UK warns against Israel removing it from Gaza ceasefire center, and other news in the Middle East
The United Kingdom warned against any attempt by Israel to remove British officials from the Gaza ceasefire coordination center on Friday, after reports that Israel was considering expelling U.K. officials.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed three people from the same family as the county continues its attacks despite a monthlong ceasefire brokered by the United States.
Here’s a look at the latest developments Friday in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here.
The U.K. government said on Thursday that it remains committed to implementing the 20-point Gaza peace plan and any move to remove its officials would “undermine shared efforts."
The comments came in response to a Financial Times report that Israel is considering expelling officials from Britain, and potentially other European nations, from the monitoring center. The U.K. remains committed to “playing our part in improving the situation on the ground,” the British government told The Associated Press.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Israel’s Foreign Ministry was removing two Dutch diplomats from the Gaza ceasefire coordination center.
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that the decision was in response to “a series of anti-Israel measures taken by the Dutch government,” including next month's implementation of a ban on the trade of Israeli products from the occupied West Bank and other areas.
Two brothers and another relative were killed on Friday in an Israeli strike on the family’s home outside Khan Younis, officials at Nasser Hospital said. Israel's military said it was not aware of a strike in Khan Younis.
The three deaths were the latest among Palestinians in Gaza since an October ceasefire deal attempted to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided since a ceasefire took hold in October, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes, killing at least 1,303 Palestinians, according to health officials in Gaza.
The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
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