Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah, on May 10, 2023.(Photo by Khaled Omar/Xinhua/IANS)
Before the attacks started, the Israeli army had called on the Palestinian civilian population to temporarily evacuate from eastern Rafah…reports Asian Lite News
The Israeli army carried out on Monday airstrikes on areas in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, said Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses.
Sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that Israeli airstrikes created fire belts in the vicinity of Gaza Airport and on the outskirts of the Al-Salam neighbourhood, east of Rafah.
The raids caused large explosions and inflicted significant damage on nearby structures, with no injuries reported yet.
Before the attacks started, the Israeli army had called on the Palestinian civilian population to temporarily evacuate from eastern Rafah.
Avichai Adraee, a spokesperson of the Israeli army, said in a press statement that “for all people who live in the neighbourhoods of Al-Salam, Al-Jeneina, Tabba Zaraa, and Al-Byouk in the Rafah area in blocks 10-16, 28, and 270, the army will work with extreme force against terrorist organisations there.”
Israel considers Rafah the last major stronghold of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Located in the southernmost part of the Strip, Rafah shelters approximately 1.4 million Palestinians.
Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza on October 7, 2023, following Hamas’s surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
The United Nations Security Council delegation, consisting of twelve ambassadors, embarked on the visit to Rafah crossing organised by the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
United Nations Security Council envoys visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on Monday, expressing deep concern over the dire situation in the Gaza Strip and calling for an immediate end to the conflict. The Rafah crossing serves as the primary entry point for aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Zhang Jun, China’s representative to the UN, succinctly conveyed a message to nations opposing a Gaza cease-fire: “Enough is enough.”
The majority of UN member states advocate for a swift and enduring cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. The Security Council delegation, consisting of twelve envoys, embarked on the visit organised by the United Arab Emirates. This trip followed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ recent warning that thousands in Gaza were “simply starving.”
Arriving in Al-Arish, the envoys received briefings from the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA on the deteriorating conditions in Gaza before proceeding to Rafah, approximately 30 miles away.
Lana Nusseibeh, the UAE’s permanent representative to the UN, highlighted the alarming situation conveyed during the briefings. Palestinians in Gaza are reportedly facing malnutrition, a collapsing medical system, water and food shortages, in addition to the ongoing conflict. The envoys emphasised the urgent need for concerted international efforts to address the humanitarian crisis and bring about a lasting resolution to the conflict.
(Photo via Zhang Jun @ChinaAmbUN)
UNGA to Convene on Gaza
The emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on the situation in Gaza is set to resume on Tuesday, as announced by UNGA President Dennis Francis, CNN reported.
This decision follows the United States’ veto of a UN Security Council resolution on Friday, which had called for a humanitarian ceasefire.
In a letter penned to the 193 UN member states, UNGA President Dennis Francis conveyed that representatives from Egypt and Mauritania, acting as the Chairs of the Arab Group and Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Group, respectively, had called for the special meeting on Tuesday, according to CNN.
They invoked UNGA resolution 377, known as “United for Peace,” which empowers the General Assembly to convene when the Security Council “fails to exercise its primary responsibility to act as required to maintain international peace and security.”
The joint letter from the representatives emphasised the urgency of the situation, stating, “In the absence of a ceasefire and in light of the ongoing grave breaches of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, and violations of the relevant United Nations resolutions… the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the Gaza Strip, has continued to dramatically deteriorate.”
(Photo via Zhang Jun @ChinaAmbUN)
The emergency session is scheduled to begin at 3 pm ET on Tuesday, according to UNGA President Dennis Francis.
The US had exercised its veto power to block a UN resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. The draft resolution, presented by the United Arab Emirates, had proposed “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” the release of all hostages, and ensuring humanitarian access. Thirteen countries supported the resolution, the US vetoed it, and the United Kingdom abstained.
Following this, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accused the United States of being “responsible” for the bloodshed of children in Gaza after Washington vetoed a UN resolution calling for an ‘immediate ceasefire’, Times of Israel reported.”
He described the American position as aggressive and immoral, a flagrant violation of all humanitarian principles and values, and held the US responsible for the bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and elderly people in the Gaza Strip,” a statement from President Abbas’s office read.
This move came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN charter, an unusual step that allowed him to call a Security Council meeting on an “issue that may aggravate existing threats to the maintenance of international peace and security.” Notably, this powerful tool had not been used since 1989, CNN reported. (with inputs from ANI)
The convoy comprises 13 trucks carrying a total of 272.5 tonnes of aid…reports Asian Lite News
A UAE humanitarian aid convoy set off from Al Arish, Egypt, towards the Rafah Border Crossing today, in preparation for its entry into the Gaza Strip. The aid will be distributed under the UAE’s supervision as part of the ‘Gallant Knight 3’ humanitarian operation, launched under the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to support the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
The convoy comprises 13 trucks carrying a total of 272.5 tonnes of aid. These include 10 trucks carrying 16,800 food packages weighing 252 tonnes to support 84,000 people, and 3 trucks carrying 360 tents weighing 20.5 tonnes.
The UAE is continuing its humanitarian aid drive to support the Palestinian people as part of Operation ‘Gallant Knight 3’ through the operation of an air bridge. To date, the air bridge facilitated 49 flights aimed at alleviating the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip during these dire circumstances.
The UAE has also condemned and expressed its denunciation in the strongest terms of the Israeli bombing of Al Fakhoura School, run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and Tal Al-Zaatar School, and the inhumane attacks launched by Israel on schools and hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The UAE affirmed its categorical rejection of targeting organisations and civilian facilities in the Strip.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) stressed that the immediate priority is to preserve the lives of civilians and provide full protection of organisations and civilian facilities, and ensure the immediate, safe, sustainable, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian, relief and medical aid to the Palestinians.
The Ministry reaffirmed the need for an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of life, reiterating the importance of protecting civilians and civilian institutions, according to international law including international treaties, and the need to ensure that they are not targeted during conflict.
The UAE called on the international community to intensify efforts to avoid further fuelling the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and to advance all efforts to achieve a comprehensive and just peace.
The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is the only remaining outlet to get people out of the enclave and supplies into it…reports Asian Lite News
The US Embassy in Israel on Monday warned Gaza residents who were hoping to evacuate using the Rafah Crossing Point — the Hamas-controlled enclave’s border crossing with Egypt — that if the crossing opens, then it might be only for a “limited time”.
In an advisory, the embassy said that the Rafah crossing will open at 9 a.m. on Monday, citing media reports.
“We anticipate that the situation at the Rafah crossing will remain fluid and unpredictable and it is unclear whether, or for how long, travelers will be permitted to transit the crossing.
“If you assess it to be safe, you may wish to move closer to the Rafah border crossing — there may be very little notice if the crossing opens and it may only open for a limited time,” the advisory added.
On Sunday after his talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had said that “Rafah will be open”.
The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is the only remaining outlet to get people out of the enclave and supplies into it.
