Live blog: UNICEF seeks urgent fuel delivery to Gaza amid worsening crisis

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

1808 GMT — The head of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called for an urgent delivery of fuel to Gaza, saying that no fuel has entered the city for 48 hours.

"In the past 2 days, no fuel has entered Gaza. Without fuel, water stops, hospitals can't function, and medicine and food cannot move. The population is already at risk of famine," Catherine Russell wrote on X, along with a video message.

Stressing that "the entire community is already on the brink of famine," she called for an immediate delivery of fuel to the city.

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1805 GMT — UN official warns of extensive contamination in Gaza

A UN official has warned of "very significant levels" of contamination of the rubble in Gaza with explosive ordnance, saying its clearance is costly.

In an interview with US magazine The New Yorker, Charles Mungo Birch, chief of the UNMAS mine action program in the Palestinian territories, said more unexploded missiles and bombs have fallen in Gaza than anywhere in the world since at least the Second World War.

"We can’t quantify the level of contamination because we haven’t been able to do an assessment yet, but we can say that Gaza is eighty-seven per cent urbanised.

Urban clearance is very expensive and very time-consuming," said Birch.

1751 GMT — Aid ship for Gaza docks in Sweden ahead of Eurovision: AFP

A ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza was docked in Sweden in protest over Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, an AFP journalist saw.

This year's Eurovision opened in the southern city of Malmo on Tuesday, but Israel's war in Gaza is looming over the festivities.

The ship, "Handala", arrived in the port city ahead of the song contest to show solidarity with the 30,000 or so demonstrators due to protest against Israel's participation on Thursday.

1745 GMT — US reviewing other arms packages to Israel

The United States is reviewing other weapons packages to Israel after it paused one shipment of near-term assistance, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said as Washington remained concerned over Israel's possible Rafah offensive.

Speaking at a daily press briefing, Miller also said he expected the State Department's report to Congress on whether Israel has used US-supplied weapons in line with international humanitarian law to be delivered in the coming days. The deadline for the report was Wednesday.

1742 GMT — Medical facilities in Rafah may soon be ‘inaccessible or inoperable’: UN

The UN has announced that "all key medical facilities in Rafah could soon become inaccessible or inoperable."

Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric cited information during a news conference from UN partners on the ground and said Israel issued an urgent evacuation of the Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza. All patients were evacuated as of Tuesday.

Highlighting that the hospital is the only functioning dialysis centre in Gaza, Dujarric emphasised that it is a lifeline for at least 200 patients.

1705 GMT — Israel 'frustrated' over US' weapons halt over its Gaza war

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations has said that his government feels let down by the US pausing a shipment of bombs to Israel.

“It's a very disappointing decision, even frustrating,” Ambassador Gilan Erdan told Israeli Channel 12 TV, however, he said he didn’t think the move signalled a broader halt to US aid to Israel.

He said President Joe Biden was at once urging people to remember that the war started with Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, while at the same time holding back “the means intended to destroy Hamas.”

1702 GMT — Israeli PM, CIA chief discuss 'pausing' Rafah assault: official

An Israeli official has said visiting CIA Director Bill Burns and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed "the possibility" of suspending military offensives in Gaza's Rafah in exchange for Hamas freeing hostages.

Netanyahu and the US spy chief, who has been involved in mediation efforts in Israel's Gaza war, met in West Jerusalem as part of Washington's latest efforts to secure a truce in the enclave.

"The two discussed the possibility of Israel pausing the operation in Rafah in exchange for hostage release," the Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

1602 GMT — US paused Israel weapons shipment due to Rafah: US defence chief

US President Joe Biden's decision to hold up delivery of high payload munitions to Israel was taken over a possible Israeli offensive in Rafah that Washington believes could put Palestinian civilians at risk, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said.

Austin was the first senior Biden administration official to publicly explain what appeared to be a possible shift in US policy towards arming Israel.

Biden had pledged his complete support for Israel following the October 7 Hamas incursion on the country, and he sent Washington's closest Middle East ally weaponry worth billions of dollars.

Austin stressed that the US commitment to Israel's defence remained "ironclad" and that the decision on suspending the munitions shipment was not final.

1556 GMT — UN refugee agency condemns 'intimidation' by Israeli right-wingers

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has condemned protests by Israeli far-right groups outside its headquarters in the occupied East Jerusalem as "intimidation" and "vandalism."

Far-right groups staged protests outside the UNRWA office in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood on Tuesday evening to call for its closure.

The protest, during which demonstrators tried to storm the site, was called by West Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King.

"This protest called by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality is nothing less than harassment, intimidation, vandalism and damage to UN property," UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on his X account. "This has nothing to do with freedom of expression."

1504 GMT — 'Mission not completed in north' with Hezbollah: Israel

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said "the mission has not been completed" in Israel's north in the conflict with Lebanon's Hezbollah, and that he remained determined to allow the safe return of evacuated residents to their homes.

"This summer might be a hot summer," he said in a recorded statement, alluding to a possible expansion of hostilities along the northern border with Lebanon.

1501 GMT — Hamas, Israel closing gaps on Gaza truce deal: US

Talks aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire-for-hostages deal are ongoing, and Israel and Hamas are close enough to an agreement that they should be able to close the gaps, the White House has said.

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One, as President Joe Biden flew to Wisconsin, that Biden has confidence in his team helping the negotiations.

1446 GMT — Main maternity hospital in Rafah stops admitting patients: UN

The main maternity hospital in Gaza's crowded southern city of Rafah has stopped admitting patients, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has told Reuters.

The UNFPA said that the hospital, Emirati Maternity Hospital, had been handling some 85 births each day out of a total of 180 births in Gaza each day prior to an escalation of fighting between Palestinian fighters and Israeli troops on Rafah's outskirts.

1434 GMT — EU staff members protest Israel's war in Gaza

More than 100 staff members of European Union institutions have gathered in Brussels in a protest against Israel's war in Gaza.

Protesters laid three rolled-up white sheets with red stains on them on the square outside the European Commission's head office in the Belgian capital.

On the three 'bodies' the words International Law, EU Treaties and Genocide Convention were written, in a protest of the way Israel has responded to the attacks by Hamas-led resistance factions on October 7.

"We're coming together in a peaceful assembly, to stand up for those rights, principles and values that the European institutions are built on," EU Commission staff member Manus Carlisle told Reuters.

1414 GMT — Germany calls on Israel, Hamas to intensify diplomatic efforts

Germany urged Israel and Palestinian group Hamas on Wednesday to step up diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire deal in war-ravaged Gaza.

"It is important for the Federal Government and the Foreign Minister that these discussions continue and can lead to a result as far as possible," Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer said at a press briefing in Berlin.

It's about "doing everything we can now, in mutual efforts on both sides to continue talks to come to a solution, to reach a hostage deal, so that hostages can be freed and humanitarian aid gets to the people," she added.

1326 GMT — Gaza hospitals in south have only three days of fuel, WHO warns

Hospitals in southern Gaza have only three days of fuel left, the head of the World Health Organization has said, due to the closure of border crossings.

"The closure of the border crossing continues to prevent the UN from bringing fuel. Without fuel, all humanitarian operations will stop. Border closures are also impeding delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Hospitals in the south of Gaza only have three days of fuel left, which means services may soon come to a halt," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter.

1323 GMT — Dozens of anti-war protesters arrested at George Washington University

Police have cleared an anti-war tent encampment at George Washington University and arrested demonstrators, hours after dozens marched to the home of the school’s president as city officials prepared to appear before Congress on the protest’s handling.

Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser and District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith were called to testify on Wednesday afternoon at the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, but the hearing was cancelled after the arrests.

1320 GMT — Sydney man jailed for placing 'bomb' outside home of pro-Palestinian resident

An Australian court sentenced a Sydney man to 12 months in jail for planting an explosive device outside the home of a pro-Palestinian resident.

Sydney’s Downing Centre court found David Maurice Wise, 43, guilty with a non-parole period of three months, and a two-year community corrections order, the Australian Associated Press has reported.

Wise had placed a half-filled jerry can with metal bolts and a cigarette lighter taped to it outside his target’s home over the owner's pro-Palestine views expressed on a blackboard fixed outside the property in January.

Wise, who pleaded guilty to the charges, placed the jerry can on the man's vehicle parked outside his home, with a message stating: "Enough, take down the flag, one last chance".

1257 GMT — Israeli onslaught on Gaza amounts to 'genocide': Iraq

Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammed Shia al Sudani has said Israel's ongoing onslaught on Gaza is tantamount to "genocide."

The Iraqi premier met in Baghdad with Uzra Zeya, US undersecretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights.

"What is happening in Gaza is unprecedented. It is a blatant violation of human rights, and amounts to genocide," al Sudani said during the meeting as cited by a statement issued by his office.

1243 GMT — New mass grave with 49 bodies found at Gaza's al-Shifa hospital

Palestinian medical teams have discovered a third mass grave at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, the government media office has said.

"Some 49 dead bodies have so far been exhumed from the mass grave and efforts are still under way to search for more," it added in a statement.

Three mass graves were found at al-Shifa Hospital, three at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, and one inside Kamel Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, the media office said.

"At least 520 bodies of dead people have been exhumed from the seven mass graves," it added.

1231 GMT — Israel targets Lebanon with phosphorus shells: local media

Israel strikes residential neighbourhoods in Aitaroun, southern Lebanon, with phosphorus shells, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency report.

1214 GMT — US top spy visits Israel to push for Gaza ceasefire

A US official says that CIA Director William Burns is in Israel as international mediators push for a ceasefire.

The official said Burns arrived on Wednesday and was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door negotiations.

The official gave no details on the discussions. But Burns has been in the region meeting with Egyptian and Qatari officials in recent days.

1113 GMT — Gaza death toll passes 34,800 as Israel escalates assault

The Palestinian death toll from Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza has surged to 34,844, the Health Ministry in the enclave has said.

At least 78,404 other people have also been injured in the onslaught, the ministry said.

“Israeli attacks killed 55 people and injured 200 others in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.

“Many people are still trapped u nder rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

1047 GMT — Palestinian groups reject any foreign control of Rafah border crossing

The Palestinian resistance groups have strongly rejected any foreign party controlling the Rafah border crossing, a day after the Israeli army occupied it.

In a statement, the Follow-up Committee for National and Islamic Forces, which includes the majority of Palestinian groups, said regardless of the accuracy of the reports on plans by Israel to hand Rafah crossing to a foreign security firm, the Palestinian groups reject any form of foreign control on the Rafah crossing.

It added that it will consider that as "a form of occupation, and any plans in such direction will be treated in the same manner as we treat the (Israeli) occupation."

The Palestinian resistance groups urged the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and Egypt in particular "to reject any plans and attempts that contradict the Palestinian Egyptian sovereignty on the Rafah crossing."

1023 GMT — African Union condemns Israel for extending its offensive to Rafah

African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat has condemned Israel’s incursion into Rafah in southern Gaza, saying it has resulted in continuous loss of life and widespread devastation for civilians.

Mahamat said in a statement that the African Union "firmly condemns the extension of this war to the Rafah crossing, the only corridor for humanitarian aid."

Mahamat also underlined that Israel's war in Gaza has resulted "at every moment, in massive deaths, systematic destruction, and loss of human life."

0922 GMT — Malaysia condemns Israeli attack on Rafah

Malaysia has strongly condemned the Israeli army's bombing of the Rafah municipality building, urging the international community to step up efforts to put pressure on the Israeli regime to cease its "blatant criminal acts."

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning Israel's latest attacks on Rafah in southern Gaza on May 6, which killed 19 people.

"The attacks, which came just hours after Hamas’s acceptance of a cease-fire proposal from the peace negotiations brokered by Egypt and Qatar, only demonstrate Israel’s intransigence and unwillingness to work for peace," it said.

0903 GMT — Israel must comply with international law in Rafah: Moscow

The Russian foreign ministry has insisted that Israel strictly observe international humanitarian law after its tanks entered the border city of Rafah.

At a briefing, spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia sees the incursion as "an additional destabilising factor" in an area with more than a million civilians, and therefore "we demand strict observance of the provisions of international humanitarian law," the RIA Novosti state news agency reported.

0859 GMT — Gaza truce talks resume in Cairo 'with all sides present': media

Talks aimed at agreeing the terms of a truce in the seven-month of Israel's brutal war on Gaza resumed in Cairo "with all sides present", Egyptian media has reported.

"Truce negotiations have resumed in Cairo today with all sides present," Egypt's AlQahera News, which is close to the intelligence services, reported, citing a "senior official" it did not identify.

0850 GMT — 35 Palestinians killed in Israeli raids on Rafah in 24 hours

At least 35 Palestinians were killed and 129 others injured as a result of the Israeli intense air strikes on Rafah, southern Gaza, in the past 24 hours, a medical source said.

The medical source also said the Palestinian victims are those who arrived at the Kuwait Hospital in Rafah city, adding that children and women are among them.

0743 GMT — Israeli army detains more Palestinians in raids across occupied West Bank

The Israeli army has detained several Palestinians during a series of raids across the occupied West Bank.

Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli forces stormed into several homes in Hebron in the southern West Bank, arrested at least five Palestinians, and clashed with people.

The Israeli army also raided the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp near Jericho city in the eastern West Bank, and other areas in Nablus and Jenin, the eyewitnesses added.

0642 GMT — Mediator Qatar urges international community to prevent Rafah 'genocide'

Qatar has called on the international community to prevent a "genocide" in Rafah following Israel's seizure of the Gaza City's crossing with Egypt and threats of a wider assault.

In a statement, the Gulf state, which has been mediating between Israel and Hamas, appealed "for urgent international action to prevent the city from being invaded and a crime of genocide being committed".

0640 GMT — Israel says reopens Kerem Shalom border crossing for Gaza aid

Israel has said it reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing to humanitarian aid for Gaza, four days after closing it in response to a rocket attack.

"Trucks from Egypt carrying humanitarian aid, including food, water, shelter equipment, medicine and medical equipment donated by the international community are already arriving at the crossing," the army said in a joint statement with COGAT, the defence ministry body that oversees Palestinian civil affairs.

0533 GMT — Israel again launches Gaza strikes as negotiators work towards truce

Israel struck targets in Gaza after seizing the main border crossing with Egypt, where negotiators were working to make good on their "last chance" to cement a ceasefire deal.

After weeks of vowing to launch a ground incursion into the border city of Rafah despite international objections, Israeli tanks moved in Tuesday, capturing the crossing that has served as the main conduit for aid into the besieged Palestinian territory.

The push into the southern city, which is packed with displaced civilians, came as negotiators and mediators met in Cairo to try and hammer out a hostage release deal and truce in the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas.

A senior Hamas official, requesting anonymity, warned this would be Israel's "last chance" to free the scores of hostages.

0253 GMT — US military says Yemen's Houthis launched three drones, no injuries or damage

The US military has said that Iranian-aligned Houthis launched three "uncrewed aerial systems" (UAS) from Yemen, but caused no injuries or damage.

A coalition ship successfully engaged one UAS, US Central Command forces successfully engaged the second UAS, and the final UAS crashed in the Gulf of Aden, Central Command said in a statement.

0205 GMT — UN says running out of fuel in Gaza as border crossings remain shut

Critical diesel fuel to pump drinking water, maintain communications and deliver aid in Gaza will run out and it’s estimated that food already in the south will be gone by the end of the week, a senior UN humanitarian official has said following Israel’s closure of the two key crossing points into the territory.

Andrea De Domenico, the head of the UN’s humanitarian office in the Palestinian territories, said that Israel’s military offensive and evacuation order in Rafah has resulted in “the forced displacement of tens of thousands of people.”

The area Israel told Palestinians to go is mainly sand dunes and has no latrines, water points, drainage, shelter or health facilities, De Domenico said in a virtual news conference from Jerusalem.

The Israelis are not on the ground providing services and are looking for humanitarian partners, he said.

It is impossible to improve conditions without the arrival of supplies and fuel to transport them to the new locations. Without fuel and more flour, he said, the 16 bakeries supported by the UN World Food Program throughout Gaza will be forced to suspend operations.

If supplemental nutrition supplies can’t be delivered, the treatment of more than 3,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition will be interrupted, he said, and three of the main remaining hospitals “will become inoperable.”

0202 GMT — Yemen's Houthis warn of 'broader escalation' if Israel invades Rafah

Yemen’s Houthi group has threatened to expand its attacks on shipping if the Israeli army invaded the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

"The Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and their threat to invade Rafah will be met with a Yemeni response and the launching of the fourth round of escalation," Allama Muhammad Muftah, the chairman of the Houthi-run Supreme Committee for Supporting Al Aqsa, told the Al-Masirah TV channel.

"In case of any escalation (in Rafah), the Yemeni armed forces’ decision is clear, and a more extensive and broader escalation may occur," he said.

He added that the group's escalation would be "a response to any Israeli audacity, whether an attack on Yemen, Gaza, or any inch of occupied Palestine."

0058 GMT — Int’l community failed to prevent Israel from invading Rafah: Egypt

Egypt’s foreign minister has criticised the international community over its inability to prevent the Israeli army’s invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is home to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians who have taken refuge from the brutal war launched by Israel on Oct. 7.

“The international community has failed to prevent Israel from invading Rafah,” Sameh Shoukry was quoted by Egyptian media as saying.

0018 GMT — Israel kills 7 members of same family in strike on Gaza home

Israel has killed at least seven members of the same family and wounded several others in an air strike on a home in Gaza City, Al-Ahli Hospital reported.

The casualties from an Israeli strike on an apartment in the devastated northern city were reported by Al-Ahli Hospital said, with eyewitnesses also reporting strikes elsewhere in the besieged enclave, particularly around Rafah.

0014 GMT — Palestinian resistance groups fight invading Israeli troops in Rafah

Clashes continue between the invading Israeli military and Palestinian resistance groups in the eastern part of Rafah city in southern Gaza.

Israeli warplanes and artillery also targeted the municipality headquarters, land near the border with Egypt and homes, resulting in many casualties, Anadolu Agency reported.

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement that they targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a Yasin 105 shell and set it on fire.

The brigades added that they engaged in clashes with Israeli soldiers positioned inside a building in the Shouka neighbourhood in Rafah.

In another statement, they said they targeted Israeli forces with a Rajoum short-range missile and heavy-caliber mortar shells.

2346 GMT — Israeli army intercepts suspected drone heading toward Red Sea port

The Israeli occupation military has said it has intercepted a "suspicious aerial target" that was headed toward the Red Sea port of Eilat [Umm al-Rashrash in Arabic].

The military said the drone was launched from the east and intercepted outside of Israeli airspace. It gave no further details on the source of the launch.

Yemen's Houthi group have repeatedly fired missiles and drones toward Israel throughout the seven-month war in Gaza in solidarity with the Palestinians resisting the Israeli invasion in Gaza.

For our live updates from Tuesday, May 7, click here.