Israel's Bigotry
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HRW calls members to protect ICC independence amid expected pressure
Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), says Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants “reaffirms the crucial role” of the ICC, Al Jazeera reports.
“Victims of serious abuses in Israel and Palestine have faced a wall of impunity for decades. This principled first step by the prosecutor opens the door to those responsible for the atrocities committed in recent months to answer for their actions at a fair trial,” Jarrah said in a statement.
“ICC member countries should stand ready to resolutely protect the ICC’s independence as hostile pressure is likely to increase while the ICC judges consider Khan’s request.”
UK calls ICC arrest warrant request ‘unhelpful’
A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has denounced requests from the ICC prosecutor for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and three Hamas leaders, Al Jazeera reports.
“This action is not helpful in relation to reaching a pause in the fighting, getting hostages out or getting humanitarian aid in,” the spokesperson said.
Health ministry in Gaza says death toll hits 35,562
More than 35,562 Palestinians have been killed and 79,652 injured in the Israeli military offensive on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.
One hundred and six Palestinians were killed and 176 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
Gazans say Iranian president Raisi brought them ‘only ruin’
Gazans have spared little thought for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi killed in a helicopter crash, saying he had failed to ease the suffering in the conflict-ridden Palestinian territory, AFP reports.
Gazans in the central city of Deir al-Balah, an area which has been hit by fighting between Hamas and Israeli troops since the October 7 attacks, told AFP that Raisi’s legacy in the Palestinian territory had been tarnished by inaction over their plight.
“He never supported us, never kept his promises, never called for a ceasefire, and never stood by us. He does not concern us at all,” said Naji Khodeir, a resident of the city, which now hosts large numbers of Gazans fleeing fighting further south.
“He means nothing to us and nothing to Gaza,” said Bilal Khodary, a displaced Gazan.
Gazans said they were more concerned with their dire humanitarian situation.
“I only grieve for my people who die every day, for the thousands of victims and martyrs who are falling, and for the fact that no one cares about us,” said Roba al-Azaiza, a Deir al-Balah resident.
ICC prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant for war crimes
International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim A.A. Khan has sought arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for “criminal responsibility” for war crimes and crimes against humanity on Palestinian territory.
A statement by the ICC prosecutor says, “We submit that the crimes against humanity charged were committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population pursuant to state policy.”
It added that the evidence collected by his office “shows that Israel has intentionally and systematically deprived the civilian population in all parts of Gaza of objects indispensable to human survival”.
“No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader — no one — can act with impunity.”
Israeli army detains three Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem
Israeli troops have detained three Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.
Witnesses told the agency the arrests took place in the villages of Biddu and Beit Ijza.
The agency reported 21 detentions by the Israeli forces in Hebron and three others in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank earlier.
Hezbollah mourns ‘protector’ Raisi after death of Iranian leader
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has said it mourns the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and other officials in a helicopter crash, praising him as a “protector” of allied groups in the region.
“Hezbollah in Lebanon extends its deepest condolences,” the group said in a statement, adding that they knew Raisi “closely for a long time” and that he was “a strong supporter, and a staunch defender of our causes… and a protector of the resistance movements”.
Israel’s Gallant says Israel will expand operation in Rafah
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has told White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan that his country is committed to expanding its operation in Rafah in southern Gaza.
“We are committed to broadening the ground operation in Rafah to the end of dismantling Hamas and recovering the hostages,” a statement from Gallant’s office quoted him as saying during the meeting.
Gallant also said that Israel made adjustments to its evacuation operations in Rafah.
UN refugee agency for Palestinians estimates that more than 800,000 people have been displaced from Rafah to other regions of the enclave since Israel started its operations in the city more than two weeks ago.
What does Gantz’s ultimatum mean for Netanyahu’s government?
A new crisis for Benjamin Netanyahu at a time when public anger against his handling of the war on Gaza is rising with each passing week.
Senior Minister Benny Gantz is threatening to quit Israel’s coalition government if Netanyahu doesn’t come up with a plan for Gaza’s post-war governance within three weeks.
It’s put Netanyahu in a tough spot. Accepting the suggestions put forward by Gantz could cost Netanyahu the support of far-right partners and topple his government.
So, how will the deepening divisions in the war cabinet affect his coalition? And what could they mean for the future of Israel’s war on Gaza?
Hamas mourns Raisi’s death
The Palestinian group Hamas has mourned the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who it said had supported the Palestinian people during the recent war with Israel.
The charred wreckage of the helicopter, which crashed on Sunday carrying Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, was found early on Monday after an overnight search in a mountainous terrain near the Azerbaijan border.
“These leaders supported the legitimate struggle of our people against the Zionist entity, provided valued support to the Palestinian resistance, and made tireless efforts in solidarity and support in all forums and fields for our people in the steadfast Gaza Strip during the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood,” referring to the current war with Israel.
Israel’s Lapid tells US’s Sullivan: Return of captives top priority
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has told US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan that the return of the Israeli captives held by Hamas is the most important and urgent task in the war for his party.
In a post on X, Lapid said he met Sullivan in the morning, adding the relationship between the US and Israel is stronger than any government.
“The two countries will manage the differences of opinion in closed rooms as they have always done,” he said.
“This is how the closest allies act, and the world needs to know that the alliance between us is strong and exists,” he added.
Lapid also posted photos of his meeting with Sullivan on X.
Timeline of major Israeli attacks on Gaza’s hospitals
The ongoing siege on Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital is the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on health services in the Palestinian territory.
The World Health Organization has documented 445 Israeli attacks on Gaza’s medical sector that affected 101 health facilities, including 32 hospitals.
These include:
October 2023 – a missile hits the car park of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing hundreds of people.
November 2023 – Israeli forces enter Gaza’s biggest hospital, al-Shifa, after a siege of several days. They also launch an attack on al-Awda, killing at least three doctors.
December 2023 – Israeli forces take control of al-Awda after a 12-day siege, during which snipers kill two members of the medical staff at the facility.
January 2024 – Israeli forces order the evacuation of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and raid the facility.
March 2024 – Israeli attack on al-Aqsa Hospital kills many civilians sheltering in the hospital. The same month, the military also launches a new assault on al-Shifa, leaving it in ruins.
Israeli army claims it struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon
Israeli warplanes struck sites belonging to the Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon, according to a statement by the army.
Buildings in Blida, al-Jebbayn and Odaisseh, alongside an observation post in Chihine, were hit, the military said on Monday.
Hezbollah said on Sunday night that it attacked Israeli military targets in the Israeli border town of Metula.
Netanyahu rejected plan to renew mediated talks: Report
Several Israeli media outlets are reporting the Israeli Prime Minister has rejected a proposal to resume indirect negotiations with Hamas put forward by Israeli negotiators.
Netanyahu reportedly turned down the plan on Saturday, the same day Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said he would quit if Netanyahu’s government failed to present a post-war plan for Gaza by June 8.
The update comes almost two weeks after Netanyahu’s office said it would “send a working delegation to the mediators” when it rejected a Qatari-Egyptian mediated ceasefire deal that Hamas had accepted.
Soon after, Israel launched its long-threatened ground invasion of Rafah, which according to the United Nations has since displaced about 800,000 people.
What’s the situation at al-Awda Hospital?
Here’s what you need to know about the ongoing Israeli siege at al-Awda Hospital, one of the last functional hospitals in northern Gaza.
The Wafa news agency, citing medical sources, said Israeli forces fired artillery shells at the hospital before surrounding the facility on Sunday.
The agency said Israeli forces also bulldozed areas in the vicinity of the hospital.
It added that the ongoing siege is preventing civilians and medical staff from entering or leaving the facility.
MSF said the hospital is treating at least 34 people who were wounded in an Israeli strike on the nearby Jabalia refugee camp on Saturday, and that it has now run out of drinking water.
New encampment at Drexel University in Philadelphia
Pro-Palestinian protesters in the US have set up a new encampment at Drexel University in the city of Philadelphia, a day after authorities thwarted an attempted occupation of a school building at the neighbouring University of Pennsylvania campus.
Up to 60 protesters were at the encampment on the campus’s Korman Quad on Sunday, Drexel President John Fry said in a statement, adding that the university was speaking with demonstrators to end the protest.
Ex-CIA chief backs Biden’s decision to halt bomb shipment to Israel
Robert Gates, the former US defence secretary and CIA chief, has supported the Biden administration’s decision to hold back a shipment of “2,000 pound [907kg] bombs” to Israel, saying that such munitions “are not precision-guided” and “inevitably lead to a lot of collateral damage”.
Gates told the CBS broadcaster that he was “all for providing other kinds of weapons to Israel” to “at least dramatically weaken Hamas for the long-term” but added that “we don’t think the way to do that is to flatten two-thirds of the buildings in Gaza”.
“When our allies ignore us, I think it’s reasonable to take actions that try to get their attention,” he said.
Malaysia’s Anwar says US complicit in Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has urged the US to halt arms supply to Israel due to Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.
Rights group calls for international intervention to reopen Rafah crossing
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says Israel’s closure of the Rafah crossing in Gaza has made it impossible for more than 11,000 wounded people and 10,000 cancer patients to get the medical care they need outside the Palestinian enclave.
“By blocking the Rafah crossing, Israel has tightened its grip and imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip, cutting it off from the outside world and resulting in the deaths of scores of injured and ill people,” the group said on X.
“Given the deficiency of medical services in Gaza as a result of Israel’s genocide, which has destroyed most hospitals and resulted in the deaths & incarceration of numerous doctors, an immediate international intervention is required to reopen the Rafah crossing.”
Journalist recounts deadly Israeli attack on Nuseirat camp
Doaa Shaheen, a Palestinian journalist, spoke to Al Jazeera of her experience being buried beneath the rubble of a building at the Nuseirat refugee camp after an Israeli attack.
The bombing on Sunday killed at least 31 people.
“I constantly hear stories from survivors who were pulled from under the rubble – but this is the first time in my life that I came so close to death. My sister was lying next to me under the debris. She was crying, I was totally helpless,” Shaheen said.
“My grandmother, she’s a very old lady. She’s also deaf. She was asking me what was happening around her. She didn’t understand, the house was full of my relatives. The entire neighbourhood was levelled to the ground.”
Biden tells Morehouse graduates that scenes in Gaza break his heart, too
US President Joe Biden offered his most direct recognition of students’ anguish over Israel’s war on Gaza, telling graduates of the historically Black Morehouse College that he has heard their voices of protest and that scenes from the conflict in Gaza break his heart, too.
“I support peaceful nonviolent protest,” he told students at the all-male college, some of whom wore Palestinian scarves known as keffiyehs around their shoulders on top of their black graduation gowns.
“Your voices should be heard and I promise you, I hear them.”
Biden said he shared graduates’ concerns over the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and was continuing to push for a deal to pause the conflict in exchange for the release of captives. He said leadership can be “hard and lonely” and that frustration and anger about the conflict permeated his own family.
“It’s one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world,” the president said. “There’s nothing easy about it. I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family. But most of all, I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well.”
Biden’s comments came near the end of a commencement address in which he also reflected on US democracy and his role in safeguarding it. The speech, which would typically be a low-profile event, is drawing scrutiny as college campuses nationwide have erupted in sometimes-violent protests over Biden’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israel and Hezbollah continued to trade fire, with the Lebanese armed group claiming attacks on the headquarters of a reconnaissance company of the Israeli army’s 551st Reserve Paratroopers Brigade in the Israeli town of Metulla.
Deadly strikes hit Gaza as US envoy visits Israel
RAFAH (AFP) - An Israeli strike killed 31 people in central Gaza on Sunday (May 19), the Palestinian territory's civil defence agency said, as US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited for talks on the conflict.
Israeli troops have moved in on the Gaza Strip's far-southern city of Rafah, which the army describes as the last Hamas stronghold and where the United States says 800,000 civilians have been newly displaced by the fighting.
