Israel-Hamas war: UN envoys alarmed by Rafah visit

The European Union's top foreign policy chief told reporters on Monday, after meeting with the bloc's foreign ministers, that he will present a proposal to impose sanctions on Israelis living in illegal settlements in the West Bank who have increased their violent attacks against Palestinians in the last two months.

He said the ministers were "alarmed by the violence in the West Bank by extremist settlers."

"And we are also alarmed by the fact that the Israeli government has approved the construction of another 1,700 housing units in East Jerusalem to expand the settlements, which is what we consider illegal under international law," he added. "We condemn this decision."

Borrell also lamented the suffering of civilians in Gaza.

"The human suffering constitutes an unprecedented challenge to the international community," Borrell said.

"Civilian casualties are between 60 and 70 percent of the overall deaths,"  he said, citing figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. "Eighty five percent of the population is internally displaced." 

"The destruction of buildings in Gaza... is more or less or even greater than the destruction suffered by the German cities during the Second World War," taken proportionally, Borrell added.

He also pledged that the EU would continue sending financial aid to the Palestinian Authority which governs in the West Bank.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday said his country has no intention of remaining in Gaza as an occupying force, according to Reuters news agency. 

Gallant said the Israeli government was open to discussions as to who might control the territory after Israel completes its current military operations against Hamas, which currently controls the thin strip of land.

The defense minister suggested Israel was prepared to accept any legitimate group controlling the territory as long as it was not hostile towards Israel.

Envoys from the United Nations Security Council expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza on Monday during a trip to the Rafah border crossing at the south of the territory.

The trip was organized by the United Arab Emirates and included a dozen delegates from Security Council members, but not the United States.

The UAE's envoy Lana Nusseibeh said that the trip was not official Security Council work and that members were taking part on their own "national and personal" initiatives.

They met with Gazan victims of the conflict at a hospital in Egypt and were briefed by the UN Palestinian refugee agency before heading to the Rafah border crossing. 

"The reality is even worse than what words can speak," Ecuador's UN representative Jose De La Gasca told reporters after the briefing.

"We need to see...we will witness what is happening and what can we do in order to address the situation."

When asked by reporters if he had a message for nations that opposed a cease-fire in Gaza, China's representative to the UN Zhang Jun said: "Enough is enough."

Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank staged a general strike on Monday to protest Israel's ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"The strike today is not only in solidarity with Gaza, but also against the USA which used its veto in the Security Council against a truce," said Essam Abu Baker, a coordinator in the Fatah political party in Ramallah, told AFP news agency

Israeli news outlet Ynet reported that the strike was endorsed by Hamas, which is considered a terror group by the US, the EU, Germany and others.

Palestinians stopped work in cities like Nablus in the north and Hebron in the south, AFP reported. Local media said that public transport, banks and universities had also joined the strike calling for a cease-fire.

In east Jerusalem's Old City, many shops were also closed.

"We want the war to stop," a 65-year-old coffee shop owner told AFP, adding that he had not heard from his friends in Gaza in weeks.

In Ramallah, protesters unfurled a banner with the names of those who died in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks.

Some people in other Arab countries also went on strike.

The streets of Amman, Jordan, were quiet as many business remained closed, while in Lebanon schools and government institutions also shut. In Mauritania, the Ministry of Higher Education said it postponed all exams and lectures on Monday "to allow students to take part in activities held in support for Gaza."

The latest fighting in Gaza began after Hamas carried out a terror attack on October 7 in Israel that saw around 1,200 people killed and more than 200 taken hostage. Israel says its goal is to eliminate Hamas during the Gaza military operation.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Monday that Israel "must act within the framework of international humanitarian law" in Gaza. 

Speaking during a joint press conference with outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Scholz added that the leaders were "saddened by the suffering of Palestinian civilian population in Gaza" and that "humanitarian care for civilians must be improved."

The chancellor said a two-state solution was the only way forward for Palestinians and Israelis to be able to live in peace. 

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has urged Israel to adapt its military strategy to prevent more suffering among civilians.

"We expect Israel [...] to allow more humanitarian aid, especially in the north, and that its military actions are more targeted and cause fewer civilian victims," Baerbock was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Dubai. 

"The question of how Israel carries out this battle is central to the perspective of a political solution," she said, according to the report.

A dozen United Nations Security Council envoys were due to visit the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip on Monday, but the delegation would not include a representative from the United States.

The crossing is a key point for aid and humanitarian deliveries into Gaza. 

"The United States is keenly aware of the very difficult situation at Rafah and is working around the clock to try to improve the situation on the ground," said Nate Evans, spokesperson for the US Mission to the United Nations.

Last week, the US vetoed a proposed UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.

The UN General Assembly plans to vote on a similar resolution on Tuesday. General Assembly resolutions are not binding and carry mainly symbolic weight at the UN. However, unlike at the Security Council, the US cannot unilaterally veto them.

Germany, Italy and France have called on the European Union to impose ad hoc sanctions against Hamas and its supporters in a letter to the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell. 

"We express our full support for the [...] proposal to create an ad hoc sanctions regime against Hamas and its supporters," said the letter, which was seen by news agencies. 

"The swift adoption of this sanctions regime will enable us to send a strong political message about the European Union's commitment against Hamas and our solidarity with Israel," the letter added, without detailing the possibile sanctions. 

"This implies a stronger European commitment both to combating Hamas' infrastructure and financial support, and to isolating and delegitimizing Hamas internationally, which in no way represents the Palestinians or their legitimate aspirations," said the letter.

The letter was sent as foreign ministers from 27 EU countries meet in Brussels on Monday. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the EU.

Fierce battles raged between Israeli forces and Hamas militants as Israel continued its assault on southern Gaza's main city, Khan Younis. Fighting was also reported in parts of Gaza City in the north. 

More airstrikes rained down on Khan Younis overnight, AFP correspondents said, while deadly fighting and bombing was also reported in Gaza's central and northern urban areas.

The Israeli military said it struck about 250 militant targets across Gaza on Sunday. 

Israeli tanks were trying to push further west and around Khan Younis on Monday, Reuters news agency reported. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a televised statement on Sunday, again pledged to keep fighting for as long as it takes until Hamas is removed from power.

The war will continue, "but this is the beginning of the end for Hamas," he said, calling on the militants to lay down their weapons. The Islamist militant group ruling Gaza is recognized as a terrorist organization by several countries. 

Syria has accused Israel of carrying out airstrikes near Syria's capital, Damascus, saying its anti-aircraft defenses shot down some missiles on Sunday "while others caused limited material damage."

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes had targeted "Hezbollah sites" in a district near Damascus airport.

Israeli strikes on targets in Syria are fairly frequent, and are thought to often target Hezbollah sites in Syria. Israel generally does not comment on them.

The IDF military again declined to comment on Sunday, although it did separately mention rocket fire from Lebanon into northern Israel.

Since the October 7 attacks by Hamas, which is identified as a terrorist organization by the EU, the US, Germany and many other countries, there have been frequent but comparatively small-scale exchanges of fire between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group at Israel's northern border.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said more than 100 of its soldiers have been killed since the start its ground operation in Gaza.

It comes after three soldiers died in fighting in southern Gaza on Sunday as the Israeli military refocuses its more than two-month war effort against the militant Islamist group Hamas to the south.

In a video broadcast on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war would continue.

Earlier, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said nearly 18,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.

Although there is a debate over the breakdown between civilian and combatant deaths, UN agencies and other international institutions believe the ministry's overall death toll is broadly accurate.

Hamas militants raided southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages, some of whom have since been released. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the US and Germany.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it carried out artillery strikes on targets inside Lebanon.

The IDF said it was responding to "launches" from Lebanon toward Israel.

The Al-Manar television broadcaster operated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia backed by Iran and considered a terrorist organization by several countries, reported that villages in the border area had been hit by the Israeli fire.

Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israel along the border since the start of the war. 

Welcome to our live updates on the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza for Monday, December 11.

On Sunday, the executive board of the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a resolution urging immediate, humanitarian access to Gaza.

The resolution, brought forward by Afghanistan, Qatar, Yemen and Morocco, seeks the entry of medical personnel and supplies into the territory.

It also requires the WHO to keep track of violence against medical workers and patients. Moreover, the resolution aims to get financing for the reconstruction of hospitals.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on members of the militant Islamist group Hamas in Gaza to surrender.

Netanyahu said dozens of "Hamas members have surrendered to our forces in the past few days." 

Israel also rejected as "outrageous and false" an allegation by Jordan that Israel was implementing a systematic policy of pushing Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip into Egypt.

Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, also told a forum in Qatar that Israel has "created hatred that would haunt the region and define generations to come."

lo,msh,rmt/wmr (AFP, Reuters)