Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal

Unilateral action at UN will not advance 2-state solution: US deputy ambassador

After the UN General Assembly backed Palestinian membership, Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood said after the vote that unilateral measures at the UN and on the ground will not advance a two-state solution, Reuters reports.

“Our vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood; we have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that statehood will only come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties,” he said.

Multiple arrests as US police clear MIT, UPenn Gaza protests

Police carried out pre-dawn swoops on students protesting the fighting in Gaza at two of the most prestigious US universities, AFP reports.

At least 10 people were arrested at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) near Boston, according to university president Sally Kornbluth, who said she had “no choice” but to dismantle the “high-risk flashpoint”.

At the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, officers in tactical gear forcibly removed several dozen students who had linked arms around a statue of Benjamin Franklin, NBC reported.

“You cannot suspend the movement. We will be back,” students wrote on Instagram.

Rafah offensive would lead to ‘humanitarian disaster’: UN chief

A ground attack in Gaza’s Rafah would lead to an “epic humanitarian disaster”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned after negotiators left truce talks in Cairo without a deal, AFP reports.

“We are actively engaged with all involved for the resumption of the entry of life-saving supplies, including desperately needed fuel, through Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings,” Guterres said during a visit to Nairobi, adding that famine was looming.

A look into Biden-Netanyahu relationship, strained like never before

President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have long managed a complicated relationship, but they’re running out of space to maneuver as their views on the Gaza war diverge and their political futures hang in the balance.

Their ties have hit a low point as Biden holds up the delivery of heavy bombs to Israel — and warns that the provision of artillery and other weaponry also could be suspended if Netanyahu moves forward with a widescale operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Netanyahu, for his part, is brushing off Biden’s warnings and vowing to press ahead, saying, “If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone.”

“If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails,” he said.

Biden has long prided himself on being able to manage Netanyahu more with carrots than sticks. But the escalation of friction over the past seven months suggests that his approach may be long past its best-by date.

Read More....

Worker injured, his 7-year-old niece killed in airstrike in Rafah: WHO chief

World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that a staff member’s seven-year-old niece was killed due to an airstrike two days ago in Gaza’s Rafah.

The WHO worker, his spouse and child were injured while their home was destroyed “amid intensified bombardment”, Tedros said in a post on X.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and loss. Other colleagues have suffered such losses over these last seven months,” the WHO chief added.

Tedros highlighted that the deadly incident was “another devastating example of how unsafe it is in Rafa and across Gaza”.

He said the WHO was supporting the colleague and his family to get them medical care. “We call for the protection of all humanitarian workers and all civilians. We call for a ceasefire,” the WHO chief stated.

No aid to Gaza since crossing seized

Gaza has been completely cut off from aid since May 7, when Israel took over the Rafah border crossing and moved troops towards the southern city.

With fuel and water supplies now drying up, aid services could be forced to totally shut down within days, leading to more desperation in the war-battered enclave, UN officials have warned. 

Fighter jets, attack drones hammer Rafah buildings as more people flee

More people are leaving Rafah right now, particularly from the central part of the city, as well as towards the west.

Over the last two days, the Israeli military has sent text messages, made phone calls, and dropped leaflets warning people against staying in Rafah city, despite the fact that it has stated its operations are limited to the eastern part of Rafah city.

On the ground, we’re seeing an expansion of military operations. Residential towers and public facilities across Rafah city are being directly targeted by F-16 aircraft and attack drones.

According to eyewitnesses, the eastern part of Rafah city – and the area close to the Rafah crossing – is pretty much cleared of all residential buildings and public facilities, making it easy for the Israeli military to manoeuvre and push deeper inside the city.

There are more reports of civilian casualties arriving to the Kuwaiti Hospital, as well as to field hospitals.

Palestinian student says UK visa cancelled over ‘national security’

Dana Abuqamar, a Palestinian law student at the University of Manchester who has lost 15 family members in Gaza, said the UK government has withdrawn her student visa, deeming her a “national security” threat.

“During this genocide, the UK Home Office decided to revoke my student visa following public statements supporting the Palestinian right to exercise under international law to resist oppression and break through the siege that was illegally placed on Gaza for over 16 years,” Abuqamar told Al Jazeera.

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, but it seems to not apply to ethnic minorities, particularly Muslims and Palestinians like myself.”

The UK’s decision comes after Abuqamar made comments at a pro-Palestine rally last year in the aftermath of the October 7 attack on Israel, stating: “We are full of pride, we are really, full of joy at what happened.”

Abuqamar later told the BBC those remarks had been misconstrued and that “the death of any innocent civilian should not be condoned ever”.

Arizona State University scholar terminated after verbal assault

Arizona State University (ASU) has announced that a scholar who was involved in a verbal assault of a woman wearing a hijab was terminated and barred from returning to campus to teach.

“He is no longer permitted to be on campus and will never teach here again,” ASU President Michael Crow said in a statement to CNN about Jonathan Yudelman, who was placed on leave after the May 5 incident.

Yudelman, a postdoctoral researcher at the university, was recognised and accused of intimidating two people near a pro-Israel rally in a widely circulated social media video.

Yudelman, who was identified on various platforms on May 6, works as a postdoctoral fellow at the university’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership.

Biden’s weapons pause will have no impact on Israel’s Rafah operations

Elijah Magnier, a military and political analyst, says Biden’s move to restrict some weapons to Israel will not change PM Netanyahu’s strategy in Rafah.

“This is not going to change any of Netanyahu’s plans to occupy Rafah,” Magnier told Al Jazeera.

“On the contrary, it will give him enough time to spend more time in Rafah and go very slowly to make sure that this war is going to last as long as possible.”

Magnier added that the US weapons pause is inconsequential because it applies only to “intelligent bombs, not dumb bombs, which Israel has plenty of and has been using for the past seven months”.

Israel withholding $46m in PA tax revenues: Report

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is reportedly withholding some 170 million shekels ($46m) in tax revenue for the Palestinian Authority, Israel’s Channel 12 reports, quoting anonymous sources close to the far-right politician.

The funds have been withheld for nine days, the source said, with this being done in response to the PA’s attempts to get the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials for alleged violations of international law in Gaza.

Israel, which collects tax revenues on behalf of the PA, has warned that it will initiate a response against the body that will lead to its collapse if the ICC issues arrest warrants.

‘We keep moving from one place to another’

Laila al-Kafarna is one of tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee Rafah this week as Israeli troops and tanks push deeper into the city.

It is her family’s sixth time being displaced during the war.

“We keep moving from one place to another,” al-Kafarna told Al Jazeera, clinging on to her infant. “This child was born during the war. What was his fault?

“They moved us from Gaza City and told us to go south. After that, they told us to go to Khan Younis. After that we came to Nuseirat. After Nuseirat to Deir el-Balah. And then they brought us to Rafah. They said it was a safe place. It wasn’t safe.” 

Patients left without treatment as Rafah hospitals shut down

Patients and staff are being forced out of hospitals across Rafah as Israel’s attacks on the city intensify, leaving many sick and wounded Palestinians with no way to be treated.

“We have no beds, no hospitals to refer [people to], especially for critical patients,” Palestinian doctor Mohammed Zaqout said.

“Al-Najjar Hospital is out of service. And the Kuwaiti Hospital [in Rafah] is just for trauma and emergency,” he added.

Israel subjecting Gaza to a ‘medieval siege’, ‘scorched earth’ policy: UNRWA

Sam Rose, planning director at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said no supplies have entered the Gaza Strip since Sunday and “heavy bombardments” are hitting areas in the centre of Rafah city.

“No aid has come into Gaza now since Sunday. No aid, no fuel, no supplies, nothing. And we really are now down to our last reserves. We have a few more days of flour that we can provide. But everything else will start to shut down very soon without fuel, without water. So the situation is really desperate,” Rose told Al Jazeera from Rafah.

“People are petrified. People have been fearing this for a long, long time and it is now upon us. There is constant bombardment. There is smoke on the horizon. There are people on the move. We estimate that, as of last night, about 110,000 people from Rafah had been displaced and had moved on,” he said.

“People are doing whatever they can to flee for safety and yet where are they going to? There are no safe places,” he added.

“These are populations that are already on the brink of famine who are now being subjected to a medieval siege coupled with scorched earth and heavy bombardment. Already desperate conditions will get worse and we will see multitudes of casualties. Not just from the bombing. But the hunger, the disease and the starvation.”

EU crisis management chief condemns arson attack on UNRWA’s Jerusalem HQ

Janez Lenarcic, the European commissioner for emergency responses, has called on Israeli authorities to ensure the “security and safety of UN staff” after attackers twice set fire to the perimeter of UNRWA headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities must “prosecute those responsible for the attack”, Lenarcic said.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini reported earlier that a crowd of Israelis, some armed, gathered to chant outside his agency’s office: “Burn down the United Nations”, noting that it took Israeli police and firefighters “a while before they turned up”.

“Over the past two months, Israeli extremists have been staging protests outside the UNRWA compound in Jerusalem, called by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality,” Lazzarini said on social media.

“This week, the protest became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings of the compound,” he said.

“UN staff, premises and operations should be protected at all times in line with international law,” he added. 

Turkey-Israel trade – Turkish president cuts trade ties worth $9.5bn

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suspended $9.5bn worth of trade with Tel Aviv, in response to Israel’s war on Gaza.

Many in Turkey believe the measure is intended to push other nations to act against the Israeli government. 

UN to vote on resolution reviving Palestine’s bid for UN membership

The United Nations General Assembly is expected to vote later today on a resolution that would grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine and that, again, calls on the UN Security Council to favourably reconsider Palestine’s request for full UN membership.

The US vetoed a widely backed resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full UN membership for Palestine, a goal that Israel has worked strenuously to prevent and Washington has been instrumental in blocking on behalf of its key ally.

The US deputy ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, said on Thursday that the Biden administration remained opposed to Palestinian membership. During the April 18 vote, Palestine’s application received strong support with a vote of 12 in favour, the UK and Switzerland abstaining, and the US alone in voting no.

The State of Palestine appealed for support on Thursday, saying a vote for UN membership comes at “a critical moment for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State … [and] rightful place among the community of nations”.

Netanyahu hopes he and Biden can ‘overcome’ differences

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Joe Biden has made a mistake by pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel, in comments made on the US talk show Dr Phil.

“I’ve known Joe Biden for many years, 40 years and more. We often had our agreements, but we’ve had our disagreements. We’ve been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now,” Netanyahu said in the interview, aired on Thursday evening.

Netanyahu added that Israel “will do what we have to do to protect our country”, saying that the country has “no other choice” but to defeat Hamas.

Casualties recorded as Israeli military bombs locations across Gaza

The Israeli military has carried out several attacks in Gaza over recent hours resulting in a number of casualties, the Wafa news agency reports.

Four Palestinians died when the Israeli military bombed a house in the Jabalia refugee camp, in northern Gaza, according to Wafa.

An unspecified number of people have also died after the Israeli military bombed a house in Gaza City, while there were also casualties when the Israeli military bombed a warehouse, shops and agricultural land near al-Dawa Street in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Gaza truce talks: Hamas says ‘ball is completely’ in Israel’s hands – Report

French news agency AFP is reporting that Hamas announced early Friday that its delegation attending Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo had left the city for Qatar and stated that the “ball is now completely” in Israel’s hands.

“The negotiating delegation left Cairo heading to Doha. In practice, the occupation [Israel] rejected the proposal submitted by the mediators and raised objections to it on several central issues,” the group said in a statement, adding it stood by the ceasefire proposal.

“Accordingly, the ball is now completely in the hands of the occupation,” the group said.

‘For the very first time’: Joe Biden admits US bombs killed innocent people in Gaza

This has been going on for months. We know that the Biden administration has tried to pressure Israel on reducing casualties, trying to get more aid into Gaza. But they never admitted it publicly.

They never talked about what the consequences were going to be for Israel.

Well, that changed recently. We saw President Joe Biden come out and say, look, if they do this large-scale invasion of Rafah – there will be no bombs, no artillery shells, perhaps none of the technologies that turn dumb bombs into smart bombs.

And he is not just saying that it is going to happen. He is showing that it is already sort of happening.

We know from the Pentagon briefing today that there was a shipment of bombs – 1,800 2,000-pound (900kg) bombs. Those are the ones that cause a lot of destruction. And, 1,700 500-pound (230kg) bombs.

Those were supposed to be shipped to Israel and that’s been delayed.

So, Biden sending the message of what’s going to happen and telling them this is already not happening.

At the same time – one of the more significant things – is we have, for the very first time, heard US President Joe Biden say, specifically, that American bombs have killed innocent civilians in Gaza. 

Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday (May 9), Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed US President Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults the southern Gaza city.

A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza have ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned.

Read More