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Rafah assault 'a political calamity and humanitarian nightmare,' warns UN secretary-general
António Guterres says “Even the best friends of Israel are clear an assault on Rafah would be a strategic mistake, a political calamity, and a humanitarian nightmare.”
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Guterres: Gaza risks running out of fuel this evening after border crossings closed by Israel
The UN secretary-general has warned that Gaza may run out of fuel as quickly as tonight following Israel’s closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing and seizure of the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt.
Speaking at a press conference, António Guterres said “agreement between the government of Israel and the leadership of Hamas is essential to stop the unbearable suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and the hostages and their families.”
He appealed for both parties to show “political courage, and spare no effort to secure an agreement to stop the bloodshed, to free the hostages, and to help stabilise the region.”
Chastising Israel for closing access to Gaza, he said “the closure of both Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings is especially damaging to an already dire humanitarian situation. They must be reopened immediately. Just to give you an example, we risk running out of fuel this evening.”
Israel says it closed the Kerem Shalom crossing for security reasons after a barrage of rockets claimed by Hamas killed four Israeli soldiers stationed near the crossing on Sunday.
Reminding both Hamas and Israel of obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians, he said “Even the best friends of Israel are clear an assault on Rafah would be a strategic mistake, a political calamity and a humanitarian nightmare. I appeal to all those with influence over Israel to do everything in their power to help avert even more tragedy.”
He said “the international community has a shared responsibility to promote a humanitarian ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and a massive surge in life-saving aid.”
António Guterres has finished speaking. He did not take questions. As he was leaving a journalist was calling out “What do you want the security council to do? Do you want them to act?”
Rafah assault 'a political calamity and humanitarian nightmare,' warns UN secretary-general
António Guterres says “Even the best friends of Israel are clear an assault on Rafah would be a strategic mistake, a political calamity, and a humanitarian nightmare.”
The UN general secretary António Guterres has said he is “disturbed and distressed by the renewed military activity” in Gaza, and has called for Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings to be reopened immediately.
The UN secretary-general is speaking. You can watch it here …
Israel's finance minister says it was a 'mistake' to send a delegation to Cairo for talks
Israel’s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said it was a mistake to have sent a negotiating team to Cairo today. In a statement he said:
Sending the delegation to Cairo is a mistake and falls into the manipulative trap set by Hamas together with Qatar and Egypt. This is the time to press more and more on the neck of Yahya Sinwar and Hamas until they are destroyed.
You must not give in to international pressure and you must not stop until victory and the submission of the enemy. This is our war of independence and we must win it.
A spokesperson for the US state department has told Reuters in an email that the US has “made its views clear” about a major ground invasion of Rafah.
“We continue to believe that a hostage deal is in the best interest of the Israeli and the Palestinian people; it would bring an immediate ceasefire and allow increased humanitarian assistance into Gaza,” the spokesperson said.
It is the first official US response since Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing inside Gaza.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza and Israel.
The National Union of Journalists in the UK has criticised Israel’s government for its decision at the weekend to shut down Al Jazeera’s operations in the country.
In a statement, NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said:
Those with secrets to hide or who are ashamed of their actions forcibly close down television stations. Targeting Al Jazeera as the Israeli government has is a direct attack on free speech that brings shame on those responsible – I hope they will soon realise their error and reverse this decision.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has said he remains “deeply concerned” about the prospect of what he called a “full military incursion of Rafah”.
Speaking in south-east London, PA Media reports he said Israel and Hamas needed to “continue talking, negotiating, getting around the table”.
He went on to say:
We’ve been consistent in saying that we want to see an immediate humanitarian pause in this conflict so that we can crucially release the hostages, get them back to their families and get more aid in to Gaza, people desperately need it, and then use that pause to build a more lasting and sustainable ceasefire.
When it comes to the question of Rafah, again I’ve been clear that we are deeply concerned about the full military incursion of Rafah, given the humanitarian consequences of that. I’ve made that point specifically to prime minister Netanyahu whenever I’ve spoken to him
Police in Berlin have broken up a protest by several hundred pro-Palestinian activists who had occupied a courtyard on Berlin’s Free University earlier in the day, the Associated Press (AP) reports.
The protesters had put up about 20 tents and formed a human chain around the tents. Police called on the students via loudspeakers to leave the campus, the AP says.
The agency reports that most protesters had covered their faces with medical masks and had draped kufiyahs around their heads, shouting slogans like “viva, viva Palestina.” In recent days, students have held protests or set up encampments in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Spain, France and Britain, following earlier protests that have roiled US campuses.
Earlier today, we reported that police in Amsterdam had made up to 125 arrests in ending a protest there.
The Palestinian Authority is calling on the United States to “intervene immediately” to prevent Israel from invading Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the official Palestinian WAFA news agency reports.
This echoes language emanating from Saudi Arabia, whose foreign ministry called on the international community to “intervene immediately to stop the genocide carried out by the occupation forces” on Monday evening.
Our picture editors have put together this gallery of student protests about the Israel-Gaza conflict from around the world.
'Mid-level' Israeli team heads to Cairo to assess Hamas position
A team of mid-ranking Israeli officials will go to Cairo in the next few hours to assess whether Hamas can be persuaded to shift on its latest ceasefire offer, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday, reiterating that the proposal as it currently stands 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 Reuters.
It is believed that Hamas has been insisting that any hostage deal should involve a ceasefire that directly leads to the end of the war. Israel’s position is that it is determined to destroy Hamas, and envisages only a pause for a hostage-detainee swap, before resuming its military campaign.
Hamas has also released a statement condemning Israel for closing the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings into Gaza. It said:
By deciding to close the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings, Israel is leading the region toward a disaster and continues its policy of starvation and persecution of Palestinian. International intervention is required. The Biden administration and the international community bear full responsibility for the war’s continuation.
Israel says it closed the Kerem Shalom crossing for security reasons after a barrage of rockets was aimed at Israeli troops near it on Sunday by Hamas, killing four.
Map of Rafah and border crossingsIsraeli troops are currently operating at the Rafah crossing inside Gaza, with the IDF claiming it is acting on intelligence that the crossing was being used for “terrorist purposes”.
The Times of Israel is reporting that for the second consecutive night Israel’s military says it shot down a drone aimed at Israel from Iraq. It said the drone was intercepted last night before it reached Israeli airspace. Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed to have launched it.
