Middle East: US top diplomat Rubio visits Israel for talks

The final stage of Spain's La Vuelta cycling race was canceled on Sunday afternoon after pro-Palestinian protests blocked the route in central Madrid.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the Spanish capital, occupying several points along the route that the athletes were set to use. There were also reports of clashes between police and protesters.

Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard, of Visma-Lease a Bike, was leading the race on Saturday. Following the cancellation of the final stage, La Vuelta's organizers have declared Vingegaard the winner.

"For security reasons, stage 21 of La Vuelta has been ended early. There will be no podium ceremony," organizers posted on X. 

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has slammed Israel at a meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim countries held in Doha, as Qatar's allies discuss possible responses to the recent Israeli attack targeting Hamas leaders.

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed, who is also his country's foreign minister, said Qatar was still committed to working with Egypt and the United States to achieve a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

But he also said Israel should face consequences for its attacks in the wider Middle East region amid the conflict. 

"It is time for the international community to stop applying double standards and punish Israel for all the crimes it has committed, and Israel needs to know that the ongoing war of extermination that our brotherly Palestinian people is being subjected to, and whose aim is to expel them from their land, will not work," he said in footage later released by Qatar's government.

On Monday, Doha will host leaders of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The leaders will discuss a draft resolution formulated at the foreign ministers' meeting today.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday he was filled with "pride" after pro-Palestinian protests  that have disrupted various stages of the Vuelta a Espana cycling race.

Sanchez spoke of his "recognition and full respect for the athletes, but also our admiration for a people like Spain's that mobilizes for just causes, like Palestine."

"Spain today shines as an example and as a source of pride, an example to an international community where it sees Spain taking a step forward in the defense of human rights," he told a Socialist party gathering in Malaga.

The demonstrators targeted the Israel-Premier Tech team, causing multiple disruptions and even crashes during the 21-day race. Some have criticized the protesters for endangering the riders. 

Authorities have increased security for Sunday's final stage in Madrid, with 1,100 police officers expected to deploy in the Spanish capital.

US Secretary of StateMarco Rubio has arrived in Israel for talks days after Israel bombed Qatar, a US ally, in a strike directed against Hamas members.

Rubio kicked off his visit by praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee.

After the prayers, Netanyahu called Rubio an "extraordinary friend" of Israel and said his visit showed "the strength of the Israeli-American alliance."

"It's as strong, as durable as the stones in the Western Wall that we just touched," Netanyahu told journalists.

Rubio, for his part, told reporters ahead of his departure from the United States that Tuesday's strike in Doha would not "change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis," despite US President Donald Trump issuing a rare rebuke to Israel over the attack.

Rubio, however, said the US and Israel were "going to have to have to talk about" the potential impact of this attack on truce talks with Hamas.

His main meetings with officials, including Netanyahu, will be on Monday, before he leaves Israel on Tuesday.

DW is resuming its reporting on the conflict in Gaza and developments in the wider Middle East on Sunday as top US diplomat Marco Rubio arrives in Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel is intensifying its assault on Gaza City, describing it is a last bastion of Hamas militants that it has sworn to eliminate after the deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Read here for more on the top headlines from the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said senior Hamas members based in Qatar are prolonging the war and preventing the release of Israeli hostages.

"The Hamas terrorist chiefs living in Qatar don't care about the people in Gaza," Netanyahu said in a post on X.

"They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war. Getting rid of them would remove the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington did not approve of Israel's airstrikes targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar but stressed the incident would not alter the US–Israel alliance.

"Obviously, we were not happy about it, the president was not happy about it," Rubio told reporters before leaving Washington for talks in Israel.

"It’s not going to change the nature of our relationship with the Israelis, but we are going to have to talk about it — primarily, what impact does this have on the diplomatic efforts to bring about a truce in war-ravaged Gaza," he added.

Palestinian militias delivered large quantities of weapons to the Lebanese army from Lebanon's two biggest refugee camps, as Beirut pushes for disarming non-state groups.

Abdel Hadi al-Asadi of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said the group had conducted "the operation of delivering new batches of weapons."

The Lebanese army confirmed receiving five truckloads of arms from the Ain al-Hilweh camp in Sidon and three truckloads from the Beddawi camp in Tripoli, including "various types of weapons, shells, and ammunition."

Reporters from the AFP news agency saw army vehicles surrounding both camps as the transfers took place. The Beddawi camp was struck by Israeli air raids last year that killed a Hamas commander, his wife, and two daughters, according to the militant group.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) called on Gaza City residents to head to a "humanitarian zone" in Al-Mawasi near Khan Younis in the south of the Palestinian territory. 

"According to IDF [military] estimates, more than a quarter of a million residents of Gaza City have moved out of the city for their own safety," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X.

"The Defense Forces are determined to defeat Hamas in Gaza City and are therefore intensifying the pace of attacks," Adraee said.

According to UN estimates, around 1 million Palestinians live in and around Gaza City.

Gaza medics have reported that 32 people were killed across the city as the IDF ramped up its offensive.

In recent weeks, Israel's military has targeted high-rise buildings, saying they were being used by Hamas militants.

Thousands of people have gathered in Berlin to demand peace in Gaza and an end to weapons exports to conflict zones.

The protest at the Brandenburg Gate was called by BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht, along with comedian Dieter Hallervorden and rappers Massiv and Bausa.

Police estimated around 8,000 participants at the start, with more arriving. Organizers claimed up to 20,000 attended the event.

The demonstration took place under the slogan "Stop the genocide in Gaza." Russia’s war on Ukraine was also part of the protest's focus.

The organizers called on the German government to push credibly for peace negotiations in both the Middle East and Ukraine.

They also demanded a complete halt to arms exports to all war zones.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas and other Islamist groups launched a major attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.

Israel has since carried out a large-scale military response. Gaza health authorities, controlled by Hamas, claim over 64,000 people have been killed.

Welcome to DW's coverage of Gaza, Israel and the wider Middle East.

You join us as Israel continues its offensive to seize Gaza City with reports of more airstrikes and more deaths.

The UN and aid groups have warned that displacing hundreds of thousands of people will worsen an already dire humanitarian situation.

Meanwhile, in Berlin, thousands of protesters have called for an end to arms exports into conflict zones and protested what they consider to be genocide in Gaza.

This blog will feature the latest news from the region as well as analysis, multimedia content and on-the-ground reporting from DW correspondents.