Thursday May 23, 2024
08:30 GMT — Israeli forces killed 35 Palestinians in aerial and ground bombardments across Gaza and battled in close combat with Hamas-led fighters in areas of the southern city of Rafah, health officials and local media said.
Israeli tanks advanced in Rafah's southeast, edged towards the city's western district of Yibna and continued to operate in three eastern suburbs, residents said.
"The occupation (Israeli forces) is trying to move further to the west, they are on the edge of Yibna, which is densely populated. They didn't invade it yet," one resident said, asking not to be named.
"We hear explosions and we see black smoke coming up from the areas where the army has invaded. It was another very difficult night," he told Reuters via a chat app.
Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of Gaza this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes, and have cut off the main access routes for aid, raising the risk of famine.
08:29 GMT — World Court to rule on Friday on measures over Israel's Rafah offensive
The International Court of Justice will rule on Friday May 24 on South Africa's request to order a halt to Israel's Rafah offensive in Gaza, it said.
In hearings last week South Africa had asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to order a halt to Israel's offensive in Gaza, and in Rafah in particular, to ensure the survival of the Palestinian people.
The demand for such an emergency measure is part of a larger case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.
Israel has denounced South Africa's claim that it is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, saying it makes a mockery of the crime of genocide. The court has previously rejected Israel's demand to throw out the case and has ordered it to prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinians.
07:55 GMT — 1 killed, 3 injured in Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon
One person was killed and three others were injured in an Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon, according to local media.
The attack targeted a highway between the towns of KafrDajjal and Nabatieh, the state-run National News Agency reported.
There was no Israeli comment on the strike.
07:33 GMT — Death toll from Israeli raid in Jenin rises to 12
The death toll of Palestinians from the Israeli incursion in Jenin, the northern occupied West Bank, rose to 12 in addition to 25 others injured.
In a statement, the Health Ministry said Mustafa Jabareen, 31, succumbed to the wounds he sustained from Israeli fire, bringing the tally to 12, including four children killed since the start of the Israeli "operation".
06:44 GMT — Israeli army raids al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, forces medical staff to leave
The al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia in northern Gaza said the Israeli army raided the hospital and forced its medical staff to leave following a four-day siege.
In a statement, the hospital said the medical staff were forced to leave toward the western Gaza City area after one of the medical staff was arrested by the Israeli army.
It added that 14 of the medical staff remained in the hospital, with 11 injured people and their escorts who were unable to leave the hospital without ambulances.
06:30 GMT — 9 killed in Israeli air strike on school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City
At least nine Palestinians were reported killed in an Israeli air strike on a shelter school in eastern Gaza City.
The nine Palestinians, including children and women, were killed in the Israeli air strike on the school that was sheltering displaced Palestinians in the al-Daraj neighborhood, and their bodies were brought to the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, a medical source told Anadolu.
Meanwhile, in the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, an Israeli air strike on a home for the Shehab family left eight Palestinians killed, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
06:30 GMT - Israel kills 25 Palestinians, including minors, in Gaza
Local sources reported that 16 Palestinians, including 10 children, were killed and several citizens were wounded due to an Israeli air strike on a house in the Al-Daraj neighbourhood in central Gaza City.
Additionally, sources reported one Palestinian killed after Israeli forces targeted a house in Rafah, south of Gaza, belonging to the Al-Sha'er family.
Early on Thursday morning, Israeli forces targeted a house in Al-Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, killing eight Palestinians. Witnesses said the bombardment resulted in the destruction of a house belonging to al-Shami family and caused significant damage to the homes of residents in the adjacent area, which shelters displaced people.
They said medical teams and civil defence personnel are still searching for the dead and wounded at the site.
05:25 GMT — Israelis rally near Netanyahu's office, seeking hostage deal
Hundreds of Israelis have protested in front of hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office during the convening of the war council, demanding the release of hostages in Gaza.
Protests also erupted in several Israeli cities after a video was published showing Hamas fighters capturing female Israeli soldiers at a military base in the Nahal Oz settlement adjacent to Gaza fence on October 7 last year.
Hamas said in a statement that "the video clip being circulated in the Israeli media is a manipulated and edited segment, and the authenticity of its content cannot be verified."
04:30 GMT –– Colombia to open embassy in Ramallah as Israel torments Gaza
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro has ordered the opening of an embassy in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo told journalists.
At the beginning of this month, Petro, who has criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and requested to join South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice, said he would cut diplomatic relations with Israel over its war in Gaza.
"President Petro has given the order that we open the Colombian embassy in Ramallah, the representation of Colombia in Ramallah, that is the next step we are going to take," Murillo said on Wednesday.
03:40 GMT –– Egypt again rejects Israel's plans to push Gaza residents to Sinai
Egypt has renewed its rejection of Israel's plans to displace Gaza residents to Sinai and held Tel Aviv responsible for preventing the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.
"Egypt firmly rejects Israel's plans to relocate Gaza residents to Sinai," Egypt's Al-Qahera news channel reported, quoting a high-level source.
"Egypt will not allow Israel' s ambitions to be realised in Palestinian territories at its expense," the source stressed, adding: "Israel must review Egypt's accumulated aid shipments at the Karem Abu Salem crossing, which exceed 500 trucks, before accusing Egypt of preventing aid from entering the enclave."
03:00 GMT –– UCLA police chief reassigned after attack on pro-Palestine protesters
The police chief for the University of California at Los Angeles has been removed from his post three weeks after campus officials came under fire for their handling of a violent, overnight mob attack on pro-Palestine activists encamped at UCLA.
John Thomas, who was formally appointed UCLA police chief in January, has been "reassigned temporarily, pending an examination of our security processes," Vice Chancellor Mary Osako said in a statement.
Campus police Captain Gawin Gibson was named UCLA's acting chief of police effective on Tuesday, Osako said.
For our live updates from Tuesday, May 22, click here.
