Wednesday May 29, 2024
11:30 GMT — The Gaza war will not end this year and will continue until early 2025, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security adviser has said.
Tzachi Hanegbi told the Israeli public broadcaster KAN that the war is expected to continue for another seven months.
Israel expanded its ground offensive in Rafah on Tuesday, with its tanks reaching the centre of the city.
14:58 GMT — Norway condemns Israeli attack on Rafah, urges Tel Aviv to respect ICJ ruling
Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide has condemned Israel’s attack on Rafah, in southern Gaza, calling the situation “catastrophic and unacceptable” and calling on the UN Security Council to act swiftly.
"The development in Rafah is catastrophic and unacceptable. We have warned in the strongest possible terms against the consequences of an attack for the people of Rafah," Eide said in a statement.
“The situation is unbearable, the war must end,” he added.
14:46 GMT — US tells UN: Israel undermines goals with civilian harm in Gaza
Israel must do more to protect innocent Palestinians in Gaza and more must be done to ensure humanitarian aid gets into the enclave and can be safely distributed, US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood has said.
"The continued pattern of significant civilian harm resulting from incidents like Sunday's air strikes undermines Israel's strategic goals in Gaza," Wood told the UN Security Council.
1441 GMT — US-manufactured munition employed in lethal Rafah strike: Report
An analysis of video footage and a review by explosive weapons experts have revealed that munitions manufactured in the US were used in a deadly Israeli air strike Sunday on a displacement camp in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah.
Videos that show tents engulfed in flames following the strike on the "Kuwait Peace Camp 1" were geolocated.
In one video on social media, which was confirmed to be the same location by matching details such as the camp's entrance sign and ground tiles, the tail of a US-made GBU-39 small-diameter bomb (SDB) is visible, according to four experts who reviewed the footage.
14:12 GMT — Türkiye expects Italy to recognise Palestinian statehood
The Turkish president has expressed hope that Italy would take a "fair stance" like Spain, Ireland and Norway, and recognise Palestinian statehood.
In a phone call, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that he wishes Rome to be “on the right side of history,” Türkiye’s Communications Directorate said on X.
"Pressure should be increased to stop Israel's brutal attacks against Palestine and to force the Israeli administration to comply with international law," the directorate quoted Erdogan as saying.
1404 GMT — World Central Kitchen suspends main operations in Gaza
World Central Kitchen has said that "ongoing attacks" in the Israeli offensive on Rafah had forced it to suspend operation of its main kitchen there.
The group also is having to move many of its smaller kitchens farther north in Gaza, away from the offensive, it said in a post on X.
1358 GMT — Three children, one woman killed in Israeli air strike on Rafah shelter
Three children and a woman were killed in an Israeli air strike on a shelter for displaced people in northern Rafah in southern Gaza, according to witnesses.
Bodies of the victims were transported to the European Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, while civil defence teams were searching the rubble for survivors, witnesses said.
The attack came shortly after at least 20 people were injured in Israeli shelling of a group of civilians near humanitarian aid warehouses in eastern Rafah.
1337 GMT — Yemen's Houthis target six ships in three seas
Yemen's Houthis have targeted six ships in three different seas, including the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Laax which was damaged after reporting a Houthi missile attack off the coast of Yemen, the Iran-backed group has said.
The Laax was attacked on Tuesday. The Houthis also launched attacks against the Morea and Sealady vessels in the Red Sea, the Alba and Maersk Hartford in the Arabian Sea and the Minvera Antonia in the Mediterranean, military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech.
They promised to attack any ships sailing towards Israeli ports, even in the Mediterranean.
1305 GMT — Brazil recalls ambassador to Israel: diplomatic source
Brazil has recalled its ambassador to Israel and will not immediately appoint a replacement, a diplomatic source has said, ratcheting up tensions between the two countries over Israel's war on Gaza.
Frederico Meyer was initially recalled for consultations with his government after Brazil and Israel exchanged harsh statements in February over the conflict. "There were no conditions for him to return" to Israel, the source said.
1213 GMT — Xi reiterates China's call for 'urgent' ceasefire in Gaza
Expressing "deep sadness" over the "dire situation in Gaza", China's President Xi Jinping has reiterated a call for an "urgent" ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
"The ongoing conflict has caused massive casualties among innocent civilians in Palestine and the humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire," Xi told his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah El Sisi, whom he was hosting for bilateral talks at the Great Hall of People in Beijing.
"China is deeply saddened," he added. "What is urgent now is to realize ceasefire as early as possible, prevent the spillovers from undermining regional peace and stability, and forestall a more serious humanitarian crisis," said the Chinese president.
1212 GMT — Amnesty International calls for ceasefire in Gaza
Amnesty International has urged an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza.
"There is nowhere safe in Gaza," the organisation stated on X. "An immediate and sustained ceasefire by all parties is the only effective way to put an end to all this suffering and loss."
The organisation stressed that civilians, aid workers, hospitals, and schools should not be targeted.
11:36 GMT — No indication from Israel that Rafah crossing could open soon: minister
The Palestinian health minister has said there was no indication from Israel that the Rafah crossing, used to bring in essential humanitarian and medical supplies, could be opened soon.
"Since it was closed, we have no indication that the Israelis would like it to be opened any time soon," the minister, Majed Abu Ramadan, told reporters on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly in Geneva.
Rafah was a major entry point for humanitarian relief before Israel stepped up its military offensive on the Gaza side of the border earlier this month and seized control of the crossing from the Palestinian side.
10:38 GMT — 25 more Palestinians detained by Israeli forces
The Israeli army has detained 25 more Palestinians in military raids across the occupied West Bank, according to the prisoners’ affairs groups.
The arrests took place in the cities of Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya and East Jerusalem, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
Those arrested included a journalist and two women, the statement added.
The new arrests brought to 8,935 Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since last October, according to Palestinian figures.
10:36 GMT — Gaza death toll reaches 36,171 amid relentless Israeli attacks
The Palestinian death toll from Israel's military offensive on Gaza has surged to 36,171 since last October, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave has said.
At least 81,420 people have also been injured in the assault, the ministry added in a statement.
"Israeli attacks killed 75 people and injured 384 others in the last 24 hours," the ministry said. "Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them," it added.
10:35 GMT — 'Spirit of United Nations dead in Gaza': Türkiye's Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hit out at the United Nations and called on the "Islamic world" to react after the latest deadly Israeli strikes in Gaza.
"The UN cannot even protect its own staff. What are you waiting for to act? The spirit of the United Nations is dead in Gaza," Erdogan told lawmakers from his AK party.
"Israel is not just a threat to Gaza but to all of humanity," he added.
"No state is safe as long as Israel does not follow international law and does not feel bound by international law," Erdogan added, repeating an accusation that Israel is committing "genocide" in Gaza.
10:14 GMT — Israel in control of 75% of buffer zone along Gaza-Egypt border, official says
Israel's military was in control of 75 percent of the Phildelphi corridor, a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi has said.
"Inside Gaza, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is now in control of 75% of the Philadelphi corridor and I believe it will be in control of it all with time. Together with the Egyptians, we must ensure weapon smuggling is prevented," he told Israel's public broadcaster Kan.
Hanegbi added that he expected fighting in Gaza to continue throughout 2024 at least.
09:14 GMT — WHO delivers aid to north of Gaza for 1st time in 2 weeks, says Tedros
A World Health Organization mission reached the north of Gaza for the first time in more than two weeks, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The mission delivered fuel, hospital beds, medicines and other medical supplies to Al Ahli hospital, Tedros announced on X.
"Amid ongoing intense hostilities, @WHO and partners still managed to reach Al-Ahli Hospital in #Gaza city. First mission to the north of the Strip since 13 May," said Tedros.
He said the supplies were enough to cover the needs of 1,500 people but insisted that much more was needed.
09:09 GMT — 'Enough is enough': F1 icon Lewis Hamilton says Israel's attacks on Gaza 'must stop'
Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has called for a halt to Israel's attacks on Gaza that have continued since more than seven months and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
"Enough is enough. We cannot continue to watch this tragedy unfold and not speak up. The trauma and terror so many, but particularly innocent children, are experiencing is horrifying. This must stop - for the children, for their families, and for their lives," the 39-year-old Mercedes driver from UK wrote in an Instagram story.
Hamilton also shared a Reels video on children living in Rafah, the southern Gaza city Israel invaded despite a ruling of the International Court of Justice against it.
09:01 GMT — Illegal settlers storm Al Aqsa Mosque, perform Talmudic rituals
Dozens of illegal Israeli settlers stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem amid restrictions on Palestinians' entry into the mosque.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted eyewitnesses who said the settlers stormed the holy mosque from its western Al-Mugharbah Gate area, the gate which is used by the settlers to storm into the mosque.
The settlers, under the Israeli forces' protection, did provocative tours inside the mosque and performed Talmudic rituals inside.
It added that the Israeli forces intensified their restrictions in Jerusalem's Old City area and gates leading to the mosque.
06:00 GMT — Algeria proposes UNSC resolution calling for truce in Gaza
Algeria has circulated a proposed UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and ordering Israel to halt its military invasion in the southern city of Rafah immediately.
The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, also demands that the ceasefire be respected by all parties. It also calls for the immediate release of all hostages taken during Hamas' blitz in southern Israel's military and settlements on October 7.
The draft demands compliance with previous council resolutions that call for the opening of all border crossings and humanitarian access to Gaza's 2.4 million people who desperately need food and other aid.
05:23 GMT — US-built pier will be removed from Gaza coast and repaired
The Pentagon has said the US-built temporary pier taking humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians has been damaged in rough seas and weather and will be removed from the coast of Gaza to be repaired.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters that over the next two days the pier will be pulled out and sent to the southern Israeli city of Ashdod [Isdud in Arabic], where US Central Command will repair it.
Singh says the fixes will take "at least over a week" and then the pier will need to be anchored back into the beach in Gaza.
04:30 GMT — Mexico seeks to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel
Mexico has formally requested to intervene in the case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has announced.
"Mexico, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration of intervention in the case concerning 'Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip' (South Africa v. Israel)," said the ICJ in a statement.
Article 63 entitles any state party to a convention to participate in it, which is the case with Mexico.
03:21 GMT — Biden's blurred red lines under scrutiny after Rafah carnage
Joe Biden's red lines over Israel's invasion on Rafah have kept shifting, but the US president faces growing pressure to take a firmer stance after a deadly strike in the Gaza city.
Despite global outrage over the attack in which 45 people were killed and 250 wounded, the White House insisted that it did not believe Israel had launched the major invasion that Biden has warned against.
John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, said that Biden had been consistent and was not "moving the stick" on what defined an all-out military invasion by key ally Israel.
02:30 GMT — Palestine reports 3,222 massacres in Gaza since October
The Israeli occupation army has carried out 3,222 massacres in Gaza since October 7, 2023, killing nearly 36,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring over 81,000 others.
In a statement, the Gaza media office provided information about the devastating attacks that Israel has been carrying out for the last 235 days on Gaza, saying Israeli army has "carried out 3,222 massacres in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023."
The statement said that 15,328 children and 10,171 women were killed in the Israeli army's attacks, 10,000 people are under rubble or missing, and the number of dead reaching hospitals is 36,096, and the number of injured is 81,136.
02:00 GMT — California academic workers strike in support of pro-Palestine protests
Discord from last month's violent mob attack on pro-Palestine students and activists encamped at the University of California, Los Angeles, has flared again as academic workers staged a protest strike on campus protesting UCLA's response to the incident.
Unionised academic researchers, graduate teaching assistants and post-doctoral scholars at UCLA walked off the job over what they regard as unfair labor practices in the university's handling of pro-Palestine demonstrations in recent weeks, organisers said.
They were joined by fellow academic workers at two other University of California campuses — UC Davis near Sacramento, and UC Santa Cruz, where the protest strike began on May 20.
For our live updates from Tuesday, May 28, 2024, click here.
