Al Jazeera is reporting that numerous injuries, including of children, has been caused by Israel’s military shelling an area in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.
More details soon …
Updated at 10.44 BST
10.34 BST
UN agencies: Gaza is ‘choked off’ from aid by Israel’s closure of border crossings
The UN’s humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke said at a Geneva press briefing earlier that Israel had shut both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings as part of its Rafah military operation.
“The two main arteries for getting aid into Gaza are currently choked off,” he said, saying that UN agencies had very low stocks inside the Gaza Strip since humanitarian supplies are consumed straight away.
“If no fuel comes in for a prolonged period of time it would be a very effective way of putting the humanitarian operation in its grave,” Reuters reports he added.
Updated at 10.34 BST
10.27 BST
Unicef spokesperson James Elderhas given an update on the humanitarian crisis for children in Rafah and the wider Gaza Strip at a press conference in Geneva.
He said:
Every warning. Every image of children killed and injured. Every heartbreaking story of bloodshed and despair. Every mind-boggling piece of data of the sheer number of children and mothers killed. Of family homes and hospitals destroyed. It’s all been ignored. Our worst fears, Gaza’s nightmare, appears to be a reality.
He went on to list what he said were seven reason why Unicef and other humanitarian agencies were calling for a ceasefire and the prevention of a ground assault on Rafah, including:
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Half of all Gaza’s children are currently in Rafah
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If safety is defined as “freedom from bombardment” and access to “safe water, protection, food and medicines” then there is nowhere safe in Gaza
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There is only one toilet per 850 people in Rafah, and the provision in the area that Israelis defining as “safe” – Al Mawasi – is worse
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Rafah has Gaza’s last remaining functioning large hospital
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A military assault on Rafah will “greatly complicate” the provision of humanitarian aid
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People are exhausted, malnourished and sick
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Many children with disabilities, medical conditions and injuries are being asked to move again
Elder finished by saying:
This past weekend’s events in Gaza, the continued killing of children, more attacks from the warring parties, and now evacuation orders, yet again expose how parties to this conflict continue to utterly disregard the lives and protection of civilians and of children.
This has to change and this is the last moment for that to change. Aid must flow. Hostages must be freed. Rafah must not be invaded. And children must stop being killed. We’ve pleaded, we have implored, countless times, and we do so once more. For the children of Rafah we need a ceasefire now.
Updated at 10.27 BST
10.09 BST
Emanuel Fabian, military correspondent at the Times of Israel, has posted this video which he says shows Israeli driving along the Egypt-Gaza border with what he describes as “obnoxiously large flags”.
Israeli military vehicles drive along the Egypt-Gaza border with obnoxiously large flags. pic.twitter.com/5VArNIp7o1
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) May 7, 2024
Updated at 10.09 BST
10.03 BST
Video released by the Israeli army shows its forces operating at the Rafah crossing, including a tank driving over a Gaza sign. The video also illustrates that troops have raised an Israeli flag in the Palestinian territory. The Rafah crossing is at the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Israeli tanks enter Rafah and take control of the Palestinian side of the crossing – video
Updated at 10.03 BST
10.01 BST
In the wider region, Iran has been hosting International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi. Reuters reports that in a joint press conference in Tehran with Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, the pair have said their talks have been positive and productive.
Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (C-R) talks to IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi in Tehran. Photograph: Iranian Foreign Ministry/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock
Updated at 10.01 BST
09.46 BST
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Rafah and the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians sit among the rubble of a destroyed house along Salah Al Din road between Rafah and Khan Younis. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA
People can be seen fleeing Rafah with what possessions they have. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah, 7 May. Photograph: Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP
Updated at 09.46 BST
09.18 BST
Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz has said that “the work of persuasion on the political front is becoming more difficult” and that if Hamas was not holding hostages, Israel would have already crushed it.
In a post in Hebrew on social media, Katz described Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as “sadistic” and said the hostages are the only weapon that Hamas has.
He wrote “The entry of the IDF into Rafah promotes the two main goals of the war: the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”
He said:
The work of persuasion on the political front is becoming more difficult – but I will do everything to meet the task and allow our heroic soldiers to complete the work.
Updated at 09.18 BST
08.55 BST
The Hamas-led health authority in Gaza has issued new casualty figures, saying that Israel’s military assault on the territory has killed 34,789 Palestinians and wounded 78,204 people. Many more missing people are believed to be dead under rubble after the months-long aerial bombardment by Israel’s military.
Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment in Rafah, 7 May. Photograph: Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP
Updated at 08.55 BST
08.42 BST
Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting that 20 Palestinians, including women and children, have been killed by Israeli airstrikes on Rafah on Tuesday morning. It reports an additional person was killed by a strike on Gaza City. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
A Palestinian wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip is brought to a hospital in Rafah, 7 May. Photograph: Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP
Updated at 08.42 BST
08.22 BST
EU’s Borrell: Rafah offensive will lead to a lot of civilian deaths ‘whatever they say’
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has told the media that despite the explicit warnings of the EU, the US and others, Israel’s determination to carry out an offensive in Rafah will lead to the deaths of more civilians “whatever they say”
Reuters quotes him saying:
The Rafah offensive has started again, in spite all the requests of the international community, the US, the European Union member states, everybody asking Netanyahu not to attack.
I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties. Whatever they say. There are no safe zones in Gaza.
Updated at 08.22 BST
08.11 BST
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has reported a merchant vessel notifying it that the crew witnessed two explosions in close proximity south of Aden in Yemen.
More details soon …
Updated at 08.11 BST
07.51 BST
This map from our graphics team shows the area that Israel’s military is operating in, having announced that it has seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Updated at 07.51 BST
07.44 BST
Israel’s military has issued a handout picture of them operating at the Rafah crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt. Yesterday Egypt said it had raised its military’s level of preparedness in northern Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip.
This handout picture released by the Israeli army shows Israeli forces operating on the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on 7 May.Photograph: Israeli Army/AFP/Getty Images
Updated at 07.44 BST
07.30 BST
Police in the Netherlands are reported to have made up to 125 arrests in ending a protest against the Israel-Gaza conflict at Amsterdam university.
A protester is escorted into a bus by police during a protest at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) campus in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 7 May.Photograph: Eva Plevier/EPA
Updated at 07.30 BST
07.24 BST
Israel claims it had intelligence that ‘indicated Rafah crossing was being used for terrorist purposes’
The Israeli military has given an operational briefing on its official Telegramn channel, in which it claims it has targeted the Rafah crossing because it had "intelligence that indicated that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes”.
Describing the operation as “precise”, the IDF claimed:
Prior to the operation, the IDF encouraged residents in the area of eastern Rafah to temporarily evacuate to the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, where the IDF has facilitated the expansion of field hospitals, tents, and an increase in water, food, and medical supplies. International organizations working in the area were also encouraged to temporarily evacuate prior to the beginning of the operation.
Unrwa, the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, has indiciated that it would continue its operation in Rafah, where over one million people have fled to due to Israel’s military assault on other areas of Gaza.
The IDF statement continued:
Following intelligence that indicated that the Rafah Crossing in eastern Rafah was being used for terrorist purposes, IDF troops managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side of the crossing. On Sunday, mortars were fired from the area of the Rafah Crossing toward the area of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, as a result of which four IDF soldiers were killed and a number of other soldiers injured.
It then claimed to have killed what it said was approximately 20 Hamas fighters, and to have located “three operational tunnel shafts”.
It said the operation continues. The claims have not been independently verified.
Updated at 07.24 BST
07.08 BST
Israel says Kerem Shalom crossing closed
In an early morning press briefing, the Israeli military says the Kerem Shalom crossing is closed on Tuesday for security reasons and will reopen once the security situation allows, reports Reuters.
It’s as the military confirms it has taken operational control of the Palestinian side of Gaza’s southern Rafah Crossing, which borders Egypt, and that special forces were scanning the area.
The IDF said forces had been operating since last night in a specific area of eastern Rafah, from which it said most people and some international organisations had evacuated.
Updated at 07.08 BST
07.04 BST
Israeli military forces have taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a key strategic objective and the sole gateway between Egypt and Gaza for humanitarian aid, Israeli military officials have confirmed.
“At the moment we have operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing and we have special forces scanning the crossing … That is what is happening in the upcoming hours. The operation is not over … I can’t give a timeline,” a military official said on Tuesday morning.
The spokesperson of the Gaza border authority on Tuesday confirmed the presence of Israeli tanks at the Rafah crossing. Aid officials in the territory said that the flow of aid through the crossing has been halted.
The Israeli operation comes as ahead of a new round of indirect negotiations on a ceasefire in Cairo following an announcement by Hamas leaders on Monday night that they would accept a recent proposal for a deal. Israeli officials say they will send a delegation for further talks although the deal did not meet its core demands and vowed to push ahead with an often threatened assault on Rafah.
Read the rest of our latest report here by Jason Burke in Jerusalem and Julian Borger in Washington
Israeli forces say they have operational control of Palestinian side of Israeli forces say they have taken control of Rafah crossing on Gaza side
An Israeli military official has confirmed that Israel has established operational control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt in southern Gaza.
Reuters reports that a Gaza border crossing authority spokesperson has told the news agency that the Rafah crossing was closed due to the presence of Israeli tanks.
Three humanitarian sources also told Reuters that the flow of aid through the crossing is now halted.
A military official says:
At the moment we have operational control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing and we have special forces scanning the crossing … That is what is happening in the upcoming hours. The operation is not over … I can’t give a timeline
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