Israel began the evacuation of civilians in the area of Gaza's southern district of Rafah

 

Israel News, Monday, 06.05.2024     View in browser

Hamas' political leader Ismail Haniyeh said the organization accepted Egypt and Qatar's cease-fire/hostage release deal proposal. The IDF began evacuating civilians from Rafah in southern Gaza. Israel's defense minister told Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Hamas left Israel no choice but to begin an offensive in Rafah. The U.S., the EU, France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on Israel to forgo an assault on Rafah. An explosive drone hit the northern Israeli town of Metula; thirty rockets were fired from Lebanon toward northern Israel. Here's what you need to know 213 days into the war     What happened today     ■ HOSTAGES/CEASE-FIRE: The office of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a statement that the organization had accepted the cease-fire/hostage release deal proposal presented by Egypt and Qatar. A Hamas source said the group received guarantees that Israel won't renew operations in Gaza after the cease-fire deal. Before the Hamas announcement, several reports suggested that both Hamas had hardened its position in the wake of PM Netanyahu's statements about operating in Rafah regardless of an agreement (New York Times) or that Hamas' rocket attack on Sunday near the Kerem Shalom crossing, which killed four Israeli soldiers, caused an impasse in negotiations (Egypt's Al Qahera News.) Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Israel agreed to "significant concessions" in negotiations with Hamas, but the organization "has repeatedly refused." The U.S. continues "to believe that a hostage deal is the best way to preserve the lives of the hostages, and avoid an invasion of Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering. Those talks are ongoing now," U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Jack Kirby said. Mossad chief David Barnea said that "We are obligated to return the hostages from the tunnels of death in Gaza. The Mossad – and I, as its head – will turn over every stone to bring them back home." Einav Zangauker, whose son is held in Gaza, protested outside the home of Aryeh Deri, a close Netanyahu ally, saying: "If my son Matan pays for the Rafah adventure with his life, Matan's blood will be on your hands." Six released hostages and families of 30 hostages demanded war cabinet members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot "reveal to the public the truth about the negotiations." In their letter they blamed PM Netanyahu for deliberately torpedoing a deal, thus "abandoning the hostages to their deaths." ■ GAZA: Israel began the evacuation of civilians in the area of Gaza's southern district of Rafah, where some 100,000 Palestinians reside, according to IDF estimates. Palestinians residing east of the city of Rafah received phone calls and voice messages calling them to evacuate and head for the Al-Mawasi area near Gaza's shore, or the Khan Yunis area. Flyers instructing residents to evacuate were also dropped in the area. Israeli orders to relocate Palestinians from Rafah are "inhumane" and risk exposing them to further danger, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. Medical sources in Rafah said 26 people were killed over the last 24 hours in a series of Israeli strikes on 11 buildings and houses in the area. In a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden, PM Netanyahu said he would ensure the Kerem Shalom crossing would be open for humanitarian aid. Biden reiterated his opposition to a Rafah operation, the White House said. In a phone call with his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Hamas left Israel no choice but to begin an offensive in Rafah. The two also discussed the ongoing hostage negotiations and humanitarian aid efforts, the Pentagon said. French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his "firm objection" to an Israeli assault on Rafah in a call with PM Netanyahu, according to the French embassy in Israel. Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that Israel's Rafah evacuation order ahead of an expected offensive is a "dangerous escalation that will have consequences." Hamas later said that any military operation in Rafah "will not be a picnic" for the IDF. Israel must renounce a ground offensive in Rafah, the EU's chief diplomat Josep Borell said, adding that the EU and the international community "can and must" act to prevent such a scenario. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo is attempting to advance economic sanctions on Israel in a joint effort with several other European countries due to Israel's threatened military operation in Rafah. Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry warned Israel against targeting Rafah as part of what it called a "bloody and systematic" campaign to storm all areas of Gaza and displace its people. Egypt is raising its preparedness level in the northern Sinai Peninsula ahead of a possible Israeli operation in Rafah, two Egyptian security sources told Reuters. Egypt's Foreign Ministry warned against such an offensive, and called on Israel to show restraint "at this sensitive point in time." The Palestinian Authority said it is holding intensive calls with regional and international parties, especially the U.S., to prevent the "massacre" of a possible Israeli invasion into Rafah, WAFA reported. According to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, at least 34,735 Palestinians have been killed and 78,108 wounded since the start of the war. "Settling accounts' with Qatar by closing Al Jazeera's offices in Israel will not change Qatar's standing in Washington nor affect Qatar's relations with Hamas. But it is an act that ought to trouble the Israeli media and every fair journalist who cannot independently reach the war zone in Gaza to report directly from it" - Zvi Bar'el