Location at a glance: German border guards before possible use in Rafah

At the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, German border protection experts will soon also ensure security. In the Federal Government, planning for a possible posting is running, as the German Press Agency (dpa) learned from government circles. The location in the Gaza Strip and also in Lebanon, however, remains fragile despite the arms rest: in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s army has given its own warning shots on suspects; In Lebanon she flew drone attacks on Hisbollah vehicles. Meanwhile, it became known that US President Donald Trump will receive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

At the time of the reopening of Rafah still open

The border crossing Rafah is still closed. Its reopening-the exact time is still open-belongs to a three-phase agreement between the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and Israel to end the Gaza War. The transition should also enable significantly more humanitarian aid for the Palestinians in the coastal strip.

As the dpa learned from German government circles, a cabinet decision from 2005 is to be adjusted in such a way that it is also possible to use armed forces of border protection. The decision from 2005 therefore only provided for the posting of unarmed border guards. In the current situation, however, this is considered too dangerous.

Use as part of an EU mission

The use of German experts could take place as part of the EU mission to support border protection in Rafah (Eubam Rafah), which is to work for the first time after years of break. It was set up in 2005 to help controls at the border crossing. Since the takeover of the Islamist Hamas in 2007 in the Gaza Strip, however, there has been no EU personnel at the border crossing because the EU did not want to cooperate with Hamas.

In a first phase, a low double-digit number of EU border protection experts and support forces should now work for security at the border crossing from the beginning of February. According to the plans, it will supervise controls, among other things, and enable several hundred injured Palestinians to be able to leave the Gaza Strip.

According to the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Monday, the experts will initially be border guards from Italy, Spain and France. Federal police or customs officials could be sent to Rafah from Germany. The EU use takes place with the consent of Egypt and the request of the Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel attacks Hisbollah vehicles

Meanwhile, the Israeli army, according to its own information, released warning shots on suspects in the Gaza Strip, which were a threat to the troops. The army asked the residents of the Gaza Strip not to approach the troops stationed in the region.

Despite ceasefire, the Israeli military flew a drone attack in the South Libanon. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, 24 people were injured. The Lebanese Prime Minister Nadschib Mikati condemned the attack as a violation of the ceasefire and Lebanese sovereignty.

Shortly afterwards, an Israeli military spokesman said that the attack had been applied to a truck and another vehicle from the Hezbollah militia in which weapons were transported. The attack was made when the gun handover was observed, it said.

It was only on Monday that the White House announced that the already fragile ceasefire in Lebanon between the Israeli army and the Hisbollah militia would be extended by a good three weeks until February 18. Shortly before, a deadline for the withdrawal of the Israeli army had expired.

Netanyahu on Tuesday at Trump

Netanyahu will meet Trump in the USA next week. In a message from his office, it was said that Trump invited him to February 4th. The White House confirmed the invitation for the beginning of next week, but did not give the specific date or other details.

Netanyahu could thus be the first head of government from abroad that Trump receives as president during his second term. Netanyahu’s office also stated in the message. Such an invitation directly at the beginning of Trump’s term of office is a strong gesture of support for the right -wing prime minister, who is very criticized internationally due to the warfare in the Gaza Strip.

The United States is the most important ally of Israel. Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden held despite the increasing criticism of the procedure in Gaza in Israel, but the tone towards Netanyahu’s government became rougher. Trump, on the other hand, is known as a close ally Netanyahus.

In the first days of his second term, Trump had again expressed support for Netanyahu. So he released the delivery of 2,000 pound bombs to Israel. Last year, the bidding government had stopped delivery of the heavy bombs out of concern that they could be used in inhabited areas in the sealed-up Gaza Strip.

Ex-Geisel sister thanks Trump

On Trump and his influence on Netanyahu, members of the Israeli hostages, who are still in the violence of Hamas. At a rally in Tel Aviv, Jarden Gonen, the sister of the Romi Gonen, which was released ten days ago, said in English: “President Trump, thanks to them I can hug my sister again. Please help us to end what you started, to bring every single hostage home. “

In the coming days, six more hostages will come to the move – three on Thursday and three on Saturday. Meanwhile, worrying about the fate of the hostages is growing after the Hamas announced that eight of the 26 hostages to be transferred to a ceasefire are no longer alive as part of the agreement.

Terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups had delayed more than 250 Israelis as hostages into the Gaza Strip in their raid on Israel, in which around 1,200 people were killed. The attack was the trigger of the war in the sealed coastal area, where, according to the health authority controlled by the Hamas, more than 47,100 people have been killed since then. The number does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.