Qatar’s prime minister warned on Tuesday of the massive destruction inflicted by Israel’s offensive on Gaza and criticized the Israeli defense minister’s rejection of a cease-fire in the battered enclave.
The war, sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, has also triggered a humanitarian catastrophe that has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million population and pushed more than a quarter into starvation, according to the United Nations.
More than 100 days into the conflict, Palestinian authorities say the death toll in the coastal territory has passed 24,000. In Israel, Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack killed around 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage by the militants.
BRUSSELS — The European Union said Tuesday that is has put the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, Hamas leader Yehya Sinwar, on its terrorist list.
The EU says Sinwar “is subject to the freezing of his funds and other financial assets in EU member states. It is also prohibited for EU operators to make funds and economic resources available to him.” No further details were provided.
Israel believes Sinwar is hiding in a tunnel somewhere in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
In November, the EU froze the funds and other assets in Europe of Mohammed Deif, the commander general of Hamas’ military wing, and of deputy commander Marwan Issa.
Hamas and its military wing have been on the EU’s terrorist list as organizations for about 20 years.
JERUSALEM — Qatar’s prime minister offered stinging criticism of Israel and the international community on Tuesday over the ongoing Israeli war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister, said a two-state solution was required to end the conflict and warned that Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack and the Israeli response showed the region could not go back to the way it was before.
“Gaza is not there anymore. I mean, there is nothing over there,” he said, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “It’s carpet bombing everywhere.”
He also brought up the ongoing tensions in the West Bank, which has seen Palestinians killed as well by Israeli security forces, and urged for an end to Palestinian divisions.
He warned that a military confrontation in the Mideast waterways “will not contain” the attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels who on Monday fired a missile, striking a U.S.-owned ship just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden.
“What we have right now in the region is a recipe of escalation everywhere,” Sheikh Mohammed added.
ISRAEL SAYS ROCKETS FIRED FROM GAZA, REPORTEDLY ONE OF THE STRONGEST BOMBARDMENTS IN MORE THAN A WEEK
TEL AVIV — Israel says a barrage of at least 25 rockets was launched on Tuesday from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel, damaging a store. It was one of the strongest bombardments from Gaza in more than a week.
It came a day after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the Israeli army was expanding military control from northern Gaza toward other parts of the strip.
Hamas has continued to fire rockets at Israel throughout the war, even as Israel says it is dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities in ever-expanding areas of Gaza. Israeli Channel 12 TV said the rockets on Tuesday were launched from the central Gaza town of Bureij.
In the area of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, Israeli troops located approximately 100 rocket set-installations and 60 ready-to-use rockets, the military said, claiming its forces killed dozens of militants during the activity.
At a news conference on Monday, Gallant said he expects military operations in southern Gaza to “end soon” but gave no timeframe. He spoke a day after the White House called on Israel to curtail its offensive.
Gallant said Israel is still targeting Hamas’ leaders, calling them the “head of the snake” and said they are believed to be hiding in Khan Younis, the southern city where the offensive has been focused in recent weeks.
