Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide says the Spanish, Irish and Norwegian recognition of Palestinian statehood was part of an “Oslo 2.0” peace vision for the Middle East.

“We cannot just be stuck with the way we wanted to do this in the 1990s; we have to realise … we are in 2024, and we need to upgrade this longstanding vision of a peaceful settlement,” he said.

Thirty years ago, Norway had mediated the Oslo Accords, a deal many believed could have been a precursor for peace in the region.

The first Oslo Accord signed in 1993 brought together former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat. The agreement saw each side recognise the other for the first time. Both sides also pledged to end their decades-long conflict.

The second accord, Oslo II, was signed in September 1995, detailing the structure of the bodies that the peace process was supposed to form.

The Oslo Accords were supposed to bring about Palestinian self-determination, in the form of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

However, the Oslo Accords witnessed a slow decline, with Israel continuing its occupation of Palestinian land and refusing to withdraw militarily from the majority of the West Bank while continuing to conduct raids into land considered under the full administration of the Palestinian Authority.

The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), says its fighters launched an attack on Israeli soldiers inside a building in northern Gaza.

The group released a video, which showed an Israeli soldier being spotted inside a building. A Palestinian fighter can then be seen firing a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) at the building, said to be located east of the Jabalia camp, where intense fighting has been ongoing for weeks.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, also claimed a mortar attack on a gathering of Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

Palestinians killed and maimed in an area they were told to evacuate to

The Rafah attack left hundreds of Palestinians displaced in that area with a shattered sense of safety and security. They were targeted, killed and maimed in a particular area that they were told to evacuate to.

The military did not stop right there; it went on and carried more attacks. Just a couple of hours ago it destroyed the only telecom division that feeds Deir el-Balah city with communication and internet connection. In the past three hours we’ve been completely off the grid – no internet connectivity whatsoever.

There are more air strikes in Nuseirat area as well as in eastern part of Khan Younis. We’ve seen scores of bodies brought from the eastern part of the central area of Khan Younis and Nuseirat refugee camp, all pour into Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, for the past couple of hours.

_{Palestinians pray next to the bodies of their relatives killed by Israeli strikes}

Palestinian medics evacuate casualties after Israeli attack on Nuseirat

Does it apply to Israel against Gaza?

Many experts aren’t convinced that it does apply.

“The right to self-defence can be invoked when the state is threatened by another state, which is not the case,” Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said in an address to the Australian Press Club on Tuesday.

(That was November 15th)

The attack Israel faced on October 7 came from an armed group in a territory, Gaza, that Israel has effectively controlled.

Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in 2005, but it has imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the enclave since Hamas came to power in 2007.
(Backed by Netanyahu)

That, according to Albanese, amounts to occupation – although Israel and its allies disagree with that assessment.

“Israel does not claim it has been threatened by another state. It has been threatened by an armed group within an occupied territory. It cannot claim the right of self-defence against a threat that emanates from a territory it occupies, from a territory kept under belligerent occupation,” Albanese said.

Albanese was referring to a 2004 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which said the construction of Israel’s separation wall in the occupied West Bank was illegal. The ICJ rejected the Israeli argument to build the wall, saying it could not invoke the right to self-defence in an occupied territory.

Are there other challenges to Israel’s argument?

Other experts point to the devastating scale of Israeli attacks on Gaza.

“The death of a reported 4,710 children, attacks on healthcare, the withholding of water and electricity – these cannot be merely justified as a ‘right to self-defence’,” said Iain Overton, executive director of the London-based Action on Armed Violence, which conducts research and advocacy on armed violence against civilians.

He added that for Israel to claim this right without being challenged “would be a mockery of the international humanitarian law”.

It's over 15,000 children now (see the link)

‘How many red lines must be crossed?’: Norwegian Refugee Council chief

At least 40 children, women and men are confirmed dead in Rafah after an Israeli airstrike last night on tents housing those forced to flee within Gaza.

How many more red lines must be crossed?

Our appeal to EU leaders meeting now:#NoMoreRedLines pic.twitter.com/gkKjxev97Y

— Jan Egeland (@NRC_Egeland) May 27, 2024

Gaza’s Government Media Office says in a statement that Deir el-Balah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital is once again facing an imminent risk of shutdown.

It comes after Israeli forces blocked the supply of fuel on Sunday afternoon. This threatens to “stop health services during the next few hours for all departments of the hospital” and lead to a catastrophe, according to the office.

The government called on the international community to pressure Israel to supply 50,000 litres (13,208 gallons) of fuel to the hospital to ensure it can function for at least 10 days.

“The hospital administration holds the Israeli occupation and the American administration fully responsible for this terrible crime,” it said.

Gaza hospitals operating under ‘medieval’ conditions: UK doctor

The United Nations’ Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland has condemned the Israeli air strikes on displaced Palestinians in Rafah, saying he is “deeply troubled by the deaths of so many women and children”.

“I call upon the Israeli authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into this incident, hold those responsible for any wrongdoing to account, and take immediate steps to better protect civilians,” he said in a statement.

“All parties in the conflict must refrain from actions that set us further away from achieving an end to hostilities and further jeopardise the already fragile situation on the ground and the broader region.”

The United Nations human rights chief has voiced “horror” at last night’s Israeli air strike on a displacement camp in Rafah that killed at least 45 people, demanding “accountability”.

“The images from the camp are horrific and point to no apparent change in the methods and means of warfare used by Israel that have already led to so many civilian deaths,” Volker Turk said in a statement, also calling on Palestinian armed groups to stop firing rockets and to “unconditionally release all hostages at once”.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says US President Joe Biden will once again cross red lines set by himself and the international community if he keeps arming Israel despite the carnage in Rafah.

“No more shifting red lines, no more calls for [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to investigate itself, and no more military, financial or diplomatic support for this genocide,” the US group said in a post on X.

“All Americans are being stained with the blood of innocent Palestinians by your support for this slaughter. It must end. Now.”

The European Union’s top foreign policy official, Josep Borrell, says in a post on X that the Israeli strikes on Rafah prove that no place is safe in Gaza.

“These attacks must stop immediately,” he said, adding that the interim orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stop the Rafah invasion must be implemented, and international human rights law must be respected.

The European Union’s foreign ministers have approved the reactivation of an EU border mission at Rafah, according to the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“I have a green light from EU ministers to reactivate the Rafah border mission,” he said, adding that such a mission would need the support of Egypt, Israel and Palestinians.

That figure is an increase from the 1,000 temporary resident visas allotted under a special programme for Gaza announced in December, the immigration ministry says in a statement, adding that many people have expressed interest.

“While movement out of Gaza is not currently possible, the situation may change at any time. With this cap increase, we will be ready to help more people as the situation evolves,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller said.

According to Canadian media reports, Ottawa has been unable to get Palestinian visa holders out of the Gaza Strip under the programme.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has faced growing domestic pressure to secure a lasting ceasefire to end the Israeli offensive. However, that pressure has translated into limited, largely symbolic action.

1000 or 5000, doesn't matter. Not a single person has been able to use the visa program since it was announced in Januari.

Nine people from the United Kingdom and the European Union member states are facing deportation from Greece days after they took part in a protest in solidarity with Palestine at a Greek university.

A total of 28 people were arrested by Greek police during the protest and encampment at the Athens Law School on May 14 on charges including disturbing the peace, damaging property, trespass as well as violations of the laws on weapons and flares, all of which they deny.

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah says it has hit four Israeli targets today, in response to the Israeli army’s attacks on homes and villages in southern Lebanon.

It said on its Telegram channel that it launched an air attack on the Beit Hillel military base in northern Israel. Its snipers also “directly hit the newly-developed spy equipment at the Miskaf General site” which is also in northern Israel. Hezbollah said it targeted a building used by Israeli soldiers in northern Israel’s Margaliot settlement and confirmed injuries.

We reported earlier about Hezbollah’s claim of attack on the al-Malikiyah site used by Israeli forces during border fighting. Rockets and artillery shells were used and a drone dropped explosives with precision, Hezbollah claimed.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it fires rockets at northern Israel

Houthis claim attacks on three ships, two US destroyers in nearby seas

Israel demolishes Palestinian homes in West Bank’s Hizma and Tubas: UN

The United States has urged Israel to take every precaution to protect civilians after “devastating images” from its military strike, according to the US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

“Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” Kirby was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying. “But as we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.”

“We are actively engaging the [Israeli army] and partners on the ground to assess what happened, and understand that [it] is conducting an investigation,” he said.

The US has been widely criticised for providing Israel with weapons that are believed to be used to kill civilians in Gaza.

Actively engaging with the Israeli army to make this go away asap.

It's 45 confirmed already, will likely end up more dying from burns and other wounds.

Most of those who were killed had severe burns on their bodies, he added. As al-Mughayer’s team worked to rescue survivors and retrieve bodies, they encountered charred remains and people whose limbs had been blown off.

Images of charred bodies in Rafah tent camp attack ‘unbearable’: German ministry

As the second biggest arms trader with Israel (30%), I guess its pretty bearable for Germany. Still zero action, just support for more genocide. Carry out the self investigation quickly so it can leave the news asap. Germany is fully complicit in all the horrors continuously happening in Gaza.

Rafah hospital out of service: Official

Algeria requests UNSC meeting on Rafah massacre