 million inhabitants and reduced much of it to rubble.
The foreign ministers of the Group of 20, who met in Brazil, are united in the view that a two-state solution is the only way to peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borelj.
“Everybody's here for it, everybody. I haven't heard of anyone being against it. There is a strong demand for a two-state solution, that is the consensus among us," said Borelj, reports Hina.
He pointed out that the common position of all G20 members is that there will be neither peace nor sustainable security for Israel until the Palestinians get a clear political perspective to build their own state.
Borelj pointed out that the crisis in Gaza spills over to the West Bank, which is "absolutely seething with attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians."
The head of European diplomacy said that he asked Brazil, as the host of the meeting, to explain to the world that everyone who attended the meeting was in favor of that solution.
"We have to mobilize our political capacity to advocate for that solution to be implemented, otherwise it's just wishful thinking," Borelj said.
He added that he expects the Arab countries to propose a peace solution for Gaza in the coming period.
Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition government continue to reject the possibility of a Palestinian state, despite Israel's main ally the United States continuing to say that a two-state solution is the only viable way to bring lasting peace to the region.
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Israeli forces withdrew from the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza on Thursday, a week after it was raided, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said, according to Reuters.
The World Health Organization said the hospital in Khan Yunis, the second-largest and critical to Gaza's crippled health services, stopped working last week after a week-long Israeli siege followed by a raid.
Since the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar, was released from an Israeli prison in 2011, the Israeli Shin Bet security service has repeatedly tried to get the government's approval to kill him, writes a journalist of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Achronota.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "vetoed" the assassination of Sinvar five times in order to avoid war with Hamas, journalist Nadav Eyal announced today.
During his tenure, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also considered the idea.
After the attack by Palestinian extremists in May 2022 in the city of Elad in Israel, Shin Bet again proposed a plan to kill the leader of Hamas, but the Israeli army opposed it.
Israel's defense minister at the time, Benny Gantz, was also against the killing, believing that Hamas was intimidated.
Journalist Eyal does not cite sources, but other Israeli media comment that Shin Bet blames the political leadership for the war that broke out on October 7 between Israel and Hamas.
Sinwar was released as part of the exchange of 1.000 Palestinian prisoners for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been held captive in Gaza for more than five years.
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The Palestinian Islamist Hamas released a statement today praising the attack near the Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank, calling the deadly incident a "natural response to the war in Gaza," Arabic-language media reported.
"The heroic operation is a natural response to the massacres and crimes of the occupiers in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," Hamas said.
The statement also mentioned the upcoming Muslim month of fasting and Israel's efforts to minimize security risks during the holiday, assessing that "the occupation's invasion of Jerusalem and plans to prevent worshipers from reaching the Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan will not bring it security."
One Israeli was killed in the attack, and as it was later announced on the spot, help was given to the wounded. Five people were taken to hospitals.
Two attackers were killed by members of the Israeli security forces and civilians at the scene of the attack, and the third tried to escape, but was detained and his condition is unknown. Initial reports stated that he was also killed.
Palestinians fired automatic weapons at vehicles in front of a checkpoint on the way to Jerusalem, where they drove in a car.
The Minister of National Security of Israel, Itamar Ben Gvir, assessed that a major disaster was avoided thanks to the police and armed citizens.
In the meantime, the police announced the identities of the attackers, two brothers Muhammad and Katem Zawahra and Ahmed al-Awash, and stated that they are residents of the Bethlehem area in the West Bank.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who is ultra-right like Ben Gvir, is demanding approval for plans for thousands of new housing units in Maale Adumim and surrounding neighborhoods in response to today's attack.
"Our enemies know that any injury they inflict on us will lead to more construction and development and our greater control over the entire country," Smotrich said.
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The Health Ministry of Hamas announced today that since the beginning of the war between the Palestinian organization and Israel, 29.410 people have died in the Gaza Strip.
The statement added that 24 Palestinians were killed in the past 97 hours. Since October 7, when the war began, 69.465 people have been wounded, France Press reports.
Israeli media state that these data cannot be independently confirmed, and that they include civilians and members of Hamas killed in Gaza, including those killed by misfired rockets by Palestinian extremists.
The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) claim to have killed around 12.000 operatives in Gaza in addition to another 1.000 extremists killed in Israel on the first day of the war. The ministry in Gaza announced earlier that most of the victims were women and children.
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Israel today thwarted a rocket attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels near the port city of Eliat, as the group increases its attacks on ships in the Red Sea because of Israel's war in the Gaza Strip.
At least that's what it looks like in online footage of the interception of the missile, which was released just after the sirens went off early this morning in Eliot.
The Israeli military later announced that the interception was carried out by Israel's Arrow missile defense system.
Israel did not identify which missiles were fired, or from where. However, the Arrow system is known to intercept long-range ballistic missiles.
The Israeli army announced that the anti-aircraft system successfully intercepted the rockets launched towards Israel, adding that they did not reach Israeli territory, nor did they pose a danger to civilians.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, they usually do so several hours later.
Eliat, located on the Red Sea, is a key port city in Israel. The Houthis first claimed to have carried out a rocket and drone attack on the city on October 31, but did not cause any damage in the city, nor in subsequent attacks.
Since November, the Houthis have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters because of Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Often, the ships they targeted had only weak or unclear ties to Israel, although the Houthis claimed that such ships were their targets, and thus endangered the navigation of that important commercial waterway.
The US has established a force to defend ships in the Red Sea and has so far, together with Great Britain, carried out several attacks on Houthi missile systems. The EU also announced that it is forming a force to protect ships in the Red Sea from Monday.
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One person was killed and eight were wounded this morning when gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons on several vehicles near a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.
The incident took place near Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, the police said, adding that the attackers drove to the scene of the attack in a car.
The police stated that "three terrorists" carried out an attack on Israelis in vehicles that were moving towards Jerusalem, a few hundred meters before the checkpoint, Israeli media reported.
"Three terrorists got out of their car and started shooting with automatic weapons at vehicles in a traffic jam on the road to Jerusalem," the police statement said.
Two of the attackers were killed on the spot by members of the security forces, and the third was running away, but was killed a little later after a police chase.
The Israeli media first reported that three people were seriously wounded, and then one died.
It was later said that six wounded were taken to a hospital in Jerusalem.
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Yesterday, the United States of America carried out four strikes on the missile systems of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, announced the US military command in the Middle East (Centcom).
As stated, during the day yesterday US forces carried out four strikes in self-defense against seven Huta cruise anti-ship missile systems and one self-propelled anti-ship ballistic missile transporter, which were ready to be launched towards the Red Sea.
In addition, US forces also shot down one drone.
Missiles, missile launchers and a drone were identified in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and posed an "imminent danger" to navigation in that area, the US command said.
The Houthis have been attacking ships they say are linked to Israel since November off the coast of Yemen, claiming they are doing so in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is waging a war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Because of the Houthi attacks, in December the US formed a multinational naval protection force in the Red Sea, an important international trade waterway, and, with the help of Great Britain, carried out more attacks against the Houthis in Yemen.
Since then, the Houthis have expanded their attacks on ships that they believe are connected to the US and Great Britain.
The European Union announced on Monday that it is launching its own maritime security mission in the area, scheduled to last a year with the possibility of an extension.
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The war between Israel and Hamas - Day 139.
The Hamas Health Ministry announced this morning that 99 Palestinians were killed last night in the Gaza Strip.
Israel carried out new airstrikes on Rafah in the south of Gaza on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, France Press reported, at a time when complicated talks in Cairo on the establishment of a truce in the Palestinian territory begin.
A special US envoy is expected to arrive in Israel today in an effort to resume stalled talks.
The war sparked by Hamas' unprecedented attacks on Israeli territory on October 7 has left the Gaza Strip in a catastrophic humanitarian situation.
According to the United Nations, the vast majority of the population is at risk of starvation, and the international community is particularly concerned about the fate of around 1,5 million Palestinians who took refuge in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, from the conflict in other areas of Gaza.
Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and despite international opposition, he plans to launch a ground offensive there.
Last night, the Israeli Air Force carried out a dozen strikes on Rafah, said a journalist from France Presse.
Advisor to US President Joseph Biden, Brett McGurk, will arrive in Israel after visiting Egypt, where new talks on a truce are underway.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US wants an agreement reached as quickly as possible.
The leader of the political wing of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in exile in Qatar, is currently in Cairo.
On the agenda of the talks is the first phase of the plan prepared by the mediators, Qatar, the US and Egypt, and foresees a six-week truce with the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the entry of large amounts of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
According to Israel, another 130 hostages are being held in Gaza, of which, it is believed, 30 are no longer alive, out of a total of 250 people abducted on October 7.
At the time, 1.160 people, mostly civilians, were killed in attacks by Palestinian extremists led by Hamas.
More than 29.000 people, mostly women and children, died in Israeli revenge attacks from the air, land and sea on Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health there, which is controlled by Hamas.
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