Closing summary
Israel’s government has said that the IDF is committed to the destruction of Hamas, after the IDF’s top spokesperson said that the Gaza militant group is an “ideology” which cannot be eliminated. “To say that we are going to make Hamas disappear is to throw sand in people’s eyes. If we don’t provide an alternative, in the end, we will have Hamas,” Rear Adm Daniel Hagari told Israel’s Channel 13 broadcaster.
The leader of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned of a war “without rules or ceilings” in the event of a full-scale Israeli offensive against the Lebanese militia, as he threatened that Cyprus could become a target if it allowed Israel to use its territory in any conflict. Cyprus and Israel have a bilateral defence cooperation agreement which has seen the countries conduct joint exercises. “Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” the Hezbollah chief said.
Cyprus reacted with incredulity on Thursday to warnings from Lebanon’s Hezbollah that the island could be dragged into conflict if tensions with Israel blew up into a fully-fledged war. The EU member state closest to the Middle East, Cyprus was caught off guard by comments from Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah late on Wednesday that the island could be a target if it permitted Israel to use its military facilities in the event of an attack on Lebanon.
Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip overnight, killing three people and wounding dozens of others, according to medics, while tanks deepened their invasion into Rafah in the south, residents said. Israeli planes struck a house in Al-Nuseirat camp, killing two people and wounding 12 others, while tanks shelled areas in Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij camps, wounding many other people, health officials said. Nuseirat, Maghazi, and Bureij are three of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps.
The US military’s on-again, off-again floating pier in Gaza is expected to resume operations on Thursday to unload sorely needed humanitarian aid for Palestinians, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pier had been re-attached to the shore on Wednesday after being temporarily removed last Friday due to poor sea conditions.
More than 37,431 Palestinians have been killed and 85,653 have been injured in Israeli military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
French authorities have detained an Iranian citizen after he posted remarks about Israel-Gaza war posted on social media, a police source said on Thursday, in a case his lawyer has denounced as “political” amid tensions between Paris and Tehran. Bashir Biazar has been described by London-based Iran International television channel as a former official for the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB. Iranian state media call him a “cultural figure”.
Campaigners have written to the directors of 20 arms manufacturers based in the UK saying they may face criminal liability for failing to prevent war crimes if their companies continue to sell military equipment to Israel. Four groups, including the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have written to directors of arms companies that contribute parts or elements of the F-35 fighter jets used by Israel’s air force as part of the bombing of Gaza.
In a report published on Wednesday, the United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) concluded that Israel’s use of heavy bombs in Gaza raised “serious concerns” under laws of war. The OHCHR provided details on six Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, which it said were emblematic of a concerning pattern, involving the suspected use of up to 2,000-pound bombs on residential buildings, a school, refugee camps and a market.
In its reports, the OHCHR also said that Israeli forces may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war and failed to distinguish between civilians and fighters in their Gaza Strip military campaign. “The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimise to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign,” said UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk.
Israel’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva characterised the OHCHR analysis as “factually, legally, and methodologically flawed.” The Israeli diplomatic mission said: “Since the OHCHR has, at best, a partial factual picture, any attempt to reach legal conclusions is inherently flawed.”
Israeli airstrikes and clashes between troops and Palestinian militants in Gaza took place on Wednesday. Witnesses and the civil defence agency in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip reported Israeli bombardment in western Rafah, where medics said drone strikes and shelling killed at least seven people.
Israel sent a column of tanks into the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City and residents reported heavy fire from tanks and warplanes but also sounds of gun battles with Hamas-led fighters.
That’s all from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Middle East crisis live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
Cyprus reacted with incredulity on Thursday to warnings from Lebanon’s Hezbollah that the island could be dragged into conflict if tensions with Israel blew up into a fully-fledged war.
The EU member state closest to the Middle East, Cyprus was caught off guard by comments from Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah late on Wednesday that the island could be a target if it permitted Israel to use its military facilities in the event of an attack on Lebanon.
“The Republic of Cyprus is in no way involved in war conflict,” Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides responded, describing Nasrallah’s comments as “not pleasant”.
The EU also weighed in. “Any threats against our member state are threats against the EU,” a spokesperson said.
Cyprus has always viewed itself as above the politics of its neighbours and offered sanctuary to tens of thousands of Lebanese fleeing civil war in the 1970s and 80s, Reuters reported.
Campaigners have written to the directors of 20 arms manufacturers based in the UK saying they may face criminal liability for failing to prevent war crimes if their companies continue to sell military equipment to Israel.
Four groups, including the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), have written to directors of arms companies that contribute parts or elements of the F-35 fighter jets used by Israel’s air force as part of the bombing of Gaza.
The letter argues the company directors face a “potential criminal liability for atrocity crimes currently taking place in Gaza”, even though the UK government has continued to authorise arms sales to Israel since the start of the war with Hamas.
It cites a section in the 2001 International Criminal Court Act that states it is an offence against English and Welsh law “to engage in ‘conduct ancillary’ to a war crime or a crime against humanity” in foreign jurisdictions.
The company directors include those at the UK arm of Lockheed Martin, the principal manufacturer of the advanced F-35, the British arms firm BAE Systems, which makes 13-15% of each of the jets, and Northrop Grumman, a US arms maker and significant F-35 subcontractor.
The other three groups behind the letter are Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), which has also brought a legal challenge against the government decision to continue arms exports to Israel, War on Want, and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians.
French authorities have detained an Iranian citizen after he posted remarks about Israel-Gaza war posted on social media, a police source said on Thursday, in a case his lawyer has denounced as “political” amid tensions between Paris and Tehran.
Bashir Biazar has been described by London-based Iran International television channel as a former official for the Iranian state broadcaster IRIB. Iranian state media call him a “cultural figure”.
Biazar was detained in the eastern French city of Dijon and is now being held in administrative detention - a measure taken ahead of possible deportation - in the city of Metz further north.
In Paris, a police source asking not to be named told AFP that “expulsion proceedings” had been initiated against Biazar “in particular because he publicly made anti-French remarks”, without specifying their nature.
Biazar has in past months been active on social media making remarks strongly supporting Palestinians amid the war between Israel and militant group Hamas in Gaza.
His French lawyer, Rachid Lemoudaa, told AFP:
There is nothing, in terms of law, that justifies this measure. Bashir Biazar expressed himself on his Instagram account, as anyone could do freely in a state governed by the rule of law.
I think this procedure is political, and politics has no place in law.
Three French citizens, described by Paris as “state hostages”, are imprisoned in Iran.
The head the Iranian High Council for Human Rights, Kazem Gharibabadi, said on X:
The arrest of an Iranian citizen by the French police for having defended the oppressed Palestinian people (is) another scandal for France in the domain of human rights.
More than 37,431 Palestinians have been killed and 85,653 have been injured in Israeli military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
The leader of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned of a war “without rules or ceilings” in the event of a full-scale Israeli offensive against the Lebanese militia, as he threatened that Cyprus could become a target if it allowed Israel to use its territory in any conflict.
Cyprus and Israel have a bilateral defence cooperation agreement which has seen the countries conduct joint exercises.
“Opening Cypriot airports and bases to the Israeli enemy to target Lebanon would mean that the Cypriot government is part of the war, and the resistance will deal with it as part of the war,” the Hezbollah chief said.
Nikos Christodoulides, the island’s president, responded on Wednesday evening: “Cyprus remains uninvolved in any military conflicts and positions itself as part of the solution rather the problem.”
He sought to emphasise the humanitarian role the EU’s easternmost state had played in the Middle East, facilitating the opening of a sea corridor to transport desperately needed aid to Gaza.
“Our humanitarian corridor is a testament to our commitment to peace and stability,” he told reporters at a University of Cyprus graduation ceremony.
He added: “Such statements are not pleasant, but they do not reflect reality. Cyprus is not participating in any military engagements.”
Christodoulides said the threat would be raised through diplomatic channels.
Israel pounds central Gaza camps, deepens invasion of Rafah
Israeli forces pounded areas in the central Gaza Strip overnight, killing three people and wounding dozens of others, according to medics, while tanks deepened their invasion into Rafah in the south, residents said.
Israeli planes struck a house in Al-Nuseirat camp, killing two people and wounding 12 others, while tanks shelled areas in Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij camps, wounding many other people, health officials said. Nuseirat, Maghazi, and Bureij are three of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps.
In Deir al-Balah, a city packed with displaced people in the central Gaza Strip, an Israeli air strike killed one Palestinian and wounded several others on Thursday, medics said.
The Israeli military said on Wednesday that forces were continuing their operations across the enclave targeting militants and military infrastructure in what it described as “precise, intelligence-based” activities, Reuters reported.
The US military’s on-again, off-again floating pier in Gaza is expected to resume operations on Thursday to unload sorely needed humanitarian aid for Palestinians, two US officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pier had been re-attached to the shore on Wednesday after being temporarily removed last Friday due to poor sea conditions.
Aid began arriving via the US-built pier on 17 May, and the UN said it transported 137 trucks of aid to warehouses, some 900 metric tonnes.
But then rough seas damaged the pier, forcing repairs and poor weather and security considerations have limited the number of days it has been operational.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
Israel’s government has said that the IDF is committed to the destruction of Hamas, after the IDF’s top spokesperson said that the Gaza militant group is an “ideology” which cannot be eliminated.
“To say that we are going to make Hamas disappear is to throw sand in people’s eyes. If we don’t provide an alternative, in the end, we will have Hamas,” Rear Adm Daniel Hagari told Israel’s Channel 13 broadcaster.
His comments were quickly rebuffed by the office of Benjamin Netanyahu, whose cabinet has stated its Gaza offensive will not end until Hamas is defeated.
“The political and security cabinet headed by prime minister Netanyahu defined as one of the goals of the war the destruction of Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities,” his office said in a statement, adding “the IDF is of course committed to this.”
In a separate statement on its Telegram channel, the military clarified that Hagari had addressed Hamas “as an ideology … and his statements were clear and explicit”.
More on that in a moment, first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events.
The leader of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, warned of a war “without rules or ceilings” in the event of a full-scale Israeli offensive against the Lebanese militia, as he threatened that Cyprus could become a target if it allowed Israel to use its territory in any conflict. Cyprus and Israel have a bilateral defence cooperation agreement which has seen the countries conduct joint exercises.
In a report published on Wednesday, the United Nations human rights office (OHCHR) concluded that Israel’s use of heavy bombs in Gaza raised “serious concerns” under laws of war. The OHCHR provided details on six Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, which it said were emblematic of a concerning pattern, involving the suspected use of up to 2,000-pound bombs on residential buildings, a school, refugee camps and a market.
In its reports, the OHCHR also said that Israeli forces may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war and failed to distinguish between civilians and fighters in their Gaza Strip military campaign. “The requirement to select means and methods of warfare that avoid or at the very least minimise to every extent civilian harm appears to have been consistently violated in Israel’s bombing campaign,” said UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Türk.
Israel’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva characterised the OHCHR analysis as “factually, legally, and methodologically flawed.” The Israeli diplomatic mission said: “Since the OHCHR has, at best, a partial factual picture, any attempt to reach legal conclusions is inherently flawed.”
Israeli airstrikes and clashes between troops and Palestinian militants in Gaza took place on Wednesday. Witnesses and the civil defence agency in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip reported Israeli bombardment in western Rafah, where medics said drone strikes and shelling killed at least seven people.
Israel sent a column of tanks into the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City and residents reported heavy fire from tanks and warplanes but also sounds of gun battles with Hamas-led fighters.
