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Live blog: Women, children killed as Israel pounds Rafah, block aid
Israel’s war on besieged Gaza, now in its 216th day, has killed at least 34,844 people — 70 percent of them babies, children and women — and wounded over 78,404, Palestinian officials say.
#LOE11 : Israel’s brutal war in Gaza after Hamas launches surprise attack / Photo: AFP
AFP
#LOE11 : Israel’s brutal war in Gaza after Hamas launches surprise attack / Photo: AFP
Thursday, May 9, 2024
0530 GMT — Between Monday and Wednesday, 109 Palestinians have been killed and 296 injured, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said some of the deadliest recent attacks by Israeli forces took place in Rafah that has killed women and children in their homes:
– Nine Palestinians, including at least four children and two women, were reportedly killed and others injured when Israeli forces targeted a house in Yebna Refugee Camp in southeastern Rafah.
– Nine Palestinians, including four children and three women, were reportedly killed when a house was hit by Israeli forces on George Street in eastern Rafah.
– Four Palestinians, including two children and two women, were reportedly killed when Israeli forces targeted a house in Al Junainah neighbourhood in eastern Rafah.
– At least five Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were reportedly killed when a house was hit by Israeli forces in Al Barahma neighbourhood in Tal As Sultan area in western Rafah.
– Four Palestinians, including one woman, were reportedly killed when a house was targeted by Israeli forces in Al Junainah neighbourhood in eastern Rafah.
– Four Palestinians were reportedly killed when two apartments were hit by Israeli forces in Tal As Sultan area in western Rafah.
More updates 👇
0116 GMT — US working with Arab states to rebuild Gaza: Biden
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has confirmed the weapons delay to Israel, telling the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense that the US paused “one shipment of high payload munitions.”
“We’re going to continue to do what’s necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself,” Austin said. “But that said, we are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah.”
It also comes as the Biden administration is due to deliver a first-of-its-kind formal verdict this week on whether the air strikes on Gaza and restrictions on delivery of aid have violated international and US laws designed to spare civilians from the worst horrors of war.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers,” US President Joe Biden told CNN. “I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.”
“We’re not walking away from Israel’s security,” Biden continued. “We’re walking away from Israel’s ability to wage war in those areas.”
0402 GMT — 360,000 buildings damaged or destroyed in Gaza: ESCWA
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) said that 360,000 buildings in Gaza have been partially damaged or destroyed amid Israel’s war on the tiny enclave.
ESCWA published a report compiling data from various institutions and organisations regarding the physical damage caused by Israel’s attacks on Gaza to buildings and infrastructure.
The report included data from different periods provided by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center and Oregon State University.
The report said that two percent of the population in Gaza was killed, four percent were injured and almost the entire population was displaced.
0324 GMT — Spain’s king says violence in Gaza has already reached an unimaginable level
The violence in Gaza has already reached an unimaginable level, Spanish King Felipe VI said.
Speaking at an event in the capital Madrid, he said that the growing violence in Gaza is something that was rarely experienced during previous conflicts in the region, according to the state-run EFE news agency.
Felipe noted that its consequences are projected globally with “many uncertainties.”
“This did not begin on October 7, but it was when this terrible escalation of violence began with the devastating destruction and humanitarian crisis in Gaza. It has already reached unimaginable levels and is of utmost concern to everyone,” he said.
0128 GMT — Riot police, protesters clash at Amsterdam Gaza demo
Dutch riot police clashed 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.
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.
2330 GMT — US working with Arab states to rebuild Gaza — Biden
US President Joe Biden has told CNN that he was working with Arab states that are prepared to rebuild Gaza and help with the transition to a two-state solution, following Israel’s war on besieged Gaza.
Biden’s also publicly warned Israel for the first time that the US would stop supplying it weapons if Israeli military make a major invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah…, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities — that deal with that problem,” Biden said.
He also acknowledged US weapons have been used by Israel to kill civilians in Gaza, where Israel has mounted a seven-month-old invasion that has so far killed 34,789 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
READ MORE
US won’t supply weapons to Israel if it invades Gaza’s Rafah city — Biden
2300 GMT — Hamas says Israel not serious about reaching truce deal
Israeli hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to “create excuses to avoid negotiations” and Israel is not serious about achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, a senior member of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas has said.
“Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement. It is using negotiations as a pretext to occupy Rafah city and the (Rafah) fence crossing,” Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’ Political Bureau, said on Telegram.
READ MORE
Main maternity hospital in Gaza’s Rafah no longer admitting patients: UN
2249 GMT — US representatives decry arrest of student protestors at GWU
US Representatives Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib have expressed support for pro-Palestine protestors who were arrested earlier at George Washington University (GWU) in the US capital.
“Students are protesting all across the country because they believe our government ha s failed to recognize the common humanity of all people,” Bush said at a news conference alongside the students.
“They’re protesting because they oppose our government’s silence and complicity in the deaths of at least 35,000 Palestinians,” she added.
Her remarks came after police dispersed a pro-Palestine tent encampment at GWU early Wednesday. Dozens of students who are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and demand that their school divest from Israel were arrested.
Inviting colleagues at Congress to join her and Tlaib and “these brave students on the right side of history,” Bush said, “We must hear the demands of these students because we believe strongly that change must happen.”
Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, said that “under the cover of darkness,” the police pepper sprayed, brutalized and arrested non-violent student protesters at GWU.
“It is outrageous that police are now entering college campuses across our nation with their guns drawn, targeting students with pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets and tasers. Shame!” she added.
For our live updates from Wednesday, May 8, click here.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES
