The Latest: EU leader calls for sanctions against Israel over the war in Gaza

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen disclosed Wednesday she will seek sanctions and a partial contract suspension against Israel over the war in Gaza The -nation EU is deeply divided in its approach to Israel and the Palestinians and it s unclear whether a majority will be unveiled to endorse the sanctions and agreement measures Meanwhile urgency personnel in Qatar dug through the rubble of an Israeli attack on Hamas political leaders who had gathered in the energy-rich Mideast nation to consider a U S proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip The strike Tuesday on the territory of a U S ally drew widespread condemnation Hamas reported in a report all of its leaders survived the attack but that five lower-ranked members were killed Qatar noted a member of its Internal Guard Force died and others were wounded Here s the latest Israeli strikes kill in Gaza The Gaza soundness ministry explained Wednesday hospitals received bodies of people killed by Israeli strikes over the past hours Hospitals also received wounded An additional people were killed in that time period while seeking humanitarian aid the ministry announced in its daily account Israel strikes another Gaza City high-rise The Israeli military claimed Hamas was using the building to surveil Israeli troops The Associated Press was unable to independently verify the claim The strike came hours after the military s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee informed Palestinians in certain areas of western Gaza City to evacuate Israel ordered Tuesday all Palestinians in the city to leave as the military was about to attack forcefully and staying there would be dangerous But hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain there multiple exhausted after multiple displacements and unsure if anywhere else in the strip will be safe for them OIC says Doha attack is a dangerous escalation The -nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation has condemned Israel s attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar The Saudi-based organization on Wednesday mentioned the attack constitutes a dangerous escalation threatening the defense and stability of the region and undermining international safeguard and peace Qatari prime minister calls out Netanyahu A top Qatari official has escalated his criticism of Israel on Wednesday while condoling the family of a Qatari precaution official killed in Israel s strike on Hamas leadership in the country Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani the country s prime minister and foreign minister specifically called out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the attack Tuesday Such hostile behavior reflects only the barbarism of Netanyahu the minister commented according to the Foreign Ministry He added that Netanyahu was pushing the region toward irreparable instability undermining international laws and frameworks Sheikh Mohammed also criticized Netanyahu for previously declaring intentions to reshape the Middle East questioning whether this was also meant as a threat to reshape the Arabian Gulf the declaration declared Palestinians die from malnutrition-related causes The Soundness Ministry in Gaza declared Wednesday five people including a child died of causes related to malnutrition in the Gaza Strip over the past hours raising the overall toll of such deaths since the beginning of the war to including children The ministry mentioned the overall tally includes Palestinians among them children who died of malnutrition-related causes since international experts informed famine in Gaza City on Aug UAE leader visits Qatar The leader of the United Arab Emirates traveled Wednesday to Qatar a day after Israel launched an attack there on Hamas political leadership The visit by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan who is also the ruler of Abu Dhabi likely underscores the growing unease the UAE feels with Israel In current days the Emirates warned Israel that any effort to annex the West Bank part of land that Palestinians want for their future state would be a red line that would threaten the Abraham Accords the diplomatic recognition deal it struck with Israel Qatar s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcomed Sheikh Mohammed The two leaders had been on opposite sides of a political dispute for years during the first Trump administration which saw the UAE and three other nations boycott Doha Saar criticizes EU leader Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in a social media post declared Von der Leyen had succumbed to pressures that undermine Israel-Europe relations He reported her actions will embolden Hamas Analyst says Qatar has meager options after Israeli attack Qatar has limited means by which to respond to the attack analysts say which likely entered into the Israeli calculus on launching the assault Qatari bureaucrats have condemned the attack but its options are constrained by the absence of formal ties with Israel commented Torbjorn Soltvedt an analyst at the exposure intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft And more importantly after investing considerable time and diplomatic effort into strengthening ties with Washington Qatar s political leadership is acutely aware of the promising repercussions of any actions that could jeopardize relations with Washington Global Sumud Flotilla boat hit by drone group says An international activist flotilla seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza says it was attacked for the second night in a row on Wednesday The Global Sumud Flotilla disclosed in a message that one of its boats the British-flagged Alma was attacked by a drone as it was docked in Tunisian waters and pointed fingers at Israel No one was harmed The group shared safety camera footage showing people on board shouting fire and pointing to the sky when flames fell from the sky impacting the deck and causing a ball of fire The attack appeared similar to the one sustained the night before by the Portuguese-flagged Family vessel Tunisian officials on Tuesday denied maintains that the first attack had been caused by drones adding they were reviewing There was no immediate reaction to the second attack The flotilla consisting of around boats departed Barcelona with a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid on September It had planned a stop in Tunis before sailing to Gaza again These repeat attacks come during intensified Israeli aggression on Palestinians in Gaza and are an orchestrated attempt to distract and derail our mission the group declared in its message The Global Sumud Flotilla continues undeterred There was no immediate reaction from Israeli officers Von der Leyen wants to put sponsorship for Israel on hold Von der Leyen reported she plans to freeze aid to Israel given by the European Union s executive branch which would not require the approval of the member countries It was not directly clear how much financial aid the executive branch known as the European Commission provides to Israel and what it is used for We will put our bilateral advocacy to Israel on hold We will stop all payments in these areas without affecting our work with Israeli civil society or Yad Vashem the Holocaust memorial von der Leyen informed EU lawmakers The commission also gives patronage to the Palestinian Authority Israel s attack on Doha threatens negotiations The Israeli attack on Hamas in Qatar threatens to upend negotiations over a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and Israel s efforts to reach out to Gulf Arab states That s according to an analysis Wednesday by the New York-based think tank The Soufan Center The attack has profound strategic implications because by striking a Gulf Cooperation Council state Israel risks undermining the Abraham Accords and unraveling the fragile normalization framework with Arab partners the center mentioned referring to the diplomatic recognition deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates Israel s strike on Qatar raises the uncomfortable question if a state like Qatar with its systematically cultivated neutrality and commitment to peacemaking is punished for its role who will dare step into the vacuum of mediation in the future the center petitioned Von der Leyen calls for a stop to the war in Gaza European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the events in Gaza and the suffering of children and families has shaken the conscience of the world Man-made famine can never be a weapon of war For the sake of the children for the sake of humanity This must stop she added to applause in the European Parliament at its meeting in Strasbourg France Von der Leyen added that the commission will set up a Palestine donor group next month part of which will focus on Gaza s future reconstruction Her words Wednesday represented a sharp turnaround in her thinking as she d previously been a strong supporter of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Qatari leader speaks with Trump Qatar s local media hewed tightly to regime statements issued after Tuesday s attack which killed at least six people in a neighborhood in Doha home to foreign embassies and schools Qatar is ruled by a hereditary emir and tightly restricts speech like other Gulf Arab nations Al Jazeera the outspoken satellite news system funded by Qatar s ruling body described the attack as a brutal aggression in its headlines The Israeli establishment has banned Al Jazeera from operating in Israel or the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war though its journalists still broadcast from the Gaza Strip The state-run Qatar News Agency noted its ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani held a series of calls with world leaders including U S President Donald Trump Sheikh Tamim in the call condemned the attack and held the Israeli entity responsible for its repercussions in light of the guidelines of aggression they adopt that threatens the region s stability and obstructs efforts to de-escalate and reach sustainable diplomatic solutions a readout of the call disclosed Qatar Airways a major East-West airline that operates out of the country s massive Hamad International Airport sought to assure passengers their flights were safe and would not be interrupted Israeli attack not detected by Qatar s air defenses Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani Qatar s prime minister and foreign minister stated Tuesday night that the Israeli enemy used weapons that were not detected by radar He did not elaborate However that suggests Israeli fighter jets likely launched so-called stand-off missiles at a distance to strike the site without really entering Qatari airspace possibly over the Persian Gulf The U S has disclosed it warned Qatar before the strike Qatar disputes that with Sheikh Mohammed saying that the Americans sent a message minutes after the attacks took place saying they were informed that there was going to be a missile attack on the state of Qatar Qatar maintains a major arsenal of air defense systems including both American-made Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD batteries Qatar is also home to the U S military s forward headquarters for its Mideast-based Central Command That base at the sprawling Al Udeid Air Base also has American-run radars and defense systems and in the past few days hosted President Donald Trump on his tour of the region in May Japan condemns the attack Japan s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi noted Wednesday that his country strongly condemns Israel s attack on Qatar as a move that interferes with the ongoing diplomatic efforts toward achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and further destabilizes the region While we express our solidarity with Qatar we strongly demand Israel at once return to negotiation toward achieving a ceasefire and the release of hostages Hayashi mentioned He also called on all related parties to de-escalate the situation Source