Israeli forces say they’ve taken control of Rafah crossing on Gaza side
An Israeli navy official has confirmed that Israel has established operational control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt in southern Gaza.
Reuters studies {that a} Gaza border crossing authority spokesperson has advised the information company that the Rafah crossing was closed due to the presence of Israeli tanks.
Three humanitarian sources additionally advised Reuters that the stream of support by means of the crossing is now halted.
A navy official says:
At the second we have now operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing and we have now particular forces scanning the crossing … That is what is going on within the upcoming hours. The operation will not be over … I can’t give a timeline
Key occasions
Police in the Netherlands are reported to have made up to 125 arrests in ending a protest against the Israel-Gaza conflict at Amsterdam university.
Israel claims it had intelligence that ‘indicated Rafah crossing was getting used for terrorist functions’
The Israeli navy has given an operational briefing on its official Telegramn channel, during which it claims it has focused the Rafah crossing as a result of it had “intelligence that indicated that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes”.
Describing the operation as “precise”, the IDF claimed:
Prior to the operation, the IDF inspired residents within the space of jap Rafah to briefly evacuate to the expanded humanitarian space in Al-Mawasi, the place the IDF has facilitated the growth of discipline hospitals, tents, and a rise in water, meals, and medical provides. International organizations working within the space have been additionally inspired to briefly evacuate prior to the start of the operation.
Unrwa, the UN’s company for Palestinian refugees, has indiciated that it might proceed its operation in Rafah, the place over a million individuals have fled to due to Israel’s navy assault on different areas of Gaza.
The IDF assertion continued:
Following intelligence that indicated that the Rafah Crossing in jap Rafah was getting used for terrorist functions, IDF troops managed to set up operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing. On Sunday, mortars have been fired from the world of the Rafah Crossing towards the world of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, as a consequence of which 4 IDF troopers have been killed and a quantity of different troopers injured.
It then claimed to have killed what it mentioned was roughly 20 Hamas fighters, and to have situated “three operational tunnel shafts”.
It mentioned the operation continues. The claims haven’t been independently verified.
Israel says Kerem Shalom crossing closed
In an early morning press briefing, the Israeli navy says the Kerem Shalom crossing is closed on Tuesday for safety causes and can reopen as soon as the safety scenario permits, studies Reuters.
It’s as the navy confirms it has taken operational control of the Palestinian side of Gaza’s southern Rafah Crossing, which borders Egypt, and that particular forces have been scanning the world.
The IDF mentioned forces had been working since final night time in a selected space of jap Rafah, from which it mentioned most individuals and a few worldwide organisations had evacuated.
Israeli navy forces have taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a key strategic goal and the only gateway between Egypt and Gaza for humanitarian support, Israeli navy officers have confirmed.
“At the moment we have operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing and we have special forces scanning the crossing … That is what is happening in the upcoming hours. The operation is not over … I can’t give a timeline,” a navy official mentioned on Tuesday morning.
The spokesperson of the Gaza border authority on Tuesday confirmed the presence of Israeli tanks on the Rafah crossing. Aid officers within the territory mentioned that the stream of support by means of the crossing has been halted.
The Israeli operation comes as forward of a brand new spherical of oblique negotiations on a ceasefire in Cairo following an announcement by Hamas leaders on Monday night time that they’d settle for a current proposal for a deal. Israeli officers say they are going to ship a delegation for additional talks though the deal didn’t meet its core calls for and vowed to push ahead with an often threatened assault on Rafah.
Read the remainder of our newest report right here by Jason Burke in Jerusalem and Julian Borger in Washington
Israeli forces say they’ve taken control of Rafah crossing on Gaza side
An Israeli navy official has confirmed that Israel has established operational control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt in southern Gaza.
Reuters studies {that a} Gaza border crossing authority spokesperson has advised the information company that the Rafah crossing was closed due to the presence of Israeli tanks.
Three humanitarian sources additionally advised Reuters that the stream of support by means of the crossing is now halted.
A navy official says:
At the second we have now operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing and we have now particular forces scanning the crossing … That is what is going on within the upcoming hours. The operation will not be over … I can’t give a timeline
Al Jazeera information is reporting that it’s received a copy of the newest ceasefire proposal authorized by Hamas.
Some of the element contains that Hamas is to launch “33 Israeli captives (alive or dead), including women (civilians and soldiers), children (under the age of 19 who are not soldiers), those over the age of 50, and the sick” within the first section, in change for a quantity of prisoners.
It additionally says that Hamas will launch “all living Israeli female soldiers” in return for prisoners.
The textual content says within the second stage “Israeli forces shall withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip”.
It’s been reported that this newest proposed truce is a three-stage plan.
In the opposite developments over the previous couple of hours, Hezbollah says it has carried out a drone assault on an Israeli navy place close to the northern Israeli city of Metula on Monday in accordance to Reuters.
The Israeli navy later confirmed two troopers have been killed within the assault.
Hezbollah additionally says it has despatched dozens of rockets in the direction of navy targets throughout the border with Israel.
Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in day by day cross-border strikes over the previous six months, in parallel with Israel’s war in Gaza.
Hezbollah has to this point restricted its assaults to a strip of northern Israel, in search of to draw Israeli forces away from Gaza, explains Reuters.
It’s 8:05am in Gaza and Tel Aviv, welcome again to our dwell weblog on the Israel-Gaza war and the broader Middle East disaster, the place we’ll be holding you up to late on the newest developments.
Qatar is about to ship a delegation to Cairo Tuesday morning to resume oblique negotiations between Hamas and Israel on a doable ceasefire deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned the proposal from Hamas “is far from Israel’s essential demands”, however the authorities would ship negotiators for talks “to exhaust the potential for arriving at an agreement”.
It’s as Israel carried out strikes on Rafah, with an Agence France-Presse correspondent within the metropolis reporting heavy bombardment all through the night time. The Kuwaiti hospital there mentioned in an up to date toll on Tuesday that 11 individuals had been killed and dozens of others injured within the strikes.
After talks earlier within the day failed to produce an settlement, Hamas mentioned Monday night that it had knowledgeable mediators Egypt and Qatar of its “approval of their proposal regarding a ceasefire” within the seven-month-old war, prompting cheering crowds to take to the streets of Rafah.
Close Israeli ally the United States mentioned it was “reviewing” the Hamas response, studies Agence France-Presse.
Summary to this point
It’s at present 5:15am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and we’re pausing this weblog for now. You can nonetheless see all of our protection on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
But first, right here’s a abstract of what we all know to this point compiled by our Guardian workers:
-
Israel carried out airstrikes in jap Rafah after issuing orders for the evacuation of 100,000 Palestinians from half of the town earlier on Monday, triggering an exodus of 1000’s of individuals. The Israeli navy mentioned late on Monday it was conducting focused strikes towards Hamas in Rafah, the place 1.4 million Palestinian civilians are sheltering.
-
There have been studies of Israeli tanks being seen on the jap outskirts of Rafah and a Palestinian safety official and an Egyptian official mentioned they’d reached as shut as 200 metres from Rafah’s crossing with neighbouring Egypt. The Axios news site cited unnamed sources as saying Israeli forces deliberate to take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, the only gateway between Egypt and Gaza for humanitarian provides and other people. The Guardian couldn’t independently confirm that report.
-
Palestinian hospital officers mentioned one strike on a home in Rafah late Monday killed 5 Palestinians, together with a girl and a lady. Twenty-two individuals together with two infants and different kids have been killed in earlier strikes on Monday.
-
The strikes got here as Hamas mentioned it had agreed to a Gaza ceasefire proposal from mediators. Hamas mentioned in a short assertion that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had knowledgeable Qatari and Egyptian mediators that the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire, prompting preliminary celebrations from Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
-
However, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned that the truce proposal fell brief of Israel’s calls for and that his war cupboard had authorized persevering with an operation in Rafah. Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned Israel would nonetheless ship a delegation to meet with negotiators to strive to attain an settlement. Qatar’s overseas ministry mentioned its delegation would head to Cairo on Tuesday.
-
One Israeli official mentioned it was unclear precisely which proposal Hamas was accepting, as some of the phrases appeared to differ considerably from these proven by mediators to Israel and agreed by the Israeli authorities final week. “[We] don’t recognise some,” the official, talking on situation of anonymity, mentioned.
-
Hundreds of Israelis converged on the principle navy headquarters in Tel Aviv calling for a deal. Smaller gatherings have been reported in Jerusalem and different cities throughout Israel. “Hamas’s announcement must pave the way for the return of the 132 hostages held captive by Hamas for the past seven months. Now is the time for all that are involved to fulfil their commitment and turn this opportunity into a deal for the return of all the hostages,” an announcement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum mentioned.
-
US president Joe Biden urged Netanyahu not to launch an offensive in Rafah, the White House mentioned. The leaders’ name occurred earlier than Hamas introduced it had accepted a ceasefire proposal. Biden advised Netanyahu he nonetheless believes reaching a ceasefire with Hamas is one of the best ways to shield the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, officers mentioned.
-
Biden additionally hosted King Abdullah II of Jordan for a personal lunch assembly on the White House on Monday to focus on the war and hostage talks. Jordan’s embassy in Washington mentioned in a posting on the social media website X following the leaders’ assembly that Abdullah warned that an Israeli operation on Rafah “threatens to lead to a new massacre.”
For extra, see our full write-up on what we all know to this point on the newest developments:
The US navy has posted on X within the final couple of hours that its forces destroyed an “uncrewed aerial system (UAS)” or a drone, launched by Houthi group in Yemen over the Red Sea.
The Houthis have been launching assaults on delivery within the Red Sea saying they’re attacking Israeli-linked delivery in solidarity with Palestinians, nevertheless their assaults have additionally focused vessels with no hyperlinks to the nation.
May 6 Red Sea Update
At roughly 10:47 a.m. (Sanaa time) on May 6, 2024, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces efficiently engaged and destroyed one uncrewed aerial system (UAS) launched by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists over the Red Sea.
It was decided the… pic.twitter.com/v2CyX3yUxm— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 6, 2024
Jonathan Yerushalmy
Thousands of Israelis have rallied across the nation on Monday night time, calling for the federal government of Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to the phrases of a ceasefire deal that Hamas accepted earlier within the day.
Around 1,000 protesters gathered close to the defence headquarters in Tel Aviv, whereas in Jerusalem, no less than 100 protesters marched towards Netanyahu’s residence with a banner studying, “The blood is on your hands.”
In Tel Aviv, Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker remains to be held in Gaza, advised a gathered crowd that it was “time to accept the deal”.
Brandishing a megaphone, Zangauker stood on the roof of a automotive and spoke in entrance of a big crowd of protesters.
“We’re not going to let you continue to abandon the children,” she mentioned.
In a put up on X, Israeli opposition chief Yair Lapid mentioned the federal government was not critical about liberating the hostages.
“A government that wants to return the abductees should be convening an urgent discussion and sending [negotiating] teams to Cairo, not hysterically issuing three different briefings from different parties and crushing the hearts of the families. A national disgrace. There is no limit,” he wrote.
As the war in Gaza goes on, we’re listening to that the United Nations General Assembly may vote on Friday on a draft decision that may recognise the Palestinians as certified to grow to be a full UN member.
It would additionally advocate that the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably”, studies Reuters information company.
Reuters says that it might successfully act as a worldwide survey of how a lot help the Palestinians have for his or her bid. An earlier try was vetoed within the UN Security Council final month by the United States.
An utility to grow to be a full UN member wants to be authorized by the 15-member Security Council after which the General Assembly.
Meanwhile protests proceed within the US over the Israel-Gaza war.
We’re listening to that pro-Palestinian protesters that had been blocked by police from accessing an encampment on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Monday have damaged by means of fencing, linked arms and encircled tents that remained there.
Associated Press studies that protesters additionally sat within the center of Massachusetts Avenue, blocking the road throughout rush hour within the Boston space.
Sam Ihns, a graduate pupil at MIT learning mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, mentioned the group has been on the encampment for the previous two weeks and that they have been calling for an finish to the killing of 1000’s of individuals in Gaza.
“Specifically, our encampment is protesting MIT’s direct research ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense,” he mentioned.
It comes as Columbia University has canceled its university-wide graduation ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.
Here is a few of a thread from an announcement posted on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s X web page just a few hours in the past.
On the truce Netanyahu says “While the Hamas proposal is far from meeting Israel’s core demands, Israel will dispatch a ranking delegation to Egypt in an effort to maximize the possibility of reaching an agreement on terms acceptable to Israel.”
While the Hamas proposal is much from assembly Israel’s core calls for, Israel will dispatch a rating delegation to Egypt in an effort to maximize the chance of reaching an settlement on phrases acceptable to Israel.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 6, 2024
But the Israeli prime minister additionally vowed to proceed motion in Rafah.
Israel has ordered an evacuation of some 100,000 Palestinians from jap neighborhoods of Rafah. Approximately greater than 1 million civilians from different components of Gaza have been sheltering from the war within the space.
In the assertion on X Netanyahu mentioned “The War Cabinet unanimously decided this evening Israel will continue its operation in Rafah, in order to apply military pressure on Hamas so as to advance the release of our hostages and achieve the other objectives of the war.”
Statement from the Prime Minister’s Office:
The War Cabinet unanimously determined this night Israel will proceed its operation in Rafah, so as to apply navy stress on Hamas so as to advance the discharge of our hostages and obtain the opposite goals of the war.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 6, 2024
The newest data made public a couple of ceasefire proposal centres round a three-stage deal, that’s in accordance to the Hamas deputy chief in Gaza, Khalil Al-Hayya, who spoke to Al Jazeera TV.
The Reuters information company has extra on the newest proposed deal. The Guardian has not been ready to confirm the knowledge and what’s on the desk stays unclear.
An Israeli official, talking on situation of anonymity, has advised Reuters that the proposal that Hamas has authorized is a watered-down model of an Egyptian provide and contains parts that Israel cannot settle for.
Having mentioned that – here is what we know:
Phase one:
-
Reuters studies this might final for 42-days as a ceasefire interval. Hamas would launch 33 Israeli hostages in return for Israel releasing Palestinians from Israeli jails.
-
Israel would partially withdraw its troops from Gaza and permit free motion of Palestinians from south to north Gaza.
Phase two:
-
Another 42-day interval would begin that options an settlement to restore a “sustainable calm” to Gaza, language that an official briefed on the talks mentioned Hamas and Israel had agreed so as to take dialogue of a “permanent ceasefire” off the desk.
-
There can be the whole withdrawal of most Israeli troops from Gaza.
-
Hamas releases Israeli reservists and a few troopers in return for Israel releasing Palestinians from jail.
Phase three:
-
The completion of exchanging our bodies and beginning the implementation of reconstruction in accordance to the plan overseen by Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations.
-
Ending the whole blockade on the Gaza Strip.