Live blog: Hamas blames Israel for stalling Gaza ceasefire talks

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

1844 GMT — Hamas chief Ismail Haniya has blamed Israelis for the current deadlock, saying their amendments to the Gaza ceasefire proposal introduced by mediators led the negotiation into a stalemate.

He rejected any post-war settlement in Gaza that excludes the group, adding the group sticks to its demands that a ceasefire agreement should end the war in the besieged enclave.

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1853 GMT — Hezbollah launches drone attack on base near Israel's Tiberias

Lebanese Hezbollah has said it launched an attack using multiple drones on a base near the Israeli city of Tiberias.

Hezbollah "launched an aerial attack using a number of drones" on the base west of Tiberias, which lies about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border with Lebanon, the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

1845 GMT — US interior staffer, first Jewish Biden appointee, resigns over Gaza war

An Interior Department staffer has become the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign in protest of US support for Israel's war in Gaza.

Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the chief of staff in the Interior Department, accused President Joe Biden of using Jews to justify US policy in the conflict.

Call had worked for the presidential campaigns of both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and was a longtime activist and advocate for Israel in Washington and elsewhere before joining the government.

1820 GMT — Florence University students camp out in support of Palestinian cause

Students in Florence have organised a protest and set up tents to support Palestine in a bold display of solidarity.

The protest took place in San Marco Square, home to the rectorate building of the University of Florence.

Students gathered to demand an end to Israel's military actions in Gaza and the genocide Tel Aviv is committing against Palestinians.

Students voiced opposition to the Israeli army's advance toward Rafah and urged the university to immediately terminate all scientific collaboration with Israel.

1816 GMT — Another Israeli soldier killed, 23 injured in Gaza: military

An Israeli soldier was killed and 23 others were injured in Gaza in the last 24 hours, the army has said.

According to the latest military figures, at least 621 soldiers have been killed and 3,479 others injured since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7, 2023.

1811 GMT — Turkish, Qatari foreign ministers discuss Gaza ceasefire negotiations

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has held a telephone call with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, to discuss Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel, according to diplomatic sources.

1758 GMT — Netanyahu accuses Egypt of holding Gaza 'hostage' in crossing row

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pressed Egypt to reopen the Rafah border crossing, suggesting Cairo was holding the people of Gaza "hostage" by not working with Israel on the key aid gateway.

His remarks come a day after Egypt — the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, and host of ceasefire and hostage talks that have broken down — angrily accused Israel of denying responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

1745 GMT — China condemns Palestinian refugee camp bombings as a 'prick of conscience'

On the 76th anniversary of Nakba Day, China has urged the international community to put an end to Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza, saying every bombing of Palestinian refugee camps "is a prick of human conscience."

“How much longer will the humanitarian crisis in Gaza be allowed to go on? When will the Palestinian people be freed from their excruciating suffering?" Vice Foreign Minister Hu Chunying said in a statement on X.

1701 GMT — Israel's Gantz, Netanyahu spar over Gaza future

Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz voiced support for public dissent aired by the country's defence chief at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approach to post-war Gaza planning.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant "spoke the truth", Gantz said in a video statement.

"The responsibility of leadership is to do the right thing for the country, at any price."

1644 GMT — Over 600,000 Palestinians fled Rafah: UNRWA

UN refugee agency has reported about 1.7 million Palestinians displaced due to Israel's ongoing war in Gaza.

Furthermore, the UNRWA said, over 600 thousand people have fled from Rafah amidst Tel Aviv's intensified military attacks.

1636 GMT — Netanyahu insists 'no excuses' in Hamas war

Netanyahu has said 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.

1632 GMT — Bosnian students join global protests against Gaza attacks

Students from the International University of Sarajevo (IUS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina have joined worldwide protests against Israel's ongoing attacks on besieged Gaza.

Students unfurled Palestinian flags and carried banners that read "ceasefire," "I stand with Palestine," and "Be the voice of silence."

IUS Rector Professor Ahmet Yildirim told the media that they are protesting the silence of many countries on what has been happening in Gaza.

"When we look at the history of the world, these may be the worst things. Not only people but humanity are dying there,'' he said.

1532 GMT — Multiple Palestinians feared dead, injured in Israeli shelling

Several Palestinians are feared dead and injured in Israeli shelling of civilians in Gaza City, according to witnesses.

Fighter jets struck a group of civilians north of Gaza City, causing several casualties, the witnesses said.

Attack to evacuate the victims. The Health Ministry has yet to issue an exact toll from the attack.

1423 GMT — Israel's Rafah offensive to take weeks: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a TV interview that Tel Aviv's Rafah offensive will take weeks, adding that it is a responsible, step-by-step action.

Separately, Netanyahu also said he hoped to receive US military aid and to overcome US President Joe Biden's pause on certain weapons, vowing to fight Hamas without American support amid what he called a disagreement with Washington.

On Tuesday, sources said the US State Department moved a $1 billion weapons aid package for Israel into the congressional review process. Asked in a CNBC interview if he could confirm the $1 billion package movement, Netanyahu declined to say but added that he appreciates US assistance.

1340 GMT — Israel's Rafah attack 'unacceptable': Fidan to Blinken

Israel's attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah was "unacceptable," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has told his US counterpart.

In a phone call with Antony Blinken, Fidan emphasised the importance of establishing a permanent ceasefire in Gaza as soon as possible, according to Turkish diplomatic sources.

Fidan also underlined that the obstacles to humanitarian aid reaching the region should be removed.

The latest situation in Ukraine was also on the agenda, according to the sources

1336 GMT — Israel rejects UN resolution on Palestine’s membership

The Israeli government has rejected a UN General Assembly resolution calling for the reevaluation of Palestine's UN membership bid and granting it additional rights.

"Today, the Government opposed last week's UN decision to advance recognition of a Palestinian state,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.

“Nobody will prevent us, will prevent Israel, from realising our basic right to self-defence – neither the UN General Assembly nor any other body. We will stand together with our head held high in order to defend our country,” it added.

1316 GMT — Yemen's Houthis target US warship, vessel in Red Sea

Yemen's Houthis have said that they had targeted a US warship and a vessel called "Destiny" in the Red Sea, part of an ongoing campaign of attacks that the Iran-backed group says is designed to show solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

In a televised speech, the Houthis' military spokesman Yahya Sarea said they had targeted an American destroyer called "Maysun" in the Red Sea with a number of "appropriate naval missiles".

Houthis targeted the vessel Destiny because it had been en route for the Israeli port of Eilat on April 20, Sarea added.

1301 GMT — Hamas elimination vital for post-Gaza govt: Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that eliminating Hamas in Gaza is necessary for any rise of alternative Palestinian governance there, as, he argued, leaving Hamas in place would pose a threat to potential successors.

In a video statement, Netanyahu also pushed back against Western criticism of Israel's military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, saying: "The humanitarian catastrophe that was talked about hasn't materialised, nor will it materialise."

1301 GMT — Israeli onslaught on Gaza kills over 35,230 Palestinians so far

The Palestinian death toll from Israel's ongoing offensive on Gaza has mounted to 35,233, the Health Ministry in the battered enclave has said.

At least 79,141 other people have also been injured in the onslaught, the ministry added in a statement.

"Israeli forces killed 60 people and injured 80 others in five ‘massacres’ against families in the last 24 hours," the ministry said. "Many of the victims are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them," it added.

1205 GMT — Israel needs a clear and concrete plan for Gaza's future: Blinken

Israel needs a clear and concrete plan for the future of Gaza where it faces the potential for a power vaccum that could become filled by chaos, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

Israel's limited operation in Rafah has had a "negative impact" just as it was taking steps to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza, Blinken said during a press conference in Kiev.

1149 GMT — At least 12 Palestinians killed in fresh Israeli air strikes in Gaza

At least 12 Palestinians were killed in fresh Israeli airstrikes in battered Gaza, according to medical sources and witnesses.

Three bodies were recovered from under the rubble of a house struck by Israeli warplanes in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza City, a medical source told Anadolu.

A mother and her son were also killed in a strike targeting their house in the Yarmouk neighbourhood in Gaza City, witnesses said.

1137 GMT — US arms halt to Israel may aid Gaza settlement: Russia

Cessation of arms supplies from the US to Israel may facilitate the settlement process in Gaza, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said.

Answering a question by Anadolu at a news conference in Moscow, Zakharova refrained from commenting on US President Joe Biden's warning to Israel regarding halting some weapons sales in the event of a full-fledged operation in Rafah, but said arms supplies to conflict zones "delay prospects of the settlement."

"The statements of a mutual, reciprocal nature between Washington and Tel Aviv I leave to them," she said.

1047 GMT — Israeli protesters set fire to UN HQs perimeter in East Jerusalem: UNRWA

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Israeli protesters have again set fire to the perimeter of its headquarters in east Jerusalem.

Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on the social media platform X that “Israeli children and young people” had orchestrated an “arson attempt” on the facility on Monday night.

He shared video footage from Israeli media appearing to show small brush fires along the perimeter of the compound. Adam Bouloukos, an UNRWA official, said staff were present in the facility but no one was injured.

0908 GMT — Israel arrests 20 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank

The Israeli army has detained 20 more Palestinians in military raids across the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

The arrests took place in the cities of East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Tulkarem, and Qalqilya, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The arrests included two minors and former detainees, the statement also said. The new arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since last October to 8,745, according to Palestinian figures.

0812 GMT — EU urges Israel to end Rafah military operation 'immediately'

The European Union has urged Israel to end its military offensive in Gaza's Rafah "immediately", warning that a failure to do so would undermine ties with the bloc.

"Should Israel continue its military operation in Rafah, it would inevitably put a heavy strain on the EU's relationship with Israel," said the statement issued in the EU's name by its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

0653 GMT — UN launches probe into first international staff killed by unidentified strike in Rafah

The United Nations has launched an investigation into an unidentified strike on a UN car in Rafah on Monday that killed its first international staff in Gaza since October 7, a spokesperson for the UN Secretary General has said.

The staff member, a retired Indian Army officer named Waibhav Anil Kale, was working with the UN Department of Safety and Security and was on route to the European Hospital in Rafah along with a colleague, who was also injured in the attack.

Israel has been moving deeper into Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million people had sought shelter, and its forces pounded the enclave's north on Tuesday in some of the fiercest attacks in months.

0650 GMT — Another Israeli soldier killed in fighting in southern Gaza

Another Israeli soldier was killed in fighting with Palestinians in southern Gaza, the army has announced.

In a statement, the Israeli army identified the slain soldier as Sgt. Ira Yair Gispan, 19, from the 7th Armored Bridge's 75th Battalion.

The death brings the number of troops killed since the start of the onslaught in the blockaded enclave to 621, according to Israeli sources.

0619 GMT — Israel continues to bomb Gaza as Palestinians mark Nakba

A number of Palestinians have been killed in overnight Israeli air strikes across Gaza as the onslaught entered its 222nd day, Wafa news agency has reported.

Four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house belonging to the Abu Al Husna family in the town of Jabalia, northern Gaza.

A child was killed in an air strike on the Brash family home in the Bureij refugee camp.

Israeli shelling of several neighbourhoods in Gaza City including Al Rimal, Al Sabra, and Al Zaytoun also left several casualties.

The military also continued to eastern areas of the southern city of Rafah, causing wide-scale destruction and damage to property.

0554 GMT — Another hospital in southern Gaza goes out of service due to lack of fuel

Another hospital in southern Gaza went out of service as its power generators ran out of fuel amid the continued Israeli onslaught on Gaza, local media has reported.

The Palestinian official news agency Wafa cited a medical source as saying that the Gaza European Hospital near Khan Younis city, one of the few remaining hospitals in the war-torn enclave, went out of service due to lack of fuel, putting lives of hundreds of patients and wounded people at risk.

This development comes amid continued Israeli bombing across eastern Rafah areas in southern Gaza, as well as on areas in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern strip.

2300 GMT — Biden moving ahead on $1B arms package for Israel: reports

The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, two congressional aides said.

It's the first arms shipment to Israel to be announced by the administration since it put another arms transfer — consisting of 3,500 bombs — on hold earlier in the month. The administration has said it paused that earlier transfer to keep Israel from using the bombs in its growing invasion in the crowded southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The congressional aides spoke of condition of anonymity to discuss an arms transfer that has not yet been made public.

There was no immediate indication of when the arms would be sent.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the weapons package includes the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds.

2244 GMT — Pentagon says Gaza pier to be operational in coming days

A pier built by the US military for Gaza will be operational "in the coming days," the Pentagon has said, after a week of bad weather delayed its installation.

With a cost of at least $320 million, US claims the pier is aimed at boosting humanitarian access to Gaza, which has been ravaged by seven months of war waged by US ally, Israel.

Asked when the pier would be installed, Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder told reporters "in the coming days, I think you can expect to see it operational," but declined to give a specific date.

The Pentagon has previously said that Israeli soldiers will anchor the pier to the Gaza shore, keeping US troops off the ground.

Relief groups are watching to see if Israel will allow a freer flow of food and other supplies through this sea route than it has by land and follow through on pledges to protect aid workers.

They say protections for humanitarian workers have not improved and point to aid already piling up at Gaza's fence crossings, waiting for decisions by Israeli officials to distribute it. Tel Aviv has also failed to protect aid from Zionist extremists.

0015 GMT — Israel fears ICJ will approve South Africa's request to halt fighting in Rafah

Israel is worried that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) may order it to cease its invasion in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, reports said.

Its concern comes ahead of public hearings scheduled for Thursday and Friday.

Earlier in the day, the ICJ announced that it would hold hearings to consider South Africa's request for "additional measures" against Israel.

This request is in relation to the case of genocide filed against Israel following the Israeli army's invasion in Rafah.

In response to the court's announcement, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Israel has not yet decided whether it will participate in the hearings.

"On Thursday, a public hearing will be held for South Africa, followed by a similar process for Israel the next day (Friday)," the newspaper said.

The report also noted that one of the options currently under consideration in Israel is to request a postponement of the hearing, given the short preparation time of two days.

"Israel fears the ICJ will approve South Africa's request and issue an order to halt fighting in Rafah in the near future," it added.

For our live updates from Tuesday, May 14, click here.