More arrests expected in Amsterdam as protests banned
Dutch prosecutors expect to make more arrests in connection with what authorities called “hateful antisemitic violence” against Israeli football fans.
Clashes which took place on Thursday after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv led to police detaining 62 people in Amsterdam.
According to prosecutors 40 suspects have been given fines for disturbing public order.
In light of the clashes the decision was taken to ban demonstrations for three days from Friday.
Amsterdam’s police chief, Peter Holla, said there had been “incidents on both sides” starting on Wednesday night.
A plane chartered by the Israeli government to bring supporters home landed on Friday at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof has canceled a trip to United Nations climate talks next week to deal with the fallout.
Reuters reported that Schoof will miss the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan as his government investigates if warning signs were missed.
Key events
Closing summary
Six people have died in an Israeli attack in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City on Saturday morning. Al Jazeera reported that two families were killed in the attack on the Fahd al-Sabah school.
Israeli airstrikes attacked a Hezbollah headquarters in Lebanon’s capital Beirut overnight. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has said it also struck a weapons production site and other areas used by the terror group.
Lebanon fired five rockets at Israel, leading to sirens being sounded in Western and Upper Galilee. The munitions either being intercepted or falling into open areas.
Seven people have now been killed following Israeli air strikes on the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre. Lebanon’s health ministry said the death toll had risen from three after the attack on Friday, in which 46 people were injured.
Qatarhas withdrawn as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal due to refusal by both Israel and Hamas to negotiate. A diplomatic source told AFP on Saturday that both sides have been informed that the Gulf state won’t mediate “as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith”.
Hamas may be forced to close its offices in Qatar. The US has told the tiny Gulf state that it is no longer acceptable to allow the Islamist group to have a base there.
Dutch prosecutors expect to make more arrests in connection with the clashes involving Israeli football fans in Amsterdam on Thursday night. Clashes after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv led to police detaining 62 people.
Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof has canceled a trip to United Nations climate talks next week to deal with the fallout. Schoof will miss the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan as investigations continue into whether warning signs were missed.
There is a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas” of the northern Gaza Strip, a committee of global food security experts has warned. Israel has denied the claim made by the independent Famine Review Committee (FRC), arguing that it has relied on unreliable data.
There are ‘severe cases of food insecurity, illness, and thirst’ in Gaza, a partner of ActionAid has warned.
A committee of global food security experts has warned that there is a “strong likelihood” of imminent famine in areas of the northern Gaza Strip.
The independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) has said that immediate action within days is “required from all actors who are directly taking part in the conflict”.
Amjad Al-Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) – a partner of ActionAid’s in Gaza – described the situation as “very critical”.
We are passing through the worst time in this war. We are suffering from severe food insecurity. The majority of the people cannot find food, whether in the market or from the small amounts of humanitarian aid which have been permitted to enter the Gaza Strip in different areas.
Supplies for the bakeries have become very limited, so some bakeries closed their doors and they cannot produce more bread. Community kitchens have stopped cooking hot meals for the families who have become dependent on them. 300,000 people are dependent on these meals. This will lead to famine and, for sure, severe food insecurity for women and children.
Israel has said these reports are overstated, with its military claiming that the FRC has relied on unreliable data.
There is a “strong likelihood that famine is imminent in areas” of the northern Gaza Strip, a committee of global food security experts has warned, as Israel claims to be pursuing a military offensive against Palestinian militant group Hamas in the area.
“Immediate action, within days not weeks, is required from all actors who are directly taking part in the conflict, or have influence on its conduct, to avert and alleviate this catastrophic situation,” the independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) said in a rare alert.
A Maersk container ship has been denied entry to the Spanish port of Algeciras amid claims it was transporting arms to Israel.
The Danish shipping company denied the accusation on Saturday, telling AFP in a statement: “The cargo to be trans-shipped through the port does not include any military weapons or ammunition.”
Spanish government officials said earlier this week that the vessel “will not stop in Spain”, according to media reports. Spain, which is urging European allies to recognise a Palestinian state, has refused docking to ships transporting arms to Israel.
“To gain clarity for future operations, we have consulted the Spanish authorities to understand why entry was denied for cargo no different than previous shipments that have routinely been trans-shipped through this port without incident,” Maersk said.
“Spain … is now rejecting vessels that carry anything military related going to, or from, Israel, notwithstanding such cargo being legal.”
The ship was diverted to Tangier and is now en route to Oman, according to the VesselFinder site.
More arrests expected in Amsterdam as protests banned
Dutch prosecutors expect to make more arrests in connection with what authorities called “hateful antisemitic violence” against Israeli football fans.
Clashes which took place on Thursday after a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv led to police detaining 62 people in Amsterdam.
According to prosecutors 40 suspects have been given fines for disturbing public order.
In light of the clashes the decision was taken to ban demonstrations for three days from Friday.
Amsterdam’s police chief, Peter Holla, said there had been “incidents on both sides” starting on Wednesday night.
A plane chartered by the Israeli government to bring supporters home landed on Friday at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof has canceled a trip to United Nations climate talks next week to deal with the fallout.
Reuters reported that Schoof will miss the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan as his government investigates if warning signs were missed.
Israeli attacks have killed over 3,100 people in Lebanon
Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,136 people and injured 13,979 in Lebanon, the news agency Reuters has reported.
The Lebanese health ministry said in a statement that 19 fatalities were reported on Friday.
On Saturday evening several areas in Lebanon have come under Israeli attack.
The Jerusalem Post has reported that the IDF is attacking Tyre, Baalbek, and southern Lebanon after rocket alert sirens were heard throughout Israel’s north earlier in the day.
Safety guidelines to residents of northern Israel have eased, the military has said.
Israeli military said on Saturday that safety guidelines for residents of northern Israel had been eased to “full activity” from “partial activity”.
The news agency Reuters has reported that gatherings are now restricted to a maximum of 2,000 people.
Israeli army reportedly attacks several areas in Lebanon
Several areas in Lebanon have come under Israeli attack on Saturday evening, according to reports.
The IDF is attacking Tyre, Baalbek, and southern Lebanon, the Jerusalem Post reported, after rocket alert sirens were heard throughout Israel’s north earlier in the day.
Several rockets were reportedly seen crossing from Lebanon and falling into open areas.
Hamas says it has ‘not received’ request to leave Qatar
A senior Hamas official told AFP on Saturday that the militant group had received no indication from Qatar that it should leave the country, where its political office has been based for years.
It comes as Qatar reportedly said it was withdrawing from its role mediating talks between Israel and Hamas to bring the conflict to an end. They also said the office was “no longer” serving its purpose.
“We have nothing to confirm or deny regarding what was published by an unidentified diplomatic source and we have not received any request to leave Qatar,” the official said from Doha, after a diplomatic source told AFP.
Qatar, with the United Sates and Egypt, has been engaged in months of fruitless negotiations for a truce with hostage and prisoner releases.
The informed source said Qatar had already “notified both sides, Israel and Hamas as well as the US administration” of its decision.
“The Qataris conveyed to the US administration that they would be ready to re-engage in mediation when both sides … demonstrate a sincere willingness to return to the negotiating table”, the source added.
Qatar reportedly backs out of mediating in Israel-Hamas talks
Qatar has withdrawn as a key mediator for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, and warned Hamas that its Doha office “no longer serves its purpose”, a diplomatic source told AFP on Saturday.
“The Qataris informed both the Israelis and Hamas that as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith, they cannot continue to mediate. As a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
It comes as the US told the gulf state that allowing the militant Islamist group to have a base there is no longer acceptable.
Qatar has been home to a Hamas political office for more than a decade. Senior leaders of the terror group have also lived there.
The news agency Reuters has spoken to the family of a Palestinian child who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Gaza on Friday.
A Gaza family sat weeping on Saturday over children killed by an Israeli strike as they were getting ready to play soccer, amid an intensified bombardment that Palestinian health authorities said has killed 44 people over the past 24 hours.
The strike was in Mawasi, a southern coastal area where hundreds of thousands of people have sought shelter after Israel’s military told them to leave other areas it was bombing in its war against Hamas.
“The rocket struck them. There were no wanted or targeted people there and there was nobody else in the street. Just the children who were killed yesterday,” said Mohammed Zanoun, a relative of the dead children. Palestinian health authorities say Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 43,500 people, with another 10,000 believed to be dead and uncounted under the rubble.
Israel launched its offensive in response to the attack on Oct. 7 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed border defences and rampaged through Israeli communities killing 1,200 people and seizing about 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.#
The conflict has expanded, with Israel also fighting the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon.
An Israeli strike on Tyre in southern Lebanon killed at least seven people on Saturday, Lebanese health authorities said.
The U.N. Human Rights Office said on Friday that nearly 70% of fatalities it had verified in Gaza were women and children. Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva, where the office is based, said it categorically rejected the report, saying it did not accurately reflect realities on the ground.
Israel rejects warnings of famine in Gaza
Israel has said reports warning of a potential famine in Gaza are overstated, with its military saying the independent Famine Review Committee (FRC) was relying on unreliable data.
“Unfortunately, the researchers continue to rely on partial, biased data and superficial sources with vested interests,” the military said in a statement, Reuters reports.
The FRC said on Friday in a rare alert that there was a strong likelihood of imminent famine in parts of north Gaza with immediate action required from the warring parties to ease a catastrophic situation.
Israel’s military said it had increased aid efforts including opening an additional crossing on Friday.
In the last two months, 39,000 trucks carrying more than 840,000 tons of food have entered Gaza, it said, and meetings were taking place daily with the U.N. which had 700 trucks of aid awaiting pickup and distribution.
With some critics decrying a starvation tactic in north Gaza, Israel’s main ally the U.S. has set a deadline within days for it to improve the humanitarian situation or face potential restrictions on military cooperation.
More on the Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese city of Tyre, where the country’s health ministry has said two children are among the seven killed on Friday.
Agence France Presse (AFP) reports that rescuers still searching for missing people under the rubble.
“Israeli enemy strikes on the city of Tyre killed seven people including two girls, and injured 46 others,” the ministry said, adding that body parts had been found and will be “identified with DNA testing”.
It added that rubble was being cleared after the strikes as part of efforts to locate people who are unaccounted for.
The ministry had on Friday reported a toll of three killed and 30 injured in the strikes.
AFP photos showed rescuers carrying bodies on stretchers amid the wreckage in Tyre, as rubble and twisted metal were strewn across the street.
Earlier on Saturday, Lebanon’s official National News Agency had said that the deadly strikes targeted three buildings in the coastal city, causing “massive damage to dozens of homes”.
The NNA also said “enemy fighter jets” destroyed two heritage houses in the southern city of Nabatiyeh.
Israel intensified its air campaign on Lebanon in September and later sent in troops after a year of cross-border clashes.
Here’s some photographs from Israel, Gaza and Lebanon on Saturday.
The Israeli army patrols the streets during a raid in Al Aqaba village of Tubas, West Bank on Saturday. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesSmoke billows over Khiam in Lebanon on Saturday, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces. Photograph: Karamallah Daher/ReutersA man works on the roof of an apartment building struck by projectiles fired from Lebanon in Kfar Yasif, north west Israel. Photograph: Francisco Seco/APPeople inspect the damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes on the southern Lebanese city of Tyre. Photograph: Kawnat Haju/AFP/Getty ImagesThe aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on tents in Khan Younis, southern Gaza overnight. At least nine have been killed. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPA
Hamas may have to quit political base in Qatar
Jason Burke
Hamas may be forced to close its offices in Qatar, after the US told the tiny Gulf state that allowing the militant Islamist group to have a base there is no longer acceptable.
Qatar, a key US partner in the Middle East, has hosted the political office of Hamas for more than a decade and allowed many senior leaders of the organisation to live there.
The request was reported by Reuters late on Friday but has yet to be officially confirmed.
“After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, [Hamas] leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas’s rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal,” the senior official told Reuters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Critics of the US request say it will hinder engagement with elements of Hamas potentially more inclined to compromise, and could boost the influence of more hostile states, such as Iran, over the group.
Hamas still holds about 100 hostages seized during its surprise attack into Israel last October. Multiple rounds of negotiations aimed at securing an end to the 13 month-long war in Gaza have failed.
The small but influential Gulf state has been a key intermediary in the talks to broker a ceasefire and is likely to comply with the US request, analysts said. The US official told Reuters that Qatar, which is designated as a major non-Nato ally by Washington, passed on the demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago.
Hamas leaders have been preparing for many months to leave Qatar, with Turkey and Iraq suggested as possible alternatives. The group recently opened a political office in Baghdad.
Hamas officials denied Qatar has told the organisation to leave and there has been no reaction from Qatar’s foreign ministry to the reports.
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