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BERLIN: Germany wants to organize an international conference with Egypt for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday, as Israel and Hamas edged closer to ending hostilities.
The main goal of this conference “should be to address the most urgent needs, such as rebuilding water and energy supplies and medical care,” Merz said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the German Development Ministry said on Friday that Berlin could quickly provide 850 temporary accommodation units for Gaza.
“Fifty of them are in Ramallah and can quickly be brought to Gaza so that people can be provided with urgently needed shelter,” she said, adding that 90 to 92 percent of Gaza’s buildings have been badly damaged or destroyed.

The main goal of the conference should be to address the most urgent needs, such as rebuilding water and energy supplies and medical care.

Chancellor, Friedrich Merz

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the government had “approved the framework” of a hostage release deal with Hamas.
Merz said the deal must be “implemented swiftly” and that “the hostages, including German nationals, must finally return to their families.”
“Humanitarian aid must quickly reach the people in Gaza,” he added.
Merz said Germany would provide an additional €29 million ($33.6 million) in humanitarian aid and would also help in “supporting the medical and psychological care of the released hostages.”
Netanyahu said on Friday that 48 hostages were still in Gaza, 20 of them still alive and 28 dead.
One of the dead is understood to be an Israeli soldier killed in 2014 whose remains are being held by Hamas.
Four of those still alive are reported to be German nationals.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said on Friday that Israeli forces had begun pulling back from parts of the territory, particularly in Gaza City and Khan Younis.
“Israeli forces have withdrawn from several areas in Gaza City,” said Mohammed Al-Mughayyir, a senior official with the agency.
He added that Israeli military vehicles had also pulled out from sections of the southern city of Khan Younis.
Palestinians have expressed relief that the war may end, tempered with concern about the future and lingering pain from the staggering death and destruction.

LONDON: A 20-year-old man found guilty of murdering a Syrian refugee teenager in an unprovoked knife attack in an English town earlier this year has been sentenced to life in prison on Friday.

Leeds Crown Court heard that Alfie Franco fatally stabbed 16-year-old Ahmad Al-Ibrahim on April 3 in Huddersfield after the victim brushed past Franco’s pregnant girlfriend while walking along a shopping street.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed Franco had been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years.

CCTV footage released by the force showed a brief verbal exchange between the pair before Franco, who had taken a mix of cannabis, cocaine and ketamine, pulled a flick knife from his pocket and stabbed Ahmad once in the neck.

The teenager, who had fled conflict in Syria seeking safety in the UK, suffered catastrophic injuries, including wounds to his jugular vein, trachea and carotid artery, and died at the scene.

Franco fled but was later arrested and charged with murder.

During the trial, prosecutors told jurors that Franco had a “keen interest” in knives and had recorded himself handling the weapon used in the killing.

He had captioned a photo of his collection “Artillery coming along nice,” and had boasted to friends hours before the attack that he planned to stab someone.

Prosecutor Richard Wright said: “Alfie Franco is a young man with a keen interest in possessing, carrying and using deadly weapons for offensive, not defensive, purposes — just as he did the very next day when he stabbed Ahmad in the neck for no good reason.”

When questioned in court, Franco claimed he acted out of fear, telling jurors he carried the knife because he had “heard things that happen in town” and wanted to “keep safe.”

He later admitted during cross-examination that he had “murdered” Ahmad, saying: “Yes … I didn’t want to do that to anyone. I wish I could take it back but I can’t.”

Franco also admitted possessing a knife in a public place.

Following the verdict, Temporary Detective Superintendent Damian Roebuck of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team said: “We welcome the sentencing of Franco for the dreadful and inexplicable murder of a teenager he had never met and who he had no quarrel with.”

He continued: “We never believed Franco’s claim that he acted in self-defense, especially as it was contradicted by CCTV evidence put before the court. Ahmad himself was not carrying a weapon of any kind, whereas Franco had taken to the streets that day carrying the concealed blade he used to inflict a savage injury on this poor young man.

“No sentence can ever bring back Ahmad, but we hope seeing Franco jailed for many years today will bring some measure of comfort to a family who continue to grieve for his loss.”