Dozens killed as Israeli forces thrust deeper in Gaza's Jabalia and Rafah

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.

A half-dozen University of Pennsylvania students were among 19 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during an attempt to occupy a school building, university police said Saturday.

Members of Penn Students Against the Occupation of Palestine announced the action Friday at the school’s Fisher-Bennett Hall, urging supporters to bring “flags, pots, pans, noise-makers, megaphones” and other items, the University of Pennsylvania Division of Public Safety said in a news release.

Officers could be seen closing in “within the hour,” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. University police supported by city police then escorted the protesters out and secured the building, news outlets reported.

Police said after clearing the building that they recovered “lock-picking tools and homemade metal shields fashioned from oil drums.”

Exit doors had been secured with zip ties and barbed wire and barricaded with metal chairs and desks, while windows were covered by newspaper and cardboard, and bike racks and metal chairs blocked entrances, police said.

Seven of the students arrested on Friday remained in custody Saturday awaiting felony charges, including one person who assaulted an officer, campus police said.

A dozen were issued citations for failing to disperse and follow police commands. They have been released from custody.

The first distribution of badly needed aid is being distributed this weekend after rolling off a newly built US pier off the coast of Gaza, even as aid workers warn much more access is needed to the besieged territory where famine might be under way.

With key land crossings closed or operating at limited capacity due to the fighting, some relief supplies began flowing into war-ravaged Gaza via a temporary, floating pier constructed by the United States.

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

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

But UN agencies and humanitarian aid groups have warned that the so-called maritime corridor, and ongoing airdrops from planes, cannot replace far more efficient truck convoys into Gaza, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of looming famine.

Fatah spokesman Abdel Fatah Doleh told news publication Al Jazeera English that the US- built pier only functions "in light of Israel’s control over Rafah on the Palestinian side, strengthens the occupation and isolates the coastal enclave completely."

Doleh added that the latest move also "allows Israel to continue its attack on Rafah, and to completely control the enclave."

Gaza's Palestinian Civil Defence announced in the release of a video that medical workers have rescued Palestinians from under the rubble.

Using limited equipment or with their own hands, medical workers managed to recover 10 bodies following an Israeli airstrike near Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

A unconfirmed number of others were also wounded after several homes were targeted.

As rescue teams continued digging, another airstrike was also seen targeting a neighbouring area, according to Al Jazeera English. 

Hundreds of protesters rallying within sight of the Capitol chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and voiced criticism of the Israeli and American governments as they marked a painful present- the war in Gaza- and past- the exodus of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from what is now Israel when it was created in 1948.

About 400 demonstrators braved steady rains to rally on the National Mall on the 76th anniversary of what is called the Nakba , the Arabic word for catastrophe. In January, thousands of pro-Palestine activists had gathered in the nation's capital in one of the larger protests in recent memory.

There were calls in support of Palestinian rights and an immediate end to Israeli military operations in Gaza. "No peace on stolen land" and "End the killings, stop the crime/Israel out of Palestine," echoed through the crowd.

Protesters also focused their anger on President Joe Biden, whom they accuse of feigning concern over the death toll in Gaza.

"Biden Biden, you will see/genocide’s your legacy," they said. The Democratic president was in Atlanta on Saturday.

In Israel's Tel Aviv, activists are calling for release the captives, new elections in Israel, and the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as they block the Ayalon Highway.

In images and videos that have since surfaced, they show protesters lighting a bonfire in the middle of the road.

Meanwhile, according to Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel, Israeli police arrested a person who was charged for causing disturbances at the anti-government protests.

Footage circulated online of police blasting a water cannon on protesters to forcibly disperse the rally in Azrieli Junction, where roads were blocked by demonstrators.

Now in Tel Aviv: police uses a water canon during a protest calling for a hostage deal pic.twitter.com/rCKZeqtRiU

— Oren Ziv (@OrenZiv_) May 18, 2024

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said earlier on Saturday that he would leave the government if the war cabinet did not draft and approve a post-war plan for Gaza by June 8 in order to achieve "six strategic goals".

Here's what Gantz's ultimatum includes:

• "To bring the hostages home"
• "To topple Hamas rule, demilitarize the Gaza Strip and gain Israeli security control [of the Gaza Strip]"
• Maintain Israeli security control, as well as "to create an international civilian governance mechanism for Gaza, including American, European, Arab and Palestinian elements- which will also serve as a basis for a future alternative that is not Hamas and is not [Palestinian President] Abbas"
• "To return residents of [northern Gaza] by September 1"
• "To advance normalization with Saudi Arabia as part of a comprehensive process to create an alliance with the free world and the West against Iran and its allies"
• "To adopt a framework for [a national military] service under which all Israelis will serve the state and contribute to the national effort."

Israel's coalition government officials have responded to Benny Gantz's speech earlier, as Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi accused the war cabinet member of his words having "no limit to the hypocrisy."

Karhi threatened Gantz to move up his ultimatum "to tomorrow" and resign immediately.

Meanwhile, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accused Gantz to be "a smalltime leader and a bigtime deceiver, who has from the first moment of joining the government occupied himself chiefly with trying to break it apart."

"His trips to Washington for talks against the prime minister’s position were only a small part of his subversion," Ben-Gvir said in a post on X.

"The man who hosted Abu Mazen [Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas] in his home, brought in workers from Gaza, led the gas surrender agreement with Lebanon, removed essential security barriers in the US, and endangered Golani’s soldiers ‘out of concern for the Palestinians’ is the last one who can offer security alternatives."

Hamas says the Israeli military is destroying "entire residential blocks" with civilians who are residing in the Jabalia refugee camp.

The Palestinian group added that schools and shelters for the displaced are being targeted by Israeli forces which have led to the killing of dozens of Palestinians, mostly women and children, during the ground invasion since last week. 

"The escalating crimes of the occupation will not succeed in breaking the will of our valiant resistance, or dissuading our proud people from their choice to stand firm on their land," Hamas said.

The group also demanded the international community to stop Israel's attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded to Benny Gantz's speech earlier to accuse the war cabinet member of "issuing an ultimatum to the prime minister instead of issuing an ultimatum to Hamas."

In a statement, Netanyahu's office also said that Gantz's demands elude to "an end to the war and defeat for Israel, abandoning the majority of the hostages, leaving Hamas in power, and creating a Palestinian state."

Netanyahu's comments come after Gantz called on Netanyahu on Saturday evening to draw a plan for post-war Gaza by June 8 or he would withdraw from the government.

Dramatic. Minister Gantz issues an ultimatum to Netanyahu: develop a strategy designed to achieve six goals by June 8, or he will resign. If this wasn’t directly coordinated with the White House, it seeks to draft off of American policy. pic.twitter.com/oMPQbChaQ0

— Mike (@Doranimated) May 18, 2024

The families of Gaza-held hostages have issued a short statement, following Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz emphasising a post-war plan for the besieged enclave.

As reported by Israeli news publication The Times of Israel, The Hostages and Missing Families Forum says "the time for talk is over" in response to Gantz.

"The only relevant ultimatum this evening is that time is running out for the hostages. The time has come for action — to renew negotiations for their immediate return," the group added.

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz shares his criticism with the handling of the war on Gaza in a televised statement on Saturday.

He said that "recently, something went wrong", adding that "crucial decisions were not made. The acts of leadership needed to guarantee victory were not made."

Addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly, Gentz also said, "I am looking in your eyes tonight, and I say to you – the choice is in your hands."

"After I spoke with you repeatedly, the moment of truth has arrived. The hour of decision has arrived."

Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz demanded on Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commit to an agreed vision for the Gaza conflict that would include stipulating who might rule the territory after the war in Gaza.

In a news conference, Gantz said he wanted the war cabinet to form a six-point plan by June 8. If his expectations are not met, Gantz said, he would withdraw his centrist party from the conservative premier's emergency government.

💥Opposition war cabinet member Benny Gantz gives Netanyahu 3 weeks– till June 8– to agree to post-war Gaza plan, a plan to return evacuated residents to the north, a plan to bring hostages home, an IDF draft bill, or he will abandon government. pic.twitter.com/5yvc6hseKF

— Noga Tarnopolsky נגה טרנופולסקי نوغا ترنوبولسكي (@NTarnopolsky) May 18, 2024

Renowned Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza spoke at London's Nakba 76 rally for Palestine, headed by activist group Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC).

In his speech, Azaiza described his harrowing experiences documenting the atrocities in Gaza on the ground, stating that pro-Palestine demonstrations and solidarity in masses have given him and Palestinians in Gaza "hope again".

"I didn't believe in anyone but after more than 226 days today, the moment I saw [the London rally attendees] I literally thought there is hope," Azaiza said. "The hope is in the people, not in the governments."

Azaiza continued, "I didn't believe I would stay alive to stand here today in London in front of the people. You saw me there under the bombing.

"You make us, as the people of Gaza, start to feel hope again. The [Israeli] occupation is using all the weapons against us. The bombs, the killings, the starvation, apartheid in the West Bank and now killing the people- forcing them to leave their lands."

"You make us as the people of Gaza start to feel hope again"

Powerful speech from Palestinian photojournalist @azaizamotaz9 at the Nakba 76 March for Palestine in London.#FreePalestine #CeasefireNOW #Nakba76 pic.twitter.com/CR5idQ6RCc

— PSC (@PSCupdates) May 18, 2024

 Thousands of protesters are expected to turn out for a rally in the nation's capital Saturday in support of Palestinian rights and an immediate end to Israeli military operations in Gaza .

The event commemorates the 76th anniversary of what is called the Nakba , the Arabic word for catastrophe, and refers to the exodus of some 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from what is now Israel when the state was created in 1948.

Rally organizers, in an unusual step, did not apply for any permits from the National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall. These permits, which include estimates on attendance, are a traditional step for large rallies or protests.

"Permits are required for any organized activity in order to provide for public and participant safety, protection of park resources, and maintaining a commemorative mood where appropriate," said Mike Litterst, the agency's chief of communications for the National Mall.

"However, in the event no permit application was submitted, we make every effort to support the First Amendment rights of all visitors to the areas we protect with the priority being placed on safety and protection of park resources."

In the absence of permit applications, there were no estimates as to the size of the protest, and the Park Service no longer provides official crowd estimates for gatherings on the National Mall.

In January, thousands of pro-Palestine activists flooded the National Mall in one of the larger protests in recent memory in the District of Columbia.

The Israeli army said Saturday that troops had retrieved the body of hostage Ron Benjamin from the war-torn Gaza Strip after he was "murdered" during the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Benjamin's body was retrieved in the same operation that saw troops recover the remains of three other hostages, which was announced on Friday.

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said Saturday that 800,000 people had been "forced to flee" Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah since Israel began military operations there in May.

"Nearly half of the population of Rafah or 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", UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X.

Once again, nearly half of the population of Rafah or 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.  
In response to evacuation orders demanding people to flee to so-called safe zones,…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) May 18, 2024

Axios reporter Barak Ravid reports that Israeli War Cabinet member minister Benny Gantz will be giving a speech on Saturday that is expected to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an "ultimatum" about the Gaza war strategy.

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

BREAKING: Israeli War Cabinet member minister Benny Gantz will give a speech at 1:30 pm ET and is expected to lay out an ultimatum to Netanyahu regarding the Gaza war strategy. But as with many cases before, Gantz's delivery and tone will matter as much as his actual words

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 18, 2024

The Israeli military dropped leaflets into Gaza featuring dozens of images of Palestinians, including young Palestinians they claim are affiliated with Hamas. 

The children are reportedly being blackmailed and threatened with death if they do not provide intelligence to Israel.

UN expert Francesca Albanese says Palestine children are "arbitrarily arrested & detained by the Israeli army are often coerced into becoming collaborators/informants".

Albanese says this practice was used before 7 October but has gotten "considerably worse. And it risks to grow even worse if we do not use our power to stop it."

Palestinian children arbitrarily arrested & detained by the Israeli army are often coerced into becoming collaborators/informants, as I outlined in my second report on "deprivation of liberty."

To understand the treatment of Palestinian children under Israeli occupation even… https://t.co/uskuxg7tyP

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 18, 2024

 A group of pro-Palestine protesters demanding the University of Chicago divest from companies doing business with Israel temporarily took over a building on the school’s campus.

Members of the group surrounded the Institute of Politics building around 5pm Friday while others made their way inside, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The brief occupation came as other colleges across the country, anxious to prepare for commencement season, either negotiated agreements with students or called in police to dismantle protest camps.

The Chicago protest follows the 7 May clearing of a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the school by police.

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 offensive, 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 has alarmed Cairo and Washington.

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".

(Reuters)

Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Saturday that it struck and destroyed Israeli "spy equipment" in the latest strike between Israel and the Lebanese Shia Muslim group.

In a post on its Telegram channel, it said it also targeted "a position of Israeli enemy soldiers at the Al-Baghdadi site with an assault attack".

Meanwhile the Israeli army has been sounding air attack sirens for parts of northern Israel throughout Saturday, including the town of Metula on the Lebanese border.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said Israeli fighter jets struck a rocket launcher and military compounds used by the group - Al Jazeera reports.

Quds News Network also reports that Israeli warplanes targeted a private vehicle near the Lebanese village of Masnaa, close to the border with Syria.

BREAKING: Israeli warplanes bomb a private vehicle near the Lebanese village of Masnaa, close to the border with Syria. pic.twitter.com/V5TiObuxuL

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 18, 2024

Israeli settlers attack Palestinians near the village of Azmut, east of Nablus - according to Quds News Network.

The United Nations has condemned the rising attacks  of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

Armed Israeli settler militias attack Palestinians near the village of Azmut, east of Nablus. pic.twitter.com/7M1K7FPsrs

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 18, 2024

Two top Biden administration officials held indirect talks with Iranian counterparts this week in an effort to avoid escalating regional attacks, Axios reported on Friday.

According to Axios, the talks, which involved President Joe Biden's Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and acting US envoy to Iran Abram Paley, marked the first round of discussions between the US and Iran since January.

The conversations follow Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel on 13 April.

(Reuters)

Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters in London are marching for Palestine on Saturday for an end to Israel's war on Gaza and to hold the UK government to account for its complicity.

Motaz Azaiza will be speaking at the march, which was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Londoners have been marching almost every Saturday since 7 October.

Todays march is massive, London stands with Palestine ✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/u1TCA7NEMq

— Newham Independents 🇵🇸💛 (@NewhamIndParty) May 18, 2024

Students at the University of Oxford in the UK have staged a "die-in" protest outside of graduation ceremonies at the Sheldonian Theatre.

The protesters from Oxford Action for Palestine (OA4P) are calling on the university administration to start negotiations with the coalition after the Vice Chancellor issued only a blanket public response and showed no willingness to meet or consider the coalition's demands.

"We have laid our bodies on the ground, dressed in blood-soaked academic dress, outside graduation ceremonies at Oxford's famed Sheldonian Theatre––the ceremonial epicentre of the University," OA4P said in a statement.

"Each of us represents thousands of Palestinians whose lives and futures have been destroyed. There are no more universities in Gaza, no more graduations, and no more milestones."

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.

Israel's war on Gaza has gone on 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.

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 its 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.

Austria said on Saturday it will restore funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) after suspending funds over allegations its staff were involved in the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

"After a thorough analysis of the action plan, we will release funds to Unrwa," the Austrian foreign ministry said on Saturday.

The ministry says 3.4 million euros have been budgeted for 2024. The first payment is expected to be made in the summer. Part of the Austrian funds will be used to improve internal control mechanisms at UNRWA.

The decision came after Unrwa launched a plan to strengthen its internal reviews.

After Israel's accusations, several countries, including the United States and Britain, paused their funding to UNRWA.

Since then, Countries including  Canada, Germany, Australia and Sweden have restored funding to the agency.

An Israeli attack killed two Palestinians near the Nuseirat camp, Wafa reports.

While two others were killed in Wadi Gaza, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Israel has been concentrating its attack in the north and south of the Gaza Strip, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee towards central areas of the Strip.

35,386 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's war on Gaza, while 79,366 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip - according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

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

Israeli airstrikes attacked and destroyed a home in the Basan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis.

Rescue teams are now searching for potential survivors or victims under the rubble.

Rescue teams looking for potential survivors or victims under the rubble of the Qudeih family home in Abasan, east of Khan Yunis, after it was knocked to the ground by an Israeli airstrike last night. pic.twitter.com/aAZxhmWn81

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 18, 2024

At least 15 civilians were killed, and 30 were injured by Israeli airstrikes targeting the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.

Wafa reports the tanks bombed the entrance to one of the shelter camps and targeted citizens trying to return home. Ambulances and civil defence crews are unable to reach the camp and retrieve bodies.

Israel has been targeting the Jabaila camp, claiming to be targeting Palestinian fighters.

A crude oil tanker was hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen's southwestern city of Mokha overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait, maritime security firm Ambrey said Saturday.

"A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker was reportedly 'attacked'" about 10 nautical miles southwest of Mokha, Ambrey said, adding that information "indicated the vessel was hit by a missile and that there was a fire in the steering gear flat".

The firm later said it had "received information that indicated that the tanker had received assistance. One of the vessel's steering units was reportedly functional."

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who control much of Yemen, have launched dozens of attacks on vessels in and around the Red Sea since November in a campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in war-torn Gaza.

The rebel attacks have prompted reprisal strikes by US and British forces and the formation of an international coalition to protect the vital shipping lanes through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

University students in Syria have joined the worldwide student-led movement calling for an end to Israel's war on Gaza.

Students can be seen waving the Palestinian and Syrian flags.

University students in Syria join the global student action for Gaza and Palestine. pic.twitter.com/RHjHRPttF5

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 18, 2024

A union representing 48,000 graduate students and other academics at the University of California have announced that it will strike on Monday to defend the right to free speech and divest from Israel's war on Gaza.

This comes after the union voted to authorise a strike this week, with 79 percent approving it.

The University, however, filed a labour complaint to stop what they say is an illegal action.

University of California students set up barriers to shield themselves from potential police intervention as they protest in solidarity with Palestine pic.twitter.com/SGgw98JefP

— Palestine Highlights (@PalHighlight) May 16, 2024

The Israeli military said on Saturday it killed a senior Palestinian militant during an air strike on an "operations centre" in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

"A number of significant terrorists were inside the compound," the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement posted to Telegram.

It said the strike by a fighter jet and helicopter killed Islam Khamayseh, a "senior terrorist operative in the Jenin Camp" who was responsible for a series of attacks in the area.

The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, confirmed in a statement that Khamayseh was killed and several others wounded during an Israeli raid on Friday night.

It said Khamayseh was a leader of the Jenin Battalion, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad.