Gaza live: 800,000 people 'forced' to flee Rafah this month, says Unrwa chief
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Israeli police have responded with water cannons against anti-government protesters in Tel Aviv.
The demonstrators, who have held daily-to-weekly protests since 7 October, are largely calling for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down amid the far-right leader's handling of the war in Gaza and failure to prioritise the release of those captured in the Hamas movement's attack more than seven months ago.
Two top Biden administration officials held indirect talks with Iranian counterparts this week in an effort to avoid escalating regional attacks, according to an Axios report.
The talks, involving President Joe Biden's Middle East adviser Brett McGurk and acting US envoy to Iran Abram Paley, marked the first known round of discussions between the US and Iran since January.
The conversations follow Iran's retaliatory attack on Israel that came several weeks after Israel bombed Iran's consulate.
In Tehran, state media quoted Iran's United Nations mission as confirming the talks, saying they were an "ongoing process".
"These talks were neither the first nor the last," the mission said in a statement.
The Israeli army says troops retrieved the body of Ron Benjamin, who was captured during the 7 October offensive by Hamas.
Military spokesman Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari said Benjamin’s body was found during the same operation that saw troops recover the remains of three other captives, which was announced on Friday.
The bodies of the other captives were also recovered in a tunnel in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Hagari said Benjamin and the other three captives had been killed on the day they were taken.
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz demanded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commit to an agreed vision for the end of the war in Gaza that would include stipulating who might rule the territory after the war with Hamas.
In a news conference, Gantz said he wanted the war cabinet to form a six-point plan by 8 June.
If his expectations are not met, Gantz said, he would withdraw his centrist party from the conservative premier’s emergency government.
The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees said Saturday that 800,000 people had been "forced to flee" Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah since Israel intensified bombing there this month.
"Nearly half of the population of Rafah or 800,000 people are on the road having been forced to flee since the Israeli forces started the military operation in the area on 6 May", Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on social media site X.
"Every time, they are forced to leave behind the few belongings they have: mattresses, tents, cooking utensils and basic supplies that they cannot carry or pay to transport. Every time, they have to start from scratch, all over again," he continued in a lengthy thread.
"The claim that people in Gaza can move to 'safe' or 'humanitarian' zones is false. Each time, it puts the lives of civilians at serious risk. Gaza does not have any safe zones.
No place is safe.
No one is safe."
Once again, nearly half of the population of Rafah or 800,000 people are on the road, having been forced to flee since the Israeli Forces started the military operation in the area on 6 May.
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) May 18, 2024
In response to evacuation orders demanding people to flee to so-called safe zones,…
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the war on Gaza “is an open wound that threatens to infect the entire region”.
“The only permanent way to end the cycle of violence and instability is through a two-state solution, Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as capital of both states,” he wrote.
The war in Gaza is an open wound that threatens to infect the entire region.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 18, 2024
The only permanent way to end the cycle of violence & instability is through a two-state solution, Israel & Palestine living side-by-side in peace & security, with Jerusalem as capital of both states.
Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters marched in central London to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the Nakba and demand an end to arms sales from Britain to Israel. pic.twitter.com/2NdtaazIgP
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 18, 2024
Israeli forces launched air strikes targeting several towns in Lebanon on Saturday, according to Wafa news agency.
The towns of Ayta al-Shaab, Ramia, and Beit Leif were targeted in southern Lebanon. An Israeli strike also hit the Masnaa area on the Lebanese-Syrian border in the Beqaa Valley.
Overnight, Israeli bombs hit the southern town of Khiam with multiple air strikes. No injuries were reported.
In an opinion piece for Middle East Eye, academic and activist John Rees argues that the key difference between student protests against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and pro-Palestine protests now is the society-wide support in 2024.
He writes: "In the US in the 1960s, the movement was in part driven forward by opposition to the draft. Today's movement has no such immediate spur.
In the UK, the anti-Vietnam War movement was dominated by students, who made up well over half the major anti-war marches. That is not the case today. The mass movement had been mobilising on an unprecedented scale for eight months before the students moved into action in the UK.
In the UK, the largest of the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in 1968 numbered 100,000 people, smaller than the smallest of the repeated Palestine marches, which was 150,000, and dwarfed by the largest, which numbered 800,000.
Moreover, in 1967 and 1968, there were only two large-scale national marches in the UK. In the last eight months, there have been 14 national demonstrations for Palestine."
You can read the full column below.
Opinion: The crucial difference between the Gaza and Vietnam student protests
A video shows a Palestinian man persistently making pastries amid explosions and gunfire in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. He expressed his determination, stating that he wanted to feed people who were starving. pic.twitter.com/byv0K261jL
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 18, 2024
The Israeli military killed a senior Palestinian fighter in an air strike on a building in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Friday night.
The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, named the man as Islam Khamayseh. The Palestinian health ministry said that eight other Palestinians were wounded in the raid.
The Israeli military said a fighter jet and helicopter conducted the strike, a rarity in the West Bank, where Israeli air raids are usually carried out by drones.
A general strike and a day of mourning were announced in Jenin following the attack.
Israeli forces also conducted pre-dawn raids across the West Bank, detaining at least 20 Palestinians.
Read more: Israeli air strike kills senior Palestinian fighter in Jenin camp
Austria will release funds to Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, that had been blocked following Israeli allegations that 12 members of the agency's staff participated in Hamas' attack on 7 October.
The decision came after Unrwa launched an action plan to strengthen its internal reviews.
"After a thorough analysis of the action plan, we will release funds to Unrwa again," the Austrian foreign ministry said on Saturday.
A total of 3.4 million euros ($3.70 million) have been budgeted for 2024, with the first payment due to be made in the summer, the ministry said.
Several western countries froze $450m in funds after Israel accused 12 employees, of 13,000 working in the Gaza Strip, of participating in Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.
Last month, the UN-commissioned Colonna report found that Israeli authorities had not provided "any supporting evidence" to back up allegations of Unrwa staff involvement in the attacks.
Germany has since said that it would continue to fund Unrwa, following the release of the report.
In the Gaza enclave, the agency runs 183 schools, 22 health facilities and seven women's centres, amongst several other facilities.
Its schools are attended by 286,645 students in Gaza, while its medical facilities have 3.4 million average visits per year, according to UN data.
Israeli bombardment of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza has killed at least 15 Palestinian civilians and wounded 30 others, according to Wafa news agency.
Israeli tanks bombed the entrance of a centre where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in the camp, and also targeted people attempting to return to their homes in the area.
The camp has been under Israeli siege for several days now, with Palestinian families in the camp running out of food, water and medical supplies. Civil defence crews have been unable to reach the camp to retrieve bodies and tend to the wounded.
Elsewhere on Saturday, three Palestinian civilians were killed and others wounded after Israeli strikes targeted a house belonging to the Qadeeh family, east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
The US is focused on tracking down Hamas's Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, amid a new push by the White House to help Israel declare "total victory" so it can bring an end to the war on Gaza, US officials have told Middle East Eye.
Current and former US officials, who spoke with MEE on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the mission, said the US was expanding its search efforts across the region, after believing the 61-year-old was hiding in tunnels deep below Gaza.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, told MEE that the Biden administration is now exploring possibilities that Sinwar fled to Egypt's Sinai peninsula, and from there may have even escaped to either Lebanon or Syria.
The White House referred MEE to comments from US national security advisor Jake Sullivan earlier this week, that he wouldn't comment on intelligence about Sinwar.
The current and former officials did not reference any specific intelligence but said one factor driving the debate was that US intelligence was lagging on Sinwar's last whereabouts.
Read more: US focused on hunting down Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, in bid to end Gaza war
A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker has been attacked around 10 nautical miles from Yemen's coastal city of Mokha, British security firm Ambrey said on Saturday.
Radio communication indicated the ship was hit by a missile and that there was a subsequent fire onboard.
Since November, Yemen's Houthis have carried out several attacks on vessels in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Earlier on Saturday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said a ship in the Red Sea was struck by an unknown object and sustained slight damage.
"The vessel and crew are safe and continuing to its next port of call," UKMTO said in an advisory note.
The Houthi attacks have cause major disruption to global shipping for several months, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more costly journeys around Southern Africa.
