Israeli tanks entered the city of Rafah in southern Gaza earlier this week, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting that the operation that had been delayed for several months was essential to secure “total victory” over the Palestinian armed group Hamas.
Rafah currently hosts some 1.4 million Palestinians displaced from other parts of Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes and ground offensives since October 7.
The UN warned that an Israeli invasion would be a “catastrophe” for civilians, while US President Joe Biden threatened to stop deliveries of “offensive” weapons to Israel in the event of a full-scale invasion of the city.
Netanyahu has been reluctant to give in to pressure from Washington, vowing that Israel would “fight with our fingernails” against Hamas if the flow of American arms comes to a halt.
12 May 2024
Israel has sent tanks into eastern Jabalia in northern Gaza after bombarding the enclave’s largest refugee camp overnight, Reuters has reported. At least 19 people have been killed and dozens wounded in the camp as the result of the attacks, according to Palestinian health officials.
The Israeli government previously insisted that northern Gaza had been cleared of Hamas militants and that Rafah, where the IDF’s military operation continues, remains the last stronghold of the Palestinian armed group.
US President Joe Biden has claimed that a ceasefire in Gaza would be possible as soon as “tomorrow” if Palestinian armed group Hamas released the 128 hostages that it continues to hold.
"Israel said it’s up to Hamas; if they wanted to do it, we could end it tomorrow. And the ceasefire would begin tomorrow,” Biden told a crowd at a fundraising event outside Seattle.
Almost 300,000 people have been displaced in Gaza over the past five days due to Israel’s ground operation in Rafah, Georgios Petropoulous, the head of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) in the Palestinian enclave, has said.
“No fuel. No food. No water. No exit or entry for people,” Petropoulous wrote on X (formerly Twitter), describing the situation. “The aid must flow if humanity is to prevail in Gaza,” he stressed.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has compared Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to “the Nazis who killed millions of Jews in Europe.”
“Mr. Netanyahu, you will go down in history as a genocidaire. Dropping bombs on thousands of innocent children, women and elderly people does not make you a hero,” Colombian President said in a post on X on Saturday night. ”A genocide is a genocide no matter if he has religion or not.”
Petro's comments come in response to Netanyahu, who said that “Israel will not be lectured by an antisemitic supporter of Hamas,” after the Colombian president urged the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for the Israeli leader.
The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini said that the Israeli government’s evacuation orders are effectively “forced displacement orders.”
“Since the war began, most people in Gaza have moved multiple times: on average once a month. They desperately sought safety that they never found,” Lazzarini wrote on X, adding that Israeli claims of “safe zones” are “false and misleading.”
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says it was forced to halt work at the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital and send nearly two dozen patients to sek medical assistance in other facilities, after the IDF issued the latest evacuation orders for parts of southern Gaza city.
“We call on Israel to halt its offensive which is making it impossible to provide lifesaving medical assistance and for people to find safety amid this campaign of destruction,” the organization said.
11 May 2024
Israel is continuing its “precise operation against Hamas in Rafah as part of our efforts to achieve an enduring defeat of Hamas and bring all our hostages home,” IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in an early Sunday statement.
“Since the start of our precise operation against Hamas in Rafah we have eliminated dozens of terrorists, exposed underground terror tunnels and vast amounts of weapons,” he stated, insisting that Israel’s war is “against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza.”
Some 150,000 people have so far fled Rafah seeking safety amid increasing Israeli attacks, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has estimated, according to spokeswoman Louise Wateridge.
“Everywhere you look now in west Rafah this morning, families are packing up. Streets are significantly emptier,” Wateridge wrote on X (formerly Twitter), adding that the IDF issued evacuation orders “towards central Rafah” from more areas both in south Gaza and Jabalia in North Gaza. “UNRWA estimates 150,000 people have now fled Rafah.”
The IDF has struck several “terrorist targets” in the city of Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, after ordering the local population to leave “immediately” on Saturday morning.
“Following attempts by Hamas to reassemble its terrorist infrastructure and operatives in Jabaliya, the IDF has called on the civilian population of Jabaliya and the surrounding areas to temporarily evacuate to shelters in western Gaza City,” the Israeli military said.
Israeli actress Gal Gadot encouraged Israel’s Eurovision representative to remain steadfast amidst tens of thousands protesting against the country’s participation in the song contest due to its actions in Gaza.
Gadot shared that some of her films faced boycotts in various nations due to her support for the Israeli government. Nonetheless, she reassured singer Eden Golan by expressing that such opposition holds no significance and asserted that “haters are the ones losing.”
In a defiant stance, Gadot urged Golan to disregard the negativity, stating, “Let the haters hate.”
The Washington Post suggests that the US is providing “sensitive intelligence” to Israel’s military for targeting Hamas officials in Gaza, with the attached condition that it would refrain from launching a full-scale assault on Rafah city, which is full of civilians.
According to the informed sources cited by the newspaper, other incentives to avoid a major operation in Rafah may include divulging information about the location of Hamas’s extensive tunnel network.
Additionally, the anonymous sources claim that the US is offering thousands of tents to accommodate some of the nearly two million displaced people across Gaza.
Hamas says that the US bears full responsibility for the worsening of the situation on the ground for the Palestinian civilians, as it continues to support Israel.
“We hold the US administration and its President Biden fully responsible for the escalation of these crimes against civilians, including children, women and the elderly, by continuing to provide cover for Zionist fascism to continue its crimes,” Hamas said in a statement, amid ongoing Israeli attacks across Gaza, including in Rafah in the south and Jabalia and Zeitoun in the north.
The UN World Food Program (WFP) said on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday that the southern border crossings of Gaza have not seen aid in three days.
It reported that only a single bakery is operating in Rafah.
“Without a reopening of access, WFP’s operations will go into standstill while families run out of food,” the statement said.
Hamas has released a new, 11-second hostage video with captive Nadav Popplewell, 51. He was taken from Kibbutz Nirim last October 7 and is also shown with a bruised eye. The text in the video says in Arabic and Hebrew: “Time is running out. Your government is lying.”
His mother, Channah Peri, 79, was freed on 24 November, while his brother was killed in the October 7 attack, according to Israeli media.
The IDF says its troops have located weaponry inside a clinic in Zeitoun in northern Gaza, where it uncovered large arms caches, and in the last several hours has eliminated “terrorists” in close-quarters combat.
In one of the raids, they said “the troops uncovered AK-47 rifles, military vests, and military equipment that were hidden inside a clinic.” The IDF added that over the past day, the Israeli Air Force “struck tens of terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip”, including military structures and “terrorist infrastructure.”
The IDF went on to say that troops are continuing operational activity on the Gazan side of Rafah Crossing, “uncovering numerous underground tunnel shafts and eliminating armed terrorists.”
At least 34,971 Palestinians have been killed and 78,641 injured amid Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since October 7, according to the latest figures announced by the health authorities of the besieged territory; 10,000 additional bodies are still under the rubble and have not been recovered so far, rescuers in Gaza say.
Suhaib al-Hams, a hospital director in Rafah, said that “sadly, the Kuwait Specialty Hospital is now included in the places threatened with evacuation,” following Israel’s latest order.
“There is no other place for patients and injured people to go to but this hospital,” al-Hams said, urgently requesting “immediate international protection” for the medical facility.
Israel’s military has said that so far, about 300,000 Gazans have moved towards what it calls an expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.
On Saturday, the IDF expanded the number of zones in eastern Rafah that need to be evacuated due to the ground operation.
Hostage and truce talks have not completely failed and efforts to reach an agreement continue alongside the military operation in Gaza, news site Ynet has reported, citing Israeli officials familiar with the negotiations.
The sources stressed that talks will resume “if there are answers from Hamas that we can work with.” Negotiations appeared to collapse in Cairo this week after Israel said a draft ceasefire deal brokered with mediation from Egypt and Qatar, which Hamas claimed on Monday to have accepted, included several conditions fundamentally different to those Israel had agreed to earlier.
The Israeli military is calling on Palestinians in additional neighborhoods of Rafah to evacuate. The announcement was made by Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesman on Saturday.
In a Twitter post, he also published a list of the new zones that need to be evacuated as Israel continues with its operation against Hamas in the city in the southern Gaza Strip. “Hamas is attempting to rebuild its capabilities in the area, and the IDF will act very aggressively against terrorist organizations in the area you are in, so anyone who is in these areas is putting themselves and their families at risk,” the statement read.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said the country’s support for Palestinian statehood at the UN is part of efforts to “build momentum towards peace” in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Australia voted on Friday with an overwhelming majority of the UN General Assembly to back Palestine’s bid to become a full UN member. The resolution recommended that the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favorably.” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz slammed the UN decision as a “prize for Hamas.” Last month, the US vetoed a recommendation that “the State of Palestine be admitted to membership” in a Security Council vote.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is not hiding in Rafah, The Times of Israel reported on Friday citing two officials familiar with the matter. The Hamas leadership is still a key war target for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israel Defense Forces have already killed Hamas military wing deputy commander Marwan Issa, believed to be the group’s No. 3 figure in Gaza. They have also eliminated other senior commanders in recent months. But Sinwar and his deputy, military wing chief Mohammed Deif, have remained elusive.
The two officials speaking to The Times of Israel were unable to name the exact whereabouts of Sinwar, but they cited recent intelligence data that indicated the Hamas leader was in underground tunnels in the Khan Younis area, some five miles north of Rafah. A third official asserted that Sinwar is still in Gaza.
Loud boos can be heard from the crowd in footage of Israeli singer Eden Golan rehearsing on Saturday, ahead of the Eurovision final in Sweden, according to Israel’s public broadcaster.
The 20-year old Israeli vocalist has become the focus of protests by pro-Palestine demonstrators, who want Israel removed from the competition due to the Gaza war.
The US State Department has released a report that criticized the way Israel conducted its war against Hamas in Gaza, but stopped short of openly accusing West Jerusalem of any specific violations that would require Washington to halt the flow of weapons to its ally.
“...given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles… have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL [international human law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm,” the report said.
Furthermore, while Israel has allegedly “undertaken steps” to mitigate collateral damage, the “results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases,” it added.
Crackdowns on Gaza campus protests have continued as graduation season kicks off across the US. Police arrested dozens of pro-Palestine protesters on Friday, as they broke up encampments at university campuses.
Some 33 people were arrested on suspicion of “defiant trespass” at the University of Pennsylvania, as police took steps to dismantle a tent camp that has been in place for more than two weeks. Campus officers and police cleared the camp of more than 40 tents in a pre-dawn raid, throwing signs and flags into garbage trucks, a campus newspaper reported.
Ten protesters were also arrested at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, after riot police arrived on the Cambridge campus outside Boston at 4am local time, the university’s president said.
France said that the Israeli operation in Rafah “threatens to cause a catastrophic situation for the civilian populations of Gaza,” and urged West Jerusalem to “cease this military operation without delay and to return to the path of negotiations.”
“France calls on Israel to immediately reopen the Rafah crossing point towards Egypt, which is essential both for access of humanitarian aid to the civilian population and to allow the most vulnerable people to leave the Gaza Strip,” the French Foreign Ministry added in a statement.
South Africa has asked the United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) to impose additional emergency measures and order Israel to withdraw its troops from Rafah, calling it the “last refuge” for Palestinians in Gaza.
“Those who have survived so far are facing imminent death now, and an order from the Court is needed to ensure their survival,” South Africa’s filing said.
Back in January, the ICJ found that it was “plausible” that Israeli forces had committed genocide in the enclave. Israel has dismissed the accusations as baseless, insisting that it was acting in accordance with international law.
10 May 2024
Colombian President Gustavo Petro urged the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu, accusing his government of genocide during the Gaza conflict. Petro, a vocal leftist leader, recently declared Colombia’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Israel in response to the Gaza attack.
"Netanyahu will not stop the genocide. Which implies an international arrest warrant from the Criminal Court. The Security Council must begin to consider the establishment of a peacekeeping force in the territory of Gaza," Petro said.
The Israeli Air Force jets destroyed two “launch posts” in Rafah allegedly used by Hamas militants to fire over a dozen of missiles toward Be’er Sheva earlier on Friday, according to the IDF.
“Following the strike, secondary explosions were identified near the launch, suggesting the presence of additional weaponry that was ready for launch against Israel,” the IDF said, showing a video of the strike.
An upcoming assessment by the Biden administration regarding the use of US-provided weapons by Israel in the Gaza conflict does not assert any violations of the terms of their use, various US media reports suggest. Associated Press, citing sources briefed on the matter, indicates that while the report is expected to offer strong criticism of Israel, it ultimately does not find any legal breaches. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to deliver this report to Congress, and a senior official from the Biden administration hinted that its release may occur later today.
At the UN General Assembly, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan takes to the podium and uses a paper shredder to destroy the UN Charter, moments prior to a pivotal vote aimed at expanding Palestinian privileges within the UN framework.
The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on Friday granting Palestine new “rights and privileges,” with 143 votes in favor, nine against, and 25 abstentions. In addition, the resolution acknowledges Palestine’s aspiration to join as a 194th member. Palestine’s membership application will be presented to the UN Security Council for further consideration. Despite broad backing from the General Assembly, the last Palestinian bid to the Security Council was vetoed by the United States last month, and the US is expected to repeat its veto.
Belgium’s VRT channel interrupted its broadcast of the Eurovision semi-finals contest on Thursday night to deliver a protest message condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza. The act was organized by the trade union.
“We condemn the human rights violations of the Israeli state. Additionally, Israel is destroying press freedom…we are taking a temporary break from our broadcast. Now, ceasefire,” said the message in Flemish.
A spokesperson for the broadcaster told Belgian media that they were aware that the action would take place.
Israeli representative Eden Golan participated in the semi-finals and got qualified for the final of the song contest that is being hosted in Swedish city of Malmo.
Eurovision resisted calls to eject Israel, as was done with Russia amid the Ukraine conflict. Though Israel was asked to modify the lyrics of the song October Rain, with the original containing apparent references to the Hamas attack on October 7.
Israel’s war cabinet unanimously approves expansion of operation in Rafah, Kan and I24 report
Israeli tanks captured the main road between the eastern and western parts of Rafah on Friday, thus encircling the entire eastern side of the city, Reuters reports. The IDF’s advance to Salahuddin road has completed the siege of the red zone, an area where the military has ordered an evacuation. Hamas has said it attacked Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of Rafah.
“It is not safe, all of Rafah isn’t safe as tank shells have landed everywhere, since yesterday,” Abu Hassan, a local resident, told the news agency, adding that the Israeli army targets not only the east but the whole city.
A large-scale Israeli ground offensive in Rafah would lead to an “epic humanitarian disaster,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday during a visit to Kenya. The situation in the Gazan city is “on a knife edge” and such an operation would prevent the organization’s efforts to support people as “famine looms,” he added.
“We are actively engaged with all involved for the resumption of the entry of life-saving supplies – including desperately needed fuel – through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings,” he said.
Protesters in Tel Aviv, including dozens of relatives of those who remain in Hamas captivity, took to the streets on Thursday night to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a new hostage deal.
“We demand to end the killing, to end the carnage in Gaza, to bring back the Israeli hostages out of there alive right now,” one of the demonstrators said.
World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a staff member, his wife and a child had been injured during an intense air bombardment of Rafah on Wednesday, in which the family’s home was destroyed.
The staff member’s seven-year-old niece was killed, Tedros wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“This is another devastating example of how unsafe it is in Rafah and across Gaza,” he added.
Dr Saleh al-Hams, director of nursing at the European Hospital in Khan Younis near Rafah, told Al Jazeera that the few remaining hospitals could be shut down within days due to a lack of fuel for generators. The outlet added that ambulances were having trouble reaching the hospital as the main road connecting it to Rafah is blocked as a result of military operations.
Israeli airstrikes overnight have killed four people, after hitting a residential building in the Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian Civil Defense. In Khan Younis, where displaced Palestinians from Rafah seek refuge, Israeli airstrikes killed eight members of the same family, including a 17-year-old, according to the European Hospital in Gaza.
Israel’s military says that it is acting in accordance with international law and takes precautions to mitigate civilian casualties.
The Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah, the last operational hospital in the city, has reported it’s received nine dead bodies in the last 24 hours, including the remains of a nine-year-old and a 15-year-old. The IDF said it hit several sites in the area of Rafah “from which rockets and mortars were fired at Israel over the last few days,” adding that its troops had engaged in “close-quarters combat” on the Gazan side of the border crossing with Egypt.
During operations in the southern part of Gaza on Friday an IDF unit disturbed a hornet’s nest, according to Israeli media. Eleven soldiers got stung and were evacuated for medical treatment. Another soldier was evacuated in moderate condition.
It’s expected that the UN General Assembly will vote later today on a resolution drafted by the Arab League that would grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine, and that the Security Council “favourably reconsider” its request to become the 194th member of the organization. Last month the US vetoed the first draft of the resolution. Palestine has had non-member observer-state status since 2012. Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan has denounced the draft resolution, saying its approval would not change the situation on the ground. It is expected that the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, will approve the resolution by a large majority, according to Western diplomats speaking to AP.
The body cannot grant full UN membership by itself, but the approval of the resolution will give additional rights and privileges to Palestine, for example a seat in the assembly hall with UN members. The vote by the 193-member body is being seen as a survey of global support for Palestinians.
Ceasefire-for-hostages talks were paused after Israel launched operations in Rafah, CNN reports. Israeli and Hamas delegations have left Egypt without a deal. Hamas’ demand for an upfront agreement for a 12-week instead of a six-week ceasefire has also created a “major obstacle,” according to the broadcaster’s sources. Israeli officials oppose the extension, apparently fearing it would effectively end the war, as it would be difficult to re-deploy troops back to Gaza. During a previous round of talks, Hamas had agreed to a six-week pause, during which further talks would be conducted to agree to a second such pause.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) closed its headquarters in East Jerusalem on Friday after Israeli residents set fire to its perimeter twice in less than a week. There were no casualties, but the blaze caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas, the agency said on Thursday.
“It is the responsibility of the State of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times,” UNWRA chief Philippe Lazzarini said.
Israeli police said they have launched an investigation, adding that preliminary findings “suggest the act was committed by young minors, purportedly falling below the statutory age threshold for criminal liability.”
Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah “looking for safety” amid intensified Israeli attacks on the city, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) posted on X (formerly Twitter). “But nowhere is safe in the Gaza Strip and living conditions are atrocious,” the agency added.
A number of Hamas militants have been eliminated in “face-to-face” battles with Israeli troops in the vicinity of the Rafah border crossing, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said on X (formerly Twitter). The soldiers have discovered several underground tunnels dug by the Palestinian fighters in the eastern part of the city, it added. The Israeli Air Force also remains active in the skies, according to the IDF.