Summary
It is just after 7.00pm in Gaza and Tel Aviv.
Here’s what’s happened so far:
Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to ensure that the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance, during a Monday call with Joe Biden, the White House reported.
Scott Anderson, the senior deputy director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), said that the closing of Kerem Shalom and other aid passages threatens the critical fuel supply in Gaza. “Everything we do in Gaza is run by diesel. We currently have one day of diesel on hand. If we don’t have a resume by tomorrow, everything will stop,” he said to CNN.
Joe Biden reportedly demanded that Israel immediately reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing, one of the key routes for bringing aid into Gaza, during a call with Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Axios reported, citing a senior US official.
During the 30-minute phone call, Biden and Netanyahu also spoke about ongoing hostage negotiations and Israel’s upcoming ground invasion of Rafah, Axios reported.
Thousands of people are evacuating from Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, hours after the Israeli military told residents and displaced people in eastern neighbourhoods to leave in advance of a long-threatened attack on the city and its environs. Witnesses described frightened families leaving the city on foot, riding donkeys or packed with their belongings into overloaded trucks on Monday. Overnight Israeli airstrikes had reinforced “panic and fear”, prompting more to heed the instructions to move.
Thank you for reading our coverage.
Updated
Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to ensure that the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance, during a Monday call with Joe Biden, the White House reported.
The Kerem Shalom crossing is one of the major routes for bringing humanitarian aid into Gaza. The crossing was closed after a rocket attack claimed by Hamas killed three soldiers, according to the Israel military. Israel then fired on a house in Rafah, reportedly killing at least three Palestinians.
During the call, Biden also updated Netanyahu on ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas, including talks happening in Doha, Qatar.
Here is a full readout of the call from the White House:
President Biden spoke this morning with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The President reaffirmed his message on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The two leaders discussed the shared commitment of Israel and the United States to remember the six million Jews who were systematically targeted and murdered in the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history, and to forcefully act against antisemitism and all forms of hate-fueled violence.
President Biden updated the Prime Minister on efforts to secure a hostage deal, including through ongoing talks today in Doha, Qatar. The Prime Minister agreed to ensure the Kerem Shalom crossing is open for humanitarian assistance for those in need. The President reiterated his clear position on Rafah.
Updated
Scott Anderson, the senior deputy director of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), said that the closing of Kerem Shalom and other aid passages threatens the critical fuel supply in Gaza.
In an interview with CNN, Anderson said that fuel for Gaza mainly comes from Rafah and the Kerem Shalom passage, which was closed on Sunday.
“As of this morning, we don’t have access to Kerem Shalom. We don’t have access to Rafah for the movement of goods, for the movement of fuel. Which makes this a much more daunting task for us,” Anderson said.
“Everything we do in Gaza is run by diesel. We currently have one day of diesel on hand. If we don’t have a resume by tomorrow, everything will stop,” he added.
"Everything we do in #Gaza is run by diesel. We currently have one day of diesel on hand. If we don't have a resume by tomorrow everything will stop."@ScottAnderGaza to @CNN about the tragic situation that would unfold if fuel is not let into the #GazaStrip immediately. pic.twitter.com/TM4cNLJElz
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 6, 2024
Updated
Biden demands Netanyahu reopen key Gaza aid route in call – report
Joe Biden reportedly demanded that Israel immediately reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing, one of the key routes for bringing aid into Gaza, during a call with Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Axios reported, citing a senior US official.
The crossing was closed after a rocket attack claimed by Hamas killed three soldiers, the Israeli military reported. Israel then fired on a house in Rafah, reportedly killing at least three Palestinians.
From Axios reporter Barak Ravid:
ברייקינג: הנשיא ביידן דרש במהלך שיחת הטלפון עם ראש הממשלה נתניהו כי ישראל תפתח מחדש באופן מיידי את מעבר כרם שלום אותו סגרה אתמול אחרי ההתקפה שביצע חמאס על שטח כינוס של צה״ל באזור ושבמהלכה נהרגו ארבעה חיילים, כך אמר לי בכיר אמריקני
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 6, 2024
Biden and Netanyahu also discussed ongoing hostage negotiations and Israel’s upcoming ground invasion of Rafah, US and Israel officials reported, Axios reported.
Updated
Israel’s military chief of staff said that Israel is “preparing for an offensive in the north” and that the military operation in Gaza “will continue with strength”, Reuters reported.
Herzi Halevi, the head of armed forces in Israel, made these remarks while conducting a situational assessment at the Lebanese border, Reuters further reported.
He did not elaborate further on his remarks.
Updated
Biden and Netanyahu speak for 30 minutes - report
Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrapped up a phone call on Monday, Reuters reported, citing a US official.
Several sources have reported that the call lasted approximately 30 minutes.
Updated
The Egyptian foreign minister said that Egypt was calling on Israel to “maintain maximum restraint” as ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Gaza continue.
Sameh Shoukry, the country’s minister of foreign affairs, said that Israel must work to “avoid further escalation at this sensitive point in the negotiations on the ceasefire agreement”, Axios reported.
“Egypt is holding talks with all parties to find a solution that will prevent an explosion,” he said.
From Axios reporter Barak Ravid:
Egyptian Foreign Ministry: We call on Israel to maintain maximum restraint and avoid further escalation at this sensitive point in the negotiations on the ceasefire agreement. Egypt is holding talks with all parties to find a solution that will prevent an explosion
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 6, 2024
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
Thousands of people are evacuating from Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, hours after the Israeli military told residents and displaced people in eastern neighbourhoods to leave in advance of a long-threatened attack on the city and its environs. Witnesses described frightened families leaving the city on foot, riding donkeys or packed with their belongings into overloaded trucks on Monday. Overnight Israeli airstrikes had reinforced “panic and fear”, prompting more to heed the instructions to move.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had dropped leaflets and were broadcasting instructions through “announcements, text messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic” telling residents to head to what it called an “expanded humanitarian zone” on the coast.
A senior Hamas official described the Israeli order for civilians to evacuate Rafah as a “dangerous escalation that will have consequences”. Hamas also warned that any military operation in Rafah “will not be a picnic”, saying its military wing is “ready to defend our people and defeat the enemy”. Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported that 22 Palestinians, including eight children, have been killed by Israeli strikes on Rafah since yesterday evening.
In a televised address on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, rejected Hamas’s demands for a definitive end to the war in Gaza, saying that any permanent ceasefire would allow the Islamist organisation to remain in power and pose a continuing threat to Israel. US president Joe Biden and Netanyahu are set to speak by phone today.
Israel closed the Kerem Shalom crossing, one of the main crossings used to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza, after a rocket attack claimed by Hamas killed four soldiers. The armed wing of Hamas said it fired rockets at an Israeli army base next to the crossing.
Egypt has raised its military’s level of preparedness in northern Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has said his organisation will not be evacuating Rafah.
Noga Weiss, who was one of the hostages seized and abducted by Hamas on 7 October, then released in November last year as part of the ceasefire and hostage-release deal, has enlisted today in the IDF.
Germany has criticised Netanyahu’s government for its decision to ban Al Jazeera in Israel, saying it was “the wrong signal”. Israeli officials have claimed the move was justified because Al Jazeera was a threat to national security.
Tents have started springing up today on the lawns of the UK’s oldest universities, Oxford and Germany has criticised Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for its decision to ban Al Jazeera in Israel, as student protesters gather to pressure their institutions to divest funds from Israel as part of a growing worldwide student protest movement.
In the US a White House national security office spokesperson has issued this statement, saying that talks are still ongoing to try to get a hostage and ceasefire deal in place. They said:
We can’t speak for IDF operations. We have made our views clear on a major ground invasion of Rafah to the Israeli government, and the president will speak with the prime minister today. We continue to believe that a hostage deal is the best way to preserve the lives of the hostages, and avoid an invasion of Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering. Those talks are ongoing now.
Tents have started springing up today on the lawns of the UK’s oldest universities, Oxford and Cambridge, as student protesters gather to pressure their institutions to divest funds from Israel.
The protesters have arrived with supplies, sleeping bags and cardboard signs bearing hand-painted slogans that read “there are no universities left in Gaza” and “divest from genocide”. A large banner reads “welcome to the people’s university for Palestine” outside the encampment in front of the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.
The encampments mirror the wave of protests that have swept across universities in the US, which have led to mass arrests of students and staff. They are now quickly spreading across university campuses in what organisers are calling a “global student uprising”, which includes UK universities University College London, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leeds, Warwick, Swansea and Bristol.
At Oxford, camp leaders have pinned up a board with a list of six demands to the university, including to “boycott Israeli genocide, apartheid and occupation”, to “disclose all finances”, “stop banking with Barclays”, help rebuild Gaza’s education system and “divest from Israeli genocide, apartheid and occupation”.
A list of demands posted to social media by Cambridge For Palestine organisers urges that the university “discloses and divests from its financial and professional support for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza; re-invests in affected academics; and protects all forced migrants and protesting students”.
It also cites the ways in which it claimes the university “facilitates the ethnic cleansing of Palestine”, through academic partnerships and investments in companies which manufacture arms for the Israeli government.
The encampment on King’s Parade, Cambridge is hosting a number of events over the day, including de-escalation training for protesters, a rally and a dinner funded by the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.
An Oxford University spokesperson said the university was aware of the demonstration, adding: “We respect our students and staff members right to freedom of expression in the form of peaceful protests. We ask everyone who is taking part to do so with respect, courtesy and empathy.”
Reuters has a quick snap that US president Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu are set to speak by phone today. It cites a US official.
Foreign minister of the Netherlands, Hanke Bruins Slot on Monday called for an urgent “diplomatic solution” to end intensifying clashes between the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group and the Israeli military along the UN-drawn blue line that seaprates Israel and Lebanon.
“The Netherlands has grave concerns about rising tensions in the border region and intensified fighting, and we regret the loss of innocent civilian lives,” Bruins Slot said after a meeting with her Lebanese counterpart, caretaker foreign minister Abdallah Bou Habib in Beirut. “And this has implications for Lebanon and the wider region.”
Hamas warned Israel on Monday that any military operation in the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip “will not be a picnic.”
Associated Press reports Hamas said in statement that Palestinian militant groups, led by Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, “are ready to defend our people and defeat the enemy.”
Al Jazeera reports that the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, has claimed a sniper killed an Israeli soldier in Gaza City.
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating in Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
We reported earlier that Israel’s military said a UAV had entered northern Israel from Lebanon near Metula. It did not report any damage or casualties. [See 11.09 BST]
Hezbollah, however, are claiming that the attack killed and wounded Israeli soldiers and destroyed their vehicles.
More details soon …
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has criticised Hamas for a rocket attack near the Kerem Shalom crossing at the weekend which killed four Israeli soldiers.
AFP reports that speaking to the media during a visit to Fiji on Monday, Baerbock said “The shelling of one of the most important access points for humanitarian aid shows once again that the terrorists of Hamas do not care about the humanitarian needs of the people in Gaza.”
The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has called on Israel to “renounce” the idea of a ground offensive on Rafah.
In a post on social media he called on both sides to implement UN security council resolution 2728, which demanded “an immediate ceasefire … by all parties leading to a lasting sustainable ceasefire” and also called for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages” and “the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale”.
Reuters has a quick snap that Egypt has raised its military’s level of preparedness in northern Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip.
In the UK, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy of the opposition Labour party has said a Rafah offensive “must not go ahead”.
In a message posted to social media, the man widely expected to replace David Cameron as foreign secretary after the next election in the UK later this year, said:
An Israeli offensive in Rafah would be catastrophic. It must not go ahead. We need an immediate ceasefire, the immediate release of hostages, and immediate unimpeded aid to Gaza.
Unrwa's Lazzarini: Rafah offensive will make it 'even more difficult to reverse expansion of man-made famine' in Gaza
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has added to the organisation’s earlier message that it would not be evacuating Rafah. In a post to social media, he said:
An Israeli military offensive will lead to an additional layer of an already unbearable tragedy for the people in Gaza. It will make even more difficult to reverse the expansion of the already man-made famine.
What is needed is a ceasefire now, not new forced displacement and anxiety of endless suffering. Together with our partners, we will stay and deliver critical assistance in Rafah as long as possible.
Here are some more images sent to us over the news wires from Rafah in the south of Gaza, showing Palestinians fleeing after Israel ordered an evacuation of the eastern part of the city in advance of an expected military assault.
Noga Weiss, who was one of the hostages seized and abducted by Hamas on 7 October, then released in November last year as part of the ceasefire and hostage-release deal, has enlisted today in the IDF.
The Times of Israel quotes her saying:
I always wanted to enlist and dedicate myself to the country. The army for me is a combination of a distraction from what happened, a framework and a daily routine, but mainly carrying on with my life as it would have been even before all this happened.
I remember that the day my mother and I were released, they took us to Kerem Shalom, and there was a hangar full of soldiers. The presence of the soldiers made me feel safe and it only strengthened my desire to be a part of and serve in the army.
Weiss, who is 18, was kidnapped along with her mother, Shiri, from kibbutz Be’eri. Her father was killed on 7 October. She is enlisting as a mashakit tash, which Israel’s military describes as “similar to a social worker’s job”.
Palestinians in Gaza, many of whom had been previously displaced, were seen packing their belongings and leaving Rafah after an Israeli evacuation order. The Israeli army reiterated its commitment to enter the southern city where more than 1 million people from other parts of the Gaza Strip have been seeking refuge. Here is a video report.
Care International UK has called on the UK government to act urgently to prevent an extension of Israel’s military action in Rafah.
Humanitarian advocacy adviser Madeleine McGovern said “A large-scale military offensive in Rafah presents a significant risk of serious harm to families and communities. There is simply nowhere safe to go in Gaza and international law is clear. Civilians in Rafah, already exhausted and starving, must be protected.
“Ministers cannot delay any longer before suspending licenses for arms sales to Israel. It would be unconscionable for British made weapons to be used in an assault on Rafah.”
The agency also distributed a quote from a mother in Rafah that it was working with. She said:
We are so worried about Rafah and the news that we are hearing from outside. There are a lot of planes in the sky. We need it the world to stop the war immediately because if they attack Rafah it will be a disaster. It will kill a lot of people. You can’t imagine how this area is crowded. It is crowded with thousands and thousand of tents. There is no way to go to Khan Younis. Khan Younis was totally damaged, there is no safe place.
Germany: Israel banning Al Jazeera sends 'wrong signal'
Germany has criticised Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for its decision to ban Al Jazeera in Israel. In a post on social media, the German foreing ministry said:
A free and diverse press landscape is the cornerstone of every liberal democracy. In times of conflict especially, it is of crucial importance to protect the freedom of the press. The decision of the Israeli authorities to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel is the wrong signal.
Israeli officials have claimed the move was justified because Al Jazeera was a threat to national security. A government statement said Israel’s communications minister had signed orders to act immediately to close al Jazeera’s offices in Israel, confiscate broadcast equipment, cut the channel off from cable and satellite companies and block its websites.
Hebrew media outlet Ynet has a quote from what it says is a senior Israeli official, saying Hamas could still cut a deal and avoid what appears to be the imminent Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. It quotes them saying “Everything is reversible. If Hamas agrees to a deal, it can be stopped.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has laid a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, in Jerusalem to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Israel’s military has claimed that it struck at “15 military structures and terror infrastructure located in a military compound belonging to Hezbollah’s Radwan force in the area of Al-Lwaiza” inside southern Lebanon.
It also claims that “a UAV was identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Metula in northern Israel”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Reuters has spoken to another Palestinian in Rafah, Aminah Adwan. She told the news agency:
We have been awake since 2am because of the bombardment, and we woke up in the morning to find rain pouring, we drowned in the rain, our clothes and items as well – we are out on the streets. We also woke up to much worse news, to evacuate Rafah.
The biggest genocide will take place, the biggest catastrophe will take place in Rafah. I call on the whole Arab world to interfere for a ceasefire – let them interfere and save us from what we are in. We are tired and over this.
Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera news TV on Monday quoted an unnamed “high-level” source as saying that Hamas’s attack on Gaza’s Kerem Shalom crossing had caused an impasse in ceasefire talks, Reuters reports.
The Egyptian negotiators are intensifying talks to contain the current escalation between Israel and Hamas, the source said according to the channel.
Haaretz reports that the IDF has released the name of the fourth Israeli soldier killed in Sunday’s Hamas rocket barrage which landed near the Kerem Shalom crossing.
It writes:
The army said that ten launches were detected in the barrage, which was aimed at two positions where the soldiers were stationed. According to the announcement, the forces were stationed there to guard vehicles and military equipment intended to be used in case the army decided to enter Rafah.
ActionAid in the UK has described the Israeli plan to evacuate Palestinians out of Rafah before launching a ground offensive as an “unlawful” act that will lead to “catastrophic consequences”.
In a statement it said:
Our aid workers are reporting some of the most severe conditions in recent memory with widespread disease, starvation and chaos. Let us be clear, there are no safe zones in Gaza.
The international community must act swiftly to prevent further atrocities and hold themselves as well as the Israeli government to account – if an invasion of Rafah is your ‘red line’ will you do everything possible to stop this imminent attack?
Islamic Relief has also issued a statement, saying it is “appalled” and that the development will “put many lives at even greater risk”.
Noting that “heavy bombing in Rafah overnight has reportedly killed many civilians, including several children”, it said:
As we have seen over the past seven months, forcing so many people to move is impossible without serious humanitarian cost and people will inevitably die as a result of the evacuation. The sick and wounded, elderly people, newborn infants and people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable and often cannot evacuate without support.
The area where people have been ordered to move – al Mawasi – has been designated a so-called ‘safe humanitarian zone’ but it is not safe. Civilians sheltering there say they continue to face attacks and severe shortages of food, water and other vital aid. Forcing more people there will make the humanitarian crisis even worse.
Some images are reaching us over the news wires that appear to show Palestinians beginning to move out of some areas of Rafah with whatever possessions they have to hand.
One Palestinian has spoken to Reuters via chat app, telling the news agency “It has been raining heavily and we don’t know where to go. I have been worried that this day may come, I have now to see where I can take my family.”
The Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported that 22 Palestinians, including eight children, have been killed by Israeli strikes on Rafah since yesterday evening. It reported its correspondents in the Gaza Strip told it:
They said that four civilians, including two children, were killed in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house owned by Abu Lebda family in Al-Geneina neighbourhood, east of the city of Rafah, while nine people, including four children, were killed as a result of an Israeli bombing that targeted a house owned by Qishta family in Al-Salam neighbourhood in the city of Rafah.
Four citizens, including an infant, were killed as a result of the occupation warplanes bombing a house on George Street, east of the city of Rafah. An airstrike also targeted Khirbet Al-Adas, northeast of the city.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Updated
Australia warns Israel it 'should not go down this path' over Rafah plans
Daniel Hurst reports for the Guardian from Canberra
The Australian government has said it is “gravely concerned by the prospect of a major Israeli ground offensive into Rafah” following evacuation orders in eastern neighbourhoods.
A spokesperson for the Australian foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said in a statement:
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has sought shelter in Rafah, from the fighting elsewhere. Australia, the G7 and so many countries have called on the Netanyahu government to change course. The foreign minister has made clear Australia’s view that Israel should not go down this path.
Speaking from Amman in Jordan, the head of advocacy, media & communications for the Middle East and North Africa at Norwegian Refugee Council has said that an Israeli assault on Rafah will lead to “mass atrocities”.
Interviewed by the Al Jazeera news network, Samah Hadid said:
We’ve been warning that a military offensive on Rafah would cause mass atrocities. It will cause mass civilian deaths. And we’ve been urging the international community and allies of the Israeli government to put a stop to this, right now. We need every ally of the Israeli government, including the US government, to increase its pressure, to stop the arm sales, and put pressure on Israel to put a stop to this offensive, which will lead to mass atrocities.
She told Al Jazeera that the conditions at al-Mawasi, where Israel says it is intending the civilian population to evacuate to, are “woefully inadequate”.
She said:
It does not have the basic infrastructure in place to service and support the current displaced population, let alone the additional group of people moving towards there.
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating in Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government,
Hamas: Israeli order to evacuate Rafah is a 'dangerous escalation that will have consequences'
A senior Hamas official has said the Israeli order for civilians to evacuate Rafah is a “dangerous escalation that will have consequences”.
Sami Abu Zuhri made the comments to Reuters on Monday.
Israel’s military has issued a call for residents and displaced people to evacuate eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah and head to what it claimed was an “expanded humanitarian zone” in southern Gaza. The IDF said the operation was of “limited scope” and estimated it would need to move about 100,000 people.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it was making the call to evacuate through “announcements, text messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic”. Israel’s army said on social media that it would act with “extreme force” against militants.
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant has said military action in Rafah is required due to Hamas’ refusal for a Gaza truce under which the Palestinian Islamist group would free some hostages. On Sunday, in a televised address, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu once more rejected Hamas’s demands for a definitive end to the war in Gaza.
Associated Press notes that about 1.4 million Palestinians – more than half of Gaza’s population – are jammed into Rafah and its surroundings. Most of them fled their homes elsewhere in the territory to escape Israel’s onslaught and now face another move.
They live in densely packed tent camps, overflowing U.N. shelters or crowded apartments, and are dependent on international aid for food, with sanitation systems and medical facilities infrastructure crippled. Israel has repeatedly bombed the Rafah area, and has also previously bombed the area it is now ordering Palestinians to flee to.
Updated
The Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it fired “dozens of Katyusha rockets” at an Israeli base in the Golan Heights, the AFP news agency has said.
Lebanese official media also said three people had been wounded in an Israeli strike earlier on Monday in the country’s east, with the Israeli army saying it had struck a Hezbollah “military compound”.
Hezbollah fighters launched “dozens of Katyusha rockets” targeting “the headquarters of the Golan Division... at Nafah base”, the group said in a statement, saying it was “in response to the enemy’s attack targeting the Bekaa region”.
If a Rafah offensive takes place it would lead to “the collapse of the aid response” that is reliant on the Rafah hub to distribute aid throughout that area of Gaza, the Norwegian Refugee Council has warned.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military have been dropping leaflets in the Rafah area. Maram Humaid of Al Jazeera English has this:
Israeli army threw leaflets in Rafah asking people to evacuate towards Al Mawasi area southwest the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/7rJZkDgsdM
— Maram Humaid (@MaramGaza) May 6, 2024
If you’re just joining us now, here’s a summary of the latest developments in the Israel-Gaza war and the Middle East crisis ahead of an expected Israeli offensive on the Gazan city of Rafah, where more than 1.4 million people are sheltering
Israel’s military has issued a call for residents and displaced people to evacuate eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah and head to an “expanded humanitarian zone” in southern Gaza. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it was making the call to evacuate through “announcements, text messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic”.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has told his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that military action in Rafah was required due to Hamas’ refusals of mediated proposals for a Gaza truce under which the Palestinian Islamist group would free some hostages. Gallant had claimed Hamas wasn’t serious about a deal and warned of “a powerful operation in the very near future in Rafah.”
Israel wants the evacuees to head to al-Mawasi, a barren stretch of coastline that it has designated as a “humanitarian zone” since early on in the war. The area has however been repeatedly bombed by Israel.
Israel closed the Kerem Shalom crossing, one of the main crossings used to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza, after a rocket attack claimed by Hamas killed three soldiers. The armed wing of Hamas said it fired rockets at an Israeli army base next to the crossing. The closing of Kerem Shalom came shortly after the head of the UN World Food Programme asserted there was “full-blown famine” in devastated northern Gaza.
Israeli authorities shut down the local offices of Al Jazeera on Sunday, hours after a government vote to use new laws to close the satellite news network’s operations in the country. Critics called the move a “dark day for the media” and raised new concerns about the attitude to free speech of Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government.
Senior Israeli officials ramped up pressure on Hamas on Sunday, saying Israel would refuse any permanent end to hostilities and threatening a new onslaught “in the very near future” if the militant organisation did not accept recently proposed terms for a ceasefire. In a televised address, Benjamin Netanyahu once more rejected Hamas’s demands for a definitive end to the war in Gaza, saying that any permanent ceasefire would allow the group to remain in power and pose a continuing threat to Israel.
Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages. In their second day of truce talks in Cairo with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any truce agreement must end the war, Palestinian officials said.
Israel used a US weapon in a March airstrike which killed seven healthcare workers in southern Lebanon, according to a Guardian analysis of shrapnel found at the site of the attack, which was described by Human Rights Watch as a violation of international law. Seven volunteer paramedics, aged between 18 and 25, were killed in the 27 March attack on an ambulance center belonging to the Lebanese Succor Association in the town of al-Habariyeh in south Lebanon on 27 March.
This is Ben Quinn taking on the blog now
Before the news of the evacuation orders broke, CIA chief William Burns, a main mediator in the ceasefire talks, was reportedly due to meet with Netanyahu on Monday. It is not clear if that meeting is still scheduled to take place.
An Israeli offensive on Rafah would be “devastating” for the 1.4 million people living there, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa has warned, adding that it will not be evacuating.
The warning came hours after Unrwa boss Philippe Lazzarini said he had been denied entry to Gaza for the second time since the war began.
“The Israeli authorities continue to deny humanitarian access to the United Nations,” he said on Sunday.
An Israeli offensive in #Rafah would mean more civilian suffering & deaths. The consequences would be devastating for 1.4 million people@UNRWA is not evacuating: the Agency will maintain a presence in Rafah as long as possible & will continue providing lifesaving aid to people pic.twitter.com/8anQ8Eq6Gv
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 6, 2024
Updated
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has told his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that military action in Rafah was required due to Hamas’ refusals of mediated proposals for a Gaza truce under which the Palestinian Islamist group would free some hostages.
It was not clear if a military operation had begun in Rafah.
A statement from the US defence department earlier said only that Austin “reaffirmed his commitment to the unconditional return of all hostages and stressed the need for any potential Israeli military operation in Rafah to include a credible plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians and maintain the flow of humanitarian aid.”
Updated
An anonymous Israeli official with knowledge of the ceasefire negotiations has told the New York Times that the two sides were close to a deal a couple of days ago but that comments by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Rafah pushed Hamas to harden its demands in a bid to protect the city from an Israeli ground invasion.
On Tuesday Netanyahu vowed that Israel would proceed with an offensive on the southern city even if renewed efforts at internationally brokered talks with Hamas result in the release of hostages and a ceasefire.
Speaking in Jerusalem, the Israeli prime minister said:
The idea that we will halt the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate the Hamas battalions there – with or without a deal, in order to achieve total victory.
The official said that Hamas and Israel had switched to playing a “blame game.”
Reuters is quoting witnesses in Rafah as saying that some Palestinian families have already begun leaving areas east of Rafah on Monday.
Israeli military says 100,000 people need to be evacuated from Rafah
The Israeli military says it needs to move about 100,000 people from Rafah in its “limited scope” evacuation, but has not confirmed this is the beginning of a broader invasion of the city. Associated Press reports:
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said some 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called al-Mawasi.
He said Israel was preparing a “limited scope operation” and would not say whether this was the beginning of a broader invasion of the city.
But last October, Israel did not formally announce the launch of a ground invasion that continues to this day.
The move comes a day after Hamas militants carried out a deadly rocket attack from the area that killed three Israeli soldiers.
Shoshani said Israel published a map of the evacuation area, and that orders were being issued through leaflets dropped from the sky, text messages and radio broadcasts.
He said Israel has expanded humanitarian aid into al-Mawasi, including field hospitals, tents, food and water.
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Israel has been telling Gaza residents to evacuate to the al-Mawasi “humanitarian zone”, a narrow strip of barren coastline at the southernmost end of the territory, since the war broke out in Gaza.
Despite its designation as a safe zone by the Israeli military, al-Mawasi has not been spared the violence.
Safety there “is only relative to the rest of the territory”, Guardian reporters Jason Burke, Aseel Mousa and Malak A Tantesh reported back in March. They wrote:
In January, a suspected Israeli airstrike hit a residential compound in al-Mawasi hosting medical teams and their families from the International Rescue Committee and Medical Aid for Palestinians, two NGOs working in Gaza.
Last month, during a military operation, an Israeli tank reportedly fired on a house where staff from Médecins Sans Frontières and their families were sheltering, killing two and injuring six.
There are multiple other reports of other injuries in al-Mawasi, most attributed to Israeli bombardment or airstrikes.
IDF describe Rafah operation as 'limited scope'
The IDF has issued a new update to journalists, describing the Rafah operations as “limited scope”.
This morning ... we began a limited scope operation to temporarily evacuate residents in the eastern part of Rafah.”
Troops will continue to pursue Hamas militants “everywhere in Gaza until all hostages that they are holding in captivity are back home”, the statement said.
The prospect of an invasion in Rafah has, in recent months, triggered alarm from aid groups and world leaders. US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Friday said Israel had yet to present “a credible plan to genuinely protect the civilians who are in harm’s way”, and without such a plan Washington “can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah.”
Soon after the war in Gaza began on 7 October, Israel told Palestinians living in the north of Gaza to move to “safe zones” in the territory’s south - including Rafah.
But Rafah has been repeatedly bombed from the air and Palestinians regularly say that no area of Gaza is safe.
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The evacuation announcement comes hours after one of the main crossings used to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza was closed after a rocket attack claimed by Hamas killed three soldiers.
Israel’s military said 10 projectiles were launched from Rafah towards the area of the Kerem Shalom crossing. The crossing was closed soon after, but other crossings remained open.
The armed wing of Hamas said it fired rockets at an Israeli army base next to the crossing, but did not confirm where it fired them from. Hamas media quoted a source close to the group as saying the commercial crossing was not the target.
Shortly after the Hamas attack, an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Rafah, killing three people and wounding several others, Palestinian medics said.
Israel’s military said it believed Hamas was targeting soldiers massed on the Gaza border in preparation for a possible Rafah invasion.
More than a million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
On Sunday, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant warned that military action in Rafah could begin in the “very near future.”
In a statement, Gallant said Hamas seemed not to be serious about reaching a truce in ongoing ceasefire talks.
This means strong military action in Rafah will begin in the very near future, and in the rest of the Strip.”
The Guardian currently has no information from on the ground in Rafah.
Israel has been warning for months it plans to send troops into the southern city bordering Egypt where more than a million displaced Gaza residents have taken refuge.
Israel believes thousands of Hamas fighters are holed up in the city, along with potentially dozens of hostages. Western leaders have expressed alarm at the prospect of such an operation and the potential for a high number of casualties.
IDF says it has expanded 'humanitarian area' which civilians should move to
The IDF says it has expanded the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, in Rafah.
The IDF is calling on residents in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah to temporarily evacuate to the expanded humanitarian zone.
The expanded humanitarian zone includes field hospitals, tents and increased amounts of food, water, medicine and other supplies.”
The statement from the IDF says it will “continue pursuing Hamas everywhere in Gaza until all the hostages that they’re holding in captivity are back home.”
The IDF has expanded the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi to accommodate the increased levels of aid flowing into Gaza. This expanded humanitarian area includes field hospitals, tents and increased amounts of food, water, medication and additional supplies.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) May 6, 2024
In accordance with the… pic.twitter.com/si47k9FCCz
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IDF issues call for 'eastern neighbourhoods of Rafah' to evacuate
Israel’s armed forces have issued a call for residents and displaced people of “eastern neighborhoods of Rafah” to evacuate, a day after Israeli leaders reiterated a promise to launch an attack on the southern city.
In accordance with the approval of the political echelon, the IDF is calling on the population, which is under the control of Hamas, to temporarily evacuate from the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah to the expanded humanitarian space. This matter will progress in a gradual manner according to ongoing situation assessments that will take place all the time.”
The IDF said in its statement that it was making the call to evacuate through “announcements, text messages, phone calls and media broadcasts in Arabic.”
Israel has been warning for months it plans to send troops into Rafah, the southern city bordering Egypt where more than a million displaced Gaza residents have taken refuge.
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Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
An IDF spokesperson has issued an “urgent appeal to all residents and displaced people” to evacuate a number of neighbourhoods of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
IDF Arabic language spokesperson Avichay Adraee, said the Israeli army called on people in the Al-Salam, Al-Jeneina, Tabet Ziraa and Al-Byouk neighbourhoods to immediately evacuate to the “expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.”
More on that in a moment, first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events.
Israeli authorities shut down the local offices of Al Jazeera on Sunday, hours after a government vote to use new laws to close the satellite news network’s operations in the country. Critics called the move a “dark day for the media” and raised new concerns about the attitude to free speech of Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government.
Senior Israeli officials ramped up pressure on Hamas on Sunday, saying Israel would refuse any permanent end to hostilities and threatening a new onslaught “in the very near future” if the militant organisation did not accept recently proposed terms for a ceasefire. In a televised address, Benjamin Netanyahu once more rejected Hamas’s demands for a definitive end to the war in Gaza, saying that any permanent ceasefire would allow the group to remain in power and pose a continuing threat to Israel.
Hamas has reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages. In their second day of truce talks in Cairo with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, Hamas negotiators maintained their stance that any truce agreement must end the war, Palestinian officials said.
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, accused Hamas of showing signs it was not serious about reaching a truce, and said that if this was the case Israel would launch military actions in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip “in the very near future”.
