The European Union is considering punitive measures on Hamas leaders and Israeli settlers in response to violence stemming from the Israel-Hamas war, with both proposals discussed by the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed they prevented a ship from sailing to Israel, as the Iranian-backed group escalated its attacks on vessels in the Red Sea in response to the war in the Gaza Strip.

Malaysia’s government can’t rule out whether a local charity funnelled millions of dollars to Hamas, according to officials familiar with the matter, as it probes the group for allegedly supporting a conservative Islamist organization in the Southeast Asian nation.

President Joe Biden’s backing for Israel in its war with Hamas is alienating at least a third of Democrats, a CBS News/YouGov poll showed, as criticism of his administration’s stance grows.

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UAE courts China, Russia and UK in push for Gaza ceasefire

The United Arab Emirates flew senior diplomats from China, Russia, the UK and other countries to Egypt’s border area with the Gaza Strip, as the Gulf state deepens its push for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The UAE government arranged a flight from Abu Dhabi on Monday for around a dozen ambassadors to the United Nations, including those from Brazil, Japan and Ghana. They visited the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, the main gateway for aid into the Palestinian territory.

The UAE and a growing number of nations are trying to persuade Israel to end its bombardment and ground offensive in Gaza, a response to Hamas’s devastating attack on 7 October. Last week, Abu Dhabi asked the UN Security Council to call for an immediate ceasefire. The motion was widely backed but vetoed by the US, Israel’s closest ally and a supplier of arms for its war effort.

“We all know the situation on the ground is most catastrophic,” China’s main representative to the UN, Zhang Jun, told reporters in Egypt. “We really should not allow the situation to become worse. We’re here with the belief that with our joint efforts, we can stop the war.”

There’s no indication the US or the UK, which abstained in the UN vote on Friday, will alter their positions. Washington has firmly backed Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas, classified a terrorist organisation by the US and European Union.

The US and France — who, along with China, Russia and the UK, comprise the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — didn’t send envoys on Monday’s trip. 

The diplomats who travelled met senior UN officials involved in distributing aid to Gaza. The organisation says the humanitarian situation in the densely-packed territory, home to just over two million Palestinians, is dire.

The UN’s main aid agency for Gaza, known as UNRWA, is on “the verge of collapse”, Philippe Lazzarini, its head, told Bloomberg. “Civil order is imploding.”

He described how people had taken to looting aid trucks and drinking sewerage water, with some not eating for days. UNRWA still intends to carry out its mandate in Gaza and scale up its operations, if possible, he said.

“We are here to listen to you and to understand better from you,” Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s UN ambassador, said to Lazzarini. The envoys will “take that understanding of this field visit into our deliberations in New York,” she said, referring to the UN’s headquarters. 

Hamas killed about 1,200 people and abducted 240 during its incursion from Gaza into southern Israel. The retaliatory air strikes and ground offensive have left more than 17,000 people dead, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run health ministry.

The UN estimates 1.9 million people have been forced to flee their homes in Gaza. Secretary-General António Guterres said, “The conditions for the effective delivery of humanitarian aid no longer exist.”

The World Health Organization warned the medical system had nearly collapsed and more people could die from disease than from the bombings.

Rafah, in northern Sinai, is the only non-Israeli controlled entry point to Gaza, and hundreds of trucks carrying food, water and medical supplies have entered in recent weeks. Foreign nationals and some injured Palestinians have exited by the same route. The UN says the assistance is a fraction of what’s needed. 

EU weighs sanctions on Hamas leaders and Israeli settlers

The European Union is considering punitive measures on Hamas leaders and Israeli settlers in response to violence stemming from the Israel-Hamas war, with both proposals discussed by the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Josep Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, told reporters after the meeting that his agency was working on the proposal to sanction extremist Israeli settlers and would soon submit it to member states. The move drew early support from countries including Belgium and Slovenia.

The proposed measures against Israeli settlers, which are still in early-stage discussions and aim to address settler violence in the West Bank, could involve travel bans, asset freezes and a ban on imports of products made by settlers, according to a senior EU official. Both moves would align with steps already taken by the US.

In addition to the devastation in Gaza, the bloc is alarmed by the violence in the West Bank by extremist settlers and approval by the Israeli government to expand such settlements, Borrell said.  

The separate proposal for sanctions on Hamas was largely backed by the ministers, Borrell said, though some underlined the importance of also imposing punitive measures on the Israeli settlers.  

While Hamas already faces constraints as an EU-listed terror organisation, the bloc is set to adopt within weeks additional sanctions targeting leaders of the group and their financing, according to a senior EU official.  

Malaysia can’t rule out if millions in donations went to Hamas

Malaysia’s government can’t rule out whether a local charity funnelled millions of dollars to Hamas, according to officials familiar with the matter, as it probes the group for allegedly supporting a conservative Islamist organization in the Southeast Asian nation.

Malaysia’s anti-graft body on Oct. 17 froze as many as 41 bank accounts of the Aman Palestin Berhad charity organisation, which contained nearly $15-million, over the alleged misuse of public donations. It also raided the charity’s office as part of an investigation regarding offences under money laundering and terrorist financing laws.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been the staunchest advocate of the Palestinian cause in Southeast Asia, saying last month that Malaysia would not recognise what he said was a unilateral attempt by the US to restrict support of Hamas. Malaysian leaders have a long history of friendly ties with the group.

Malaysia is more concerned about whether the charity has links with Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia, an organisation that backs the imposition of Sharia law in the country, the people said. While the government has oversight over state donations to Palestinian causes, the official said those from charities could be subject to fraud or wind up in the wrong places.  

While Malaysia has long cultivated ties with Hamas, the revelation may shed light on how the group could continue to secure funding from abroad after attacking Israel on 7 October. 

Yemen’s Houthis bar ship headed to Israel as attacks continue

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed they prevented a ship from sailing to Israel, as the Iranian-backed group escalated its attacks on vessels in the Red Sea in response to the war in the Gaza Strip.  

The navy “forced a ship sailing towards occupied Palestine to change its direction and sail back,” Hussein al-Ezzi, the Houthi’s deputy foreign minister, said in a statement on X. His account couldn’t immediately be verified.

As the war between Israel and Hamas has continued, it’s drawn in more groups hostile to Israel. The Houthis have attempted to strike Israel with missiles and drones, and rebel fighters have attacked other ships in the Red Sea, seizing an Israeli-owned vessel in November. 

Deputy US National Security Adviser Jon Finer said last week that the Biden administration had “not ruled out the possibility of taking military action” against the Iranian-backed Houthis but the focus was on assembling a maritime coalition to secure the Red Sea — a conduit for 12% of world trade and the bulk of Middle East energy supplies to Europe. 

Biden’s support of Israel alienates more Democrats in new poll

President Joe Biden’s backing for Israel in its war with Hamas is alienating at least a third of Democrats, a CBS News/YouGov poll showed, as criticism of his administration’s stance grows.

The share of Democrats who said Biden has shown too much support rose to 38% from 28% in October, according to the poll, which has a five percentage-point margin of error. In a broader sample of Americans, 34% said his approach was making a peaceful solution less likely, according to the poll.

The growing civilian toll of Israel’s military operation in response to the 7 October attack by Hamas has drawn increasingly pointed calls for restraint from Democratic legislators, US officials and protesters, adding to political risks for Biden as he campaigns for a second term.

At the same time, the Israel-Hamas war ranked well behind inflation, border security and the state of US democracy on the poll’s list of most important problems facing the country.  

Biden’s approval rating hit a low in a Wall Street Journal poll published on Saturday, with the president lagging former president Donald Trump by 47% to 43% in a hypothetical election matchup. DM