Israel says more troops to enter Rafah as US aid pier for Gaza anchored

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US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a phone call with Israel Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, reinforced the "unquestionable necessity" of protecting civilians and ensuring the uninterrupted flow humanitarian aid before any potential military operation in Rafah, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

The Israeli military has shot and killed a Palestinian man in the town of Bal’a, near the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Wafa news agency said

Clashes broke out as the Israeli army stormed the town, with another man shot during confrontations, according to Wafa. The Israeli military has prevented people from reaching the wounded man and his condition is currently unknown.

The Israeli military says it allowed 365 humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza through the Karem Abu Salem  and Erez crossings.

It said this included 38 trucks of flour and 76,000 litres of fuel sent to the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide supplies to its bakeries.

This comes as WFP announced it had to suspend aid operations in Rafah after all its stocks were depleted in the aftermath of the Israeli ground invasion of the southernmost Gaza city – and the closure of its vital border crossing.

The UN and international aid organisations continue to say Israel is significantly blocking aid to Gaza as famine spreads.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel will abolish its free trade agreement with Turkey and also impose a 100 percent tariff on other imports in retaliation for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to halt exports to Israel.

The plan, he said, would be submitted to the cabinet for approval.

Earlier this month, Turkey said it was stopping exports to Israel during the duration of Israel’s war on Gaza citing a "worsening humanitarian tragedy” in the Palestinian territory.

"His [Erdogan’s] announcement of the stoppage of imports to Israel constitutes a declaration of an economic boycott and a serious violation of international trade agreements to which Turkey has committed," Smotrich said in a statement.

The Israeli army is intentionally destroying schools and medical facilities during its ground invasion of Gaza City's the Zeitoun neighbourhood and Jabalia in northern Gaza, in a manifestation of genocide.

After the Israeli military withdrawal on Wednesday from Zeitoun – which was attacked for a third time – it revealed the destruction of Ain Jalut, Atta al-Shawa and Hassan al-Nakhalah schools, as well as the Zeitoun Medical Clinic, according to the Switzerland-based organisation.

In the Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza City, Israeli warplanes hit a four-story clinic run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Israeli forces also bombed or opened fire on six UNRWA schools in Jabalia, according to the human rights group.

Israel's foreign ministry said South Africa was 'presenting biased and false claims' that 'rely on unreliable Hamas sources' in response to a case brought to the U.N.'s top court accusing Israel of genocide on Thursday.

"Israel acts in accordance with international law and its humanitarian obligations," a statement from the Israeli foreign ministry said. "While implementing measures to minimize harm to civilians and civilian facilities."

The ministry called on the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, "to reject South Africa's appeal and to bring the abuse of the Court to an end." 

The Republican-led US House of Representatives voted Thursday to force President Joe Biden to end his hold on high-payload bombs approved for Israel but blocked over concerns about their use in the Gaza war.

The largely symbolic move - it has no chance of becoming law - is a response to Biden suspending the shipments over fears of mass Palestinian casualties as Israeli forces press their assault on the densely populated city of Rafah.

The Israel Security Assistance Support Act would prevent Biden from freezing any congressionally approved military aid to Israel, including 3,500 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs that he has put on hold.

Republicans say Biden has no right to interfere with Israel's military campaign, but House Democratic leadership described the bill as "another partisan stunt" infringing on the president's ability to conduct foreign policy.

Nevertheless, 16 Democrats crossed the aisle to join Republicans in passing the bill by 224 votes to 187, while a further 13 did not vote, in a rare rebuke of Biden from a small but significant section of his own side.

The legislation will be dead on arrival in the Democratic-led Senate and Biden has pledged to veto it in any case.

Spain has refused permission for a ship carrying arms to Israel to dock at a Spanish port, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Thursday.

"This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port," he told reporters in Brussels.

"This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The foreign ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason. The Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace," he added.

The Spanish minister did not provide details on the ship but Transport Minister Oscar Puente said it was the Marianne Danica which had requested permission to call at the southeastern port of Cartagena on May 21.

El Pais newspaper said the Danish-flagged ship is carrying 27 tonnes of explosive material from Madras in India to the port of Haifa in Israel.

The announcement that permission had been denied comes amid a row between Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists and his coalition partners, the hard-left Sumar party, over another ship, the Borkum, which is due to dock in Cartagena on Friday.

The Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR) civil rights group is suing Texas Governor Greg Abbott for issuing an "unlawful executive order" that impacts pro-Palestinian students demonstrating across college campuses.

This month, Abbott the state’s public colleges and universities to revise their free speech policies and blamed pro-Palestinian student groups for unrest and the rise in antisemitism.

Today, we plan to announce the filing of a complaint challenging Greg Abbott’s unlawful executive order targeting student advocates for Palestine. pic.twitter.com/9Bzl9oAUnc

— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) May 16, 2024

Hamas said Thursday it regretted remarks by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas at an Arab summit in which he accused it of having given Israel "pretexts" to wage war on Gaza.

"We express our regret regarding the remarks made by the president of the Palestinian Authority... at the Arab summit held in Manama," the militant group said.

Abbas had charged that Hamas gave Israel an excuse to wage war on Gaza with its "unilateral" October 7 attack on Israel.

Canada is sanctioning four "extremist" Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, Global Affairs Canada announced on Thursday, as cited by Canadian media.

"The sanctions are a response to the grave breach of international peace and security posed by their violent and destabilising actions against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank," Global Affairs said in a news release.

Those being sanctioned are: David Chai Chasdai, Yinon Levi, Zvi Bar Yosef and Moshe Sharvit. Global Affairs Canada said the four have carried out violence against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, but did not specify when nor did it provide any details.

The four men are among the eight people the US sanctioned earlier this year. 

The Israeli army said Thursday that two Thai hostages earlier believed to be alive in Gaza were killed in the October 7 attack and their bodies are being held in the Palestinian territory.

"We informed the families of two kidnapped Thai citizens, who worked in agriculture in the plantations near Kibbutz Beeri, that they were murdered in the terrorist attack on October 7 and their bodies are being held by Hamas," said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.

Hamas called on Arab countries to "compel" Israel to end its offensive in Gaza after Arab heads of state meeting in Bahrain demanded an "immediate and permanent ceasefire".

In a statement, the Palestinian militant group urged "brotherly Arab states to take the necessary measures to compel the (Israeli) occupation to stop its aggression."

Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasised on Thursday the urgent need to find a just solution to the Palestinian issue given the unprecedented escalation currently unfolding in tGaza and the wider Middle East.

In a message directed to the Arab Summit held in Bahrain, and published on the official Kremlin website, Putin said: "The Middle East is experiencing one of its most severe crises. The escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians."

"In light of these tragic events, reaching a just resolution to the Palestinian issue, based on internationally recognized standards, becomes particularly pressing."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday military operations in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where over 1.4 million Palestinians are displaced, were crucial in the fight against Palestinian militants.

"The battle in Rafah is critical... it is a fight that decides many things in this campaign," he said.

Lebanese state-run media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country's south on Thursday killed two people, with Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers saying at least one of them was a group member.

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

"Two people were martyred in the raid that targeted a car on the Ramadiya-Qana road," the official National News agency (NNA) said, after earlier reporting a drone strike.

A rescuer from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health committee said an Israeli strike on a car in Qana had killed two young men, including a member of the Iran-backed group.

Israel's military told AFP in Jerusalem the air strike had "eliminated a terrorist cell on their way to carry out an immediate terror attack on Israeli territory".

Hezbollah said later Thursday it was mourning a second fighter.

It also said it had launched 11 attacks on northern Israel since Thursday morning, targeting military positions and equipment.

Arab League Summit in Bahrain urges 'immediate' ceasefire in Gaza, end to displacement of Palestinians.

More to follow...

Gaza authorities released a list on Thursday of more than 100 academics and researchers they say have been killed by Israeli forces since war broke out over seven months ago.

"We strongly condemn the occupation's assassination of scientists, academics, university professors and researchers, who are a distinguished group in the Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip," the Hamas government's media office said in a statement.

"This sends a clear message that they aim to completely eliminate scientists and researchers in the educational sector," it added.

Among those on the list of 104 names is Sufyan Tayeh, who was the president of the Islamic University and a leading researcher in physics and applied mathematics.

Top surgeon and professor of medicine Adnan al-Barsh was also listed.

The Gaza government called on the "free countries of the world and all organisations related to education and higher education worldwide to condemn this historical crime and to pressure the occupation to stop the genocidal war."

The US House of Representatives was set Thursday to deliver a rebuke to President Joe Biden for pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel, voting on legislation that would seek to force the weapons transfer as Republicans worked to highlight Democratic divisions over the Gaza war.

Republicans said the president had no business chiding Israel for how it uses the U.S.-manufactured weapons that are instrumental in its war against Hamas. They have not been satisfied with the Biden administration moving forward this week on a new $1 billion sale to Israel of tank ammunition, tactical vehicles and mortar rounds.

"We’re beyond frustrated," Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said. "I don’t think we should tell the Israelis how to conduct their military campaign, period."

The House bill condemns Biden for initiating the pause on the bomb shipment and would withhold funding for the State Department, Department of Defense and the National Security Council until the delivery is made.

The White House has said Biden would veto the bill if it passes Congress, and the Democratic-led Senate seems certain to reject it.

South Africa asked the World Court on Thursday to order Israel to cease its military operations in the Gaza Strip and to completely and immediately withdraw from the entirety of the territory.

Jordan's King Abdullah said on Thursday that militant groups that smuggle drugs and arms should be confronted.

The U.S.-allied kingdom foiled a suspected Iranian-led plot to smuggle weapons to help opponents of the ruling monarchy carry out acts of sabotage, two Jordanian sources with knowledge of the matter earlier told Reuters.

An official source told state news agency PETRA on Wednesday that the kingdom had in fact foiled an attempt by "foreign-backed militants" to smuggle arms into its territory, seized the arms and detained the smugglers in March.

"We should confront armed militant groups who commit crimes above the law, especially smuggling drugs and arms which is what Jordan has been thwarting for years now," the king said at an Arab League summit held in Manama.

The Palestinian government has not received the financial support it had expected from international and regional partners, President Mahmoud Abbas said at an Arab League summit on Thursday.

"It has now become critical to activate the Arab safety net, to boost the resilience of our people and to enable the government to carry out its duties," Abbas said.

Funding of the Palestinian Authority, the body which exercises limited governance of the occupied West Bank, has been severely restricted by a dispute over transferring tax revenue Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinians.

The Arab League on Thursday called for a United Nations peacekeeping force in occupied Palestinian territories at a summit dominated by Israel's ongoing war on Gaza.

The "Manama Declaration" issued by the 22-member bloc called for "international protection and peacekeeping forces of the United Nations in the occupied Palestinian territories" until a two-state solution is implemented.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Thursday urged greater protection of civilians in Rafah, as the Israeli army intensified its operations around the southern city in Gaza.

Baerbock said in a statement she was "deeply concerned about the Israeli army's current actions in Rafah", and that hundreds of thousands of refugees in the city "no longer have any safe places to flee".

"The protection of the civilian population must have the highest priority," Baerbock insisted. "This is not visible at the moment."

Germany, a close ally of Israel's, would "stand up for Israel's security", Baerbock said.

But Germany's support for Israel also meant "doing everything to ensure Israel does not lose itself in this war", she said.

"We have underlined that military self-defence must be directed at the terrorists of Hamas and not at innocent Palestinian children, women and men."

Any ship from any company heading to Israeli ports will be targeted by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis in any area their capabilities could reach, not only limited to the Red Sea region, the group's leaded Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.

A lawyer for South Africa told the UN top court Thursday that Israel's operation in Rafah was the "last step" in destroying Gaza, urging judges to protect the Palestinian people.

"This is the last step in the destruction of Gaza and its Palestinian people," Vaughan Lowe told the International Court of Justice, referring to the assault on Rafah.

The US military said Thursday it expected around 500 tons of aid to enter Gaza in the coming days after an emergency pier was affixed to the shore in the war-ravaged territory.

"Just a few hours ago, the pier was successfully affixed to the beach in Gaza," said Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command.

"I think we're going to get about 500 tons in in the next couple of days. It's a pretty substantial amount, and it's spread out over multiple ships right now," Cooper told reporters.

The humanitarian assistance is being screened in Cyprus and loaded by truck. Once on land, it will "move quickly," being offloaded from the coast into Gaza within hours.

"Thousands of tons of aid are in the pipeline. We're seeing significant volumes of aid flow into Cyprus for further distribution," he told reporters.

The American Gaza Pier. Almost done.

Dangerous. pic.twitter.com/IdTdegASkm

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 16, 2024

South Africa accused Israel Thursday at the top UN court of stepping up what it called a "genocide" in Gaza, urging the court to order a halt to Israel's assault on Rafah.

"South Africa had hoped, when we last appeared before this court, to halt this genocidal process to preserve Palestine and its people," Vusimuzi Madonsela told the International Court of Justice.

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

Israel continues to evade efforts to reach a ceasefire in its war with Hamas in Gaza, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country has mediated in the conflict, told Arab leaders at a summit in Manama on Thursday.

Sisi added that Israel is pursuing its military operations in Rafah, the southern border city between Egypt and Gaza, and using the city's border crossing from its Palestinian side "to tighten the siege of the enclave."

"We found Israel continuing to escape its responsibilities and evade efforts exerted to reach a ceasefire," Sisi said.

"Those who think that security and military solutions are able to secure interests or achieve security (are) delusional," Sisi added.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said Hamas gave Israel an excuse to wage war on Gaza with its October 7 attack from the Palestinian territory.

"The military operation carried out by Hamas by a unilateral decision on that day, October 7, provided Israel with more pretexts and justifications to attack the Gaza Strip," Abbas told an Arab League summit in Bahrain.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that more troops would "enter Rafah" as military operations intensify in Gaza's far-southern city, in remarks issued by his office Thursday.

The operation "will continue as additional forces will enter" the Rafah area, Gallant said, adding that "several tunnels in the area have been destroyed by our troops... this activity will intensify".

"Hundreds of [terror] targets have already been struck, and our forces are manoeuvring in the area," he said according to a statement released by his office after he visited Rafah the previous day.

Three people were reportedly left in critical condition and rushed to hospital on Thursday after Hezbollah struck the northern Israeli settlement of Metula.

The Iran-backed Lebanese group reportedly used an armed drone in the attack.

"At 1:38 pm on Thursday 5/16/2024, the Islamic Resistance attacked the Metula site, its garrison, and its vehicles with an attack drone armed with 2 'S5' missiles, and when it reached its designated point, it fired its missiles at one of its vehicles and the elements gathered around it," a Hezbollah statement said.

"This resulted in deaths and injuries, and then it [the drone] continued its attack on the designated target and hit it accurately."

Lebanese state-run media said an Israeli strike on a car in the country's south on Thursday killed two people, with Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers saying at least one of them was a group member.

"Two people were martyred in the raid that targeted a car on the Ramadiya-Qana road," the official National News Agency said, after earlier reporting a drone strike.

A rescuer from the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health committee said an Israeli strike on a car in Qana had killed two young men, including a member of the Iran-backed movement.

🚨 غارة إسرائيليّة استهدفت سيارة على طريق قانا - الرمادية في قضاء صور، ومعلومات عن سقوط شهيدين وجريح. pic.twitter.com/GA59YLSKYH

— Samah Al Ayass (@Samahayass) May 16, 2024

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem visited Gaza City on Thursday, his church said, where he delivered a "message of hope, solidarity and support" to people in the war-torn Palestinian territory.

"His Beatitude, Pierbattista Cardinal Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem entered Gaza and reached the parish of the Holy Family for a pastoral visit," the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement, adding that he had presided over a mass.

Egypt has rejected an Israeli proposal for the two countries to coordinate to re-open the Rafah crossing between Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip, and to manage its future operation, two Egyptian security sources said.

Officials from Israeli security service Shin Bet presented the plan on a visit to Cairo on Wednesday, amid rising tension between the two countries following Israel's military advance last week into Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by war have been sheltering.

At least one person was killed and another injured in an Israeli drone strike on a car in south Lebanon, Lebanese medical sources said Thursday.

The car was reportedly travelling along the Qana-Rmadiyeh road in the Tyre district.

Ambulances rushed to the scene of the attack.

غارة من مسيرة على منطقة البلقة على طريق قانا الرمادية pic.twitter.com/IUqZUoKZVI

— مصدر مسؤول (@fouadkhreiss) May 16, 2024

Gaza's health ministry said Thursday that at least 35,272 people have been killed in the territory during more than seven months of Israel's offensive.

The toll includes at least 39 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 79,205 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began on October 7.

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

Hezbollah fighters "launched a missile attack with more than 60 Katyusha rockets" on several Israeli military positions including in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the group said in a statement, adding it was "in response to the Israeli enemy's attacks last night on the Bekaa region" in east Lebanon.

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.

Israeli troops shot and killed three men during clashes in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said early Thursday.

Several others were injured during the confrontation between Israeli forces and Palestinian activists in the town of Tulkarm in the northwest of the territory, the Palestinian Authority's health ministry told AFP.

"3 martyrs shot by the occupation forces in Tulkarm," the ministry said.

It identified those killed as Ayman Ahmad Mubarak, 26, Husam Imad Daabas, 22 and Mohammed Yusif Nasrallah, 27.

According to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the three men were killed during an Israeli raid on the town shortly after midnight.

شهداء طولكرم الذين ارتقوا برصاص الاحتلال الليلة الماضية

الشهيد أيمن أحمد مبارك (26 عاماً)
الشهيد حسام عماد دعباس (22 عاماً)
الشهيد محمد يوسف نصر الله (27 عاماً) pic.twitter.com/rrrbC7ut7E

— 🇵🇸 مُنية (@mooniapal) May 16, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that any move to establish an alternative to Hamas as the government of Gaza required that the Palestinian group first be eliminated, and demanded this goal be pursued "without excuses".

His remarks, in a video statement posted online, followed a public challenge by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who accused the government of having avoided a serious discussion of a proposal for a non-Hamas post-war Palestinian administration.

South Africa will ask the top UN court on Thursday to order an immediate halt to Israel's incursion in Rafah, describing it as a "genocidal" operation threatening the "very survival of Palestinians".

Top lawyers for Pretoria will kick off two days of hearings at the Peace Palace, home of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), imploring judges to order a ceasefire throughout Gaza.

Israel will respond on Friday. It has previously highlighted its "unwavering" commitment to upholding international law and described South Africa's case as "wholly unfounded" and "morally repugnant".

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday said the movement will be involved in deciding post-war rule in Gaza along with other Palestinian factions.

"We say that the Hamas movement is here to stay ... and it will be the movement and all national (Palestinian) factions who will decide the post-war rule in Gaza," Haniyeh said in a televised address.

He also said the fate of truce talks was uncertain because of Israel's "insistence on occupying the Rafah crossing and on its expansion of the aggression" in the Palestinian territory.

Haniyeh reiterated the movement's position concerning truce talks that have again hit an impasse.

"Any agreement must ensure a permanent ceasefire, comprehensive withdrawal (of Israeli forces) from all sectors of the Gaza Strip, a real deal for exchange of prisoners, the return of displaced persons, reconstruction and lifting the siege" of Gaza, Haniyeh said.

Israel's military said Thursday that five soldiers had been killed by friendly fire in Gaza's north, where intense fighting has resumed more than seven months into the war.

The troops were killed on Wednesday at 7 pm (1600 GMT) in the area of Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the military said in a statement.

"Five soldiers of the 202nd Paratrooper Battalion were killed last night in a mass casualty incident as a result of fire by our forces," the military statement said, adding that seven other troops were wounded.

Two tanks in the area, which has seen particularly fierce fighting in recent days, opened fire on a house used by the Israeli battalion's deputy commander, the military said.

"The shooting consisted of two tank shells," it added.

"From the initial investigation... it appears that the tank fighters, from the ultra-Orthodox paratrooper company Hetz, identified a gun barrel coming out of one of the windows in the building, and directed each other to shoot at the building," the statement said.

Israel struck the Baalbek district in eastern Lebanon Wednesday night.

It came shortly after Hezbollah said it launched drones at an Israeli military base west of Tiberias, the deepest attack into Israeli territory since cross-border clashes began in October.

Lebanon's official National News Agency said that "the outskirts of the eastern anti-Lebanon mountain range, at midnight (2100 GMT Wednesday), was subjected to five enemy raids."

The Israeli strikes in the Baalbek district "slightly injured a citizen" and caused fires, according to NNA.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that one of the strikes "hit a Hezbollah military camp".

🔻#لبنان : ينفذ الطيران الحربي الاسرائيلي عدوانا جويا واسعا مستهدفا عدد من اطراف بلدات #البقاع الشرقي لاسيما #النبي_شيت #الطيبة #الخريبة #بريتال
بغارات عنيفة سمع دويها في ارجاء محافظتي #بعلبك #الهرمل pic.twitter.com/sxla2P60yn

— Ahmad Farhat | أحمد فرحات (@AhmadAc7890) May 15, 2024

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack at a military base west of Israel’s Tiberias on Wednesday, in response to “assassinations” carried out by Israel.

The attack came a day after a Hezbollah commander was killed in southern Lebanon.

It is the deepest attack into Israeli territory since Hezbollah began exchanging fire with Israel in parallel with the Gaza war.