[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Hezbollah fires rocket barrage at Israeli positions

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it yesterday launched “more than 60” rockets at Israeli military positions in retaliation for overnight air strikes on the country’s east.

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Hezbollah fires rocket barrage at Israeli positions

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it yesterday launched "more than 60" rockets at Israeli military positions in retaliation for overnight air strikes on the country's east.

Israel and Hamas ally Hezbollah have exchanged near-daily fire following the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza, now in its eighth month.

Hezbollah fighters "launched a missile attack with more than 60 Katyusha rockets" on several Israeli military positions in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the group said in a statement.

The strikes were "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks last night on the Bekaa region" in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek area, the group added.

The Israeli army later said it had identified "approximately 40 launches" from Lebanon "towards the Golan Heights", causing "no injuries".

It added that Israeli forces struck the sources of the fire. The army reported several more attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel, to which it had also responded with strikes.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladeshi poets observe Nakba Day in Dhaka

Renowned poets of the country said that any aggression or war destroyed people’s freedom and displaced them from their homes...

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Bangladeshi poets observe Nakba Day in Dhaka
Cultural Correspondent 15 May, 2024, 23:07

Poets and cultural activists pose for a photo at a programme marking Nakba Day organised by literary platform Bangiya Sahitya Sabha at DrikPath Bhaban in the capital on Wednesday. | — Press release

Renowned poets of the country said that any aggression or war destroyed people's freedom and displaced them from their homes.

They made the remarks while attending a programme to observe Nakba Day, the day of commemoration for the 'Nakba', also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, held at DrikPath Bhaban in the capital on Wednesday.

Organised by literary platform Bangiya Sahitya Sabha, poets and cultural activists, including Kajal Shaahnewaz, Shayan, Sajjad Sharif, Shakhawat Tipu, Jahir Hasan, Shahed Kayes, Saikat Amin, Mridul Mahbub, Bayezid Bostami, Rafsan Galib, Ferdous Ara Rumi, Altaf Shahnewaz, Emran Mahfuz, Arup Rahi, Rumana Rumi, Shaibal Noor, Ektiza Ahsan and others participated in the programme, which was moderated by writer Mahbub Morshed.

Poet Shakhawat Tipu told New Age that any aggression or war destroyed people's freedom and displaced them from their homes.

'Aggression or war also endangers people's lives and destroys civilisation. As a result of this, the biggest disaster happens to humanity,' said Tipu, adding, 'In this case, it will be the humanitarian duty of people to stand up for defending the rights and freedom of the oppressed people of Palestine.'

Reading poems, the poets of Bangladesh are expressing solidarity for the oppressed people of Palestine, he mentioned.

When the people of Palestine are homeless, landless, without all human facilities, this poetry reading session will awaken people's minds against Israeli oppression, said poet Mridul Mahbub.

The poet said, 'I strongly believe that poetry is stronger than a well-equipped army. The living words of poetry against that military aggression are nothing less than guerrilla attacks.'

Pointing out that Palestine is the oldest wound in the world, poet Bayezid Bostami said, 'There is still war going on, blood is being shed, children are being killed. We believe that Palestine will be free one day.'

The poet mentioned that he attended the poetry reading programme in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

The Nakba, Arabic for 'catastrophe', refers to the Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what today is Israel before and during the war surrounding its creation in 1948.​

 

[Saif]

Israel vows to 'intensify' operations in Rafah

Israel vows to 'intensify' its ground offensive in Rafah, defying global warnings over the fate of Palestinian civilians. Defence minister Yoav Gallant announces that 'additional forces will enter' the area and 'this activity will intensify'. The battle in Rafah is deemed 'critical' by Prime...

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Israel vows to 'intensify' operations in Rafah

AFPRafah, Palestinian Territories
Published: 17 May 2024, 09: 26

Smoke billows during Israeli strikes in eastern Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on 13 May, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group HamasAFP

Israel vowed Thursday to "intensify" its ground offensive in Rafah, in defiance of global warnings over the fate of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians sheltering in Gaza's far-southern city.

Defence minister Yoav Gallant said "additional forces will enter" the Rafah area and "this activity will intensify".

"Hundreds of targets have already been struck and our forces are manoeuvring in the area," Gallant said following a troop visit on Wednesday.

Israel's top ally the United States has joined other major powers in appealing for it to hold back from a full ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, the last city in Gaza so far spared heavy urban fighting.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted Thursday that the ground assault on Rafah was a "critical" part of the army's mission to destroy Hamas and prevent any repetition of the 7 October attack that triggered the war.

"The battle in Rafah is critical... It's not just the rest of their battalions, it's also like an oxygen line for them for escape and resupply," he said.

Many of those fleeing Rafah have headed for the coastal area of Al-Mawasi that Israel has declared a "humanitarian zone". Satellite images also show a vast new tent city that has sprung up near the main southern city of Khan Yunis.

Many of the displaced are "exhausted, they are scared, they don't have resources", said Javed Ali, head of emergency response in Gaza for International Medical Corps.

Ali, who works at a field hospital in Al-Mawasi and is an aid veteran of multiple war zones, said the situation in Gaza was "far more catastrophic" than anything he had seen before.

"The immense number of trauma cases, the lack of resources, the interrupted supply chain... it's something that I've never seen."


Abbas criticises Hamas over war

More than seven months into the conflict, Israeli forces were also fighting Palestinian militants in new flashpoints in northern and central Gaza.

Heavy battles rocked the Jabalia refugee camp where Israel lost five soldiers to friendly fire on Wednesday.

In comments to troops outside Rafah Thursday, army chief Herzi Halevi pledged: "We won't let Hamas rebuild itself and they will pay a price."

Washington has repeatedly urged its ally to take greater steps to protect civilians -- and to make a post-war plan for Gaza to avoid being mired in a long counterinsurgency campaign.

Netanyahu insisted Wednesday that any planning for post-war Gaza was "empty talk" until Hamas is defeated.

In signs of a growing rift inside the war cabinet, Gallant called on Netanyahu to "declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza Strip".

"The 'day after Hamas' will only be achieved with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza, accompanied by international actors, establishing a governing alternative to Hamas rule," Gallant said.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh insisted the movement is "here to stay".

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told an Arab League summit in Bahrain that Hamas's "unilateral decision" to launch the October 7 attack had "provided Israel with more pretexts and justifications to attack the Gaza Strip".

Hamas expressed "regret" at the president's criticism.

In a statement issued after the summit, the Arab League demanded an "immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza".

The 22-member bloc also called for UN peacekeepers to be deployed in the occupied Palestinian territories until a two-state solution has been implemented.

US says Gaza pier ready

The war broke out after the October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The militants also seized about 250 hostages, 128 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 38 the military says are dead.

Israel's devastating military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

An Israeli siege on Gaza has brought dire shortages of food as well as safe water, medicines and fuel for its 2.4 million people. The threat of famine hangs over parts of the war-ravaged territory.

The arrival of occasional aid convoys has slowed to a trickle since Israeli forces took control last week of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing.


The US military said Thursday it had completed a temporary pier on Gaza's coast, part of a project to ship in relief supplies from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

US Central Command said it expected around 500 tonnes of aid to be delivered on board several ships over the coming days.

But Farhan Haq, a spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres, said negotiations were still ongoing on how the aid would be distributed after Washington ruled out any involvement by its troops.

Haq also reiterated the UN's preference for a land route, saying "getting aid to people in need into and across Gaza cannot and should not depend on a floating dock far from where needs are most acute".

In a case before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, South Africa accused Israel on Thursday of stepping up what it called a "genocide" in Gaza, urging the court to order a halt to Israel's assault on Rafah.

"As the primary humanitarian hub for humanitarian assistance in Gaza, if Rafah falls, so too does Gaza," said South Africa in its submission.

"In attacking Rafah, Israel is attacking the 'last refuge' in Gaza, and the only remaining area of the Strip which has not yet been substantially destroyed by Israel," the document added.

Israel, which is due to respond on Friday, has described South Africa's case as unfounded.​

 

[Saif]

Many killed in fierce fighting in Gaza

The Israeli army told AFP on Friday that renewed fighting in Gaza’s northern town of Jabalia was ‘perhaps the fiercest’ in over seven months of war.

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Many killed in fierce fighting in Gaza
Agence France-Presse . Jerusalem 17 May, 2024, 23:56

A displaced Palestinian woman holds a child by the hand as she walks in front of tents set up inside the European hospital compound in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday. | AFP photo

The Israeli army told AFP on Friday that renewed fighting in Gaza's northern town of Jabalia was 'perhaps the fiercest' in over seven months of war.

The army had said in early January that it had 'completed the dismantling of Hamas's military framework in the northern Gaza Strip' and vowed to focus its war efforts on central and southern areas of the Palestinian territory.

But intense fighting resumed less than a week ago in Jabalia, the second-most populous town in northern Gaza.

'Hamas was in complete control here in Jabalia until we arrived a few days ago,' the Israeli army told AFP on Friday, four months after its spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that militants were operating in the area only sporadically and 'without commanders'.

The current fighting in Jabalia is 'perhaps the fiercest we have encountered' in this area since the start of the offensive in the Gaza Strip, the army said, adding that it was now operating in the town's refugee camp.

Before the war, Jabalia was home to the largest refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, with more than 100,000 people packed into 1.4 square kilometres, according to the UN.

The army said it had killed around 200 militants since the resumption of fighting in Jabalia on Sunday.

Images provided by the Israeli army showed soldiers moving through a maze of heavily damaged and deserted buildings.

Intense fighting, accompanied by shelling, also resumed at the beginning of May in the Zeitun neighbourhood in the southwest of Gaza City, also in the north of the Palestinian territory.

Until recently, Israel claimed that the last four Hamas battalions were hiding out in Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah, on the Egyptian border.

On May 7, the Israeli army sent tanks and troops into eastern Rafah, vowing to wipe out the militant group.

According to Israeli military sources quoted in several media outlets, Hamas had about 30,000 fighters in the Gaza Strip, divided into 24 battalions before October 7.

More than 35,303 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out, according to data provided by the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.

The Israeli army said Friday that troops had recovered the bodies of three hostages in the war-torn Gaza Strip who had been 'murdered' by their captors.

'Last night, the Israel Defence Forces (army) rescued the bodies of our hostages Shani Louk, Amit Buskila and Itzhak Gelerenter, who were taken hostage during the Hamas massacre on October 7 and murdered,' military spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a televised address.

The US military said aid deliveries began Friday via a temporary pier in Gaza aimed at ramping up emergency humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

'Today at approximately 9 a.m. (Gaza time), trucks carrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore via a temporary pier in Gaza,' the US Central Command said in a statement, adding that no US troops went ashore.

'This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature,' it said.

The pier was successfully anchored on Thursday, with around 500 tonnes of aid expected to enter the Palestinian territory in the coming days.

Photos released on Thursday by CENTCOM showed humanitarian aid being lifted onto a barge in the nearby Israeli port of Ashdod.

The Palestinian territory is facing famine after an Israeli siege brought dire shortages of food as well as safe water, medicines and fuel for its 2.4 million people.

The arrival of occasional aid convoys has slowed to a trickle since Israeli forces took control last week of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing.

The UN has said that opening up land crossing points and allowing more trucks convoys into Gaza is the only way to stem the spiralling humanitarian crisis.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's devastating military retaliation has killed at least 35,272 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.​

 

[Saif]

South Africa 'genocide' case 'totally divorced' from facts: Israel

Israel criticizes South Africa's case at ICJ, calling it 'totally divorced' from reality as Pretoria urges ceasefire in Gaza, while South Africa accuses Israel of genocide and seeks emergency orders from the court.

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South Africa 'genocide' case 'totally divorced' from facts: Israel
AFPThe Hague
Published: 18 May 2024, 08: 39

Court judges take part in a session in which Israel's legal team presented its response to South Africa's request of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, on 17 May 2024AFP

Israel lashed out Friday at South Africa's case before the UN's top court, describing it as "totally divorced" from reality, as Pretoria urges judges to order a ceasefire in Gaza.

A top lawyer for Israel painted the South Africa case as a "mockery" of the UN Genocide Convention it is accused of breaching.

"South Africa presents the court for the fourth time with a picture that is completely divorced from the facts and circumstances," Gilad Noam told the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Pretoria has petitioned the ICJ to order a stop to the Israeli assault on the Gaza city of Rafah, which Israel says is key to eliminating Hamas militants.

Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday the ground assault on Rafah was a "critical" part of the army's mission to destroy Hamas and prevent a repetition of the 7-October attack.

"The battle in Rafah is critical... It's not just the rest of their battalions, it's also like an oxygen line for them for escape and resupply," he said.

Netanyahu ordered the Rafah offensive in defiance of US warnings that more than a million civilians sheltering there could be caught in the crossfire.

Friday in the Hague, Noam told the court Israel was "acutely aware" of civilians concentrated in Rafah.

"It is also acutely aware of Hamas efforts to use these civilians as a shield," he said.

Noam said there had been no "large-scale" assault on Rafah but "specific and localised operations prefaced with evacuation efforts and support for humanitarian activities."

A few dozen protesters rallied in support of Israel outside the Peace Palace seat of the ICJ, showing pictures of some of the hostages held by Hamas.

And the sitting was briefly interrupted as Israel was concluding its statement, with a woman heard shouting "liars" in the court.


'New and horrific stage'

On Thursday, lawyers representing Pretoria presented judges a litany of allegations against Israel, including mass graves, torture and deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid.

"South Africa had hoped, when we last appeared before this court, to halt this genocidal process to preserve Palestine and its people," said top lawyer Vusimuzi Madonsela.

"Instead, Israel's genocide has continued apace and has just reached a new and horrific stage," added Madonsela.

But Noam said that South Africa's accusations made a "mockery of the heinous charge of genocide."

"Calling something a genocide again and again does not make it genocide. Repeating a lie does not make it true," he said.

"There is a tragic war going on but there is no genocide."

It is the fourth time South Africa has appealed to the court, with Israel accusing them of abusing the procedure.

"If anyone should be told enough is enough, it should be South Africa, not Israel," said Noam.

"At what point do we say 'enough' to South Africa's repeated attempts to exploit the provisional measure procedure of this court in such a vile and cynical manner?"

'Protection from genocide'

In a ruling that made headlines worldwide, the ICJ in January ordered Israel to do everything in its power to prevent genocidal acts and enable humanitarian aid to Gaza.

But the court stopped short of ordering a ceasefire and South Africa's argument is that the situation on the ground -- notably the operation in the crowded city of Rafah -- requires fresh ICJ action.

The orders of the ICJ, which rules in disputes between states, are legally binding but it has little means to enforce them.

It has ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine, to no avail.

South Africa wants the ICJ to issue three emergency orders -- "provisional measures" in court jargon -- while it rules on the wider accusation that Israel is breaking the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

It wants the court to order Israel to "immediately" cease all military operations in Gaza, including in Rafah, enable humanitarian access and report back on its progress on achieving these orders.

The Hamas attack on 7 October resulted in the death of more than 1,170 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Out of 252 people taken hostage that day, 128 are still being held inside the Gaza Strip, including 38 who the army says are dead.

At least 35,303 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out, according to data provided by the health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza.

Israeli military says 279 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza military campaign since the start of the ground offensive on 27 October​

 

[Saif]

Dozens killed, wounded as Israeli forces thrust deeper in Gaza

Israeli troops and tanks pushed on Saturday into parts of a congested northern Gaza Strip district that they had previously skirted in the more than seven-month-old war, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, medics and residents said..Israel's forces also took over some ground in Ra

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Dozens killed, wounded as Israeli forces thrust deeper in Gaza

An Israeli solider drives an armored personnel carrier, as military operations continue in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, at an area outside Kerem Shalom, Israel, May 17, 2024. Photo: Reuters

Israeli troops and tanks pushed on Saturday into parts of a congested northern Gaza Strip district that they had previously skirted in the more than seven-month-old war, killing and wounding dozens of Palestinians, medics and residents said.

Israel's forces also took over some ground in Rafah, a southern city next to the Egyptian border that is packed with displaced people and where the launch this month of a long-threatened incursion to crush Hamas hold-outs has alarmed Cairo and Washington.

Israel has conducted renewed military sweeps this month of parts of northern Gaza where it had declared the end of major operations in January. At the time, it also predicted its forces would return to prevent a regrouping by the Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza.

One site has been Jabalia, the largest of Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps. On Saturday, troops and tanks edged into streets so far spared the ground offensive, residents said. In one strike, medics said 15 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded.

The Gaza health ministry and the Civil Emergency Service said teams received dozens of calls about possible casualties but were unable to carry out any searches because of the ongoing ground offensive and the aerial bombardment.

"Today is the most difficult in terms of the occupation bombardment, air strikes and tank shelling have going on almost non-stop," said one resident in Jabalia, Ibrahim Khaled, via a chat app.

"We know of dozens of people, martyrs (killed) and wounded, but no ambulance vehicle can get into the area," he told Reuters.

The Israeli military said forces have continued to operate in areas across the Gaza Strip including Jabalia and Rafah, carrying out what it called "precise operations against terrorists and infrastructure".

"The IAF (air force) continues to operate in the Gaza Strip, and struck over 70 terror targets during the past day, including weapons storage facilities, military infrastructure sites, terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops, and military compounds," the military said in a statement.​

Armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and Fatah said fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and Rafah with anti-tank rockets, mortar bombs, and explosive devices already planted in some of the roads, killing and wounding many soldiers.

Israel's military said 281 soldiers have been killed in fighting since the first ground incursions in Gaza on Oct 20.

At least 35,386 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since Oct. 7, according to figures from the enclave's health ministry, while aid agencies have warned repeatedly of widespread hunger and dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies.

In the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 1,200 people died in Israel and 253 were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. About 125 people are still being held in Gaza.

In Rafah, where Israeli tanks thrust into some of the eastern suburbs and clashed with Palestinian fighters there, residents said Israeli bombing from the air and ground persisted all night.

Rafah had been sheltering more than one million displaced Gazans. UNRWA, the main U.N. aid agency for Palestinians, said more than 630,000 people had fled Rafah since the offensive there began on May 6. Israel says it must capture Rafah to destroy Hamas and ensure the country's security.

 

[Saif]

Israeli leaders split over post-war Gaza governance

New divisions have emerged among Israel's leaders over post-war Gaza's governance, with an unexpected Hamas fightback in parts of the Palestinian territory piling pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

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Israeli leaders split over post-war Gaza governance

This handout picture released by the Israeli army on May 18, 2024 shows Israeli soldiers during military operations in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Photo: AFP

New divisions have emerged among Israel's leaders over post-war Gaza's governance, with an unexpected Hamas fightback in parts of the Palestinian territory piling pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli army has been battling Hamas militants across Gaza for more than seven months while also exchanging near-daily fire with Iran-backed Hezbollah forces along the northern border with Lebanon.

But after Hamas fighters regrouped in northern Gaza, where Israel previously said the group had been neutralised, broad splits emerged in the Israeli war cabinet in recent days.

Netanyahu came under personal attack from Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for failing to rule out an Israeli government in Gaza after the war.

The Israeli premier's outright rejection of post-war Palestinian leadership in Gaza has broken a rift among top politicians wide open and frustrated relations with top ally the United States.

Experts say the lack of clarity only serves to benefit Hamas, whose leader has insisted no new authority can be established in the territory without its involvement.

"Without an alternative to fill the vacuum, Hamas will continue to grow," International Crisis Group analyst Mairav Zonszein told AFP.

Emmanuel Navon, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University, echoed this sentiment.

"If only Hamas is left in Gaza, of course they are going to appear here and there and the Israeli army will be forced to chase them around," said Navon.

"Either you establish an Israeli military government or an Arab-led government."

Gallant said in a televised address on Wednesday: "I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a decision and declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza strip."

The premier's war planning also came under recent attack by army chief Herzi Halevi as well as top Shin Bet security agency officials, according to Israeli media reports.

Netanyahu is also under pressure from Washington to swiftly bring an end to the conflict and avoid being mired in a long counterinsurgency campaign.

Washington has previously called for a "revitalised" form of the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza after the war.

But Netanyahu has rejected any role for the PA in post-war Gaza, saying Thursday that it "supports terror, educates terror, finances terror".

Instead, Netanyahu has clung to his steadfast aim of "eliminating" Hamas, asserting that "there's no alternative to military victory".

Experts say confidence in Netanyahu is running thin.

"With Gallant's criticism of Netanyahu's failure to plan for the day after in terms of governing Gaza, some real fissures are beginning to emerge in the Israeli war cabinet," Colin P. Clarke, director of policy and research at the Soufan Group think tank, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"I'm not sure I know of many people, including the most ardent Israel supporters, who have confidence in Bibi," he said, using Netanyahu's nickname.

Hostage 'impasse'

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas's attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The militants also seized about 250 hostages, 125 of whom Israel estimates remain in Gaza, including 37 the military says are dead.

Israel's military retaliation has killed at least 35,386 people, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry, and an Israeli siege has brought dire food shortages and the threat of famine.

Many Israelis supported Netanyahu's blunt goals to seek revenge on Hamas in the aftermath of the October 7 attack.

But now, hopes have faded for the return of the hostages and patience in Netanyahu may be running out, experts said.

On Friday, the army announced it had recovered bodies of three hostages who were killed during the October 7 attack.

After Israeli forces entered the far southern city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Gazans were sheltering, talks mediated by Egypt, the United States and Qatar to release the hostages have ground to a standstill.

"The hostage deal is at a total impasse -- you can no longer provide the appearance of progress," said Zonszein of the International Crisis Group.

"Plus the breakdown with the US and the fact that Egypt has refused to pass aid through Rafah -- all those things are coming to a head."​

 

[Saif]

800,000 have fled fierce fighting in Rafah: UN

Air strikes hit more than 70 targets across Gaza while ground troops conducted "targeted raids" in eastern Rafah

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800,000 have fled fierce fighting in Rafah: UN
AFPRafah, Palestinian Territories
Published: 19 May 2024, 08: 45

Children stand near a crater caused by Israeli bombardment in a street in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on 18 May, 2024AFP

Heavy clashes and bombardment rocked the southern Gaza city of Rafah Saturday, as the United Nations said 800,000 people had been "forced to flee" Israel's assault on Hamas militants there.

Israel's military said air strikes hit more than 70 targets across Gaza while ground troops conducted "targeted raids" in eastern Rafah, killing 50 militants and locating dozens of tunnel shafts.

Philippe Lazzarini of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said that since Israel's Rafah operation began, there had been a massive movement of people.

"800,000 people are on the road having been forced to flee since the Israeli forces started the military operation in the area on 6 May", the UNRWA chief said on X.

He said people were fleeing to areas without water supplies or adequate sanitation.

It came as political divisions in Israel's war cabinet burst into the open on Saturday night, with minister Benny Gantz saying he would quit unless Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip.

Gantz called for six goals to be met, including establishing a multinational civilian administration for Gaza.

Netanyahu hit back, calling the threat "washed-up words" that would mean "defeat for Israel".

Meanwhile, Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired a barrage of rockets towards Israel's port of Ashkelon and targeted an Israeli command centre at the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Late Saturday, Israel's military issued new evacuation orders for parts of northern Gaza, saying militants in the area had fired rockets at Israel.

Earlier, an AFP reporter said air strikes and artillery pounded eastern Rafah as warplanes overflew the city on Gaza's border with Egypt.

More than 10 days into what the army called a "limited" Rafah operation that sparked the exodus, fighting has also flared again in northern Gaza.

Israel said in early January it had dismantled Hamas's command structure in the north, but the army said Hamas -- whose 7 October attack sparked the war -- had been "in complete control here in Jabalia until we arrived a few days ago".

Hamas slammed what it called Israel's "escalating crimes of the occupation" and "intensified brutal raids" on Jabalia, saying they had killed dozens of civilians and wounded hundreds.

First aid via pier

Aid groups say Israel's Rafah incursion, launched despite overwhelming international opposition and as mediators were hoping for a breakthrough in stalled truce talks, has worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis.

With key land crossings closed or operating at limited capacity because of the fighting, some aid began entering Gaza via a temporary US-built floating pier.

The Israeli army said 310 pallets began moving ashore in "the first entry of humanitarian aid through the floating pier".

Satellite pictures showed more than a dozen trucks lining up Saturday on its approach road.

In the coming days, around 500 tonnes of aid are expected to be delivered via the pier, according to US Central Command.

But UN agencies and humanitarian aid groups have warned sea or air deliveries cannot replace more efficient truck convoys into Gaza, where the UN has repeatedly warned of looming famine.

The Rafah crossing, a vital conduit for humanitarian aid, has been closed since Israel launched its operation in the city.

The war began after Hamas's unprecedented 7 October attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 35,386 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

The toll includes at least 83 deaths over the past 24 hours, said a ministry statement on Saturday.

Out of 252 people taken hostage from Israel during the 7 October attack, 124 remain held in Gaza including 37 the army says are dead.

'Advancing and retreating'

The army said Saturday that troops had recovered the body of hostage Ron Benjamin in the same Gaza operation that saw the bodies of three other hostages killed on 7 October retrieved late Thursday.

Israel has vowed to defeat remaining Hamas forces in Rafah, which it says is the Iran-backed group's last bastion.

Palestinian sources in Rafah said Israeli forces were operating in the Al-Salam and Jenina neighbourhoods and on the Philadelphi route along the Egyptian border.

"Troops are advancing and retreating around these areas," a security source said.

Cairo, which has been involved in mediation efforts, says a potential Israeli takeover of Philadelphi could violate the two countries' landmark 1979 peace deal.

Meanwhile, Israel said it killed two senior Islamic Jihad militants in air strikes in the northern West Bank and in Rafah.

In northern Gaza's Beit Lahia, witnesses reported air strikes near Kamal Adwan hospital on Saturday.

Its director Hussam Abu Safiya said Friday the facility had received "large numbers" of casualties from nearby Jabalia and was running low on supplies.

Its fuel supply was "barely enough for a few days", he told AFP.

The World Health Organization has received no medical supplies in Gaza since the Rafah operation began, spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said Friday.

Biden aide visits

On the diplomatic front, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was heading to the region.

Sullivan will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.

Political divisions inside Israel were highlighted Saturday when Gantz said he and his party would quit the government unless Netanyahu approved a post-war plan for Gaza.

In a televised address, Gantz gave a June 8 deadline for "an action plan" for Gaza, including defeating Hamas, returning the hostages and ensuring Israeli security control over Gaza.

Netanyahu dismissed Gantz's comments as "washed-up words whose meaning is clear: the end of the war and a defeat for Israel, the abandoning of most of the hostages, leaving Hamas intact and the establishment of a Palestinian state."​

 

[Saif]

UN aid chief warns of ‘apocalyptic’ consequences

The stranglehold on aid reaching Gaza threatens an “apocalyptic” outcome, the UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said yesterday as he warned of famine in the besieged territory.

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UN aid chief warns of 'apocalyptic' consequences

The stranglehold on aid reaching Gaza threatens an "apocalyptic" outcome, the UN's humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said yesterday as he warned of famine in the besieged territory.

"If fuel runs out, aid doesn't get to the people where they need it, that famine, which we have talked about for so long, and which is looming, will not be looming anymore. It will be present," Griffiths said.

"And I think our worry, as citizens of the international community, is that the consequence is going to be really, really hard. Hard, difficult, and apocalyptic," he told AFP on the sidelines of meetings with Qatari officials in Doha.

An Israeli incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, launched in the face of international outcry, has deepened an already perilous humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

Griffith, the UN's Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said some 50 trucks of aid per day could reach the hardest-hit north of Gaza through the reopened Erez crossing.

But battles near the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings in Gaza's south meant the vital routes were "effectively blocked", he explained. "So aid getting in through land routes to the south and for Rafah, and the people dislodged by Rafah is almost nil," Griffiths added.

The UN said that 800,000 people had been "forced to flee" Israel's assault in Rafah. With fuel, food and medicine running out, Griffiths said the military action in Rafah was "exactly what we feared it would be".

"And we all said that very clearly, that a Rafah operation is a disaster in humanitarian terms, a disaster for the people already displaced to Rafah. This is now their fourth or fifth displacement," he said.​

 

[Deleted due to Error (Muji Iqbal)]

I fail to see how Bangladesh can bring peace to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Two State Solution is the answer to the conflict.

 

[Saif]

I fail to see how Bangladesh can bring peace to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Two State Solution is the answer to the conflict.

Two state solution is not the answer. If we let Israel to exist, it will someday gobble up entire Middle East with the help of the West. Saudi Arabia is a good for nothing country which licks Israeli and American ass. The Muslims must evict Israel from the holy land of Middle East once and for all if they want to save our holiest place from Israel and America. Hope you agree with me.

 

[Deleted due to Error (Muji Iqbal)]

Two state solution is not the answer. If we let Israel to exist, it will someday gobble up entire Middle East with the help of the West. Saudi Arabia is a good for nothing country which licks Israeli and American ass. The Muslims must evict Israel from the holy land of Middle East once and for all if they want to save our holiest place from Israel and America. Hope you agree with me.

I too believe Jews are outsiders, BUT as long as USA supports Israel, Israel is here to stay.
So two state solution is the answer.

Yes you can go fight Israel, since USA backs Israel up. lol.

 

[Saif]

I too believe Jews are outsiders, BUT as long as USA supports Israel, Israel is here to stay.
So two state solution is the answer.

Yes you can go fight Israel, since USA backs Israel up. lol.

Israel has America and we have China and Russia. If we play our cards right, inshallah we will be able to defeat Israel once and for all.

 

[Saif]

What happens after ICC prosecutor seeks warrants in Israel-Gaza conflict?

The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence chief, and also for three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity

www.thedailystar.net

What happens after ICC prosecutor seeks warrants in Israel-Gaza conflict?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to his Likud party faction meeting at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem May 20, 2024. Photo: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun

The International Criminal Court prosecutor's office has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence chief, and also for three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Here is a look at what happens next, and how the ICC prosecutor's move might impact diplomatic relations and other court cases focused on Gaza.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.

 

[Saif]

Alleged war crimes in Gaza: ICC arrest warrants sought for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said yesterday he had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.

www.thedailystar.net

Alleged war crimes in Gaza: ICC arrest warrants sought for Netanyahu, Hamas leaders
106 more Palestinians killed as Israel bombs central Gaza

Mourners react next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, at Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip yesterday. Photo: REUTERS

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor said yesterday he had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defence chief and three Hamas leaders over alleged war crimes.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a statement issued after over seven months of offensive in Gaza that he had reasonable grounds to believe that all "bear criminal responsibility" for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.