Three Israeli soldiers were killed in Rafah when a booby trap exploded, the military and media reported. The Israeli National Security Advisor also said the war against Hamas fighters would probably last until the end of the year.
Three other soldiers were injured in Tuesday’s explosion, media reported. The military says at least 290 soldiers have been killed since the ground offensive in Gaza began in October.
In an interview with Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Wednesday, Israeli security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said the war would likely last until the end of 2024. “We expect another seven months of fighting” to destroy the military and government capabilities of Hamas and the smaller militant group Islamic Jihad, he said.
Israel says it is conducting circumscribed operations in eastern Rafah, along the Gaza-Egypt border. Palestinians in Rafah reported weighty fighting on Wednesday as Israeli forces continued their assault on the border town once considered the territory’s last refuge. The United States and other Israeli allies have warned against a full-scale offensive on the town.
The fighting in Rafah has forced more than a million Palestinians, most of whom were already displaced in the war between Israel and Hamas, to flee. They are now seeking refuge in squalid tent camps and other war-torn areas where they lack shelter, food, water and other basic necessities, the UN said.
According to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli bombings and ground offensives in the Gaza Strip.
Israel began its war in Gaza after the October 7 Hamas attack, in which militants entered southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducting about 250. According to Israel, about 100 hostages are still being held in Gaza, along with the bodies of about 30 others.
At the moment:
– At least 37 Palestinians are killed in Israeli attacks, most of them in tents, near Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
– Missile attacks damage a ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, near previous attacks by Houthi rebels.
– A US-built pier is removed from the Gaza Strip coast and repaired after it was damaged by rugged seas.
– Algeria proposes a Security Council resolution calling on Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah.
– Palestinian Prime Minister visits Madrid after Spain, Norway and Ireland recognized Palestinian state.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here is the latest information:
WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN SET UP MAIN OFFICE IN GAZA
World Central Kitchen said on Wednesday that “sustained attacks” during Israel’s offensive on Rafah had forced the company to suspend operations at its main kitchen there.
The group also had to move many of its smaller kitchens further north into the Gaza Strip, away from the offensive, said a post on X.
An intensified Israeli military push into the Rafah region in pursuit of Hamas has displaced a million people from the city this month. According to the UN, Rafah was filled with families seeking refuge as the Israeli offensive in Gaza advanced southward across the Gaza Strip.
One of the group’s kitchens in the town of Deir al Balah, one of the places where displaced Palestinians are currently fleeing in search of safety, has currently served the majority of its meals, World Central Kitchen said in a separate statement.
The opening of the Gaza-Israel border crossing on Sunday, which had been closed for weeks after Israeli forces took over the Palestinian side of the border, was “critical to the delivery of urgently needed supplies,” World Central Kitchen said in a statement.
The group has managed to let in almost 60 trucks in the three days since then, it was said.
World Central Kitchen, a global disaster relief program run by chef Jose Andres, had suspended its work in Gaza after a targeted Israeli attack killed seven of its employees on April 1. Late last month, the group announced it had resumed work there.
Senator Graham criticizes UN court and calls its chief judge an “anti-Semite”
JERUSALEM — US Senator Lindsey Graham on Wednesday sharply criticized the United Nations’ highest court, calling it “a joke” and its chief justice a “lazy anti-Semite.”
Graham made the remarks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, the senator’s fifth visit to Israel since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October.
Graham’s comments came days after the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Israel must immediately end its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Graham also promised action against the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor has requested arrest warrants against Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders for war crimes.
“We will do everything in our power to hold the ICC accountable for this atrocity against the people of Israel,” said Graham, a Republican from South Carolina.
Senate Republicans have threatened sanctions against ICC staff over the decision. The Biden administration also criticized the decision and said it would work with lawmakers to find an appropriate response if one is needed.
Israeli official says war likely to last until year’s end
TEL AVIV, Israel – Israel’s national security adviser says the war with Hamas will likely last until the end of the year.
In an interview with Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Wednesday, Tzachi Hanegbi said: “We expect another seven months of fighting” to destroy the military and government capabilities of Hamas and the smaller militant group Islamic Jihad.
His comments came at a time when Israel has become increasingly isolated on the world stage in the nearly eight-month war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attacks. Even the United States and other close allies expressed outrage at the high civilian casualties.
Hanegbi defended Israel’s ongoing operations in Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, saying the border had become a “smuggling kingdom” since Hamas took power in Gaza in 2007.
“Every rocket, every explosive device, every shot fired at Israel was because that border was breached,” he said.
He said Israel now controls about 75 percent of the narrow buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza, created under the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.
Egypt has expressed its deep concern over the Israeli offensive in Rafah, saying it endangers the peace agreement.
Turkish President criticizes Israel’s Netanyahu and calls him a vampire after attacks on Rafah
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a psychopath and a “vampire who feeds on blood” after Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza town of Rafah sparked a deadly fire at a camp for displaced people.
In a speech to members of his ruling party, Erdogan blamed the US and European states for the deaths and criticized the Islamic Cooperation Organization for not taking joint action against Israel.
“Oh, American state, there is blood on your hands too. You are at least as responsible for this genocide as Israel. Oh, the heads of state and government of Europe, you too are complicit in Israel’s genocide, in this barbarism, this vampire-like act of Israel, because you remained silent,” Erdogan said.
According to the military, three Israeli soldiers were killed in Rafah
TEL AVIV, Israel – Three soldiers were killed during ongoing fighting in Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said Wednesday.
Israeli media reported that the soldiers were killed in a booby trap explosion on Tuesday and three other soldiers were injured.
Palestinians reported weighty fighting in various parts of Rafah on Wednesday. Israel appears to be expanding its incursion that has already forced more than a million people to flee the city, most of whom were displaced earlier in the war.
Israel launched what it described as a circumscribed incursion into Rafah on May 6, focusing on the Gaza-Egypt border, which Hamas has long used to smuggle weapons. Rafah is the last major Hamas stronghold, but militants have regrouped elsewhere in Gaza.
According to the military, at least 290 soldiers have been killed since the ground operation in the Gaza Strip began in October.
IFRC joins growing calls for ceasefire and urgently needed aid in Gaza
MANILA, Philippines — The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on Wednesday joined growing calls for a ceasefire and humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip, saying they are urgently needed to alleviate the terrible suffering of civilians trapped in the seven-month conflict.
“This is absolutely necessary,” IFRC President Kate Forbes told the Associated Press in an interview in the Philippine capital Manila, where she was scheduled to hold a series of meetings. (*3*)
In some areas, “psychosocial support is needed and in some it will be absolute help,” said Forbes, who was appointed president of the world’s largest humanitarian network in December.
“I have said this is both a sprint and a marathon. We need to provide immediate assistance to the people of Gaza who are suffering from malnutrition and lack adequate sanitation,” she said. “But it will be a marathon because we need assistance that will take decades to rebuild Gaza and its people.”
