Crisis in Gaza
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Hamas chief says group accepts Gaza truce proposal
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh informed mediators Qatar and Egypt that his Palestinian fighter group had accepted their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza after nearly seven months of bombardment, AFP reports.
“Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas movement, conducted a telephone call with the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and with the Egyptian intelligence minister, Mr Abbas Kamel, and informed them of Hamas’s approval of their proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement,” the group said in a statement published on its official website.
An Israeli official said no ceasefire had been agreed in Gaza after Hamas said it had accepted a proposal from Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Reuters reports.
The Israeli official said the proposal that Hamas had accepted was a “softened” version of an Egyptian proposal, which included “far-reaching” conclusions that Israel could not accept.
“This would appear to be a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal,” said the Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Separately, Hamas official Taher Al-Nono told Reuters that the ceasefire proposal entailed a ceasefire, reconstruction of Gaza, return of the displaced and a prisoner swap deal.
Safe evacuation from Rafah would be ‘impossible,’ UN says
The United Nations has condemned Israel’s order for Palestinians to evacuate from Rafah in southern Gaza as “impossible to carry out safely” as alarm grows over the move, AFP reports.
“Today’s evacuation orders for East Rafah will only worsen the civilians’ suffering,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, adding “a mass evacuation on this scale is impossible to carry out safely. “
PRCS says ‘thousands’ of Gazans are leaving eastern Rafah
The Palestinian Red Crescent told AFP that “thousands” of Gazans were leaving eastern Rafah amid bombing and after Israeli forces had ordered the southern Gaza area evacuated.
“The numbers of citizens moving from the eastern areas of Rafah towards the west are large, especially after the intensification of the bombing, there are thousands of citizens leaving their homes”, said Red Crescent spokesperson Osama al-Kahlout.
UK’s Sunak ’concerned deeply about possible ‘military incursion into Rafah’
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the UK was “concerned deeply” about a possible offensive in Rafah after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate part of the southern Gaza city, AFP reports.
“We are concerned deeply about the prospect of a military incursion into Rafah given the number of civilians that are sheltering there and the importance of that crossing for aid,” he told broadcaster Sky News in an interview.
Unicef warns 600,000 children face ‘catastrophe’ in Rafah
Unicef has warned that some 600,000 children packed into Gaza’s Rafah city face “further catastrophe”, urging against their forced relocation after Israel ordered an evacuation ahead of its long-threatened ground invasion, AFP reports.
“Given the high concentration of children in Rafah … Unicef is warning of a further catastrophe for children, with military operations resulting in very high civilian casualties and the few remaining basic services and infrastructure they need to survive being totally destroyed”, the United Nations children’s agency said in a statement.
Gaza officials say Israel army strikes two Rafah areas it ordered evacuated
Gaza civil defence and aid officials have said that Israeli jets struck two areas in eastern Rafah the Israeli military had ordered to be evacuated, ahead of a possible ground invasion of the Palestinian city, AFP reports.
“The areas targeted by the Israeli occupation are near the perimeter of Gaza International Airport, the Al-Shuka area, the Abu Halawa area, the Salaheddin street area and the Salam neighbourhood,” Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Ahmed Ridwan told AFP.
Another aid official confirmed the strikes
‘Strongly opposed’ to Israel’s Rafah offensive: France
France has said it is “strongly opposed” to Israel’s Rafah offensive, ahead of an expected ground assault in the southern city of the Gaza Strip, AFP reports.
“France reiterates that it is strongly opposed to an Israeli offensive on Rafah, where more than 1.3 million people are taking refuge in a situation of great distress,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The forced displacement of a civilian population constitutes a war crime.”
Israel strikes Gazan city of Rafah
Israel's military carried out airstrikes in Rafah on Monday, residents said, hours after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the southern Gaza city where more than a million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering.
Fears are growing of a full-blown assault in Rafah, long threatened by Israel, against holdouts of the Palestinian militant group Hamas as ceasefire talks in Cairo stall.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, which Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV said had targeted areas in eastern Rafah near neighbourhoods given evacuation orders.
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'Where can we go?' say Rafah residents as Israel demands evacuation
Israel's army said it was instructing Palestinian families in eastern Rafah to flee in preparation for an expected ground assault on the city which abuts Gaza's border with Egypt.
Residents of Rafah described emerging outside after a terrifying night in which around a dozen air strikes were carried out on Rafah, to find fliers falling from the sky telling them to "evacuate immediately".
"The army is working with intensive power against the terrorist forces near you," read a flier circulated in eastern Rafah.
Attack near Karem Abu Salem caused truce talk impasse, official tells Egypt TV
Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera news TV has quoted an unnamed “high-level” source as saying that Sunday’s attack near the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing between Gaza and Israel had caused an impasse in the ceasefire talks.
The attack, claimed by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, killed four Israeli soldiers and wounded 10 others on Sunday.
The Egyptian negotiators are intensifying talks to contain the current escalation between Israel and Hamas, the source said according to the channel.
Hamas has blamed Netanyahu for “sabotaging” the truce efforts as it called for a comprehensive peace deal. Israel insisted on a temporary ceasefire in exchange for captives and prisoners.
‘We don’t know where to go’: Palestinians on looming Israeli offensive
Palestinians face another forced displacement as the Israeli military ordered residents in eastern Rafah to move to other areas before a possible offensive in Gaza’s south.
Residents expressed their fears in interviews with Reuters:
Abu Muhey, sheltering with family north of Rafah
“They [the Israeli military] are calling people in the eastern area of Rafah, some also in the west near the Rafah crossing, ordering them to leave … We don’t know what to do. But I will take my family to Deir el-Balah, though I am not in the targeted area, maybe not yet.”
Abu Raed, refugee in Rafah
“It has been raining heavily and we don’t know where to go. I have been worried that this day may come. I have now to see where I can take my family.”
Israeli defence minister tells US counterpart Israel had ‘no choice’ over Rafah offensive
Yoav Gallant has told his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, that Israel was left with “no choice” but to launch its offensive on Rafah.
In an overnight phone call, ?Gallant updated Austin on Sunday’s rocket barrage launched from Rafah on an Israeli army position on the border, his office said.
The minister is reported to have blamed Hamas for refusing any proposal that would allow for a temporary ceasefire proposal.
?Gallant’s office said Gallant then told Austin, “There was no choice left, and the meaning was the start of the Israeli operation in Rafah.”
‘A slaughter’: The warnings by world leaders, aid agencies against Rafah offensive
For many months, there have been repeated calls from world leaders, diplomats and aid agencies urging Israel not to go ahead with a planned ground offensive in Rafah.
Here are some of those warnings:
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a ground assault on Rafah would “put the final nail in the coffin” for humanitarian aid operations in the Gaza Strip.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has said, “Any ground operation would mean more suffering and death” for more than a million displaced Palestinians sheltering in Rafah, with an official saying “it could be a slaughter of civilians”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said it would be “completely unacceptable” for Israel to attack Rafah.
A statement issued by the foreign ministers of 26 member states of the EU called on Netanyahu not to go ahead with the offensive, saying it would “worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian situation”.
Joe Biden and other US officials have repeatedly warned against a Rafah offensive, with the US president reportedly telling Netanyahu the United States would oppose the offensive unless adequate provisions were made to move and care for the Palestinians sheltering there.
Multiple aid agencies have warned against a Rafah offensive, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, which said it “would profoundly exacerbate the already catastrophic levels of need and the humanitarian emergency for millions of civilians with nowhere left to go”.
Israeli air force struck ‘deep inside Lebanon’ on Sunday, military says
The Israeli military says its fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military structure in the area of es-Sifri, located south of the city of Baalbek near Lebanon’s border with Syria.
Lebanese media reported earlier that the attack targeted a factory in es-Sifri. There was no mention of casualties.
The Israeli military also said it struck several Hezbollah structures in southern Lebanon.
Since October 8, Hezbollah and the Israeli military have regularly traded fire. However, Israeli strikes have been mostly contained within the southern areas of Lebanon.
Israel briefed US on plan to evacuate Palestinians from Rafah: Report
Unnamed US officials told The Associated Press news agency that Israel briefed Biden administration officials this week on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The officials said the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the US administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed his concerns regarding the operation, saying “we have not yet seen a plan that gives us confidence that civilians can be effectively protected”.
Regional and members of the international community have also voiced their opposition to Israel’s plans to invade Rafah, which has become the last refuge for Palestinians displaced by the war.
Israeli jets bomb Lebanon’s Bekaa valley
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that Israeli jets bombed the Beqaa Valley in eastern parts of the country, wounding at least three people.
The raid in the early hours of the morning targeted a factory in the town of Sawiri in the Baalbek area, the NNA said. The targeted region, located along the Lebanese-Syrian border, is a stronghold of the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in escalating daily cross-border strikes since the war on Gaza began.
We reported earlier than an Israeli raid on southern Lebanon killed four members of one family, prompting Hezbollah to launch a series of rocket attacks on northern Israel, including the settlement of Margaliot.
Israeli attack on Lebanon killed four members of one family
More on the Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon on Sunday.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that the Israeli raid on the town of Mais al-Jabal killed a man, his wife and their children aged 12 and 21.
As we reported earlier, Hezbollah responded to the raid with rocket attacks on the Margaliot settlement in northern Israel.
The UN children’s agency in Lebanon condemned the strike and called for “an immediate ceasefire and the protection of children and civilians”. It added, “this violence must end now”.
Clashes, gunfire as Israeli forces again raid West Bank cities
Israeli forces have launched raids across the occupied West Bank, including in the cities of Tubas, Hebron, Tulkarem and Silwan, according to media reports.
The Israeli forces’s pre-dawn raid on Tubas prompted clashes in the city, the Wafa news agency reported. The sound of gunfire could be heard in videos posted online.
There were no immediate reports on casualties or arrests.
Baby born after start of Gaza war killed in latest Israeli raids
The latest round of Israeli attacks has killed eight members of the Qishta family, including four children.
Among them was a baby boy born after the start of the war. Hani Mahmoud, who was seven months old, was already an orphan after both his parents had been killed in an air attack in the early days of the war.
Rasha Qishta, a relative, told Al Jazeera that Hani’s mother was eight months pregnant when she was wounded and the doctors managed to deliver her baby.
“But she died two hours later. His dad was killed on the spot as well as his auntie and her three children. The baby survived along with his two sisters who were injured,” she said.
“He was born in the war and is now killed in the same war.”
Pentagon chief speaks to Israeli counterpart
US Defence chief Lloyd Austin has spoken with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on the negotiations to free captives held in Gaza as well as the threatened offensive on Rafah.
“The Secretary reaffirmed his commitment to the unconditional return of all hostages and stressed the need for any potential Israeli military operation in Rafah to include a credible plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians and maintain the flow of humanitarian aid,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Austin also expressed condolences for the Israeli soldiers killed in the Hamas attack on the Karem Abu Salem crossing earlier.
Death toll from Rafah attacks rises to 21
Al Jazeera reported that the death toll from the latest Israeli attacks on Rafah has now risen to 21.
The victims included many children.
The houses hit in Rafah included the homes of the Abu Lebda family, the Al-Attar family, the Shteiwi family, the Al-Hashash family, the Qishta family and the Armilat family.
Israel intensifies attacks on Rafah, hits 11 homes
Gaza’s civil defence office said its crews in Rafah are dealing with “several attacks” on inhabited and uninhabited homes in the southern city.
It said Israeli forces have hit 11 homes in the southern area between Sunday evening and the early hours of Monday. The attacks have resulted in dozens of people killed, wounded, and missing under the rubble.
Palestinians in Rafah mourn victims of Israeli air raids
Palestinians transport an injured man pulled from the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike in the center of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 5, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians search for casualties in the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike in the center of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 5, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by AFP)
Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at Abu Yousef al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 5, 2024. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
Where do ceasefire talks stand?
Negotiations for a ceasefire are at a stalemate.
Hamas wants an end to the war, but Israel says it’s willing only to pause the fighting to secure the release of captives.
We had Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant visiting Gaza and suggesting that a major Rafah operation is coming. He said Israel has identified “alarming signs” that Hamas does not intend to reach an agreement and that this means Israel will start military action in Rafah and the entire Gaza Strip in the very near future.
Now, Hamas is blaming Israel for the failure to reach a deal so far.
It issued a statement saying that it was keen and determined to reach an agreement that met the “national demands” of the Palestinian people. These include an end to the war, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.
Hamas representatives left Cairo on Sunday evening for further consultations, but say they’ll be back there on Tuesday. And Al Jazeera understands that CIA Director William Burns is on his way to Doha for an emergency meeting with the Qatari prime minister to see if there’s a way to prevent the collapse of the ceasefire talks.
So there’s still a chance that there could be a deal.
Death toll from latest Israeli attacks on Rafah rises to 16
Medics and first responders in Gaza say at least 16 people were killed in Israeli air raids on the southern city of Rafah.
The first responders told the AFP news agency that seven people from one family and nine from another were killed.
The attacks took place at two different locations around the city.
Israeli police have raided Al Jazeera‘s workspace in occupied East Jerusalem, seizing equipment, after Benjamin Netanyahu’s government decided to shut down the network’s operations.
Al Jazeera has condemned the closure order, saying it will pursue all available legal channels in response.
Hamas, Israel entrench Gaza truce positions as latest Cairo talks end
GAZA STRIP (AFP) - A Hamas official said on Sunday (May 5) that the group's delegation for Gaza truce talks in Cairo was leaving for Qatar after a public disagreement with Israel intensified over demands to end their seven-month war.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said "surrendering" to a demand to end the war would amount to defeat.
