Israel-Gaza war live: Israeli military says it used small munitions in Rafah and secondary blast caused fire | Israel-Gaza war
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Israeli army says it used small munitions in Rafah airstrike, and fire was caused by secondary blast
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.
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.
Key events
Death toll in new Israeli air attack on displaced people in Rafah rises to 21 – reports
Al Jazeera reports that the death toll in a new Israeli airstrike on an area where displaced Palestinians are being forced to shelter in tents has risen to 21.
It said the air raid targeted al-Mawasi in western Rafah, an area which Israel’s military had designated as a humanitarian area.
For the news network, which this month was banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, Hind Khoudary reported that at least 13 of those killed were women.
She wrote “Israeli forces targeted another makeshift tent [area] where most of the people were women and children. All the injured and the dead bodies have been transferred to the International Medical Corps field hospital. There are no ambulances. It’s catastrophic and horrifying being injured and not being able to get transferred from one place to another because of lack of fuel.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Reuters reports, citing Egypt’s Al-Qahera News state-affiliated TV channel, that an Egyptian security delegation is trying to reactivate talks to reach a truce in Gaza and release hostages, in coordination with Qatar and the US.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday condemned the “abrupt halt” of desperately needed medical evacuations from Gaza, which came to a full stop when Israel launched its military offensive on Rafah three weeks ago.
The United Nations health agency has long been pleading for Israeli permission to evacuate more critically ill and severely wounded people from Gaza.
Thousands of Gazans are estimated to require urgent medical evacuation but few have been able to leave the besieged Palestinian territory since war erupted there nearly eight months ago.
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said that since Israel launched its military offensive in the densely crowded southern city of Rafah in early May, “there’s been an abrupt halt to all medical evacuations”.
She warned that the cut-off obviously meant more people will die waiting for treatment.
Before the war in the Gaza Strip erupted after Hamas’s October 7 attacks, around 50 to 100 people left the enclave every day with medical referrals for complex treatments that were not available in the Palestinian territory, including for cancer.
“Those people didn’t go away simply because conflict started, so they all still need a referral,” Harris told reporters in Geneva.
And since services in Gaza have been disastrously disrupted by the conflict, far more people need to leave to get services they used to access inside the strip, like chemotherapy or dialysis, she said.
In addition, thousands now need to evacuate after suffering severe trauma injuries in the war.
WHO estimates that there are now typically at any given time “around 10,000 people who need to be evacuated… to receive the much-needed medical treatment elsewhere”, Harris said.
They include more than 6,000 trauma-related patients and at least 2,000 patients with serious chronic conditions, like cancer, she said. Since the complete halt to medical evacuations from Gaza on May 8, an additional 1,000 critically ill and wounded patients have been added to that list, Harris said.
Before the cut-off, WHO had received approval from Israel for 5,800 medical evacuations – around just half of the number it had requested since the war began.
Of those 5,800, only 4,900 patients had actually been able to leave, Harris said.
These are the latest images from Gaza and Israel:
Israeli army says it used small munitions in Rafah airstrike, and fire was caused by secondary blast
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.
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.
Bethan McKernan
Bethan McKernan is Jerusalem correspondent for the Guardian
Revelations that Israel’s intelligence agencies ran a secret “war” to derail the international criminal court’s investigation into war crimes committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories proved explosive in Israel on Tuesday, with the story followed up by all major news outlets.
The role played by the former head of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, in a campaign to pressure an ICC prosecutor, was of particular interest: the career spy, who stepped down in 2021, has long been touted as a potential steadying force, and even prime ministerial material, in Israel’s fractious political scene.
Cohen was for many years a close ally of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, although relations between the pair appear to have soured since 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza.
In an interview with the Jerusalem Post last November, the former spy chief appeared to confirm rumours of a falling out, saying that he no longer visits the prime minister’s office in person for consultations. “At the moment my relationship with [Netanyahu] is professional and to the point,” he said.
Media personality Rani Rahav, who has previously advised various Israeli prime ministers and other government figures, praised Cohen’s actions regarding the ICC in posts on his social media accounts on Tuesday, saying: “Yossi Cohen deserves all possible appreciation in this matter. [He] acted heroically as expected from a hero of Israel”.
However others said the former Mossad head’s alleged threats against the former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda were an error of judgment.
Veteran investigative journalist and intelligence expert Yossi Melman alluded to there being more to the story published by the Guardian, and said it was “a mistake” that the spy chief “handled the issue personally instead of sending a junior intelligence officer and then in the event something goes wrong there is room for denial”.
Cohen has been accused of being indiscreet about his spycraft in the past, reportedly telling a mistress about his “strong grip” over agents in the Arab world, including the personal physician of a head of state.
He also attracted attention earlier this year for public comments about how the Israeli government had asked the Gulf petrostate Qatar to fund civilian life in the Gaza Strip, which involved negotiating money transfers to Hamas. The New York Times reported that Cohen believed “there was little oversight over where the money was going.”
Denmark’s parliament on Tuesday voted down a bill to recognise a Palestinian state, after the Danish foreign minister previously said the necessary preconditions for an independent country were lacking. The move comes on the same days that Ireland, Spain and Norway all formally recognised a Palestinian state.
Seven killed by new Israeli strikes on displaced Palestinians in tents in Rafah – reports
At least seven Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in new Israeli strikes on an area of tents housing displaced people West of Rafah on Tuesday, Gaza health authorities have said.
Reuters reports the new Israeli strikes targeted tents of displaced families in the designated humanitarian area in Mawasi in western Rafah, according to medics and residents. Other local media has given the number of casualties as at least 20 people killed. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
The new strike comes just a day after a previous Israeli airstrike caused a huge blaze at a tented area for displaced people in Rafah which medics said killed at least 45 people. Images of charred and dismembered children from that assault prompting an outcry from global leaders. Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said in parliament that “something unfortunately went tragically wrong” with that airstrike.
Hani Mahmoud, reporting for Al Jazeera from inside Gaza, has written for the news network that:
Israeli tanks are pushing deeper into Rafah right now from two major axes – first, along the Philadelphi Corridor into the city centre, and second, from the eastern part of Rafah city all the way down to an area known as the al-Awda traffic circle.
Artillery shelling there has reached as far as the vicinity of the Kuwaiti hospital, which has been pushed out of service all day.
Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing the health ministry, said that all the hospitals in the Rafah region were out of service, with the exception of Tal Al-Sultan maternity hospital which was “struggling”.
Earlier this month Benjamin Netanyahu’s government shut down Al Jazeera from operating inside Israel, and last week Israel seized Associated Press camera and broadcasting kit after accusing the agency of violating the country’s new media law by providing content to Al Jazeera.
Ireland, Spain and Norway all formally recognise a Palestinian state
Ireland, Spain and Norway have all formally recognised a Palestinian state today. The joint decision by two European Union countries plus Norway, a nation with a strong diplomatic tradition in peacemaking, may generate momentum for the recognition of a Palestinian state by other EU countries and could spur further steps at the United Nations, which would deepen Israel’s international isolation.
Palestine is now formally recognised by 142 of the 193 member states of the United Nations, and itself has non-member observer status at the body.
The Palestinian flag was flown, alongside the flags of Ukraine and the EU, outside Leinster House in Dublin.
Associated Press notes the UN general assembly voted by a significant margin on 11 May to grant new “rights and privileges” to Palestine in a sign of growing international support for a vote on full voting membership.
“This is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace,” Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez said before his Cabinet certified the decision.
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz earlier said Sánchez’s government was “being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes”. The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court in The Hague is seeking arrest warrants for senior Hamas and Israeli leaders in connection with accusations of war crimes in Gaza and Israel since 7 October.
“There are practical actions you can take as a country to help keep the hope and destination of a two-state solution alive at a time when others are trying to sadly bomb it into oblivion,” Irish prime minister Simon Harris. At the weekend an Israeli airstrike on displaced Palestinians living in tents in Rafah has caused widespread international indignation. “I again call on prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to listen to the world and stop the humanitarian catastrophe we are seeing in Gaza,” Harris said.
The Hamas-led heath authority in Gaza has claimed that over 35,000 Palestinians have been killed during the course of Israel’s relentless bombardment and ground operation on the territory. Harris added that Europe could be doing “a hell of a lot more” with regard to sanctions on Israel.
Norwegian foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said that “for more than 30 years, Norway has been one of the strongest advocates for a Palestinian state. Today, when Norway officially recognises Palestine as a state, is a milestone in the relationship between Norway and Palestine.”
Previously seven member of the 27-nation European Union officially recognized a Palestinian state. Five of them are former east bloc countries who announced recognition in 1988, as did Cyprus, before joining the bloc. Sweden’s recognition came in 2014.
Britain has said no recognition of a Palestinian state could come while Hamas remains in Gaza. France has indicated that it isn’t ready to join other countries in recognizing a Palestinian state, even if it isn’t opposed to the idea in principle. German has said it will not recognise a Palestinian state for the time being.
Investigation reveals how Israeli intelligence agencies tried to derail war crimes prosecution by ICC
An investigation has revealed a nine year “war” on the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague waged by Israel:
An investigation by the Guardian and the Israeli-based magazines +972 and Local Call can reveal how Israel has run an almost decade-long secret “war” against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the court’s inquiries.
Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including chief prosecutor Karim Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents.
The surveillance was ongoing in recent months, providing Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with advance knowledge of the prosecutor’s intentions. A recent intercepted communication suggested that Khan wanted to issue arrest warrants against Israelis but was under “tremendous pressure from the United States”, according to a source familiar with its contents.
Bensouda, who as chief prosecutor opened the ICC’s investigation in 2021, paving the way for last week’s announcement, was also spied on and allegedly threatened.
Read more here: Spying, hacking and intimidation: Israel’s nine-year ‘war’ on the ICC exposed
A merchant vessel off the Yemeni coast took on water and tilted to one side after being targeted with three missiles, British security firm Ambrey said on Tuesday.
The vessel issued a distress call stating it had sustained damage to the cargo hold and was taking on water about 54 nautical miles southwest of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, Ambrey said.
“According to the distress call, the vessel was listing,” it said.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said separately on Tuesday that it had received a report of an incident 31 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah. It gave no further details.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea region since November, later expanding to the Indian Ocean, in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians.
Here are the latest images from Gaza:
More than 36,096 Palestinians have been killed and 81,136 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Faisal Ali
Planet Labs has released before and after satellite imagery of the camp for displaced people northwest of Rafah which was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Sunday. The strike triggered a large fire which has left visible burn marks near the tents we’ve highlighted.
At least 45 people, including many women and children, were killed in the strike and more than 200 were injured.
Rory Carroll
The Palestinian flag has been raised over Ireland’s parliament’s as Dublin prepares to officially recognize a Palestinian state on Tuesday.
The Palestinian mission in Dublin is to be upgraded to an embassy and Ireland will upgrade its representative office in Ramallah, in the West Bank, to an embassy.
The moves come amid renewed Irish condemnation of Israeli attacks on Rafah. Europe could be doing a “hell of a lot more” to press for a ceasefire in Gaza and to sanction Israel, said Simon Harris, the taoiseach.
“We have an association agreement that is effectively a trade benefit agreement between Europe and Israel, and I am very confident that the overwhelming majority of people in this country would like to see that agreement reviewed from a human rights point of view,” said Harris.
He accused rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated regret for an air strike that killed at least 45 people. “Unfortunately, we now have a new despicable and disgusting trend emerging where every now and again a particular event of absolute horror seems to take place and the prime minister of Israel comes out and describes this as a tragic mistake.
Israeli strikes on Rafah kill at least 16 Palestinians, first responders say
Israeli strikes on Rafah have killed at least 16 Palestinians, first responders said on Tuesday as residents reported an escalation of fighting in the southern Gaza city.
Strikes overnight killed a total of 16 people in the Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in northwest Rafah, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense and the Palestinian Red Crescent, AP reports.
“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 morning, with fighter jets and drones flying over the area.
He said it reminded him of the Israeli invasion of 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 Mawasi 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.
The latest strikes occurred in the same area where Israel targeted what it said was a Hamas compound on Sunday night. That strike ignited a fire in a camp for displaced Palestinians and killed at least 45 people, according to local health officials, sparking worldwide outrage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was a “tragic mishap” on Sunday and the military said it was investigating.
Israel says it is carrying out limited operations in eastern Rafah along the Gaza-Egypt border. But residents reported heavy bombardment overnight in western parts of Rafah as well.
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, has called the scenes following the airstrikes in Rafah this weekend “deeply distressing” and has called for a swift, comprehensive and transparent” investigation by the Israel Defense Forces.
“We urgently need a deal to get hostages out & aid in, with a pause in fighting to allow work towards a long-term sustainable ceasefire,” Cameron wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday morning.
Here are the latest images from Gaza:
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