Israel has yet to provide evidence that UN relief agency workers in the Gaza Strip have extensive ties to terrorist groups, according to the results of an external investigation.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said 24 Palestinians were killed in an overnight Israeli airstrike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Israel returns focus to Hamas and Rafah as Iranian threat eases
Israel has returned its focus to eliminating what it claims is the last remaining Hamas stronghold in the Gaza Strip, amid international concerns about the fate of the roughly 1 million civilians sheltered in the southern part of the strip. is being rekindled.
As tensions with Iran ease, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Sunday that he would “intensify military and diplomatic pressure” on Hamas with the goal of freeing the remaining hostages and declaring victory in the more than six-month war. promised. This suggests that a long-feared attack on the Gaza city of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, where about half of the enclave's residents have fled, is imminent.
“We will soon deal another painful blow to Hamas,” Netanyahu said, without specifying.
Israel has long indicated its intention to launch a ground operation in Rafah to achieve its goal of annihilating Hamas, in response to Hamas's invasion of the south on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people. . Israeli military officials estimate that between 5,000 and 8,000 Hamas fighters, along with some of their leaders, are holed up in Rafah, making it their last line of defense.
But the plan has been on hold for several weeks, with Israel's recent need to focus on its tense standoff with Iran raising concerns around the world about a broader regional conflict.
read more: Why Rafah is stirring up fear over Israel-Hamas war: QuickTake
The United States has urged Israel not to invade Rafah, at least while the city remains a safe haven for many civilians. Palestinians in Gaza have continued to flee south since Israel began its military operations, mainly on military orders. Large areas of the enclave were destroyed in the conflict, with the two largest cities receiving particularly heavy shelling. Health officials say more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed.
Iran-backed Hamas, listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, still holds about 130 of the 250 hostages first taken on October 7, some of whom have died. It is seen as being Anti-government rallies have drawn tens of thousands of protesters, including families of abductees, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under intense pressure domestically to ensure their safe return.
Israeli officials familiar with the preparations say Israel has a wide range of options for how to invade Rafah. The official said the country's military does not necessarily need to attack cities in full force, which would likely worsen the humanitarian crisis, and instead move troops from one area to the next while simultaneously killing civilians. It is also possible to evacuate people.
According to Israeli state broadcaster Kan's Arabic-language channel, Israel is preparing for a ground approach to Rafah by significantly expanding the humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, which will allow it to accommodate around 1 million displaced people. It will also be possible to establish five field hospitals. Suga said on Monday that it was planned for the area.
U.S. officials have denied reports that the United States has struck a deal with Israel that would give the green light to invade Rafah in exchange for limited retaliation against Iran for its recent major attacks. Tehran carried out an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel on April 14, in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on its diplomatic mission in Damascus two weeks earlier.
Israel and its allies intercepted nearly all the projectiles, and the Jewish state reportedly responded Friday with more limited fire. Iran downplayed the attack as a failure and indicated it had no intention of fighting back.
The White House said in a statement on April 18 that senior Israeli and U.S. officials last week discussed both the Iranian and Rafah plans and agreed on a “shared goal of defeating Hamas in Rafah.” “U.S. participants expressed concerns about various courses of action in Rafah, and Israeli participants agreed to take these concerns into account.”
Israel has yet to provide evidence that UN personnel in Gaza have ties to Hamas
Israel has yet to provide evidence that UN relief agency workers in the Gaza Strip have extensive ties to terrorist groups, according to the results of an external investigation.
A U.N.-commissioned investigation found that there were “neutrality-related issues” within the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), including cases where facilities were “misused for political or military gain,” according to a report released Monday. It was found that the problem still exists. However, no conclusions were reached regarding the claims made by Israel, which initiated the investigation, that as many as 10% of the relief agency's 12,000 workers were members of the militant groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
“Israel has publicly claimed that a significant number of UNRWA personnel are members of terrorist organizations,” the review team, led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, wrote. “However, Israel has not yet provided any evidence to support this.”
The investigation is separate from a UN investigation into Israeli claims that several UNRWA staff took part in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The United Nations fired at least nine UNRWA staff over the allegations.
UNRWA serves approximately 2 million Palestinians in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and has been the main source of support for Gaza since Israel began its military operation in Gaza to eradicate Hamas. It serves as a conduit.
The investigation found that Hamas, which ruled the Gaza Strip before Israel's response to the October 7 attacks, breached UNRWA facilities eight times in 2022. The report said the agency “does not have the police, military, or extensive investigative capabilities or capabilities needed to carry out an investigation.” such violation.” It recommended that the United Nations strengthen its coordination with countries, including Israel, regarding the misuse of facilities.
Israeli airstrike kills 24 people in Rafah, Gaza health official says
The Hamas-run Health Ministry said overnight Israeli airstrikes killed 24 Palestinians in Rafah.
The newspaper said two airstrikes, one late Sunday and the other early Monday, targeted two homes in Rafah. Most of the dead were women and children, according to ministry and local reports.
More than 1 million Gazans have fled their homes and taken refuge in the small city since Israel began its offensive in October.
EU imposes sanctions on Iran over missile attack on Israel
European Union foreign and defense ministers were poised to reach a political agreement on Monday to impose new sanctions on Iran over its attacks on Israel.
The restrictions expand on existing sanctions imposed by the EU on Tehran for supplying drones to Russia, and also include missiles and drones provided by Iran to Middle Eastern proxies. To allow technical work to be completed, sanctions may not be formally adopted until later this week.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told reporters in Luxembourg ahead of the meeting that there was “effective geographical support for the extension of drone sanctions against Iran, which includes not only Russia but also deliveries to agents and ballistic missiles.” “I will.” “We hope to reach a political agreement today.”
Countries such as Germany and Sweden have also called for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be added to the EU's list of terrorists, but this has been incompletely assessed by the EU's legal body.
Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over October 7 failure
The Israeli military has announced that its intelligence chief has resigned over his failure to stop Hamas' October 7 invasion.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced in a statement on Monday that Chief of Military Intelligence Aharon Hariba has submitted his resignation after two and a half years in the role.
In the aftermath of October 7, Hariba accepted responsibility for failing to stop the infiltration.
“The intelligence division under my command was unable to carry out the mission entrusted to us,” Hariba said in his resignation letter released by the IDF. “Until the end of my term, I will do everything in my power to defeat Hamas and those who seek to harm us, and to return all hostages and prisoners of war to their homes and lands.” DM
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