New aid plan to be approved by Trump after US envoy visit: Latest

Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said that Israel was in danger of becoming isolated and Germany was trying to prevent that.

“Israel must always find friends, partners and supporters in the international community. And that is currently in danger in this situation. And if there is one country that has a responsibility to prevent this, then in my view it is Germany,” Wadephul told reporters on a trip to Israel.

While Israel withdrew settlers and soldiers from Gaza in 2005, settlements expanded in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, their population rising from 250,000 in 1993 to 700,000 three decades later, according to Israeli organisation Peace Now. Palestinians say this undermines the basis of a viable state.

Jewish settlement in the West Bank has accelerated sharply since the start of the Gaza war.

During the Second Intifada two decades ago, Israel also constructed a barrier that it said was intended to stop Palestinian suicide bombers from entering its cities. Palestinians call it a land grab.

The PA led by President Mahmoud Abbas administers islands of West Bank land enveloped by a zone of Israeli control comprising 60% of the territory, including the Jordanian border and the settlements – arrangements set out in the Oslo Accords.

Netanyahu’s government is the most right-wing in Israeli history and includes religious nationalists who draw support from settlers. The far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said there is no such thing as a Palestinian people.

Netanyahu said on 7 July he wanted peace with the Palestinians but described any future independent state as a potential platform to destroy Israel, saying control of security must remain with Israel.

Hamas won elections in 2006 and a year later drove forces loyal to Abbas out of Gaza, fragmenting the territories where the Palestinians hope to establish their state.

Hamas and Israel have fought repeated wars since then, culminating in the attacks on communities in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that ignited the current Gaza war.

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The Israeli Prime Minister’s office said that the National Security Headquarters has sharpened its travel warning for Israelis staying in the United Arab Emirates, noting “that terrorist organizations are operating with increased intensity these days in efforts to harm Israel”.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee will travel to Gaza on Friday to inspect food aid delivery as Witkoff works on a final plan to speed deliveries to the enclave, the White House said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the two officials will travel into Gaza to inspect the current food distribution sites and work on a plan to deliver more food there and meet with local Gazans to “hear firsthand about this dire situation on the ground.”

Hamas said Palestinian resistance will not stop until “the occupation” ends and an independent, fully sovereign state with Jerusalem as its capital is established, in response to “the New York” declaration calling for the group to lay down the arms.

A declaration issued on Tuesday by Saudi Arabia and France, backed by Egypt, Qatar and the Arab League, called for Hamas to disarm and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority, which they say should rule across all Palestinian territories.

Saudi Arabia and France are seeking further global support for the declaration outlining steps towards implementing a two-state solution.

In a statement released Thursday, Egypt’s government called on other countries that have not yet “recognised the State of Palestine to expedite this step, standing on the right side of history.”

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday that his country will recognise a Palestinian state in September, joining the UK, France and other Western countries in a symbolic statement that is part of a broader global shift against Israel’s policies in Gaza.