Merz says Israeli actions in Gaza 'no longer justified'

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a group that is backed by Israel and the Trump administration, said Monday that it has started distributing food in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the GHF said it had "commenced operations in Gaza today, delivering truckloads of food to its Secure Distribution Sites, where distribution to the Gazan people began."

More trucks with aid will be delivered on Tuesday, the group said, adding that the flow of aid would increase "each day."

The Geneva-based organization, which was established in February, has pledged to distribute 300 million meals in its first 90 days of operating.

But the United Nations and international aid agencies have refused to work with the GHF amid allegations that the group is collaborating with Israel without any Palestinian involvement.

The UN has said the plan allows Israel to use food as a weapon, as it will force civilians to walk miles through Israeli military lines to find food.

Israel has faced rising global condemnation because of the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where it has waged a military campaign in response to an attack in October 2023 by Hamas. 

After a ceasefire collapsed in March, Israel imposed a two-month blockade on the Palestinian enclave, sparking fears of a famine in Gaza.

The GHF, meanwhile, has accused Hamas of trying to block its operations, condemning the Islamist group for making "death threats targeting aid groups."

"It is clear that Hamas is threatened by this new operating model, and will do everything in its power to see it fail," it said.

The group has also faced internal turmoil after its executive director Jake Wood resigned Sunday saying the new aid program would not allow him to do his job independently.

"It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon," he said in a statement.

Israel claims that some of staff from the the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinians, known as UNRWA, are affiliated with the militant group Hamas. However, the UN both denies these claims and argues that Israel has not supplied any evidence to supports its accusations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to bring home all the hostages being held in Gaza.

"If we don't achieve it today, we will achieve it tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow. We are not giving up," he said of the duty to free the captives in a speech to close out Jerusalem Day. 

"We intend to bring them all back, the living and the dead," Netanyahu stressed.

Palestinian militant groupHamas still holds 58 Israeli hostages, and it is believed that a third of them are still alive.

Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by the German government, the EU, the US and some Arab states.

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil expressed support for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's criticism of the Israeli government, stating that Berlin intends to increase political pressure on Israel amid its intensified assault on Gaza.

Klingbeil, who leads the junior party in Germany's governing coalition, the Social Democrats, made the statement after meeting with European Commission Vice President Stephane Sejourne.

"It has also been agreed within the coalition that we will do this, and that is the right thing to do," Klingbeil said, stating that the ongoing military offensive in the Gaza Strip violates the "international legal standard."

"As the Federal Republic of Germany, we must also make it clear among friends, given the historical responsibility we bear towards Israel, what is no longer acceptable," Klinbbeil said, adding that this point has been reached.

A group of Israelis stormed the headquarters of the United Nation's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in east Jerusalem.

It comes as thousands of Israeli nationalists are set to rally in east Jerusalem in a controversial annual march.

The event, known as the Flag March, celebrates Israel's capture of east Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Some participants in the march shouted chants such as "Death to the Arabs," according to Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.

Israel considers the entire city of Jerusalem to be its undivided capital. Most countries in the world do not recognize Israel's annexation of the eastern part of the city.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke from the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, saying that the city would remain "united" as part of Israel.

"We will keep Jerusalem united, whole, and under Israeli sovereignty," Netanyahu said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Monday that Israel's "current level of attacks on Gaza can no longer be justified by the fight against Hamas."

"Harming the civilian population to such an extent, as has increasingly been the case in recent days, can no longer be justified as a fight against Hamas terrorism," he told German public broadcaster WDR in a televised interview. 

He added he planned to hold a call with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week to tell him "to not overdo it," though for "historical reasons," Germany would always be more guarded in its criticism than some European partners.

"But if lines are crossed, where international humanitarian law is really being violated, then Germany, the German chancellor, must also say something about it," Merz said. 

Merz's comments came before he travels to Finland later today. His comments followed an Israeli strike on a shelter in northern Gaza strip early Monday morning that killed dozens of people.

The Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for parts of Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Monday, following what it said were rocket launches from the area.

"Terrorist organizations continue to launch rocket fire from your areas. The Khan Younis area is considered a dangerous combat zone and has been warned multiple times," the Arabic statement read. "Evacuate immediately to the west, to the Mawasi area," it added.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is expected to begin work on Monday, despite the resignation of the American leading the effort. 

Jake Wood stepped down on Sunday, saying the new aid program would not allow him to do his job independently.

"It is clear that it is not possible to implement this plan while also strictly adhering to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon," he said in a statement.

Israel has accused Hamas of siphoning off aid, but the United Nations and aid groups have denied any significant diversion.

The UN has rejected Israel's plan to distribute aid through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

The UN has said the plan allows Israel to use food as a weapon, as it will force civilians to walk miles through Israeli military lines to find food.

Israel had blocked food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies from entering Gaza for nearly three months before letting a trickle of aid enter last week, following warnings of famine.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation was established in February, and is backed by the administration of US President Donald Trump. 

A 28-year-old man with American and German citizenship was arrested for allegedly trying to throw Molotov cocktails at the branch office of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, earlier this month, according to the US Justice Department.

The man was taken into custody at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City by FBI special agents after he was deported from Israel.

Prosecutors said the 28-year-old traveled to Israel in April and on May 19, arrived at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv carrying a backpack.

He allegedly spat at an embassy guard without provocation and was able to flee the scene as the guard tried to detain him.

He left his backpack outside the embassy following the incident. Guards then found three Molotov cocktails in the backpack.

Officials searched his social media, and said his posts also allegedly included threats to assassinate US President Donald Trump.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the government would "prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law."

If convicted, Joseph N. faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, with a maximum fine of $250,000 (almost €200,000), the Justice Department said.

Editor's note: DW follows the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and urges us to refrain from revealing the full names of alleged criminals.

A foreign policy spokesperson for Germany's center-left Social Democrats (SPD), one of the two parties in the ruling government coalition, has called on Israel to return to the negotiating table.

"German weapons must not be used to spread humanitarian disasters and violate international law," Adis Ahmetovic, foreign policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, told Stern magazine.

"Therefore, we call on [Benjamin] Netanyahu's government to be willing to agree to a ceasefire and return to the negotiating table."

Ralf Stegner, also from the SPD, echoed similar sentiments. "The humanitarian catastrophe for the Palestinian civilian population and the violation of international law by the Netanyahu government must end immediately and must not be prolonged with German weapons," he said.

The German government had, for good reasons, made an exception for Israel from the practice of not supplying weapons to conflict zones, Stegner said.

Germany feels responsible for Israel's security as a historic consequence of the Holocaust, where the German Nazi regime killed 6 million Jews from 1933 to 1945.

The weapons served Israel's security and defense but "there can be no question of that in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank at present," Stegner added.

The European Union is also currently reviewing a pact governing its political and economic ties with Israel.

German airline group Lufthansa will suspend its flights to Tel Aviv through June 15, it said on Monday, citing the "current situation."

This impacts flights operated by Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Eurowings, ITA Airways, Brussels Airlines and Lufthansa Cargo, it added.   

The Israeli military has said it "struck key terrorists who were operating within a Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control center embedded in an area that previously served as the 'Faami Aljerjawi' School in the Gaza City area," adding that "numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians."

The strike on the school housing displaced Palestinians took place very early on Monday morning, with local medics saying dozens died in the strike.

The Israeli military has said it only targets militants, and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its fighters operate in densely populated areas.

But there has been mounting international condemnation of Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

Over the weekend, a doctor couple in Gaza lost nine out of their 10 children following an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza.

The incident sparked international outrage, with Spain calling on its allies to halt arm supplies to Israel for use in Gaza.

An Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza has killed at least 25 people, according to the territory's Health Ministry.

Local medics have said a number of people appear to be trapped in the rubble, adding that at least 30 people, including children, were killed.

The strike also wounded more than 55 people, said the head of the ministry's emergency service, adding a father and his children were among the dead.

Israel renewed its Gaza offensive in March after ending a ceasefire with Hamas. The Palestinian group is considered a terrorist organization by not only Israel, but Germany, the US and several other countries. 

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and see the return of dozens of hostages the group still holds from the October 7, 2023 terror attacks that triggered the war.

Hamas has said it will only release the hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

This blog will bring you the latest on Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, Iran and other parts of the Middle East. 

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