Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Rafah crossing, bombings, Gaza ceasefire deal

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Rafah crossing, bombings, Gaza ceasefire deal

  • Post category:Most Recent
  • Post author:
  • Post last modified:May 8, 2024
  • Reading time:2 mins read
  • Post comments:0 Comments

Palestinians continue to depart from the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah, Gaza, due to ongoing Israeli attacks on May 8. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images

Top international officials have , after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday ordered residents there to “evacuate immediately” as it conducts an operation in the city.

Roughly 50,000 people have left the southern Gazan city in the last 48 hours as a result of Israel’s evacuation order, a senior staffer at the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) told BlogsTour on Wednesday.

Many of those leaving Rafah have been previously displaced multiple times as Israel’s focus has moved from city to city.

👇👇👇👇 [Google Ads]
Hamas said the Israeli military’s move on Rafah constituted a “humanitarian catastrophe” that posed “a direct threat to more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.”

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday that “Australia has been clear about our objections to a major Israeli ground offensive into Rafah, and we have reiterated this to Israel again today.”

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks during a joint press conference in Melbourne, Australia, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks during a joint press conference in Melbourne, Australia, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/ Asanka Brendon Ratnayake/Reuters

“The impacts on Palestinian civilians from an expanded military operation would be devastating,” she added.

👇👇👇👇 [Google Ads]
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock warned on X against a “major offensive” on Rafah, saying: “One million people cannot vanish into thin air. They need protection. They urgently need more humanitarian aid. To this end, the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings must be reopened immediately.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks to the media in Berlin, Germany, on April 25.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks to the media in Berlin, Germany, on April 25. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Qatar has condemned “in the strongest terms the Israeli occupation forces’ bombardment of the Rafah governorate, invasion of the land crossing and threat to displace citizens from shelter and housing centers.”

The African Union, which comprises 55 countries, said it “strongly condemns the extension of this war to the Rafah crossing, the only corridor for humanitarian aid.”

👇👇👇👇 [Google Ads]
Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on X that it “strongly condemns” the “attack” on Rafah as well as the Israeli military’s “control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov on Tuesday described the situation in Rafah as a “humanitarian disaster,” according to the country’s state media outlet TASS. 

Views: 683
👇👇👇👇 [Google Ads]