Closing summary
It is 4.15pm in Gaza, 5.15pm in Tel Aviv and 5.45pm in Tehran. We will be closing this blog soon, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Middle East coverage here.
Here is a recap of the latest developments:
The EU foreign policy chief has warned “we are on the edge” of “a regional war in the Middle East”. “I don’t want to exaggerate but we are on the edge of a war, a regional war in the Middle East, which will be sending shock waves to the rest of the world, and in particular to Europe,” he said. “So stop it.” Borrell, said the existing EU sanctions regime on Iran would be strengthened and expanded to punish Tehran for its attack and help prevent future ones on Israel. At the same time, he said, Israel needed to exercise restraint.
The US on Thursday announced new sanctions on Iran targeting its unarmed aerial vehicle (UAV) production after its missile and drone strike on Israel last weekend. A US Department of the Treasury statement said the measures targeted 16 individuals and two entities enabling Iran’s UAV production, including engine types that power Iran’s Shahed variant UAVs, which were used in the 13 April attack.
The UK placed sanctions on Iranian military entities, including the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, an official notice showed on Thursday. The British sanctions target 13 entities or individuals in total, according to the notice.
Qatar said it was reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, according to comments made by the gulf state’s prime minister. “Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role,” prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told a Doha news conference. “There is exploitation and abuse of the Qatari role,” he said, adding that Qatar had been the victim of “point-scoring” by “politicians who are trying to conduct election campaigns by slighting the State of Qatar”.
The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. Indonesia’s minister of foreign affairs Retno Marsudi told reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a ceasefire and of resolving the Palestinian problem through a two-state solution.
European Union leaders have agreed to increase sanctions against Iran as concern grows that Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East and concern that Iran is supplying weapons to Russia in the war against Ukraine. In an official communique, the EU announced “will take further restrictive measures against Iran, notably in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles.”
The UN security council is due to vote on Thursday on a Palestinian bid for full UN membership, diplomats said, a move that Israel ally the US is expected to block because it would effectively recognise a Palestinian state. The 15-member council had initially been scheduled to vote on the measure on Friday. It will now vote at 5pm EDT (9pm GMT/10pm BST) on Thursday, the diplomats said.
The EU has edged closer to calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after a meeting of the 27 bloc leaders on Wednesday night. Although piggybacking on a UN resolution, Ireland’s taoiseach indicated the significance of the hardened up language in the official communique issued last night. “I welcome the language that has been agreed around ceasefire, not pause but ceasefire, I think that is important,” said Simon Harris Ireland’s taoiseach.
David Cameron has said it is clear Israel is “making a decision to act” in response to last weekend’s Iranian mass drone and ballistic missile attack, as Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off calls for restraint and said his country would make its own decisions about how to defend itself. Lord Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, speaking on a visit to Jerusalem, said he hoped the Israeli response would be carried out in a way that minimised escalation.
Israeli artillery shelling and aircraft strikes again hit Gaza City overnight, said An AFP correspondent in Gaza. The Israeli military said it struck dozens of militant targets over the past day.
Gaza’s civil defence said on Thursday it had recovered 11 bodies in the southern city of Khan Younis during the night.
Gaza rescue crews recovered the corpses of eight family members, including five children and two women, from a house in Rafah’s al-Salam neighbourhood, the civil defence service said.
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah, described an attack on southern Rafah as “one of the bloodiest” in “wide-ranging attacks on Gaza” overnight by the Israeli military. He also said airstrikes were also recorded in the al-Mughraqa and Deir el-Balah areas.
Tareq Abu Azzoum also said that “the Israeli army, meanwhile, withdrew from Nuseirat refugee camp, leaving behind a trail of destruction” and that “civil defence crews are working to recover victims buried in the debris”.
Israel has reportedly deployed extra artillery and armoured personnel carriers to the Gaza Strip periphery, suggesting that the military is preparing for its long-threatened ground offensive on Rafah.
At least 33,970 Palestinians have been killed and 76,770 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry has said. The Hamas-led ministry figure has increased by 71 deaths since yesterday. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (Unrwa), told the UN security council on Thursday that “Unrwa personnel detained by Israeli security forces” had “shared harrowing accounts of mistreatment and torture in detention”. Lazzarini demanded an independent investigation and “accountability for the blatant disregard for the protected status of humanitarian workers, operations, and facilities under international law.”
Lazzarini also told the UN security council that Unrwa is “under enormous strain” and said that “an insidious campaign to end Unrwa’s operations is under way”. He said calls for the UN agency’s closure are “not about adherence to humanitarian principles”. Instead, he said, the calls are “about ending the refugee status of millions of Palestinians”.
Senior US and Israeli officials will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday about Israel’s plans for the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Washington seeks alternatives to an Israeli offensive, a US official said. The meeting is a follow-up to a similar meeting held on 1 April.
A Palestinian boy who survived an Israeli airstrike that destroyed his family’s home in November has died during a food aid drop. Zein Oroq was pinned under rubble after the airstrike last year that killed 17 members of his extended family. Although he was injured, he survived. Last week, during an airdrop of aid, 13-year-old Zein was struck by one of the packages and died in hospital on Sunday.
Google said on Thursday it had terminated 28 employees after some staff participated in protests against the company’s cloud contract with the Israeli government. Google said it had concluded individual investigations, resulting in the termination of 28 employees, and would continue to investigate and take action as needed. In a statement on Medium, Google workers affiliated with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign called it a “flagrant act of retaliation” and claimed that some employees who did not directly participate in Tuesday’s protests were also among those Google fired.
The former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau has announced that she will be joining hundreds of people from around the world on a Gaza-bound flotilla, expected to set sail from the Mediterranean in the coming days, that will carry at least 5,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid. The flotilla, coined ‘Break the Siege’ is expected to include at least three vessels and is being organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that, according to Egyptian sources, the US had agreed to the Israeli plan for a military operation in Rafah in exchange for a limited response against Iran. It cited an Egyptian source that spoke with the London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the report.
With no centralised relief effort in Egypt, Palestinians are relying on grassroots charities for food, rent and clothing. Unlike in neighbouring countries, no UN body has taken responsibility for Palestinians who have fled to Egypt, while Egyptian authorities stand accused of profiting from high border-crossing fees.
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi will visit Pakistan as scheduled next week despite increasing tension in the Middle East, Pakistan’s foreign minister said on Thursday. Ishaq Dar said Raisi will arrive in the capital, Islamabad, on 22 April on an official three-day visit.
Updated
The UK sanctions Iranian military entities including IRGC Navy
The UK has placed sanctions on Iranian military entities, including the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, an official notice showed on Thursday, reports Reuters.
The measures follow Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel last weekend.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak had said on Monday that the G7 nations was working on a package of coordinated measures against Iran.
The British sanctions target 13 entities or individuals in total, the notice showed.
US announces new sanctions on Iran after missile and drone strike on Israel
The US on Thursday announced new sanctions on Iran targeting its unarmed aerial vehicle (UAV) production after its missile and drone strike on Israel last weekend, reports Reuters.
A US Department of the Treasury statement said the measures targeted 16 individuals and two entities enabling Iran’s UAV production, including engine types that power Iran’s Shahed variant UAVs, which were used in the 13 April attack.
According to Reuter’s report, the US Treasury said it was also designating five companies in multiple jurisdictions providing component materials for steel production to Iran’s Khuzestan Steel Company (KSC), one of Iran’s largest steel producers, or purchasing KSC’s finished steel products.
Three subsidiaries of Iranian automaker Bahman Group, which it said had materially supported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have also been targeted.
The statement said that concurrent with the US Treasury action, the UK was imposing sanctions targeting several Iranian military organisations, individuals and entities involved in Iran’s UAV and ballistic missile industries.
Reuters reports that the US statement came after finance ministers and central bank governors of the G7 industrial democracies said, after a meeting on Wednesday, that they would “ensure close coordination of any future measure to diminish Iran’s ability to acquire, produce, or transfer weapons to support destabilizing regional activities.”
EU leaders also decided on Wednesday to step up sanctions against Iran after Tehran’s missile and drone attack on Israel left world powers scrambling to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Tehran says it launched the 13 April attack in retaliation for Israel’s suspected 1 April strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Israel has said it will retaliate, while a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said on Thursday Iran could review its “nuclear doctrine” after Israeli threats.
UN security council to vote on Thursday on Palestinian UN membership, say diplomats
The UN security council is due to vote on Thursday on a Palestinian bid for full UN membership, diplomats said, a move that Israel ally the US is expected to block because it would effectively recognise a Palestinian state, reports Reuters.
The 15-member council had initially been scheduled to vote on the measure on Friday. It will now vote at 5pm EDT (9pm GMT/10pm BST) on Thursday, the diplomats said.
Updated
The UN security council is to vote on the Palestinian request for full UN membership at 5pm EDT (9pm GMT/10pm BST) on Thursday, say diplomats, according to a breaking news report by Reuters.
More details soon …
US and Israel to hold virtual meeting about Rafah on Thursday
Senior US and Israeli officials will hold a virtual meeting on Thursday about Israel’s plans for the southern Gaza city of Rafah as Washington seeks alternatives to an Israeli offensive, a US official said, according to a report by Reuters.
The meeting is a follow-up to a similar meeting held on 1 April.
US president Joe Biden has urged Israel not to conduct a large-scale offensive in Rafah to avoid more Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza, where Palestinian health authorities say more than 32,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault.
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi will visit Pakistan as scheduled next week despite increasing tension in the Middle East in the wake of Tehran’s aerial attack on Israel, Reuters reports citing Pakistan’s foreign minister.
Ishaq Dar said Raisi will arrive in the capital, Islamabad, on 22 April on an official three-day visit.
According to Reuters, Dar provided no further details, but the visit seems to be part of efforts by the two sides to mend ties which had briefly been strained in January, when Tehran and Islamabad carried out tit-for-tat strikes targeting militants accused of attacking each other’s security forces.
But the two sides soon agreed to work together to improve security cooperation.
Pakistan is among the countries that has no diplomatic relations with Israel because of the lingering issue of Palestinian statehood. Dar said Pakistan wants the issue to be settled according to UN resolutions.
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires:
Updated
Ashifa Kassam is the Guardian’s European community affairs correspondent.
The former mayor of Barcelona Ada Colau has announced that she will be joining hundreds of people from around the world on a Gaza-bound flotilla, expected to set sail from the Mediterranean in the coming days, that will carry at least 5,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid.
The flotilla, coined ‘Break the Siege’ is expected to include at least three vessels and is being organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.
In announcing her participation on social media, Colau thanked organisers for inviting her to be a part of it. “Because there are many of us who do not want to continue to feel powerless,” she wrote.
The coalition has organised similar initiatives since 2010. One of its initial efforts to bring aid to Gaza made global headlines after Israeli troops intercepted the convoy, setting off a violent encounter that resulted in the death of nine activists. The deadly raid sparked international outcry and jolted the relationship between Israel and Turkey.
This latest mission will see “civilians bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza,” the coalition noted on its website. “We are doing what is just, humane and necessary.”
An AFP correspondent in Gaza said Israeli artillery shelling and aircraft strikes again hit Gaza City overnight.
The Israeli military said it struck dozens of militant targets over the past day.
Gaza’s civil defence said on Thursday it had recovered 11 more bodies in the southern city of Khan Younis during the night.
Israel had also bombed the far-southern city of Rafah. Gaza rescue crews recovered the corpses of eight family members, including five children and two women, from a house in Rafah’s al-Salam neighbourhood, the civil defence service said.
Updated
At least 33,970 Palestinians have been killed and 76,770 wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry has said.
Reuters reports the Hamas-led ministry figure has increased by 71 deaths since yesterday.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Here is a video clip of EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warning that the Middle East is on the brink of “a regional war”.
Google fires 28 employees for protest of Israeli cloud contract
Google said on Thursday it had terminated 28 employees after some staff participated in protests against the company’s cloud contract with the Israeli government, reports Reuters.
The Alphabet unit said a small number of protesting employees entered and disrupted work at a few unspecified office locations.
“Physically impeding other employees’ work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behavior,” the company said in a statement.
According to Reuters, Google said it had concluded individual investigations, resulting in the termination of 28 employees, and would continue to investigate and take action as needed.
The news agency also reported that in a statement on Medium, Google workers affiliated with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign called it a “flagrant act of retaliation” and claimed that some employees who did not directly participate in Tuesday’s protests were also among those Google fired.
“Google workers have the right to peacefully protest about terms and conditions of our labor,” the statement added.
The protesting faction says that Project Nimbus, a $1.2bn contract awarded to Google and Amazon.com in 2021 to supply the Israeli government with cloud services, supports the development of military tools by the Israeli government.
In its statement, Google maintained that the Nimbus contract “is not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.”
Updated
A Palestinian boy who survived an Israeli airstrike that destroyed his family’s home in November has died during a food aid drop.
Zein Oroq was pinned under rubble after the airstrike last year that killed 17 members of his extended family. Although he was injured, he survived.
Last week, during an airdrop of aid, 13-year-old Zein was struck by one of the packages as he rushed to try to get a can of fava beans, some rice or flour.
“The first time, when the house was hit by a strike, he came out from under the rubble with wounds in his head, hand and leg. God saved him,” said Zein’s grandfather, Ali Oroq.
“While parachutes were falling, an aid box hit his head. Also, the stampede of people who were heading towards the box did not pay attention to the boy – they were also hungry,” said his father, Mahmoud.
“So, his head was cut and wounded, he got fractures in the pelvis, skull and abdomen, and with the flow of people, the pressure increased on him.”
Zein was taken to hospital, where he died on Sunday.
You can read the full report from staff and agencies in Gaza here:
Updated
With no centralised relief effort in Egypt, Palestinians are relying on grassroots charities for food, rent and clothing, writes Edmund Bower.
Bower, a Middle East reporter based in Beirut, has written about Gaza refugees in Cairo finding little help in this piece for the Guardian:
Updated
EU foreign policy chief warns 'we are on the edge' of 'a regional war in the Middle East'
According to a report by the Associated Press (AP), the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the existing EU sanctions regime on Iran would be strengthened and expanded to punish Tehran for its attack and help prevent future ones on Israel. At the same time, he said, Israel needed to exercise restraint.
“I don’t want to exaggerate but we are on the edge of a war, a regional war in the Middle East, which will be sending shock waves to the rest of the world, and in particular to Europe,” he warned. “So stop it.”
On Wednesday, EU leaders meeting in Brussels vowed to ramp up sanctions on Iran to target its drone and missile deliveries to proxies in Gaza, Yemen and Lebanon.
Here are some of the latest images from Rafah on the newswires:
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah, has told the news outlet that an overnight attack on Gaza killed 11 people, including five children.
The attack on southern Rafah was “one of the bloodiest” in “wide-ranging attacks on Gaza” overnight by the Israeli military, he said.
Abu Azzoum added that airstrikes were also recorded in the al-Mughraqa and Deir el-Balah areas.
He also said that “the Israeli army, meanwhile, withdrew from Nuseirat refugee camp, leaving behind a trail of destruction” and that “civil defence crews are working to recover victims buried in the debris”.
Updated
The EU has edged closer to calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after a meeting of the 27 bloc leaders last night.
Leaders have struggled to agree language from the outset of the conflict, engaging in torturous discussions over whether they should use the word ceasefire, pause, or pauses in the first official bloc-wide declaration in October.
Although piggybacking on a UN resolution, Ireland’s taoiseach indicated the significance of the hardened up language in the official communique issued last night reiterating “commitment to work with partners to end the crisis in Gaza without delay and implement UN security council Resolution 2728, including through reaching an immediate ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages”.
“I welcome the language that has been agreed around ceasefire, not pause but ceasefire, I think that is important,” said Simon Harris Ireland’s taoiseach.
EU leaders agree to increase sanctions against Iran
Lisa O’Carroll is the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent.
European Union leaders have agreed to increase sanctions against Iran as concern grows that Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel could fuel a wider war in the Middle East and concern that Iran is supplying weapons to Russia in the war against Ukraine.
In an official communique, the EU announced “will take further restrictive measures against Iran, notably in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles.”
French president Emmanuel Macron said new measures should target “those who are helping to produce the missiles and drones that were used” in the weekend attack.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has tasked his staff with drawing up new measures but expanding sanctions, however, is not a simple step – the EU has already targeted those responsible for making drones that Iran has sold to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
The idea is to expand that list to include missiles, although there is no evidence that Iran has sold missiles to Russia. Borrell said that proxy forces backed by Iran in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria could also be targeted with sanctions.
Latvia’s prime minister Evika Silina said more work would be done to restrict the “military brains” behind the “technology which Iran can use not just against Israel but against Europe so we have to strengthen those sanctions.”’
Lithuanian prime minister Gitanis Nasuèda said on Thursday that leaders discussed the concerns about Iran also feeding Russia’s war machine in Ukraine.
“We had the opportunity to talk about Iran engagement in the war with Ukraine and I think it should be one of the reasons why we have to introduce and expand the sanctions to Iran. Not only because of Iran’s role in the conflict in the Middle East but also because of Iran’s role in the war in Ukraine. I think Iran is responsible.”
“On the one hand we are supporting Ukraine and on the other Iran is standing on the other side of the conflict and this is not acceptable for the European Union as a whole,” he said.
Updated
Unwra boss says staff detained by Israeli security forces have shared 'harrowing' accounts of 'mistreatment and torture'
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (Unrwa), told the UN security council on Thursday that “Unrwa personnel detained by Israeli security forces” had “shared harrowing accounts of mistreatment and torture in detention”.
"@UNRWA personnel detained by Israeli security forces have shared harrowing accounts of mistreatment & torture"@UNLazzarini #UNSC: We demand an independent investigation & accountability for blatant disregard of protected status of humanitarian workers, operations & facilities pic.twitter.com/0nj1mm3YbK
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 17, 2024
Lazzarini demanded an independent investigation and “accountability for the blatant disregard for the protected status of humanitarian workers, operations, and facilities under international law.”
“To do otherwise would set a dangerous precedent and compromise humanitarian work around the world,” he added.
Lazzarini described the UN agency as “under enormous strain” and said that “an insidious campaign to end Unrwa’s operations is under way”. Last month Israel gave the UN a proposal to dismantle Unrwa and transfer its staff to a replacement agency to make large-scale food deliveries into Gaza, according to UN sources.
Lazzarini also told the security council that calls for the UN agency’s closure are “not about adherence to humanitarian principles”. Instead, he said, the calls are “about ending the refugee status of millions of Palestinians”.
"Calls for @UNRWA’s closure are not about adherence to humanitarian principles.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 17, 2024
These calls are about ending the refugee status of millions of Palestinians."@UNLazzarini #UNSC: Dismantling @UNRWA will have lasting repercussions. Full remarks ⬇️https://t.co/SfMJQ65zMG pic.twitter.com/T5uWB3mlA8
In his statement on Thursday, Lazzarini warned that dismantling Unrwa would have “lasting repercussions”. He said:
In the short-term, it will deepen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and accelerate the onset of famine.
In the longer-term, it will jeopardise the transition from ceasefire to ‘day after’ by depriving a traumatized population of essential services.
It will make nearly impossible the formidable task of bringing half a million deeply distressed girls and boys back to learning.
Failing to deliver on education will condemn an entire generation to despair – fuelling anger, resentment, and endless cycles of violence.
A political solution cannot succeed in such a scenario.
Lazzarini called on the security council’s members to “safeguard Unrwa’s critical role both now and within the framework of a transition”.
Updated
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that, according to Egyptian sources, the US has agreed to the Israeli plan for a military operation in Rafah in exchange for a limited response against Iran
It cites an Egyptian source that spoke with the London-based Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the report.
Updated
Israel ‘making decision to act’ after Iran attack, says Cameron on Jerusalem visit
Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for the Guardian.
David Cameron has said it is clear Israel is “making a decision to act” in response to last weekend’s Iranian mass drone and ballistic missile attack, as Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off calls for restraint and said his country would make its own decisions about how to defend itself.
Lord Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, speaking on a visit to Jerusalem, said he hoped the Israeli response would be carried out in a way that minimised escalation.
“It’s right to have made our views clear about what should happen next, but it’s clear the Israelis are making a decision to act,” he said after meeting the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog. “We hope they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible,” he added, becoming the first non-Israeli politician to openly admit that some kind of military reprisal is inevitable.
Cameron later met Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who made it clear Israel would reach its own decisions on its security.
Speaking at the beginning of his cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Netanyahu said: “I thank our friends for their support for the defence of Israel … They also have all kinds of suggestions and advice, I appreciate it, but I want to make it clear: we will make our own decisions, and the state of Israel will do everything necessary to protect itself.”
You can read more from Patrick Wintour’s report here:
Updated
Julian Borger is the Guardian’s world affairs editor.
Lisa Nandy, the UK’s shadow minister for international development, has called for support for the UN relief agency, Unrwa, warning that “time has run out for hundreds of thousands” of people in Gaza.
Nandy is in Washington this week attending the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund with a message of how the UK’s humanitarian and development policy will change if Labour, as expected, forms the next government by the end of this year.
However, she accepted that she would have to address widespread perceptions across the global south of Britain’s unreliability as a partner and its double standards on the world stage, an image exacerbated by the war in Gaza and the consequent famine rolling over the Palestinian coastal strip.
Nandy said: “We are getting a very strong message that people feel there are different rules for different countries, which is problematic and something that we’ll have to deal with if we’re fortunate enough to be in government.”
She promised more consistent UK support for international legal institutions like the international criminal court (ICC) and the international court of justice (ICJ) and said Israel should be held accountable before both tribunals for its conduct of the war in Gaza.
You can read more of Julian Borger’s report from Washington here:
China and Indonesia call for ceasefire in Gaza
The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of the ongoing war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
According to the Associated Press (AP) news agency, Indonesia’s minister of foreign affairs Retno Marsudi told reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a ceasefire and of resolving the Palestinian problem through a two-state solution.
“I am sure that China would use its influence to prevent escalation,” Marsudi said, adding that China and Indonesia “would also fully support Palestine’s membership in the UN.”
The AP reports that the meeting took place on the second day of a six-day tour during which Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi will also visit Papua New Guinea and Cambodia.
Wang blamed the US for holding up ceasefire resolutions at the UN. “The conflict in Gaza has lasted for half a year and caused a rare humanitarian tragedy in the 21st century. The UN security council responded to the call of the international community and continued to review the resolution draft on the ceasefire in Gaza, but it was repeatedly vetoed by the US,” Wang told reporters.
The US vetoed a number of proposed security council resolutions because they did not tie a ceasefire directly to the release of Israeli hostages or condemn Hamas’s 7 October attacks, before allowing a resolution to a pass with an abstention in late March.
US officials have argued that the ceasefire and hostage releases are linked, while Russia, China and many other council members favored unconditional calls for a ceasefire.
“This time, the US did not dare to stand in opposition to international morality and chose to abstain. However, the US claimed that this resolution was not binding,” Wang said. “In the eyes of the US, international law seems to be a tool that can be used whenever it finds useful and discarded if it does not want to use it.”
Israel reportedly deploys extra weapons for assumed Rafah offensive
Bethan McKernan is Jerusalem correspondent for the Guardian.
Israel has reportedly deployed extra artillery and armoured personnel carriers to the Gaza Strip periphery, suggesting that the military is preparing for its long-threatened ground offensive on Rafah, the only place of relative safety for at least 1.4 million displaced Palestinian civilians.
Israeli daily Ma’ariv also said on Wednesday that troops had been put on alert and “the governing principle of the operation” had been approved by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general staff and Yoav Gallant, the defence minister. The IDF declined to comment on the reports.
The IDF confirmed on Tuesday it was buying 40,000 tents to prepare for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians who have sought shelter in Rafah, the southernmost town in the Gaza Strip, which is only major urban area in the territory that Israeli ground forces have not yet entered.
The new operation in the six-month war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas will reportedly focus first on securing northern and central Gaza, particularly the string of refugee camps around the town of Deir al-Balah, Ma’ariv said.
It comes 10 days after Israel withdrew the bulk of its ground forces from the strip, leaving one division to man the Netzarim Corridor, the Israeli-built buffer that now divides the coastal territory.
But Palestinians on the ground said there had been a renewed presence of Israeli ground troops in northern Gaza this week, including in Beit Hanoun, where tanks surrounded school buildings where displaced people were sheltering.
You can read more of Bethan McKernan’s report here:
Qatar re-evaluating role as mediator
Qatar says it is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas, according to comments made by the gulf state’s prime minister.
“Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role,” prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told a Doha news conference, according to Agence France- Presse.
“There is exploitation and abuse of the Qatari role,” he said, adding that Qatar had been the victim of “point-scoring” by “politicians who are trying to conduct election campaigns by slighting the State of Qatar”.
Qatar, with the US and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of talks aimed at securing a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Earlier on Wednesday, sheikh Mohammed said negotiations had stalled.
“We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this stalling,” the Qatari premier said.
Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political leadership since 2012 with the blessing of the US, has rebuffed frequent criticism of its mediation from Israel including by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
On Tuesday the Qatari embassy in Washington issued a statement rebuking Democratic lawmaker Steny Hoyer over his calls for Qatar to exert pressure on Hamas to secure a hostage release.
The Qatari premier said Doha had “warned from the beginning of this war against the expansion of the circle of conflict, and today we see conflicts on different fronts”.
Updated
Opening summary
It has gone 8am in Gaza and 9am in Tel Aviv. This is our latest Guardian live blog on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
Qatar says it is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas after suffering criticism, its prime minister said on Wednesday.
“Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role,” prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told a Doha news conference, according to Agence France-Presse.
“There is exploitation and abuse of the Qatari role,” he said, adding that Qatar had been the victim of “point-scoring” by “politicians who are trying to conduct election campaigns by slighting the State of Qatar”.
More on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
Israel has reportedly deployed extra artillery and armoured personnel carriers to the Gaza Strip periphery, suggesting that the military is preparing for its long-threatened ground offensive on Rafah, the only place of relative safety for at least 1.4 million displaced Palestinian civilians.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the visiting foreign ministers of Germany and Britain for their support on Wednesday but said Israel would reach its own decisions on its security. “They have all sorts of suggestions and advice. I appreciate that. But I want to make it clear – we will make our own decisions, and the state of Israel will do everything necessary to defend itself”. Israel is still expected to respond to the unprecedented state-on-state attacked launched at it by Iran at the weekend.
European Union leaders agreed Wednesday to impose new sanctions on Iran’s drone and missile producers, EU chief Charles Michel said. “We have decided to put in place sanctions against Iran, it is a clear signal that we wanted to send,” the European Council president said at an EU summit in Brussels. “The idea is to target the companies that are needed for the drones, for the missiles,” reports Agence France-Presse.
Israel considered carrying out a strike on Iran in retaliation for last weekend’s unprecedented attack but then aborted the plan, according to Israeli and US media reports. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that following discussions with US President Joe Biden, Netanyahu decided not to proceed with pre-arranged plans for retaliatory strikes on Iran in the event of an attack, reports Associated Press.
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi warned in Tehran on Wednesday morning that the “tiniest” invasion by Israel on Iranian soil would bring a “massive and harsh” response. Raisi said the weekend’s attack was a limited one, and that if Iran had wanted to carry out a bigger attack, “nothing would remain from the Zionist regime”. Raisi was speaking at Iran’s national army day parade. At the same event, Iranian army chief commander, Maj Gen Abdolrahim Mousavi, said that any aggression against Iran’s interests will be met with a “firm and regret-inducing response”.
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said she made clear to Netanyahu that the Middle East must not be allowed to slide into a situation whose outcome is completely unpredictable. “Because that would serve no one,” she said. “Not Israel’s security, not the many dozens of hostages still in the hands of Hamas, not the suffering population of Gaza, not the many people in Iran who are themselves suffering under the regime, and not the third countries in the region who simply want to live in peace.”
UK foreign minister David Cameron has also called for restraint, saying while it was clear the Israelis were preparing to act, the UK “hopes they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible”.
The 25 crew members of the MSC Aries, which was seized by Iran on 13 April, are safe, shipping firm MSC said on Wednesday, adding that discussions with Iranian authorities are in progress to secure their earliest release. “We are also working with the Iranian authorities to have the cargo discharged,” the Swiss headquartered company said in a statement.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement which also said he had told Cameron and Baerbock that Israel rejected claims by international organisations that there was starvation in Gaza. In March the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) stated that 1.1 million people in the Gaza Strip were experiencing catastrophic food insecurity.
Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure a truce in Gaza and a release of hostages have stalled, Qatar’s prime minister said on Wednesday. “We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this,” he said.
The Security Council vote on the Palestinians’ bid to become a full member state of the United Nations is expected to occur on Thursday or Friday, diplomats said, as discussions continued. Several diplomatic sources had told Agence France-Presse earlier that the vote would take place on Thursday, but the situation has since changed with some member states asking for a Friday vote.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said it attacked an Israeli army base near the border on Wednesday, with the latest in a series of tit-for-tat strikes wounding 14 soldiers, according to Israel’s military. Hours after the strike on Arab al-Aramshe, an Arab-majority village in northern Israel near the border, Israeli forces hit targets in eastern Lebanon, a Hezbollah source told AFP. According to the source, the strikes targeted a warehouse in Iaat, a residential area near Baalbek, and “lightly” wounded one man.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israel has “intensified airstrikes on Gaza City and the central Gaza Strip, killing dozens and injuring others with various wounds, amid widespread property destruction”. The Hamas-led health authority in Gaza said Israel’s military offensive had now killed 33,899 people since 7 October.
Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan met Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Tuesday during a visit to Qatar to discuss humanitarian aid to Gaza, ceasefire efforts and hostages, it was revealed. Haniyeh will visit Turkey at the weekend to hold talks with Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Israel’s government has accelerated the construction of settlements across East Jerusalem, with more than 20 projects totalling thousands of housing units having been approved or advanced since the start of the war in Gaza six months ago, planning documents show.
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani on Wednesday called on Israel to halt its military operations in Gaza. The call comes ahead of Tajani hosting a G7 foreign ministers meeting which is expected to press for further sanctions on Iran.
The US is also expected to impose new sanctions, with national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, saying they will target Tehran’s missile and drone program, Revolutionary Guards and defence ministry.
Israel’s cabinet on Wednesday approved a five-year, 19bn shekel ($5bn) plan to rebuild and strengthen communities near the Gaza border after the 7 October attack by Hamas militants, the prime minister’s office said. Netanyahu said Israel would invest the funds in housing, infrastructure, education, employment, health and other areas.
The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of the ongoing war. Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi told reporters that the two countries share the same view about the importance of a ceasefire and of resolving the Palestinian problem through a two-state solution. “I am sure that China would use its influence to prevent escalation,” Marsudi said, adding that China and Indonesia “would also fully support Palestine’s membership in the UN”, reports Associated Press.
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