Israel's Gaza invasion - Day 223

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that military operations in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah were crucial in the fight against Palestinian fighters, AFP reports.

“The battle in Rafah is critical […] it is a fight that decides many things in this campaign,” he said.

The Arab League has called for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza and an end to forced displacement in the Palestinian territory at the end of a summit in Bahrain, AFP reports.

“We demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, a halt to all attempts at forced displacement, an end to all forms of siege and allowing full and sustainable access to aid,” the 22-member bloc said in a statement.

The United States said that the humanitarian situation in Gaza continued to deteriorate and urged Israel to do more to allow sustained access to aid via the southern and northern parts of the enclave, Reuters reports.

Speaking at a daily news briefing, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said Washington continued to remain concerned that both travel and the flow of fuel into Gaza via Rafah crossing has “come to a complete halt.”

Gaza authorities released a list of more than 100 academics and researchers they say have been killed by Israeli forces since bombardment started over seven months ago, AFP reports.

“We strongly condemn the occupation’s assassination of scientists, academics, university professors and researchers, who are a distinguished group in the Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” the Hamas government’s media office said in a statement.

“This sends a clear message that they aim to completely eliminate scientists and researchers in the educational sector,” it added.

Among those on the list of 104 names is Sufyan Tayeh, who was the president of the Islamic University and a leading researcher in physics and applied mathematics.

Top surgeon and professor of medicine Adnan al-Barsh was also listed.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Barsh, 50, died in Israeli custody on April 19 after being detained with other doctors at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza last December.

Asked at the time about his reported death in custody, the Israeli army said it was “currently not aware of such (an) incident”.

The Hamas government called on the “free countries of the world and all organisations related to education and higher education worldwide to condemn this historical crime and to pressure the occupation to stop the genocidal war.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that there was no “better moment” for the Arab region to come together, adding that unity and solidarity would amplify the vital voice of the region and further boost Arab influence on the global stage, Al Jazeera reports.

In remarks to Arab leaders in Bahrain, Guterres reiterated his strong position in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that the death and destruction currently being meted out on the enclave must come to an end.

“Entire families wiped out. Children traumatised and injured for life. People denied access to the very basics for human survival. A looming famine […] It is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza,” he said at the Arab League summit.

The United Nations has said it is finalising plans to distribute aid delivered via a temporary floating pier anchored by the US to a beach in Gaza but stressed that delivering aid by land is the “most viable, effective and efficient” method, Reuters reports.

“To stave off the horrors of famine, we must use the fastest and most obvious route to reach the people of Gaza and for that, we need access by land now,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said.

The Arab League has called for a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Palestinian territories at a summit dominated by the ongoing Israeli bombardment in the Gaza, AFP reports.

The “Manama Declaration” issued by the 22-member bloc called for “international protection and peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territories” until a two-state solution is implemented.

The US military has said it expected around 500 tons of aid to enter Gaza in the coming days after an emergency pier was affixed to the shore in the territory, AFP reports.

“Just a few hours ago, the pier was successfully affixed to the beach in Gaza,” said Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command.

“I think we’re going to get about 500 tons in the next couple of days.

“It’s a pretty substantial amount, and it’s spread out over multiple ships right now,” Cooper told reporters.

“Thousands of tons of aid are in the pipeline. We’re seeing significant volumes of aid flow into Cyprus for further distribution,” he told reporters.

Cooper said that around 1,000 US soldiers and sailors were involved in the operation but that they were only involved in the pier and not in delivery — which will be handled through the United Nations — or in combat between Israel and Hamas.

“There will be no US military boots on the ground in Gaza,” he said.

South Africa has accused Israel of stepping up what it called a “genocide” in Gaza at the top UN court, urging the court to order a halt to Israel’s assault on Rafah, AFP reports.

“South Africa had hoped, when we last appeared before this court, to halt this genocidal process to preserve Palestine and its people,” South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela told the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“Instead, Israel’s genocide has continued apace and has just reached a new and horrific stage,” he added.

An Israeli military attack has hit an ambulance from Jabalia’s al-Awda Hospital, injuring at least two paramedics, according to Al Jazeera.

The report comes as heavy fighting continues in Jabalia, where tens of thousands of civilians have fled.

Egypt has rejected an Israeli proposal for the two countries to coordinate to re-open the Rafah crossing between Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, and to manage its future operation, two Egyptian security sources said, Reuters reports.

Officials from Israeli security service Shin Bet presented the plan on a visit to Cairo, amid rising tension between the two countries following Israel’s military advance last week into Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by conflict have been sheltering.

The Rafah crossing has been a main conduit for humanitarian aid entering Gaza, and an exit point for medical evacuees from the territory, where a humanitarian crisis has deepened and some people are at risk of famine.

Israel took operational control of the crossing and has said it will not compromise on preventing Hamas having any future role there.

The Israeli proposal included a mechanism for how to manage the crossing after an Israeli withdrawal, the security sources said. Egypt insists the crossing should be managed only by Palestinian authorities, they added.

The Palestinian government has not received the financial support it expected from international and regional partners, Reuters reports quoting President Mahmoud Abbas, who spoke at an Arab League summit.

“It has now become critical to activate the Arab safety net, to boost the resilience of our people and to enable the government to carry out its duties,” Abbas said.

Funding of the Palestinian Authority, the body which exercises limited governance of the occupied West Bank, has been severely restricted by a dispute over transferring tax revenue Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians.

Funding from international donors has also been squeezed, falling from 30 per cent of the $6 billion annual budget to around 1pc, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said.

It is “nearly impossible” to distribute aid within Gaza, where more than 1.7 million people are displaced, said the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), adding that the crossings are either “closed, unsafe to access, or not logistically viable”, Al Jazeera reports.

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has announced that more troops would “enter Rafah”, as military operations intensify in Gaza’s far-southern city, AFP reports.

The operation in Rafah “will continue as additional forces will enter” the area, Gallant said, adding that “several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops […] this activity will intensify”.

“Hundreds of targets have already been struck, and our forces are manoeuvring in the area,” he said in a ministry statement.

Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter is reporting that the governing body of the country’s second-largest city, Gothenburg, wants to stop buying goods from Israel, Al Jazeera reports.

A coalition that includes the Swedish Social Democratic Party, Left Party and the Green Party, who have a majority in the municipality’s governing committee, has proposed that the city phase out all purchases of goods originating in states that illegally occupy other states.

“Israel is conducting an illegal occupation of the West Bank that has only worsened in the shadow of the widespread killing of civilians in Gaza,” Jonas Attenius, chairman of the municipal board in Gothenburg, said in a press release. “Our tax money should not go to financially support occupation forces.”

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has said it launched “more than 60” rockets at Israeli military positions in retaliation for overnight air strikes on the country’s east, AFP reports.

Hezbollah fighters “launched a missile attack with more than 60 Katyusha rockets” on several Israeli military positions in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the group said in a statement.

The strikes were “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks last night on the Bekaa region” in eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek area, the group added.

French MP Thomas Portes has criticised the French government’s bias in favour of the Israeli occupation, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking at a demonstration in Paris, Thomas Portes said politicians and the media did not recognise the word genocide and forbid it in all forums, but that the crimes committed in Gaza constituted genocide.

The MP denounced France’s participation in those crimes and the authorities’ treatment of students and pro-Palestine demonstrators.

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to prevent you and silence you and do not stop supporting the Palestinian people … we must stop this government’s support for genocide,” he said.

Israel said that five of its troops were killed by friendly fire in a Gaza battle, as a rift emerged inside the war cabinet on how the Palestinian territory should be ruled in future, AFP reports.

Israeli forces were fighting in Gaza’s far-southern Rafah and in new flashpoints in northern and central areas of the besieged territory.

The army said that the five soldiers were killed when two Israeli tanks mistakenly fired shells at the building they were in during clashes in the northern Jabalia refuge camp.

“Five soldiers of the 202nd Paratrooper Battalion were killed last night in a mass casualty incident as a result of fire by our forces,” the military said, adding that seven other troops were wounded.

Israel’s economy recovered sharply in the first quarter of 2024 after a steep contraction in late 2023 that followed the start of conflict in Gaza with Hamas last October, Reuters reports.

The Central Bureau of Statistics said in an initial estimate that gross domestic product (GDP) grew an annualised 14.1pc in the January to March period, just shy of a Reuters consensus of 15.3pc.

Growth was led by a rebound in consumer spending and renewed investment, particularly in residential building.

At least 35,272 Palestinians have been killed and 79,205 have been wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since Oct 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement, Reuters reports.

Israel’s Arrow defence systems helped thwart Iran’s massive missile and drone attack last month and a number of countries are now interested in purchasing the technology, Reuters reports quoting the developer’s chief executive.

Iran’s overnight attack between April 13 and 14, repelled by Israel’s multi-tiered defence shield with the help from allies, included more than 100 ballistic missiles.

The Arrow system, according to Israel’s air force, “carried out the main part” of their interception. That success immediately drummed up global interest, said Boaz Levy, CEO of state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the project’s main contractor.

The US is a partner in the Arrow project and Boeing is involved in its production.

“A number of countries have approached us asking for information,” Levy told Reuters. “I’m very optimistic that there will be more deals for the Arrow system, especially after the very special demonstration we did.”

He declined to name any of the countries since talks are in the early stages.

The World Food Programme says it has run out of stocks in southern Rafah and has suspended food aid distributions there since May 11, Al Jazeera reports.

Food deliveries are still ongoing in Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah, it said, but in a limited capacity.

The US Navy destroyer USS Mason intercepted an inbound Houthi anti-ship missile over the Red Sea, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement after Yemen’s Houthis said that they had targeted the warship.

US forces also destroyed two drones, CENTCOM said.

On Wednesday, the Houthis said they had also targeted a vessel called “Destiny” in the Red Sea. A US official told Reuters there was no evidence of an attack on Destiny in recent days.

“Our reporting indicates that the vessel and crew are safe, with no issues,” he said.

In a televised speech, the Houthis’ military spokesman Yahya Sarea had said they had targeted the USS Mason in the Red Sea with a number of “appropriate naval missiles”.

Sarea said they had also targeted Destiny because it had been en route for the Israeli port of Eilat on April 20.

Sarea did not specify the dates when the two ships were targeted. Reuters could not independently verify the Houthis’ claim of having attacked the two vessels.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has said it launched “more than 60” rockets at Israeli military positions in retaliation for overnight air strikes on the country’s east, AFP reports.

Hezbollah fighters “launched a missile attack with more than 60 Katyusha rockets” on several Israeli military positions in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the group said in a statement.

The strikes were “in response to the Israeli enemy’s attacks last night on the Bekaa region” in eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek area, the group added.

Earlier Thursday, Lebanese state-run media reported an overnight Israeli air raid on the Baalbek area, where Hezbollah holds sway, hours after the group launched an attack deep into Israeli territory.

“The outskirts of the eastern Lebanon mountain range, at midnight, was subjected to five enemy raids,” Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said.

The Israeli strikes “slightly injured a citizen” and caused fires, the NNA added. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that one of the strikes “hit a Hezbollah military camp”.

An Israeli army spokesman told AFP: “I can confirm that an airstrike was indeed conducted deep in Lebanon against a terror target related to Hezbollah’s precision missile project”.