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Military And Security Developments
May 31.
- Yemen: Risks for UK-, US-owned vessels near Yemeni waters are elevated following coalition strikes. On 30 May, the UK and the US conducted joint airstrikes against several Iranian-backed Houthi targets in al-Hudaydah and Ghulayfiqah (both al-Hudaydah governorate, Yemen). The strikes targeted drone control facilities, missile launchers (including surface-to-air missile systems) and command and control centres. They follow a recent uptick in Houthi maritime attacks and the downing of a US MQ-9 Reaper on 29 May. Despite the strikes, the Houthis are likely to continue their attacks against maritime commercial vessels, sustaining elevated security and hijacking risks near Yemeni waters. Additionally, we assess that there is a realistic possibility that the Houthis will increase their targeting of UK- and US-owned ships in response to the strikes. There is also a realistic possibility that the Houthis will target vessels in the Indian Ocean beyond Socotra Island in the coming weeks.
May 30.
KEY POINTS
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must stop its military operations in Rafah (Rafah governorate, Gaza), elevating isolation and sanction risks for Israel.
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) deepened operations into central Rafah, established operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor (southern Gaza) and performed an airstrike in a humanitarian designated zone killing over 40 civilians, elevating risks to NGO staff and threatening the movement of aid.
- Gaza Strip: The IDF advanced into central Rafah and secured almost full operational control on the Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border (both southern Gaza). In the past week, IDF armoured and infantry units began expanding their operations towards central Rafah, with four brigades known to be operating in the area. On 29 May the IDF announced that it had achieved almost full operational control over the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, leaving out a small area on the coast. The IDF claimed it uncovered 20 underground tunnels in the area but it is currently unknown how many of these cross into Egypt. Additionally, the IDF uncovered numerous underground rocket launch sites positioned between 32 to 131 feet (10 to 40 meters) from the Egyptian border. The IDF is likely to maintain its presence in the area to prevent arms smuggling into Gaza.
- Gaza Strip: On 26 May, Gazan militants fired rockets on central Israel, triggering sirens in Herzliya, Tel Aviv (both Tel Aviv district) and Petah Tikva (Central district). Shrapnel from an intercepted rocket fell on a house in Herzliya, causing moderate damage and lightly injuring one individual. The incident highlights militants’ sustained capacity to sporadically target locations in central Israel, driving collateral risks to assets and individuals.
- Gaza Strip: An IDF strike against Hamas commanders in Rafah underlines their limited capacity to ensure the security of non-combatants amid ongoing operations. On 26 May, the IDF conducted an airstrike in the Tel al-Sultan area (Rafah) targeting and killing Hamas’s commander of West Bank operations and another senior commander. Tel al-Sultan is designated as a humanitarian zone for displaced populations; the strike, and the subsequent fire among the tents, killed over 40 civilians. Preliminary Israeli investigations claim the strike was outside the humanitarian zone, but 0.11 miles (180 meters) from tent shelters. Additionally, a visual analysis conducted by The New York Times claims the bomb used was a US-manufactured GBU-39 small-diameter bomb. These bombs are more precise and have smaller payloads compared to other more regularly used IDF bombs. Nevertheless, the resultant high civilian casualty rate highlights a severe lack of safety lines and procedures in place to prevent such deaths. The strike reflects severe security risks in Gaza, including within designated humanitarian zones.
- Israel-Egypt: On 27 May, IDF soldiers killed an Egyptian soldier during a shooting incident on the Gaza-Egypt border area near the Rafah crossing. According to reports, IDF troops crossed a border boundary during their pursuit of Gazan militants, prompting the Egyptian soldier to open fire. The incident evolved into a shoot-out between IDF and Egyptian forces, with soldiers injured on both sides. The incident highlights increasing tensions on the Israel-Egypt-Gaza border, particularly around Rafah, elevating security risks in the area. However, while the incident is likely to further increase Israel-Egypt diplomatic tensions, it is unlikely to significantly affect diplomatic relations.
- West Bank: On 29 May, Hamas militants carried out a cross-border small arms shooting from the Tulkarm area (Tulkarm governorate) towards Bat Hefer (Central district, Israel), with no injuries or damage reported. This is the third such incident in three weeks, signalling a growing frequency of such attacks which were previously highly uncommon. In response to these incidents, on 29 May the IDF began search operations for the perpetrators in the Tulkarm area. Clashes between the IDF and Palestinian militants in the area are likely in the coming days, as well as localised travel disruption due to an elevated security posture.
- West Bank: On 29 May, a suspected sole perpetrator performed a car-ramming at a checkpoint outside Nablus (Nablus governorate) killing two IDF soldiers. The perpetrator successfully escaped back into Nablus but handed himself over to the Palestinian security authorities. These have yet to hand him over to Israeli security. The incident highlights sustained risks near military positions in the West Bank. It will also raise risks of unrest in Nablus if/when the Palestinian security authorities decide to hand the suspect to the Israeli authorities.
- Israel-Lebanon: Cross-border hostilities between Lebanese Hizballah (LH) and the IDF have remained elevated in the past week. LH continues to frequently launch drones towards Israel. Recent incursions have been focused on the Israel-Lebanon border area. On 26 May, LH launched a rocket barrage of approximately 35 rockets, targeting the Mount Meron Air Traffic Control Base (Northern district), without substantial damage. The IDF has continued targeting LH positions and sites but is mostly focused on southern Lebanon, reducing the number of its long-range strikes into the Baalbek-Hermel governorate. That said, the IDF has continued its elevated targeting of LH members, killing a senior LH weapon manufacturer in a targeted strike on 27 May. The IDF announced on 27 May that in the past week, it conducted a military exercise simulating a ground offensive into Lebanon. We continue to assess that major escalation currently remains unlikely, however, hostilities are likely to continue gradually intensifying over the coming weeks. This will elevate risks of snowballing hostilities, driving further escalation while sustaining security risks along the Israel-Lebanon border.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must halt operations in Rafah, likely driving regional tensions and international efforts to sanction Israel. On 24 May, the ICJ ruled that Israel ‘must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part’. Israel maintains that IDF operations in the area will not result in such conditions and has continued to expand ground operations into central Rafah. On 28 May, Algeria announced it would present a resolution to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) enforcing the ruling, highlighting significantly elevated regional tensions and increased risks of sanctions over the coming weeks.
- Continued disruption to aid delivery in Gaza will almost certainly sustain critical humanitarian conditions, particularly in Rafah. On 28 May, severe weather conditions damaged the US-built floating pier which facilitates aid deliveries into central Gaza. The US announced it would remove and repair the pier over the coming days, with the facility likely remaining non-operational for at least a week. The damage to the pier has significantly disrupted aid deliveries via the sea corridor with Cyprus, undermining humanitarian operations throughout Gaza. On 30 May, the UN announced that since the IDF began operations in Rafah on 7 May, overland aid deliveries into Gaza have fallen by over 65%. This is likely due to the closure of the Rafah border crossing and the significant disruption of cross-border movement in the Kerem Shalom area (Southern district), meaning that aid deliveries are primarily restricted to the Erez and West Erez crossings in northern Gaza. Ongoing disruption to maritime and overland aid deliveries will almost certainly continue to undermine humanitarian conditions in Gaza, exacerbating food and energy insecurity, particularly in the Rafah area.
- Israel has attempted to resume ceasefire negotiations, though the lack of Hamas engagement highlights reduced prospects for a successful ceasefire and hostage release agreement. On 24 May, Israel sent a high-level delegation to France to meet with US representatives and re-engage in ceasefire negotiations. By 28 May, Israel issued new negotiation parameters to Egyptian and Qatari mediators. However, reports indicate that Hamas has not responded to mediation proposals, undermining prospects for a resumption of negotiations over the coming days. Amid increasing domestic and international pressure on Israel to moderate operations in Gaza and withdraw from Rafah, Hamas is unlikely to meaningfully re-engage in ceasefire negotiations or to make concessions (such as hostage releases). As such, negotiations are unlikely to result in a successful ceasefire agreement in the short term, sustaining risks of protest activity in Israel and security risks within Gaza.
- Protest activity continues to proliferate throughout Israel, highlighting increasing anti-government sentiment and elevated operational disruption risks. On 23 May, over 1,000 residents from evacuated communities in the Northern district protested in Kibbutz Amiad (Northern district), calling for the government to moderate security risks on the Israel-Lebanon border. On 25 May, thousands of anti-government protesters calling for hostage releases gathered in Tel Aviv (Tel Aviv district), disrupting movement through key thoroughfares including the Ayalon Highway and Kaplan Street. Police deployed mounted units and conducted several arrests, though the demonstration remained broadly peaceful. Similar, smaller-scale demonstrations also emerged in Caesarea and Haifa (both Haifa district), Jerusalem (Jerusalem district), Netanya, Raanana and Rehovot (all Central district). These demonstrations highlight increasing anti-government sentiment and risks of protest activity in major urban centres nationwide. Increasing protest attendance will sustain elevated bystander risks stemming from clashes with the authorities, while demonstrations on major thoroughfares will elevate risks of travel delays, undermining supply chain continuity and disrupting business operations.
- Increasing tensions over ultra-Orthodox school funding and conscription demonstrate increasing risks of policy stasis and protest activity. On 24 May, over 100 ultra-Orthodox protesters in Jerusalem blocked sections of the Jerusalem Light Rail system during anti-conscription demonstrations, clashing with police. On 29 May, the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party threatened to withdraw from the governing coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not release funds to increase pay for ultra-Orthodox school teachers by 1 June. These incidents highlight increasing tension within the coalition government, elevating risks of policy stasis. However, as UTJ lacks sufficient members of the Knesset (Israel’s legislature) to impact the coalition’s overall majority; we assess that it is unlikely to withdraw over the coming days and that threats to government stability remain low. However, continued efforts to reform ultra-Orthodox conscription legislation and disputes over funding for religious schools will sustain risks of protest activity and clashes with security forces over the coming weeks, particularly in Bnei Brak (Tel Aviv district) and Jerusalem.
May 29.
*Palestinian territories-US: Suspension of pier use will increase pressure to re-open Rafah crossing. On 28 May, the US military pier for transporting aid into Gaza broke apart due to rough seas; it will likely be unusable for at least a week while repairs are conducted at the Port of Ashdod (Southern district, Israel). The incident underscores significant vulnerabilities in the pier’s operation, demonstrating that the floating structure is susceptible to inclement weather patterns. With the pier broken, Kerem Shalom remains the only functioning aid crossing. This will highly likely lead to significant bottlenecking and the disruption of aid shipments into Gaza over the coming week. There is also a realistic possibility that Israel and the US will accelerate negotiations with Egypt to re-open the Rafah crossing (Rafah governorate, Gaza). However, Egypt’s staunch demand that the crossing be operated by a Palestinian faction, such as the Palestinian Authority (PA), will likely complicate the negotiations. This will prolong delays and aid disruption risks, exacerbating deteriorating humanitarian conditions and thereby driving international condemnation of Israeli operations in Rafah.
*UK: Disruptive Palestine Action activity will almost certainly continue while Israel-Hamas war persists. On 28 May, Palestine Action (PA) activists claimed to have sabotaged internet cables serving a factory used by aerospace company Leonardo in Edinburgh (UK). PA is a predominantly UK-based protest group which takes direct action against weapon manufacturers that it accuses of supplying arms to Israel. The alleged sabotage on 28 May is among the more extreme forms of action taken by PA since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. We assess that while the conflict persists, the risk of intermittent protests by PA against defence companies in the UK will remain high. The group is also present in Italy and France, though less active than it is in the UK. There are more disruptive far-left movements in both jurisdictions. Common PA tactics involve sit-ins, lock-ons and spray paint, though acts of criminal damage and occasional site infiltration will also remain likely.
May 27.
*Israel-Palestinian Territories: Rafah airstrike will exacerbate risk of regional domestic unrest. On 26 May, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) airstrike killed at least 45 Palestinians in the Tel al-Sultan camp in Rafah, according to the Gaza health ministry. The IDF stated that it targeted two Hamas operatives in the strike, but later added that it would open an investigation into the incident. The strike, which comes shortly after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued provisional measures calling for Israel to halt military operations in Rafah, will almost certainly exacerbate international pressure on Israel in the coming days. There is a realistic possibility that the UN Security Council (UNSC) will adopt a resolution later on 28 May mandating a withdrawal from Rafah while also calling for an increase in humanitarian aid, elevating the risks of further sanctions. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the IDF will fully cease its operations in the area in the coming 48-72 hours. We assess that this will highly likely raise the risks of domestic unrest in neighbouring countries in the coming days (particularly Egypt and Jordan) amid wider pro-Palestine demonstrations in major cities. (Source: Sibylline)
29 May 24. Israel seizes Gaza’s entire border with Egypt, presses with raids into Rafah.
- Summary
- Israel has operational control of Gaza-Egypt border corridor, military official says
- Israel sends tanks on raids into Rafah
- Blinken urges Israel to craft post-war Gaza plan, warns of chaos
Israeli forces have taken control of a buffer zone along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the country’s military said on Wednesday, giving Israel effective authority over the Palestinian territory’s entire land border.
Israel also continued deadly raids on Rafah in southern Gaza despite an order from the International Court of Justice to end attacks on the city, where half of Gaza’s 2.3 m people had previously taken refuge.
In a televised briefing, chief military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israeli forces had gained “operational” control over the “Philadelphi Corridor”, using the Israeli military’s code name for the 14 km-long (9 mile) corridor along the Gaza Strip’s only border with Egypt.
“The Philadelphi Corridor served as an oxygen line for Hamas, which it regularly used to smuggle weapons into the area of the Gaza Strip,” Hagari said. Hamas is the armed Palestinian group that governs the blockaded territory.
Hagari did not spell out what “operational” control referred to but an Israeli military official earlier said there were Israeli “boots on the ground” along parts of the corridor.
The border with Egypt along the southern edge was the Gaza Strip’s only land border that Israel had not controlled directly.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel sent tanks on raids into Rafah. They had moved into the heart of Rafah for the first time on Tuesday despite an order from the top United Nations court to immediately halt the assault on the city.
The World Court said Israel had not explained how it would keep evacuees from Rafah safe and provide food, water and medicine. Its ruling also called on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7.
Rafah residents said Israeli tanks had pushed into Tel Al-Sultan in the west and Yibna and near Shaboura in the centre before retreating towards a buffer zone on the border with Egypt, rather than staying put as they have in other offensives.
“We received distress calls from residents in Tel Al-Sultan where drones targeted displaced citizens as they moved from areas where they were staying toward the safe areas,” the deputy director of ambulance and emergency services in Rafah, Haitham al Hams, said.
Palestinian health officials said 19 civilians had been killed in Israeli airstrikes and shelling across Gaza. Israel accuses Hamas militants of hiding among civilians, something Gaza’s ruling Islamist group denies.
Health Minister Majed Abu Raman urged Washington to pressure Israel to open the Rafah crossing to aid, saying there was no indication that Israeli authorities would do so soon and that patients in besieged Gaza were dying for lack of treatment.
Fighting in Gaza will continue throughout 2024 at least, Israel’s National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said, signalling Israel was not ready to end the war as Hamas has demanded as part of a deal to exchange its hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
“The fighting in Rafah is not a pointless war,” Hanegbi said, reiterating that Israel aimed to end Hamas rule in Gaza and stop it and its allies attacking Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel needed to craft a post-war plan for Gaza or risk lawlessness, chaos and a Hamas comeback in the enclave.
The U.S., Israel’s closest ally, reiterated its opposition to a major ground offensive in Rafah on Tuesday while saying it did not believe such an operation was under way.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s Gaza offensive, the enclave’s health ministry said.
Israel launched its war after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
CEASEFIRE NEGOTIATIONS STRUGGLE ON
There was no word on Wednesday on developments in the ceasefire and hostage release talks. Hamas has said talks are pointless unless Israel ends its offensive on Rafah.
The armed wing of Hamas and that of allies Islamic Jihad said they confronted invading forces in Rafah with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs and blew up explosive devices they had planted, resulting in numerous successful hits.
The Israeli military said three Israeli soldiers were killed and three badly wounded. Public broadcaster Kan radio said an explosive device had been set off in a Rafah building.
Palestinian health officials said several people were wounded by Israeli fire and stores of aid were set ablaze in eastern Rafah, where residents said Israeli bombardment had destroyed many homes in an area Israel has ordered evacuated.
Around a million Palestinians who had taken shelter in Rafah at the southern end of the Gaza Strip have now fled after Israeli orders to evacuate, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA reported on Tuesday.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it had evacuated its medical teams from its field hospital in the Al-Mawasi area, a designated civilian evacuation zone, because of continued bombardments.
PRCS said two of its staff were killed when an ambulance was struck while on a mission to rescue people in Rafah. In another Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City, medics said five other Palestinians were killed.
In the nearby city of Khan Younis, an Israeli air strike killed three people overnight, including Salama Baraka, a former senior Hamas police officer, medics and Hamas media said. Another killed four people, including two children, medics said.
In northern Gaza, Israeli forces shelled Gaza City neighbourhoods and moved deeper into Jabalia, where residents said large residential districts were destroyed.
Malnutrition has become widespread in Gaza as aid deliveries have slowed to a trickle. The U.N., which has warned of famine, said on Wednesday the amount of humanitarian aid entering the enclave has dropped by two-thirds since Israel began its assault on the Rafah region this month. (Source: Reuters)
29 May 24. US says latest Rafah deaths won’t change Israel policy, military aid. The Biden administration said on Tuesday it was closely monitoring the probe into a deadly Israeli airstrike it called tragic, but that the recent deaths in Rafah didn’t constitute a major ground operation there that crosses any U.S. red lines.
“The Israelis have said this is a tragic mistake,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House, when asked about whether the events over the weekend qualified as the type of “death and destruction” U.S. officials have warned could result in the withholding of more aid to Israel.
The U.S. doesn’t have “a measuring stick here or a quota,” Kirby said.
“We’ve also said we don’t want to see a major ground operation in Rafah that would really make it hard for the Israelis to go after Hamas without causing extensive damage and potentially a large number of deaths. We have not seen that yet,” he said, noting that Israel’s operations were mostly in a corridor on the outskirts of Rafah.
Asked if he was saying the recent ground operations in Rafah would not prompt a U.S. withdrawal of more military aid, Kirby said “I believe that’s what I’ve been saying here.”
Recent deaths in Rafah have tested President Joe Biden’s promise to withhold weapons from Israel if the U.S. ally made a major invasion of Rafah that put displaced persons there at risk.
Speaking at a ceremonial event in Washington, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said, “The word tragic doesn’t even begin to describe” an Israeli airstrike on Sunday that triggered a fire in a tent camp in the Gaza city of Rafah, killing 45 Palestinians.
Harris’s remark, in response to a reporter’s question, also followed what Gaza health authorities described as Israeli tank shelling of a tent camp in an evacuation area west of Rafah that killed at least 21 people on Tuesday.
Israel said that “something unfortunately went tragically wrong” in Sunday’s airstrike while its military denied shelling the tent camp on Tuesday. Israel said it had targeted two senior Hamas operatives in Sunday’s operation and had not intended to cause civilian casualties.
Hamas issued a statement celebrating the martyrdom of two fighters in the strike on Sunday, Kirby said, an indication that Israel was trying to go after Hamas in a “targeted, precise way.”
“The Israelis have said they used 37-pound bombs, precision-guided munitions,” Kirby said. “If it is in fact what they used, it is certainly indicative of an effort to be discreet and targeted and precise. Now, obviously this had tragic results, and obviously that needs to be investigated.”
Asked whether Israel’s strikes could put Biden in a difficult position, Kirby told reporters Tuesday that instead there was a real danger that Israel could become further isolated from the international community with the manner in which it is conducting operations.”So this is of concern, clearly, because it’s not in Israel’s best interest,” Kirby said. “And it’s not in our best interest for Israel to become increasingly isolated on the world stage.”
The U.S. administration’s response was criticized earlier Tuesday by human rights and Arab American groups.
“Sadly, because of President Biden’s insistence on sending more bombs to enable Netanyahu’s war crimes in Rafah, this is now as much an American genocide as it is an Israeli genocide,” said Nihad Awad, executive director at the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Israeli and U.S. officials have denounced the use of the term genocide to describe events on the ground in Gaza.
The State Department said on Tuesday that as soon as it saw reports of Sunday’s Rafah incident, Washington expressed deep concern to Israel and urged an investigation, which Israel has promised.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that Washington will be closely watching Israel’s probe but Israel’s military operations so far in Rafah have not been as large-scale as those in central or northern Gaza.
Global leaders have expressed horror at the fire in a designated “humanitarian zone” of Rafah where families uprooted by fighting elsewhere had sought shelter.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel launched its air and ground war after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. (Source: Reuters)
28 May 24. US CENTCOM neutralises more UAS over the Red Sea. Over the past seven days, the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) has intercepted six uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) targeting ships in the Red Sea. USCENTCOM is a combatant command that directs and enables military operations and activities with allies and partners to increase regional security and stability in support of US interests. Its area of responsibility includes the Middle East and it has been particularly active in the Red Sea region since Houthi rebels, which the US says are backed by Iran, have launched an increasing number of drone attacks on ships. On May 22, USCENTCOM forces successfully engaged four UAS in an Iranian-backed Houthi controlled area of Yemen. It was determined that these systems presented an imminent threat to US coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region. A further UAS was destroyed over the Red Sea on May 26, with another taken down by USCENTCOM on May 27. As with the UAS on May 22, these were also said to have been launched from an Iranian-backed Houthi controlled area of Yemen. USCENTCOM remains in the region to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US, coalition, and merchant vessels. (Source: www.unmannedairspace.info)
27 May 24. HMS Duncan deploys to the Red Sea to protect shipping routes. The Type 45 destroyed sailed from Portsmouth today to relieve her sister ship, HMS Diamond. The Type 45 destroyer will relieve its sister ship HMS Diamond, which has been protecting shipping lanes in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks since before Christmas. HMS Duncan is a like-for-like replacement for Diamond – armed with the same Sea Viper missile system and equipped with the same radar systems, which are able to accurately detect faraway threats. During her deployment, HMS Diamond has shot down nine drones and one missile, launched by Houthis from the coast of Yemen at cargo ships. The 200 men and women of HMS Duncan have worked to ensure that their ship is ready to deploy, successfully completing trials and training last week in preparation for the deployment, which will see the ship work to ensure freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for merchant vessels. HMS Duncan spent five months leading NATO’s premier task group in the Mediterranean Sea last year, until handing over flagship duties to the Italian Navy in December. The ship is now ready for more operations, with over 60 new members joining the ship’s company. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
27 May 24. Israeli airstrikes kill at least 35 in Rafah, Gaza authorities say.
- Summary
- Sirens sound in Tel Aviv for first time in 4 months
- Israeli military says projectiles fired from Rafah area
- Hamas says attack launched in response to killing of civilians
Israeli air strikes killed at least 35 Palestinians and wounded dozens in an area in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah designated for the displaced, Palestinian health and civil emergency service officials said.
The Israeli military said its air force struck a Hamas compound in Rafah and that the strike was carried out with “precise ammunition and on the basis of precise intelligence.” It took out Hamas’ chief of staff for the West Bank and another senior official behind deadly attacks on Israelis, it said.
“The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review.”
The spokesman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza, Ashraf Al-Qidra, said 35 people were killed and dozens others, most of them women and children, were wounded in the attack.
The strike took place in Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, where thousands of people were taking shelter after many fled the eastern areas of the city where Israeli forces began a ground offensive over two weeks ago.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah was receiving an influx of casualties, and that other hospitals also were taking in a large number of patients.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri described the attack in Rafah as a “massacre”, holding the United States responsible for aiding Israel with weapons and money.
“The air strikes burnt the tents, the tents are melting and the people’s bodies are also melting,” said one of the residents who arrived at the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah.
Earlier on Sunday, the Israeli military said eight projectiles were identified crossing from the area of Rafah, the southern tip of the Gaza Strip where Israel kept up operations despite a ruling by the top U.N. court on Friday ordering it to stop attacking the city.
A number of the projectiles were intercepted, it said. There were no reports of casualties.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening his war cabinet later on Sunday to discuss continued operations in Rafah. Israel argues that the U.N. court’s ruling allows room for some military action there.
In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades said the rockets were launched in response to “Zionist massacres against civilians”.
Rafah is located about 100 km (60 miles) south of Tel Aviv.
Israel says it wants to root out Hamas fighters holed up in Rafah and rescue hostages it says are being held in the area, but its assault has worsened the plight of civilians and caused an international outcry.
On Sunday, Israeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in Rafah, according to local medical services. The Gaza health ministry identified the dead as civilians.
Israeli tanks have probed around the edges of Rafah, near the crossing point from Gaza into Egypt, and have entered some of its eastern districts, residents say, but have not yet entered the city in force since the start of operations in the city earlier this month.
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz said the rockets fired from Rafah “prove that the (Israel Defense Forces) must operate in every place Hamas still operates from”.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant held an operational assessment in Rafah where he was briefed on “troops’ operations above and below the ground, as well as the deepening of operations in additional areas with the aim of dismantling Hamas battalions”, his office said in a statement.
Itamar Ben Gvir, a hardline public security minister who is not part of Israel’s war cabinet, urged the army to hit Rafah harder. “Rafah with full force,” he posted on X.
Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Fighting also continued in the northern Gaza area of Jabaliya, the scene of intense combat earlier in the war. During one raid, the military said it found a weapons storage site with dozens of rocket parts and weapons at a school.
It denied Hamas statements that Palestinian fighters had abducted an Israeli soldier.
Hamas media said an Israeli airstrike on a house in a neighborhood near Jabaliya killed 10 people and wounded others.
TRUCE TALKS
Efforts to agree a halt to the fighting and return more than 120 hostages have been blocked for weeks but there were some signs of movement this weekend following meetings between Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials and Qatar’s prime minister.
An official with knowledge of the matter said a decision had been taken to resume the talks this week based on new proposals from Egyptian and Qatari mediators, and with “active U.S. involvement.”
However, a Hamas official played down the report, telling Reuters: “It is not true.”
Netanyahu’s war cabinet would discuss the new proposals, his office said.
A second Hamas official, Izzat El-Reshiq, said the group had not received anything from the mediators on new dates for resuming talks as had been reported by Israeli media.
Reshiq restated Hamas’s demands, which include: “Ending the aggression completely and permanently, in all of Gaza Strip, not only Rafah”.
While Israel is seeking the return of hostages, Netanyahu has repeatedly said the war will not end until Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, is eliminated.
AID TRUCKS ENTER GAZA
Israel has faced calls to get more aid into Gaza after more than seven months of a war that has caused widespread destruction and hunger in the enclave.
Khaled Zayed of the Egyptian Red Crescent told Reuters 200 trucks of aid, including four fuel trucks, were expected to enter Gaza on Sunday through Kerem Shalom.
It follows an agreement between U.S. President Joe Biden and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Friday to temporarily send aid via the Kerem Shalom crossing, bypassing the Rafah crossing that has been blocked for weeks.
Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV shared a video on social media platform X, showing what it said were aid trucks as they entered Kerem Shalom, which before the conflict was the main commercial crossing station between Israel, Egypt and Gaza.
The Rafah crossing has been shut for almost three weeks, since Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing as it stepped up its offensive.
Egypt has been increasingly alarmed at the prospect of large numbers of Palestinians entering its territory from Gaza and has refused to open its side of the Rafah crossing.
Israel has said it is not restricting aid flows and has opened up new crossing points in the north as well as cooperating with the United States, which has built a temporary floating pier for aid deliveries.
(Source: Reuters)
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Founded in 1987, Exensor Technology is a world leading supplier of Networked Unattended Ground Sensor (UGS) Systems providing tailored sensor solutions to customers all over the world. From our Headquarters in Lund Sweden, our centre of expertise in Network Communications at Communications Research Lab in Kalmar Sweden and our Production site outside of Basingstoke UK, we design, develop and produce latest state of the art rugged UGS solutions at the highest quality to meet the most stringent demands of our customers. Our systems are in operation and used in a wide number of Military as well as Home land Security applications worldwide. The modular nature of the system ensures any external sensor can be integrated, providing the user with a fully meshed “silent” network capable of self-healing. Exensor Technology will continue to lead the field in UGS technology, provide our customers with excellent customer service and a bespoke package able to meet every need.
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