UN warns of imminent Gaza 'slaughter'

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Scores of lawmakers from U.S. President Joe Biden's Democratic Party told him on Friday that they believe there is sufficient evidence to show that Israel has violated U.S. law by restricting humanitarian aid flows into war-stricken Gaza.

A letter to Biden signed by 86 House of Representatives Democrats said Israel's aid restrictions "call into question" its assurances that it was complying with a U.S. Foreign Assistance Act provision requiring recipients of U.S.-funded arms to uphold international humanitarian law and allow free flows of U.S. assistance.

"We expect the administration to ensure (Israel's) compliance with existing law and to take all conceivable steps to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza," the lawmakers wrote.

Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.

The officials, who were not authorised to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.

"We are determined to reach a truce agreement in a way that fulfills Palestinians' demands": Hamas statement.

US President Joe Biden will host Jordan's King Abdullah II next week, the White House said Friday, as negotiations continue in the Middle East for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The meeting will be "private" and will be followed by a readout, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters, without giving a date for the encounter.

A delegation from Palestinian group Hamas will visit Cairo on Saturday, a Hamas official told Reuters, amid expectations that they will deliver a written response to an Israeli proposal on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release.

Separately, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is also taking part in the fight against Israel in Gaza, reiterated on Friday the demands of the Palestinian resistance factions which include a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Gaza and the return of all displaced persons to their homes.

"There is a complete and continuous coordination between all resistance factions, and there is consensus on the resistance’s demands", the group added in the statement.

The U.S. has not seen a comprehensive plan on Israel's thinking for a potential military operation in Rafah, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday.

Egypt will receive a delegation in Cairo on Saturday to discuss developments in the Gaza truce, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera news TV said on Friday, citing a senior Egyptian source.

An Israeli military assault on the south Gaza city of Rafah could end in a "bloodbath", the head of the World Health Organization warned Friday, as he urged a ceasefire.

"WHO is deeply concerned that a full-scale military operation in Rafah, Gaza, could lead to a bloodbath, and further weaken an already broken health system," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter.

Five Israeli human rights groups that took Israel to court over restrictions on aid to war-torn Gaza said Friday the state's insistence that it has met its obligations was "incomprehensible".

Gisha and four other Israeli non-profit organisations have petitioned the supreme court demanding that the government specify what measures the executive branch is taking to step up aid deliveries to Gaza, where the United Nations warns famine is looming.

"It is inconceivable that the respondents, who admit to not having even the faintest idea about the extent of the aid required for residents of the Gaza Strip, are claiming that they have fulfilled their obligations - and even beyond," the groups said in a response published by Gisha Friday.

They said the shortages evident inside Gaza indicated "that the respondents are not meeting their obligations, not to the required extent nor at the necessary speed".

The remains of Eliakim Livman, who was thought to have been taken hostages by Hamas during its October 7 attack, have been found in Israel, the army and his family said Friday.

Livman, a 24-year-old who was working as a security guard at the Nova music festival in southern Israel when the Palestinian group carried out their unprecedented attack, "was murdered in the October 7 massacre", the army said in a statement.

Livman, who until Friday had been counted among the around 250 people taken captive during the attack, was "found in Israeli territory", it said.

The army has yet provided further details about where and how his body was found.

But it said Livman had been identified "based on field evidence, following a thorough and complex investigation conducted by the IDF (army), Israel Police and the National Institute of Forensic Medicine".

According to Israeli media reports, his remains were discovered buried by mistake alongside another victim from the Nova music festival.

His family also issued a statement after being informed of the news.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday said Turkey's move to halt trade with Israel aimed at forcing the country to a ceasefire over Gaza.

"We have taken some measures to force Israel to agree to a ceasefire and increase the amount of humanitarian aid to enter" Gaza, Erdogan told a group of businessmen in Istanbul.

"We will oversee the consequences of this step we have taken in coordination and consultation with our business world."

CIA Director William Burns arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo on Friday for meetings about the conflict in Gaza, an Egyptian security source and three sources at Cairo airport said.

Egypt, along with Qatar and the United States, has been leading efforts to mediate between Israel and Hamas to broker a deal for a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza.

The CIA declined to comment, reflecting its policy of not disclosing the director's travel.

Egypt made a renewed push to revive negotiations late last month. Cairo is alarmed by the prospect of an Israeli ground operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than one million people have taken shelter near the border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Mediators say they have been waiting on Hamas to deliver its response on the latest version of a proposal for a truce and for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it has temporarily halted the construction of the floating pier off Gaza, due to the conditions of the sea.

In a statement on X, CENTCOM explained that "forecasted high winds and high sea swells caused unsafe conditions for soldiers working on the surface of the partially constructed pier."

It added that the partially built pier, as well as the military ships involved in its construction, have been transported to Israeli port Port of Ashdod- where the assembly process will continue.

"Once in place, the temporary pier in Gaza will allow for the delivery of additional humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in need," CENTCOM said.

Update on the Construction of the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore capability in Mediterranean Sea

Yesterday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) temporarily paused offshore assembly of the floating pier in the vicinity of Gaza due to sea state considerations. Forecasted high winds and… pic.twitter.com/cIY2TUn7NX

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 3, 2024

Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat has announced in a post on X that he has filed a complaint with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) chief Mathias Cormann- due to Turkey’s decision to cut trade ties with Israel.

“I submitted a complaint to Korman against Turkey in light of its unilateral decision to stop maritime trade between the countries,” he said in a post on X.

Barkat said that he had a meeting with Cormann, following Turkey halting all imports and exports to and from Israel due to the Gaza war. 

His post added that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s decision "blatantly violates maritime trade laws and harms the continuity of global supply" and implored the OECD to take action against Turkey.

The availability of food in the Gaza Strip has very slightly improved, though the risk of famine in the besieged Palestinian territory remains, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

"The food situation has a little bit improved. There's a bit more food," Rik Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the Palestinian territories, told a press briefing in Geneva via video-link from Jerusalem.

Compared to a few months ago, "definitely there is more basic food, more wheat, but also a little bit more diversified food on the market", he said.

This was "not just in the south (but) also in the north", where people have been surviving on fewer calories per day than those contained than a can of beans.

Peeperkorn stressed that local food production in the densely populated Gaza Strip -- such as fruit, vegetables and fish -- had been "destroyed" by the war.

The threat of famine had "absolutely not" gone away, he said.

A top Hamas official accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday of issuing statements intended to torpedo prospects for a truce in the nearly seven-month war in Gaza.

Hossam Badran told news agency AFP that Hamas was in the process of conducting internal dialogues within its leadership and with allied groups before negotiators return to Cairo to continue negotiations towards a truce.

But he warned that Netanyahu's repeated statements insisting he will send troops into the territory's far southern city of Rafah were calculated to "thwart any possibility of concluding an agreement".

"Netanyahu was the obstructionist in all previous rounds of dialogue and previous negotiations, and it is clear that he still is," he said in a telephone interview.

"He is not interested in reaching an agreement, and therefore he says words in the media to thwart these current efforts."

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States have proposed a deal that would halt fighting for 40 days and exchange Israeli hostages for potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners, according to details released earlier by Britain.

Yemen's Houthis will target ships heading to Israeli ports in any area that is within their range, military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech on Friday.

"We will target any ships heading to Israeli ports in the Mediterranean Sea in any area we are able to reach," he said.

The Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.

This has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and has stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilise the Middle East.

Britain on Friday announced new sanctions on "extremist Israeli groups" and a number of individuals who it said were behind violence in the occupied West Bank, according to a statement from the British foreign ministry. 

The Israeli army says it identified a hostile aircraft that that entered Israeli airspace from Lebanon- which has been shot down by air defences.

The army issued the statement but did not specify the type of aerial object.

It added that shrapnel from the interception also landed on a building in the Julis area that led to minor damage.

 An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Gazans at risk and be an incredible blow to the humanitarian operations of the entire enclave, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office said on Friday.

Israel has warned of an operation against Hamas in the southern Gazan city of Rafah where around a million displaced are crowded together in shelters and makeshift accommodation.

"It could be a slaughter of civilians and an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah," said Jens Laerke, pokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office,at a Geneva press briefing.

Aid operations out of Rafah include medical clinics and food distribution points, including centres for malnourished children, he said.

A senior Palestinian doctor died in an Israeli prison after more than four months of detention, two Palestinian prisoner associations said on Thursday, blaming Israel for his death.

The associations said in a joint statement that Adnan Al-Bursh, head of orthopedics at Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical facility, had been detained by Israeli forces while temporarily working at Al-Awada Hospital in north Gaza.

They called his death an "assassination" and said his body remained in Israeli custody.

The Israeli prison service issued a statement on April 19, saying that a prisoner detained for national security reasons had died in Ofer prison but giving no detail on the cause of death. A prison service spokesperson confirmed that the statement referred to Bursch, and said the incident was being investigated.

The Palestinian health ministry said in a statement that Bursh’s death raised to 496 the number of medical sector workers who had been killed by Israel since October 7. It added that 1,500 others had been wounded while 309 had been arrested.

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the West Bank and Gaza, said in comments on X that she was alarmed by Bursh's death in Israeli detention and urged the diplomatic community to take concrete measures to protect Palestinians.

"How many more lives will have to be taken before UN Member States, especially those demonstrating genuine concern for human rights globally, act to protect the Palestinians?" she said.

At least 34,622 Palestinians have been killed and 77,867 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Friday.

Trinidad and Tobago has announced its official recognise the State of Palestine- becoming the third Caribbean nation to do following Barbados and Jamaica. 

During the country's Cabinet meeting on Thursday, the Cabinet emphasised its unwavering support for the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.

Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Dr Amery Browne said the decision was made with the aim of helping in achieving "a lasting peace by strengthening the growing international consensus on the issue of Palestine statehood."

"The Government’s consistent position is that a two-State solution is the only way out of the ongoing cycle of violence. This is our consistent foreign policy position, which is founded on Trinidad and Tobago’s respect for and adherence to international law and to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations."

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor's office called on Friday for an end to what it called intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the world's permanent war crimes court.

In the statement posted on social media platform X, the ICC prosecutor's office said all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials must cease immediately. It added that the Rome Statute, which outlines the ICC's structure and areas of jurisdiction, prohibits these actions.

The statement, which named no specific cases, followed Israeli and American criticism of the ICC's investigation into alleged war crimes committed during the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Neither Israel nor its main ally the US are members of the court, and do not recognise its jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories. The court can prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Last week Israel voiced concern that the ICC could be preparing to issue arrest warrants for government officials on charges related to the conduct of its war in Gaza.

Statement of the #ICC Office of the Prosecutor pic.twitter.com/Cw331pMcDm

— Int'l Criminal Court (@IntlCrimCourt) May 3, 2024

Turkey's trade halt with Israel will continue until a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is secured as well as unhindered humanitarian aid flow to the region, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said on Friday.

Turkey stopped all exports and imports to and from Israel on Thursday, citing the "worsening humanitarian tragedy" in the Palestinian territories.

Israel's uncompromising attitude and worsening situation in Gaza prompted Turkey to halt trade, Bolat said in a speech in Istanbul while announcing April trade figures. The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8 billion in 2023.

A World Health Organization official said on Friday that the agency had a contingency plan prepared in case of an Israeli incursion into Gaza's Rafah but said it would not be sufficient to prevent a substantial rise in the death toll.

"I want to really say that this contingency plan is a band-aid," said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, at a Geneva press briefing via video link.

"It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity posed by a military operation." 

 Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, which has disrupted global shipping to display its support for Palestinians in the Gaza conflict, is now offering a place for students suspended from US universities after staging pro-Palestine protests.

"We are serious about welcoming students that have been suspended from US universities for supporting Palestinians," an official at Sanaa University, which is run by the Houthis, told news agency Reuters. "We are fighting this battle with Palestine in every way we can."

Sanaa University had issued a statement applauding the "humanitarian" position of the students in the United States and said they could continue their studies in Yemen.

"The board of the university condemns what academics and students of US and European universities are being subjected to, suppression of freedom of expression," the board of the university said in a statement, which included an email address for any students wanting to take up their offer.

The US and Britain returned the Houthi group to a list of terrorist groups this year as their attacks on vessels in and around the Red Sea hurt global economies.

The Houthi's offer of an education for US students sparked a wave of sarcasm by ordinary Yemenis on social media.

One social media user posted a photograph of two Westerners chewing Yemen's widely-used narcotic leaf Qat. 

Dozens of pro-Palestinian students from Mexico's largest university camped out Thursday in solidarity with similar protests that have swept colleges in the United States.

Mounting flags and chanting "Long live free Palestine," the protesters set up tents in front of the National Autonomous University of Mexico's (UNAM) head office in Mexico City.

The students called on the Mexican government to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel.

Dozens of universities in the United States have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent weeks, that have sparked attacks by police and counter-protests.

A small encampment takes shape at the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). One student told me they were inspired by the protests in the U.S. They always viewed US students as apathetic. To see them protest now, she said, is inspiring. pic.twitter.com/YUZ8m1duJb

— Eyder Peralta (@eyderp) May 2, 2024

An Israeli man held hostage in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attack has been confirmed dead, the government and the kibbutz where he had lived said early Friday.

Dror Or, 49, is the latest hostage to have been confirmed dead by Israel after begin captured during the Hamas attack on October 7.

Or was killed and his body held in Gaza since October 7, the Beeri kibbutz said. It was one of the communities hardest hit in the Hamas attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip.

His wife Yonat was killed in the initial attack while two of their three children, Noam and Alma, aged 17 and 13, were abducted and then freed in November as part of a ceasefire and hostages-for-prisoners swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

"We are heartbroken to share that Dror Or, who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, had been confirmed as murdered and his body is being held in Gaza," the Israeli government said on X.

The two children and their brother Yahli are now orphans, it added.

Campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said it will provide assistance to Or's family.

The forum and Israeli government did not say how they learned of Or's death.

Hamas says it is considering in a "positive spirit" a Gaza truce deal, while the UN warned rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory would require efforts not seen since World War II.

After months of stop-start negotiations, Hamas has sounded an optimistic tone about the latest hostages-for-ceasefire proposal, raising hopes an agreement may soon be reached -- even as medics in the besieged strip reported fresh strikes on Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah on Friday.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the group will "soon" send a delegation to Egypt to complete ongoing ceasefire discussions with a deal that "realises the demands of our people".

Haniyeh, the leader of the group's political wing, told Egyptian and Qatari mediators in calls on Thursday that Hamas was studying the latest proposal from Israel with a "positive spirit".

 Iran has released the crew of a seized Portuguese-flagged ship linked to Israel, but remains in control of the vessel itself, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized the container ship MSC Aries, with a crew of 25, in the Strait of Hormuz on April 13, days after Tehran vowed to retaliate for a suspected Israeli strike on its consulate in Damascus. Iran had said it could close the crucial shipping route.

“The seized ship, which turned off its radar in Iran's territorial waters and jeopardized the security of navigation, is under judicial detention,” Amirabdollahian said, according to a foreign ministry post on X late Thursday night.

He said the release of the crew was a humanitarian act and they could return to their countries along with the ship’s captain.

Iran’s foreign ministry had earlier said the Aries was seized for "violating maritime laws" and that there was no doubt it was linked to Israel.

MSC leases the Aries from Gortal Shipping, an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is partly owned by Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer.

Paris' Sciences Po university was closed for the day on Friday after a debate between the institute's leadership and students on the war in Gaza failed to ease tensions, prompting protesters to occupy it overnight.

The elite political sciences university this week became the centre of a wave of protests at several schools in France over the war and academic ties with Israel, although not on the same scale as seen in the United States.

A group of around 70 students were occupying Sciences Po's main buildings in central Paris on Friday morning after having spent the night there.

Sciences Po did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Local newspaper Le Parisien and radio France Inter, citing an internal memo, reported the university was asking staff to work from home as university buildings were closed.

Sciences Po's director on Thursday rejected demands by protesters to review the schools' relations with Israeli universities, prompting protesters to continue their movement with at least one person entering a hunger strike, according to a student speaking on behalf of the protesters. 

This is what the entrance to the Sciences Po Institute in Paris looks like during the protests in support of Palestine. pic.twitter.com/UzppSgfHk5

— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) May 3, 2024

Pro-Palestinian protesters were camped on university campuses across Australia on Friday, with some scuffling with pro-Israel protesters in Sydney, mirroring similar events in the United States.

Students have set up encampments at universities in major Australian cities over the last two weeks to protest Israel's offensive in Gaza. The students are demanding that universities sever all academic ties with Israel and cut off research partnerships with arms manufacturers.

No arrests were made, as the violence seen on some American campuses has not occurred in Australia.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters on Friday met a counterprotest supporting Israel at the University of Sydney, Australia’s oldest university. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported a scuffle between the groups.

Supporters of both sides later backed down because of a heavy security presence.

University of Sydney Vice Chancellor Mark Scott said there was space for both groups of protesters.

“They may strongly disagree with the matters that have been discussed. ... We can host that conversation and we should be able to do that in a non-threatening way,” he told ABC.

Scott said not all of the protesters were students, and that some might not be committed to peaceful and productive engagement. “We are working with security and police,” he said.