Middle-East
Fighting across Gaza as UN aid agency faces more cuts
Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants in different parts of Gaza on Monday, even in northern areas where the army has been operating for months, and militants fired a barrage of around 15 rockets at central Israel for the first time in weeks.
Cease-fire talks are ongoing, but Israel has said “ significant gaps ” remain in any potential agreement. The talks are meant to bring about some respite to Gaza and secure the release of more than 100 Israeli hostages still held by militants.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, most of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Despite the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the besieged territory, the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians faced more funding cuts Monday. Some Western countries froze vital funds for UNRWA amid accusations that 12 of its roughly 13,000 employees in Gaza were involved in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war.
The Hamas attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. About 250 people were taken captive, according to Israeli authorities.
Here's the latest:
UN URGES DONOR COUNTRIES TO AID PALESTINIAN REFUGEES ACROSS MIDEAST
UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations is urging all donor countries to ensure they meet “the dire needs” of millions of Palestinians who rely on the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees — not only in Gaza but in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
Right now, the outlook for the UNRWA and the Palestinians it serves “is very bleak,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday.
“The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met,” he said.
Major donors to UNRWA, including the U.S. and some European Union members including Germany, have suspended funding following accusations that 12 of its employees were involved in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
The EU, a major donor, has not suspended aid, and its next disbursement isn’t scheduled until the end of February. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday about the allegations and “the EU will determine upcoming funding decisions in light of the outcome of the investigations,” the EU said in a statement Monday.
Dujarric said the contracts of the accused employees have been terminated, the U.N.’s internal watchdog is investigating, and the U.N. Secretariat is ready to cooperate with any “competent authority” able to prosecute any UNRWA employee involved “in acts of terror.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will host a meeting at U.N. headquarters in New York on Tuesday afternoon, the spokesman said, and he met the U.S. ambassador and is speaking to the Jordanian and Egyptian leaders on Monday.
Dujarric welcomed a letter from 20 international aid organizations including the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Save The Children, supporting Guterres’ call for a resumption of donor support to UNRWA.
“The NGO community understand the critical work that UNRWA does right now in keeping people alive,” he said.
Dujarric said the 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza are continuing to work as the war continues, including helping over one million people in overcrowded UNRWA shelters.
“We are open to answering any and every question that they (donors) may have,” the U.N. spokesman said.
This entry has been corrected to show the European Union has not suspended funding to UNRWA.
ISRAEL'S DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ISRAEL HAS UPPER HAND IN GAZA WAR
JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister says Israel has gained the upper hand in its battle against Hamas.
Speaking to troops in southern Israel on Monday, Yoav Gallant said Israel has killed or wounded half of Hamas’ army.
“”The terrorists don’t have supplies, they don’t have ammunition, they don’t have reinforcements,” he said.
The military says it has battled militants and called in airstrikes in recent days in northern Gaza, where entire neighborhoods have been destroyed and where the military has been operating for months.
New evacuation orders were issued on Monday for parts of Gaza City, indicating there is still heavy fighting there. Palestinian militants have also kept up rocket fire, including a barrage that set off air raid sirens in central Israel on Monday.
“We have already eliminated at least a quarter of Hamas’ terrorists, I think even more, and there is a similar number of wounded,” he added, without giving any specific figures. Israel has previously said it has killed about 9,000 Hamas militants, though it has not provided evidence to back up the claim.
Gallant said the campaign to eliminate Hamas’ capabilities will take months, but that the “hourglass has flipped against them.”
QATAR'S PRIME MINISTER HINTS AT PROGRESS ON CEASE-FIRE AND HOSTAGE RELEASE
WASHINGTON — Qatar’s prime minister said senior U.S. and Mideast mediators had achieved a framework proposal to present to Hamas for freeing hostages and pausing fighting in Gaza.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Thani spoke at the Atlantic Council in Washington after talks Sunday in Paris among U.S., Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials seeking a new round of cease-fires and hostage releases in Gaza.
Al-Thani said the mediators had made “good progress” and achieved a “foundation for the way forward.”
The foreign mediators had tried to bridge gaps in Israeli and Hamas demands and intended to now present them to Hamas, he said.
“We are hoping to get them to a place … where they engage positively and constructively in this process,” he said of Hamas.
Al-Thani gave no details of the proposal, but said an outline presented by one of the event moderators that called for a phased release of hostages and an extended cease-fire was “well-informed.” Hamas has demanded a permanent cease-fire ahead of any further releases of hostages held by Hamas militants and others in Gaza.
PROBE SUGGESTS DRONE THAT KILLED TROOPS IN JORDAN WAS CONFUSED WITH A RETURNING U.S. DRONE
WASHINGTON — A drone that killed three American troops and wounded dozens of others in Jordan may have been confused with an American drone returning to the U.S. installation, according to a U.S. official.
The official, who was not authorized to comment and insisted on anonymity, said Monday the preliminary accounts suggest the enemy drone that struck the installation known as Tower 22 may have been mistaken for an American drone that was also in the air at the same time.
The official said that as the enemy drone was flying in at a low altitude, a U.S. drone was also returning to base. As a result, there was no effort to shoot down the enemy drone.
Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor contributed.
ISRAELI PARLIAMENT CONSIDERS EXPELLING MEMBER WHO SUPPORTS SOUTH AFRICA'S GENOCIDE CASE
JERUSALEM — Israel’s parliament has held a hearing on whether to expel a lawmaker for supporting South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the U.N. world court.
The lawmaker, Ofer Cassif, is from the Arab-Jewish Hadash party in the Israeli parliament and one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military operation in Gaza.
The proceedings Monday came in response to Cassif signing a petition supporting South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Cassif defended himself in front of other lawmakers, denying the charge that he was encouraging “armed struggle” against Israel. If his fellow lawmakers vote otherwise, he could be removed from his post.
Cassif has repeatedly faced reprimand from other lawmakers for his anti-war positions.
Following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Cassif was suspended from the parliament for 45 days after other lawmakers said some of his statements had drawn inappropriate parallels between the Holocaust and Israel’s wartime policy. Since the attack, Israel has cracked down on anti-war speech and demonstrations.
ISRAELI KIBBUTZ MEMBERS CALL FOR HOSTAGE RELEASE DEAL
KFAR AZA, Israel — Members of a devastated kibbutz in southern Israel visited the shells of their destroyed homes nearly four months after the Hamas attack.
Those who gathered in Kfar Aza on Monday, including a woman who was released from captivity and family members of hostages still held in Gaza, called for a cease-fire deal to return their loved ones.
Amit Soussana, who was held hostage for 55 days in Gaza, stood outside her roofless home on Monday and recalled how she hid for three hours as Hamas militants rampaged through her community. Eventually, the attackers lobbed a grenade into her living room to force her out.
Security footage from the kibbutz captured her struggling against her attackers before a group of seven eventually subdued her.
The wide-ranging Hamas-led attack into southern Israel killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and led to the capture of around 250. Soussana was among more than 100 who were released in November in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
In the first weeks of her captivity, she says her ankles were chained and she was held in complete darkness. She says the guards “abused me and the other hostages” and held them deep underground in a tunnel with very little food.
Of the 37 young people living in her neighborhood, 12 were killed, and seven were kidnapped. Two of Soussana’s neighbors, Alon Shamriz and Yotam Haim, managed to escape their captors but were mistakenly killed by Israeli soldiers in December.
Relatives of those still held in Gaza have staged mounting protests calling for another cease-fire and exchange.
Liran Berman’s twin brothers, Gali and Ziv, 26, are among those still being held in Gaza.
“We see that when there’s a deal, hostages return, and in between, when there isn’t, only bodies come back,” he said.
GERMANY CONDEMNS ATTACK ON US TROOPS IN JORDAN
BERLIN — Germany has condemned the fatal attack on U.S. troops in Jordan that Washington has blamed on Iran-backed militias and is calling on Tehran to exert its influence on regional allies to prevent further escalation.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer on Monday underlined Berlin’s solidarity with Jordan and the U.S.
He added that “in view of the extremely tense situation in the region, this act is completely irresponsible and could lead to pushing the region further toward escalation.”
Fischer said: “We expect from Iran that it finally exert its influence on its allies in the region so that there is no uncontrolled conflagration, in which no one can have an interest.
5 PALESTINIANS KILLED BY ISRAELI FORCES IN THE WEST BANK
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian authorities say five Palestinians, including a 16-year old boy, have been killed by Israeli forces in separate shootings across the occupied West Bank on Monday.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the boy was killed near the Israeli settlement of Tekoa. The ministry gave no further details, but the Israeli military said the boy had attempted to carry out a stabbing attack on soldiers at a guard post.
In other violence, the Palestinian Health Ministry said two men, one of them age 18, were shot dead by Israeli troops in the southern West Bank city of Dura. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said that Israeli forces opened fire after clashing with Palestinians from the area.
Two other men were killed — one of them in the southern city of Hebron and the other in the central town of Silwad, it said.
The Israeli army said one of its counterterrorism operations in the town of Dura overnight Sunday sparked a riot in the town. It said its forces then opened fire in response to dozens of Palestinian protesters hurling stones at its troops.
In the town of Yamoun, near Jenin, Israeli forces said its troops returned fire at a wanted suspect they were trying to arrest, hitting the man.
EU SEEKS TO APPOINT EXPERTS TO CONDUCT AN AUDIT OF UNRWA
BRUSSELS — The European Union wants to appoint independent experts to conduct an audit of the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency to ensure that UNRWA staff can't be involved “in terrorist activities.”
The 27-nation bloc is one of the biggest donors of humanitarian and development aid to Palestinians in Gaza, but was not scheduled to provide more funding to UNRWA before the end of February.
Israel has accused a dozen UNRWA employees of taking part in the Hamas attack in October that ignited the war and stoked deadly instability across the Middle East. Several countries have frozen funding to the agency.
The EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, says it “expects UNRWA to agree to carrying out an audit of the agency to be conducted by EU appointed independent external experts.”
The audit would focus “specifically on the control systems needed to prevent the possible involvement of its staff in terrorist activities.”
IRAQ CONDEMNS DRONE STRIKE THAT KILLED 3 US TROOPS IN JORDAN
BAGHDAD — Iraq's government condemned the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan near the Syrian border Sunday, in an apparent effort to distance itself from an attack that was likely carried out by one of the country's multiple Iranian-backed militias.
Government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said in a statement on Monday that Iraq is “monitoring with a great concern the alarming security developments in the region” and called for “an end to the cycle of violence.” The statement said that Iraq is ready to participate in diplomatic efforts to prevent further escalation.
An umbrella group for Iran-backed factions known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed dozens of attacks against bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began. On Sunday, the group claimed three drone attacks against sites in Syria, including near the border with Jordan, and one inside of “occupied Palestine” but so far hasn't claimed the attack in Jordan.
MAN WOUNDED IN ATTACK OUTSIDE ISRAELI MILITARY BASE
JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities say a 20-year-old man has been seriously wounded after an attack outside a military base in Haifa in northern Israel.
The Israeli military said a motorist carried out a car ramming attack on Monday before exiting the vehicle and trying to attack soldiers with an ax. The soldiers shot at the attacker, the military said. It wasn't immediately clear if the attacker was killed.
Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said that paramedics were treating a 20-year-old man with “serious lower limb injuries,” and had evacuated him to a hospital in serious condition.
The attack came as tensions have spiked around the region over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Earlier this month, a woman was killed in a similar attack north of Tel Aviv.
AUSTRIA SUSPENDS PAYMENTS TO UNRWA
BERLIN — Austria is joining a string of Western partners in suspending payments to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees after Israel accused a dozen of its employees of taking part in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that started the war.
The Foreign Ministry in Vienna said in a statement Monday that Austria “will provisionally suspend all further payments to UNRWA in coordination with international partners” until all the accusations are “fully cleared up” and there is clarity on the consequences.
It called on the UNRWA agency and the wider U.N. to conduct a “comprehensive, quick and complete investigation.”
JAPAN SUSPENDS FUNDING FOR THE UN AID AGENCY IN GAZA
TOKYO — Japan has suspended additional funding for UNRWA while the agency conducts an investigation into allegations that UNRWA staff were involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
It said Japan is “extremely concerned about the alleged involvement of UNRWA staff members in the terror attack on Israel” last year.
The ministry noted the dedication of many UNRWA staff in providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza and said: “Japan has been strongly urging UNRWA to conduct an investigation in a prompt and complete manner and to take appropriate measures, including strengthening governance with UNRWA, so that UNRWA can firmly fulfill the role it should play.”
Israel notes 'significant gaps' after cease-fire talks with US, Qatar, Egypt but says constructive
Israel said “significant gaps” remain after cease-fire talks Sunday with the United States, Qatar and Egypt but called them constructive and said they would continue in the week ahead, a tentative sign of progress on a potential agreement that could see Israel pause military operations against Hamas in exchange for the release of remaining hostages.
The U.S. announced its first military deaths in the region since the war began and blamed Iran-backed militants for the drone strike in Jordan that killed three American service members amid concerns about a wider conflict.
The statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on the cease-fire talks did not say what the “significant gaps” were. There was no immediate statement from the other parties.
The war has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, destroyed vast swaths of Gaza and displaced nearly 85% of the territory’s people. Israel says its air and ground offensive has killed more than 9,000 militants, without providing evidence. The Oct. 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and militants took about 250 hostages.
With Gaza's 2.3 million people in a deepening humanitarian crisis, the United Nations secretary-general called on the United States and others to resume funding the main agency providing aid to the besieged territory, after Israel accused a dozen employees of taking part in the Hamas attack that ignited the war.
Communications Director Juliette Touma warned that the agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, would be forced to stop its support in Gaza by the end of February.
CEASE-FIRE TALKS TO CONTINUE
Sunday's intelligence meeting included CIA Director Bill Burns, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.
Ahead of the meeting, two senior Biden administration officials said U.S. negotiators were making progress on a potential agreement that would play out over two phases, with the remaining women, elderly and wounded hostages to be released in a first 30-day phase. It also would call for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The officials requested anonymity to discuss the ongoing negotiations.
More than 100 hostages, mainly women and children, were released in November in exchange for a weeklong cease-fire and the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, speaking to troops, said that “these days we are conducting a negotiation process for the release of hostages” but vowed that as long as hostages remain in Gaza, “we will intensify the (military) pressure and continue our efforts — it’s already happening now.”
At least 17 Palestinians were killed in two Israeli airstrikes that hit apartment buildings in central Gaza, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw the bodies at a local hospital. One hit a building in Zawaida, killing 13 people, and the other an apartment block in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing four.
Also Sunday, 10 Palestinians were killed in a strike that hit a residential building in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City, said Dr. Moataz Harara, a physician at Shifa Hospital, where the dead were taken.
Israel's military said troops were engaging in close combat with Hamas in neighborhoods of the southern city of Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest.
US DEATHS HIGHLIGHT REGIONAL TENSIONS
The three deaths announced by Biden were the first U.S. fatalities in months of strikes against American forces across the Middle East by Iranian-backed militias amid the war in Gaza. U.S. Central Command said 25 service members were injured.
U.S. officials were working to conclusively identify the group responsible for the attack, but assessed that one of several Iranian-backed groups was responsible. Jordanian state television quoted a government spokesperson as contending the attack happened across the border in Syria. U.S. officials insisted it took place in Jordan, which U.S. troops have long used as a basing point.
The U.S. in recent months has struck targets in Iraq, Syria and Yemen to respond to attacks on American forces and to deter Iranian-backed Houthi rebels from continuing to threaten commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The war in Gaza has sparked concerns about a regional conflict. The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has increasingly called for restraint in Gaza and for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into the territory while supporting the offensive.
A GAZA LIFELINE AT RISK OF ‘COLLAPSE’
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “the abhorrent alleged acts" of staff members accused in the Oct. 7 attack "must have consequences,” but added the agency should not be penalized by the withholding of funding, and "the dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.”
The United States, the agency’s largest donor, cut funding over the weekend, followed by eight other countries including Britain and Germany. Together, they provided nearly 60% of UNRWA’s budget in 2022.
Guterres said that of the 12 employees accused, nine were immediately terminated, one was confirmed dead and two were still being identified. He said they would be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.
UNRWA provides basic services for Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding the country’s creation. The refugees and their descendants are the majority of Gaza’s population.
Since the war began, most of the territory’s 2.3 million people depend on the agency’s programs for “sheer survival,” including food and shelter, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said.
A quarter of Gaza’s population is facing starvation as fighting and Israeli restrictions hinder the delivery of aid, which has been well below the daily average of 500 trucks before the war
In the past week, hostages’ family members and supporters have blocked aid trucks from entering at the Kerem Shalom crossing. Dozens again blocked the entry on Sunday, chanting “No aid will cross until the last hostages return.”
The military later declared the area around the crossing a closed military zone, which would prohibit protests there.
With Gaza's future being debated, thousands, including far-right lawmakers in Netanyahu’s coalition and senior Cabinet ministers, gathered in Jerusalem to call for renewing Jewish settlement in Gaza. Settlements there were evacuated in 2005, ending a 38-year-occupation, during a unilateral withdrawal of troops that bitterly divided Israel.
Crowds chanted “death to terrorists” as far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took the stage and declared it was “time to encourage immigration” of Palestinians from Gaza.
The international community, including the U.S., has said it will oppose any attempts to expel Palestinians from Gaza. It also overwhelmingly considers settlements on occupied territory illegal.
Netanyahu has said such views do not reflect official policy and he has no plans to resettle Gaza, but he has released few details of a postwar vision for the territory.
Embattled UN agency warns its aid operation in Gaza is 'collapsing' over a wave of funding cuts
The head of the main U.N. aid agency in the war-battered Gaza Strip warned late Saturday that its work is collapsing after nine countries decided to cut funding over allegations that several agency employees had participated in the deadly Hamas attack against Israel four months ago.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, said he was shocked such decisions were taken as “famine looms” in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. “Palestinians in Gaza did not need this additional collective punishment,” he wrote on X. “This stains all of us.”
His warning came a day after he announced he had fired and was investigating several agency employees over allegations that they participated in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the war. The United States, which said 12 agency employees were under investigation, immediately said it is suspending funding, followed by several other countries, including Britain, Italy and Finland.
The agency, which has 13,000 employees in Gaza, most of them Palestinians, is the main organization aiding Gaza’s population amid the humanitarian disaster. More than 2 million of the territory's 2.3 million people depend on it for “sheer survival,” including food and shelter, Lazzarini said, warning this lifeline can “collapse any time now.”
The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, destroyed vast swaths of Gaza and displaced nearly 85% of the territory’s 2.3 million people. The Hamas attack in southern Israel killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and about 250 hostages were taken.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday after the International Court of Justice ruling to limit death and destruction in the military's Gaza offensive, declaring that “we decide and act according to what is required for our security.”
Among the first deaths reported since the ruling, witnesses said three Palestinians were killed in an airstrike that Israel said targeted a Hamas commander.
Israel's military is under increasing scrutiny now that the top United Nations court has asked Israel for a compliance report in a month. The court's binding ruling on Friday stopped short of ordering a cease-fire, but its orders were in part a rebuke of Israel's conduct in its nearly 4-month war against Gaza's Hamas rulers.
At least 174 Palestinians were killed over the past day, the Health Ministry in Gaza said. It does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its tolls, but has said about two-thirds are women and children.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for civilian casualties, saying the militants embed themselves in the local population. Israel says its air and ground offensive in Gaza has killed more than 9,000 militants.
Israel's military said it had conducted several “targeted raids on terror targets” in the southern city of Khan Younis in addition to the airstrike in nearby Rafah targeting a Hamas commander.
Bilal al-Siksik said his wife, a son and a daughter were killed in the Rafah strike, which came as they slept. He said the U.N. court ruling meant little since it did not stop the war.
“No one can speak in front of them (Israel). America with all its greatness and strength can do nothing," he said, standing beside the rubble and twisted metal of his home.
More than 1 million people have crammed into Rafah and the surrounding areas after Israel ordered civilians to seek refuge there. Designated evacuation areas have repeatedly come under airstrikes, with Israel saying it would go after militants as needed.
In Muwasi, a narrow coastal strip once designated as a safe zone but struck in recent days, displaced Palestinians tiptoed on sandaled feet through garbage-lined puddles in damp and chilly weather. Walls of sheets and tarps billowed in the wind. A mother wept after rain leaked in and soaked the blankets.
“This is our life. We have nothing and we left (our homes) with nothing,” said Bassam Bolbol, whose family ended up in Muwasi after leaving Khan Younis and finding no shelter in Rafah.
Frustration with the uncertainty grows. As thousands of Gazans fled Khan Younis toward Muwasi, Israel shared video showing a crowd appearing to call for bringing down Hamas.
The case brought by South Africa to the U.N. court alleged Israel is committing genocide against Gaza's people, which Israel vehemently denies. A final ruling is expected to take years.
The court ordered Israel to urgently get aid to Gaza, where the U.N. has said aid entering the territory remains well below the daily average of 500 trucks before the war. The U.N. also says access to central and northern Gaza has been decreasing because of "excessive delays" at checkpoints and heightened military activity.
The World Health Organization and the medical charity MSF issued urgent warnings about the largest health facility in Khan Younis, Nasser Hospital, saying remaining staff could barely function with supplies running out and intense fighting nearby.
WHO footage showed people in the crowded facility being treated on blood-smeared floors as frantic loved ones shouted and jostled. Cats scavenged on a mound of medical waste.
“These are the only painkillers left we have. If you want to count them, they are only for maybe five or four patients,” Dr. Muhammad Harara said.
Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement that Nasser Hospital lacked anesthesia and other medicines for intensive care units and had “dangerous” shortages of blood.
The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has increasingly called for restraint and for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza while supporting the offensive.
More mediation lies ahead in search of a deal to secure the release of hostages who remain captive in Gaza. Over 100 were released in a swap for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long cease-fire in November. An unspecified number of the remaining 136 are believed to be dead.
The U.S. CIA director will meet in Europe with the head of the intelligence agencies of Israel and Egypt and with the prime minister of Qatar, according to three people familiar with the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks.
Netanyahu in his address said he would not take back “a single word” of his earlier criticism of Qatar, again accusing it of hosting Hamas leaders and funding Hamas.
“If they position themselves as a mediator, so please, let them prove it and bring back the hostages, and in the meantime deliver the medicines to them,” he said.
While the prime minister's comments appeared to be aimed at his right-leaning base of supporters, other Israelis again gathered in Tel Aviv and outside Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem to call for new elections, frustrated with the government's failure to bring all hostages home. Israel also was marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day, alongside other countries around the world.
Hamas has said it will only release the hostages in exchange for an end to the war and the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Key takeaways from UN court’s ruling on Israel’s war in Gaza
The U.N. world court on Friday came down hard on Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, calling on Israel to “take all measures” to prevent a genocide of the Palestinians. But it stopped short of demanding an immediate cease-fire, as the South African sponsors of the case had hoped.
All sides tried to claim victory with the ruling, seizing on different elements that buttressed their positions.
Israel celebrated the court’s rejection of the cease-fire request and said it had endorsed the country’s right to self-defense. Yet harsh criticism of Israel’s campaign in Gaza could further dent its image in the court of public opinion.
The Palestinians welcomed what amounted to an overwhelming rebuke of Israel’s wartime tactics by a lopsided majority of judges over the heavy death toll and humanitarian disaster in Gaza. The six measures in the ruling were approved by margins of 15-2 and 16-1, with even Israel’s representative on the court joining the majority on two of the questions.
As Israel presses ahead with its offensive, Friday’s ruling adds to the growing international criticism of Israel and could put more pressure on it to scale back or halt the operation altogether.
Airstrikes in central Gaza kill 15 overnight while fighting intensifies in the enclave's south
Here are some takeaways from Friday’s ruling:
NO RULING ON GENOCIDE
The court did not rule on the core issue of whether Israel’s devastating military offensive against Hamas amounts to genocide. That question likely won’t be answered by the court for years.
But it did not rule out the possibility that Israel is conducting genocidal acts. In imposing “provisional measures,” the court found that concerns about possible genocide merit further review.
It called on Israel “to take all measures within its power” and “ensure with immediate effect” that its military does not commit genocidal acts, including those causing the unnecessary deaths of Palestinians or humanitarian suffering.
It also called on Israel to prevent “public incitement to commit genocide,” pointing to a series of inflammatory statements by Israeli leaders. Israel was ordered to report back to the court within one month on steps it is taking to meet these demands.
The court said it was gravely concerned about the fate of the hostages and called for their immediate and unconditional release. But the decision focused almost entirely on the plight of Gaza’s Palestinian civilians and urged Israel to do more to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid.
Yuval Shany, an expert on international law at the Israel Democracy Institute think tank, said the ruling was “not great” but could have been worse.
“The finding that South Africa’s claims are plausible is not good,” he said. “But it’s something that Israel can live with.”
Top UN court stops short of ordering cease-fire in Gaza and demands Israel contain deaths
THE WAR GOES ON
Nothing in the court’s ruling requires Israel to halt the war from a legal standpoint.
Israeli leaders vowed Friday to press aheagotchd with the offensive, insisting that they already are in compliance with international law and committed to allowing humanitarian supplies into the besieged territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the genocide allegation as “outrageous,” noting that the ruling came on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Netanyahu pointed out that Hamas, which killed 1,200 and kidnapped 250 on Oct. 7, seeks Israel’s destruction.
Barak Medina, a human rights expert at Hebrew University’s law school, said the effects of the ruling on the battlefield are “marginal.”
He said calls to ramp up humanitarian aid and crack down on incitement might have some small effects on policies. “But in terms of the main aspect of the military operation, one would not expect any change on the ground,” he said.
INCREASED SCRUTINY
While Israel moves ahead on the battlefield, Friday’s ruling shined an additional bright and critical spotlight on the Israeli offensive.
The war, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, has killed over 26,000 Palestinians and led to widespread destruction, displacement and disease, according to local health officials and international aid agencies.
The United States, Israel’s closest and most important ally, has repeatedly voiced concerns about the civilian death toll and the broader international community has repeatedly called for an immediate cease-fire. The tough language adopted by the court, coupled with the requirement to report back to it, added to the global scrutiny and puts more pressure to scale back or stop the offensive.
Merav Michaeli, leader of Israel’s opposition Labor Party, called the ruling a “yellow card” against a government that she said “is causing enormous international damage to the country.”
A former head of the Israeli military’s international law department said the decision would worsen Israel’s global standing and undermine legitimacy for the war.
“It’s a huge threat,” said Pnina Sharvit Baruch, now a senior researcher at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. “It eventually impacts also our national security. We need our allies. We cannot manage here on our own.”
UN court keeps genocide case against Israel alive as Gaza death toll surpasses 26,000
PRESSURE ON THE US
Despite its concerns about harm to civilians, the United States has so far backed the Israeli war effort, shielding Israel from international criticism and continuing to deliver weapons to the military.
Friday’s ruling draws unwelcome attention to the U.S. position — a stance that has put it at odds with allies and threatened to hurt President Joe Biden’s standing with the Democratic Party’s progressive wing as he seeks re-election.
“States now have clear legal obligations to stop Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian people in Gaza and to make sure that they are not complicit,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said.
It said the provisional ruling “should serve as a wakeup call for Israel and actors who enabled its entrenched impunity.”
The ministry is part of the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized self-rule government in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The U.S. has said it would like to see a revitalized authority, ousted by Hamas in 2007, return to power in Gaza after the war.
Balkees Jarrah, the associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group that has accused Israel of committing war crimes in past rounds of fighting, said Friday’s “landmark decision puts Israel and its allies on notice.”
“The court’s clear and binding order raises the stakes for Israel’s allies to back up their stated commitment to a global rules-based order by helping ensure compliance with this watershed ruling,” she said.
Airstrikes in central Gaza kill 15 overnight while fighting intensifies in the enclave's south
Israeli airstrikes on the Nuseirat urban refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip overnight killed at least 15 people, including a 5-month-old baby, as health authorities in the besieged territory said the death toll since the start of the war has surpassed 26,000.
In southern Gaza, Israeli forces pushed further into the city of Khan Younis, where the intensity of the fighting has increased in recent days. The Israeli military on Friday ordered residents of three neighborhoods and the Khan Younis refugee camp to evacuate to a coastal area.
The camp, like others in Gaza, was initially settled by Palestinians who fled or were driven from their homes during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and has since been built up into a district of the wider city. The leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yehya Sinwar, and the commander of the group’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, both grew up in the Khan Younis refugee camp.
The intense fighting came as the United Nations’ top court on Friday stopped short of ordering a cease-fire in Gaza, as sought by South Africa, which has accused Israel of genocide in its military offensive. Instead the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, demanded that Israel try to contain death and damage. The court also rejected a request by Israel, which rejects the genocide accusation, that the case be thrown out.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said Friday that the number of Palestinians killed since the start of the war stood at 26,083, with 64,487 Palestinians wounded. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its death toll, but has said about two-thirds of those killed were women and children.
Over the last 24 hours, 183 people were killed and 377 others were wounded, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas’s unprecedented attack into Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250. Israel says about 130 hostages remain in Gaza after a round of releases during a brief cease-fire in November, although about 30 are believed to no longer be alive. Israel blames Hamas for the high civilian death toll for positioning fighters and military hardware in dense residential neighborhoods.
Israel's near-complete seal on Gaza has left almost the entire population of 2.3 million reliant on a trickle of international aid able to enter the territory each day. U.N. officials say about a quarter of the population now faces starvation.
Aid groups have struggled to bring food, medicines and other supplies to northern Gaza, where Israel's ground invasion first targeted and where Israel says it now largely has control.
Uday Samir, a 23-year old Gaza City native, said many of the basic foods such as flour, lentils and rice are now impossible to find across the city.
“Now, what is available is animal feed,” said Samir. “We grind it and bake it.”
All supplies enter Gaza in the south, either through the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing or Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing. Aid groups say fighting and Israeli restrictions have made deliveries to the north difficult. When convoys do travel north, supplies are often snatched by hungry Palestinian before the trucks reach their destination.
Israel's assault is now focused on Khan Younis and a number of refugee camps in central Gaza,
The Israeli military said its troops were engaging in close urban combat with Hamas fighters across neighborhoods of Khan Younis, calling in airstrikes and attack helicopters to hit militants spotted with RPGs and weapons. Earlier this week, it also ordered the evacuation of most of the western half of the city. Hamas has also reported that its fighters are battling Israeli forces in the heart of the city.
Further north, the bodies of 15 people, including seven members of one family, were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, an AP journalist at the hospital said. The 15 were killed during separate strikes on two apartment buildings in Nuseirat, which lies just below the demarcation line between the northern and southern portions of the territory, drawn by Israel early in the war.
The offensive has decimated large swathes of the territory, and the United Nations and other aid agencies have warned of a humanitarian disaster. More than 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced.
Top UN court stops short of ordering cease-fire in Gaza and demands Israel contain deaths
The United Nations’ top court stopped short Friday of ordering a cease-fire in Gaza in a genocide case but demanded that Israel try to contain death and damage in its military offensive in the tiny coastal enclave.
South Africa brought the case, which goes to the core of one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, and had asked the court to order Israel to halt its operation.
In the highly anticipated decision made by a panel of 17 judges, the International Court of Justice decided not to throw out the case — and ordered six so-called provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza.
"The court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering,” Joan E. Donoghue, the court's president, said.
Friday's decision is only an interim one; it could take years for the full case brought by South Africa to be considered. Israel rejects the genocide accusation and had asked the court to throw the charges out.
While the case winds its way through the court, South Africa has asked the judges “as a matter of extreme urgency” to impose provisional measures.
Top of the South African list was a request for the court to order Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza.” But the court declined to do that.
South Africa also asked for Israel to take “reasonable measures” to prevent genocide and allow access for desperately needed aid.
The court ruled that Israel must try to limit death and damage.
In a statement Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said he hoped the decision would “include immediate action to stop the aggression and genocide against our people in the Gaza Strip ... and a rapid flow of relief aid to save the hungry, wounded and sick from the threat of slow death that threatens them."
On Thursday, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy had said that Israel expected the court to toss out the “spurious and specious charges.”
Israel often boycotts international tribunals and U.N. investigations, saying they are unfair and biased. But this time, it took the rare step of sending a high-level legal team — a sign of how seriously it regards the case and likely the fear that any court order to halt operations would be a major blow to the country’s international standing.
An Israeli official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu huddled with top legal, diplomatic and security officials on Thursday in anticipation of the ruling. He said Israel is confident in its case but discussed “all scenarios.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing confidential meetings.
Israel launched its massive air and ground assault on Gaza after Hamas militants stormed through Israeli communities on Oct. 7 killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducting another 250.
The offensive has decimated vast swaths of the territory and driven nearly 85% of its 2.3 million people from their homes.
More than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed, the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave said on Friday. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its death toll, but has said about two-thirds of those killed were women and children.
The Israeli military claims at least 9,000 of those killed in the nearly four-month conflict are Hamas militants.
U.N. officials have expressed fears that even more people could die from disease, with at least one-quarter of the population facing starvation.
Ahead of the ruling, Marieke de Hoon, an associate professor of international law at the University of Amsterdam, said she thought the court was unlikely to throw the case out since the legal bar South Africa has to clear at this early stage is lower than the one that would be applied for ruling on the merits of the accusation.
“The standard ... is not, has there been genocide? But a lower standard," she said. “Is it plausible that there could have been a risk of genocide that would invoke Israel’s responsibility to prevent genocide?”
But De Hoon also did not expect the world court to order an end to Israel's military operation.
“I think that they will shy away from actually calling for a full cease-fire, because I think they will find that beyond their abilities right now,” she said in a telephone interview.
Provisional measures by the world court are legally binding, but it is not clear if Israel will comply with them.
How the U.S., Israel's top ally, responds to any order will be key, since it wields veto power at the U.N. Security Council and thus could block measures there aimed at forcing Israel's compliance.
The U.S. has said Israel has the right to defend itself, but also spoken about the need for the country to protect civilians in Gaza and allow more aid in.
The genocide case strikes at the national identity of Israel, which was founded as a Jewish state after the Nazi slaughter of 6 million Jews during World War II.
South Africa’s own identity is key to it bringing the case. Its governing party, the African National Congress, has long compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank to its own history under the apartheid regime of white minority rule, which restricted most Black people to “homelands” before ending in 1994.
UN court keeps genocide case against Israel alive as Gaza death toll surpasses 26,000
The death toll from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip surpassed 26,000 on Friday as the International Court of Justice was set to give its decision on whether to order Israel to halt its offensive in the Palestinian territory.
The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said that 26,083 people have been killed and more than 64,400 wounded since Oct. 7, the day militants from the territory launched a surprise attack in southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.
South Africa has accused Israel of genocide and asked the world court in The Hague, Netherlands, to impose interim measures as the case proceeds. The requested measures include ordering Israel to stop its offensive, to allow Gaza residents access to aid and to take "reasonable measures" to prevent genocide.
Israel has denied committing genocide and asked the court to throw out the case.
Currently:
— Israel vows to fight Hamas all the way to Gaza's southern border. That's fueling tension with Egypt.
— How genocide officially became a crime, and why South Africa is accusing Israel of committing it.
— Georgia lawmakers, in support of Israel, pass a bill that would define antisemitism in state law.
— The U.S. and the U.K. sanction four Yemeni Houthi leaders over Red Sea shipping attacks.
— Find more of AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Israel vows to fight Hamas all the way to Gaza’s southern border. That’s fueling tension with Egypt
Here's the latest:
TOP UN COURT REFUSES TO THROW OUT GENOCIDE CASE AGAINST ISRAEL
The United Nations' top court has refused to throw out the genocide case that South Africa filed against Israel.
The International Court of Justice is not deciding Friday whether Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip but only ruling on South Africa's request for interim measures, including an order for Israel to halt its military offensive in Gaza.
While Israel asked the court to throw out the case, court president Joan E. Donoghue said a panel of 17 judges concluded that it has appropriate jurisdiction and therefore "cannot accede to Israel's request for the case to be removed."
Donoghue opened the hearing in The Hague, Netherlands, by noting that Israel's war against Hamas "is causing massive civilian casualties, extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure and the displacement of the overwhelming majority of the population in Gaza.
"The court is acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy that is unfolding in the region and is deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering," the judge said.
HAMAS OFFICIAL SAYS GROUP WOULD ABIDE BY A COURT-ORDERED CEASE-FIRE
RAMALLAH, West Bank — A Palestinian delegation plans to be in The Hague when the International Court of Justice announces whether it is ordering Israel to suspend its offensive against Hamas militants and to take other steps to protect Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The world court is delivering its preliminary decisions in a genocide case that South Africa brought against Israel. The court is set to rule Friday only on South Africa's request for interim measures to ease the suffering in Gaza while the case proceeds, a process expected to take several years.
"By moving quickly and issuing the ruling only two weeks after the oral hearings, the court acknowledges the urgency of the situation on the ground," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Meanwhile, a top official with Hamas says his group will abide by a cease-fire if the court in the Netherlands calls for one.
Osama Hamdan said Thursday that Hamas also would be ready to release the remaining hostages it is holding if Israel releases Palestinian prisoners.
Hamdan says Hamas is open to all initiatives for an exchange but that the hostages would not return home until there was "a comprehensive cease of the aggression against our people." He added that any delays or procrastination "means more deaths among (Israelis)."
Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza from Gaza says ‘Last time you see me with this heavy, stinky vest’
ISRAELI STRIKES ON A REFUGEE CAMP KILL 15 PALESTINIANS
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Fifteen Palestinians, including an infant, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two apartment buildings in the central Gaza Strip, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw the bodies at a local hospital Friday.
The strikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday evening, and the dead were taken to the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah.
One of the bombardments killed seven members of the Rawah family, including a 5-month-old baby.
The strikes came as the Israeli army continued to expand its assault on the southern half of war-stricken Gaza, with a focus on Khan Younis, Gaza's second-largest city.
The Israeli military said its troops were engaging in close, urban combat with Hamas fighters in neighborhoods of Khan Younis. The military says it is calling in airstrikes and attack helicopters to hit militants allegedly spotted with rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.
Earlier this week,the military ordered civilians to evacuate most of the western half of the city and the Khan Younis refugee camp.
Hamas has reported that troops from the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the group's military wing, are battling Israeli forces in the heart of the city.
MORE THAN 26,000 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED IN GAZA SINCE THE ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR STARTED, HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 26,000, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Friday.
The ministry said the total number of dead is 26,083, with 64,487 Palestinians wounded since the start of the war on Oct. 7. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its death toll, but has said about two-thirds of those killed were women and children.
In the past 24 hours, 183 people were killed and 377 others were injured, ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement.
Israel's blistering ground and air offensive has decimated vast swaths of Gaza during the nearly 4-month-old war. The conflict broke out on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted some 250.
21 Israeli soldiers are killed in the deadliest single attack on the army since the war began
SOUTH AFRICA ISSUES A STATEMENT AHEAD OF THE INTERNATIONAL COURT'S INTERIM RULING EXPECTED FRIDAY
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa's foreign ministry said in a statement that it was seeking an interim ruling that "Israel immediately cease its military operations in Gaza, take reasonable measures to prevent the genocide of Palestinians, ensure that the displaced return to their homes and have access to humanitarian assistance, including adequate food, water, fuel, medical and hygiene supplies, shelter and clothing."
The statement late Thursday also said Israel should "take necessary steps to punish those involved in the genocide and preserve the evidence of genocide." Israel has denied the allegations of genocide.
South Africa will be represented at the ruling at The Hague by Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, who spoke with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken by phone Thursday, according to the State Department. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken spoke about the need to protect civilians in the war in Gaza and ensure there was humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, while working toward lasting regional peace that "ensures Israel's security and advances the establishment of an independent Palestinian state."
"The secretary reaffirmed support for Israel's right to ensure the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 can never be repeated," Miller said.
Israel vows to fight Hamas all the way to Gaza’s southern border. That’s fueling tension with Egypt
Israel faces a growing risk of damaging its peace with neighboring Egypt as its military pushes the offensive against Hamas further south in the Gaza Strip. Already, the two sides are in a dispute over a narrow strip of land between Egypt and Gaza.
Israeli leaders say that to complete their destruction of Hamas, they must eventually widen their offensive to Gaza’s southernmost town, Rafah, and take control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a tiny buffer zone on the border with Egypt that is demilitarized under the two countries’ 1979 peace accord.
In a news conference last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas continues to smuggle weapons under the border – a claim Egypt vehemently denies — and that the war cannot end “until we close this breach,” referring to the corridor.
That brought a sharp warning from Egypt that deploying Israeli troops in the zone, known in Egypt as the Salaheddin Corridor, will violate the peace deal.
“Any Israeli move in this direction will lead to a serious threat to Egyptian-Israeli relations,” Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt’s State Information Service, said Monday.
EGYPT’S CONCERNS
Egypt fears that an Israeli attack on Rafah will push a massive wave of Palestinians fleeing across the border into its Sinai Peninsula.
More than 1 million Palestinians – nearly half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million — are crowded into Rafah and its surroundings on the border, most driven there after fleeing Israeli bombardment and ground offensives elsewhere in Gaza.
If Israeli troops assault Rafah, they have nowhere to flee. Palestinians have broken through before: In 2008, early in the blockade imposed on Gaza by Israel and Egypt after the Hamas takeover, Hamas blew open the border wall. Thousands of people stormed into Egypt.
Egypt told the Israelis that before any ground assault on Rafah, Israel must let Palestinians return to northern Gaza, a senior Egyptian military official involved in coordination between the two countries told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about the internal discussions.
Israel says it has largely driven Hamas out of northern Gaza but is likely to resist allowing Palestinians back in the near term. Israel’s bombardment and ground assault have reduced much of the north to rubble, leaving many without homes.
ISRAEL’S DILEMMA
The dispute puts Israel in a bind. If it stops its offensive without taking Rafah, it falls short on its top war goal of crushing Hamas. If its military pushes to the border, it risks undermining its peace deal with Egypt — a foundation of stability in the Mideast for decades — and upsetting its closest ally, the United States.
Israel and the U.S. are already divided over Gaza’s post-war future. The Israeli military is working to create an informal buffer zone about a kilometer (half a mile) wide inside Gaza along the border with Israel to prevent militants from attacking nearby communities. The U.S. says it opposes any attempt by Israel to shrink Gaza’s territory.
Israel vows to expunge the militants from the entire Gaza Strip and has done so by a strategy of systematic destruction, at a huge cost in civilian lives. Starting in north Gaza, it leveled large swaths of the urban landscape, saying it was eliminating Hamas tunnels and infrastructure while battling militants. It is working its way down the territory, doing the same in central Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis.
Netanyahu has said Israel intends to keep open-ended security control over Gaza to ensure Hamas cannot repeat its Oct. 7 attacks that triggered Israel’s assault. He has been vague on what form that would take but said ensuring control over the Philadelphi Corridor is crucial.
“There are a few options on how we can close it, we are checking all of them, and we haven’t made a decision, except for one thing: It must be closed,” he said.
Egypt warned Israel and the U.S. that any military operations in the zone “could tear apart our peace,” a second Egyptian official said. “We will not tolerate such a move.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.
IMPORTANCE OF THE PHILADELPHI CORRIDOR
The corridor is a narrow strip – about 100 meters (yards) wide in parts – running the 14-kilometer (8.6-mile) length of the Gaza side of the border with Egypt. It includes the Rafah crossing into Egypt, Gaza’s sole outlet not controlled by Israel.
The corridor is part of a larger demilitarized zone along both sides of the entire Israel-Egypt border. Under the peace accord, each side is allowed to deploy only a tiny number of troops or border guards in the zone. At the time of the accord, Israeli troops controlled Gaza, until Israel withdrew its forces and settlers in 2005.
Hamas has had free rein of the border since its 2007 takeover.
Smuggling tunnels were dug under the Gaza-Egypt border to get around the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Some of the tunnels were massive, large enough for vehicles. Hamas brought in weapons and supplies, and Gaza residents smuggled in commercial goods, from livestock to construction materials.
That changed over the past decade, as Egypt battled Islamic militants in the Sinai. The Egyptian military cracked down on the tunnels and destroyed hundreds of them, saying they were being used to funnel weapons into the Sinai. It bolstered its border wall above and below ground and cleared the population from a 5-kilometer-deep (3-mile) area adjacent to Gaza where only military and police forces are allowed.
During the fight against Sinai militants, Egypt negotiated with Israel and the U.S. to allow the deployment of its military in Zone C, as the demilitarized zone is known on its side of the border.
DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE WAR
In mid-December, Israel made an official request to Egypt to deploy its forces in the Philadelphi corridor, the Egyptian military official said. Egypt rejected the request. Egypt’s main fear is that any ground operation in the area would result in thousands of Palestinians storming into Sinai, he said.
Since the war began, Egypt has pushed back hard against calls that it take in a mass exodus of Palestinians. It fears Israel won’t allow them to return to Gaza and says it doesn’t want to abet ethnic cleansing. It also warned that militants from Gaza could enter the Sinai with those fleeing, bringing the potential for cross-border exchanges with Israel that could wreck the peace accord.
Israel contends it must have control over the border to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas.
Rashwan, of Egypt’s State Information Service, called Israeli claims of continued smuggling “lies” aimed at justifying a takeover of the corridor. After destroying 1,500 tunnels, Egypt has “complete control” over the border, he said.
Kobi Michael, senior researcher with Israeli think tanks Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, said the quantity of Hamas weapons found during the offensive shows smuggling continues and Israel must have power to monitor the border.
“The only way such quantities of weapons could have reached the Gaza Strip are via the Philadelphi Corridor,” he said.
But Alon Ben-David, military affairs correspondent for Israel’s Channel 13 TV, said 90% of the weapons in Gaza were produced in Gaza and that Egypt’s crackdown largely shut down smuggling.
“The tunnels were really taken care of comprehensively by the Egyptians,” he said.
Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza from Gaza says ‘Last time you see me with this heavy, stinky vest’
Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza has announced his departure from the conflict-ravaged Gaza Strip. “I had to evacuate for many reasons,” Azaiza shared on platform X, expressing his gratitude and urging prayers for Gaza.
Azaiza has emerged as a crucial media figure in the embattled Gaza Strip. With over 18 million Instagram followers and a significant presence on X, he has been a primary source of live updates during the Israel-Hamas conflict, as reported by Al Arabiya.
In a heart-wrenching Instagram video, Azaiza, clad in his blue press vest – a symbol of a journalist’s non-combatant status in war zones – declared, “This is the last time you will see me with this heavy, stinky vest.” The video poignantly captures his farewell to Gaza, surrounded by friends and family who assist in removing his press vest and embrace him in a final goodbye.
Read more: States are obliged to prevent crimes against humanity and genocide, UN Committee stresses
Azaiza's impactful presence on social media has given millions worldwide a personal glimpse into the Gaza war, fostering a deep emotional bond between him and his followers. His absence, particularly when not posting for extended periods, prompts a flood of concerned comments about his safety. Azaiza has courageously documented Israeli airstrikes, often amid the devastation of destroyed homes.
Originally focusing on everyday life in Gaza, Azaiza’s work shifted to covering Israel’s military operations, including the wars in 2014 and 2021. Remarkably, his Instagram following skyrocketed from 25,000 to 18 million in just over 100 days since the onset of Israel’s military action following Hamas’ attack on October 7. “We are a nation that is getting killed and we’re trying not to be ethnically cleansed,” Azaiza stated in a post.
Tragically, over 80 journalists, predominantly Palestinians, have lost their lives in Israeli strikes since October 7, as per Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner has raised alarms over the unprecedented death toll among journalists in Gaza. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that the first 10 weeks of the war have been the deadliest for journalists in a single location in recent history.
Israel has consistently denied targeting journalists, asserting its focus on Hamas. Meanwhile, on January 9, Israel’s Supreme Court declined an international media request for unrestricted access to Gaza.
Read more: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill dozens of Palestinians, even in largely emptied north
21 Israeli soldiers are killed in the deadliest single attack on the army since the war began
The Israeli army said Tuesday that 21 soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip in the deadliest attack on its forces of the 3-month-old war against the militant Hamas group.
The reservists were preparing explosives to demolish two buildings in central Gaza on Monday when a militant fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank nearby, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson, said. The blast triggered the explosives, causing both two-story buildings to collapse on the soldiers inside.
Read: Families of hostages held in Gaza storm Israel's parliament meeting demanding deal for release
The heavy death toll could add new momentum to calls for Israel to pause the offensive or even halt it altogether. Large numbers of Israeli casualties have put pressure on Israel’s government to halt past military operations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead until Israel crushes the ruling Hamas militant group and wins the freedom of over 100 hostages held captive in Gaza. Israelis are increasingly divided on the question of whether it’s possible to do either.
Families of the hostages and many of their supporters have called for Israel to reach a cease-fire deal, saying that time is running out to bring the hostages home alive. On Monday, dozens of hostages’ relatives stormed a parliamentary committee meeting, demanding a deal to win their loved ones’ release.
Read: Saudi Arabia says it won’t recognize Israel without a path to a Palestinian state
Israel launched the offensive after Hamas’ Oct. 7 cross border attack that killed over 1,200 people and abducted some 250 others. More than 100 were released in November in exchange for a weeklong cease-fire and the release of 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The offensive has caused widespread destruction, displaced an estimated 85% of Gaza's population and left over 25,000 Palestinians dead, according to health officials in the Hamas-run territory. The United Nations and international aid agencies say the fighting has unleashed a humanitarian disaster, with a quarter of the area's 2.3 million people facing starvation.