10:32
Death toll during Rafah’s nighttime attack rises to 22
The death toll from the nighttime attack on Rafah has risen to 22, the AP reports, based on Palestinian sources from the medical world. Last night Israel bombed three houses in the southern Gaza city.
Rafah is regularly the target of air strikes. Israel is also threatening a large-scale ground offensive in the city. Several countries, including the United States, and the United Nations are very concerned about such a ground operation. They fear a humanitarian disaster in the densely populated area where many refugees reside.
Five children were among the fatalities, Al Jazeera reports. In addition, dozens of people were injured. Nine members of the same family are said to be among the dead. Seven more people were killed in airstrikes on Gaza City last night.
Jasper Daams
09:22
World Central Kitchen resumes work in Gaza
Food aid organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) resumes work in Gaza after about a month. CEO Erin Gore writes this on the organization’s website. “We decided that we have to keep feeding, that we have to continue our mission to feed people in the most difficult of times.”
At the beginning of this month, WCK suspended its work in Gaza after seven employees were killed in an Israeli drone attack on an organization’s convoy. The attack angered the Israeli army from the international community. Israel acknowledged that it had made ‘serious mistakes’, after which two military officials were dismissed.
World Central Kitchen is one of the few active aid organizations in Gaza. It says it has already distributed more than 43 million meals there. In addition to the Gaza Strip, WCK is currently helping in Ukraine, Haiti, Israel, Egypt and Lebanon.
Although the Israeli army says it has tightened the rules after the dramatic drone attack, World Central Kitchen is still demanding an impartial and international investigation. Until now, the Israeli army has only conducted internal investigations. “We continue to seek answers and advocate for change, with the goal of better protecting WCK and all NGO staff who work selflessly in the worst humanitarian conditions,” CEO Gore said.
Jasper Daams
06:54
Blinken starts visit to Middle East
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh. The minister is visiting the Middle East in the hope of achieving a ceasefire in Gaza.
On Monday in Saudi Arabia, Blinken is expected to speak with senior officials from Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan about what the governance of the Gaza Strip should look like after the war. Humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip will also be discussed, the US Department of State previously announced. (AP)
02:25
Seven killed in airstrikes on Gaza City
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports according to Al Jazeera that seven people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza City on Sunday evening. Five of them, including children, were killed when two houses in the west of the city were bombed. Dozens of people were injured.
Two women were killed in an attack just south of the city. There, people are still searching for missing people among the rubble. (AP)
01:59
At least 13 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Rafah
At least thirteen people have been killed and dozens injured in Israeli airstrikes on three houses in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza. Doctors in the area announced this on Monday, according to reports Reuters.
The attacks on Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have fled in the past six months because that region had been declared safe by Israeltook place at a time when a ceasefire seemed imminent.
On Sunday, Hamas officials said a delegation led by Khalil Al-Hayya, the group’s deputy Gaza head, would discuss a ceasefire proposal delivered to Hamas by mediators from Qatar and Egypt. A senior Hamas official is reported to have said that the Palestinian movement has “no major problems” with Israel’s latest proposal.
The mediators, supported by the United States, are trying to prevent a large-scale ground offensive in Rafah with this deal. Israel insists this is necessary to destroy the last Hamas bastions, but critics say such an attack would turn into a humanitarian disaster. (Editorial)
11:48 PM, Yesterday
Armistice seems imminent: Hamas sees ‘no major problem’ in latest proposal
More than five months after the previous and so far only ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, a new ceasefire seems imminent. A senior Hamas official told the news agency on Sunday AFP that the Palestinian movement has ‘no major problems’ with Israel’s latest proposal.
The Israeli proposal is a response to a proposal from Egyptian and Qatari mediators. “The atmosphere is positive, unless Israel creates new obstacles,” said the official, who asked not to be named.
What exactly is included in the proposal has not been disclosed. But according to the American news site Axioswhich quotes Israeli officials, includes a willingness to talk about “restoring lasting peace” in Gaza.
A Hamas delegation led by Khalil al-Hayya, deputy head of Hamas, was expected to give the group’s response to the ceasefire proposal during a meeting with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on Monday.
Two far-right Israeli ministers said earlier on Sunday that they would drop the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if a truce is agreed, because this would mean a postponement of the military ground offensive they want in Rafah. (ANP, Belga)
Also read: Diplomats seize ‘a bit of momentum’ to put pressure on negotiations between Hamas and Israel
7:40 PM, Yesterday
Welcome to the live blog of Monday April 29
This was the most important news of Saturday April 27 and Sunday April 28:
• Nearly two hundred activists were arrested on Saturday during new pro-Palestinian protests at American universities, media in the US report. The arrests were made at Northeastern University in Boston, Arizona State University and Indiana University.
• Far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich threaten to topple the Israeli government if Prime Minister Netanyahu abandons the planned ground offensive in Rafah. The threats come on the eve of new negotiations in Egypt.
• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expects the Israeli attack on Rafah to begin “within days.” According to him, only the Americans can prevent this. Abbas called on Washington to use all its influence to avert the attack.
Read the full live blog from last weekend here.
