Summary
That concludes today’s blog on the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza. Here’s the latest from today:
At least 74 civilians in Palestine were reportedly killed due to Israel’s airstrike in Rafah, Reuters reported, citing Palestine TV. The death toll from the Rafah airstrikes increased from 67 reported earlier today.
US officials said that Israel’s airstrike launched in Rafah doesn’t represent a full-scale offensive. The White House and the US state department both repeated that the US is in favor of an “extended humanitarian pause” in fighting in Gaza, but did not call for an official ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
The White House said on Monday that Israel should protect the over 1 million civilians living in Rafah amid airstrikes. The White House is reiterating that Israel must have a credible plan to protect the people in Rafah before its planned invasion of the southern Gaza city.
The US said it would not be threatening to hold back funding or military assistance from Israel in light of Israel’s bombing of Rafah, state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday.
Hamas says three of eight Israeli hostages injured in Rafah airstrikes have died. A Hamas spokesperson said that they would postpone releasing the names of the deceased until “the fate of the remaining wounded becomes clear”.
Thank you for reading the Guardian’s coverage.
Updated
France evacuated 42 people from Gaza on Monday through the Rafah border crossing, AFP reported.
French officials evacuated 42 people from Gaza, including French nationals and staff from the French cultural institute.
“After a request from France, 42 people today left the Gaza Strip through the Rafa border crossing” which is located in Egypt, France’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the United Nation secretary general said that the UN “will not be party” to forced displacement of civilians living in Rafah, adding that there is no place in Gaza that is safe, AFP reported.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric spoke to reporters on Monday about Israel’s expected military invasion of Rafah and the UN’s plan to protect civilians.
Dujarric told reporters that the UN would “ensure that anything that happens is done in full respect of international law, in the full respect of the protection of civilians,” adding that the UN “will not be party to forced displacement of people…as it is, there is no place that is currently safe in Gaza.”
“You can’t send people back to areas that are littered with unexploded ordnance, not to mention a lack of shelter,” the UN spokesman said, referring to parts of the northern and central Gaza Strip.
Dujarric’s comments come after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel’s military to prepare for a military invasion of Rafah and promised to provide a “safe passage” for millions of civilians residing in the densely-packed city during an interview with ABC over the weekend.
Netanyahu did not specify where exactly civilians would be evacuated to.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates called on the international community to “stop Israel’s genocide and destruction of Palestinian people”, in a statement issued Monday following Israel’s latest airstrike in Rafah.
“World leaders have a historic responsibility to prevent Israel from launching a ground assault on Rafah and the foreseeable apocalyptic consequences.
Expressing concern without taking determined effective actions is a moral and political failure,” the territory’s ministry of foreign affairs and expatriates said in a statement.
The latest statement comes after 74 civilians in Palestine were killed in Rafah by Israeli airstrike, with Israel expected to launch a military invasion in the city. Local officials have said that the death toll from the airstrike is expected to rise.
“Gaza is a slaughterhouse and Israel’s deliberate mass killing, starvation, and the forcible transfer of 1.3 million people, half of whom are children, in Rafah is the most barbaric and savage of all,” the statement read.
Statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates - State of Palestine 🇵🇸 🇵🇸 #Gaza_under_attack#CeasefireNow#Palestine#Israeliwarcrimes pic.twitter.com/KQthLZni7z
— State of Palestine - MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) February 12, 2024
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) representative for the United Nations said the country is “extremely worried” about Israel’s military operations in Rafah, adding that any military operation by Israel would have “unacceptable consequences”.
“The UAE is extremely worried at this point,” said ambassador Lana Nusseibeh during an event in Dubai.
“Any military operation in Rafah would have unacceptable consequences,” she added.
Nusseibeh reiterated the need for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and a ceasefire agreement, BBC reported.
“You cannot deny the Palestinian right to statehood - and that is an Arab consensus,” she said.
Nusseibeh also defended the UAE’s diplomatic ties with Israel amid mounting anger in the region, saying that continued cooperation between the two countries has secured resources in Gaza, AFP reported.
“Because of that cooperation... we have a field hospital in Gaza and we have a maritime hospital docking in the Al-Arish port,” Nusseibeh said.
Rafah airstrike death toll raised to 74, according to reports
At least 74 civilians in Palestine were reportedly killed due to Israel’s airstrike in Rafah, Reuters reported, citing Palestine TV.
The latest death toll is an increase from earlier, when local officials reported that 67 Palestinians were killed in heavy airstrikes launched by the Israeli military.
Officials have said that fatality figures are likely to rise.
Updated
The White House and the US state department have reiterated that the US is strongly in favour of a negotiated, extended humanitarian pause in the war between Israel and Hamas, while there remains no US call for an official ceasefire.
The White House on Monday pressed Israel to work toward a pause in the Gaza conflict, Reuters added, in order to win freedom for more hostages held by Hamas and rapidly increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians.
We’re wrapping up some of the news lines emerging from the White House and US State Department briefings just now.
John Kirby, White House national security spokesperson, talked of some progress in negotiations toward a humanitarian pause – but said more work remains.
We continue to support an extended humanitarian pause,” Kirby said.
US president Joe Biden spoke to Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone yesterday and said the Israeli military operation in Rafah in the far south of Gaza “should not proceed” without a plan to protect civilians there.
Early on Monday afternoon at the state department press briefing, spokesman Matthew Miller said the US government continues to push for a pause and believes “a deal is possible”.
CIA director William Burns will be in Cairo tomorrow and international talks are expected in the Egyptian capital into Wednesday to discuss a deal for a pause in the fighting and the return of more hostages.
“We believe these discussions are important,” Miller said.
Qatar and Turkey will take part. It is not yet confirmed whether Israel will participate.
My Guardian US colleague Gloria Oladipo will take over this live blog now.
Updated
The White House has acknowledged that the US does not know the locations of the remaining hostages snatched by Hamas during its murderous attacks on southern Israel last October 7 and taken into Gaza, and they may not all still be alive.
During the weekday media briefing in the west wing moments ago with national security spokesman John Kirby, which is now ongoing with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, Kirby said: “We do not have a lot of specific information about where each of the hostages are.”
There are believed to be at least 130 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory, out of the approximately 240 people who were originally taken on October 7. Since then, some groups have been released and some hostages have died.
Of those remaining in Hamas captivity in Gaza, Kirby said: “We need to accept the possibility that some hostages are no longer alive.”
US says Rafah strikes don't represent launch of full-scale offensive
Both the White House and the US state department have been consistent today in repeating the US position as being in favor of an “extended humanitarian pause” in fighting in Gaza – but without calling for an official ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
The White House moments ago, in the media briefing in the west wing, welcomed news that the Israeli military had freed two hostages during a raid by special forces in Rafah overnight.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson, said there can be no end to the Gaza crisis until Hamas releases all hostages, Reuters adds.
The White House said it cannot confirm that civilians were killed in the overnight raid on Rafah by Israel to retrieve hostages.
Meanwhile the US state department said it is not Washington’s assessment that the Israeli air strikes in Rafah overnight during the hostage rescue represents the launch of a full scale offensive in the area. The departments concur with Israel that it believes Hamas military battalions are operating in Rafah. The state department briefing has just finished. The White House briefing is ongoing.
Updated
White House stresses Israel's 'obligation to protect' over 1 million people in Rafah
The White House is reiterating that Israel must have a credible plan to protect the people in Rafah before launching an all-out offensive to try to eliminate Hamas from the southern Gazan city.
The US is not opposing Israeli aspirations to “go into Rafah to remove Hamas”, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said in the White House media briefing moments ago.
But “it’s not advisable to go in in a major way without a credible plan for the million people taking refuge in Rafah. Israel has an obligation to protect them,” Kirby said.
Updated
US not threatening to hold back funding and military assistance, says state department spokesman
The US state department is currently conducting a press briefing and spokesman Matthew Miller is responding to questions about whether the US is motivated to withdraw US funding and arms for Israel in order to pressure the state to de-escalate its military offensive in Gaza.
Under questioning from reporters, Miller has said that the US is using tools of persuasion to pressure Israel but indicated those tools do not include the threat of holding back on funding and military assistance, while saying America’s leverage on Israel is currently “not enough”.
Miller is focusing on public comments coming from US leadership, led by US president Joe Biden, who has cranked up his criticism in recent days of Israel’s violent destruction in Gaza.
“When the US stands up and says something public, that matters,” Miller said.
He added: “We have seen the government of Israel respond to it, not always the way we want or to the degree that we want.”
Miller said the US does not have “a magic wand” to fix international problems and influence policy. But reporters are pushing back by saying, yes, but the US does have the “wand” in the shape of unstinting financial support for Israel’s military might, which is fundamentally different from what another reporter characterised as “finger wagging” so far by the US to Israel.
Unhelpfully, the White House is now conducting it’s press briefing, so we’ll bring you highlights from that asap. Sticking with State Department for now.
Updated
Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said in a televised address after chairing a meeting of his cabinet on Monday that Israel’s Gaza offensive will be at the top of the agenda in his talks with Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi that are planned for Wednesday, Reuters reports.
There aren’t many more details available yet, but we’ll bring them to you as they emerge.
In the same address, Erdoğan said the two leaders would also talk about the economy, trade, tourism, energy and defence.
Updated
Hamas says three of eight Israeli hostages injured in Rafah airstrikes have died
The armed wing of Hamas said on Monday that three of eight Israeli hostages who were seriously injured following Israeli airstrikes had died from their wounds, Reuters reports.
We will postpone the announcement of the names and pictures of the dead for the coming days until the fate of the remaining wounded becomes clear,” the Al Qassam Brigades said in a statement.
More details to when they emerge. This statement follows the Israeli assault in Rafah overnight in which special forces and other military rescued two hostages held by Hamas, while dozens died in collateral destruction wrought by Israeli air strikes. The hostages were being held in the city of Rafah in the far south of Gaza, on the border with Egypt, where Palestinian residents and refugees are packed in.
Updated
Prior to posting the powerful warning on investigating war crimes in Gaza, International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan reposted a powerful X post from Malaysian international lawyer and war crimes lawyer Shyamala Alagendra.
She has posted to share an opinion piece from this past weekend’s Observer – the Guardian’s Sunday paper sibling – entitled “The world is waging war on its children, in an obscene mockery of international law” and written by foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall. The piece is subtitled: “From Gaza to Ukraine, from Sudan to Myanmar, youngsters are being raped, abducted, maimed, killed and even recruited as soldiers.”
From Ukraine and Gaza to Sudan and Myanmar, respect for the “laws of war” is being eroded or is non-existent. Most shocking, and unforgivable, is the wanton harm done to children.
— Shyamala Alagendra (@salagendra) February 12, 2024
… The cost to children will be borne [by] generations to come.” https://t.co/N9MQyF5rwy
Tisdall wrote that:
From Ukraine and Gaza to Sudan and Myanmar, respect for the “laws of war” is being eroded or is non-existent. Non-combatants are deliberately targeted. Most shocking, and unforgivable, is the wanton harm – the UN term is “grave violations” – done to children.
In his latest report on children and conflict, UN secretary general António Guterres warned that children “continued to be disproportionately affected” by war-related violence and abuses. By this, he meant killing and maiming, rape, sexual violence, abductions, school attacks and recruitment of child soldiers. All were on the rise.”
You can read the full article here.
The International Criminal Court is “actively investigating any crimes allegedly committed” in Gaza, its prosecutor Karim Khan said on X/Twitter a few minutes ago.
I am deeply concerned by the reported bombardment and potential ground incursion by Israeli forces in Rafah.
— Karim A. A. Khan KC (@KarimKhanQC) February 12, 2024
My Office has an ongoing and active investigation into the situation in the State of Palestine. This is being taken forward as a matter of the utmost urgency, with a…
He further posted: “All wars have rules and the laws applicable to armed conflict cannot be interpreted so as to render them hollow or devoid of meaning. This has been my consistent message, including from Ramallah last year. Since that time, I have not seen any discernible change in conduct by Israel.
“As I have repeatedly emphasised, those who do not comply with the law should not complain later when my office takes action pursuant to its mandate. Those who are in breach of the law will be held accountable.”
He added: “I also continue to call for the immediate release of all hostages. This also represents an important focus of our investigations.”
The ICC is not to be confused with the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The ICJ is the United Nation’s top court, established in 1945, and rules on disputes between countries as well as giving advisory opinions.
Both are based in The Hague in the Netherlands. The ICC is an inter-governmental organisation that prosecutes those accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, established in 2002 as a result of an international treaty.
International pressure is growing on Israel to hold back amid threats to invade Rafah in the far south of Gaza, where about a million Palestinian refugees have more than doubled the local population after being driven from the rest of the territory by Israel’s military offensive against Hamas, the Islamist militancy that has controlled Gaza since 2007.
The latest to speak up is Volker Türk, the UN human rights chief. In further remarks made in Geneva on Monday, AFP reports, he said:
My office has repeatedly warned against actions that violate the laws of war. The prospect of such an operation into Rafah, as circumstances stand, risks further atrocity crimes. The world must not allow this to happen.
Those with influence must restrain rather than enable. There must be an immediate ceasefire. All remaining hostages must be released. And there must be renewed collective resolve to reach a political solution,” Turk said.
Updated
UN human rights chief adds to calls for international effort to 'restrain' Israel
United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk is urging world powers to “restrain rather than enable” Israel as fears of a looming ground incursion grow among more than one million Palestinians trapped in Gaza’s far south.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to send ground troops into the crowded Rafah area as part of his goal of eliminating Hamas. His declarations have sparked international alarm, Agence France-Presse reports.
The agency further reports:
A potential full-fledged military incursion into Rafah - where some 1.5 million Palestinians are packed against the Egyptian border with nowhere further to flee - is terrifying, given the prospect that an extremely high number of civilians, again mostly children and women, will likely be killed and injured.
Sadly, given the carnage wrought so far in Gaza it is wholly imaginable what would lie ahead in Rafah.
“Beyond the pain and suffering of the bombs and bullets, this incursion into Rafah may also mean the end of the meagre humanitarian aid that has been entering and distributed with huge implications for all of Gaza, including the hundreds of thousands at grave risk of starvation and famine in the north,” Turk said in a statement on Monday.
"The world must not allow this to happen. Those with influence must restrain rather than enable. There must be an immediate ceasefire. All remaining hostages must be released. And there must be renewed collective resolve to reach a political solution." - @volker_turk
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) February 12, 2024
Updated
The Israeli raid in southern Gaza overnight lasted less than 90 minutes. The two hostages rescued were being held in an apartment guarded by Hamas gunmen, and the Associated Press offers a time line, in the local time zone (GMT +2hrs).
Local officials said 67 Palestinians were killed in heavy airstrikes launched to cover the Israeli military operation.
At 1.49am Israeli special forces stormed the apartment in Rafah where the hostages were being held.A gun battle erupted with Hamas captors.
At 1.50am, Israeli warplanes and attack helicopters used airstrikes to provide cover, flattening several residential blocks in a built-up refugee camp dating all the way back to the 1948 war, when the state of Israel was established.
At 2.30am the first reports of Palestinian casualties from Israeli strikes emerge.
At 3.14am freed hostages Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har in hospital in Israel by helicopter, where relatives await them.
At 5.30am hospitals in Rafah report Palestinians were killed in the air strikes.
At 9.59am Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomem the hostages home and praised the forces who rescued them.
At 10.17am the Gaza Health Ministry said 67 Palestinians were killed in the operation, with the toll likely to rise as recovery efforts continue.
Updated
The EU’s foreign affairs chief has called on US to stop sending arms to Israel as it did in 2006 when Tel Aviv failed to heed a growing international backlash over the then war with Lebanon.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative, also sharply criticised Benjamin Netanyahu plan to launch an offensive in Rafah, where many Palestinans have fled for safety.
It comes as a Dutch appeals court ordered the Netherlands government to block the delivery of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel over concerns they are being used to violate international law, something Israel denies.
“Netanyahu doesn’t listen to anyone. [He says] they are going to evacuate [the people]. Where? To the moon? Where are they going to evacuate this people to? he told reporters in Brussels after a meeting with the head of UNRWA, the UN agency funding Palestinian schools and hospitals.
With his patience clearly tested over the continuing bombing of Gaza, Borrell told reporters that leaders, including Joe Biden, who decry the killing, needed to stop arming Israel.
“How many times have you heard the most prominent leaders of the world saying too many people are being killed.
“President Biden has said this [killing] is too much, said it is not proportional.
“Well if you believe that too many people are being killed maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed. That is logical,” said Borrell.
“In 2006 the world ... the US already took this decision. They already a took the decision to halt the supply of arms to Israel because Israel didn’t want to stop the war. Exactly the same thing happens today. Everybody goes to Tel Aviv begging ‘Please, don’t do that, protect civilians; don’t kill so many. How many is too many?”
UNRWA commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini revealed the organisation was facing a funding gap of hundreds of millions of euro after some countries paused or suspended payments in the light of allegations that some of its staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attacks.
Before the allegations the UN agency had funds sufficient to operate until July including a now at risk €82m tranche from the EU in early March.
Now, Lazzarini said it would be “negative” to the tune of €30m to €40m in March, “significantly negative” from April. “Just to cover salaries of 30,000 staff across the region, we need at minimum €60m just .. for the salaries.
He warned that if UNRWA was closed it would have “devastating” consequences in terms of food supplies and post-war on education of “traumatised boys and girls”.
Updated
The Dutch government has been ordered to halt the export of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel, after a Dutch appeals court ruled that there was a “clear risk” that the planes could be used to violate international humanitarian law.
Several human rights organisations launched the legal challenge in December, calling for the continued transfer of aircraft parts to be reevaluated in the context of Israel’s current military actions in Gaza.
On Monday the appeals court appeared to side with campaigners. “It is undeniable that there is a clear risk that the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court said in its ruling.
The Dutch government said it would file an appeal with the country’s supreme court, amid concerns that the order had over-stepped the state’s responsibility to formulate its own foreign policy.
“The delivery of US F-35 parts to Israel in our view is not unjustified,” the country’s trade minister, Geoffrey van Leeuwen, said. He said the F-35s were crucial for Israel’s security and its ability to protect itself from threats in the region, “for example from Iran, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon”.
The Netherlands is home to one of three European regional warehouses that contain US-owned F-35 parts to be shipped to various partners, including Israel, as per existing export agreements.
The appeals court said it was likely that the F-35s were being used in Gaza. “Israel does not take sufficient account of the consequences for the civilian population when conducting its attacks,” the court decision noted, adding that the military offensive in Gaza has “caused a disproportionate number of civilian casualties, including thousands of children.”
Israel’s aerial and ground offensive in the densely populated Gaza Strip has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and displaced most of the territory’s 2.3 million people from their homes.
Israel launched its offensive in response to cross-border raid by Hamas on southern Israel during which 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds more taken hostage. Israeli officials have said that Hamas deliberately uses civilians to protect its military infrastructure and fighters, a charge denied by the Islamist group.
US should rethink military aid to Israel, EU foreign policy chief indicates
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell made a thinly veiled call on Monday for the United States to rethink its military aid to Israel due to the high number of civilian casualties in the war in Gaza.
Borrell recalled that US president Joe Biden said last week that Israel’s response to the 7 October Hamas attack had been “over the top” and US officials had repeatedly said that too many civilians were being killed in Gaza, Reuters reported.
“Well, if you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms in order to prevent so many people being killed,” Borrell told reporters after a meeting of EU development aid ministers in Brussels.
“If the international community believes that this is a slaughter, that too many people are being killed, maybe we have to think about the provision of arms,” he added.
Updated
Summary of the day so far..
The UK announced new sanctions on “four extremist Israeli settlers who have committed human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank,” the Foreign Office said.
Israel freed two Israeli hostages in Rafah on Monday under the cover of airstrikes which local health officials said killed 67 Palestinians and injured dozens in the southern Gaza city that is the last refuge of about a million displaced civilians. The freed hostages were named by the Israel Defense Forces as Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, who were taken from the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz in the 7 October Hamas attacks.
There are growing international concerns about the prospect of a ground offensive on the southern city of Rafah. The Australian government warned that Israel’s plans for a military offensive on Rafah could have “devastating consequences” for Palestinian civilians sheltering there. The foreign minister, Penny Wong, also suggested on Monday that a failure to ensure special care for more than 1 million civilians in the area, many in makeshift tents, would “cause serious harm to Israel’s own interests”. The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, meanwhile, said he is “extraordinarily concerned” about Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats to launch attacks on Rafah with no evacuation plan and no prospect of refugee camps in Egypt. On Monday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, said: “I am especially concerned by the recent attacks on Rafah where the majority of Gaza’s population has fled the destruction.” The official spokesperson for Rishi Sunak, the UK’s prime minister, said they were “deeply concerned” about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah. Echoing these concerns, the UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, said Israel should “stop and think seriously” before taking further action in Rafah, adding that many of the people in the city had already fled from other areas and have nowhere else to go.
A Dutch appeals court ordered the Dutch government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel within seven days, according to Reuters. “It is undeniable that there is a clear risk the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court said.
Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 28,340 Palestinians and injured 67,984 since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza said.
The UK government has a duty not just to support the orders of the International Court of Justice, but to change UK policy by suspending the supply of arms to Israel, David Cameron has been told by 30 UK-based organisations including legal and atrocity prevention groups.
Updated
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations’ agency UNRWA, said on Monday he had “no intention to resign” after allegations that some staff members participated in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October.
The UN agency provides aid to Palestinians in Gaza and since the allegations were made a number of donor countries have suspended funding. UNRWA has launched an investigation and dismissed staff accused of involvement in the attack.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has been holding a press conference alongside Lazzarini in Brussels.
Updated
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have warned that Israel’s war in Gaza and the related attacks on shipping through the Red Sea pose threats to the global economy, AFP reports.
The four-month-old war has hit the Middle East and north Africa region’s economy, said the IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, said.
“I fear most a longevity of the conflict because, if it goes on and on, the risk of spillover goes up,” Georgieva told the World Government Summit, an annual gathering of business and political leaders in Dubai.
“Right now we see a risk of spillover in the Suez Canal,” she said, as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked Red Sea shipping leading to the crucial maritime passage.
Updated
Giving more details about the hostage rescue in Rafah, Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari said Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were found “deep inside Rafah … held in harsh conditions”.
“They were intentionally held in the middle of a civilian neighbourhood, inside a civilian building, to try and prevent us from rescuing them. But we did,” BBC News quoted him as saying.
A woman evacuated from Gaza to the UK is desperate to help her family exit the territory amid warnings of an Israeli military ground offensive in Rafah which was hit by heavy airstrikes overnight.
Islam Alashi, 38, found herself amid the war after travelling to Gaza from Liverpool to visit her father in September. After nearly 60 days under Israeli bombardment, Alashi was able to evacuate and return to her family in the UK in December, where she has since started a fundraising campaign to evacuate her father, sister and niece as they shelter with more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population in Rafah.
“My mind is still there, to be honest, I just came to be beside my kids and my husband,” said Alashi, who has not been able to return to work or her routine before the war. “Nothing changed for me because yes I saved myself, but I can’t save the rest of my family.”
Following reports of airstrikes in Rafah last night, Alashi, who last spoke with her sister two days ago, said she is “terrified” for her family sheltering in a tent near the border, which cost them $1,000. The only option to evacuate her family now, said Alashi, is paying for them to cross into Egypt.
“If we pay $5,000 for each one of the adults and $2,500 for the baby they can be evacuated the next week,” said Alashi. The Guardian previously reported on bribes being paid up to $10,000 (£7,850) to help Palestinians leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
When her name appeared on the list of evacuees at the Rafah border crossing in December, Alashi took her father, who is Palestinian, and sister, who holds a Yemeni passport, and niece as well, hoping they’d be able to cross with her. Her family was returned to Rafah, recalled Alashi, who was too upset to turn her head as she left.
“When I can connect with my sister she’s crying all the time, and I cry, she says ‘please save us, please do something for us’,” said Alashi. “But I can’t do anything to them because it’s about governments.”
Updated
The Sanremo Italian song festival – Italy’s biggest showbiz event – has been criticised by Israel after a rapper competing in the contest’s final appealed to “stop genocide” during his appearance on stage.
Alon Bar, Israel’s ambassador to Italy, said the festival, which draws in millions of TV viewers and is used to pick the Italian candidate for the Eurovision song contest, had been exploited to “spread hatred and provocation in a superficial, irresponsible way” after the appeal by Ghali.
“In the 7 October massacre, among the 1,200 victims were over 360 young people slaughtered and raped during the Nova music festival,” Bar posted to social media. “Another 40 of them were kidnapped and are still in the hands of the terrorists. The Sanremo festival could have expressed solidarity with them. It is a shame this didn’t happen.”
You can read the full story by the Guardian’s Rome correspondent, Angela Giuffrida, here:
Updated
UK government 'deeply concerned' about planned offensive in Rafah
The official spokesperson for Rishi Sunak, the UK’s prime minister, said they were “deeply concerned” about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah.
The city, on the border with Egypt, is one of the few regions not yet targeted by an Israeli ground offensive and is providing refuge to more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population who have fled fighting elsewhere.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said:
We are obviously deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah.
Over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering there and that crossing is vital to ensuring aid can reach the people who desperately need it.
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, said Israel should “stop and think seriously” before taking further action in Rafah, which was hit by heavy airstrikes overnight.
Cameron said many of the people in Rafah had already fled from other areas and said there is nowhere else for them to go.
Speaking to reporters in East Kilbride, Scotland, he said:
We are very concerned about what is happening in Rafah because, let’s be clear, the people there, many of whom have moved four, five, six times before getting there.
It really, we think, is impossible to see how you can fight a war among these people, there is nowhere for them to go.
They can’t go south into Egypt, they can’t go north and back to their homes because many have been destroyed.
So we are very concerned about the situation and we want Israel to stop and think seriously before it takes any further action.
But above all, what we want is an immediate pause in the fighting. We want that pause to lead to a ceasefire, a sustainable ceasefire without a return to further fighting. That is what should happen now.
We need to get those hostages out, including the British nationals. We need to get the aid in. The best way to do that is to stop the fighting now and turn that into a permanent, sustainable ceasefire.
Updated
Israel says Hamas forces halved with more than 12,000 gunmen killed
An Israeli government spokesperson said that Hamas had been reduced to half its fighting force, Reuters reported.
“We’re talking about three-quarters of Hamas’ battalions that have been shattered … with over 12,000 terrorists who have been killed,” spokesperson Eylon Levy said.
Updated
UK sanctions extremist settlers in the West Bank
The United Kingdom has announced new sanctions on “four extremist Israeli settlers who have committed human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank,” the Foreign Office said.
The foreign secretary, David Cameron, said in a statement:
Today’s sanctions place restrictions on those involved in some of the most egregious abuses of human rights. We should be clear about what is happening here. Extremist Israeli settlers are threatening Palestinians, often at gunpoint, and forcing them off land that is rightfully theirs. This behaviour is illegal and unacceptable.
Israel must also take stronger action and put a stop to settler violence. Too often, we see commitments made and undertakings given, but not followed through.
Extremist settlers, by targeting and attacking Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Updated
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories, will not be allowed to enter Israel or the Palestinian territories, the Israeli government has announced.
#BREAKING: UN's @franceskalbs, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, will not be allowed to enter Israel or the Palestinian territories after recent comment - Israel's foreign minister @Israel_katz and interior minister Moshe Arbel announce
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) February 12, 2024
Discussions will take place today in Israel on the question of whether to send a delegation to Cairo tomorrow, the Israeli public broadcaster reports.
American officials see talks in Egypt as an “important event”, and Israeli officials say that this boosts chances that Israel will participate, according to the broadcaster.
בישראל יקיימו היום דיונים בנוגע לשליחת משלחת לפסגת קהיר שתתקיים מחר. גורמים בישראל הבהירו בימים האחרונים כי התשובה תלויה בשינוי עמדת חמאס, אולם בשל העובדה שהממשל האמריקני רואה בפסגה "אירוע חשוב", גורמים ישראלים אומרים כי זה מעלה את הסיכוי שישראל תשתתף בו@AmichaiStein1
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 12, 2024
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, is in the region today.
Rutte, who is considered a frontrunner to become the next Nato secretary-general, said he has three priorities: the need for more humanitarian aid, the release of hostages and a reduction in the intensity of Israeli operations.
Vandaag ben ik in Israël en de Palestijnse gebieden. Hier voer ik gesprekken met @IsraeliPM Netanyahu en met de Palestijnse minister-president @DrShtayyeh. Drie dingen hebben nu de grootste prioriteit: er is massief meer humanitaire hulp nodig in Gaza, Hamas moet de meer dan 100…
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) February 12, 2024
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, met today with Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany’s opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.
The Israeli leader’s office said:
Netanyahu thanked Opposition Leader Merz for his unwavering support of Israel and its right to defend itself, and for Germany’s historic commitment to Israel. The sides also discussed the need to further develop bilateral ties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, with German Leader of the Opposition, and Chairman of the CDU/CSU group, Friedrich Merz.https://t.co/ixMdql6H8B pic.twitter.com/HXKVN4Ec2S
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) February 12, 2024
Here are some of the latest images coming out from the newswires:
A local Hezbollah official was seriously injured on Monday in an Israeli airstrike on his car in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese security source told AFP.
Israeli forces and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, have traded near-daily fire since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 240 taken hostage.
The source said an Israeli strike “targeted a local Hezbollah official in the town of Bint Jbeil”, which lies near the country’s southern border with Israel, and the official was “seriously injured”.
Lebanon’s official National news agency, meanwhile, said “an enemy drone targeted a car near the hospital” in Bint Jbeil.
An AFP journalist on the ground saw the targeted car severely damaged with its roof pierced through.
Hezbollah is both a political party with ministers in the Lebanese cabinet and a militant movement with forces that are stronger than the national army.
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
Israel freed two Israeli hostages in Rafah on Monday under the cover of airstrikes which local health officials said killed 67 Palestinians and injured dozens in the southern Gaza city that is the last refuge of about a million displaced civilians. The freed hostages were named by the Israel Defense Forces as Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, who were taken from the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz in the 7 October Hamas attacks.
There are growing international concerns about the prospect of a ground offensive on the southern city of Rafah. The Australian government warned that Israel’s plans for a military offensive on Rafah could have “devastating consequences” for Palestinian civilians sheltering there. The foreign minister, Penny Wong, also suggested on Monday that a failure to ensure special care for more than 1 million civilians in the area, many in makeshift tents, would “cause serious harm to Israel’s own interests”. The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, meanwhile, said he is “extraordinarily concerned” about Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats to launch attacks on Rafah with no evacuation plan and no prospect of refugee camps in Egypt. On Monday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, said: “I am especially concerned by the recent attacks on Rafah where the majority of Gaza’s population has fled the destruction.”
A Dutch appeals court ordered the Dutch government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel within seven days, according to Reuters. “It is undeniable that there is a clear risk the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court said.
Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 28,340 Palestinians and injured 67,984 since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza said.
The UK government has a duty not just to support the orders of the International Court of Justice, but to change UK policy by suspending the supply of arms to Israel, the foreign secretary, David Cameron, has been told by 30 UK-based organisations including legal and atrocity prevention groups.
Updated
Australia warns Israel’s plans for Rafah ground offensive could have ‘devastating consequences’
The Australian government has warned that Israel’s plans for a military offensive on Rafah could have “devastating consequences” for Palestinian civilians sheltering there.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, also suggested on Monday that a failure to ensure special care for more than 1 million civilians in the area, many in makeshift tents, would “cause serious harm to Israel’s own interests”.
Wong said 153 countries, including Australia, had already voted at the UN general assembly for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
“Many of Israel’s friends, including Australia, have expressed deep concerns about reports of an Israeli military operation in Rafah,” she said on Monday.
“There is growing international consensus: Israel must listen to its friends and it must listen to the international community.”
Wong said Israel had a special obligation to “more than a million civilians sheltering in and around Rafah”.
She said:
Many civilians who were displaced in Israeli operations in the north have moved south to this area, often under Israeli direction.
Israel now must exercise special care in relation to these civilians. Not doing so would have devastating consequences for those civilians and cause serious harm to Israel’s own interests.
You can read the full story by the Guardian Australia’s foreign affairs and defence correspondent, Daniel Hurst, here:
Updated
The US Senate will on Monday attempt to steer a $95.34bn package containing aid for Ukraine and Israel to passage this week after months of delays, Reuters reports.
On Sunday, the bill got a boost when the Senate voted 67-27 to move it past an important procedural hurdle. Also over the weekend, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer set a course for passage by Wednesday.
On Monday, the Senate is expected to cast a procedural vote that, if successful, would keep the bill, which includes funds for border security, moving forward.
The Republican-majority House passed an Israel-only bill in November, but it was never taken up in the Democratic-led Senate, as members worked on Joe Biden’s request for Congress to approve the broader emergency security package.
Updated
Relatives of two hostages rescued overnight from Gaza have appealed for a broader deal between Israel and Hamas to secure the release of other people still held in the Palestinian territory.
The freed hostages were named by the Israel Defense Forces as Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, who were taken from the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz in the 7 October Hamas attacks.
AFP reports:
Speaking from an Israeli hospital where the two were undergoing medical tests, Har’s son-in-law described “a lot of tears, hugs, not many words” when the family was reunited.
“Luckily for us, as a family, they were saved tonight. But I must say that the job is not done,” Idan Bejerano told journalists at Sheba hospital near Tel Aviv.
“We are happy today, but we didn’t win. It’s just another step towards bringing all the other” hostages home, he continued.
Marman’s niece, Gefen Sigal Ilan, said she was still “shaking” from the news of her uncle’s rescue.
“When I saw him I couldn’t believe he was real,” she told AFP. She said the families of hostages will keep fighting for the release of other captives.
“I want to say we will not stop until all hostages are free … We will fight for their freedom,” said Ilan, 36.
Talks have been under way for weeks to secure a second truce in the four-month war, which would see more hostages freed in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Updated
Nebal Farsakh, the spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society, has spoken with Al Jazeera amid international concerns about the prospect of a ground offensive on the southern city of Rafah.
Rafah already has nearly half of Gaza’s population. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, people have been fleeing to Rafah following Israeli evacuation orders. Families have already evacuated up to 10 times.
The question is – where should people go? There is no safe place at all and there is no way to evacuate. On top of that, there is a complete destruction of the infrastructure, and the lack of transportation as well makes it impossible for people to make their way anywhere.
Updated
Dutch court orders halt to export of F-35 jet parts to Israel
A Dutch appeals court has ordered the Dutch government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel within seven days, according to Reuters.
“It is undeniable that there is a clear risk the exported F-35 parts are used in serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the court said.
The US-owned F-35 parts are stored at a warehouse in the Netherlands and then shipped to several partners, including Israel, via existing export agreements.
“In doing so, the Netherlands is contributing to serious violations of humanitarian law of war in Gaza,” the rights groups, whose appeal was upheld by the court on Monday, argued.
“The court orders the state to cease all actual export and transit of F-35 parts with final destination Israel within seven days after service of this judgment,” the ruling said.
Updated
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that Israel would not pass up any opportunity to free more hostages from Gaza.
Death toll in Gaza reaches 28,340, says health ministry
Israeli strikes on Gaza have killed 28,340 Palestinians and injured 67,984 since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza said on Monday.
Most of the casualties have been women and children, the ministry has said, and thousands more bodies are likely to remain uncounted under rubble across Gaza.
EU foreign policy chief 'extraordinarily concerned' about Israel's planned Rafah offensive
The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said he is “extraordinarily concerned” about Benjamin Netanyahu’s threats to launch attacks on Rafah with no evacuation plan and no prospect of refugee camps in Egypt.
He said:
I am happy to know that two hostages have been liberated but also very much worried by the situation in the border with Egypt where new military operations seem to be taking place by the Israeli defence forces.
Netanyahu has been asking for the evacuation of 1.7 million people without saying where these people could be evacuated.
The situation with Egypt is very tense and we are extraordinarily concerned about what can happen there.
Speaking on the way into a meeting of UNWRA commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, and the EU’s development ministers, he added: “Even in the US, which is the strongest supporter of Israel, President Biden himself considers that this action is disproportionate.”
“The toll of people being killed, civilians being killed is unbearable,” he said, adding that the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had been “begging” Netanyahu “to stop killing people”.
“If they launch an offensive against a highly populated area with more than 1.7 million people, they will crash against a wall, they cannot escape,” he said.
On Donald Trump and Nato he was sharply critical. “Nato is not an a la carte alliance that depends on the humour of the US president,” he said after the former president said he would “encourage” Russia to attack any of the US’s Nato allies whom he considers to have not met their financial obligations.
Updated
At least 67 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in Rafah - health officials
We reported earlier that hospital officials told the Associated Press that at least 50 people had been killed in the Israeli airstrikes that accompanied the hostage rescue operation in Rafah.
Now, Palestinian health officials say the operation killed at least 67 Palestinians, including women and children.
A joint operation by the Israeli military, the domestic Shin Bet Security Service and the Special Police Unit in Rafah freed Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, the military said.
Updated
Germany has said UNWRA’s work in Gaza must continue in parallel with the investigation into allegations that several workers were involved in Hamas’s October terrorist attacks on Israel.
Ahead of a meeting in Brussels with UNWRA chiefs, Germany’s development minister, Jochen Flasbarth, said it had paused additional new finance for UNWRA until the investigation into the allegations is concluded.
But he added:
This is not a payment stop and it does not include UNRWA outside the Gaza Strip.
We believe that the UN has taken the right steps, but I also say that UNRWA’s work is not replaceable in the Gaza Strip.
Many people are dying, but human aid is indispensable and we need UNRWA for that.
Updated
The WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said only 15 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza were “still partially or minimally functioning” and that aid workers were doing their best in impossible circumstances.
Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, he said the WHO, the UN’s health agency, continued to call for safe access for humanitarian personnel and supplies, for Hamas to release hostages, and for a ceasefire.
“I am especially concerned by the recent attacks on Rafah where the majority of Gaza’s population has fled the destruction,” he said.
“So far, we have delivered 447 metric tonnes of medical supplies to Gaza, but it’s a drop in the ocean of need, which continues to grow every day.”
UK has duty to suspend the supply of arms to Israel, legal groups tell David Cameron
The UK government has a duty not just to support the orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), but to change UK policy by suspending the supply of arms to Israel, the foreign secretary, David Cameron, has been told by 30 UK-based organisations including legal and atrocity prevention groups.
The letter, sent last week, argues the government as a signatory to the Genocide Convention, “is bound to ensure it helps prevent and ensure it is not complicit in violations of the convention. The provisional measures issued by the ICJ therefore have immediate and urgent implications for UK policy.”
The Israeli government has been given until 23 February to report to the ICJ on what it has done to comply with six orders the court issued last month, including one relating to ending incitement to genocide and another requiring immediate steps to improve the supply of humanitarian aid.
Israel says it is allowing food and water into Gaza, and only making checks to stop items being diverted to Hamas. It has also denied it has any intention of committing genocide, and the ICJ has not ruled one is taking place. Civilian casualties are due to the close urban warfare, and Hamas refusal to release hostages.
The briefing from the UK-based organisations spelling out the implications of the orders issued to Israel by the ICJ for other signatories to the Genocide Convention has also been sent to the shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, and to the UK special envoy for humanitarian aid in Gaza, Mark Bryson-Richardson.
The group claimed the government now “must ensure that it is in no way enabling or otherwise complicit in the commission of acts that the court has found could plausibly be in violation of the convention”.
They add: “In light of the court’s findings, there is now a clear risk, as set out under the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (SELC), that British arms and military equipment transferred to Israel might be used to facilitate or commit violations of the Genocide Convention as well as violations of international humanitarian law”.
They also say the government “must become far more assertive in its condemnation” of any Israeli government statements and rhetoric that could be deemed to incite genocide.
Similarly, the UK must recognise the court’s finding that the withholding of basic services and humanitarian assistance in Gaza could violate the Genocide Convention and that Israel has therefore been ordered to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life”.
They say this requires Israel immediately to “reverse its decision to deprive water and electricity to Palestinians in Gaza both of which constitute urgently needed basic services”.
The authors argue the UK response to the ICJ ruling is central to Britain’s reputation. “The UK has long considered itself a leader in the realms of justice and accountability, supporting the process for the new crimes against humanity treaty, securing an investigative mechanism via the Human Rights Council for Sudan, intervening in the genocide case brought by the Gambia against Myanmar which is currently before the ICJ,” they write.
“The application of justice and accountability for international crimes can never be selective. Inconsistency is the enabler of impunity everywhere. The UK must be steadfast in its support of the ICJ as a competent and appropriate court to hear and investigate state disputes regarding the Genocide Convention, and ensure that the court’s decisions are respected and abided by. Failure to do so risks the lives of Palestinians and Israelis. It also risks unravelling the very foundations of the international rules-based system of international justice, and the UK’s role in the world – playing into the hands of actors who have everything to gain from a broken United Nations.”
In recent weeks the UK Foreign Office has stepped up its demands for both sides to back a humanitarian pause leading to a ceasefire. Cameron on Saturday said he was also deeply concerned by a possible attack on Rafah in Southern Gaza saying “half of Gaza’s population are sheltering there”.
Bryson-Richardson has been negotiating daily with Israeli authorities, urging them to restore water supply lines, reconnect electricity supplies and let in sufficient fuel to power critical infrastructure like bakeries.
But there has been no public statement from the UK government that Israel’s actions subsequent to the court judgment may be in breach of the ICJ order, or that the UK will take new steps to demand aid is delivered.
Dr Kate Ferguson, co-executive director of Protection Approaches and one of the letter’s authors, said:“I worry the UK is still conflating the armed conflict with Hamas and the campaign being waged against the Palestinian people. The order to evacuate and prepare for a ground offensive in Rafah is a brazen disregard of the ICJ order and must be taken as an urgent warning of further atrocity crimes against civilians.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy said: “Israel is bound by international law and continues to act against a genocidal terrorist organisation, which commits war crimes as well as crimes against humanity.
“Israel is enabling the entrance of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and is facilitating the transfer of any amount of aid requested. The scope of incoming aid is limited only by the handling capabilities of the UN and other aid agencies within the Gaza Strip.
“Claims regarding the food situation in Gaza are inaccurate and are intended to divert the focus from the ongoing failure of these organisations in handling and managing the distribution of aid to the residents who need it.”
Updated
The Associated Press has some more information about the operation that led to the two Israeli hostages being freed in Rafah:
Israeli military spokesperson Read Adm. Daniel Hagari said the two hostages had been held in a second-floor apartment in Rafah, under guard from Hamas gunmen, both in the apartment and nearby buildings.
Hagari said special forces broke into the apartment under fire at 1:49 am on Monday, accompanied a minute later by airstrikes on surrounding areas. He said members of the rescue team shielded the hostages with their bodies as a heavy battle erupted in several places at once with Hamas gunmen.
The hostages were taken to a nearby “safe area,” given a quick medical check and airlifted to Sheba medical centre in central Israel. Their medical condition was reported to be good. They are just the second and third hostage to be rescued safely; a female soldier was rescued in November.
Hagari said the operation was based on precise intelligence and planned for some time. Netanyahu joined Israel’s military chief and other top officials as the raid unfolded.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated his call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai that medical supplies provided to Gaza so far represent “a drop in the ocean of need which continues to grow every day”.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 9:10am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and here are the latest developments:
Hospital officials in Rafah say at least 50 people have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes that accompanied a hostage rescue operation, according to the Associated Press. Dr Marwan al-Hams, director of the Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital, said that the dead included women and children. An Associated Press journalist also counted the bodies brought to hospital.
The bombing in Rafah caused widespread panic in the city as people were asleep when they started, according to residents contacted by Reuters. Some feared Israel had begun its ground offensive into Rafah. Israeli planes, tanks and ships took part in the strikes, with two mosques and several houses hit, according to residents.
A joint operation by the Israel Defence Force (IDF), Israel’s domestic Shin Bet Security Service and the Special Police Unit in Rafah freed Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, the Israeli military said.
Har’s son-in-law, Idan Bergerano, has told Israel’s Channel 13 TV that he and his wife were able to see the released captives at the hospital, according to Associated Press.
Reuters is reporting that Hamas said in a statement that the strikes are a continuation of the ‘genocidal war’ and the forced displacement attempts Israel has waged against the Palestinian people.
US president Joe Biden is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Washington on Monday. The two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing effort to free hostages held in Gaza, and growing concern over a possible Israeli military operation in the port city of Rafah, the Associated Press reports.
New Zealand has urged Israel to rethink a planned offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to reports from Australian Associated Press. On Monday afternoon, New Zealand’s prime minister, Chris Luxon, said: “Palestinian civilians cannot pay the price of Israel trying to defeat Hamas … There are 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah at the moment. We are extremely concerned about that.”
A vessel has reported coming under a missile attack off Yemen’s southern coast on Monday while transiting the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait, security agencies have told Agence France-Presse.
Updated
A vessel has reported coming under a missile attack off Yemen’s southern coast on Monday while transiting the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait, security agencies have told Agence France-Presse.
The incident occurred before 0400 local time (0100 GMT) in an area where Houthi rebels have repeatedly targeted Red Sea shipping in recent months, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said in a report.
“The crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to next port of call,” UKMTO said.
Another security firm, Ambrey, said the Marshall Islands-flagged, Greece-owned bulk carrier “was targeted by missiles in two separate incidents” within 20 minutes and “was reportedly hit and sustained physical damage on the starboard side”.
The vessel had a private armed security team on board, Ambrey said.
At least 50 killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah, say hospital officials
Hospital officials in Rafah say at least 50 people have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes that accompanied a hostage rescue operation, according to Associated Press.
Dr Marwan al-Hams, director of the Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital, said Monday the dead included women and children. An Associated Press journalist also counted the bodies brought to hospital.
The Israeli military said it rescued two hostages held in the territory in a raid that was backed up by Israeli strikes.
This is a developing story and we will bring you more when we have it
We’ve also had some images come in after the rescue of two Israeli hostages that were being held in Rafah by Hamas.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images coming to us from Rafah in the wake of those Israeli strikes on the southern city:
New Zealand has urged Israel to rethink a planned offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, according to reports from Australian Associated Press.
On Monday afternoon, New Zealand prime minister Chris Luxon said:
Palestinian civilians cannot pay the price of Israel trying to defeat Hamas …
There are 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in Rafah at the moment. We are extremely concerned about that.
The UK, Germany, EU and Egypt are among those to issue similar statements of concern.
There is a discrepancy in the death toll being reported after the Israeli strikes in Rafah.
Israel launched a special forces operation that freed two Israeli hostages in Rafah amid airstrikes early on Monday.
Reuters is quoting local health officials as saying 37 people were killed and dozens wounded in the southern Gaza city.
Meanwhile Associated Press is quoting local hospital officials, who say the death toll is at least 16 Palestinians killed and 55 wounded in the overnight airstrikes.
Jordan's King Abdullah expected in Washington for talks with Biden
US president Joe Biden is hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Washington Monday.
The two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing effort to free hostages held in Gaza, and growing concern over a possible Israeli military operation in the port city of Rafah, Associated Press reports.
It is the first meeting between the allies since three American troops were killed last month in a drone strike against a US base in Jordan. Biden blamed Iran-backed militias for the fatalities.
It was reported by Reuters earlier that King Abdullah participated in an airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to the state-owned Al Mamlaka broadcaster.
A video showed the monarch in military gear on board a plane in the latest mission by the Jordanian air force to drop urgent medical supplies to field hospitals it runs in the war-torn territory. According to official media, the latest airdrop was on 6 February.
Updated
Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har have been named as the two hostages rescued.
Har’s son-in-law, Idan Bergerano, has told Israel’s Channel 13 TV that he and his wife were able to see the released captives at the hospital, according to Associated Press.
He said the two men appeared thin and pale, but were communicating well and aware of their surroundings.
Bergernano said Har told him immediately upon seeing him: “You have a birthday today, mazal tov.”
הותר לפרסום כי במבצע משותף של צה"ל, שב"כ ומשטרת ישראל (ימ"מ) ברפיח, חולצו הלילה שני חטופים ישראלים, פרננדו סימון מרמן (60) ולואיס הר (70) אשר נחטפו על ידי חמאס לרצועת עזה מניר יצחק ב-7/10>> pic.twitter.com/SOVNoiRWqI
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) February 12, 2024
Hamas has commented on the Israeli strikes in Rafah
Reuters is reporting that Hamas said in a statement that the strikes are a continuation of the ‘genocidal war’ and the forced displacement attempts Israel has waged against the Palestinian people.
The Israeli military says it has rescued two hostages during the strikes. Israeli military spokesperson Lt Col. Richard Hecht said an airstrike was carried out to allow the forces to be extracted after the rescue, according to Reuters.
Monday’s raid included at least 15 airstrikes, flares and Apache helicopter fire, witnesses told Associated Press. It was not clear how many of the strikes were linked to the hostage rescue.
Hecht said the operation was based on “precise intelligence,” and that the site, located on the second floor of a building, had been watched for some time.
He said Netanyahu joined Israel’s military chief and other top officials as the raid unfolded.
Updated
Israel rescues two hostages as airstrikes hit Rafah
Israel carried out a special forces operation that freed two Israeli hostages in Rafah while striking the southern city.
Local health officials from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry say airstrikes early on Monday killed 37 people and wounded dozens. The bombing caused widespread panic in Rafah as people were asleep when they started, according to residents contacted by Reuters using a chat app. Some feared Israel had begun its ground offensive into Rafah.
Israeli planes, tanks and ships took part in the strikes, with two mosques and several houses hit, according to residents.
A joint operation by the Israel Defence Force (IDF), Israel’s domestic Shin Bet Security Service and the Special Police Unit in Rafah freed Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, the Israeli military said.
The two men, who were kidnapped by Hamas from Nir Yitzhak kibbutz during the 7 October attacks were said to be in a good condition and taken to the Tel Hashomer medical complex, the military said.
“It was a very complex operation,” Israeli military spokesperson Lt Col. Richard Hecht said. “We’ve been working a long time on this operation. We were waiting for the right conditions,” reports Reuters.
The hostages were being held on the second floor of a building that was breached with an explosive charge during the raid, which saw heavy exchanges of gunfire with surrounding buildings, Hecht said.
At the same time, an airstrike was carried out to allow the forces to be extracted, he said.
US President Joe Biden told prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that Israel should not launch a full military operation in Rafah without a credible plan to ensure the safety of the roughly 1 million people sheltering there, the White House said.
Updated
Welcome and opening summary
It’s 6:58am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. I’m Reged Ahmad and welcome to our latest blog on the continuing Middle East crisis, I’ll be with you for the next while.
Israel has carried out a special forces operation into Rafah that’s freed two Israeli hostages amid airstrikes, early on Monday. The airstrikes caused widespread panic in Rafah as many people were asleep when they started, Reuters reports.
Local health officials say 37 people were killed and dozens wounded in the southern Gaza city – which has been described as a ‘safe’ zone in the past.
More on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the main developments so far:
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, suggested that “enough” of the 130 or so remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza are alive to justify Israel’s ongoing war in the region. Asked how many of the hostages are still alive, Netanyahu said “enough to warrant the kind of efforts that we’re doing”. “We’re going to try to do our best to get all those who are alive back and, frankly, also the bodies of the dead,” he said in an interview with ABC’s This Week programme. Israel has previously said it believes 31 of the 136 hostages being held in Gaza are dead.
Separately, Netanyahu told Fox News Sunday he had not spoken to Joe Biden since the US president made remarks earlier this week about Israel’s military response in Gaza being “over the top”. The comments come as Israel faces growing international warnings over its planned offensive in Rafah.
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, said he was “deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah - over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering in the area”.
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip over the past few days have killed two Israeli hostages and seriously injured eight others, Hamas’ armed-wing Al Qassam Brigades said over the group’s Telegram channel.
Any Israeli ground offensive in Rafah on the Gaza border will “blow up” the hostage exchange negotiations, Hamas-run Aqsa television channel quoted a senior Hamas leader as saying.
Israeli forces have discovered a tunnel network hundreds of metres long and running partly under the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine’s (UNRWA) Gaza headquarters, the military said, calling it new evidence of Hamas exploitation of the main relief agency for Palestinians.
The cousin of a six-year-old Palestinian girl who died in Gaza after her family’s car appeared to come under fire from Israeli tanks has told how he spoke to her as she waited to be rescued and said he was haunted by her last words.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said Israeli forces have prevented oxygen from reaching the al-Amal hospital for over a week, resulting in the deaths of three patients. The PRCS said Israel has also not provided medical equipment, and continues to block the delivery of fuel for the hospital’s electricity generators, despite the fuel supply running out in two days, risking a shutdown. The IDF has now posted on its X account that it has allowed oxygen through.
A total of 28,176 Palestinians have been killed and 67,784 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday. An estimated 112 Palestinians were killed and 173 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
The US military said it struck more devices and missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea.
