Israel’s war on besieged Gaza, now in its 219th day, has killed at least 34,971 people — 70 percent of them babies, children and women — and wounded over 78,641.
Sunday, May 12, 2024
0908 GMT — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making late German dictator Adolf Hitler “jealous” with his methods of “genocide” in Gaza.
“Is it possible to look at what Israel has inflicted on the people of Gaza for months and see it as legitimate for Israel to bomb hospitals, kill children, oppress civilians, and condemn innocent people to hunger, thirst, and lack of medicine under various excuses? What did Hitler do in the past? He oppressed and killed people in concentration camps,” Erdogan told Greece’s Kathimerini newspaper in an interview.
“Wasn’t Gaza turned into an open-air prison not only after Oct. 7 but also for years beforehand? Weren’t the people there condemned to limited resources for years, almost like a concentration camp? Who is responsible for the most brutal and systematic mass killings in Gaza after Oct. 7?”
“Netanyahu has reached a level that would make Hitler jealous with his genocidal methods. We are talking about Israel; which targets ambulances, hits food distribution points, and opens fire on aid convoys,” he said.
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0921 GMT — Israel’s National Security Council official resigns: Report
Yoram Hamo, an Israeli official in charge of defence policy and strategic planning at the National Security Council, has resigned, public broadcaster KAN has reported.
Hamo resigned due to frustrations over the failure to reach political decisions regarding future actions in Gaza, KAN said.
In response, the National Security Council claimed Hamo had expressed his intention to step down several months ago, citing “personal reasons unrelated to public matters.”
0847 GMT — Israeli forces kill at least 18 Palestinians in Rafah in last 24 hours
At least 18 Palestinians were killed and six others injured within a span of 24 hours in Israeli attacks targeting the city of Rafah, southern Gaza, Wafa news agency has reported.
The bodies and injured were shifted to the Kuwaiti Hospital in the city home to 1.4 million people taking refuge from the war in Gaza.
0835 GMT — Britain’s FM rejects Rafah offensive without ‘clear plan’ to save lives
Britain’s foreign minister David Cameron has said Israel should not carry out an offensive in the Gazan city of Rafah without a “clear plan” to protect people.
“For there to be a major offensive in Rafah, there would have to be an absolutely clear plan about how you save lives, how you move people out the way, how you make sure they’re fed, you make sure that they have medicine and shelter and everything,” he told Sky News television.
“We have seen no such plan … so we don’t support an offensive in that way,” he added.
0818 GMT — Israeli forces raid refugee camp in occupied West Bank, killing one Palestinian, injuring another
At least one Palestinian was killed and another injured by Israeli army gunfire during a raid into the Balata refugee camp in the eastern city of Nablus, occupied West Bank.
In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Samer Nasser Rumana, 27, was shot dead by the Israeli forces during a raid into the camp and was moved to Rafidia Governmental Hospital.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said a 16-year-old was also injured by Israeli forces during the raid.
0652 GMT — UN chief calls for ‘immediate’ Gaza ceasefire, hostage release
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged an immediate halt to Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, the return of hostages and a “surge” in humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian territory.
“I repeat my call, the world’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and an immediate surge in humanitarian aid. But a ceasefire will only be the start. It will be a long road back from the devastation and trauma of this war,” Guterres said in a video address to an international donors’ conference in Kuwait.
0503 GMT — Israel strikes Gaza after fresh Rafah evacuation order
Israel has launched strikes on Gaza after it expanded an evacuation order for Rafah, with the United Nations warning an outright invasion of the crowded southern city risked an “epic” disaster.
Gaza’s civil defence agency said two doctors were killed Sunday in the central town of Deir al Balah, while reporters reported intense clashes and heavy gunfire from Israeli helicopters near Gaza City.
Witnesses said Israel had carried out strikes in Rafah near the crossing with Egypt on Saturday, and images showed smoke rising over the city.
0239 GMT — Uncrewed aerial system launched from Yemen’s Houthi area, no injuries reported, CENTCOM says,
An uncrewed aerial system was launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen into the Gulf of Aden on Friday, with no injuries or damage reported by US coalition, or commercial ships, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said.
CENTCOM later said it had destroyed three aerial systems launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen into the Red Sea.
0113 GMT — EU’s Borrell condemns forcing civilians into ‘unsafe zones’ in Gaza’s Rafah
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has denounced the practice of forcing civilians into unsafe areas in Rafah as “intolerable.”
Borrell took to X to address the situation in southern Gaza, where Israel launched a ground attack.
“Forcing civilians to evacuate Rafah to unsafe zones is intolerable. Israel is bound by international law to provide safety to civilians,” wrote Borrell.
“We continue to urge Israel not to go ahead w/ a ground operation in Rafah. This would further exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis.”
2350 GMT — Israeli army chief criticises Netanyahu’s Gaza strategy
Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for lacking a government strategy on who will govern Gaza after Tel Aviv ends its onslaught and for leading the military to reattack certain areas, according to media reports.
Halevi reportedly criticised the lack of a “day-after strategy,” during a weekend security meeting.
Israel’s Channel 13 reported that Halevi expressed dissatisfaction with the inability to develop and declare a strategy for governing Gaza.
2336 GMT — Israeli opposition chief Lapid vows to topple Netanyahu government
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid pledged to work toward the fall of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the return of Israeli hostages.
Addressing protesters, Lapid said Israel is in difficult days and the country needs most for Netanyahu “to be out of our lives.”
“My job is to do everything so that at the right moment this power of yours will turn into political change,” Lapid wrote X.
“I pledge to you, I swear to you, we will continue to work until that happens. This government will fall, this government will not last, we will send them home!” he added.
2258 GMT — France condemns Israel’s ground attack on Rafah
France has condemned Israel’s ground attack on Rafah, according to the Foreign Ministry.
France condemned the ground attack on May 7 and stressed that it would be a “dire situation” for the Gaza population that has been “displaced repeatedly,” according to the ministry.
“There is no safe space for civilians in Gaza,” it noted, calling for Israel to cease the ground attack.
The statement urged Israel to return to negotiations as the “only way” to “secure hostage release and achieve a lasting ceasefire.”
2252 GMT — Yemeni students rally in solidarity with Gaza amid Israeli attacks
University students held a demonstration in northern Yemen to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, who continue to suffer from Israeli occupation and attacks, said media reports.
Hundreds gathered in the northern province of Al-Jawf to show support for Gaza amid ongoing Israeli attacks, according to Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV.
Carrying Palestinian flags, demonstrators protested against Israel’s assaults. They chanted anti-Israeli slogans, expressing support for the people of Gaza.
2251 GMT — US offered intel to prevent Israeli occupation of Rafah: report
The US administration has reportedly offered defence support packages to Israel, including sensitive intelligence and military assistance related to Hamas leaders, to prevent a major attack on Rafah.
Based on unnamed US officials, the Biden administration has made new proposals to the Netanyahu administration in the last week or two not to occupy Rafah, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Israel was offered sensitive intelligence information about Hamas leaders and qualified defense elements, allowing the Israeli army “to target Hamas without a comprehensive ground attack on Rafah.”
In the proposals, the US has expressed a readiness to share intelligence on the locations of Hamas leaders and tunnels with the Israeli military.
2231 GMT — Hamas calls int’l community to stop Israel’s ‘genocidal war’
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has accused Israel of persisting with its “genocidal war” by expanding attacks against Gaza.
In a statement after Israel expanded its ground and aerial attacks on Gaza, Hamas accused Tel Aviv of using “bombardment, massacre, displacement, and infrastructure destruction” across all areas of the enclave.
It condemned Israel’s actions, stating that the increase in attacks on civilians, regardless of age or gender, are crimes, and “the responsibility for enabling Zionist fascism’s crimes” lies with the US.
Hamas urged the UN and the international community to pressure Israel to cease its attacks and provide urgent protection for civilians.
2225 GMT — Hezbollah drone explodes in northern Israel: Israeli army
A Hezbollah drone exploded in the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel, Israeli Army Radio has reported.
“A drone launched by Hezbollah exploded in the Upper Galilee without causing any injuries,” it wrote on X.
Earlier, sirens sounded throughout the Galilee, fearing the infiltration of drones, according to army radio.
