New Foreign Minister sees Israel in the "Third World War"

Gaza war - New Foreign Minister sees Israel in the "Third World War"

Israel's new Foreign Minister Israel Katz sees his country "in the midst of a third world war" against Iran. "This enemy is reminiscent of the darkest periods in human history and we are determined to achieve our goal of overthrowing Hamas," said Katz as he took over from his predecessor Eli Cohen, as reported by the Israeli news website ynet and the Times of Israel newspaper. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Ministry of Education reported that more than 4,000 pupils have been killed in the Gaza Strip so far. According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Gaza residents killed in Israeli attacks on the Islamist Hamas has risen to more than 22,000.

The war in Gaza has now been going on for almost three months. It was triggered by the cruel terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations on 7 October. They murdered more than 1200 people. Israel responded with massive air strikes and a ground offensive. The aim is to completely destroy Hamas. In view of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the sealed-off coastal area and the high number of civilian casualties, Israel has recently come under increasing international criticism.

Katz: Standing on the front line for the whole world

"This is the Third World War with today's possibilities, and we are on the front line for the whole world," Katz continued. Iran's leadership had praised the major attack by Hamas, but firmly rejected any direct involvement. Israel has been the Islamic Republic's declared arch-enemy since the 1979 revolution. Tehran has expanded its political and military relations in the region since the 1990s in order to create an "axis of resistance" against Israel by supporting Shiite militias. Iran also maintains good relations with Hamas. The conflict between the hostile countries has rarely been as tense as it is at present.

Israel accuses Tehran of secretly seeking to build nuclear weapons and sees this as a threat to its existence. Iran asserts that its nuclear program is only for civilian purposes.

According to the Hamas authority, more than 22,000 people have already died in the Gaza Strip

According to the Hamas-controlled health authority, the number of Gaza Strip residents killed in Israeli attacks on the Islamist Hamas has risen to 22,185. A further 57,035 people have been injured since the start of the war, the authority announced on Tuesday. The majority of these were civilians. The figures cannot currently be verified.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, based in Ramallah, at least 4,119 pupils have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. In addition, 221 teachers and administrative officials have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. According to the report, 278 public and 65 UN schools were damaged or destroyed in attacks.

According to the United Nations, UN facilities serve as emergency accommodation for 1.4 million of the 1.9 million internally displaced persons in the Gaza Strip. There have been repeated reports of deaths and injuries in Israeli attacks on school buildings. The Israeli army accuses the Islamist Hamas of systematically misusing schools, mosques and hospitals in the Gaza Strip for military purposes. Hamas rejects this.

Turkey: Israeli secret service planned actions

Turkey has accused the Israeli secret service Mossad of planning actions against foreigners registered in Turkey. Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya announced on X (formerly Twitter) that 33 people had been arrested in this connection. It was not clear whether the suspects were arrested or detained. There was initially no reaction to the allegations from Israel.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had threatened Israel in early December if members of the Islamist Hamas were persecuted in his country. Turkey has repeatedly and harshly attacked Israel verbally for its actions in the Gaza war. For its part, the Turkish government maintains links with Hamas, and officials are also said to be in the country. Hamas is considered a terrorist organization in Europe and the USA, but not in Turkey.

Israeli army attacks targets in Lebanon again

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had again attacked targets belonging to the Shia militia Hezbollah in response to rocket fire from Lebanon. As the Israeli army announced on Tuesday, targets in the area of the southern Lebanese city of Jarun came under fire. Hezbollah announced that it had fired on Israeli units near the northern Israeli village of Sarit. There was another air alert in northern Israel in the morning.

There was initially no information about possible casualties on either side of the border. According to Hezbollah, 140 of its fighters have died in Lebanon so far. The Lebanese civil defense counted at least twelve more civilian casualties. In Israel, nine soldiers and two civilians were killed by shelling from Lebanon.

USA withdraws aircraft carrier from the Mediterranean

After a special mission in the eastern Mediterranean lasting almost three months, the USA is withdrawing the aircraft carrier "USS Gerald R. Ford". The ship and its convoy will return to their home port in Norfolk, Virginia, in the coming days to prepare for future deployments, the US Navy announced. However, the US military will retain extensive capacities in the Mediterranean and throughout the Middle East. This includes, for example, the aircraft carrier "USS Dwight D. Eisenhower", which was deployed to the Persian Gulf as a deterrent.

Pro-Iranian militias attack US targets in Iraq and Syria

Pro-Iranian militias again attacked US military targets in Iraq and Syria. On Tuesday, the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq" claimed responsibility for a drone attack on US troops near the airport in Erbil in northern Iraq. According to the General Directorate for Counterterrorism in Iraq, the drone was shot down. According to local media, it was the third attack on US forces in Erbil since Saturday. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, pro-Iranian militias have increasingly attacked US bases in Iraq and Syria.