France also condemned Israel’s recent deadly air strikes on schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza, declaring such tactics “unacceptable.”…reports Asian Lite News
Germany said Wednesday that a deadly Israeli strike on a school in southern Gaza being used as a shelter was “unacceptable” and called for a rapid investigation into the incident.
“People seeking shelter in schools getting killed is unacceptable. Civilians, especially children, must not get caught in the crossfire,” the foreign ministry posted on X. “The repeated attacks on schools by the Israeli army must stop and an investigation must come quickly.”
France also condemned Israel’s recent deadly air strikes on schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza, declaring such tactics “unacceptable.”
“We call for these strikes to be fully investigated,” the foreign ministry said, highlighting a strike on Tuesday on a school near the southern city of Khan Younis.
Since Israeli forces returned to the northern Gaza area of Shejaya, where Hamas is trying to reestablish itself, troops have killed more than 150 terrorists and destroyed six “significant” tunnels, the Israel Defence Forces said on Wednesday.
Soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade and Yahalom, an elite combat engineering unit, have been fighting above and below ground in Shejaya since June 27.
According to the army, soldiers have killed more than 150 terrorists in close-quarters combat, destroyed booby-trapped buildings, and seized weapons and intelligence documents.
Six significant tunnels running about six kilometers long have been destroyed and soldiers are continuing their searches. In some of the tunnel branches, hideouts, command and control centers, weapons and intelligence documents were found.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 116 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed dead.
The Israeli forces have dropped leaflets over Gaza City urging “everyone” in the city to evacuate amid heavy combat with Hamas….reports Asian Lite News
Israeli forces conducted aerial operation over Gaza City, dropping leaflets on Wednesday urging residents to evacuate amidst intense combat with Hamas militants.
The leaflets, addressed to “everyone in Gaza City,” provided designated escape routes while cautioning that the urban area, which previously housed over half a million people, remained a perilous combat zone.
Simultaneously, the United Nations raised concerns about the impact of these evacuations, warning that they would exacerbate the mass suffering already endured by Palestinian families, many of whom have been displaced multiple times due to the ongoing conflict.
“The civilians must be protected,” emphasised Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, underscoring the imperative of safeguarding civilian lives amidst escalating hostilities.
In response to international scrutiny, an Israeli government spokesperson defended the leaflet distribution as a measure to safeguard civilians from harm amid ongoing military operations targeting militants embedded within civilian areas.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts continued with talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and negotiating the release of hostages in Qatar. Hamas officials criticised the heightened military operations, asserting that Israel’s actions were designed to pressure the resistance movement into compromising its legitimate demands during ceasefire negotiations.
The conflict escalation also prompted international condemnation following airstrikes on schools in Gaza utilized as shelters for displaced civilians. France and Germany decried these attacks as unacceptable, calling for thorough investigations into civilian casualties and reaffirming the inviolability of civilian sanctuaries in times of armed conflict.
Amidst the military operations and humanitarian crisis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu engaged in diplomatic maneuvers, meeting with US President Joe Biden’s special envoy for the Middle East, Brett McGurk. Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s commitment to a proposed truce plan while emphasizing the need to preserve Israel’s security interests.
Two-thirds of UNRWA schools hit
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said that since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict began, two-thirds of its schools in Gaza have been hit, some bombed out, and many severely damaged.
Schools have gone from safe places of education and hope for children to overcrowded shelters, often ending up a place of death and misery, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Wednesday on social media platform X.
“Nine months in, under our watch, the relentless, endless killings, destruction, and despair continue. Gaza is no place for children,” Lazzarini added, noting that four schools were hit in the last four days, Xinhua news agency reported.
Israel has been waging a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military has killed 52 people and wounded 208 others, bringing the total death toll to 38,295 and injuries to 88,241 since the conflict broke out, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has confirmed that his group will stop attacking Israel if an agreement is reached on a ceasefire in Gaza.
Nasrallah made the remark on Wednesday in a televised speech commemorating Mohammad Ni’mah Nasser, a party leader killed by Israel in southern Lebanon last week, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Hezbollah leader also made a response to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s earlier comments about the potential continuation of conflict in Lebanon even if Gaza’s war ends, asserting the importance of defending Lebanon’s south and its people.
“Is the enemy who is unable to end operations in Rafah and achieve any gains capable of invading south of the Litani River in southern Lebanon?” he asked.
Moreover, Nasrallah reiterated that Hezbollah will support whatever decision is made by Hamas in its negotiations with Israel.
“The brothers in Hamas know best,” he stated, emphasising that Hamas negotiates on behalf of all resistance factions and that Hezbollah will back all its decisions.
Nasrallah’s words came while delegations from Egypt, the United States, Qatar, and Israel met on Wednesday in Qatar’s capital Doha to resume the Gaza truce talks.
Israeli’s renewed campaign jeopardises ceasefire talks, warned Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, potentially resetting negotiations progress…reports Asian Lite News
At least 29 Palestinians were killed and some others wounded in an Israeli airstrike targeting a school in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said.
Security sources told Xinhua news agency on Tuesday that Israeli aircraft targeted the gate of the Al-Awda School, which houses hundreds of displaced people in the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, using at least one missile.
The videos shared by Palestinian activists on the social media platform Facebook showed dozens of bodies lying on the ground, covered in blood, Xinhua news agency reported.
Medical sources said the Israeli airstrike killed at least 29 people, including women and children, and wounded dozens in varying degrees.
The sources told Xinhua that the number of victims is expected to rise due to the overcrowding of displaced people in the area.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about the incident. The renewed Israeli campaign threatened ongoing ceasefire talks, which Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh warned could bring negotiations “back to square one.” Video footage on social media showed families fleeing Gaza City’s streets on donkey carts and trucks loaded with mattresses and belongings, following Israeli evacuation orders.
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers continued operations in the northern Gaza areas of Gaza City and Shejaya where Hamas is trying to re-establish itself, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday morning.
Following intelligence indicating the presence of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, dozens of militants were eliminated in airstrikes and close-quarters combat.
Numerous weapons were seized, including sniper equipment, RPGs, grenades and AK-47 rifles. In addition, terrorist infrastructure and an underground route were destroyed.
Over the last day, the Israeli Air Force struck additional terror targets throughout the Strip, including military structures, underground shafts, and terrorist infrastructure.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 116 remaining hostages, more than 30 are believed dead.
IDF hits Hezbollah
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported earlier Tuesday evening Israel Air Force fighter jets attacked a military structure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah in the area of Kfarkela in southern Lebanon.
The IDF said the attack came after 40 rocket launches were detected that crossed from the territory of Lebanon into the area of the central Golan Heights.
Hamas claims killings of Israeli soldiers
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), claimed that its fighters killed several Israeli soldiers in various sites in the Gaza Strip.
In a press statement released on Tuesday, al-Qassam Brigades said that its fighters targeted an Israeli force fortified inside a house in the Shuja’iyya neighbourhood with a shell and directly clashed with them face to face.
As more Israeli troops were sent to the site to evacuate the casualties, the Hamas fighters fired an anti-personnel explosive device at them, reports Xinhua news agency, citing the statement.
In the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in the southwest of Gaza City, Hamas fighters managed to target another Israeli force fortified inside a house with a shell, killing and wounding several Israeli soldiers, the al-Qassam Brigades said in the statement.
An Israeli soldier was directly hit by a Hamas sniper in the industrial area of the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, according to the statement.
Hamas fighters detonated an anti-personnel explosive device at a gathering of Israeli soldiers near the Riyadh Tower in the western Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, causing several deaths and injuries, the statement said.
UAE land aid convoy arrives in Gaza
A UAE aid convoy carrying relief materials has reached the Gaza Strip via the Karam Abu Salem border crossing. This marks the first arrival since the closure of the Rafah Border Crossing on May 6th, 2024.
The convoy is part of Operation “Chivalrous Knight 3” and the UAE’s humanitarian aid initiative, aiming to assist Palestinians in Gaza. The closure of the Rafah Crossing had halted land aid provisions, worsening the humanitarian crisis and leading to shortages of food and essential supplies in Gaza.
Trucks loaded with 80 tonnes of UAE aid have arrived in the Gaza Strip. This vital assistance includes tents, a crucial need for families displaced by the ongoing war. The aid also encompasses essential relief materials, food parcels, and dates, addressing the most pressing needs faced by Gaza residents. The people in Gaza are suffering from hunger and the lack of food and basic items in the markets.
Teams of volunteers, operating under Operation “Chivalrous Knight 3”, have started providing aid to displaced Palestinian families in various locations of the Strip. Their aim is to reach a large number of displaced individuals living in shelters, in order to alleviate their suffering following the halt in relief aid distribution.
The UAE, through Operation “Chivalrous Knight 3,” aims to strengthen its humanitarian role by supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, addressing their needs, and implementing relief projects to alleviate the suffering of displaced families.
The fourth UAE aid ship, which departed from the Port of Fujairah, is carrying 4,750 tonnes of food, 590 tonnes of shelter materials….reports Asian Lite News
The fourth UAE aid ship carrying 5,340 tonnes of humanitarian supplies has set sail yesterday for the city of Al Arish, Egypt, destined for the Gaza Strip, as part of Operation “Chivalrous Knight 3” to support the Palestinian people in the Strip.
The ship, which departed from the Port of Fujairah, is carrying 4,750 tonnes of food, 590 tonnes of shelter materials.
The cargo of the ship was provided by the Emirates Red Crescent, the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation, and the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation, and was transported by 313 trucks that unloaded their cargo onto the ship.
As part of Operation “Chivalrous Knight 3”, the UAE has launched a number of initiatives, including the establishment of two field hospitals, one inside the Gaza Strip and the other a floating hospital off the coast of Al Arish city, in addition to the establishment of five automatic bakeries. Flour has also been provided to eight existing bakeries in Gaza, and six desalination plants have been established that produce 1.2 million gallons per day, which are pumped into the Gaza Strip and benefit more than 600,000 people.
The Joint Operations Command recently launched Operation “Birds of Goodness” to airdrop humanitarian aid to isolated areas in the northern Gaza Strip that cannot be reached by land. The total amount of aid dropped so far is 3,382 tonnes of relief and humanitarian supplies.
Weak health capabilities in Gaza hospitals
The health capabilities in the hospitals of the Gaza Strip are weak, and the fuel shortage is a major crisis for the health sector, a Palestinian medical official warned.
Munir al-Bursh, an official with the Gaza-based health authorities, said on Monday in a statement that 34 children have died due to severe food shortages in the northern region, Xinhua news agency reported.
About 25,000 patients urgently needed treatment outside the Gaza Strip, but only 5,000 have managed to travel, he said, emphasising that the situation in the Strip is extremely difficult, demanding the immediate opening of the Rafah crossing.
On Sunday and Monday, the Israeli military instructed tens of thousands of people residing in 19 blocs in Gaza City to immediately evacuate, according to a report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Monday.
As of Monday, Al Ahli Baptist Hospital and the Patients Friends Association Hospital were evacuated in fear of intensified military activities that would render them inaccessible or non-functional, and critical patients were transferred to the Indonesian and Kamal Adwan Hospitals in North Gaza governorate, it added.
Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence, warned that the situation in the Strip is “very dire and bitter” amid the Israeli army’s entry from Gaza City’s eastern areas and the presence of vehicles in the Shuja’iyya area east of the city since about 11 days ago.
He mentioned that injuries and deaths on the roads are difficult for rescue teams to reach, urging for international intervention to pressure Israel to stop these crimes against innocent civilians in Gaza.
Israel has been waging a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.
During the past 24 hours, the Israeli military killed 40 people and wounded 75 others, bringing the total death toll to 38,193 and injuries to 87,903 since the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out, the Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Monday.
UN: 90% Gazans displaced at least once
UN humanitarians have said 90 per cent of Gazans were displaced, some multiple times, as more evacuations were ordered and poor or no security hampers aid and fuel deliveries.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday that the Israeli military instructed on Sunday and Monday tens of thousands of people living in 19 blocs of apartments in Gaza City to evacuate immediately.
On Sunday, some residents were ordered to evacuate to western Gaza City, while the order on Monday included areas that people had fled to a day earlier and instructed them to evacuate to shelters in Deir al Balah, Xinhua news agency reported.
“The two directly affected areas encompass 13 health facilities that were recently functional, including two hospitals, two primary healthcare centres and nine medical points,” OCHA said, adding that 13 out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are only partially functional.
The office said that with nine out of every 10 people estimated to be displaced in Gaza, new waves of displacement are mainly affecting people who have already been displaced multiple times, only to find themselves forced to flee again under shelling. They were forced to reset their lives repeatedly without any of their belongings or any prospect of finding safety or reliable access to essential services.
“People, especially children, spend long hours queueing to collect water each day,” OCHA said.
“Access to emergency health care is also a challenge, particularly given limited communications coverage to contact emergency services, high transportation costs to reach hospitals ($26 roundtrip) and the long walking distance of at least 3 km to reach the nearest medical point.”
PM tells Netanyahu of a clear and urgent need for a ceasefire, return of hostages and an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid…reports Asian Lite News
The Prime Minister has emphasised the need for a ceasefire and a two-state solution in calls with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, as Israel has shown no inclination to stop its devastating war that has killed more than 38,000 people.
Keir Starmer told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a “clear and urgent need for a ceasefire, the return of hostages and an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid reaching civilians”.
As the opposition leader, Starmer had been accused of not calling for a ceasefire, taking the same line as Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He called for a ceasefire in February after intense public pressure months after opposing a ceasefire resolution in the UK Parliament. He was also accused of denying tickets to some pro-Palestinian members of the Labour Party, including former party chief Jeremy Corbyn.
At least five pro-Palestinian candidates, including Corbyn, won the elections as independents.
Starmer was widely criticised for saying Israel “has the right” to cut water and electricity supplies to Gaza on an LBC podcast last October. A Labour Party spokesperson denied Starmer justified water and power blockade, saying his comment was in response to a question on Israel’s right to defend itself.
More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed, mostly children and women, in the Israeli military offensive launched in the wake of October 7 attacks by Palestinian groups on Israel. More than 87,000 people have been injured and thousands are missing.
According to a statement by the new British government, the prime minister added that “it was also important to ensure the long-term conditions for a two-state solution were in place, including ensuring the Palestinian Authority had the financial means to operate effectively”.
Starmer assured Netanyahu that the UK wishes to continue its “vital cooperation to deter malign threats” with Israel. Netanyahu’s office did not put out a statement after the phone call on Sunday.
Starmer also spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reiterate the same priorities.
“Discussing the importance of reform, and ensuring international legitimacy for Palestine, the prime minister said that his longstanding policy on recognition to contribute to a peace process had not changed, and it was the undeniable right of Palestinians,” a Downing Street spokesperson told reporters.
According to the Wafa news agency, Abbas emphasised the importance of the UK recognising the State of Palestine.
Palestine has been recognised as a sovereign country by more than 140 countries, with Ireland, Spain and Norway becoming the latest European nations to do so in late May.
The Israeli military continues to significantly restrict the flow of international humanitarian aid going into the besieged enclave, leading to mass malnutrition, especially among children, according to the United Nations and global aid organisations.
During the phone call with Netanyahu, Starmer also discussed the intensifying border fighting between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah that still threatens to expand into all-out war.
He said, “The situation on [the] northern border of Israel was very concerning, and it was crucial all parties acted with caution.”
Israel pushes deeper into Gaza
Meanwhile, Israeli forces advanced deeper into the Gaza Strip’s largest city in pursuit of militants who had regrouped there, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing on Monday from an area ravaged in the early weeks of the nine-month-long war.
Hamas said it had shown flexibility in indirect talks over a ceasefire and hostage release and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of setting “obstacles,” including the latest escalation. The incursion into Gaza City came after Israel and Hamas appeared to draw closer to bridging gaps in negotiations.
Israeli troops were again battling militants in areas that the army said had been largely cleared months ago in northern Gaza. The military ordered evacuations ahead of the raids, but Palestinians said nowhere feels safe. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are packed into sweltering tent camps.
Israel ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza in the first weeks of the war and has prevented most people from returning. But hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain, living in shelters or the shells of homes.
“We fled in the darkness amid heavy strikes,” said Sayeda Abdel-Baki, a mother of three who had sheltered with relatives in the Daraj neighborhood. “This is my fifth displacement.”
Residents reported artillery and tank fire, as well as airstrikes. Gaza’s Health Ministry, with limited access to the north, did not immediately report casualties.
Israel issued additional evacuation orders for areas in other neighborhoods of central Gaza City. The military said it had intelligence showing that militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group were in the area, and called on residents to head south to the city of Deir Al-Balah.
Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians. In Shijaiyah, a Gaza City neighborhood that has seen weeks of fighting, the military said troops raided and destroyed schools and a clinic that had been converted into militant compounds.
The anonymous source affirmed that Egypt has also maintained communication with the Hamas movement…reports Asian Lite News
Egypt will host Israeli and US delegations to discuss the “outstanding points” regarding a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported, without revealing the specific timing of the meeting.
Egypt has been holding intensive meetings with relevant parties this week to advance efforts to reach a truce agreement in the Gaza Strip, Al-Qahera News TV channel reported, citing a high-ranking security source.
The anonymous source affirmed that Egypt has also maintained communication with the Hamas movement as part of the efforts to facilitate a ceasefire agreement and the exchange of “detainees and prisoners”.
Explosions, air strikes and gunfire rattled northern Gaza on Saturday, the third day of an Israeli military operation that has uprooted tens of thousands of Palestinians and compounded what the UN called “unbearable” living conditions in the territory.
An AFP correspondent reported ongoing explosions from the Shujaiya area near Gaza City, with a resident saying bodies were visible on the streets.
Israel’s military on Saturday said its operations were continuing in Shujaiya where fighting “above and below the ground” left a “large number” of militants dead.
A resurgence of fighting in the area comes months after Israel had declared the command structure of Hamas militants dismantled in northern Gaza.
Last Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the “intense phase” of the war was winding down after almost nine months, but experts see a potentially prolonged next phase.
The Gaza war has also led to soaring tensions on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, leading Iran on Saturday to warn of an “obliterating” war if Israel attacked Lebanon.
The war started with Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
The militants also seized hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza although the army says 42 are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 37,834 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. It reported at least 69 deaths over the previous 48 hours.
Mohammed Harara, 30, said he and his family, young and old, felt as though they would become part of that toll.
He said they fled from their home in Shujaiya with nothing, “due to the bombardment by Israeli planes, tanks and drones” that they barely survived.
“We couldn’t carry anything from the house. We left the food, flour, canned goods, mattresses, and blankets,” Harara said.
Israel’s military on Friday said it was conducting “targeted raids” backed by air strikes against Hamas militants in the Shujaiya area.
The United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA estimated that “about 60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced” from the area this week.
AFPTV images on Saturday showed men moving belongings on a donkey cart. Some people were pushed in wheelchairs. Children walked with backpacks past piles of dusty debris.
“I saw a tank in front of the Shuhada mosque firing” at targets, said Abdelkareem Al-Mamluk. “There were martyrs in the street.”
On Friday Hamas and the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad both said they were fighting in Shujaiya.
Elsewhere in the coastal territory, the civil defense agency on Saturday said four bodies were pulled from an apartment after an Israeli strike in the central region.
Further south, in the Rafah area, witnesses reported dead and wounded after a new incursion by Israeli troops.
Tarek Qandeel, director of the medical center in Al-Maghazi, central Gaza, said the facility was seriously damaged in the bombing of a neighboring house, making it the latest Gaza medical facility affected by the war.
The United Nations, in a report on Friday that cited Gaza’s health ministry, said “about 70 percent of health infrastructure has been destroyed.”
Separately, a UN spokeswoman, Louise Wateridge, said by video-link that she had just returned to central Gaza after four weeks outside the territory.
“It’s really unbearable,” she said, describing a “significantly deteriorated” situation.
“There’s no water there, there’s no sanitation, there’s no food,” and people are returning to live in “empty shells” of buildings.
In the absence of bathrooms they are “relieving themselves anywhere they can,” Wateridge said.
The UN says most of Gaza’s population is displaced, but fallout from the war has also uprooted people on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border, where Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement and Israeli forces have engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire.
Such exchanges have escalated this month, alongside bellicose rhetoric from both sides.
Israel’s military said plans for a Lebanon offensive had been “approved and validated,” prompting Hezbollah to respond that none of Israel would be spared in a full-blown conflict.
In a post Saturday on social media, Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said it “deems as psychological warfare” Israeli threats to “attack” Lebanon.
But it added such a move would lead to an “obliterating” war that could involve “all resistance fronts,” a reference to Iran-backed groups in the region.
Among those are Yemen’s Houthi militants, who have for months been targeting international shipping in the Red Sea area. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.
On Friday the Houthis claimed a “direct hit” on a tanker in the Red Sea but a maritime security agency run by Britain’s Royal Navy reported no damage.
The US Navy has retaliated against Houthi targets for such attacks, and on Friday the US military said its forces had destroyed seven drones and a control station vehicle in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen over the previous day.
Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and has since established settlements there, which are considered violations of international law…reports Asian Lite News
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has condemned the Israeli cabinet’s move to legalise five settlement outposts in the West Bank and advance plans to build thousands of new units across the occupied territory.
The Ministry said on Friday in a press statement that it “views with extreme seriousness that the Israeli government continues to commit the crime of settlement expansion and deepening apartheid, with the aim of closing the door to any opportunity to materialise a Palestinian state”.
The statement held the Israeli government responsible for the results of settlement expansion and its dangerous repercussions on the conflict arenas and the entire region, Xinhua news agency reported.
It called for international intervention to stop the Israeli government’s “unilateral, illegal actions and to exert real pressure on it to stop settlement activity and submit to the international will for peace”.
On Thursday, the Israeli security cabinet approved Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to address several countries’ recognition of a Palestinian state and measures taken against Israel in international courts, according to Israeli state-owned Kan TV.
Kan TV said the plan is to take measures against the Palestinian Authority, legalise five settlement outposts in the West Bank, and issue tenders for building thousands of housing units in the settlements.
According to Smotrich’s proposal, five settlement outposts will be recognised and legalised as a response to the five countries that recognised a Palestinian state after the onset of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict on October 7, 2023.
Some of the Ministers and military personnel who attended the meeting expressed their opposition to Smotrich’s plan, according to Kan TV, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not express his position on the plan, but he temporarily suspended the session for consultations.
Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 and has since established settlements there, which are considered violations of international law.
Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike in Rafah…reports Asian Lite News
Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza on Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.
Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.
Since early May, ground fighting has focused on Rafah, abutting Egypt on Gaza’s southern edge, where around half of the enclave’s 2.3 million people had been sheltering after fleeing other areas. Most have since had to flee again.
Israel says that it is close to destroying the last remaining Hamas battalions in Rafah, after which it will move to smaller scale operations in the enclave.
Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike in Rafah.
The Israeli military said in a statement its forces killed a Hamas militant who had been involved in the smuggling of weapons through the border between Rafah and Egypt. It said jets struck dozens of militant targets in Rafah overnight, including fighters, military structures and tunnel shafts.
Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike killed three Palestinians and wounded others near the northern Jabalia camp, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, medics said.
Residents and Hamas media said the casualties were among a group of people who gathered outside a store to get an Internet signal to communicate with relatives elsewhere in the enclave.
In Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, tank shells struck an apartment, killing at least five people and wounding others, medics said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Israel’s ground and air campaign in Gaza was triggered when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The Israeli offensive in retaliation has so far killed 37,658 people, of them 60 in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday, and has left the tiny, heavily built-up Gaza Strip in ruins.
The Gaza health ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, but officials say most those killed have been civilians. Israel has lost 314 soldiers in Gaza and says at least a third of the Palestinian dead are fighters.
More than eight months into the war, international mediation backed by the US has failed to yield a ceasefire agreement. Hamas says any deal must bring an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting until Hamas is eradicated.
Netanyahu also signalled that there is no end in sight for the grinding war in Gaza….reports Asian Lite News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the current phase of fighting against Hamas in Gaza is winding down, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The comments threatened to further heighten the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah at a time when they appear to be moving closer to war.
Netanyahu also signalled that there is no end in sight for the grinding war in Gaza.
The Israeli leader said in a lengthy TV interview that while the army is close to completing its current ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, that would not mean the war against Hamas is over. But he said fewer troops would be needed in Gaza, freeing up forces to battle Hezbollah.
“We will have the possibility of transferring some of our forces north, and we will do that,” he told Israel’s Channel 14, a pro-Netanyahu TV channel, in an interview that was frequently interrupted by applause from the studio audience. “First and foremost, for defence,” he added, but also to allow tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return home.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ October 7 cross-border attack that triggered the Gaza war.
Israel and Hezbollah have been exchanging fire nearly every day since then, but the fighting has escalated in recent weeks, raising fears of a full-blown war.
Hezbollah is much stronger than Hamas, and opening a new front would raise the risk of a larger, region-wide war involving other Iranian proxies and perhaps Iran itself that could cause heavy damage and mass casualties on both sides of the border.
White House envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week meeting with officials in Israel and Lebanon in an effort to lower tensions. But the fighting has continued.
Netanyahu said he hoped a diplomatic solution to the crisis could be found but vowed to solve the problem “in a different way” if needed. “We can fight on several fronts and we are prepared to do that,” he said.
He said any deal would not just be “an agreement on paper.” He said it would require Hezbollah to be far from the border, an enforcement mechanism and the return of Israelis back to their homes. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated shortly after the fighting erupted and have not been able to go home.
Hezbollah has said it will continue battling Israel until a cease-fire is reached in Gaza. The group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned Israel last week against launching a war, saying Hezbollah has new weapons and intelligence capabilities that could help it target more critical positions deeper inside Israel.
Hezbollah already has unveiled new weapons during the low-level fighting, including hard-to-defend attack drones that strike with little warning. An Israeli soldier was badly wounded Sunday in a drone strike.
But Israel says it too has shown Hezbollah only a small part of its full capabilities, and that Lebanon will be turned into a second Gaza if there is a war. Israel’s army last week said it had “approved and validated” a new plan for a Lebanon offensive.
In the interview, Netanyahu said that Israel’s offensive in Gaza is winding down. The Israeli army has been operating in the southern border town of Rafah since early May.
It says it has inflicted heavy damage on Hamas in Rafah, which it has identified as the last remaining Hamas stronghold after a brutal war stretching nearly nine months. But he said Israel would have to continue “mowing” operations — targeted strikes aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping.
Israel launched its air and ground invasion of Gaza immediately after Hamas’ October 7 attack, which killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage.
The Israeli offensive has killed over 37,000 Palestinians, unleashed a humanitarian crisis and triggered war crimes and genocide cases at the world’s top courts in The Hague.
Israel defense chief to discuss Gaza, Lebanon on US trip
Israel’s defence minister has flown to meet senior Biden administration officials in Washington for what he has described as “critical” talks over the twin conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Yoav Gallant, accompanied by the Israel Defense Forces’ deputy chief of staff, will meet the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, as well as the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Joe Biden’s special envoy, Amos Hochstein.
Gallant’s visit came as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, repeated his claim that the Biden administration was presiding over a “dramatic drop” in arms shipments to Israel in recent months, a charge that has angered US officials, who have described it as “perplexing”.
In a statement on Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated his resistance to ending the war in Gaza – one of Hezbollah’s conditions for de-escalation – while Hamas is still in place.
Describing his visit, Gallant said: “During these meetings I plan to discuss developments in Gaza and Lebanon. These [discussions] are particularly important and impactful at this time. We are prepared for any action that may be required in Gaza, Lebanon and in additional areas.”
Some Israeli officials have linked a push into Rafah, the southern area of Gaza, where it says it is targeting the last battalions of Hamas, to a potential refocus on the border with Lebanon, where escalating exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah have increased fears of a wider war there.
Gallant appeared to make the same link in his statement. “The transition to phase C in Gaza is of great importance. I will discuss this transition with US officials, how it may enable additional things, and I know that we will achieve close cooperation with the US on this issue as well,” he said.
On Sunday, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff warned that an Israeli offensive in Lebanon had the potential to increase the risk of a broader conflict that draws in Iran and Iran-aligned militants.
“Hezbollah is more capable than Hamas as far as overall capability, number rockets and the like. And I would just say I would see Iran be more inclined to provide greater support to Hezbollah,” air force general Charles Q Brown told reporters.
Amid concerns that fighting with Hezbollah could escalate into a wider war, the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, repeated threats that his movement would strike widely throughout Israel.
The Lebanese armed group on Saturday evening published a video showing Israeli positions and coordinates, along with an excerpt of a speech last week in which Nasrallah said: “If war is imposed on Lebanon, the resistance will fight without restrictions or rules.”
As exchanges continued between the two sides, air alarms were triggered on Sunday morning in Israel’s Lower Galilee after a Hezbollah drone was intercepted in the Misgav region south of the city of Karmiel, near a defence factory, farther south than in previous attacks.
Early on Sunday, Israel also intercepted a drone outside its airspace that had been launched by an Iran-allied group in Iraq, as it was reported that other Iran-allied groups in the region had offered to send fighters to support Hezbollah in the event of a wider war.
