Live blog: Israeli assault in Rafah aims to expel Palestinians — Abbas

Friday, February 9, 2024

1705 GMT — The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said a plan announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a military escalation in Rafah at the southern edge of Gaza aims to drive Palestinians from their land.

The office of Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority, said it holds both the Israeli government and the US administration responsible for the plan's repercussions.

The Palestinian presidency called on the UN Security Council to take heed, "because (Israel) taking this step threatens security and peace in the region and the world.

It crosses all red lines," the statement said.

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1930 GMT — Palestinians in Rafah in panic, anxiety after Netanyahu's plan of offensive

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that there is a growing sense of anxiety and panic in Rafah, in southern Gaza, following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's order to the army earlier in the day to submit a military plan for an offensive on Rafah after evacuating civilians.

"Any large-scale military operation among this population can only lead to an additional layer of endless tragedy that's unfolding," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on X.

“There's a sense of growing anxiety and panic in Rafah. People have absolutely no idea where to go,” he added.

1920 GMT — UK concerned over Netanyahu's offensive plan on Rafah, urges to avoid harming civilians

The UK expressed concern over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's orders to his army to plan an offensive on Rafah in Gaza, urging Tel Aviv to "take greater care to limit operations to military targets, avoid harming civilians," a government spokesperson told Anadolu.

"We would be deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah as over half of Gaza’s populations are sheltering in the area, and the Rafah crossing is vital to ensure aid can reach the people who so desperately need it," the spokesperson said.

1900 GMT — Ireland says reports that Israeli military activity has intensified in Rafah are 'alarming'

Reports that Israeli military activity has intensified in Rafah, southern Gaza, are "alarming," and would have "devastating human consequences," according to Ireland’s Foreign Ministry.

In response to a question by Anadolu regarding the move, the Irish Foreign Ministry spokesperson reiterated the call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, saying it is now "more urgent than ever."

"More than half of the population of Gaza is crowded into Rafah. The humanitarian needs of this population are significant," said a ministry spokesperson.


1844 GMT — Dozens of missiles launched from Lebanon toward northern Israel: Report

The Israeli army detected dozens of missiles launched from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel, according to Israeli media.

The missiles were fired toward the Kiryat Shmona settlement and Galilee panhandle, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

It said that the army intercepted some of the missiles, while others fell in open area s.

Earlier in the day, Lebanese group Hezbollah said that it targeted Israeli surveillance systems near the border with Israel.

1708 GMT — Egypt willing to open Rafah crossing without conditions

Egypt expressed willingness to work with the US to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, saying Cairo has already done so through Rafah crossing in collaboration with the global community.

Egypt had “opened the Rafah border crossing from its side without any restrictions or conditions,” the Egyptian presidency said in a statement in response to remarks made by US President Joe Biden, who claimed to have convinced President Abdel Fattah el Sisi to open the crossing gate and allow aid to enter.

The Egyptian presidency added: “With regard to Egypt’s position and role in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza and relief to the Palestinian brothers, the Presidency of the Republic definitively states that, from the first moment, Egypt has opened the Rafah border crossing from its side without any restrictions or conditions.”

1635 GMT — Egypt steps up security on border as Israeli offensive in Gaza nears

Egypt has sent about 40 tanks and armoured personnel carriers to northeastern Sinai within the past two weeks as part of a series of measures to bolster security on its border with Gaza, two Egyptian security sources said.

The deployment took place ahead of the expansion of Israeli "military operations" around Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where much of its population has sought safety, sharpening Egyptian fears that Palestinians could be forced en masse out of the enclave.

1530 GMT — Israel PM orders army to prepare to evacuate civilians from Gaza's Rafah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the army to prepare to "evacuate" hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza's Rafah, his office said.

Netanyahu told military and security officials to "submit to the cabinet a combined plan for evacuating the population and destroying the battalions" of Palestinian resistance group Hamas holed up in Rafah, a statement from his office said.

The city is the last main population centre in Gaza that Israeli troops have yet to enter but is also the main point of entry for desperately needed relief supplies.

1430 GMT — Israel strikes Rafah amid fears of operation in overcrowded city

Israel launched new strikes on the overcrowded Gaza city of Rafah, after President Joe Biden issued the strongest rebuke yet to the US ally, warning its attacks have been "over the top".

The United States is Israel's main international backer, providing it with billions of dollars in military aid.

But the US State Department said it does not support a ground offensive in Rafah, warning that, if not properly planned, such an operation in a city sheltering more than one million displaced Palestinians risked "disaster".

Witnesses reported new strikes overnight on Rafah, after the Israeli military intensified air raids on a city teeming with about half of Gaza's 2.4 million people.

1415 GMT — Israeli forces raid Khan Yunis hospital — Gaza medics

Israeli forces raided a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis which has been besieged for weeks, said the Palestinian Red Crescent Society which runs the facility.

"The occupation (Israeli) forces stormed Al Amal hospital and started searching it. We're finding it difficult to communicate with our crews inside the hospital," a PRCS statement said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond when contacted by AFP about soldiers entering the hospital.

Al Amal has been caught in fierce fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters, with the Red Crescent reporting "intense artillery shelling and heavy gunfire" continuing around the hospital on Thursday.

The medical organisation has in recent days made repeated pleas for supplies and protection, reporting severe shortages of oxygen, medicines and fuel to power the hospital.

1411 GMT — Israeli military doctor reveals soldiers burning down homes in Gaza after looting everything inside

An Israeli military doctor made a shocking revelation that exposed the soldiers' brutality in the besieged enclave, asserting to have witnessed the burning of people's homes after looting everything inside, including small household items.

The Israeli military doctor who served in Gaza for two months revealed a shocking ordeal about Palestinians' plight, which was published in the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, detailing the Israeli army's gross violations of international human rights law.

"The forces start intermittently burning houses, and the brigade commander says it's okay for him, and the cumulative feeling is that they can do here in Gaza what they did in Hawara," wrote Nahum Barnea, a senior analyst for Yedioth Ahronoth, in his article published on Friday, quoting the doctor.

The doctor revealed that “looting has become almost institutionalised as he witnessed during his time in Gaza,” Barne a stated, presenting the literal text of a letter from a doctor in the reserve paratrooper brigade.

“It starts with seizing large quantities of mattresses, gas stoves, and gas cylinders from occupied houses, and continues with taking small souvenir gifts like tables, small toys for children.”

1400 GMT — Israel, US discuss plans for 'specific operations' in Gaza

In a Friday phone call, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin discussed "specific military operations" in Gaza.

Gallant briefed Austin on developments about the war on Gaza, detailing the ongoing assaults of the Israeli army, said a statement by the Israeli Defense Ministry.

1300 GMT — Almost 10 percent of Gaza's under-fives now acutely malnourished, UN says

Almost one in 10 of Gazan children under five are now acutely malnourished, overwhelmingly as a result of Israel's war, according to initial UN data from arm measurements that show physical wasting.

The food supplies that Gaza depends on have shrivelled from their pre-war level, and aid workers have reported visible signs of starvation, especially in areas of northern and central Gaza worst hit by Israel's war since October 7.

Measurements of thousands of young children's and infants' arm circumferences showed that 9.6 percent were acutely malnourished, up about 12 times from pre-war levels, according to a note from the U.N. humanitarian office, OCHA.

In northern Gaza, the rate was 16.2 percent, or one in six.

1200 GMT — UNICEF warns against military operation in Rafah, where over 600,000 children, their families already displaced

UNICEF has warned against a military operation in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza, where over 600,000 children and their families – around a million people – have been displaced under the pressure of over four months of devastating war.

“An escalation of the fighting in Rafah, which is already straining under the extraordinary number of people who have been displaced from other parts of Gaza, will mark another devastating turn in a war that has reportedly killed over 27,000 people – most of them women and children,” Catherine Russell, the agency’s executive director, said in a statement on late Thursday.

Calling on parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, she added: “Military operations in densely populated residential areas can have indiscriminate effects.”

1014 GMT — Erdogan vows to bring global attention to Israeli 'war crimes'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has underlined Türkiye’s strenuous efforts to draw attention worldwide to Israel’s wrongdoing in over four months of the Gaza conflict.

"We are making intensive efforts to ensure that Israel's human rights abuses and war crimes are not overlooked on the international stage," Erdogan said, addressing the 5th General Assembly of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum via video message in Istanbul.

Underscoring the importance of collective diplomatic action among Islamic countries in response to Israel's oppression in Gaza, Erdogan mentioned ongoing diplomatic efforts to encourage joint responses and solidarity.

Additionally, he reaffirmed Türkiye's commitment to supporting the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state recognized worldwide.

"We will continue our struggle until an independent, territorially integral Palestinian state is founded based on the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as capital," he said.

0940 GMT — Tensions rise as rockets hit Northern Israel from Lebanon

The Israeli military announced late Thursday that at least 30 rockets fell in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, rockets it said were launched from southern Lebanon, while alarm sirens sounded in the area.

Israeli army radio said that about 30 rockets fell in an open area in Mount Hermon, in the Upper Galilee, without any injuries.

On Thursday, the intensity of cross-border shelling between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah party increased along the borders and nearby areas between the two sides.

On the same day, the Israeli army announced the hitting of a series of Hezbollah-affiliated targets in southern Lebanon, as well as an Israeli drone strike on a car in the southern city of Nabatieh.

0914 GMT — Palestinian Health Ministry reports 13 massacres in Gaza

At least 107 Palestinians were killed and 142 others were injured in the last 24 hours as Israel continues its onslaught on the besieged Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

“The Israeli occupation committed 13 massacres against families in Gaza, leaving 107 martyrs and 142 injured during the past 24 hours,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the statement said.

Flouting the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on Gaza where at least 27,947 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 67,459 injured since Oct. 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel has pounded Gaza since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

0846 GMT — Israeli Police detain 18, including Canadian nationals, in Khan Younis

Israeli police detained 18 people, including three Canadian nationals from the same family, in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

"An Israeli special force, wearing civilian clothes, arrested the Palestinian Ahmed Hashem Al Agha and his sons Hashem and Baraa, who hold Canadian citizenship," Ahmed al Agha, dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Palestine, told Anadolu.

Al-Agha said the Israeli force reached the area where the displaced family was staying in the west of Khan Yunis, wearing civilian attire and in civilian vehicles. They also arrested 15 other individuals from the al-Agha family, according to information Anadolu obtained.

The Israeli army has launched a series of intense raids on Khan Younis and its surrounding areas since Jan. 22 as it advanced in the southern and western areas of the city, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee.

0658 GMT — Israeli warplanes strike Gaza, killing dozens and wounding many

At least 21 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded in attacks carried out by the Israeli army in Gaza.

According to a report on the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli warplanes conducted early Friday air strikes in the southern city of Rafah and the central area of Deir al-Balah in Gaza.

As a result of the air strikes targeting residential areas in Rafah and Deir al Balah by Israeli warplanes, at least eight Palestinians, including three children, were killed, and many others were wounded.

In addition, airstrikes by Israeli warplanes in Rafah resulted in the deaths of three members of the al Sayyid family and five members of the al Nahhal family.

At least five Palestinians were killed and several others were wounded in an attack by Israeli warplanes on a kindergarten where displaced persons sought refuge in the Ez-Zawayda area, located in the central part of Gaza.

0623 GMT — Washington voices concerns over Rafah assault

Israel conducted fresh strikes on southern Gaza's overcrowded border town of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have sought shelter, with key backer the United States warning of a looming "disaster".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has ordered troops to "prepare to operate" in Rafah, the last major town in Gaza that Israeli ground troops have yet to enter.

The Palestinian territory's health ministry said early Friday that more than 100 people were killed during the night, including at least eight in Rafah.

The Palestinian Red Crescent meanwhile said three children had died in a strike on Rafah.

A State Department spokesman said Thursday that the United States did not support an Israeli operation in Rafah, with President Joe Biden later telling reporters he considered Israel's conduct of its war against Hamas to be "over the top."

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said Washington had "yet to see any evidence of serious planning" for a Rafah ground operation.

Noting Rafah was also a crucial entry point for humanitarian aid, he added such an assault was "not something we'd support". "To conduct such an operation right now with no planning and little thought... would be a disaster," he said.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken conveyed Washington's concerns to Netanyahu directly during talks on Wednesday in Jerusalem, Patel said.

0326 GMT — Israeli forces target Hezbollah in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army has said that it struck Hezbollah-affiliated targets in southern Lebanon, including a truck carrying weapons and military infrastructure.

The army said Thursday in a statement that its forces “responded to strikes that were carried out from southern Lebanon towards Israeli territory and targeted the sources of the fire with artillery shells.”

“Israeli air defence fighters intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed Lebanese territory,” it added.

Tensions have escalated along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah since early October, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

0200 GMT — US strikes Houthi missile positions in Yemen: CENTCOM

The United States military has confirmed its forces conducted multiple strikes against Houthi missile systems.

Beginning early Thursday Sanaa time, US Central Command forces "conducted seven self-defence strikes against four Houthi unmanned surface vessels [USV] and seven mobile anti-ship cruise missiles that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea," CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"CENTCOM identified these missiles and USVs in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to US Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region," it said.

0141 GMT — Biden calls Israel's Gaza response 'over the top'

Israel's military response in besieged Gaza to the October 7 surprise blitz by Hamas has been "over the top," US President Joe Biden said.

"I'm of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in Gaza, in Gaza, has been over the top," the 81-year-old Democrat told reporters at the White House.

"I've been pushing really hard, really hard to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza."

0048 GMT — UK minister says devastating humanitarian crisis in Gaza 'unfolding before our very eyes'

Britain's minister for the Middle East Lord Tariq Ahmad pointed to the "growing humanitarian crisis" in besieged Gaza in remarks before the House of Lords, saying the suffering is unfolding "before our very eyes."

"What is very clear [is that] ordinary people are suffering. Palestinian civilians are facing a devastating and growing humanitarian crisis. Indeed, it's unfolding before our very eyes," Lord Ahmad told those present.

Member of the House of Lords Baroness Hussein-Ece reminded that more than 27,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, and compared to the number of Israelis killed on October 7, she said it is at least 20 times higher and more than 200 times as many children.

"The death toll in 17 weeks [in Gaza] is 15 times the rate of the killing of civilians in Ukraine in over 18 months," she noted.

2338 GMT — Saudi Arabia hosts meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Gaza

Saudi Arabia hosted a meeting of Arab foreign ministers to consult on developments in besieged Gaza.

"Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan received Arab ministers participating in the consultative ministerial meeting on events in Gaza," the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post on X, without providing further details.

The ministry shared images of bin Farhan receiving his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi, Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, Qatari counterpart Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani and United Arab Emirates counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in addition to the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein al-Sheikh.

Later, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X that "their Highnesses and Excellencies, the Ministers emphasised the necessity of ending the war on Gaza and achieving an immediate and complete ceasefire, ensuring the protection of civilians according to international humanitarian law."

For our live updates from Thursday, February 8, click here.