Al-Quds Brigades fires rockets towards Israel
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad says it launched rockets from Gaza towards southern Israel in response to Israeli air strikes on the Strip.
“We have targeted Sderot, Nir Am, and settlements in the Gaza envelope with rocket barrages,” the al-Quds Brigades said in a statement, referring to a zone of southern Israel close to Gaza.
The Israeli army said sirens sounded in communities near the besieged and bombarded territory.
Limited Rafah operation could be ‘US gift to Netanyahu’
For the negotiations to work, it would be extremely important to get assurances of implementation from the US, according to Tamer Qarmout, an assistant professor of public policy at Doha Institute of Graduate Studies.
“If the Americans have blessed this new version of the deal, then it has a high chance to succeed,” he told Al Jazeera.
“The Americans are opposing a major military operation in Rafah, including reoccupying Rafah and the Philadelphi Corridor, but I’m not sure if they are rejecting a limited military operation. Maybe this could be their gift to Netanyahu.”
This, the analyst said, could allow Israel to go into Rafah and claim its victory, and enable Netanyahu to assuage his far-right coalition.
“But when you look at the real world, first of all there is the suffering and the despair of people in Gaza, and the 1.5 million people in Rafah who don’t know what’s going to happen to them. And then there are the millions of people all over the world who are screaming and crying and want to see an end to this.”
A knife-edge situation
There’s a great deal of caution that you’re hearing.
I was speaking to senior diplomats and ambassadors in New York a few days ago, and they were all telling me this was going to come to the moment we are at now, which is a knife-edge situation of either a Rafah offensive or a deal.
And clearly, the ball is now very much in the Israeli court.
I can tell you right now in New York, the site of the UN headquarters, the UN Security Council started meeting again. They’re talking about another resolution, that there should be no displacement of Palestinians and no Rafah offensive.
Those are now also the positions of the US ,as well. This puts a great deal of pressure on the Netanyahu government at this stage.
Jordan king tells Biden Israeli assault on Rafah may lead to ‘new massacre’
The Jordanian royal court says King Abdullah II has warned during a meeting with Joe Biden, the president of the US, that an Israeli attack on Rafah threatens to lead to a “new massacre”.
The Jordanian king is the latest world leader to warn of devastating consequences of any military assault on the southern city sheltering some 1.5 internally displaced people.
Nonstop’ bombing of eastern Rafah ongoing
There has been an escalation of air raids and artillery bombardment in the eastern part of Rafah.
We’re talking nonstop bombing of residential houses. The vast majority of residents there have started to flee the area where the Israeli military is trying to mobilise more troops.
Eyewitnesses that we have been in contact with say they have heard movement of Israeli military tanks across the Gaza separation fence with Israel.
That’s absolutely terrifying … and contradictory to the general atmosphere of positivity around the negotiations.
Flares light up the skies of Rafah
Video posted on Instagram a short while ago by Palestinian journalist Hani al-Shaer shows flares fired by the Israeli army over eastern Rafah.
This comes after the army said it was conducting strikes against Hamas positions in Rafah and after the Israeli war cabinet said it had decided to press ahead with operations in the southern Gaza city.
This video has been verified by Al Jazeera.
Israeli cabinet vote a ‘holding pattern response’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under a lot of pressure, especially from his biggest ally, the United States.
He is also under societal pressure in Israel, and there’s pressure from members of his far-right coalition like Itamar Ben-Gvir, who is still pushing for a Rafah operation.
So right now, you have a situation where Israel is sort of having it both ways. They are saying that they will send a delegation to Cairo because up until now they had refused to do so until what they had considered to be a positive response from Hamas. And at the same time, they are saying they are still going to go into Rafah.
Netanyahu has been saying on almost a daily basis for months that he’s going into Rafah with or without a ceasefire. So that is not different from what we have been hearing from him. But on the other hand, what’s different is that they are going to send a delegation to Cairo, and that is something that could satisfy people in the opposition, like leader Yair Lapid.
Haniyeh, Sheikh Tamim reviewed ‘required measures’ to guarantee implementing ceasefire proposal: Hamas
Hamas has issued a statement saying its chief Ismail Haniyeh reviewed with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani the “required measures” to guarantee implementation of the ceasefire proposal.
UN chief urges Hamas, Israel to go ‘extra mile’ to reach truce deal
Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned by the looming Israeli military operation in Rafah, spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said.
“We are already seeing movements of people – many of these are in desperate humanitarian condition and have been repeatedly displaced. They search safety that has been so many times denied,” he said in a statement.
Dujarric said the UN chief has urged Israel and Hamas “to go the extra mile needed to make an agreement come true and stop the present suffering”.
“The Secretary-General reminds the parties that the protection of civilians is paramount in international humanitarian law.”
Bombardment and air strikes on eastern Rafah
As Palestinians were celebrating the Hamas announcement [on agreeing to a ceasefire proposal], there was ongoing bombardment and air strikes on the eastern part of Rafah.
More attacks have been carried out on neighbourhoods that have been designated as warzones as we’ve been observing flares being fired in the sky over the eastern areas of Rafah.
This is where Palestinians have been told to flee [from] in order to guarantee their own safety.
We have been receiving reports of injuries from different hospitals in Rafah district.
Despite what is happening on the ground, Palestinians are still closely following all the diplomatic efforts being made regarding the truce and waiting for the Israeli response.
‘Cautious optimism in occupied West Bank’
Nour Odeh, an analyst based in Ramallah, says Palestinians are “waiting on pins and needles” in the occupied West Bank to hear what Israel has to say after Hamas “threw a curveball” by suddenly announcing it has accepted a mediator ceasefire proposal.
“They want to see what will come out of Tel Aviv, is this going to be for real, will this ceasefire materialise? A lot of hope is hinging on that and people fear those last hours and last minutes carry a lot of risk,” she told Al Jazeera.
Odeh said Netanyahu is in a bind right now and that Israeli authorities are under pressure from the administration of US President Joe Biden.
“I think we have to caution that Biden applies pressure on Israel, but only so much. The feeling is that he will find a way to kind of wiggle Netanyahu out of a difficult spot if he needs to,” she added.
“There’s a lot riding on this ceasefire, not just for Palestinians, not just for Israelis, but also for the Biden administration, which needs calm right now to get its house in order in preparation for the Democratic [National] Convention [in August].”
‘Ball in Israel’s hands,’ ‘very, very tough decision’ for Netanyahu
Gideon Levy, a columnist with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, says Hamas “took a brilliant step” that has left Israel “embarrassed”.
“Hamas said very clearly, ‘We agree to a deal,’ which nobody of us knows exactly the details, and now the ball is in Israel’s hands and Israel has to decide,” he told Al Jazeera.
“For Netanyahu, this is a very, very tough decision because he might lose his government. On the other hand, if he says no, it’s very clear that Israel wants war and not the hostages,” Levy said.
The analyst noted the situation has reached “a very critical” stage, at which there is no time for any postponement.
“Netanyahu has to decide what does he prefer: a government that continues to stay in power, God knows what for, … or taking a brave decision, saying yes to the deal, releasing the hostages, putting an end to this war – which didn’t do anything good in Israel and for sure not to the Palestinians – and trying to create a new reality in Gaza,” Levy said.
“That’s his choice. Knowing him, he will not choose the better one.”
‘The country will burn’: Families of Israeli captives demand a deal
Several families of Israeli captives held in Gaza have blocked the major Begin Road in Tel Aviv to demand that authorities agree to a deal to bring back their loved ones.
In a televised interview with Channel 12 that is being widely shared online, the mother of captive Matan Zangauker directly addressed Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to say he needs to be a “leader” and reach an agreement.
“If our government and prime minister miss this chance, which is probably my last chance to see Matan return home and for other families to see their loved one return home, I will bring out all Israelis,” said Einav Zangauker.
“The streets will burn, the country will burn… You cannot play like this with people’s lives.”
After evacuation order, Israeli army announces strikes on Rafah
The Israeli military says it is currently conducting targeted strikes against targets belonging to Hamas in the eastern part of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
The army, in a brief statement, said that more details would follow.
Egypt’s el-Sisi urges all parties to reach deal in Gaza
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi says he is “closely following the positive developments” in the negotiations to reach a “a comprehensive truce” in Gaza.
He also called on all parties to exert more effort to reach an agreement that will end the humanitarian tragedy suffered by the Palestinian people and complete the exchange of captives and prisoners.
UN rights chief called Israeli Rafah invasion plan ‘inhumane’
In comments that came before Hamas’s announcement that it had accepted a truce proposal, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights delivered his most damning criticism of Israel yet in response to Israel’s apparent plan to invade Rafah, where the majority of Palestinians in Gaza are sheltering.
“Gazans continue to be hit with bombs, disease, and even famine. And today, they have been told that they must relocate yet again as Israeli military operations into Rafah scale up,” Volker Turk said.
“This is inhumane. It runs contrary to the basic principles of international humanitarian and human rights laws, which have the effective protection of civilians as their overriding concern.”
He said lessons from seven months of war on Gaza show that an assault on Rafah will only kill more people, adding, “Enough of the killing”.
“Those that elect to flout international humanitarian law and international human rights law must be held to account.”
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