Israel-Hamas war: Germany urges end to violence in West Bank

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Saturday spoke to reporters after meeting with her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in Tel Aviv.

She decried the "abominable and barbaric way in which Israeli women and children were mutilated and deprived of all dignity" during the October 7 attacks, saying she would never be able to forget the images that she was shown.

"Everyone in Israel has been impacted" by the terror, she said.

Baerbock repeated her calls for the release of the more than 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and pledged to support Israel with trauma therapy and rebuilding the kibbutzim destroyed in the attacks.

She also said she had spoken with Cohen about how "the whole world is looking at this war that Israel didn't want ... but has to wage in order to protect its people."

Baerbock accused Hamas — which is designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, the US, EU and other governments — of abusing the rights of Gazans by using them as "human shields" in an attempt to thwart Israel's "right and duty" to defend its citizens.

Still, she said, there is a duty to, "uphold international humanitarian law and the obligation to distinguish between civilian and military goals."

Israel has come under increasing scrutiny for what many observers say is a disproportionate response to the initial Hamas attacks.

In her remarks, Baerbock spoke of the urgency of delivering humanitarian assistance to those suffering in Gaza, describing how people had been buried under the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli missile fire.

Baerbock said that, after speaking with several leaders from around the region, it was clear that "all countries, wherever they are, must do all they can to see that human suffering ends." 

She also warned that "the West Bank must not be dragged into this whirlpool of violence." 

Israel has conducted a number of military operations in the West Bank since October 7, arresting and killing people whom it claimed to be terrorists, some extremely young, in raids on houses and refugee camps. 

Baerbock noted that she had spoken with her Israeli counterparts about the problem of illegal Israeli settlements and the violence emanating from them, saying it must stop.

Speaking to reporters, Baerbock reiterated Germany's belief that the so-called two-state solution was the only viable path to long-term peace.

The Israeli military said it would help evacuate babies trapped in Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital on Sunday.

"The staff of the al-Shifa hospital has requested that tomorrow we help the babies in the pediatric department to get to a safer hospital. We will provide the assistance needed," Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari told a news conference on Saturday.

Al-Shifa is the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital.

The facility has been left without electricity amid ongoing violence, according to staff members and the territory’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. 

Operations at the hospital were said to have been suspended because of the lack of power, the ministry said. People who need life support are at risk, it noted.

Earlier Saturday, medics said two premature babies had died at the hospital in Gaza City when the neonatal intensive care unit stopped working  because of the lack of power.

Israel says it does everything it can to avoid civilian casualties, and that Hamas militants have tunnels under civilian facilities.

An Israeli spokesperson previously claimed that Hamas' headquarters lie under al-Shifa hospital. 

Marwan Abu Sada, head of surgery at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, spoke to DW about the situation there after the facility ran out of fuel.

He said no one was able to get in or out of the hospital complex because of the shooting and bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

"Even if you walk inside the Al Shifa Hospital, between the building or inside the car park, you are exposed to shooting," he told DW.

Abu Sada said the hospital had been bombed several times, including earlier in the day, by Israeli forces. He added that around 600 people were inside the facility.

"We don't have electricity," he said. "We've run out of water and fuel."

He rejected Israeli claims that the hospital also serves as the headquarters for Hamas.

"This is a complete lie: We are not hiding any Hamas militants in Al Shifa Hospital," he said. He added that the group had no tunnels at the hospital, but acknowledged that staff cannot see what is underground.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Saturday warned Hezbollah militants against dragging the country of Lebanon into war. 

The Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite group has been engaging Israeli troops along the border since October 8, the day after Hamas militants launched their attack on Israel, killing 1,200 civilians.  

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday vowed to continue attacking Israeli as well as US troops in the region until Israel ends its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, where the terror group Hamas is based.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah fighters were introducing new, heavier weaponry in their agitations against Israel, saying the militant group would continue to use border skirmishes as a way to pressure Israel.

Israeli Defense Minister Gallant warned the group against escalation. "Hezbollah is dragging Lebanon into a potential war," he said in a video message to Israeli troops. "It is making mistakes ... and those who will pay the price are first and foremost Lebanon's citizens," he said. "What we are doing in Gaza, we can do in Beirut."

As Arab-Islamic nations convened in Saudi Arabia to discuss the possibility of a cease-fire in Gaza — something Israel has flatly rejected — DW spoke with Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of the Washington-based geopolitical risk consultancy Gulf State Analytics, about the chances of the nations gathered being able to exert pressure on Israel to halt its offensive for humanitarian reasons.

Asked why the meeting was happening now, Cafiero told DW that, as the conflict drags on and the death toll rises, "anger all over the Arab-Islamic world is intensifying and more and more pressure is coming down on governments of all these different countries in the Arab and Islamic world to take some action, and I think the summit in Saudi Arabia today highlighted this."

Asked whether Arab and Islamic countries can exert pressure on Israel to halt its military operation in Gaza, Cafiero replied: "As long as Israel is receiving support from the United States, it will be able to continue this monstrous bombing campaign of Gaza, which ... has resulted in over 11,000 deaths in the besieged enclave."

"I'm not so sure that these Arab and Muslim majority countries have the leverage that would be necessary to incentivize Israel to stop," he said.

Though Cafiero agreed that the nations gathered could use oil, investments and economic ties with the US to attempt to leverage change, he said he did not expect them to do so, saying instead that "I think this is a little bit more about rhetoric than action, unfortunately." 

Cafiero also agreed that the longer the conflict drags on, the greater the risk that other actors, such as Iran, could get involved: "When people talk about the need for a cease-fire, it's important to keep in mind what's at stake if there is not a cease-fire. In Washington and many Western capitals, there are very grave concerns about the possibility of Iran getting more involved."

Though he did not rule out deeper Iranian involvement, Cafiero pointed out that Tehran had so far exercised caution, saying: "I think the Iranians know that there is quite a bit for their country to lose if it would have some sort of direct all-out war with Israel."

An extraordinary summit of Arab and Islamic countries wrapped on Saturday evening by condemning the Israeli "aggression" in the Gaza Strip.

The final communique called for an end to the siege on the Gaza Strip, and allowing humanitarian aid into the strip, as well as halting arms exports to Israel.

The communique rejected describing or justifying the war in Gaza as "self-defense" by Israel.

It also called on the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to investigate "Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity," according to a copy of the text of the communique, shared by Arabic media. It said Israeli "crimes" were committed across the Palestinian territories, "including in East Jerusalem."

The summit brought together an Arab League Summit and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called during the summit on the UN Security Council to stop the "brutal aggression against our people" and to secure the entry of essential supplies to the Gaza Strip.

"As we speak, the Palestinian people are facing an unprecedented war of genocide," Abbas said. "We hold the Israeli occupation accountable and will bring them before international courts." 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: "It is a shame that Western countries, which always talk about human rights and freedoms, remain silent in the face of the ongoing massacres."

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani also joined the voices calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza.

Sissi called specifically for "an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip ... without restrictions or conditions."

The violence of Israeli settlers in the West Bank threatens the security of Israel, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, stressing Israel's responsibility toward the Palestinian civilians who live there. 

Speaking from the Palestinian West Bank on Saturday, Baerbock condemned "the increasing violence of radical Israeli settlers."

"Violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must be prevented and prosecuted as crimes," Baerbock said.

The top German diplomat also stressed her government's concern regarding the violence experienced by civilians in the Gaza Strip. 

"Each life is worth the same," Baerbock said, adding that every Israeli and Palestinian "has a right to live in peace and security."

She stressed the importance of ensuring that there are humanitarian pauses in fighting that must be "expanded" to ensure that essentials including water, medication and food reach the people who need them both in the north and the south of the besieged strip. 

"People need this urgently. The hospitals, though they need oxygen, they also need fuel. Particularly the hospitals in the north need to have a reliable supply of fuel because hundreds of thousands of people are being treated in these hospitals," Baerbock said.

Baerbock said the German government would continue to supply the Palestinian territories with humanitarian aid, announcing a further €38 million ($40.7 million) on top of German donations already made, bringing the overall figure for the year 2023 up to over €160 million.

The German foreign minister also stressed that "the cause of this suffering in Gaza is the barbaric attack by Hamas" on October 7.

"Israel is now waging this war to defend its own people because this terrorism continues," she said.

A large pro-Palestinian march took off in London on Saturday, expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people, and coinciding with the UK's Remembrance Day, when war veterans are celebrated.

Police said that there were more than 300,000 people taking part in the march.

The march is the latest in a series of weekend protests held in the British capital since the conflict erupted. Government ministers had called for this particular march to be canceled because it was planned for Armistice Day, the former name of Remembrance Day, which marks the end of World War I and remembers those killed in military action.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government backed "the right to peacefully protest," following talks with police chief Mark Rowley. He had initially condemned the planned march as "provocative and disrespectful."

Pro-Palestinian protesters could be heard shouting: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." The chant is considered by many as a call for Israel's eradication.

A counterprotest made up of suspected far-right groups and football hooligans, wearing masks and brandishing England flags was also present in London.

Police said on social media that they faced aggression from counter-protesters. 

"They were met with violence and abuse by counter-protestors who threw bottles and other missiles at them," they said. "We will respond robustly to unacceptable aggression and disorder."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says Israel is responsible for what he called "crimes committed against Palestinian people," urging an end to the siege of the Gaza Strip.

Bin Salman was speaking at an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. The crown prince also called for the immediate end of military operations in the territory and the release of hostages taken by Hamas.

Israel says it does its utmost to minimize civilian casualties, but has been urged to exercise more caution. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday said that "far too many Palestinians have been killed."

The meeting brings together the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which were both originally supposed to have met separately, on separate days and in different Saudi cities.  

However, the Saudi Foreign Ministry announced early Saturday that the blocs' summits would be combined.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to attend a summit on Gaza, making him the first Iranian president to visit the Gulf kingdom in years, after a thaw between the longtime rivals earlier this year saw them restore diplomatic ties.

Raisi was seen greeting Saudi officials after landing at the airport. He donned the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.

"The war machine in Gaza belongs to the US," he said before departing for Riyadh. "The US has prevented the cease-fire in Gaza and is expanding the scope of the war."

The Saudi-hosted summit is an emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Iran is widely known to support the Islamist militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas, which Israel considers terrorist organizations that threaten its security. 

According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), troops have taken control of 11 military posts in the Gaza Strip since the ground offensive began.

The IDF also said it had hit more tunnels and terrorist cells in the Palestinian territory overnight, while the navy attacked Hamas weapons depots late on Friday.

It also said it had struck military targets in the al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City.

Rocket fire into southern Israel from Gaza continued on Saturday with air raid sirens sounding in one border community near to the strip.

Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 11,078 people, mostly civilians, according to figures released on Friday from the Hamas-run Gazan Health Ministry.

Israel on Friday revised the official estimated death toll of the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas, lowering the number to about 1,200 people from more than 1,400.

Settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank has been intensifying since Hamas' October 7 terror attacks on Israel, DW special correspondent Aya Ibrahim said.

Speaking from Jerusalem on Saturday, Ibrahim described an "alarming phenomenon." 

Ibrahim said she recently visited some communities in the West Bank, where residents told her that, as the war has led to many people in Israel being called into reserve duty, settler violence is now committed in military uniform. 

"They're now seeing settlers that they know by face and by name coming to attack them in Israeli military uniform," Ibrahim said.

She said the situation was too dangerous, forcing many to leave, "risking their livelihood and their safety and the safety of their children." 

In a report on November 9, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said at least 111 Palestinian households comprising 905 people had been displaced amid "settler violence and access restrictions" since October 7. The households are from 15 herding/Bedouin communities, the office said, adding that they included 356 children.

The DW reporter added that such an increase in displacement risks the future of a two-state solution.

"Because the West Bank is of course supposed to form the heart of any future Palestinian state, and if we have increasing displacement and increasing loss of land from Palestinians, that of course makes this a much more difficult conversation to have."

Ibrahim also spoke of her visit to Tel Aviv, where she spoke to families of the hostages kidnapped by the militant group Hamas since the October 7 attacks. 

"I think for families of the hostages, the question of a cease-fire has to be contingent with the release of more hostages," she said, adding that many of the protesting families were angry at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Ibrahim meanwhile stressed there was support in Israel for the war effort, "even though people here know that it will come at a high cost also for their own troops."

"Because they feel after the horrific terror attacks of October 7, this is the only way to restore peace and security here in Israel."

The Gaza Strip's largest hospital has been left without electricity amid ongoing violence and shortages, with doctors reporting the first fatalities as a result, staff members and the territory's Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said.

"The al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza has been left without water, fuel, food, electricity and telecommunications, with thousands of people inside, including wounded, patients and displaced people," said the ministry.

Operations at the hospital were said to have been suspended because of the lack of power, and those needing life support were at risk, the ministry said. 

"As a result, one newborn baby died inside the incubator, where there are 45 babies," a ministry spokesman told the Reuters news agency.

The ministry also claimed that snipers deployed surrounding the complex were shooting at people who tried to leave or move between the hospital buildings.

Israel says it does everything it can to avoid civilian casualties, and that Hamas militants have tunnels under civilian facilities. An Israeli spokesperson has previously claimed that Hamas' headquarters lie under al-Shifa hospital. 

The World Health Organization on Friday said the al-Shifa hospital had been "coming under bombardment", with 20 hospitals in Gaza now out of action entirely.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately rejected French President Emmanuel Macron's call for Israel to stop its bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip as civilian deaths there mount.

"De facto, today civilians are bombed," Macron had said in comments to the BBC. "De facto, there's babies, there's ladies, there's old people who are bombed and killed. There is no reason for that and no legitimacy."

Netanyahu hit back, comparing the militant group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, to the extremist Islamist militia organization "Islamic State" (IS) militant group, also known as ISIS.

"The responsibility for any harm to civilians lies with Hamas — ISIS and not with Israel," Netanyahu wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"While Israel does everything in its power to avoid harming civilians and urges them to leave the battle areas, Hamas — ISIS is doing all it can to prevent them from moving to safe areas and uses them as human shields," Netanyahu continued.

"The crimes being committed today by Hamas — ISIS in Gaza will be committed tomorrow in Paris, New York and all over the world," he said.

While Netanyahu's statements frequently link Hamas and IS, the two groups are not affiliated and there are important political and religious schisms between the two. Both are classified as terrorist groups in the EU and the US, among others.

A spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO) has told DW that there has been an "unprecedented" scale of attacks on healthcare in the Gaza Strip.

Margaret Harris said staff at al-Shifa hospital were "terrified" and were dealing with "enormous numbers of injured people with no supplies."

Harris said there weren't enough beds at the hospital and that people were staying on the floor or in corridors of the building. She said healthcare workers are "in fear of their own lives while trying to save other lives."

Asked whether hospitals are being targeted by the Israeli military, Harris said: "We don't identify or assign blame, but we've seen more attacks on healthcare during this 4-week period than we've seen ever before. It's unprecedented."

"Healthcare is never a target, that's very clear under international law," she said.

Referring to humanitarian pauses, Harris said: "We have not seen a difference that is going to enable us to give sustained aid … that we need to provide."

"We need a sustained humanitarian cease-fire in order to bring teams in, bring supplies in, and get people out," she stressed. "This is not happening."

She said that the WHO managed to get some medical supplies to al-Shifa hospital on Tuesday, but no food, water or fuel.