from thefreeonline on 19th May ’24 By Tamila Varshalomidze etc.. by Al Jazeera./liveblog
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Photos: Rescue teams pull bodies from under the rubble of Nuseirat refugee camp
‘Apocalyptic’ consequences is current aid situation persists: Griffiths
The UN’s humanitarian aid chief says on X that if fuel and aid do not begin to enter Gaza soon, “the famine we’ve warned about will no longer be looming – it will be present”.
Griffiths acknowledged that a new maritime aid delivery operation is bringing in some aid, but that this is “no replacement” for land routes.
Land routes for aid to enter Gaza have been shut for some time, after Israeli forces seized and closed the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Strip last week.
42m ago (17:35 GMT)
Israeli settlers attack occupied West Bank town
Local Palestinian media reports that illegal Israeli settlers have attacked the agricultural community of Yatma, south of Nablus in the West Bank, setting fire to the property of those Palestinians living there.
Video verified by Al Jazeera shows several cars on fire after the attack.
We will update you on this attack as information comes in.
57m ago (17:20 GMT)
If you’re just joining us
Here’s a look at recent developments:
- According to local media reports, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has arrived in Israel and begun his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
- The Qassam Brigades and al-Quds Brigades have said they engaged the Israeli forces in Rafah in southern Gaza.
- The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza has told Al Jazeera Arabic that since yesterday, the hospital has received about 60 bodies, most of them women and children, due to the Israeli bombing of a crowded residential area in Jabalia.
- The Israeli military has claimed killing Hamas official Azmi Abu Daqqa, who was reportedly involved with the supply of weapons and funds to the Palestinian group.
- Videos verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking unit have shown illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank attacking aid trucks heading to the Gaza Strip.
- Gaza’s civil defence has announced that Israel’s forces have destroyed 300 homes in Jabalia in northern Gaza since the beginning of its operation in the city earlier this month.
- The Government Media Office in Gaza has reported that Israeli forces had prevented 3,000 aid trucks from entering Gaza in the past two weeks.
- Israeli forces have intensified attacks across the Gaza Strip, killing at least 20 people in the Nuseirat refugee camp and nine Palestinians in Gaza City.
- Netanyahu has responded to Gantz’s call for a post-war plan for Gaza, saying the war cabinet member’s demands would mean a “defeat for Israel”
Any Israel-approved group ruling post-war Gaza to face opposition: Report
Locals in Gaza say no Israel-approved group could take control in the war-torn coastal enclave, according to sources cited by Israeli media outlet Haaretz.
One unnamed prominent personality in Gaza told Haaretz: “Anyone who dares to take on the task is at best an executive contractor who has no ability to withstand pressure, and at worst will be under the auspices of Israel, and therefore will not receive cooperation from the Palestinian factions, including from the Palestinian Authority for its mechanisms, certainly not from Hamas.”
Moreover, political factions in Gaza and senior officials in Ramallah are unanimous regarding what they deem to be the “ultimate solution to the situation” – the introduction of a “multinational force into Gaza that will operate under the auspices of the United Nations”, Haaretz reported.
This arrangement would be for a limited time period, Haaretz noted, until a political process is undertaken to reach a two-state solution, the media outlet said.
1h ag0 (17:05 GMT)
Al-Quds, Qassam Brigades claim joint attack in Jabalia
The armed wings of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas have announced on Telegram that they destroyed a unit of Israeli special forces in the north Gaza refugee camp.
They said that the attack took place on al-Albani Street in Jabalia.
Fierce fighting has been ongoing in Jabailia for the past several days after Israeli ground forces re-entered the area earlier in the week.
1h ago (16:50 GMT)
Graduates turn their backs to Biden during commencement speech
US President Joe Biden’s commencement address at Morehouse College has spurred some students to turn their backs to him over his support for Israel and its war on Gaza.
“It’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, that’s why I’ve called for an immediate ceasefire,” Biden said.
“I know it angers and frustrates many of you including in my family,” he said.
One graduate appeared to hold up a Palestinian flag briefly and an audience member stood and turned their back with their fist raised.
Some graduates wore keffiyehs – the black-and-white headscarves that have become an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause – tied around their gowns, while the valedictorian called for a permanent and immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
1h ago (16:35 GMT)
Hezbollah targets Israeli soldiers
The Lebanese group says in a statement that it targeted a border outpost belonging to the Israeli army near the town of Metulla with a “guided missile”, hitting a group of three soldiers directly.
It said that its fighters monitored the entry of the three soldiers into the border outpost, and that they fired at them upon arrival.
Hezbollah claims that its attack killed at least one of the soldiers.
1h ago (16:20 GMT)
Israel claims hitting Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon’s Maroun al-Ras
The Israeli military has said that its fighter jets hit a building in Maroun al-Ras where Hezbollah operatives were identified.
Earlier, about 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Malkia and Mount Dov areas in northern Israel.
The military said no injuries were reported and that it shelled the sources of fire.
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2h ago (16:10 GMT)
Israeli soldier succumbs to injuries received in northern Gaza: Israeli military
The Israeli military has said that a soldier who was injured on May 15 during fighting in northern Gaza had died.
The military said the 24-year-old soldier was a company commander in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion.
This brings the death toll of soldiers killed in the Israeli military ground offensive in Gaza to 283.
2h ago (16:00 GMT)
2h ago
(15:35 GMT)
Israeli settlers carry out series of attacks in occupied West Bank
Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians’ vehicles on the Marajat road, northwest of the city of Jericho, according to the Wafa news agency.
Eyewitnesses reported that they threw stones at vehicles passing through the road connecting the cities of Ramallah and Jericho, causing damage and impeding movement.
Earlier today, settlers – protected by soldiers – raided the archaeological site of al-Mas’udiyya in the village of Burqa, northwest of Nablus.
According to Wafa, 15 Palestinian families live in the al-Mas’udiyya area and are constantly subject to settler attacks and harassment.
Al-Mas’udiyya is an archaeological area that includes parts of the Hejaz railway, which was built during Ottoman rule.
2h ago
(15:20 GMT)
Hezbollah claims shelling Israeli military site in Jal al-Allam
Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group has claimed to have hit an Israeli military site with artillery shells in Jal al-Allam near the border with Israel.
The attack came in support of Gaza at 1:25pm (10:25 GMT), the statement on Telegram said.
Earlier today, the group also claimed to have destroyed Israel’s “spy equipment” in southern Lebanon’s Ramyah “with appropriate weapons”.
3h ago
(15:05 GMT)
Gaza’s interior ministry condemns Israel’s killing of police official
Gaza’s interior ministry has released a statement denouncing Israel’s “assassination of the director of police investigations for central Gaza and his escort while they were carrying out their police duty this morning”.
The ministry identified the official as Colonel Zaher al-Houli. Four other police officers were killed by Israeli troops in Nuseirat refugee camp last night as well, the ministry said.
“The repeated targeting of police officers and members of the police service aims to spread chaos within Palestinian society,” it said.
“We reiterate that the police is a civilian body protected under international law and the assassination of police officers is unjustified.”
In February, Israel targeted a vehicle carrying six Palestinian police officers in the Khirbat al-Adas neighbourhood in Rafah, killing them instantly.
Witnesses said the officers had been securing the passage of a flour truck when Israeli aircraft hit their car, ripping the passengers to pieces.
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3h ago
(14:50 GMT)
‘Safe, sustained access’ into and across Gaza needed to prevent famine: WFP
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has said it is concerned that recent evacuation orders by the Israeli military, which it called a sign of expected escalation in fighting, will jeopardise access to Western Erez crossing and risk progress made to get more aid into northern Gaza.
“We need safe, sustained access into and across Gaza to prevent famine,” WFP said in a post on X.
3h ago
(14:35 GMT)
Situation in Gaza ‘traumatising’ for humanitarian aid workers: UN coordinator
Martin Griffiths, UN humanitarian affairs coordinator, has told Al Jazeera that the situation in Gaza is unlike anything he has ever seen during his career.
“When very, very experienced humanitarian aid workers, who have been in all kinds of places around the world for decades, when they go to Gaza – to help, to serve, to work – it is traumatising for them. So, God help what it must be for the people of Gaza. It is really difficult and it’s getting worse daily,” he said.
He added that the Americans were not succeeding in their advocacy with the Israelis to open the land crossings, which are crucial to aid delivery.
“We meet with Israelis daily through COGAT, the committee set up for this purpose. We have many detailed discussions with them about security, about the movement of our trucks and convoys, about the priorities for fuel, but the fact of the matter is, we are not in a position to provide proper aid to the people of Gaza. Right now, it’s not ever been quite as difficult as it is today,” Griffiths said.
“Much more can be done and ideally, obviously and hopefully this [Israeli military] operation needs to stop.”
3h ago (14:20 GMT)
Trump ally criticises Biden’s arms hold-up in speech to Israeli parliament
Elise Stefanik, seen as a candidate to be Donald Trump’s running mate, has delivered a speech before Israel’s parliament in which she criticised President Joe Biden’s approach to the war on Gaza.
Stefanik, the fourth highest-ranked Republican in the House of Representatives, is the latest of several US politicians from both sides of the aisle to visit Israel since the October 7 attack. But it is rare for such visitors to address Israel’s parliament.
Speaking at a session today, the congresswoman promised to help with “crushing antisemitism at home and providing Israel what it needs when it needs it, without conditions”.
She was referring to Biden’s decision to hold up the delivery of about 3,500 bombs of up to 2,000 pounds (907kg) each, and his refusal to provide offensive weapons for a long-promised Israeli invasion of the southern city of Rafah.
“There is no excuse for an American president to block aid to Israel that was duly passed by the Congress, and there was no excuse to ease sanctions on Iran,” she said.
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Video Duration 01 minutes 43 seconds 01:43US aid to Israel: Republicans slam Biden shift in weapons policy
4h ago
(14:10 GMT)
War on Gaza is testing whether campuses are sacrosanct places for speech and protest
Colleges and universities have long been protected places for free expression without pressure or punishment. But protests over Israel’s war on Gaza have tested that ideal around the world.
The protesters want their schools to divest in Israel. Instead of safety and an ability to speak freely, thousands of US students and faculty – from Columbia University in New York to the University of California, Los Angeles – have been arrested in the past month.
Elsewhere, officials in Amsterdam and Berlin broke up demonstrations.
Students and faculty say they feel betrayed by administrators who have called the police on them.
The crackdowns are reviving memories of student-led protests during the US civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.
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Video Duration 25 minutes 20 seconds 25:20The impact of student encampments for Gaza at universities worldwide
4h ago
(14:00 GMT)
Gaza war could overshadow Biden’s university commencement address
US President Joe Biden is delivering the commencement address at Morehouse College, the historically Black, male-only institution in Atlanta, according to the AP news agency.
The speech at the former university of civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr, offers Biden an election-year appearance before a Black audience, a key voting bloc for Democrats.
However, it could directly expose Biden to the anger that some Morehouse and other college students around the country have been expressing over his support for Israel in its war on Gaza.
Morehouse’s announcement of Biden as the commencement speaker sparked a backlash among the school’s faculty and supporters who oppose Biden’s handling of the war.
Some Morehouse alumni circulated an online letter condemning school administrators for inviting Biden and soliciting signatures to pressure Morehouse President David Thomas to rescind it.
The letter said that Biden’s approach to Israel amounted to support of genocide in Gaza and was out of step with the pacifism expressed by MLK Jr., Morehouse’s most famous graduate.
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Video Duration 02 minutes 16 seconds 02:16Police shut down Gaza solidarity encampment at the University of California, Irvine
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4h ago
(13:50 GMT)
Fourth Israeli military brigade to fight in Rafah: Report
Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster has quoted army sources as saying that the fourth military brigade had joined the military operation in Rafah, bringing the number of brigades operating in Gaza to nine.
4h ago
(13:40 GMT)
Photos: Palestinians queue at Rafah’s last remaining food distribution centre
4h ago
(13:30 GMT)
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Palestinians conduct search and rescue operation after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Sunday [Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP Photo]
5h ago
(13:10 GMT)
Hostilities near Kamal Adwan Hospital ‘deeply worrisome’: WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) has again called for a ceasefire, noting the “deeply worrisome” situation.
“Reports of intense hostilities in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan hospital in northern #Gaza – and an increased influx of injured patients to the hospital – are deeply worrisome given the facility’s limited capacity to provide care,” WHO’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.
“Evacuation orders, intensified bombardment, and no passage for aid across Gaza continue to put civilian lives and health at grave risk,” Tedros added.
He said medical teams and supplies have been blocked at the Rafah border crossing for the past two weeks.
“We have lost the words to describe the situation in Gaza. It is high time for a ceasefire and peace for the civilians there,” Tedros said.
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