Bank of Israel says inflation a concern as Gaza war continues

Accelerating inflation is worrisome for Israel’s economy despite a modest recovery during the ongoing war on Gaza, the central bank warns.

Officials said short-term interest rates would remain low.

“In view of the continuing war, the monetary committee’s policy is focusing on stabilising the markets and reducing uncertainty, alongside price stability and supporting economic activity,” the bank said.

“In the committee’s assessment, there are several risks for a possible acceleration of inflation or for it not converging to the target range: geopolitical developments and their impact on economic activity, supply constraints, worsening global terms of trade, and volatility of the shekel,” it added.

While the inflation rate was below the 3 percent level in the first half of 2024, it has been hovering between 3.2 percent and 3.8 percent since July 2024. The bank said the labour market remains tight.

 
US rights group says Trump must do more to pressure Israel

The US-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned recent Israeli strikes on a shelter for displaced people in Gaza, saying the US must do more to push its ally to accept a permanent ceasefire.

“How many more children, women, the elderly, journalists, health care workers, and first responders must Benjamin Netanyahu slaughter with American weapons before [US] President  [Donald] Trump forces him to accept a permanent ceasefire deal that ends the genocide for good and frees all captives?” asked Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director, in a statement.

Sweden: EU should impose sanctions on Israel over Gaza blockade

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson says Sweden will summon the Israeli ambassador to protest Israel’s refusal to freely allow aid into war-battered Gaza. “We do not support what the Israeli government is currently doing by denying access to Gaza. Absolutely not,” he said, according to the TT news agency.

Kristersson said the EU should impose sanctions and exert diplomatic pressure on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

“We have been incredibly clear about that, ourselves and together with many other European countries. That pressure is now increasing, no doubt, and for very good reasons.”

‘Situation in Gaza is unacceptable’: Germany

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul says Israel has the right to defend itself but the humanitarian aid blockade situation in Gaza “must be urgently improved”.

“This requires an immediate ceasefire – and clear steps towards a two-state solution,” he added.

German officials have increasingly stressed the need for Israel to adhere to international law in its war on Gaza while mostly avoiding outright criticism of its actions in occupied Palestinian territory.

European Council urges lifting of Gaza blockade in call with Abbas

In a phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, European Council head Antonio Costa reiterated his “grave concerns regarding the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the escalating violence in the West Bank”.

Costa said he also expressed “full support for the UN Secretary-General’s five-stage aid plan for Gaza”.

He called on “Israel to lift its blockade and allow immediate, safe, and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and assistance, in accordance with international law and humanitarian principles”.

The UN’s five-stage plan consists of ensuring the delivery of aid to Gaza, inspecting and scanning aid at crossing points, transporting aid from crossing points to humanitarian facilities, preparing aid for onward distribution, and transporting aid to people in need.

Err you dialed the wrong number, you should be talking to Netanyahu

US and Hamas reach draft Gaza ceasefire deal

Representatives of Hamas and US special envoy Steve Witkoff have reached a draft ceasefire deal in Qatar’s capital, Doha, sources have confirmed to Al Jazeera.

The draft of the agreement includes a 60-day ceasefire and the release of 10 living captives along with the bodies of several more people in return for Palestinian prisoners over two stages.

Five Israeli captives will be released at the beginning of the agreement, with the other five released on the 60th day.

Al Jazeera sources say President Trump will guarantee the deal as per the draft and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

The deal guarantees unconditional humanitarian aid from day one when it takes effect.

US envoy Steve Witkoff sent the draft to the Israeli government and is waiting for its reply, sources say.

Witkoff has worked hard to reach a deal between Hamas and Israel

We know US envoy Steve Witkoff has been trying to reach a deal between Israelis and the Palestinians in Gaza for months.
We have seen Hamas before offering acceptance of proposals put forward by Witkoff when it comes to releasing Israeli captives in Gaza.
We have also heard the Israelis rejecting those proposals earlier.

Israeli officials ‘saying Israel not agreed to anything'

Several hours ago, when there were rumours circulating about the idea that Hamas has accepted some sort of ceasefire proposal that was brought forward to them by the US, Israeli officials said it wasn’t true.

And just in the last few minutes, Israeli officials are denying these reports, saying that while the negotiations are still ongoing, Israel hasn’t agreed to anything, and they’re not aware of Hamas agreeing to anything.

But it would be interesting to see how this all moves forward because this is something that has been negotiated and the US side, without the involvement of Israel.

Déjà vu...

Palestinians in Gaza hold out hope for possible ceasefire

Palestinians, especially after the war resumed following Israel’s decision to break off a previous ceasefire deal, have been very desperate for any ceasefire deal, for any negotiations.

They have been following the news and hearing that Hamas agreed to this draft proposal and are waiting for any news of ceasefire negotiations because Palestinians have been attacked in their houses, attacked in every area they are sheltering in.

There has also been a blockade for nearly three months with the situation on the ground harsh and fast deteriorating – despite the fact in the last couple of days some aid trucks have been entering.

But Palestinians on the ground say they are not receiving anything. Palestinians are hopeful; they are waiting for positive news. But they do not trust the Israeli side.

‘Rather ambiguous’: Gaza truce deal lacks clarity

An analyst says it’s extremely unclear what is happening with what Hamas says it agreed on with the United States on a 60-day ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

“It is not surprising that the details so far are rather ambiguous because for any interim deal to pass, it has to be ambiguous given the positions of Hamas and Israel that cannot be reconciled,” said Hassan Mneimneh, an analyst on the Middle East and North Africa.

Mneimneh told Al Jazeera the outline of the deal appears to be about lasting 60 days but also being permanent at some point, “which are not the same”.

“The position of the Israelis at this point will be they’re always willing to engage in a temporary ceasefire as long as they can continue the war,” he said.

UK surgeon in Gaza says she’s ‘never seen so many blast injuries’

A British surgeon visiting a Gaza hospital says she’s “never seen so many blast injuries in my life” as Israel ramps up attacks on the Palestinian territory ravaged by nearly 20 months of war.

Victoria Rose, part of a British medical delegation to Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, said she’s seen lots of severe burns, which are typical wounds for people hit by an explosion.

“We’re seeing these injuries in really small children as well,” Rose said.

Burns “are very difficult to survive from even in the Western countries where there is no war and we have functioning hospitals and all the medical supplies at our fingertips”.

“So here, most of these burns are going to be unsurvivable.”

Widely condemned new aid system in Gaza starts operations

A new aid distribution network involving private military contractors in Gaza says it has opened its first distribution hubs.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is taking over the handling of humanitarian relief despite objections from United Nations. The desperately needed supplies started flowing on a day that saw Israeli strikes kill at least 80 people in Gaza.

The group said truckloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians has begun.

“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.

The UN and aid groups that have long supplied aid to Gaza have pushed back against the new system, which is backed by Israel and the United States. They assert that Israel is trying to use food as a weapon and say a new system won’t be effective.


Only UNRWA capable of delivering aid to Gaza: Ex-spokesman

Chris Gunness, a former spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), says the usage of the aid distribution model by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is meant “to justify the weaponisation of humanitarian systems” and “to justify ethnic cleansing and genocide”.

Speaking to Al Jazeera after GHF chief Jake Wood’s resignation, Gunness said the focus should be on how to “stop the slaughter” in Gaza.

“The latest pictures I have seen of babies and young children coming out of Gaza, they look like the emaciated survivors of Hitler’s and the Nazis’ death camps that were liberated in 1945,” Gunness said.

“So the question is, will the Europeans and Americans who were so crucially involved in those tragic events in World War II now actually take effective action?” he asked.

“Will they stop the supply of arms, in compliance with the International Court of Justice? Will they stop trading with Israel, in compliance with European and their own legislations on arms on commercial trading with Israel?”

Gunness likened the GHF to a group of “mercenaries”, saying that it is not qualified or experienced to distribute aid in Gaza.

He stressed that the only organisation that is capable of delivering aid is UNRWA.

Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon: Report

Israeli ground forces have entered an area near Meiss el-Jabal in the Marjayoun district, according to a news report.

The Israeli Army Radio’s report added that the soldiers advanced a few hundred metres into the territory, without giving further details.

The United Nations says more than 70 civilians have been killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon since a ceasefire was struck at the end of last year.

Israel has continued to strike Lebanon, including attacks on the capital, Beirut, since a November 27 ceasefire, which largely halted more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war.

‘We want a real peace’ with Israel: Lebanon PM

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam says Lebanon will consider bilateral ties with Israel if an agreement leads to “real peace”.

“We are a peace-seeking nation, but we want a real peace. Israel is occupying territories that belong to our country,” he was quoted as telling Sky News Arabia by Lebanese and Israeli media.

Of weapons in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Salam said: “What’s dangerous about the camps’ arms is that they may lead to an inter-Palestinian strife.”

‘No soldiers, no occupation’: Israel’s antiwar protests small but growing

Antiwar activists who Al Jazeera has spoken to talked of an uptick in interest in their movement after the Israeli government’s unilateral decision in mid-March to end the ceasefire it had agreed to after months of negotiations.

Others spoke of a dramatic increase in support when – after 11 weeks of an unremitting siege of Gaza – Israel announced its latest mass ground invasion of the devastated Palestinian territory on May 17.

The escalation is intended, according to one Israeli official, to lead to “the conquest of the Gaza Strip and the holding of the territories”.

Cypriot protesters rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza


_{Baby-shaped shrouds stained with fake blood are seen in front of the Cypriot Presidential Palace}


Demonstrators hold placards and shout slogans during a rally protesting the war on Gaza

Corbyn presents inquiry bill as UK spy planes continue flights over Gaza

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-spy-planes-continue-fly-over-gaza-corbyn-tables-inquiry-bill

For months, British politicians have questioned the government about the role of a Royal Air Force base on the island of Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri, just a 40-minute flight from Tel Aviv. From there, RAF shadow aircraft have conducted hundreds of surveillance flights over Gaza throughout Israel's war on the besieged enclave.

...

Johnson tabled a question asking: "What assessment has [the minister] made of the potential conflict of the Israeli government access to the use of RAF Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus for military options?"

But she was given the following message: "THE GOVERNMENT HAS BLOCKED QUESTIONS ON THE USE OF MILITARY BASES."

There is also evidence that military cargo has been airlifted from Akrotiri to Israel during its war on Gaza. This cargo has often travelled to Cyprus from US military bases in other parts of Europe.

Johnson told MEE: "It has been reported that RAF Akrotiri has been used as a base for Israeli bombers and has played an operational role for British intelligence that has been used by the Israelis since their invasion of Gaza. Parliamentarians must be allowed to scrutinise."