UN agencies prepare for Rafah incursion, warn of 'slaughter'

Blinken says ceasefire deal should be a ‘no-brainer’ for Hamas

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the “only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a ceasefire is Hamas” and a deal with Israel should be a “no-brainer” for the group.

“We wait to see whether, in effect, they can take yes for an answer on the ceasefire and release of hostages,” Blinken said late on Friday, speaking at the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum in Arizona.

“But maybe something else is going on [with Hamas], and we’ll have a better picture of that in the coming days,” he said.

Blinken added that negotiations with Hamas are complicated by the fact that the “ultimate decision-makers” are members of the group in Gaza, with whom mediators have no direct contact. 

‘No signs of slowing down’: Israeli attack on residential home kills 3 in Rafah

Despite the talk of ongoing progress made in Cairo for a potential ceasefire, the Israeli military is showing no signs of slowing down its attacks across Gaza.

Artillery shelling and the presence of drones across overcrowded Rafah City – and the central area of Gaza – continue.

Overnight attacks killed three people inside a residential home in Rafah.

Two of the people who died were evacuees displaced from the northern part of the enclave, and one was a local resident. They had been sheltering in this home. Such attacks are not only causing civilian causalities, but also forcing people into more internal displacement.

This is the pattern we have seen in the past months. The intensity of the attacks across the city are forcing people to move from one place to another.

People expressed that there is no safe place across Rafah city.

Meanwhile, in the central area of Gaza, the Israeli military continues its heavy bombardment and ground operation in the Nuseirat refugee camp. 

Pro-Palestine protesters interrupt University of Michigan commencement ceremony

Protesters carrying Palestinian flags interrupted a commencement ceremony at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance on Friday.

The demonstrators held signs saying “UM funds genocide” and “ACAB”, an acronym for “all cops are b*******”.

The crowd broke into chants of “USA, USA, USA”, as the university placed warnings on a screen in the auditorium asking the protesters to leave.

Ilhan Omar pays tribute to Palestinian journalists covering Gaza

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar marked World Press Freedom day by hailing the “brave” journalists in Gaza “who have paid the highest price, their lives, to share the stories of Palestinians with the world”.

Omar also called on people to remember “the record number of journalists killed in Gaza” by the Israeli military, in a post on social media.

Omar became the first Somali American and naturalised citizen of African birth to serve in the US House of Representatives when she was elected in 2018.

Israeli troops detain 5 Palestinians in occupied West Bank’s Sebastia: Report

Israeli forces have detained five people in the village of Sebastia, located to the northwest of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Wafa news agency.

The mayor of Sebastia, Mohammad Azem, told Wafa that Israeli troops stormed the village at dawn and raided several homes.

Those detained were beaten before they were taken into custody, he said.

Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank have intensified since the war on Gaza started on October 7. More than 7,000 Palestinians have been detained or arrested in the territory since then.

Body recovered from house demolished by Israeli forces in Deir al-Ghusun

The Israeli military has found a body under the rubble of a house it demolished in the town of Deir al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from reaching the man, Wafa reports. They initially surrounded the building eight hours ago, ordering its occupants – who they accuse of carrying out a shooting attack in November in the village of Beit Lid – to come out.

When the men barricaded themselves inside, Israeli forces fired antitank rocket-propelled grenades at the house, before destroying the building using a military bulldozer and an excavator with the occupants still inside.

Blinken says Israel’s Rafah invasion would cause casualties ‘beyond what’s acceptable’

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned Israel – again – not to launch a ground assault on Rafah city where some 1.5 million people are now crammed after fleeing Israeli attacks on all other parts of the Gaza Strip.

Blinken said Israel has not presented a plan to protect civilians during its promised ground operation against the city in southern Gaza.

“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” Blinken told the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum in Arizona on Friday, the AFP news agency reports.

Despite a chorus of international concern for civilian casualties, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to send Israeli troops to attack Rafah in order to root out Hamas fighters.

Israeli attacks kill 54 as military continues to block aid to war-torn territory

A further 54 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces between Wednesday and Friday afternoon in the Gaza Strip and more than 100 were injured, according to the latest UN flash assessment, which reports aid officials warning of catastrophe should Israel invade Rafah.

The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reports that Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, is facing continued restrictions from Israel on bringing much-needed medical equipment into Gaza.

“From ultrasound scanners to external defibrillators, generators, and intravenous sodium chloride solutions that are essential for rehydrating patients and diluting drugs. According to MSF, such requests have been repeatedly rejected by Israeli authorities,” OCHA reports.

Between April 27 and Thursday, just eight out of 23 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 12 (52 percent) were impeded, two missions were denied, and one mission was cancelled, according to the UN.

Belgium condemns ‘threats’ and ‘intimidation’ against ICC

Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said it “condemns any threats and acts of intimidation” against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Posting on X, it said the ICC “must be able to act and carry out its functions independently, without interference”.

Belgium’s Foreign Ministry was responding to a statement issued by the prosecutor’s office at the ICC saying that threats made against the court undermine its “independence and impartiality”.

The prosecutor’s statement did not mention Israel, but it was issued after Israeli and US officials warned of consequences against the ICC if it issues arrest warrants against Israeli officials over their war on Gaza.

Israeli forces use bulldozer, excavator to destroy besieged house in Deir al-Ghusun

Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli forces laying siege to a house in the Palestinian town of Deir al-Ghusun have begun to flatten the building using heavy mechanical equipment.

Video footage from the siege shows a military bulldozer and an excavator destroying different sections of the house, which was earlier reported to have been hit by Israeli antitank rocket-propelled grenades.

Sources in the town said the Israelis had used a loudspeaker ordering those inside the house to surrender.

We will bring you more on this story as it develops.

Gunfire, explosions as Israelis besiege house in West Bank’s Deir al-Ghusun

Israeli forces have surrounded a house in the occupied West Bank town of Deir al-Ghusun, located north of Tulkarem city, and have attacked the residence with antitank rocket propelled grenades, according to reports.

The Palestinian state news agency, Wafa, reports that a large force of Israelis have raided the town and used loudspeakers to order those inside the house to surrender.

Videos posted on social media of the Israeli military operation in Deir al-Ghusun capture the sounds of explosions and gunfire, as well as Israeli bulldozers destroying roads and other structures around the besieged house in the Palestinian town.

Unknown number of people killed as Israeli military bombs several locations in Gaza

The Israeli military has already carried out several deadly air attacks in Gaza in the early hours of this morning, the Wafa news agency reports.

An Israeli bomb struck a house in the as-Saftawi neighbourhood in the north of Gaza City, killing an unconfirmed number of Palestinians, with more missing under the rubble.

An Israeli bomb has also struck a house in the Janina neighbourhood, east of Rafah, killing an unconfirmed number of people, with children among the dead.

Two people have also been killed after an Israeli bomb struck a house in the east of the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

Houthis say they will target Israel-bound ships anywhere within range of their weapons

Houthi fighters in Yemen say they will target ships heading to Israeli ports anywhere within the range of their military capabilities.

The threatened expansion of Houthi military operations comes after months of drone and antiship missile attacks on vessels traversing the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden in what the Houthis say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s war on Gaza.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the new operation was in response to Israel’s planned ground invasion of Rafah.

Democratic lawmakers warn Biden that Israel violating US law by restricting aid to Gaza

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers in the US have written a letter to President Joe Biden saying that ongoing Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid entering Gaza “call into question” their compliance with US law.

The 86 members of the House of Representatives said they believe there is sufficient evidence that Israel is failing to comply with a US Foreign Assistance Act provision, which requires recipients of US-funded arms to uphold international humanitarian law, as well as allow the free flow of US assistance.

“We expect the administration to ensure [Israel’s] compliance with existing law and to take all conceivable steps to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,” the letter said.

In February, Biden issued a national security memorandum mandating assurances from recipients of US military assistance that stipulations on humanitarian law and aid are being adhered to.

At least four State Department bureaus advised US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month that Israel’s claims that it is adhering to international humanitarian law in Gaza are “neither credible nor reliable”.

The International Criminal Court has demanded an end to threats of “retaliation” as it considers whether to issue arrest warrants for top Israeli officials. 

UN agencies prepare for Rafah incursion, warn of 'slaughter'

GENEVA (Reuters) - An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans at risk and be a huge blow to the humanitarian operations of the entire enclave, the United Nations (UN) humanitarian office said on Friday (May 3), as the World Health Organization (WHO) announced contingency plans for an incursion.

Israel has repeatedly warned of an operation against Hamas in the southern Gazan city of Rafah, where around a million displaced people are crowded together in shelters and makeshift accommodation, having fled months of Israeli bombardments triggered by Hamas fighters' deadly cross-border attack on Oct 7.

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