DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: The Israeli military says an initial investigation into a strike that sparked a deadly weekend fire in a tent camp in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has found the blaze was caused by a secondary explosion.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said Tuesday that the military fired two 17-kilogram (37-pound) munitions that targeted two senior Hamas militants. He said the munitions would have been too small to ignite a fire on their own and the military is looking into the possibility that weapons were stored in the area.
Palestinian health officials say at least 45 people, around half of them women and children, were killed in Sunday’s strike. The fire also could have ignited fuel, cooking gas canisters or other materials in the densely populated camp housing displaced people.
The strike caused widespread outrage, including from some of Israel’s closest allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the result of a “tragic mishap.”
New strikes in the same western Tel Al-Sultan district of Rafah that was hit Sunday killed at least 16 Palestinians, the Palestinian Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent said Tuesday. Residents reported an escalation of fighting in the southern Gaza city once seen as the territory’s last refuge.
An Israeli incursion launched in early May has caused nearly 1 million to flee from Rafah, most of whom had already been displaced in the war between Israel and Hamas. They now seek refuge in squalid tent camps and other war-ravaged areas.
The United States and other allies of Israel have warned against a full-fledged offensive in the city, with the Biden administration saying that would cross a red line and refusing to provide offensive arms for such an undertaking. On Friday, the International Court of Justice called on Israel to halt its Rafah offensive, an order it has no power to enforce.
Netanyahu has vowed to press ahead, saying Israeli forces must enter Rafah to dismantle Hamas and return hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.
Israel says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported heavy bombardment overnight in Tel Al-Sultan.
“It was a night of horror,” said Abdel-Rahman Abu Ismail, a Palestinian from Gaza City who has been sheltering in Tel Al-Sultan since December. He said he heard “constant sounds” of explosions overnight and into Tuesday, with fighter jets and drones flying over the area.
He said it reminded him of the Israeli invasion of his neighborhood of Shijaiyah in Gaza City, where Israel launched a heavy bombing campaign before sending in ground forces in late 2023. “We saw this before,” he said.
Sayed Al-Masri, a Rafah resident, said many families have been forced to flee their homes and shelters, with most heading for the crowded Muwasi area, where giant tent camps have been set up on a barren coastline, or to Khan Younis, a southern city that suffered heavy damage during months of fighting.
“The situation is worsening” in Rafah, Al-Masri said.
Israeli army says it used small munitions in Rafah airstrike, and fire was caused by secondary blast
https://arab.news/cab4f
Israeli army says it used small munitions in Rafah airstrike, and fire was caused by secondary blast
- Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesman, said Tuesday that the military fired two 17-kilogram munitions that targeted two senior Hamas militants
- He said the military is looking into the possibility that weapons were stored in the area
British parliamentarians demand sanctions on Israel in letter to PM
- Group of 96 expresses ‘grave concern over the relentless violence against Palestinians’
- They call for suspending UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement
LONDON: A group of 96 British parliamentarians have demanded sanctions on Israel in a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The letter calls for the imposition of targeted sanctions, a ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements, and a suspension of the trade agreement between the two countries.
“We write to express our grave concern over the relentless violence against Palestinians throughout the Occupied Palestinian territory and urge the United Kingdom to respond to Israel’s widespread and systematic violations of international law,” it says.
Citing escalating Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, the letter warns that recent British decisions to sanction settler organizations linked to human rights abuses “fall short of what is needed.”
The UK also risks complicity in Israeli violations of international law due to “continued diplomatic and economic transactions, and ties with Israeli institutions and settler organizations,” it adds.
The signatories called on the government to “move beyond sanctioning individual settlers but sanction state officials, including ministers, and introduce sanctions in respect of the State of Israel.”
The UK must also implement a total ban on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the letter says, adding that such a move is mandatory based on decisions by the International Court of Justice and the UN, of which the UK is a member state, with both organizations clearly defining settlement-building in the occupied territories as illegal.
London should also suspend the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement, the signatories said, citing the deal’s highlighting of respect for human rights as an “essential element.”
Israel’s breaching of that term means the UK has the “legal right to suspend or terminate its provisions, in whole or in part,” the letter says.
The Council for Arab-British Understanding’s head of parliamentary affairs, Joseph Willits, said: “This letter shows that there is increasing parliamentary support for the UK to take tougher action against Israel.
“As Palestinians face violent erasure, including Israeli imposed genocide, starvation and ethnic cleansing, the UK government simply is not doing enough, and an increasing number of parliamentarians are also coming to this realization.
“What will it take for UK government action to match up with the horrifying situation and systemic violence on the ground, and to act on what parliamentarians, the British public, and most importantly, Palestinians have long been saying?”
Israeli left-wing leader calls for immediate end to Gaza war
- Netanyahu’s government does not represent vast majority of people, Yair Golan says
JERUSALEM: Israeli left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan called on Monday for an immediate end to the Gaza war and said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government no longer represented most Israelis.
“Today the government of Israel does not represent the vast majority of Israelis,” said Golan, chairman of the Democrats party and a former deputy army chief, days before a planned parliament vote which the opposition hopes would trigger a general election.
He told journalists in a briefing that after more than 20 months of fighting, Israel “should end the war as soon as possible.”
Golan’s party, a conglomeration of left-wing factions, has only four seats in Israel’s 120-member legislature, making it one of its smallest political groups.
But in a country where coalition building is essential to achieving a political majority, even relatively small parties can wield considerable power.
FASTFACT
Yair Golan’s party, a conglomeration of left-wing factions, has only four seats in Israel’s 120-member legislature, making it one of its smallest political groups.
Golan, a former deputy minister in a short-lived administration that replaced Netanyahu in 2021-2022, said that the current government — one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history — was a threat to democracy.
The opposition leader said he represents those “who want to save Israeli democracy ... from a corrupted future” and the “messianic-like and nationalistic and extremist vision of a very small faction in the Israeli society.”
“The vast majority wants to keep Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and at the same time a free, egalitarian and democratic state,” Golan said.
He said that the vast majority of Israelis wanted to see an immediate end to the war in Gaza, the return of all hostages held by Palestinian militants in a single exchange deal, and the establishment of a national commission of inquiry into Hamas’s unprecedented 2023 attack, arguing that the Netanyahu government was opposed to these objectives.
“I believe that we can reach a hostage deal in a matter of days,” Golan said.
“I believe that by ending the war and freeing the hostages, we will be able to build an alternative to Hamas inside the Gaza Strip.”
Criticizing the government’s Gaza war policies, the former army general has recently drawn condemnation in Israel for saying that “a sane country ... does not kill babies for a hobby.”
Golan on Monday also said that most Israelis support legislation that would require ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, who are currently largely exempt from military service, to enlist.
The issue has sparked tension between Netanyahu and ultra-Orthodox parties in his government, with lawmakers threatening to topple the prime minister if no agreement is reached this week.
Some opposition parties are seeking to place a bill to dissolve parliament on Wednesday’s plenary agenda, hoping to capitalize on the ultra-Orthodox revolt.
“The vast majority wants new elections as soon as possible,” Golan said.
King Abdullah II urges global ocean action at UN conference, holds key talks on Middle East stability
- Jordanian ruler highlights threat to ‘vital shared resource’ from climate change, overexploitation, biodiversity loss
- King warns of dangerous consequences of further escalation in West Bank and Jerusalem, and calls for renewal of ceasefire
LONDON: King Abdullah II delivered Jordan’s national address at the third United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice on Monday, underlining the urgent need for global action to protect oceans and marine life, the Jordan News Agency reported.
The week-long conference, co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, has brought together hundreds of international leaders, officials, and experts to address the pressing environmental challenges facing the world’s seas.
In his remarks, King Abdullah described oceans as “a vital shared resource, sustaining billions of lives,” but warned that they are increasingly threatened by climate change, pollution, overexploitation, and biodiversity loss.
“This is a critical moment in time for action,” the king added, stressing the need for international collaboration to preserve marine ecosystems.
King Abdullah highlighted Jordan’s embrace of science as a tool for transformation, noting that the Gulf of Aqaba’s coral reefs show exceptional resilience to extreme temperatures. This unique feature, he said, positions Jordan as a global hub for marine research that could help save coral reefs worldwide.
To advance this vision, he announced the launch of two key initiatives: Aqaba Blue Ventures and the Global Center for Ocean Regeneration.
These projects will provide platforms to test new technologies that can be scaled up for global application, he added.
On the sidelines of the conference, King Abdullah held a bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, during which he affirmed Jordan’s readiness to strengthen cooperation with France across various sectors, JNA reported.
The leaders stressed the importance of maintaining coordination on regional issues and called for immediate international efforts to reinstate a ceasefire in Gaza and facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid.
The king warned of the dangerous consequences of continued escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem, reiterating that granting Palestinians their full legitimate rights remained the only path to lasting regional stability.
He also commended France’s role in promoting peace in the Middle East, particularly through its upcoming international conference in New York from June 17-20, organized in partnership with Saudi Arabia.
The meeting was attended by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Jordan’s ambassador to France Lina Al-Hadid.
Also on Monday, King Abdullah held additional high-level meetings with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The talks were part of the king’s broader diplomatic efforts to mobilize international support for the rights of the Palestinian people.
During the discussions, King Abdullah again stressed that a two-state solution was the only viable route to regional peace and highlighted the importance of the forthcoming New York conference.
He also reiterated the need to restore the ceasefire in Gaza, guarantee unimpeded delivery of aid, and put an end to unilateral measures in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Israel ultra-Orthodox party threatens government over draft law
JERUSALEM: Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Shas party on Monday threatened to bring down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government by backing a motion for early elections amid a row over military service.
Netanyahu’s coalition, one of the most right-wing in Israel’s history, is at risk of collapsing over a bill that could reverse the long-standing exemption from the draft for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The exemption is facing growing pushback as Israel wages war on Palestinian Islamist militants Hamas in Gaza.
Netanyahu is under pressure from within his Likud party to draft more ultra-Orthodox men and impose penalties on draft dodgers — a red line for Shas.
The party is demanding legislation to permanently exempt its followers from military service and gave Netanyahu two days to find a solution.
“We don’t want to bring down a right-wing government, but we’ve reached our limit,” Shas spokesperson Asher Medina told public radio.
“If there’s no last-minute solution (on conscription), we’ll vote to dissolve the Knesset,” he said, referring to the Israeli parliament.
Last week, a Shas source told AFP the party was threatening to quit the coalition unless a solution was reached by Monday.
The opposition is seeking to place a bill to dissolve parliament on Wednesday’s plenary agenda, hoping to capitalize on the ultra-Orthodox revolt to topple the government.
Netanyahu’s coalition, formed in December 2022, includes Likud, far-right factions and ultra-Orthodox parties. A walkout by the latter would end its majority.
A poll published in March by right-wing daily Israel Hayom found 85 percent of Israeli Jews support changing the conscription law for Haredim.
Forty-one percent backed compulsory military service — currently 32 months for men — for all eligible members of the community.
British surgeon says only people she saw in Gaza with guns were Israeli troops
- Dr. Victoria Rose saw no evidence for claims that Hamas uses hospitals as bases
- Palestinian enclave’s population ‘on their knees’ with ‘a lot of avoidable deaths’
LONDON: A British surgeon who worked in Gaza has said she never saw anyone in the Palestinian enclave with weapons except Israeli soldiers.
Dr. Victoria Rose told Sky News that there had been a “real escalation in the bombing campaign” in Gaza that had left the population “on their knees.”
Hospitals, despite being protected under international law, have frequently been targeted by Israel since the war began in October 2023.
The Israel Defense Forces claim that hospitals are often used as bases by Hamas, but the National Health Service plastic surgeon said she had seen no evidence that this is the case.
Rose told the “Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips” program: “I’ve never treated or seen anyone — in any of the hospitals that I’ve worked in — in military uniform or with a weapon. The only people I’ve ever seen in Gaza with military uniforms and weapons are the IDF.”
She said the toll that the war is taking on medics in Gaza is catastrophic, adding: “Lots of my Palestinian colleagues were telling me that they’d rather die than carry on with this war.”
The public health situation in Gaza has been worsened by the ongoing food crisis in the enclave, with vital aid being blocked from entering by the Israeli military for several months.
Rose said malnutrition is a severe problem in Gaza, especially among children. When she was in the enclave, “infection rates were soaring,” she added.
“We were seeing a lot of avoidable deaths, a lot of small children dying from sepsis that would’ve been prevented if they’d been in in the Western world.”
