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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

Israel intensifies attacks on Rafah, hits 11 homes

Gaza’s civil defence office said its crews in Rafah are dealing with “several attacks” on inhabited and uninhabited homes in the southern city.

It said Israeli forces have hit 11 homes in the southern area between Sunday evening and the early hours of Monday. The attacks have resulted in dozens of people killed, wounded, and missing under the rubble.



Death toll from Rafah attacks rises to 22

The Wafa news agency is reporting that the death toll from Israeli attacks on Rafah has risen to 22.

The houses hit in Rafah included the homes of the Abu Lebda family, the Al-Attar family, the Shteiwi family, the Al-Hashash family, the Qishta family and the Armilat family.

The victims include eight children, it said. Two of them were killed in the attack on the Abu Lebda home, and four were killed in a raid on the Qishta family.



Baby born after start of Gaza war killed in latest Israeli raids

The latest round of Israeli attacks has killed eight members of the Qishta family, including four children.

Among them was a baby boy born after the start of the war. Hani Mahmoud, who was seven months old, was already an orphan after both his parents had been killed in an air attack in the early days of the war.

Rasha Qishta, a relative, told Al Jazeera that Hani’s mother was eight months pregnant when she was wounded and the doctors managed to deliver her baby. “But she died two hours later. His dad was killed on the spot as well as his auntie and her three children. The baby survived along with his two sisters who were injured,” she said.

“He was born in the war and is now killed in the same war.”

Palestinian group says it targeted Israeli troops in central Gaza

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades said its fighters targeted Israeli troops at the so-called Netzarim Corridor with “concentrated rocket barrages” from more than one direction. The corridor, named after the Netzarim Jewish settlement in Gaza that was dismantled in 2005, was built by the Israeli army to separate northern Gaza from its southern part.

Palestinian armed groups carry out frequent attacks against Israeli forces around the corridor.

Palestinian group claims to destroy Israeli army site in central Gaza

Palestinian armed group Mujahideen Brigades has said its fighters destroyed a military site in central Gaza with a barrage of short-range rockets.

The group said on X that the strikes in the so-called Netzarim Corridor were carried out together with the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, another Palestinian armed group. The corridor, named after the Netzarim Jewish settlement in Gaza that was dismantled in 2005, was built by the Israeli army to separate northern Gaza from its southern part.


34,735 Palestinians killed in seven months of Israeli war: Ministry

Israeli forces have killed 34,735 Palestinians in its seven-month war on Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave. At least 78,108 people have been injured in the relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.





Clashes, gunfire as Israeli forces again raid West Bank cities

Israeli forces have launched raids across the occupied West Bank, including in the cities of Tubas, Hebron, Tulkarem and Silwan, according to media reports. The Israeli forces’s pre-dawn raid on Tubas prompted clashes in the city, the Wafa news agency reported. The sound of gunfire could be heard in videos posted online.

Israeli forces detained 15 Palestinians in occupied West Bank: Report

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society have said the detainees included former prisoners, who had previously been released. The detentions were carried out in Qalqiliya, Ramallah, Hebron, Jericho, Bethlehem and Salfit from Sunday night until Monday morning.

This brings the number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces since October 7 to about 8,590, the organisations said.



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SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

Hopes for a truce dwindle in Gaza as Israeli attacks intensify

Palestinians are following closely what is happening in the Egyptian capital regarding the ongoing negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel. There had been a great sense of optimism in the last couple of days. But that has dwindled following media reports about the same sticking points between Hamas and Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel has launched several attacks in the past 24 hours, and the casualties continue to rise among civilians as residential buildings and farm lands are targeted in multiple areas in the territory.




‘If there was a ceasefire, I’d go home,’ Gaza’s war-weary IDPs say

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/5/5/if-there-was-a-ceasefire-id-go-home-gazas-war-weary-idps-say

The word is a weary wish in Gaza, as much a source of searing disappointment as the last emblem of hope.

That word is “ceasefire”, an end to the Israeli assault that has pummelled the Gaza Strip for seven months – killing at least 34,683 people and injuring at least 78,018 more in a drawn-out Israeli retaliation for a Hamas-led attack on its territory on October 7.

And the prospect for one keeps Gaza resident Abeer al-Namrouti glued to her phone day and night. She often falls asleep to news bulletins still playing near her head.

“I’m going to keep listening until I hear the word ‘ceasefire’,” she told Al Jazeera.


Abeer al-Namrouti listens to the news all day and night


Netanyahu’s insistence on Rafah offensive stalls truce talks: Report

The New York Times reports that an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity and Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, both blamed the Israeli prime minister for stalling the current truce talks.

The Israeli source is reported as telling the newspaper that the two parties were close to an agreement a couple of days ago, but Netanyahu’s comments about a planned Rafah offensive had forced Hamas to “harden” its demands.

Abu Marzouk told the newspaper, “We were very close, but Netanyahu’s narrow-mindedness aborted an agreement.”


A tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the Israeli offensive is seen in Rafah


Proof comes out Netanyahu has been backing Hamas

Netanyahu asked Qatar to fund Hamas in 2018 letter: Report

The Israeli prime minister in 2018 asked the Qatari government to continue transferring $30m to the Gaza Strip monthly, the Israeli Ynet news site has reported, citing “a secret letter” sent to the Gulf state’s leadership.

The publication said the letter has only been seen by a handful of people since being sent by Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the letter, the prime minister said funding Hamas would preserve regional stability and avert a humanitarian crisis, according to Ynet.

After Qatari officials demanded further assurances, the US government agreed to a request from Netanyahu and sent an additional letter to Doha that, in effect, ensured Qatar that funding Hamas would not be considered funding terror, the report said, adding that the letters from Netanyahu and then-US Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin ultimately “satisfied the Qataris”.



SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

Israeli attack on Lebanon killed four members of one family

More on the Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon on Sunday. Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that the Israeli raid on the town of Mais al-Jabal killed a man, his wife and their children aged 12 and 21.

As we reported earlier, Hezbollah responded to the raid with rocket attacks on the Margaliot settlement in northern Israel.

The UN children’s agency in Lebanon condemned the strike and called for “an immediate ceasefire and the protection of children and civilians”. It added, “this violence must end now”.

Israeli jets bomb Lebanon’s Bekaa valley

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that Israeli jets bombed the Beqaa Valley in eastern parts of the country, wounding at least three people.

The raid in the early hours of the morning targeted a factory in the town of Safri in the Baalbek area, the NNA said. The targeted region, located along the Lebanese-Syrian border, is a stronghold of the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Israeli air force struck ‘deep inside Lebanon’ on Sunday, military says

The Israeli military says its fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of es-Sifri, located south of the city of Baalbek near Lebanon’s border with Syria. Lebanese media reported earlier that the attack targeted a factory in es-Sifri. There was no mention of casualties.

The Israeli military also said it struck several Hezbollah structures in southern Lebanon.

Israel strikes back after Hezbollah attacks occupied Golan Heights

We are receiving updates on Hezbollah’s rocket attack that targeted a military site in the occupied Golan Heights earlier. About 30 rockets have been fired at the Golan Heights from Lebanon, according to Israel’s Army Radio.

The army struck the source of the attack, it reported. Hezbollah claimed the attack earlier.


Israel hits targets in Lebanon following rocket attacks

Israel’s warplanes launched three raids around the town of Jezzine in southern Lebanon, according to the official National News Agency. The agency also said the towns of Kfar Kila and Odaisseh have been subjected to artillery shelling from Israeli positions in Metula, with Israeli warplanes flying over.

The agency did not report any causalities. The Israeli attack comes hours after Lebanon’s Hezbollah group carried out rocket attacks on an Israeli military site in the occupied Golan Heights.

Explosive drone launched from Lebanon hits near Israel’s Metula

The aircraft carrying explosives has struck an area near the northern Israeli settlement of Metula, according to the military. There was no information on possible casualties in the army’s statement on X.

The statement also said Israeli jets struck 15 buildings and infrastructure of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force at a compound in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese state media previously reported the strikes.


Hezbollah confirms drone attack inside Israel

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has confirmed the explosive drone attack near the northern Israeli settlement of Metula, reported by the Israeli army earlier. The attack killed and wounded Israeli soldiers and destroyed their vehicles, Hezbollah said in a statement on X.

The Israeli army has not reported any causalities.



SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

National Press Club worries about fate of Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza

The Washington, DC-based National Press Club has condemned the Israeli government’s decision to close Al Jazeera, calling it a “wrong” move for the country, for Palestinians and the rest of the world.

Emily Wilkins, the president of the National Press Club, said the group fully supports Al Jazeera’s decision to fight the case in court.

“As a democracy, the people of Israel depend upon the free flow of information, particularly right now when the decisions their government is making are so enormously impactful for the future of their country’s relationships in the Middle East and with the broader international community,” she said.

“Most chilling about this decision is what it will mean for Al Jazeera  journalists and crews  working and living in Gaza. They are not mentioned in the government decision. By branding Al Jazeera as a national security threat, we are deeply concerned that the Israeli government  may view  them as legitimate military targets. They are not.”

Northern Gaza in ‘full blown famine’, UN says


Where is the pro-Palestine student protest movement heading?

Students in the US are facing detention, suspension and other punishments for their protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. Still, they say they are determined to continue their protests and that attempts to discredit their movement are backfiring.


 

Netanyahu heckled at Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony

Israeli media outlets Haaretz and Channel 12 have posted a video on X in which a man is seen calling on Netanyahu to resign as he was about to lay the state wreath at an official Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony.

“How many signs does it take for a prime minister to go home?” the man shouted.

Tens of thousands of antigovernment protesters have regularly marched in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, calling for new elections and accusing Netanyahu of prolonging the war on Gaza to keep himself in power.

Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed as Israel’s day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 06 May 2024

SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

Israeli military orders Palestinians to evacuate from eastern Rafah: Reports

Israeli media outlets are reporting that the Israeli military has begun ordering Palestinians living in neighbourhoods in eastern Rafah – near the perimeter fence with Israel – to evacuate from the area.

Israel’s Army Radio said the order comes before a “military attack” and that the Palestinians are being told to move towards camps for displaced people in Khan Younis and al-Mawasi areas.


Israeli military’s full statement on Rafah evacuation

Here’s what the Israeli military posted on X:

“The IDF has expanded the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi to accommodate the increased levels of aid flowing into Gaza. This expanded humanitarian area includes field hospitals, tents and increased amounts of food, water, medication and additional supplies.

“In accordance with the approval of the government, an ongoing situation assessment will guide the gradual movement of civilians in the specified areas in eastern Rafah, to the humanitarian area.

“Calls to temporarily move to the humanitarian area will be conveyed through flyers, SMS messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in arabic.

“The IDF will continue pursuing Hamas everywhere in Gaza until all the hostages that they’re holding in captivity are back home.”

Israeli designated evacuation zones are ‘not safe’ for Palestinians

This evacuation order follows what seems to be the failure of ceasefire talks in Cairo, and the insistence of the Israeli prime minister on expanding the ground invasion into Rafah city.

It also comes in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing, and an intense Israeli response, in which they carried out 11 air raids, targeting areas in the eastern parts of Rafah city.

And this seems to be the targeted area now.

Local residents of the eastern parts of Rafah city have been ordered by the Israeli military to evacuate sharply and immediately to the western part, to the evacuation zone al-Mawasi, an area has previously been designated by the Israeli military as a safe zone.

Now it’s important to point out that so far all the evacuation zones designated by the Israeli military have not been safe for the displaced families. In fact, these areas have been constantly under attack, whether in western Khan Younis or here in Rafah, where 1.5 million people are sheltering.

It is also worth pointing out that in the last couple of days, people have started moving on their own volition, because of the lack of progress in the ceasefire talks. They have started packing their stuff up and started moving, but not necessarily to the evacuation zone, because of their mistrust in believing the Israeli narrative.



Israel says ‘around 100,000’ will be evacuated from eastern Rafah

A spokesman for the Israeli military told journalists it is evacuating “around 100,000 people” from eastern Rafah, ahead of an expected ground assault there.

The international community has warned Israel that a military operation in Rafah, where 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering, would be “catastrophic”.

Israel briefed US on plan to evacuate Palestinians from Rafah: Report

Unnamed US officials told The Associated Press news agency that Israel briefed Biden administration officials this week on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The officials said the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the US administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk. Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his concerns regarding the operation, saying “we have not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected”.

Regional and members of the international community have also voiced their opposition to Israel’s plans to invade Rafah, which has become the last refuge for Palestinians displaced by the war.


Displaced Palestinian children sit on a dune overlooking their tent camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip amid threats of an imminent major Israeli military operation



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SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

‘A slaughter’: The warnings by world leaders, aid agencies against Rafah offensive

For many months, there have been repeated calls from world leaders, diplomats and aid agencies urging Israel not to go ahead with a planned ground offensive in Rafah.

Here are some of those warnings:

  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a ground assault on Rafah would “put the final nail in the coffin” for humanitarian aid operations in the Gaza Strip.
  • The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said, “Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” for more than a million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah, with an official saying “it could be a slaughter of civilians”.
  • European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said it would be “completely unacceptable” for Israel to attack Rafah.
  • A statement issued by the foreign ministers of 26 member states of the EU called on Netanyahu not to go ahead with the offensive, saying it would “worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation”.
  • Joe Biden and other US officials have repeatedly warned against a Rafah offensive, with the US president reportedly telling Netanyahu the United States would oppose the offensive unless adequate provisions were made to move and care for the Palestinians sheltering there.
  • Multiple aid agencies have warned against a Rafah offensive, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, which said it “would profoundly exacerbate the already catastrophic levels of need and the humanitarian emergency for millions of civilians with nowhere left to go”.


Israeli defence minister tells US counterpart Israel had ‘no choice’ over Rafah offensive

Yoav Gallant has told his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, that Israel was left with “no choice” but to launch its offensive on Rafah. In an overnight phone call, ⁠Gallant updated Austin on Sunday’s rocket barrage launched from Rafah on an Israeli army position on the border, his office said.

The minister is reported to have blamed Hamas for refusing any proposal that would allow for a temporary ceasefire proposal. Gallant’s office said Gallant then told Austin, “There was no choice left, and the meaning was the start of the Israeli operation in Rafah.”

A ceasefire is a choice...

Ban Aljazeera in Israel -> Launch Rafah offensive. The attack on Kerem Shalom military outpost is another convenient excuse. They have been waiting for an escalation to go into Rafah for over a month now.

Fourth soldier dead in Sunday’s rocket attack near Karem Abu Salem

The Israeli army has announced the death of a fourth soldier killed in Sunday’s attack near Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) in southern Israel. He was identified as Sargeant Michael Ruzal, 18, of the Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion, from Rishon Lezion, the army said on X.

The rocket attack, which wounded at least 10 others, was claimed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

‘The start of a nightmarish scenario’

Samah Hadid, spokeswoman for the Norwegian Refugee Council, says Israel’s evacuation order is “completely problematic, inhumane and unsafe”. “The al-Mawasi where people are being ordered to evacuate to is not equipped to accommodate” more internally displaced people as it already hosts hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, Hadid told Al Jazeera.

"Al-Mawasi does not have the basic infrastructure in place to service and support the current displaced population, let alone the additional group of people moving towards there,” Hadid said. She added that more than one million people now have to face further displacement and death.

Hadid called the evacuation order “the start of a nightmare scenario for the people of Rafah who have been terrified for months now over what it is to come”.

She said aid agencies “are also terrified” because a Rafah offensive would lead to the collapse of the aid response. “It’s really reliant on the Rafah hub to distribute aid to organise aid throughout that area,” Hadid added.

“We have been warning that a military offensive in Rafah would cause mass atrocities, it would cause mass civilian deaths,” Hadid said, calling on the international community and Israel’s allies “to put a stop to this”.

“Right now, we need every ally of the Israeli government, including the US government, to increase its pressure, stop the arms sales, put pressure on Israel to put a stop to this offensive which would lead to mass atrocities.”

 

Israeli military drops leaflets over Rafah warning of impending operations

The Israeli military has begun dropping red leaflets on the eastern areas of Rafah, telling Palestinians to flee to al-Mawasi, claiming that the displacement will be “temporary”. The leaflets state: “To all of the residents and those currently sheltering in the Rafah Camp, the Brazil Camp and the neighbourhoods of Al-Shabura and Al-Zohour. Remaining in these areas puts your lives in danger.”

The leaflets also warn that the Israeli military “is about to operate with force against the terror organizations in the area you currently reside”, adding that anyone in the area puts themselves and their family members in danger.

The Israeli military has regularly dropped leaflets over the Gaza Strip warning of impending attacks and information about so-called safe zones. However, its actions on the ground have often contradicted the information provided.

In December, Palestinians in Gaza, with limited electricity and internet, were not able to access evacuation details available via a QR code on leaflets dropped by the Israeli army.


A man reads one of the leaflets dropped by the Israeli army in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 16



SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

UNRWA says it won’t evacuate from Gaza

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has extended a renewed warning against the consequences of an Israeli operation in Rafah, adding that the agency will not evacuate from the overcrowded southern city of Gaza.

It said on X: “An Israeli offensive in Rafah would mean more civilian suffering and deaths. The consequences would be devastating for 1.4 million people.”

“UNRWA is not evacuating: The Agency will maintain a presence in Rafah as long as possible and will continue providing lifesaving aid to people.”

 

Rafah operation will be multidomain combined-arms offensive

Omar Ashour, professor of security and military studies and founder of Security Studies Programmes at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, spoke to Al Jazeera about the Israeli military’s plans for Rafah.

Main points:

  • The Israelis had been repositioning and preparing for an assault on Rafah.
  • More than a week ago, the Israeli military brought into the Strip about 40,000 large tents that could each contain 12 people in preparation for the evacuation of about 480,000 from Rafah to elsewhere. This was to reduce the high population density in the area which makes fighting difficult.
  • Israel also withdrew the Nahal Brigade from the Netzarim Corridor to refit and reconstitute, and they are redeploying a force of about six brigades (3,000-5,000 soldiers) to a base near Rafah.
  • This is not a limited operation but a two-division, multidomain combined-arms offensive on Rafah.
  • There will be artillery, air and naval support, plus electromagnetic and intelligence support. So, this is a multidomain operation that he estimates will probably take months.
  • He said it is also difficult to gauge exactly what Hamas’s capabilities in Rafah are, but they have indicated recently that they still have rocket artillery and mortars.


People flee parts of eastern Rafah




Palestinians will ‘inevitably die’ as a result of the Rafah evacuation: Islamic Relief

Islamic Relief, an international charity based in the United Kingdom, has released a statement in which it says it is “appalled” at the news that Israel has ordered evacuations in eastern parts of Rafah.

“As we have seen over the past seven months, forcing so many people to move is impossible without serious humanitarian cost, and people will inevitably die as a result of the evacuation,” the statement said on Monday.

The area where people have been ordered to move – al-Mawasi – has been designated a so-called “safe humanitarian zone”, the statement said, adding, “but it is not safe”. The charity said civilians sheltering there continue to face attacks and severe shortages of food, water and other vital aid.


People grab flour bags from a truck after the Israeli military began evacuating Palestinian civilians ahead of a threatened assault on Rafah

Palestinians in eastern Rafah scramble to get food, essentials after evacuation orders







SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

Rafah map showing yet another Palestinian displacement



Palestinian presidency urges US to ‘prevent genocide’ in Gaza

The Palestinian presidency has said the US will be responsible for the “genocidal” results of Israel’s Rafah operation, calling on Washington to take action to prevent it. Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said the US administration provided financial and military support to Israel and encouraged the government to continue “massacres” against Palestinians.

He called on the US to “act immediately, and prevent genocide and displacement in Gaza”. Rudeina also urged Washington to hold Israel accountable for the serious violations of international laws.


Israeli army carries out air raids in Rafah: Reuters

Israel’s military carried out airstrikes in Rafah on Monday, residents said, hours after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza city.

Nick Maynard, a British surgeon trying to leave Gaza on Monday, told Reuters in a voice message from the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing into Egypt: “Two huge bombs have just gone off immediately outside the crossing. There’s a lot of gunfire as well about 100 metres from us. We are very unclear whether we will get out.”

“Driving through Rafah, the tension was palpable with people evacuating as rapidly as they could.”


French president reiterates ‘firm opposition’ to Rafah attack

The French embassy in Israel has issued a statement saying Emmanuel Macron spoke on Sunday with Netanyahu on the phone. The president reiterated that France’s top priority is the release of all the captives as he encouraged Netanyahu to pursue a ceasefire, it said in a post on X.

Macron also reiterated his firm opposition to the planned Israeli offensive on Rafah and the urgent need to ensure a massive entry of humanitarian aid through all access points to the Gaza Strip, the embassy added.

On March 24, Macron had warned Netanyahu that any forced transfer of people from Rafah would constitute “a war crime”.

Israel’s attacks on Gaza did not stop for a moment: Media office

Israel’s evacuation of eastern Rafah confirms its prior intention to launch an aggression against the city, the Government Media Office in Gaza says.

A statement on Telegram said the move also proved that Israel “went to the truce talks deceptively without abandoning the idea of a broad aggression against Rafah”. “The occupation’s aggression did not stop for a moment across Gaza,” the office said.

“We observed a limited response from citizens to the Zionist evacuation orders, and the vital institutions east of Rafah are still operating as usual, most notably the Rafah land crossing and Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital,” it added.

The Israeli military ordered the evacuation of some 100,000 people in the eastern part of the overcrowded city in southern Gaza.



SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

Irresponsible statements by Israeli PM, ministers ‘must stop’: Lapid

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid says the recent announcements, threats and irresponsible statements made by government ministers and the prime minister regarding the captives must stop.

In a post on X, he heavily criticised Netanyahu’s government, saying it has “abandoned” the captives and they should be doing everything to bring them home.

Hamas’s chief, Ismail Haniyeh, blamed Netanyahu for “sabotaging the efforts” to reach a truce.

The New York Times reported that an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity and Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, both blamed the Israeli prime minister for stalling the current truce talks.

Netanyahu’s office has said these claims are a “complete lie”.


Students at Oxford, Cambridge universities set up protest encampments

Students at Oxford and Cambridge universities in the United Kingdom have set up their own pro-Palestine encampments, mirroring the ones on campuses across the United States, Canada and France.

Organisers say it’s in solidarity with Palestinians, and they intend to keep the camp open for an unknown number of days.

Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from the encampment in Oxford, says about 50 students are currently camped out, and refreshments, media and welcome tents have been set up.

Kendall Gardner, a Jewish-American student protester at the Oxford encampment, said one of the key demands of the students is that the university “divest from all holdings and entities that sponsor or are complicit in the Israeli occupation, apartheid and the current genocide in Gaza”.

They also demand that Oxford University commits to a Palestinian-led rebuilding of Gaza’s higher education sector.


More on the Student protests in the USA here

https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/university-protests-pro-palestinian-israel-05-06-24/index.html





Israel’s evacuation orders in Rafah ‘unacceptable’: EU’s top diplomat

Josep Borrell said in a post on X that Israel must implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2728.

The resolution adopted on March 25, 2024, demands an immediate ceasefire to the war on Gaza.

Egypt raises preparedness level in northern Sinai: Report

Reuters, citing security sources, reports that Egypt has raised its military’s level of preparedness in northern Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip, after Israel announced its military operation in Rafah.

In February, Al Jazeera reported that Egypt had built a fortified buffer zone near its border with the Gaza Strip over fears that an Israeli ground invasion of Rafah would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across the border.

Cairo has emphasised that such a forced displacement would be comparable to the 1948 Nakba, which saw about 750,000 Palestinians displaced from their homes in the war that led to Israel’s creation.



SvennoJ on 06 May 2024

‘We hoped this day would never come’

Save the Children is warning that time has run out to protect children in Rafah following Israel’s evacuation order in advance of the looming ground assault.

“We hoped this day would never come,” said Inger Ashing, CEO of the charity, warning that an incursion would not only risk the lives of more than 600,000 children but would also severely affect the humanitarian aid response for Gaza.

“Forcibly displacing people from Rafah while further disrupting the aid response will likely seal the fate of many children,” Ashing added, urging countries to “act now” to protect civilians and prevent atrocities.

“The government of Israel must abide by the prohibition of forcible transfer and deportation of civilians under international humanitarian law and provide civilians with essential necessities for survival. Now more than ever we need an immediate, definitive ceasefire, implemented by warring parties. There is so much more that can and must be done to save children’s lives.”


A tsunami of evacuees

There’s a very desperate situation right now in Rafah city, particularly in the eastern parts. These are densely populated areas, not only with local residents but also with the thousands of displaced families inside residential homes or those who set up their tents on roads or sidewalks.

What we’re seeing is people by their thousands taking the central road all the way to the coastal road in the western part of the city to move to the evacuation zone. We talked to some of the people who were on their way on the coastal road who describe the situation as a tsunami of evacuees moving into the central area and the evacuation zone in the western part of Khan Younis city.

This is not only happening because of the phone calls, the text messages and leaflets that were dropped by the Israeli military, but it also happens under relentless air strikes and constant artillery shelling of the eastern area of Rafah city. Just within the past few minutes, ambulances were dispatched to pick up the injured and those who have been killed and transfer them to the Kuwaiti Hospital.

As of now, the situation is very catastrophic. There have been unprecedented difficulties in terms of the humanitarian situation, lack of facilities, hygiene, sanitation and all the difficulties of living conditions created by the intense bombing campaign. That has been going on for the past seven months.

Now, these new evacuation orders are likely to further increase the difficulties of these living conditions and increase the chances of more diseases to spread. What’s more important is that shattered sense of safety.

 

Biden to speak with Netanyahu

A White House official has confirmed to Al Jazeera that US President Joe Biden will have a phone conversation today with Israel’s prime minister. Biden has previously warned Netanyahu that a major assault on Rafah would be a “mistake”.

 

Egypt warns Israel against Rafah offensive

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry says it has called on Israel to exercise the “highest levels of self-restraint” and to avoid any more escalation at this “very sensitive time” with negotiations for a truce and captive release ongoing.

The Egyptian statement said an Israeli attack on Rafah would create “extreme humanitarian dangers that threaten more than a million Palestinians in that area”. Egypt added that it was in around-the-clock contact with all sides in an effort to find a solution.

 

Rafah offensive ‘must not go ahead’: UK shadow foreign secretary

David Lammy, the UK shadow foreign secretary, says an Israeli ground attack on Rafah would be “catastrophic”. “It must not go ahead,” the Labour Party politician wrote on X, calling for an immediate ceasefire, release of captives and unimpeded aid to Gaza.




Situation ‘dire’, Gaza humanitarian worker says

Abdalwahab Hamad, the Gaza office manager for the Juhoud for Community and Rural Development NGO, tells Al Jazeera from Rafah that “hundreds of thousands of evacuees” are now fleeing the city after Israel’s evacuation order.

“Gaza as a whole lacks safe spaces,” Hamad said. “Israel has just created a situation [where it reshapes] Gaza’s physical realities. … The obstruction of humanitarian corridors has also created a situation where there is very limited access to aid, water and hygiene for those families.”

Hamad said humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza also face a number of problems.

“We have a highly complex humanitarian supply chain,” he said. “We have ineffective and inefficient delivery of aid to the people who are in need and don’t have the right quantities. This is due to the complications we face both at the receiving side and the supply side as well.”

“We have deliberate delays of humanitarian aid trucks by Israel. To have a proper humanitarian response, we need to have a reliable supply chain, we need to have proper humanitarian access and we need to have the ability to reach those in need.”