Middle East: Funeral held for slain US-Israeli hostage

The mission to vaccinate some 640,000 children against polio in the devastated Gaza Strip is a "daunting task," World Health Organization representative Richard Peeperkorn told DW on Monday.

Peeperkorn said that 90 % of the children in the strip ought to be covered by the campaign in order to stop the outbreak of the disease in Gaza and prevent its spread beyond.

"We have divided Gaza [into] three zones. So you talk about the central zone, where we are now, we are talking about the target population of 156,000 children, then the south [there is a] target population [of] 340,000, and then the North 150,000. In each zone, we have three days to vaccinate and when needed, we add another day."

Peeperkorn confirmed that Gazan parents were happy to vaccinate their children.

"There's always actually high vaccination acceptance in Gaza, [and] in the West Bank as well. And before this crisis, the routine immunization program in Gaza had coverage as high as 90 to 95%, actually higher than a number of European countries, high income countries. So there's a huge acceptance." 

He said warring parties ought to hold on to their agreement to pause fighting as health officials vaccinate children.

"We still have ten days to go. And it's critical that all the parties stick to these so-called humanitarian specific pauses."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference Monday during which he asked for families' "forgiveness" in failing to bring home Israeli hostages. 

Late Saturday, Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six hostages from a tunnel in Gaza. The deaths sparked widespread protests. 

"I ask for the families' forgiveness that we could not bring them home alive," he said. "We were close, but we could not do it."

However, in regard to the negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of the hostages, Netanyahu maintained that Israel would not give up on the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. 

The Philadelphi Corridor is said to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks of reaching a hostage deal.

"It has cardinal importance for our future, and I will not give in to this pressure," Netanyahu said. 

Israeli forces were operating in Rafah, part of the corridor, when the bodies were discovered. "The killing of the six hostages did not happen because of the decision on Philadelphi but because of Hamas itself," Netanyahu said.

"Control of the Philadelphi axis guarantees that the hostages will not be smuggled out of Gaza," he added. 

Thousands of people gathered on Monday to lay Hersh Goldberg-Polin to rest in Jerusalem's Givat Shaul cemetery. The 23-year-old Israeli-American was one of six hostages killed in captivity in Gaza over the weekend. 

At one intersection, dozens of locals paid their respects by lining the road with pictures and Israeli flags as the family drove to the funeral.

Reports in Israel say the hostages were killed just days before being recovered by the Israeli military on Saturday.

At the funeral, some carried flags of Hapoel Jerusalem, Hersh's favorite football team, and many of his friends from Brigade Malcha, Hapoel's ultra group, made their way to the cemetery to pay their respects.

Goldberg-Polin was abducted on October 7 while attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel. He was among 250 hostages taken by the militant group Hamas. Roughly 100 hostages remain in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead. 

Noam Marhum, who described himself as part of the Hapoel family, told DW that he came to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv for the funeral. 

"It's not the end he deserved, he was young and deserved to live so much more," Marhum said. 

"I am angry at Hamas, angry at our government," he added. 

"After 11 months, I think there is no other solution. We need to bring them back alive. And I hope that the pressure that we can put on now will bring the last ones that are alive back to their families, because they don't deserve this," said Marhum.

"We thought we had a chance to save him, and it breaks our hearts. He was a big part of us," he added. 

The government's failure to bring the prisoners home alive in a cease-fire deal that would have included the release of the remaining hostages has sparked mass protests in Israel and a general strike.

"That also hung over the funeral, although for most here, it was a day of mourning, not politics," said DW's Jerusalem correspondent Tania Kraemer. 

The UK said Monday it would suspend 30 of its 350 arms export licenses to Israel because of the risk they could be used to break international law.

Foreign Minister David Lammy said the partial ban would include weapons systems "which could be used in the current conflict in Gaza," including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones.

Lammy there is a "clear risk" that the weapons might be used for a serious violation of humanitarian law.

"We do not take this decision lightly," Lammy told the UK's House of Commons, the lower house of parliament, adding that the UK supports Israel's right to self-defense "in accordance with international law."

He added the UK would continue to work with Israel to tackle the threat posed by Iran.

Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said he is "deeply disheartened" by the UK government's decision.

"I stand by our troops and security agencies working with immense courage, professionalism and moral values," the Israeli minister posted on his official X account.
 

  

US President Joe Biden told reporters Monday that he is close to presenting a Gaza cease-fire proposal that would secure the release of hostages being held by Hamas.

However, when asked by reporters if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing enough to secure a hostage deal, Biden replied "no," without elaborating. 

Israel has seen a large wave of protests calling for a hostage deal after the bodies of six hostages were discovered by the Israeli military in a tunnel under the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Saturday.

The military said the hostages had been killed by Hamas militants several days prior. 

One of the recovered bodies was that of 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 while attending a music festival in southern Israel.

Protesters in Tel Aviv on Sunday night expressed their fury at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, accusing them of failing in efforts to rescue Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

"We're furious that our government does not serve us," said May, who didn't want to tell DW her surname. "The government does not serve the people. Our police do not serve the people. No one serves us. We stand here alone and the entire world looks at us badly."

Gal, who also didn't want to reveal his last name, called on the Israeli government to do whatever it takes to agree to a cease-fire with Hamas and secure the release of the remaining hostages.

"We need to stop the war," he told DW.

"We need to do a deal with them [and] give them anything they want. Because for residents in Israel, if they are taken as hostages, as a government, you need to save them, no matter what. Whatever you need to give to get them back, even if it's not fair, even if it's not a good deal, you need to save people that live in your country."

Another protester, Maureen, said Netanyahu and his cabinet should face legal consequences for their actions — or lack thereof. "We need this man to go away and let us revive our country," she said. "They have to go to jail. All of them need to be behind bars. All of them."

Maureen called the continuing hostage situation a "horror show," while both May and Gal argued that the government's failure to agree to a cease-fire had cost the lives of the six hostages confirmed dead over the weekend.

"Instead of closing a deal on June 2, the hostages that were still alive three months ago came back today dead in coffins," said May.

"Six hostages were found dead [on Saturday], and they found out that they were probably killed just a few days ago," said Gal. "So we could have saved them [but] our government didn't do anything."

Israel's Labor Court has ruled that a general strike that shut down much of the country's economy on Monday must end at 2:30 p.m. local time, according to court documents seen by the Reuters news agency.

Israel's main trade union Histadrut launched the strike to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into negotiating a cease-fire deal with Hamas and secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza.

The deaths of six more hostages triggered mass protests across the country over the weekend.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip said Monday that at least 40,786 people have been killed in the enclave since the October 7 attacks and the start of the Israel-Hamas war. 

The death toll has increased by 48 since the previous day, according to the ministry, which also has also registered over 94,000 people as wounded.

Health authorities do not differentiate between civilians and militants in their counts.

Service has been disrupted at Israel's main international airport, Ben Gurion, due to a general workers' strike across the country. While some flights were able to land, many departing journeys had to be canceled.

Light rail and bus routes around the country were also at a standstill.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has sought to have the strike banned by Israel's Labor Court, which was due to meet mid-morning local time.

Numerous industries across Israel have been affected, including manufacturing and the tech sector. The strike has largely been supported by employer groups amid growing dissatisfaction with the Netanyahu government over the fate of the hostages in Gaza.

Houthi rebels are suspected of attacking a merchant vessel in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said.

The British military's UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that two projectiles had struck the vessel, and a third explosion occurred nearby.

The incident took place 70 nautical miles northwest of Yemen's small port of Salif.

"Damage control is underway," said UKMTO. "There are no casualties onboard and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call."

The targeted ship is most likely a Panama-flagged oil tanker, Blue Lagoon I, based on the timing of the attack and coordinates offered by the UKMTO.

The Yemen-based Houthis have not claimed responsibility.

Since the start of the war in Gaza last October, the Houthis have attacked more than 80 vessels using missiles and drones. They have seized one ship and sunk two, killing four sailors.

The Iran-backed Houthi militants have claimed they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the UK to protest the conflict in Gaza and in solidarity with Palestinians, but many of the targeted ships have had no ties to the conflict.

Humanitarian pauses in the fighting are expected to continue on Monday for a polio vaccination campaign after Gaza registered its first case in 25 years.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, called it a "race against time to reach just over 600,000 children."

"For this to work, parties to the conflict must respect the temporary area pauses," he posted on social media.

Authorities plan to vaccinate children in central Gaza until Wednesday before moving on to the more devastated northern and southern parts of the enclave.

In order for the campaign against this highly contagious disease to be effective, the World Health Organization has estimated that at least 90% of children under the age of 10 must be vaccinated. 

Israeli trade unions are set to strike on Monday in an effort to demand the government refocus its energy on freeing the remaining hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

"We must stop the abandonment of the hostages... I have come to the conclusion that only our intervention can shake those who need to be shaken," said Histadrut union chair Arnon Bar-David, adding that  "the entire Israeli economy will go on complete strike."

Workers at Ben Gurion airport, the country's main international hub, were also expected to strike.

Calls for a strike came on the heels of news that six more hostages had been found dead in Gaza over the weekend.

"Were it not for the delays, sabotage and excuses" in months of mediation efforts, the six hostages "would likely still be alive," campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

Israeli media have estimated that as many as 500,000 people took to the streets of the country's cities on Sunday night, a reaction to the news that six more hostages held by Hamas had been killed in Gaza.

In Jerusalem, protesters blocked streets and demonstrated outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

They demanded the prime minister reach a cease-fire with Hamas to bring the remaining captives home.

Relatives of the hostages taken during the October 7 attacks on Israeli civilians have accused the government of prioritizing its assault on Gaza over the lives of their family members.

Some 101 people are still being held by Hamas in Gaza, though Israeli officials have estimated that at least one-third may have already died.

 

ftm,lo,es/wmr (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)