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Israeli cabinet vote a ‘holding pattern response’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure, especially from his biggest ally the United States.
He is also under societal pressure in Israel, and there’s pressure from members of his far-right coalition like Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is still pushing for a Rafah operation.
So right now you have a situation where Israel is sort of having it both ways. They are saying that they will send a delegation to Cairo, because up until now they had refused to do so until what they had considered to be a positive response from Hamas. And at the same time, they are saying they are still going to go into Rafah.
Netanyahu has been saying on almost a daily basis for months that he’s going into Rafah with or without a ceasefire. So that is not different from what we have been hearing from him. But on the other hand, what’s different is that they are going to send a delegation to Cairo, and that is something that could satisfy people in the opposition, like leader Yair Lapid.
Flares light up the skies of Rafah
Video posted on Instagram a shot while ago by Palestinian journalist Hani al-Shaer shows flares fired by the Israeli army over eastern Rafah.
This comes after the army said it was conducting strikes against Hamas positions in Rafah, and after the Israeli war cabinet said that it had decided to press ahead with operations against the southern Gaza city.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6o3UaINF3j
Hamas accepts Gaza ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/06/middleeast/hamas-agrees-ceasefire-proposal-israel-gaza-latam-intl/index.html
Palestinians in Rafah celebrate news that Hamas has accepted a ceasefire proposal, May 6
Recap of all the latest developments on the ceasefire.
‘Non-stop’ bombing of eastern Rafah ongoing
There has been an escalation of air raids and artillery bombardment in the eastern part of Rafah. We’re talking nonstop bombing of residential houses. The vast majority of residents there [eastern Rafah] have started to flee, where the Israeli military is trying to mobilise more troops.
Eyewitnesses that we have been in contact with say they have heard movement of Israeli military tanks across the Gaza separation fence with the Israel.
That’s absolutely terrifying … and contradictory to the general atmosphere of positivity around the negotiations on the ground.
Jordan king tells Biden Israeli assault on Rafah may lead to ‘new massacre’
The Jordanian royal court says King Abdullah II has warned during a meeting with Joe Biden, the president of the US, that an Israeli attack on Rafah threatens to lead to a “new massacre”.
The Jordanian king is the latest world leader to warn of devastating consequences of any military assault on the southern city sheltering some 1.5 internally displaced people.
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