Israeli Al-Nuseirat refugee camp massacre kills 210, say Gaza authorities

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Fierce fighting could be heard between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters, at the same time as explosions west of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, Palestinian media report.

Israeli tanks were shelling and opening heavy gunfire at the centre and north of the city of Rafah in Gaza, The New Arab's Arabic-language edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

The United States has resumed aid deliveries to Gaza from a temporary pier, the country's military said on Saturday, after the structure suffered storm damage and underwent repairs in a nearby port.

"Today at approximately 10:30 am (Gaza time) US Central Command (USCENTCOM) began delivery of humanitarian assistance ashore in Gaza. Today, a total of approximately 492 metric tons (~1.1 million pounds) of much needed humanitarian assistance was delivered to the people of Gaza," CENTCOM said on social media platform X.

"No US military personnel went ashore in Gaza," the military command responsible for the Middle East added.

Israeli aircraft targeted the east of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, Palestinian media report.

Israeli aircraft carried out a raid on the Al-Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City, without any information on casualties, The New Arab's Arabic-language edition Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports.

An Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship caught fire after it was hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen on Saturday night, maritime security firm Ambrey said.

"The ship was heading southwest along the Gulf of Aden at a speed of 8.2kts when the forward station was struck by a missile. A fire started but was neutralised," Ambrey said in a statement.

A second missile missed and "small boats in the vicinity opened fire on the ship" causing it to change direction to port.

"No injuries were reported," the security firm added.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, run by Britain's Royal Navy, said in a separate statement that it was informed of an incident southeast of Aden on Saturday night, and that authorities were investigating.

"Vessels are advised to transit with caution," it said.

The attack comes amid a campaign of drone and missile strikes against Israeli-linked shipping by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

The rebels' attacks, which they say are in support of Palestinians, have prompted some shipping companies to detour around southern Africa to avoid the Red Sea, a route that normally carries about 12 percent of global trade.

Badly needed aid has been delivered to Gaza from the newly repaired American-built pier, a US official says.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said early on Sunday that it had received a report from a captain of a vessel on an incident 80 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's Aden.

(Reuters)

Lebanese group Hezbollah said on Saturday it had fired a salvo of Falaq 2 rockets at a military command centre in northern Israel.

A security source told Reuters it was the first time the group had used this type of rocket, after firing the Falaq 1 on dozens of previous occasions.

(Reuters)

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says its teams are working alongside medical staff at the Al-Aqsa and Nasser hospitals after heavy bombing in central Gaza on Saturday morning by Israeli forces.

"It's a nightmare at Al-Aqsa. There have been back-to-back mass casualties as densely populated areas are bombed. It’s way beyond what anyone could deal with in a functional hospital, let alone with the scarce resources we have here," says Samuel Johann, MSF coordinator in Gaza.

He asks: "How many more men, women and children have to be killed before world leaders decide to put an end to this massacre?"

Chris Hook, MSF medical referent at Nasser Hospital, says that in one hour, "we've received about 50 badly injured patients".

"There are people with multiple major open fractures," Hook adds.

"We've got several unconscious children. The intensive care unit is full, and more patients are arriving."

Following intense bombings by Israeli forces this Saturday morning in the Middle Area of #Gaza, our teams are working along medical staff at Al-Aqsa and Nasser hospitals to treat an overwhelming number of severely injured patients, many of whom are women and children. pic.twitter.com/JCcPVAfxuE

— MSF International (@MSF) June 8, 2024

Thousands of Gaza war protesters held a "red line" rally near the White House on Saturday, voicing anger at what they said is US President Joe Biden's tolerance of Israel's bloody military campaign.

Chanting "From DC to Palestine, we are the red line", the demonstrators held a long banner scribbled with the names of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, as the war enters its ninth month.

Biden has faced criticism over his handling of Israel's war on Gaza.

The White House said in May that a deadly Israeli strike on Rafah did not cross a "red line" that Biden had seemingly set two months earlier when asked about a potential invasion of the southern Gazan city.

"I no longer believe any of the words that Joe Biden says," said protester 25-year-old Zaid Mahdawi from Virginia, whose parents are Palestinian.

"This 'red line' in his rhetoric is rubbish… it shows his hypocrisy and his cowardice," Mahdawi told AFP.

Nursing assistant Tala McKinney, 25, said: "I think we all hope it's going to stop soon but clearly our president is not living up to the words he is speaking to our country. It's outrageous."

The protesters – almost all wearing red clothing – held Palestinian flags and signs saying "Biden's red line was a lie" and "Bombing children is not self-defence."

The White House stepped up security with an additional anti-scale perimeter fence ahead of the demonstration, which saw chartered buses ferrying in people from as far afield as Maine and Florida.

Five months from his election battle with Republican candidate Donald Trump, Biden is facing pressure to hang onto Muslim and young voters, blocs seen as crucial to his reelection bid.

"It's very disappointing to have a president who doesn't follow through with their word… I will be voting for a third party," said McKinney.

Jordan and Egypt condemn Israel's attack on the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, which killed Gaza authorities say killed 210 people.

Amman's foreign ministry said it "condemned the brutal Israeli assault" on the camp, calling it a "practice that reflects the systematic targeting of Palestinian civilians, the Israeli persistence in violating international law and international humanitarian law, and the continuation of committing war crimes".

Egypt "condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli attacks on the Al-Nuseirat camp", a foreign ministry statement said.

Israel's military operation on Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp will not affect the current captive swap deal, said Mohammad Al-Hindi, deputy chief of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which is an ally of Hamas.

Al-Hindi said that conditions for the deal remain the same, in comments to Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV.

(Reuters)

A UN expert says she is "relieved" four Israeli captives have been freed but this shouldn't have come at the "expense of at least 200 Palestinians, including children, killed and over 400 injured by Israel and allegedly foreign soldiers, while perfidiously hiding in an aid truck".

"This is 'humanitarian camouflage' at another level," Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in occupied Palestine, says on X.

"Israel has used hostages to legitimise killing, injuring, maiming, starving and traumatising Palestinians in Gaza. And while intensifying violence against Palestinians in the rest of the occupied territory and Israel."

Albanese adds that Israel "could have freed all hostages, alive and intact", eight months back "when the first ceasefire and hostage exchange was put on the table".

"Yet, Israel refused in order to continue to destroy Gaza and the Palestinians as a people," she says.

"This is genocidal intent turned into action. Crystal clear."

Relieved that four hostages have been released. It should not have come at the expense of at least 200 Palestinians, including children, killed and over 400 injured by Israel and allegedly foreign soldiers, while perfidiously hiding in an aid truck.
This is "humanitarian…

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) June 8, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asks war cabinet minister Benny Gantz not to resign after threats to quit over the lack of post-war strategy for the Gaza Strip.

"I call on Benny Gantz – do not leave the emergency government. Don't give up on unity," Netanyahu says on X, after Gantz had cancelled a planned news conference on Saturday where Israeli media had speculated he would announce his resignation.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres says he has sent messages to the families of Noa Argamani and Shlomi Ziv, two Israeli captives freed today.

Guterres posts on X that he sent the messages to "express my relief that they and two other hostages are now free".

"I renew my appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for an end to this war," he adds.

Guterres says he received Argamani and Ziv's families last week.

I just sent messages to the families of Noa Argamani and Shalomi Ziv, who I received last week, to express my relief that they and two other hostages are now free.

I renew my appeal for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for an end to this war.

— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) June 8, 2024

The European Union's foreign policy chief says reports from Gaza of "another massacre of civilians" are "appalling".

"We condemn this in the strongest terms," Josep Borrell adds on social media platform X.

"The bloodbath must end immediately."

Borrell says US President Joe Biden's three-stage plan "is the way forward" for an "enduring ceasefire and to end the killing".

Reports from Gaza of another massacre of civilians are appalling. We condemn this in the strongest terms.

The bloodbath must end immediately.@POTUS 3-stage plan is the way forward for an enduring ceasefire and to end the killing.

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) June 8, 2024

The spokesperson for Hamas' armed al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, said on Saturday that some hostages were killed in Israel's hostage freeing operation at al-Nuseirat refugee camp and nearby areas in central Gaza.

(Reuters)

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Saturday that his government will suspend coal exports to Israel while it continues its war against Hamas in the Gaza strip.

"We are going to suspend coal exports to Israel until the genocide stops," the socialist leader wrote on X.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an emergency UN Security Council session on "the bloody massacre that was carried out by the Israeli forces" at the al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, official news agency WAFA reported on Saturday.

(Reuters)

An Israeli air strike on the outskirts of Aitaroun in southern Lebanon killed two people, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported on Saturday.

Israel's IDF said in a statement that its soldiers had identified a Hezbollah militant in the area of Aitaroun and shortly afterward an Israeli aircraft had struck the individual.

Israeli forces launched two missiles targeting a cafe at a petrol station which resulted in major damage to the shop, the station and the surrounding area, the NNA report said.

The IDF said on Saturday that jets had also struck infrastructure in the area of Khiam after tanks had earlier fired at a Hezbollah military structure in the Kfarkela area.

(Reuters)

France and the United States will double their efforts to avoid the Middle East exploding, notably in Lebanon where there is urgency to reduce tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

Speaking alongside US President Joe Biden during his state visit to France, Macron said that Paris and Washington also saw an escalation strategy by Iran in the region and that the two countries were determined to exert the necessary pressure to stop this trend. 

(Reuters)

Israeli police announced Saturday the death of an officer wounded earlier in the day during an operation to rescue four captives from the Gaza Strip.

"The Israel Police and the Border Police announce with great sorrow and grief the death of the late officer Arnon Zmora... who was mortally wounded in the operation to return the hostages this morning in Gaza," the force said in a statement.

Gaza's government media office said at least 210 people were killed on Saturday in Israeli attacks on Nuseirat Refugee Camp from which four Israeli captives were rescued.

"The number of victims from the Israeli occupation's massacre in the Nuseirat camp has risen to 210 martyrs and more than 400 wounded," the office said in a statement.

Members of Israel's government have made statements following the release of four Israeli captives held in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel does not give into terrorism and that it is operating "creatively and bravely" to bring home the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

"We are committed to do so in the future as well. We will not let up until we complete the mission and return home all the hostages - both those alive and dead," Netanyahu said.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that special forces operated under heavy fire and in a complex urban environment when rescuing four hostages from Hamas in Gaza on Saturday.

"Our troops showed so much courage - operating under heavy fire in the most complex urban environment in Gaza," Gallant said in a statement from his office.

"This is one of the most heroic and extraordinary operations I have witnessed over the course of 47 years serving in Israel's defense establishment," he said.

Meanwhile war cabinet member Benny Gantz cancelled a news conference that was scheduled for Saturday, his office said, amid speculation he had been planning to resign from the government.

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)

An Israeli forum for families of captives held in Gaza hailed the rescue on Saturday of four captives from the Palestinian territory as a "miraculous triumph".

"The heroic operation by the (Israeli army) that freed and brought home Noa Argamani, Shlomi Ziv, Andrey Kozlov, and Almog Meir Jan is a miraculous triumph," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement, adding the Israeli government had a commitment to bring all 120 hostages back and called on the international community to exert pressure on Hamas to release other hostages.

Bodies of at least 55 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Al-Nuseirat and other areas in central Gaza, and dozens wounded, in the attacks, arrived on Saturday at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the health ministry in the enclave said.

The hospital, one of the only hospitals still functioning in Gaza, has been currently operating via one power generator and could go out of service while dozens of injured were still on the streets, a spokesperson from the health ministry said in front of the hospital.

Israeli forces rescued four hostages alive in an operation from two separate locations in the central Gaza area of al-Nuseirat on Saturday, the military said.

A 'pro-Israel'  UK Labour Party candidate and close ally of leader Kier Starmer has allegedly been the subject of an antisemitism complaint after footage resurfaced in which appears to criticise non-Zionist Jews in the UK.

Luke Akehurst was appointed Labour’s candidate for North Durham in northern England and serves as a director of the We Believe in Israel campaign group, which pushes Zionism as a movement for the "self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland, the State of Israel".

Akehurst's appointment caused a stir among some Labour members who have voiced concern over both his support for Israel’s war in Gaza and past comments in which he appears to criticise members of the UK’s non-Zionist Jewish community.

Labour councillor Martin Abrams told The New Arab that he submitted a formal complaint to the Labour Party on Thursday about Akehurst's remarks about Jewish people made in 2020.

To read more on The New Arab's latest report, click here.

Gaza's Ministry of Health has said that 70 Palestinians have been killed and 150 injured in the last 24 hours as a result of Israel's military assault on the enclave.

The announcement raises the total death toll to 36,801 Palestinians killed with a further 83,680 wounded since 7 October.

Israel cannot force its choices on Hamas and the group will accept no deal that does not achieve security for Palestinians, Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Saturday in response to an Israeli military offensive in Gaza's al-Nuseirat area that saw the release of four Israeli hostages and killed at least 30 Palestinians according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)

Four Israelis held captive in Gaza have been released from captivity, according to the Israeli army as quoted by Israeli press. 

Noa Argamani, Almog Meir, Shlomi Ziv and Andrei Kozlov were named by the army as being released in an operation in central Gaza where heavy airstrikes and dozens of Palestinian casualties had been reported. 

The Israeli military said on Saturday in a rare statement that it was targeting militant infrastructure in Gaza's Nuseirat area.

Gaza's health ministry reported dozens of people were wounded and being treated at Al-Aqsa Hospital after heavy Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza.

It is unusual for Israel's military to inform about its actions while its operations are still under way.

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)

Gaza's Ministry of Health have said that there are a large number of dead and wounded arriving at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Central Gaza, most of whom are women and children.

In an earlier announcement the ministry said that the hospital was facing difficulties attempting to treat the amount of wounded following Israeli bombardment in central Gaza. 

Renewed Israeli attacks on Deir el-Balah in central Gaza have caused a flood of casualties to enter the Al-Aqsa Hospital. Footage from inside the hospital show injured women and children being brought to be treated.

Airstrikes were also reported on the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza by The New Arab's Arabic language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Humanitarian aid entering Gaza by sea via a US- built pier will resume in the coming days, the Israeli military said on Saturday, after repairs to the structure were completed.

The US Central Command said on Friday it had re-established the temporary pier anchored off Gaza's coast, which had been temporarily removed after part of the structure broke off, two weeks after it started operating.

(Reuters)

Hezbollah announced they conducted a drone attack against an Israeli position in the occupied Shebaa Farms, targeting an artillery bunker, according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

The attack is one of a number announced by Hezbollah on Saturday, as Israeli media report sirens sounding in communities on the Lebanon Israel border.

A Palestinian man has died after being shot by Israeli forces during an early morning raid on the town of Anabta near Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank.

The UN's Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) has warned that rising temperatures and a lack of hygiene are exacerbating Gaza's humanitarian crisis.

"Many displaced families in Gaza are forces to rely on dirty sea water for their daily needs," UNRWA said on a post on X.

"Access to clean water is critical for the health & survival of hundreds of thousands across [the] Gaza Strip. Increasing heat & lack of hygiene are making an already dire situation far worse," UNRWA added. 

Many displaced families in #Gaza are forced to rely on dirty sea water for their daily needs.

Access to clean water is critical for the health & survival of hundreds of thousands across #GazaStrip. Increasing heat & lack of hygiene are making an already dire situation far worse. pic.twitter.com/BXE1avMO0j

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 8, 2024