D-Day: Western leaders will have their own objectives as they meet for events in France
As silence falls over the beaches of Normandy, the leaders gathered to mark this important anniversary will recognise the grim irony that hangs in the air.
An occasion that recalls the horrors of war will take place as conflict rages in Europe and beyond.
Its why words will be chosen carefully in public and why, along with the D-Day events, this will be an important diplomatic event. Leaders will meet in Caen this afternoon to hold talks, the sight of veterans, beaches and long lines of war graves fresh in their memory.
And it’s also why Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, will be attending the commemoration.
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He will remind those present that, just as the number of D-Day veterans is dwindling, so his own country’s pain is growing all the time.
The D-Day events have always been about remembering the dead, honouring those who took part and ensuring that history is not forgotten. Zelenskyy will surely invoke all these themes as being his country’s present, not its past.
His main message will be a familiar one – that Ukraine needs more weapons and more support. That his country’s war, and the pain it is suffering, will have repercussions for Europe, and for the wider world.
There are crucial figures here for him to talk to. Foremost, of course, will be the American president Joe Biden, whose money is so crucial to Ukraine’s ability to fight its war and whose nation probably holds the key to whether, and when, Ukraine eventually joins NATO.
Zelenskyy, an adept politician, will also want his diplomats to be working on developing a network of contacts who might still remain in place if Donald Trump were to win the American election – a result that would surely imperil at least some of his nation’s funding.
But Zelenskyy will not seek Biden alone. He will want to see the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who has provided a huge amount of support to his nation.
German leaders have long been invited to these commemorations as a sign of reconciliation and unity – another theme that the Ukrainian leader will wish to project.
Then there is the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who is hosting the commemoration and has long sought to project himself as Europe’s diplomat-in-chief, and Charles Michel, the president of the European Council who has spoken regularly of his desire to tighten relations with Ukraine.
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Sunak reads message given to D-Day troops
Zelenskyy will want to see Rishi Sunak, too, and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau – G7 leaders and, crucially, significant voices within NATO.
And he will certainly want to shake hands with prime ministers from the Netherlands, Greece and Luxembourg – all of them EU member states.
But one of his most sensitive meetings could be with the Polish president Andrzej Duda.
Duda sits at the heart of a national political system that is almost dysfunctional, thanks to his own opposition to the prime minister, Donald Tusk.
But Zelenskyy still needs the support of a giant neighbouring country that has taken in so many of his own citizens as refugees.
He won’t want to be seen as getting too close to Duda – Tusk is a more natural ally – but nor will he want to upset him. Diplomacy is never easy.
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Biden’s role here is primarily to represent the families of those who perished on the beaches, for D-Day remains a seminal event in American history.
But he, too, will have an eye on the wider picture – on the need to project himself as a strong statesmanlike figure who commands global respect – a sort of anti-Trump.
As for Macron, the timing is politically handy. Just as French voters head to polling stations for the European elections, there will be images of their president shaking hands with Mr Biden as the president follows the D-Day commemoration with a state visit to France.
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Macron’s team will no doubt present this as proof that, under this president’s stewardship, the country’s diplomatic clout has grown; that he is a cut above his political rivals.
But in truth, Mr Macron’s self-made centrist party, now known as Renaissance, has been bracing itself for electoral defeat to the right-wing Rassemblement National, the party of Marine Le Pen.
So while it’s hard to imagine many of Le Pen’s backers would change their mind simply because they see the two presidents shaking hands at the Elysee, it might be enough to either win over some of the undecided, or to lure out a chunk of the reluctant.
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And amid all the diplomacy and the meetings, there is one country very notable by its absence. Russia’s troops played a pivotal role in the Second World War, but there will be no Russian representative at D-Day.
Vladimir Putin was never invited, nor ever going to come, but the Russian ambassador to France had been asked to attend.
That invitation was later rescinded – a reminder that, 80 years after D-Day, Europe is fractured once more.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children have been killed in an Israeli missile strike on their home in Gaza, which also left her surviving son badly injured and her husband in a critical condition.
Warning: This article contains details of child deaths
Alaa Al Najjar, a paediatrician at Al Tahrir Clinic in the Nasser Medical Complex, was at work during the attack on her home, south of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, on Friday.
Graphic footage shared by the Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence shows the bodies of at least seven small children being pulled from the rubble.
Rescuers can be seen battling fires and searching through a collapsed building, shouting out when they locate a body, before bringing the children out one by one and wrapping their remains in body bags.
In the footage, Dr Al Najjar’s husband, Hamdi Al Najjar, who is also a doctor, is put on to a stretcher and then carried to an ambulance.
The oldest of their children was only 12 years old, according to Dr Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, which is run by Hamas.
Nine children were killed in the strike. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
“This is the reality our medical staff in Gaza endure. Words fall short in describing the pain,” he wrote in a social media post.
“In Gaza, it is not only healthcare workers who are targeted – Israel’s aggression goes further, wiping out entire families.”
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
British doctors describe ‘horrific’ and ‘unimaginable’ attack
Two British doctors working at Nasser Hospital described the attack as “horrific” and “unimaginable” for Dr Al Najjar.
Speaking in a video diary on Friday night, Dr Graeme Groom said his last patient of the day was Dr Al Najjar’s 11-year-old son, who was badly injured and “seemed much younger as we lifted him on to the operating table”.
Hamdi Al Najjar, Dr Al Najjar’s husband who is also a doctor, was taken to hospital. Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
The strike “may or may not have been aimed at his father”, Dr Groom said, adding that the man had been left “very badly injured”.
Dr Victoria Rose said the family “lived opposite a petrol station, so I don’t know whether the bomb set off some massive fire”.
Pic: Palestinian Civil Defence
‘No political or military connections’
Dr Groom added: “It is unimaginable for that poor woman, both of them are doctors here.
“The father was a physician at Nasser Hospital. He had no political and no military connections. He doesn’t seem to be prominent on social media, and yet his poor wife is the only uninjured one, who has the prospect of losing her husband.”
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Nineteen of Gaza’s hospitals remain operational, all of them are overwhelmed with the number of patients and a lack of supplies
He said it was “a particularly sad day”, while Dr Rose added: “That is life in Gaza. That is the way it goes in Gaza.”
Sky News has approached the Israeli Defence Forces for comment.
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Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began when the militant group stormed across the border into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducting 251 others.
Israel’s military response has flattened large areas of Gaza and killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.
World
UN’s Antonio Guterres condemns ‘teaspoon’ of aid allowed into Gaza after dozens die in airstrikes
The head of the UN has said Israel has only authorised for Gaza what amounts to a “teaspoon” of aid after at least 60 people died in overnight airstrikes.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said on Friday the supplies approved so far “amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” adding “the needs are massive and the obstacles are staggering”.
He warned that more people will die unless there is “rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access”.
A woman at the site of an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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Gaza: ‘Loads of children with huge burns’
Israel says around 300 aid trucks have been allowed through since it lifted an 11-week blockade on Monday, but according to Mr Guterres, only about a third have been transported to warehouses within Gaza due to insecurity.
The IDF said 107 vehicles carrying flour, food, medical equipment and drugs were allowed through on Thursday.
Many of Gaza’s two million residents are at high risk of famine, experts have warned.
Meanwhile, at least 60 people have been killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight.
Ten people died in the southern city of Khan Younis, and deaths were also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.
A body is carried out of rubble after an Israeli strike in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
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‘Almost everyone depends on aid’ in Gaza
The latest strikes came a day after two Israeli embassy workers were killed in Washington.
The suspect, named as 31-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago, Illinois, told police he “did it for Gaza”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney of fuelling antisemitism following the shootings.
The leaders of the UK, France and Canada are “on the wrong side of humanity and (…) history”, he said, after they threatened “concrete action” against Israel this week if it continues its “egregious” military operations in Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu also accused Sir Keir, Mr Macron and Mr Carney of siding with “mass murderers, rapists, baby killers and kidnappers”.
Palestinians search for casualties in Jabalia, northern Gaza. Pic: Reuters
But UK government minister Luke Pollard told Sky News on Friday morning he “doesn’t recognise” Mr Netanyahu’s accusation.
Earlier this week, Mr Netanyahu said he was recalling negotiators from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.
The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251 others.
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The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
Israel’s offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
A woman has been arrested after 12 people were reportedly injured in a stabbing at Hamburg’s central train station in Germany.
An attacker armed with a knife targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14, according to police.
They added that the suspect was a 39-year-old woman.
Police at the scene. Pic: AP
Officers said they “believe she acted alone” and investigations into the stabbing are continuing.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive.
The fire service said six of the injured were in a life-threatening condition, three others were seriously hurt, and another three sustained minor injuries, news agency dpa reported.
The attack happened shortly after 6pm local time (5pm UK time) on Friday in front of a waiting train, regional public broadcaster NDR reported.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the incident.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by what had happened.
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Four tracks at the station were closed in the evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Hamburg is Germany‘s second biggest city, with the train station being a hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
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