Tag: Israel War on Gaza

US plays down Rafah assault, says it will push for Gaza ceasefire deal | Israel War on Gaza News

Washington, DC – The United States has played down the deadly Israeli assault on Rafah, saying the offensive appears to be “limited” despite concerns over the fate of the more than 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in the southern Gaza city.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday that the US still opposes a major Israeli offensive against Rafah.

Israel had stepped up its bombardment of Rafah on Monday, killing dozens of people after ordering about 100,000 residents in its eastern areas to evacuate. Israeli troops also stormed the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, which serves as a major gateway for humanitarian aid.

“This military operation that they launched last night was targeted just to Rafah gate,” Miller said on Tuesday.

“It wasn’t an operation in the civilian areas that they had ordered to be evacuated. So we will continue to make clear that we oppose a major military operation in Rafah.”

Still, Miller acknowledged that the attack on the crossing “does look like the prelude” to a larger offensive.

The Israeli attack closed the Rafah crossing, further straining the already inadequate flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. Since October 9, Israel has intensified its existing blockade on the territory, bringing the Palestinian enclave to the verge of famine.

The Rafah crossing also serves as an entry point for humanitarian workers going into Gaza, and critically sick and injured people use it to leave the territory and receive treatment abroad.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said 120 patients who were set to cross from Gaza to Egypt for treatment were prevented from leaving on Tuesday.

Shutting down the crossing also has blocked medical supplies and fuel needed to operate the remaining medical centres in the territory, the ministry said.

“The situation of patients in Gaza hospitals has been very difficult since the beginning of the war due to the loss of medical equipment and the total collapse of the health system,” the ministry said in a statement.

“We have travel lists for sick and injured people in the thousands. And now they are prevented from leaving.”

At the US State Department, Miller called for reopening the crossing, but he also appeared to justify the Israeli attack that closed it.

“Hamas did control the Gaza side of Rafah crossing, and Hamas was continuing to collect revenue from that crossing being open,” he told reporters.

“So it is a legitimate goal to try and deprive Hamas from revenue, money that they could use to continue to finance their terrorist activities. That said, we want to see the crossing open, and we’re gonna work to try to get it back open.”

On Saturday, Israel also closed the Karem Abu Salem border crossing, also known as Kerem Shalom, barring aid trucks after Hamas launched a rocket attack on Israeli troops nearby, killing four soldiers.

On Tuesday, Miller falsely said the crossing between Gaza and Israel was “bombed” by Hamas when the crossing itself was not targeted.

When pressed about his assertion, Miller said: “You could make that argument it was that strike at Kerem Shalom that precipitated its closure.”

“But that said, you should be very clear about what our position is: We want to see it open. We want to see it open as soon as possible. They said that they’ll open it tomorrow. We’re going to work to see that that happens.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the United Nations called on Israel to reopen both crossings immediately.

The Israeli seizure of the Rafah gate came hours after Hamas said it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Egypt and Qatar that would see the release of Israeli captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, as well as an eventual end to the war.

Israel rejected the deal but said it would engage in further negotiations.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has been heavily involved in the talks. On Tuesday, Miller declined to provide many details about where things stand, but he denied that Hamas had actually accepted the agreement.

Instead, he said the Palestinian group responded to the proposal with suggestions as part of the negotiations process.

“We’ve continued to believe that there is space to reach a deal, and we are trying incredibly hard to push one over the line,” he said.

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UN, aid urgencies urge Israel to halt Rafah assault after crossing seized | Israel War on Gaza News

The United Nations and aid agencies have slammed the Israeli army for cutting off an essential aid route by seizing the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza, warning that already scarce supplies will be further depleted in the enclave that is on the brink of famine.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that Israel reopen two key land crossings to enable desperately needed aid supplies to reach Palestinians in Gaza.

“The closure of both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem] crossings is especially damaging to an already dire humanitarian situation. They must be reopened immediately,” he said on Tuesday.

Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing earlier on Tuesday, as ceasefire talks with the Palestinian group Hamas remain precarious.

Hamas said late on Monday that it had accepted a Gaza ceasefire proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. Israel said the proposal fell short of Israeli requirements and that it would send a delegation to meet the mediators.

Guterres warned an assault on Rafah, where more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, would “be a strategic mistake, a political calamity and a humanitarian nightmare”.

Amnesty International called on the international community to pressure Israel to immediately halt its ground operations in Rafah and ensure unfettered access for humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The group’s senior director of research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, Erika Guevara-Rosas, said Israel’s long-threatened, large-scale ground operation in Rafah would further compound “the unspeakable suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza”.

Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant visited troops said the Rafah operation would continue until Israel “eliminates” Hamas in Rafah and the rest of Gaza.

But he said Israel is willing to make “compromises” to bring captives home. “If that option is removed, we will go on and ‘deepen’ the operation,” he said. “This will happen all over the Strip – in the south, in the centre and in the north.”

‘It’s not safe’

Red Crescent sources in Egypt said aid shipments via the Rafah crossing had completely halted on Tuesday.

“The Israeli occupation has sentenced the residents of the Strip to death,” said Hisham Edwan, spokesperson for the Gaza Border Crossing Authority.

In Geneva, UN humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke said “panic and despair” were gripping the people in Rafah.

He said that under international law people must have adequate time to prepare for an evacuation, and have a safe route to a safe area with access to aid. This was not the case in the Rafah evacuation, he said.

“It’s littered with unexploded ordnance, massive bombs lying in the street. It’s not safe,” he said.

The comments came after an Israeli government spokesperson called on international organisations to evacuate from areas of Rafah where military operations are continuing.

The spokesperson said that aid is continuing to flow into the enclave despite the military operation.

Aid groups have warned for months that Israel’s restrictions on aid deliveries into Gaza are exposing the population to severe hunger. Famine has already taken hold in the territory’s north.

Hamas has accused Israel of trying to undermine efforts to secure a ceasefire after Israel’s seven-month-long assault on Gaza that has laid waste to the Strip and left hundreds of thousands of its people homeless and hungry.

Israeli army footage showed tanks rolling through the Rafah crossing complex and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side.

Israel sends delegation to Cairo

The seizure of the Rafah crossing comes after weeks of pressure from several of Israel’s key Western allies to hold off from a ground assault on Rafah without a plan for the safe evacuation of civilians.

Many of the people now in Rafah were struggling to find a safe place to go in the tiny strip of land, which has been bombarded almost non-stop since October 7.

Families have been crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water, medicine and other essentials.

Residents said Israeli tanks and planes attacked several areas and houses in Rafah overnight on Monday and on Tuesday. The Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli attacks across the enclave had killed 54 Palestinians and wounded 96 others in the past 24 hours.

At least 34,789 Palestinians have been now killed in the assault, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Guterres appealed to Israel and Hamas to spare no effort to secure a truce deal.

Hamas said late on Monday that it had told Qatari and Egyptian mediators handling the indirect talks that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal but Israel said the terms did not meet its demands.

However, the various players appeared willing to talk again on Tuesday.

A team of mid-ranking Israeli officials will travel to Cairo in the coming hours to assess whether Hamas can be persuaded to shift on its latest ceasefire offer, a senior Israeli official said.

The official also reiterated that the current Hamas proposal was unacceptable to Israel.

“This delegation is made up of mid-level envoys. Were there a credible deal in the offing, the principals would be heading the delegation,” the official told the Reuters news agency, referring to the senior officials from the intelligence services Mossad and Shin Bet who are leading the Israeli side.

A Palestinian official close to mediation efforts told Reuters that a Hamas delegation may arrive in Cairo later on Tuesday or on Wednesday to discuss the ceasefire proposal.

Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November during which Hamas freed dozens of captives and Israel released 240 Palestinians it was holding in its jails.

Since then, all efforts to reach a new truce have foundered over Hamas’s refusal to free more captives without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict, and Israel’s insistence that it would only consider a temporary pause in its assault.

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This is where Israel’s army has told people in Rafah to go | Gaza

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Israel’s army has told Palestinians being forcibly displaced from Rafah where they should go, leaving many to choose between an overcrowded strip of scrubland without amenities or neighbourhoods turned to rubble by Israel’s war.

Published On 7 May 2024

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Israel seizes key Gaza border crossing as it launches assault on Rafah | Israel War on Gaza News

Israeli forces have seized control of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing, cutting off a vital route for humanitarian aid and potential sanctuary for civilians from a building offensive.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it had seized “operational control” of the Gaza side of the border post, which links the besieged enclave with Egypt. The closure of the crucial passage and positioning of tanks in the centre of Rafah is seen as a demonstration of Israel’s determination to press on with an assault on the southern city despite ongoing truce talks.

The 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing early on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, closing a route vital for the aid entering Gaza and any civilians able to flee the fighting to Egypt.

The military claimed that the crossing was “being used for terrorist purposes”, alleging that Hamas’s mortar attack on Sunday on the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, which remains closed, was launched from the vicinity. However, it has not so far provided evidence.

The operation came amid an overnight assault on eastern parts of the city. Warplanes pounded residential homes, killing at least 12 people.

Israel’s military said in a statement it had struck numerous Hamas targets in eastern Rafah, killing about 20 fighters.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority acknowledged to The Associated Press news agency that Israeli forces had seized the crossing and closed it for the time being.

“It’s been a very difficult night,” reported Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud from Rafah. “It’s been very violent, very bloody and full of destruction.”

The assault comes despite Hamas having said on Monday that it had agreed with the terms of a truce deal hammered out by mediators.

However, pressed by hardline nationalist coalition partners who have demanded a full offensive on Rafah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears set to press on regardless.

Trapped

Tareq Abu Azzoum reported from Rafah that the Israeli military carried out an incursion on the eastern side of Rafah, during which there was a heavy exchange of fire with Hamas fighters amid an intense bombing campaign, with the main objective of seizing control of the crossing.

The Israeli control of the border post “is devastating because … Palestinians will no longer be able to leave the territory”, he said.

Despite urgent warnings from its closest allies that an offensive on the city risks huge numbers of civilian casualties, Israel insists that its plans will allow it to clear Rafah and press on to attack the Hamas command and fighters there.

“The Rafah offensive has started again, in spite of all the requests of the international community, the US, the European Union member states, everybody asking Netanyahu not to attack,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, told journalists on Tuesday. “I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties. Whatever they say,” he said, adding, “there are no safe zones in Gaza.”

Israeli forces whipped up panic on Monday as they ordered 1.4 million or so Palestinians in Rafah – most of whom are displaced following previous instructions from the Israeli military – to evacuate.

The Israeli army reiterated on Tuesday that it has “encouraged” displaced people and international humanitarian organisations operating in eastern Rafah to “temporarily evacuate”.

However, people sheltering in Rafah, amid poor conditions with little shelter, food, or medicine, have few places to go.

The closure of the border crossing only threatens to worsen those shortages and trap more people close to the fighting.

Sources from three humanitarian relief agencies told the Reuters news agency that aid shipments had been halted due to the closure of the crossing.

The latest Israeli operation sees them being pushed towards al-Mawasi on the coast, where the military says it has set up field hospitals, tents, and medical supplies.

“The Israeli military is … strategically cutting off the Gaza Strip and sealing it off from the region,” suggested Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud.

“With the Israeli military presence there right now, we can safely say that we’re looking at a very difficult situation in terms of getting humanitarian aid into Gaza,” he said.

“At the same time, when we look at the location of the Rafah crossing, at almost the centre of the city, that indicates that we’re very close to a full invasion of Rafah.”



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Belgian and Dutch students protest against Israel’s war on Gaza | Israel War on Gaza News

Students in Belgium and the Netherlands have joined the wave of protests around the world against Israel’s war on Gaza.

The protesters occupied parts of the universities of Ghent and Amsterdam on Monday, joining international student demonstrations that started on US campuses.

At the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in the centre of the city, hundreds of students set up a camp, pitching tents, playing in drum circles, and barricading access with wooden pallets.

The students want UvA and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) to end their partnerships with Israeli institutions.

A UvA spokesperson said that while it condoned the protest during the day, it will not tolerate students staying the night.

“If students decide to spend the night, we will report it to the police”, he said.

In neighbouring Belgium, some 100 students occupied part of Ghent University (UGent).

Footage shared on social media shows students surrounded by tents chanting “Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has to go” in one university building.

Several UGent employees and professors have signed an open letter supporting the protest and condemning the university’s decision to continue research collaboration with Israel.

“UGent never gives permission to occupy buildings, but if this happens, a general framework of agreements applies,” rector Rik Van de Walle said in a statement. He added that UGent subjects universities with which it collaborates to a human rights investigation.

The Ghent University students said the protest would last until Wednesday, May 8.

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Progressive US Senator Bernie Sanders to run for reelection | Politics News

United States Senator Bernie Sanders, the 82-year-old leftist and two-time presidential candidate from Vermont, has announced that he will run for reelection amid rumours of possible retirement.

Sanders, whose presidential campaigns in 2016 and 2020 galvanised young people and progressives, announced on Monday that he would run for a fourth six-year term in the US Senate.

“Let me thank the people of Vermont, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me the opportunity to serve them in the United States Senate. It has been the honour of my life,” Sanders, an independent, said in a video recording.

“Today, I am announcing my intention to seek another term.”

The announcement comes during a tumultuous time for the Democratic Party, which is facing intense backlash from key constituencies, especially young voters, over President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza.

While initially rejecting calls for a ceasefire, Sanders has emerged as one of Congress’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The war has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and reports have emerged of Israeli forces committing rights abuses, such as the torture and indiscriminate bombing of civilians.

In January, Sanders spearheaded a bill that would have halted security aid to Israel until the US Department of State completed a report evaluating claims of human rights abuses in Gaza.

The measure was ultimately defeated after Sanders forced it to a vote. Sanders, who identifies as Jewish himself, has also voiced support for the antiwar encampments that began on college campuses in April to show solidarity for the Palestinians under Israel’s siege.

The wave of protests engulfed university life in the US and highlighted generational divides within the Democratic Party over support for Israel. But Sanders likened the campus activism to his own experiences protesting for civil rights in the 1960s.

“In 1962, we organized sit-ins to end racist policies at the University of Chicago. In ’63, I was arrested protesting segregated schools. But we were right,” Sanders said in a recent social media post.

“I’m proud to see students protesting the war in Gaza. Stay peaceful and focused. You’re on the right side of history.”

He also slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for attacking the campus protests as “anti-Semitic”.

“Anti-Semitism is a vile and disgusting form of bigotry that has done unspeakable harm to many millions of people. But, please, do not insult the intelligence of the American people by attempting to distract us from the immoral and illegal war policies of your extremist and racist government,” Sanders wrote in a statement on April 25.

“It is not anti-Semitic to hold you accountable for your actions.”

Sanders has gained a devoted following for championing progressive causes, including a universal healthcare system that guarantees access as a human right.

He ran against Biden in the 2020 Democratic primaries, making strong showings in early-voting states. In the 2020 Iowa caucuses, for instance, he placed second. In the New Hampshire primary, he notched first.

But Biden’s dominant performance in South Carolina augured a shift in the race, and Sanders ultimately suspended his campaign in April 2020.

Nevertheless, he has since appeared with Biden to champion initiatives to lower healthcare costs. In April, for instance, he and Biden held a joint news conference to tout improvements in the costs of inhalers, used to treat asthma.

“You and I have been fighting this for 25 years,” Biden told Sanders from the podium. “Finally we beat Big Pharma.”

In March 2020, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate in Washington, DC [File: Evan Vucci/AP Photo]

Still, Sanders’s decision to run for reelection in the US Senate underscores an ongoing debate over age in the Democratic Party.

While he is all but guaranteed to win his race in the Democratic stronghold of Vermont, Sanders would be in his late 80s by the end of another term.

Voters, for instance, have consistently expressed concern that President Biden, 81, is too old to run for a second term. A February poll from ABC News and Ipsos found 86 percent of all Americans believe Biden’s age is too advanced for the job.

In his announcement video, Sanders said that he was motivated to run again partly due to the possibility that former President Donald Trump could return to the White House for a second term in office.

Trump is the presumptive nominee for the Republican Party, set to face Biden in a rematch of the 2020 presidential race.

“Will the United States continue to even function as a democracy?” Sanders asked. “Or will we move to an authoritarian form of government?”



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Text of the Gaza ceasefire proposal approved by Hamas | Israel War on Gaza News

Al Jazeera has obtained a copy of the Gaza ceasefire proposal that Hamas said it accepted on Monday. The deal, which was put forward by Egypt and Qatar, would come in three stages that would see an initial halt in the fighting leading to lasting calm and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory.

The proposed agreement would also ensure the release of Israeli captives in Gaza as well as an unspecified number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Israel has said that it does not agree to the proposal but that it will engage in further talks to secure an agreement – all while pushing on with its assault on Gaza.

Meanwhile, the United States, which is also involved in the negotiations, said it is reviewing the Hamas response.

Here’s the text of the proposed deal:

The basic principles for an agreement between the Israeli side and the Palestinian side in Gaza on the exchange of captives and prisoners between them and the return of sustainable calm.

The framework agreement aims at: The release of all Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip, civilians or military, alive or otherwise, from all periods, in exchange for a number of prisoners held by Israel as agreed upon, and a return to a sustainable calm that leads to a permanent ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, its reconstruction and the lifting of the siege.

The framework agreement consists of three related and interconnected stages, which are as follows:

The first stage (42 days)

[Herein] a temporary cessation of military operations between the two parties, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces eastward and away from densely populated areas to a defined area along the border all along the Gaza Strip (including Wadi Gaza, known as the Netzarim Corridor, and Kuwait Roundabout, as below).

All aviation (military and reconnaissance) in the Gaza Strip shall cease for 10 hours a day, and for 12 hours on the days when captives and prisoners are being exchanged.

Internally displaced people in Gaza shall return to their areas of residence and Israel shall withdraw from Wadi Gaza, the Netzarim corridor, and the Kuwait Roundabout:

  • On the third day (after the release of three captives), Israeli forces are to withdraw completely from al-Rashid Street in the east to Salah al-Din Street, and dismantle military sites and installations in this area.
  • Displaced persons (unarmed) shall return to their areas of residence and all residents of Gaza shall be allowed freedom of movement in all parts of the Strip.
  • Humanitarian aid shall be allowed in via al-Rashid Street from the first day without any obstacles.
  • On the 22nd day (after the release of half the living civilian captives in Gaza, including female soldiers), Israeli forces are to withdraw from the centre of the Gaza Strip (especially the Netzarim/Martyrs Corridor and the Kuwait Roundabout axis), from the east of Salah al-Din Street to a zone along the border, and all military sites and installations are to be completely dismantled.
  • Displaced people shall be allowed to return to their places of residence in the north of Gaza, and all residents to have freedom of movement in all parts of the Gaza Strip.
  • Humanitarian aid, relief materials and fuel (600 trucks a day, including 50 fuel trucks, and 300 trucks for the north) shall be allowed into Gaza in an intensive manner and in sufficient quantities from the first day. This is to include the fuel needed to operate the power station, restart trade, rehabilitate and operate hospitals, health centres and bakeries in all parts of the Gaza Strip, and operate equipment needed to remove rubble. This shall continue throughout all stages.

Exchange of captives and prisoners between the two sides:

During the first phase, Hamas shall release 33 Israeli captives (alive or dead), including women (civilians and soldiers), children (under the age of 19 who are not soldiers), those over the age of 50, and the sick, in exchange for a number of prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centres, according to the following [criteria]:

  • Hamas shall release all living Israeli captives, including civilian women and children (under the age of 19 who are not soldiers). In return, Israel shall release 30 children and women for every Israeli detainee released, based on lists provided by Hamas, in order of detention.
  • Hamas shall release all living Israeli captives (over the age of 50), the sick, and wounded civilians. In return, Israel shall release 30 elderly (over 50) and sick prisoners for every Israeli captive, based on lists provided by Hamas, in order of detention.
  • Hamas shall release all living Israeli female soldiers. In return, Israel shall release 50 prisoners for every Israeli female soldier (30 serving life sentences, 20 sentenced) based on lists provided by Hamas.

Scheduling the exchange of captives and prisoners between the parties in the first stage:

  • Hamas shall release three Israeli detainees on the third day of the agreement, after which Hamas shall release three other detainees every seven days, starting with women as much as possible (civilians and female soldiers). In the sixth week, Hamas shall release all remaining civilian detainees included in this phase. In return, Israel shall release the agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners, according to lists Hamas will provide.
  • Hamas will provide information about the Israeli detainees who will be released at this stage by the seventh day (if possible).
  • On the 22nd day, the Israeli side shall release all prisoners from the Shalit deal who have been re-arrested.
  • If there are fewer than 33 living Israeli detainees to be released, a number of bodies from the same categories shall be released to complete this stage. In return, Israel will release all women and children who were arrested from the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023 – provided this is done in the fifth week of this stage.
  • The exchange process is linked to the extent of commitment to the agreement, including the cessation of military operations, the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the return of displaced persons, as well as the entry of humanitarian aid.
  • All necessary legal procedures to ensure that freed Palestinian prisoners are not re-arrested on the same charges are to be completed.
  • The steps of the first stage above do not constitute a basis for negotiating the second stage. Punitive measures and penalties that were taken against prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention camps after October 7, 2023, are to be lifted and their conditions improved, including individuals who were arrested after this date.
  • No later than the 16th day of the first phase, indirect talks will begin between the parties to agree on the details of the second phase of this agreement, with regard to the exchange of prisoners and captives from both parties (soldiers and remaining men), provided that they are completed and agreed upon before the end of the fifth week of this stage.

The United Nations and its agencies, including UNRWA, and other international organisations, are to continue providing humanitarian services across the Gaza Strip. This shall continue throughout all stages of the agreement.

Infrastructure (electricity, water, sewage, communications and roads) across the Gaza Strip shall be rehabilitated, and the equipment needed for civil defence allowed into Gaza to clear rubble and debris. This shall continue throughout all stages of the agreement.

All necessary supplies and equipment to shelter displaced people who lost their homes during the war (a minimum of 60,000 temporary homes – caravans – and 200,000 tents) shall be allowed into Gaza.

Throughout this phase, an agreed-upon number (not fewer than 50) of wounded military personnel will be allowed to travel through the Rafah crossing to receive medical treatment, and an increased number of travellers, sick and wounded, shall be allowed to leave through the Rafah crossing as restrictions on travellers are lifted. The movement of goods and trade will return without restrictions.

The necessary arrangements and plans shall be put in place for the reconstruction of homes, civilian facilities, and civilian infrastructure that was destroyed due to the war, as well as arrangements to compensate those affected, under the supervision of a number of countries and organisations, including: Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations.

 

All measures in this stage, including the temporary cessation of military operations, relief and shelter, withdrawal of forces, etc., shall continue in the second stage until a sustainable calm (cessation of military and hostile operations) is declared.

The second stage (42 days):

A return to sustainable calm (a permanent cessation of military and hostile operations) must be announced and take effect before the exchange of captives and prisoners – all remaining living Israeli men (civilians and soldiers) in exchange for an agreed-upon number of prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention camps.

Israeli forces shall withdraw completely from the Gaza Strip.

The third stage (42 days):

An exchange of the bodies and remains of the dead on both sides after they have been retrieved and identified.

The reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip over a period of three to five years – including homes, civilian facilities, and infrastructure – and compensating all those affected begins, under the supervision of several countries and organisations, including: Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.

A complete end to the siege of the Gaza Strip.

Guarantors of the agreement:

Qatar, Egypt, the United States, and the United Nations.

May 5, 2024

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UK students join pro-Palestine protests | Israel War on Gaza

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Students in the UK, including those at Cambridge and Oxford, are showing solidarity with Palestine and their peers around the world. Similar to protests in the US, Canada and France, encampments were set up on campus with students demanding a boycott and divestment from Israel.

Published On 6 May 2024

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Hamas accepts Qatari-Egyptian proposal for Gaza ceasefire | Israel War on Gaza News

The announcement comes after people start to flee eastern Rafah after Israel orders tens of thousands to evacuate.

Hamas has approved a proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza war put forward by mediators Qatar and Egypt, the Palestinian group says, although Israel has yet to comment on the proposal.

“Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas movement, conducted a telephone call with the prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and with the Egyptian intelligence minister, Mr Abbas Kamel, and informed them of Hamas’s approval of their proposal regarding a ceasefire agreement,” the group said in a statement published on its official website on Monday.

Details of the proposal were not immediately clear.

The statement was released after people started to flee the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip after Israel ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate as fears grew of a full-blown military assault there. More than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in the area.

After the Hamas announcement, crowds of people gathered to cheer and celebrate in Rafah.

Israel and Hamas have been engaged in indirect talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt over a potential ceasefire in the Gaza war and an exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners.

Egyptian and Hamas officials have previously said a potential ceasefire would take place in several stages in which Hamas would release Israeli captives it is holding in exchange for Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza.

It had not been clear whether the deal would meet Hamas’s key demands of a permanent ceasefire, a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the return of displaced families to their homes.

Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah, said people started celebrating near the Kuwaiti Hospital upon hearing the Hamas announcement.

Children and the elderly are among people cheering and chanting for a return to Gaza City, he said.

“Everyone … is happy because they believe a Rafah invasion will bring an unspeakable humanitarian catastrophe,” Abu Azzoum said. “Now they are so optimistic.”

The announcement brought “a sense of relief and tranquility” among Palestinians who are “exhausted and traumatised”, he said.

A displaced Palestinian in Rafah told Al Jazeera he hopes he would be able to go back home.

“We hope we return to our homes. … I am from Gaza [City] itself,” he said.

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