Back to homepage / Middle East
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
🔴Live: Biden warns US will halt supplies of artillery, other weapons if Israel invades Rafah
US President Joe Biden warned Wednesday he would stop supplying Israel with artillery shells and other weapons if it attacks Rafah in southern Gaza, as he deplored the fact that civilians had been killed by the dropping of US bombs. Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Thursday called Biden’s threat “very disappointing”. Read our liveblog for all the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war.
Issued on: 09/05/2024 – 01:34
Modified: 09/05/2024 – 11:03
2 min
Israeli soldiers work on armoured military vehicles at a staging ground near the Israeli-Gaza border, southern Israel, Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
Israeli soldiers work on armoured military vehicles at a staging ground near the Israeli-Gaza border, southern Israel, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. © Tsafrir Abayov, AP
By:
FRANCE 24
Follow
|
FRANCE 24
Summary:
Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Malta are considering recognising a Palestinian state on May 21, according to a report by Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE issued on Thursday. Israel said that the plan constituted a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.
Israeli strikes on Syria early Thursday targeted facilities belonging to Iraq’s Al-Nujaba armed movement, a war monitor and the pro-Iran group said, with Damascus saying an unidentified building was attacked. No casualties were reported.
At least 34,904 Palestinians have been killed and 78,514 wounded in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
LIVE
35 minutes ago
Did police fire rubber bullets at UCLA pro-Palestinian student protesters?
It has been widely reported that police officers fired rubber bullets at pro-Palestinian protesters during student demonstrations at Los Angeles university UCLA on May 3. Viral images circulating on social media claim to show these injured students, but the images are misleading.
FRANCE 24 explains in this edition of Truth or Fake.
SHARE
an hour ago
Monitor, Iraqi group say Israel hits facilities in Syria
Israeli strikes on Syria early Thursday targeted facilities belonging to Iraq’s Al-Nujaba armed movement, a war monitor and the pro-Iran group said, with Damascus saying an unidentified building was attacked.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said “Israeli air strikes targeted a cultural centre” and a “training facility” of the Iraqi Al-Nujaba movement in the Sayyida Zeinab area south of Damascus.
Three members of the group were wounded according to the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.
A source within the Iraqi faction, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed that a “cultural centre” belonging to the group was destroyed in the “Israeli” attack, but reported no casualties.
Al-Nujaba does “not have a declared military base in Syria”, the source added.
SHARE
an hour ago
UK government tries to head off the type of unrest seen on US campuses
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is calling for an end to “antisemitic abuse” at UK universities as protests against the war in Gaza expand and the government tries to head off the type of unrest seen on US campuses in recent weeks.
The comments came as Sunak and his education secretary prepared to meet with university leaders on Thursday at the prime minister’s offices in Downing Street.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have begun building encampments at universities around the UK over the past two weeks as students and academics call on the institutions to cut ties with Israel over its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
About a dozen encampments have been built at universities including Oxford and Cambridge in recent days. The demonstrations so far have been relatively small and peaceful, but some Jewish students have expressed concerns about antisemitism.
SHARE
2 hours ago
Gaza’s health ministry says 34,904 Palestinians killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Thursday that at least 34,904 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during the war between Israel and Hamas militants.
The tally includes at least 60 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 78,514 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war broke out when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.
SHARE
2 hours ago
Vessel carrying aid to US-built pier off Gaza leaves Cyprus
A vessel carrying aid to a pier built by the US off Gaza set sail from Cyprus on Thursday, marine tracking websites showed.
The US flagged Sagamore left the port of Larnaca on Thursday morning. US officials have said the vessel will be used to offload supplies onto a floating pier built to expedite aid into the besieged enclave.
There was no immediate comment from Cypriot authorities, which had earlier said the ship would sail as soon as the floating platform was in place, subject to weather conditions.
SHARE
2 hours ago
Ireland and Spain could recognise Palestinian state on May 21, Irish national broadcaster RTE reports
Ireland, Spain and a number of other European Union member states are considering recognising a Palestinian state on May 21, according to a report by Ireland’s national broadcaster.
RTE News on Wednesday evening said contacts between Dublin and Madrid, and between Slovenia and Malta, had intensified with a view to the countries jointly recognising Palestinian statehood.
According to the report, the countries have been waiting for a vote by the United Nations General Assembly on May 10 which could lead to the recognition of Palestinians as qualified to become a full UN member.
In a joint statement on March 22, Spain, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia said they had agreed to take the first steps towards recognising a Palestinian state. Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states have recognised Palestinian statehood.
Israel has said that the four countries’ plan constituted a “prize for terrorism” that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.
SHARE
3 hours ago
Israel’s former defence official rejects claim country can manage without US arms
Israel’s former head of defence production and procurement on Thursday rejected the claim the country could manage without American arms, saying Israel would be forced to source arms elsewhere, according to Israeli public radio.
SHARE
3 hours ago
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim 2 attacks in Gulf of Aden, another unreported in Indian Ocean
Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage, while also saying they targeted a ship in the Indian Ocean in a previously unreported assault.
The claims by Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree come as the tempo of the rebel attacks have waned in recent weeks as they’ve been targeted by repeated airstrikes launched by a US-led coalition warship in waterways crucial to international trade. The Houthis insist their assaults will continue as long as Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip goes on.
Saree in a prerecorded statement claimed attacks on the MSC Diego and MSC Gina. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a US-led coalition of nations operating in the Mideast, said those two missile attacks happened early Tuesday.
“Neither were hit and all crew on board are safe,” the center said. “The vessels were last reported proceeding to next port of call.” The centre added that the vessels were “likely targeted due to perceived Israeli affiliation.”
SHARE
4 hours ago
Israel says Biden threat to stop arms ‘very disappointing’
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said US President Joe Biden’s threat to stop certain arms supplies to Israel if it invades the crowded Gaza city of Rafah was “very disappointing”.
“This is a difficult and very disappointing statement to hear from a president to whom we have been grateful since the beginning of the war,” Gilad Erdan told Israeli public broadcaster Kan radio, in Israel’s first reaction to Biden’s warning.
SHARE
5 hours ago
Syria shoots down Israeli missiles fired from Golan Heights towards Damascus outskirts
Syrian air defences on Thursday shot down Israeli missiles fired from the Golan Heights towards Damascus’s outskirts targeting a building in the countryside, Syria’s defence ministry said.
Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has ramped up such raids since the October 7 attack by Palestinian armed group Hamas on Israeli territory.
On April 1, an Israeli strike targeted the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, killing a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps as well as other military officers, triggering Iran’s first direct attack onto Israeli territory.
Israel has also been trading fire across its northern border with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
SHARE
7 hours ago
British doctor in Gaza describes the situation in Rafah as ‘catastrophic’
British doctor James Smith, who is in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, spoke to FRANCE 24 – with the sounds of Israeli drones buzzing overhead – and described the situation there as “catastrophic”.
He said that several people were killed when some neighbourhoods in the East of Rafah were bombed by Israel with very little warning.
“People are literally being pushed towards to sea by the Israeli military,” said Smith.
Smith also said that Al Najjar hospital has been rendered non-functional.
He described people living in “crowded and unsanitary conditions” and suffering from all sorts of health problems.
SHARE
8 hours ago
Riot police, protesters clash at Amsterdam Gaza demo
Dutch riot police clashed on Wednesday with pro-Palestinian protesters as officers moved in to clear barricades at the University of Amsterdam, scene of upheaval since Monday.
Police said around midnight (2200 GMT) that they had arrested 32 people for “violence, destruction, assault and incitement” at the university and on a major thoroughfare in the centre of the Dutch capital.
Local television images showed dozens of police dressed in riot gear exchanging blows with a group of protesters as officers cleared out an area in front of the Binnengasthuis building in Amsterdam’s city centre.
Police said the protesters then blocked a major local road called the Rokin where violence also broke out, adding demonstrators “threw ammonia at riot police”.
Students are demanding that the University of Amsterdam (UvA) sever ties with Israel over the war in Gaza and are inspired by ongoing demonstrations at US campuses.
SHARE
10 hours ago
Biden says US is working with Arab states prepared to help with Gaza transition
US President Joe Biden told CNN on Wednesday he was working with Arab states that are prepared to rebuild Gaza and help with the transition to a two-state solution, following the war between Hamas and Israel.
SHARE
10 hours ago
Biden says US will withhold weapons from Israel if it invades Rafah
US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he would stop US weapons supplies to Israel if it attacks Rafah in southern Gaza, his most direct warning to date over the prosecution of the war against Hamas.
In an interview with CNN, Biden also deplored the fact that civilians had been killed by the dropping of US bombs on the Palestinian territory.
His fresh warning came after the US last week halted a shipment of huge American bombs to Israel as it appeared ready to proceed with a major attack on Rafah – a city packed with Palestinian civilians sheltering near the Egyptian border.
“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used… to deal with the cities,” Biden said. “We’re not gonna supply the weapons and the artillery shells that have been used.”
Biden, a self-described Zionist, had long resisted stopping any of the $3 billion in weapons the United States sends each year to Israel – and pushed Congress for an increase in the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas that triggered the major Israeli retaliation.
But US officials say privately that his hand was forced after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made clear he would go ahead with an assault on Rafah, defying Biden’s public appeals to spare the city.
FRANCE 24’s Fraser Jackson has more on Biden’s threat to withhold weapons from Israel.
SHARE
Yesterday’s key developments:
US President Joe Biden said he will not supply offensive weapons to Israel if it launches an assault on Rafah in his toughest public comments yet about Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday “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 Israeli residents to their homes.
Israel said that it had reopened the Kerem Shalom border crossing to humanitarian aid for Gaza.
The Israeli military appeared on Wednesday to play down an arms shipment hold-up by the US, whose administration expressed disapproval of this week’s operation in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, saying the allies resolve any disagreements “behind closed doors”.
Hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip have only three days of fuel left due to the closure of border crossings, the head of the World Health Organization warned on Wednesday.
A Lebanese security source said five people including two Hezbollah fighters were killed Wednesday in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, with a Palestinian armed group reporting three fatalities among its ranks.
Dutch riot police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters as officers moved in to clear barricades at the city’s main university, a scene of upheaval since Monday.
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters, AP)
