A first in three weeks. American President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are due to speak by telephone on Thursday April 4, three days after an Israeli strike killed foreign humanitarians in Gaza, further cracking relations between Washington and its ally. The last conversation between the two leaders dates back to March 18, in an already tense context faced with the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory subject to incessant bombardments for almost six months. Follow our live stream.
The Palestinians hope to join the UN. The Palestinian Authority wants a Security Council vote on April 18 on its request for full membership in the United Nations, relaunched on Tuesday, said its ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour. But success is unlikely, the United States having insisted that the international organization was not the place for the recognition of a Palestinian state.
The bodies of the killed humanitarian workers are in Egypt. The remains of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli strike arrived in Egypt on Wednesday to be repatriated to their respective countries. An Australian woman, a Pole, an American-Canadian and three Britons were killed. The Israeli army offered its mea culpa, acknowledging “a serious mistake” Who “shouldn’t have happened”.
Truce talks deadlocked. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has accused Israel of procrastinating in negotiations for a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages held there. On Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu for his part criticized the Palestinian Islamist movement for having hardened its position in recent talks which have made little progress.