Gaza holds its breath over possible ceasefire, invasion, or both – Day 210

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Gaza holds its breath over possible ceasefire, invasion, or both – Day 210
Palestinians at the site of a mosque destroyed in an Israeli airstrike, near the Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, April 26, 2024. (photo)

Israel’s ultimatum; leaked ceasefire details; aid drop malfunction results in Palestinian deaths; Rafah’s 600,000 children at risk; no detailed evacuation plan; Israeli human rights groups take Israeli gov’t to court over aid delivery failure; Israeli attack on West Bank leaves 6 Palestinians dead; Orthodox Easter weekend restrictions; House Dems pressure Biden to halt weapons sales; campus protest news, more

By IAK staff, from reports

Israel Gives Hamas a Week to Strike a Deal or Rafah Offensive Will Begin

Wall Street Journal reports: Israel has given Hamas a week to agree to a cease-fire deal or it will go ahead with its military operation in Rafah, Egyptian officials briefed on the matter said Friday, as the militant group holds out for better terms.

Egyptian officials say Hamas is seeking a long-term truce and guarantees from the U.S. that a cease-fire will be respected by Israel. Hamas officials have expressed concerns that the latest proposal is still too vague and gives Israel room to restart the fighting.

The latest proposal calls for an initial period of calm for up to 40 days, during which Hamas would release up to 33 hostages, with the possible negotiation of a long-term cease-fire to follow. The following phases would include a cease-fire of at least six weeks during which Hamas and Israel would aim to agree on the release of more hostages and an extended pause in fighting that could last up to a year.

Netanyahu says the military will send ground forces into Rafah—a city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where more than one million Palestinian civilians are sheltering—regardless of whether a deal is struck. The Israeli military has said Rafah is Hamas’s last stronghold. But behind closed doors, Israeli officials are considering postponing the Rafah invasion indefinitely if a long-term deal is struck, Egyptian officials say.

Hamas officials have voiced concerns that Netanyahu was provoking the group into refusing the proposal in order to invade Rafah and blame Hamas for the failure of the negotiations. The group is expected to respond to the proposal with a counteroffer rather than immediately rejecting it, according to the Egyptian officials.

Electronic Intifada adds: Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, said, “Just to let you know that people have not yet been asked to evacuate from Rafah. But there is a sense that if there is no deal this week, this can happen at any time.”

NOTE: Netanyahu recently declared, “The idea that we will stop the war before achieving all of its goals is out of the question. We will enter Rafah and we will eliminate Hamas’ battalions there — with or without a deal, to achieve the total victory.”
Palestinians who take refuge in a tent camp in Rafah face the risk of epidemics due to uncollected rubbish and accumulated sewage water, Friday
Palestinians who take refuge in a tent camp in Rafah face the risk of epidemics due to uncollected rubbish and accumulated sewage water (photo)

Leaked details of ceasefire proposal hints at compromises to end war in Gaza

The Associated Press reports that leaked details on truce proposal talks between Israel and Hamas hints at compromises on both sides to end the war on Gaza.

The initial stage of the deal would last for 40 days. During this period, Hamas would start by releasing female civilian captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

After this first release, Israeli forces would withdraw from a coastal road in Gaza and head inland to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid to the starved Palestinian territory.

During this period, displaced Palestinian civilians would be able to return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip. Hamas would also provide a list of captives who are still alive during that time.

(Read more about the leaked ceasefire proposal here.)

Rebuilding Gaza could cost as much as $40bn, according to the UN
Rebuilding Gaza could cost as much as $40bn, according to the UN (photo)

We’ve shown Gaza’s suffering for over 200 days. Don’t look away now

A Palestinian journalist writes for +972 Magazine:

In spite of the never-ending crisis, and in spite of the world’s growing indifference, we cling to the hope that justice will prevail. We yearn for the recognition of our inherent humanity and right to live freely and equally.

True solidarity must champion justice for all, refusing to prioritize one people’s rights over another’s. It is imperative that the world directs genuine attention to our cries of suffering on the ground, and brings an end to the agony and bloodshed.

What we need is not more talk, more negotiations, more hollow words and gestures. We need sustained grassroots action all over the world, as well as politicians and policymakers who are willing to confront the reality of Palestine’s genocide and to hold Israel and its enablers accountable for their atrocities.

This enduring state of oppression has persisted throughout our existence, infringing upon every fundamental right to live in safety and freedom. It has been in effect not only for 200 days, but for 75 years, since the initial displacement and uprooting of Palestinians from cities, towns, and villages throughout our occupied homeland.

(Read the full article here.)

Palestinian children ride their bicycles along a street devastated by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City on May 3, 2024
Palestinian children ride their bicycles along a street devastated by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City on May 3, 2024 (photo)

Falling aid pallet kills, injures several Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza

Andalou Agency reports: Several Palestinians waiting for aid were killed and injured on Friday when an aid pallet airdropped on the northern Gaza Strip fell without its parachutes opening, Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency said.

“The falling of an aid pallet from the air directly onto a group of citizens in the northern part of the Strip led to the deaths and injuries of several people,” the agency’s spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, said in a statement.

Basal, however, did not specify the number of casualties.

Similar incidents in the past have resulted in the deaths and injuries of a significant number of people in Gaza.

Majority of Rafah’s 600,000 children face injury, illness, malnutrition, trauma, disabilities: UN

Andalou Agency reports: Citing reports from UNICEF, the UN deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, at a news conference said a military operation into Rafah “would bring catastrophe on top of catastrophe” for the children there.

Echoing UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell’s sentiments that emphasized the dire conditions faced by the children of Rafah, Haq said “nearly all of the some 600,000 children in Rafah are either injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized or living with disabilities.”

Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) underscored the precarious state of healthcare facilities in Rafah, revealing that three out of the 12 hospitals in Gaza that are still partially functioning are located in the region.

WHO warned that these facilities “will quickly become non-functional if there’s a military incursion into Rafah, and then a full scale military operation into Rafah could lead to a bloodbath,” Haq said.

A child hospitalized with a gunshot wound at the European public hospital near Rafah, Gaza, in February 2024.
A child hospitalized with a gunshot wound at the European public hospital near Rafah, Gaza, in February 2024. (photo)

WHO contingency plan for Rafah incursion only a ‘band-aid’

Reuters reports: A World Health Organization official says that the agency had a contingency plan prepared in case Israel followed through on its planned incursion into Gaza’s Rafah but said it would not be sufficient to prevent a substantial rise in the death toll.

“I want to really say that this contingency plan is a band-aid,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, at a Geneva press briefing via videolink.

“It will absolutely not prevent the expected substantial additional mortality and morbidity posed by a military operation.”

Israel has said it will work to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians from Rafah. The United States has long said it cannot support an assault on Rafah by its ally Israel unless there is a comprehensive plan to protect civilians.

Israel has given Washington some preliminary information, said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, but “we haven’t seen a full plan, nothing that would give us the confidence we’re looking for.”

Palestinians walk between damaged buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 2, 2024
Palestinians walk between damaged buildings in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on May 2, 2024 (photo)

Israeli rights groups tell Israeli High Court that gov’t is not meeting Gaza aid obligations

Times of Israel reports: Five Israeli human rights groups have petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice demanding that the government specify what measures the executive branch is taking to step up aid deliveries to Gaza, where the United Nations has warned famine is looming.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem November 13, 2019
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (photo)

The government has maintained that the steps it has taken so far to facilitate the entry of relief items to Gaza went “above and beyond” its obligations.

“It is inconceivable that the respondents, who admit to not having even the faintest idea about the extent of the aid required for residents of the Gaza Strip, are claiming that they have fulfilled their obligations – and even beyond,” the groups said in a response published by Gisha on Friday.

Israel has insisted it does not block relief entering Gaza, and that any shortages are the result of the inability of aid agencies to distribute it to those in need.

Aid organizations have long complained of obstacles to getting relief to those in need inside Gaza.

But Israel has insisted it does not block relief entering Gaza, and that any shortages are the result of the inability of aid agencies to distribute it to those in need.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said in April that there has been “a great surge in the amount of humanitarian aid going into Gaza.”

In total, it said, more than 6,000 trucks carrying food, water, medical supplies and tents entered the enclave last month.

“There is no limit to the amount of aid that can be facilitated into Gaza, and the month of April proved it,” it said on X.

NOTE: Aid agencies working in Gaza report that many of the trucks Israel allows to cross the border are only half full. Even 6,000 full trucks in April, an average of 200 a day, is a fraction of what is needed. Al Jazeera reported that Israel and the US have set a target of 300-400 – much less than the 500 trucks per day that entered Gaza before the war (and before agricultural land and food processing facilities had been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes), and significantly less than the 1,000 daily trucks that officials in Gaza say are required to meet the needs of Palestinians in the enclave.
ALSO NOTE: Israel has not proven itself trustworthy. Among Israel’s lies are numerous atrocity stories about the October 7th attack that have since been proven untrue (more examples here). Previously, Israel has been caught in many lies – for example, this and this and this.
Palestinian children carry pots as they queue to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages in food supplies, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip December 14, 2023.
Palestinian children carry pots as they queue to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages in food supplies, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip December 14, 2023. (photo)

Israel punishes Palestinian Authority in response to Turkiye severing trade ties with Israel

Middle East Monitor reports: The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to Turkiye ceasing all forms of economic exchange with it by announcing that it would work to reduce the volume of trade exchange between Turkiye, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Gaza.

The statement noted: “In the discussion, it was decided to promote a number of important and practical decisions, within the framework of inter-ministerial cooperation, as a sharp response to Erdogan’s unilateral decision to stop trade with Israel.”

Among the most critical steps that were agreed to be strengthened, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry statement, are working to reduce any economic relationship between Turkiye, the PA and Gaza (Turkiye is the largest supplier country to the PA, with its total imports to the PA at about 18 per cent) and calling on international economic forums to look into sanctions on Turkiye due to its violation of trade agreements.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the annual trade volume with Israel was $9.5 billion.

The Turkish president added in statements to reporters after Friday prayers: “The developments taking place by Israel against the Palestinians cannot be accepted. So far, Israel has killed about 40,000 Palestinians… As Muslims, we cannot remain silent about these crimes.”

“The step of severing trade relations with Israel was necessary, and it was taken.”

NOTE: Axios reported recently that the Israeli government also threatened to take retaliatory steps against the Palestinian Authority, if the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.

West Bank: Six Palestinians killed in an Israeli massacre in the town of Deir al-Ghusun

WAFA reports: The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces during the military offensive today on the town of Deir al-Ghusun, located north of Tulkarm city in the occupied West Bank, has risen to six, according to Palestinian security sources.

The sources told WAFA that the Israeli occupation forces have taken away the bodies of five out of the six martyrs, after besieging and later gradually bombing and destroying the house upon them in an onslaught that lasted for nearly 13 hours.

The Israeli attack involved dozens of infantry units, heavy bulldozers, reconnaissance drones, shoulder-fired missiles, gunfire, and stun grenades.

Prisoners Authority: Israel exploits illnesses of Palestinian detainees to take dangerous measures against them

WAFA reports: A recent visit by a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Authority to Ramla Prison in Israel has unveiled disturbing practices against Palestinian detainees.

The lawyer’s findings confirm that not only are general sanctions imposed on these detainees by Israeli authorities, but sick individuals are subjected to additional unethical and inhumane treatment.

In a statement today, the Authority emphasized that the prison authorities exploit the illnesses and injuries of the detainees to place them in a dangerous and complex daily environment, posing a real threat to their lives.

(Read the full article here.)

NOTE: Israel is currently holding about 9,500 Palestinian prisoners in inhumane conditions where many are systematically tortured – 200 of them are children, 80 are women, and over 3,600 are administrative detainees – being held without charge or trial. Administrative detention is intended to be used only in “exceptional” circumstances, but Israel uses it widely. Read more here.

Israel denies Palestinian Christians entering Jerusalem on Holy Saturday

Christians in Palestine are being denied their right by Israeli forces to access the Old City of Jerusalem to celebrate religious rituals on Holy Saturday, which come after Easter.

Local sources said that the military is tightening its measures, beefing up its military deployments at the city’s gates and obstructing entry to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to revive religious rituals.

East Jerusalem has been occupied by Israel since 1967, and its forces have restricted Christians and Muslims from entering sacred grounds.

A mass at the Church of Saint Porphyrius, locally referred to as the “Greek Orthodox Church”, in Gaza City.
A mass at the Church of Saint Porphyrius, locally referred to as the “Greek Orthodox Church”, in Gaza City. (photo)

Biden faces new Democratic pressure to rein in Israel

Axios reports: A group of 88 House Democrats is urging President Biden to consider halting sales of offensive weaponry to Israel over concerns about continued restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The lawmakers, led by Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.), cited a memo Biden signed in February requiring Israel to provide assurances on the preservation of human rights in Gaza – assurances that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant made in March.

President Joe Biden speaks to the National Action Network Convention remotely from the South Court Auditorium of the White House, April 12, 2024.
President Joe Biden speaks to the National Action Network Convention remotely from the South Court Auditorium of the White House, April 12, 2024. (photo)

The 88 Democrats wrote in a letter to Biden that they “strongly support Israel’s right to self-defense” but argued there is “sufficient evidence” that Israel is in violation of the federal law upon which the memo is based, pointing to allegations from the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs office that aid trucks going into Gaza are only half full.

The lawmakers said the State Department should consider a “variety of tools” to force Israel’s compliance “from refreshing the assurances to withholding specific arms transfer.”

The letter frames calls for increased humanitarian aid in pro-Israel terms, arguing that a famine in Gaza is “harmful to Israel’s own security interests, both in the immediate and the long term.”

It follows another letter from 57 House Democrats earlier this month urging Biden to preemptively withhold the transfer of any military aid that can be used in an assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah.

Reuters adds: Last month, at least four State Department bureaus advised US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel’s claims that it is adhering to international humanitarian law in Gaza are “neither credible nor reliable”.

4 in 10 Americans believe US is too supportive of Israel

ABC News reports: Nearly four in 10 Americans in a new ABC News Ipsos poll say the United States is doing too much to support Israel in its war with Hamas, up from about three in 10 in January.

With protests raging across U.S. college campuses, views on U.S. policy are fragmented. About a third of Americans say the U.S. is doing too little to help protect Palestinian civilians caught up in the war — yet a quarter say it’s doing too much. The rest, 38%, see the U.S. effort in this regard as about right. Those results are little changed from January.

On Israel, there has been a shift: Early this year, 31% said the U.S. was doing too much to support Israel in its war with Hamas, while today 38% say so, up 7 percentage points. Twenty percent see too little U.S. support for Israel and 40% call this about right.

See PDF for full poll results.

Campus protest news

RECOMMENDED READING on the Palestinian culture of hunger strikes (If Americans Knew): Why were these Palestinian prisoners willing to die of starvation?

Follow the Freedom Flotilla

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STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – MAY 3:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – May 3: at least 35,162* (34,654 in Gaza* (at least 14,690 children, 9,680 women), and at least 508 in the West Bank (117 children). This does not include an estimated 7,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 42,510 Palestinian deaths.

At least 42 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (27 from Gaza, 14 from West Bank)

At least 31 Palestinian children and several adults have died due to malnutrition**

About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.

About 1.1 million (out of total population of 2.3 million) are facing Catastrophic levels of food insecurity.

Palestinian injuries from October 7 – May 3: at least 81,664 (including at least 77,816 in Gaza and 5,000 in the West Bank).

It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – May 3: ~1,418 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 262 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza;, 16 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

Times of Israel reports: The IDF also listed 41 soldiers killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents – nearly 16%.

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.

**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals. 

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
 

 

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