Rafah strikes: UK urges Israel to ‘stop and think’ amid ‘unbearable’ death toll

Egyptian volunteers gather next to a truck carrying humanitarian aid at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. (Reuters)

With an unprecedented number of people fleeing for their safety within Gaza, Egypt is worried about an uncontrollable influx of refugees who may never be able to return home.

Although no previous war between Israel and the Palestinian territories has been this fierce, there have been previous incidents when Gaza’s border with Egypt was breached.

However, the numbers were comparatively small, and those people were not seeking shelter or to stay.

Following Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, Palestinians breached the fence, with some clambering over with make-shift ramps and using ropes. At one place, Palestinian militants rammed a concrete barrier to break a hole.

Hamas breached the frontier again in 2008, challenging a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after the group seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. The border remained breached for about 10 days before Egypt resealed it.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met the special police unit that rescued two hostages held by Hamas in a house in Rafah.

Fernando Simon Marman, 60, and Louis Har, 70, were both taken from Kibbutz Nir Yizhak in the 7 October attack. They were rescued in an overnight raid which officials in Gaza said killed 74 Palestinians.

Recounting the rescue operation to Netanyahu, a masked officer said: “We placed the explosives on the door, we exploded the door, the second I walked in I saw two terrorists running into the room… We did what needed to be done.”

Praising the unit, Netanyahu said: “You killed the kidnappers, the terrorists and made your way back to Israel without harm.

“A perfect operation. A perfect execution. And I want to tell you how proud I am of you. I’m proud of you, of the Shin Bet, the IDF — you worked together like an oiled machine.”

Francesca Albanese pictured at an event in Madrid titled ‘The right of Palestine to exist’. (Getty Images)

A UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories will be barred from entering Israel, two of the country’s ministers said today.

Announcing the ban against Francesca Albanese, Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz and interior minister Moshe Arbel said: “The era of Jews being silent is over. If the UN wants to return to being a relevant body, its leaders must publicly disavow the antisemitic words of the special envoy – and fire her immediately.

“Preventing her from entering Israel might remind her of the real reason why Hamas slaughtered babies, women, and adults.”

Last week Albanese prompted backlash for suggesting the victims of 7 October were “not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression”. This was in response to French president Emmanuel Macron calling the attack the “the largest antisemitic massacre of our century”.

This afternoon, Albanese tweeted: “Israel’s ‘denying me entry’ is not news: Israel has denied entry to ALL Special Rapporteurs/oPt since 2008!

“This must not become a distraction from Israel’s atrocities in Gaza, which are taking a new level of horror with the bombing of people in ‘safe areas’ in #Rafah.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is “actively investigating any crimes allegedly committed” in Gaza, its prosecutor Karim Khan has said.

“All wars have rules and the laws applicable to armed conflict cannot be interpreted so as to render them hollow or devoid of meaning,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Since that time, I have not seen any discernible change in conduct by Israel. As I have repeatedly emphasised, those who do not comply with the law should not complain later when my Office takes action pursuant to its mandate.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking at a conference in Syria yesterday. (Alamy)

An offensive on Rafah will result in “severe consequences” for Israel, the Iranian foreign minister has warned.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said: “Extending the scope of war crimes and genocide of the occupying Israeli regime to the Palestinian refugees in Rafah will have severe consequences for Tel Aviv”.

His comments come amid reports of a looming Israeli ground invasion in the highly populated southern Gaza city.

Read the full story from the Telegraph here

Houthi fighters have staged several attacks on ships in the Red Sea during the course of the war. (AP)

Yemen’s Houthis have targeted a cargo ship in the Red Sea which shipping analysts said on Monday had been carrying corn to Iran.

It appeared to be the first time the coalition of fighters targeted a vessel bound to the Islamic Republic, to whom they are politically aligned, during their attacks in response to the Israel-Hamas war.

The Houthis identified the vessel as the Star Iris. The group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the ship was American, but maritime-shipping trackers said the Marshall Islands-flagged ship was Greek-owned.

The Star Iris had been transporting a corn cargo from Brazil to Iran, according to ship tracking analysis from data and analytics group Kpler.

A US defence official said it was likely that the ship had been targeted but not hit, but provided no further comment. No casualties have been reported.

Ishan Bhanu, lead agricultural commodities analyst at Kpler, suggested the ship had not diverted away from the Red Sea as it could have been considered “friendly” due to its destination.

A regional security official said the attack appeared designed to “show Iran does not control the Houthis and they act independently,” and that the Houthis had informed Tehran in advance.

President Joe Biden meeting King Abdullah II of Jordan in February 2023. (Alamy)

US president Joe Biden will meet Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House today to discuss the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.

It comes as Biden has become increasingly vocal in his demand for Israel not to undertake a ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah without a “credible” plan to protect civilians.

Before embarking on a tour of Western capitals, Abdullah participated in an airdrop of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The king, who has been vocal in calling for an end to Israel’s campaign, is expected to urge Biden to support an immediate ceasefire.

The two leaders are to hold Oval Office talks, then make statements to the news media. A senior Biden administration official told reporters on Sunday that Biden’s meeting with the king would focus on ending the war in Gaza.

Andrew Feinstein, former ANC MP in South Africa, addresses tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters in Whitehall on 3 February. (Getty Images)

A pro-Palestine activist will stand against Sir Keir Starmer in his constituency at the next general election as left-wing campaigners attempt to unseat the Labour leader.

Andrew Feinstein will run as a candidate in Holborn and St Pancras after he was chosen by a pressure group set up in support of Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir’s predecessor.

Sir Keir is almost certain to hold his seat after winning a majority of more than 27,000 at the last general election, but Mr Feinstein’s candidacy is the latest sign of the backlash to Labour’s stance on the war in Gaza.

Read the full story from the Telegraph here

UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini. (Getty Images)

The head of UNRWA has said he has “no intention to resign” from the United Nation’s agency for Palestinian refugees.

Philippe Lazzarini’s comments came after Israel accused some staff members of participating in the 7 October attack.

UNRWA has launched an internal investigation and has dismissed staff accused of being involved. A number of donor countries, including the UK, have suspended funding since the allegations were made.

Israeli soldiers inside an evacuated compound of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in Gaza City. (Getty Images)

Evidence implicating UNRWA employees in the 7 October terrorist attacks should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the activities of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees closely.

Allegations that some UNRWA workers were in fact Hamas operatives are merely the latest iteration of a much larger problem plaguing the international aid sector.

A stunning lack of oversight and regulation of humanitarian funds over the past several decades has allowed untold billions in taxpayer money to make their way into terrorists’ coffers.

Read the full stor from Euronews here

Pauline Ankunda, 26, (left) and Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, arrive at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today. (PA)

Three people who attended a pro-Palestinian march in central London displayed images of paragliders, “celebrating” the Hamas tactic, a court has heard.

Heba Alhayek, 29, and Pauline Ankunda, 26, attached images of paragliders to their backs, while Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, stuck one to the handle of a placard, it is alleged.

Prosecutors say the images were displayed on 14 October 2023, seven days after militants from Hamas – a banned terror organisation in the UK – used paragliders to launch their 7 October attack on Israel.

The trio are all charged under the Terrorism Act with carrying or displaying an article to arouse reasonable suspicion that they are supporters of banned organisation Hamas. They deny the charges.

After the Metropolitan Police launched a social media appeal to find them, Alhayek and Ankunda handed themselves in to Croydon Police Station, the court heard.

In a police interview, the pair initially claimed someone at the demonstration “who was not known to them” had stuck the images to their backs, before changing their statements, admitting they had attached them themselves, the court was told.

When arrested an interviewed under caution, Taiwo claimed to have been handed the placard and not paid proper attention to the “blurry image” it displayed, the court heard. The trial continues.

Rafah is the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, and the final refuge for many Palestinians. (Alamy)

Even before Israel signalled its impending ground assault on Rafah, the city was of particular importance to Gaza.

It is the southernmost city in the Palestinian enclave, where people earlier in the war had been ordered by the IDF to evacuate as the military launched attacks further north.

Despite Rafah, and nearby Khan Younis, being designated by Israel as “safe zones”, they have not been spared from airstrikes since the war began on 7 October.

As many Palestinians fled south, Rafah’s population has swelled from a pre-war population of around 300,000 people to 1.5 million, according to MSF. This accounts for more than half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million population.

Many are living in tent camps or in UN-run shelters, where conditions have been deteriorating, with aid workers struggling to supply people with enough food and clean water.

The southern city lies by the Rafah border crossing, which is currently the only route for aid coming into Gaza. Aid workers say the delivery of supplies has been severely delayed as Israeli officials inspect trucks coming through.

According to CNN the crossing is also designed as an entry point for people, rather than goods, which could also be causing trouble for the large convoys of lorries.

While Israel insists it will issue directives for people in Rafah to evacuate, fears still remain that there is nowhere safe for Palestinians to flee. Egypt has so far refused to take in Palestinian refugees, fearing they would never be allowed by Israel to return home.

Armed Houthis take part in a pro-Palestinian protest amid the ongoing war in Palestine. (Alamy)

Commercial ships in the Red Sea are getting more creative in their efforts to avoid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militants.

Livestock carrier Cattle Force appealed to the Houthis as co-religionists in an apparent bid to ensure safe passage.

On Sunday, as it approached the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen’s coast, it changed its destination signal — something widely available on the internet for most vessels — from an Iraqi port to: “All Crew Muslims.”

Once safely through the strait on Monday morning, it switched back to Iraq’s Umm Qasr, according to tracking data analyzed by Bloomberg.

Read the full story from Bloomberg here

Here’s video of the moment the two freed Israeli hostages met with loved ones.

Mai al-Najjar recounted how she lost her father in the strikes. (Reuters)

Among those injured in the overnight strikes that killed at least 67 people was a young girl, Mai al-Najjar, who recounted in tears how she lost her father.

“We were in the tent, me and all my family, when the bullets all came at us. My father went to see what’s happening and said there were strikes, and a strike happened while he was talking, we all fled,” she said.

“My father was martyred. While in the car he kept saying ‘I bear witness that there is one God’ and he died,” added al-Najjar.

People in Rafah said two mosques and several residential buildings were hit in more than an hour of strikes by Israeli warplanes, tanks and ships, causing widespread panic among Gazans woken from their sleep.

Some feared Israel had begun a long-expected ground offensive in the city, where more than a million people displaced by Israel’s war on Hamas are sheltering with nowhere else to go.

Palestinian children wounded in the Israeli strike receive treatment at a hospital. (Reuters)

In a separate development in the UK, four “extremist” Israeli settlers accused of committing human rights abuses against Palestinian communities in the West Bank have had sanctions imposed on them.

According to the foreign office, those now subject to a UK asset freeze, travel and visa ban include:

Labour candidate for Rochdale, Azhar Ali. (PA)

Sir Keir Starmer came under growing pressure to cut adrift Labour’s Rochdale by-election candidate as a shadow minister admitted he had repeated an “antisemitic conspiracy theory”.

Labour was on Monday morning still standing by Azhar Ali as its candidate in the by-election on February 29 even after he claimed that Israel deliberately allowed the October 7 massacre of more than 1,200 citizens by Hamas to happen.

Mr Ali apologised for his “deeply offensive” comments after he was recorded suggesting at a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party that Israel had left the door open for the terror group to carry out its horrific attack to provide grounds to invade Gaza.

But Labour’s decision to stick by Mr Ali has been heavily criticised, especially given the stance Sir Keir has taken against other Labour figures who have made offensive or controversial comments.

Read the full story on the Evening Standard here

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a mosque. (Reuters)

Downing Street has echoed the Foreign Secretary’s calls for Israel to “stop and think seriously” before carrying out military action against Hamas in Rafah, southern Gaza.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are obviously deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah. Over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering there and that crossing is vital to ensuring aid can reach the people who desperately need it

“The priority in Gaza must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, such that we can then make progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.”

Downing Street declined to say whether the Prime Minister believes “total victory” over Hamas was realistic.

Asked about Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that total victory was within reach, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “That’s the prime minister of Israel’s language.

“From the PM’s perspective, what we want to see is a pause in this fighting so we can get aid in and hostages out, and obviously what we all want to see is a sustainable ceasefire.”

The two rescued Israeli-Argentinian hostages – Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Hare – have reunited with loved ones at Sheba Medical Center, in Ramat Gan.

Fernando Simon Marman (right) and Louis Hare (left).

(Reuters)

(Reuters)

The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell has given a statement about the situation in Rafah, telling reporters:

“The situation with Egypt is very tense and we are extraordinarily concerned about what is happening there. Many ministers of the European Union have been issuing messages yesterday – me too – asking Israel not to prevent the humanitarian support to come into Gaza.

“If they launch a military operation at the border with Egypt, Egypt has already said that in this case, the humanitarian support will not be able to go into Gaza.

“Even the President of the United States [Joe Biden] said yesterday that the operations are no longer proportional, that they are excessive, that the toll of people being killed is unbearable. I think this assessment more and more comes from many people around the world.

“People in Gaza cannot escape. They are in closed doors. They are being bombed without being able to escape.”