A global hunger monitor has confirmed famine in parts of the Gaza Strip for the first time. The UN rights chief said starving Gaza could be a war crime, while Israel’s PM called the report “an outright lie.” DW has more.
Dutch foreign minister quits after Israel sanctions stalemate
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp resigned his post after a cabinet meeting failed to agree on sanctions against Israel.
“I see that I am insufficiently able to take meaningful additional measures to increase pressure on Israel,” Veldkamp told Dutch news agency ANP after the meeting.
The minister said the steps he had proposed were “seriously discussed” but encountered resistance in successive cabinet meetings.
But his colleagues from two parties, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB), refused to take further action against Israel, Dutch media reported.
“I feel constrained in setting the course I consider necessary as foreign minister,” Veldkamp said.
The Netherlands was among 21 countries that signed a joint declaration on Thursday condemning Israel’s approval of a major West Bank settlement project as “unacceptable and contrary to international law.”
Antisemitic attacks rise sharply in Germany amid Gaza war
In Germany, antisemitic incidents have risen sharply since the October 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Police figures show attacks against Jews rose 20% last year. In Berlin, many are afraid to openly show that they are Jewish.
Manager detained after young Israelis denied entry to leisure park in France
The manager of an activity park in southern France has been taken into custody after a group of 150 young Israeli tourists was denied entry.
The man was detained on Thursday for “discrimination based on religion,” prosecutors in the nearby city of Perpignan told the AFP news agency.
According to the prosecutors, the manager cited “personal convictions” as motive for banning the children from entering the Porte-Puymorens park in the western Pyrenees.
The group of 150 Israeli holidaymakers — all of them minors aged 8 to 16 — were denied entry “even though a reservation had been made long in advance,” the prosecutors said.
“This is not our conception of the Republic, this is not our conception of human dignity,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told French broadcaster BFM TV, describing the incident as “serious.”
The 52-year-old manager has no criminal record. If convicted of religious discrimination while providing services, he could face a prison term of up to three years.
Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, in the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas and the ensuing war in Gaza, according to France’s Interior Ministry. The number dropped only slightly to 1,570 last year.
Source : https://www.dw.com/en/middle-east-netanyahu-calls-ipc-gaza-famine-report-a-lie/live-73728282
