Israel agrees to listen to US concerns ahead of Rafah invasion

Palestinian children in Rafah hold a press conference expressing gratitude to American and European university students for their solidarity with Gaza – Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images

Israel has agreed to listen to US concerns before it launches an invasion of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million people are sheltering, the White House has said.

“They [the Israelis] have assured us that they won’t go into Rafah until we’ve had a chance to really share our perspectives and our concerns with them, so we’ll see where that goes,” said John Kirby, the White House national security spokesperson in an interview with ABC.

It comes after the Palestinian president urged Joe Biden to intervene, saying that he expects Israel to attack the southern city in the coming days.

Israel has long threatened to attack the city – the only part of Gaza where it has not sent troops – drawing intense opposition from Israel’s allies who say it would cause thousands of civilian casualties. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said four brigades of Hamas fighters are hiding there and must be tackled.

Earlier on Sunday, the IDF chief of staff and chief of the Southern Command approved battle plans for the “continuation of war”, signalling that it plans to push ahead with its Rafah ground operation.

Mr Abbas has warned an attack on the city would be: “The biggest catastrophe in the Palestinian people’s history.”

Mr Biden has previously warned that Israel should not go into Rafah without credible plans to protect civilians.

05:00 PM BST

That’s all for today

Thank you for following our live coverage. The key developments were:

• The IDF chief of staff and chief of the Southern Command approved battle plans for the “continuation of war”, signalling that it plans to push ahead with its Rafah ground operation.
• Israel agreed to listen to US concerns before it launches an invasion of Rafah, where more than 1.5 million people are sheltering, the White House has said.
• The Palestinian president urged Joe Biden to intervene, saying that only the US could prevent the attack.
• The White House has said that a US-made pier meant to boost aid to Gaza will become operational in a few weeks but cannot replace land routes with trucks as the best way to feed people in the territory.
• US secretary of state Antony Blinken flew out Sunday to Saudi Arabia on a new bid to work with Arab leaders to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as public pressure grows.
• A senior Qatari official urged Israel and Hamas to show “more commitment and more seriousness” in cease-fire negotiations.
• Hamas said it would deliver its response to Israel’s latest counterproposal for a Gaza ceasefire on Monday in Egypt.
• France’s top diplomat urged calm in Lebanon during his second visit to the country since cross-border tensions with Israel flared on the back of the war in Gaza.
• A US presidential candidate was arrested at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Washington University as campus protests intensify across the country.

04:35 PM BST

At least two children in Gaza have died due to the heat, says UNRWA

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said it received reports that rising temperatures in Gaza have led to the death of at least two children.

04:13 PM BST

Gaza aid pier ready in two to three weeks

The White House has said that a US-made pier meant to boost aid to Gaza will become operational in a few weeks but cannot replace land routes with trucks as the best way to feed people in the territory.

“It will take probably two to three weeks before we can really see an operation,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Sunday on ABC News.

Mr Kirby said the floating platform to bring more food and other essentials into Gaza will help, but has its limits.

“Nothing can replace, quite frankly, nothing can replace the ground routes and the trucks that are getting in,” Mr Kirby said.

Plans for the pier were first announced by president Joe Biden in early March, as Israel was being accused of holding up aid deliveries on land.

03:41 PM BST

Key mediator Qatar urges Israel and Hamas to do more to reach a cease-fire deal

A senior Qatari official has urged Israel and Hamas to show “more commitment and more seriousness” in cease-fire negotiations in interviews with Israeli media, as pressure builds to reach a deal that would free some Israeli hostages and bring a cease-fire in the nearly seven-month-long war in Gaza.

Qatar, which hosts Hamas headquarters in Doha, has been a key intermediary and was instrumental, along with the US and Egypt, in helping negotiate a brief halt to the fighting in November that led to the release of dozens of hostages. But in a sign of frustration, Qatar this month said it was reassessing its mediator role.

An Israeli delegation is expected in Egypt in the coming days to discuss the latest proposals in negotiations, and senior Hamas official Basem Naim has said in a message that a delegation from the militant group will also head to Cairo for talks. He did not elaborate, but Egypt’s state-owned al-Qahera TV said the delegation would arrive on Monday.

03:26 PM BST

US senator questions whether State Dept properly assessing Israel conduct

A Democratic senator has questioned whether the Biden administration was properly assessing whether Israel was complying with international law, following a Reuters report that some senior US officials did not find that country’s assurances credible.

“This reporting casts serious doubt on the integrity of the process in the Biden administration for reviewing whether the Netanyahu government is complying with international law in Gaza,” senator Chris Van Hollen said in a statement.

The Reuters report found that some senior State Department officials have advised secretary of state Antony Blinken that they do not find “credible or reliable” Israel’s assurances that it is using US-supplied weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Mr Blinken must tell Congress by May 8 whether he finds Israel’s assurances credible. According to an internal State Department memo, several bureaus within the agency did not find Israel’s statements credible, citing military actions that raised questions about potential violations of international humanitarian law.

Van Hollen said the Reuters report had found that the recommendations of those bureaus “were swept aside for political convenience.”

03:22 PM BST

Israel will invade Rafah ‘in next days’, says Palestinian president

The Palestinian president said he expects Israel to attack the southern city of Rafah – where more than 1.5 million people are sheltering – in the coming days.

Speaking at a conference in the Saudi capital, Mahmoud Abbas said: “What will happen in the coming few days is what Israel will do with attacking Rafah because all the Palestinians from Gaza are gathered there.”

He added that only a “small strike” on Rafah would force the Palestinian population to flee the Gaza strip.

“The biggest catastrophe in the Palestinian people’s history would then happen,” he said.

A child mourns the death of people killed in overnight Israeli bombardment, in the front of the morgue of a hospital in Rafah – AFP

Israel has long threatened to attack the city, drawing intense opposition from Israel’s allies who say it would cause thousands of civilian casualties. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says four brigades of Hamas fighters are hiding there and must be tackled.

Mr Abbas pleaded with the US to stop the attack. “We call on the United States of America to ask Israel to not carry on the Rafah attack. America is the only country able to prevent Israel from committing this crime,” he said.

02:42 PM BST

Israel has agreed to listen to US concerns before any Rafah move, says White House

Israel has agreed to listen to US concerns and thoughts before it launches an invasion of the border city of Rafah in Gaza, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday.

Mr Kirby, speaking to ABC, also said Israel has started to meet the commitments it made to president Joe Biden on allowing aid into the north of Gaza.

02:21 PM BST

Blinken heads to Saudi Arabia on Gaza truce bid

US secretary of state Antony Blinken flew out Sunday to Saudi Arabia on a new bid to work with Arab leaders to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as public pressure grows.

Antony Blinken departs Joint Base Andrews for Saudi Arabia – Reuters

Mr Blinken will meet Monday with leaders of Gulf Arab states including Qatar, which along with Egypt has been mediating a plan to halt the Gaza war and release hostages, with Hamas promising a response on Monday.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Mr Blinken will work on ceasefire efforts but added: “It is Hamas that is standing between the Palestinian people and a ceasefire.”

01:54 PM BST

Pictured: Remains of Iran’s missile strike

Orthodox Jewish men inspecting an intercepted Iranian ballistic missile – AP Photo/ Ohad Zwigenberg

The apparent remains of a ballistic missile – REUTERS/Amir Cohen

01:12 PM BST

Hamas official says delegation to respond to Gaza truce plan in Egypt Monday

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the group would deliver its response to Israel’s latest counterproposal for a Gaza ceasefire on Monday in Egypt.

“A Hamas delegation headed by Khalil al-Hayya will arrive in Egypt tomorrow… and deliver the movement’s response” to the Israeli proposal during a meeting with Egyptian intelligence officials, said the official who declined to be named.

12:57 PM BST

IDF chief-of-staff approves Southern Command battle plans

The IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi approved battle plans with the commanders of divisions and brigades at the Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba earlier today, according to the Times of Israel.

The IDF said the meeting and “approval of plans for the continuation of the war,” was attended by the chief of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, and the heads of all of the command’s divisions and brigades.

12:27 PM BST

France’s top diplomat in Lebanon in push for calm with Israel

France’s top diplomat has urged calm in Lebanon during his second visit to the country since cross-border tensions with Israel flared on the back of the war in Gaza.

Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group have exchanged near-daily fire since Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 sparked the war in Gaza.

Fighting has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel striking deeper into Lebanese territory, while Hezbollah has stepped up its missile and drone attacks on military positions in northern Israel.

Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri (R) speaks with France’s Stephane Sejourne in Beirut – AFP via Getty Images

France has for months sought to de-escalate the cross-border tensions, presenting to both Lebanon and Israel an initiative in January seeking to end hostilities.

During a visit to the headquarters of the United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, French foreign minister Stephane Sejourne reiterated that Paris has been making proposals to “avoid war in Lebanon”.

“I will head to Beirut to meet political authorities to… make proposals,” he added. “Our responsibility is to mitigate escalation, and that is also our role in UNIFIL. We have 700 soldiers here.”

A French diplomatic source told AFP that the volume of cross-border attacks had doubled since April 13.

12:07 PM BST

Watch: Chants of ‘shame on you’ greet guests at annual White House media dinner

12:02 PM BST

Pelosi says Netanyahu ‘couldn’t have done things worse’

Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the US House of Representatives, has said Benjamin Netanyahu “couldn’t have done things worse” with regard to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Pelosi said Mr Netanyahu “has never been an agent for peace” and she is “not a big fan” of the Israeli prime minister.

When asked for her opinion on the student protests against the war happening across the US, she said: “Israel has the right to defend itself – the manner in which they are doing it is really challenging because Netanyahu has never been an agent for peace.

“I’m not a big fan of his, but he couldn’t have done things worse than tens of thousands, whatever the figure may be, of people dying, children malnourished, and the uncertainty that is there, and that’s what people are speaking out about.”

12:00 PM BST

Saudi warns of economic fallout from Gaza war

Saudi Arabia has called for regional “stability”, warning of the effects of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war on global economic sentiment at the start of a summit attended by a host of Gaza mediators.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken, Palestinian leaders and high-ranking officials from other countries trying to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are on the guest list for the summit in Riyadh, capital of the world’s biggest crude oil exporter.

The Gaza war along with conflicts in Ukraine and elsewhere put “a lot of pressure” on the economic “mood”, Saudi finance minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said at one of the first panel discussions of the two-day World Economic Forum special meeting.

“I think cool-headed countries and leaders and people need to prevail,” Jadaan said. “The region needs stability.”

11:22 AM BST

US presidential candidate arrested at pro-Palestinian protest

A US presidential candidate has been arrested at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Washington University as campus protests intensify across the country.

Jill Stein, a Green Party candidate, attended the St Louis protest to support students calling for the university to divest from Boeing military equipment over its sale of arms to Israel and boycott Israeli academic institutions.

“We’re going to stand here in line with the students who are standing up for democracy, standing up for human rights, standing up to end genocide,” Ms Stein said.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, center, at the pro-Palestinian protest – Christine Tannous/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP

David Schwab, her communications director, said Ms Stein had attempted to de-escalate the situation between protestors and police Saturday afternoon, but that the police “were not responsive” and began arrests shortly afterward.

Her arrest comes as pro-Palestine protests sweep university campuses in the US. Demonstrators are calling for Israel to end the war in Gaza and for the US to sanction Israel.

11:10 AM BST

Hamas delegation to visit Cairo on Monday for Gaza ceasefire talks

A Hamas delegation will visit Cairo on Monday for Gaza ceasefire talks, a Hamas official told Reuters, adding that the delegation will discuss a proposed ceasefire offered by mediators as well as Israel’s response.

10:50 AM BST

Watch: Jewish students confront extreme anti-Semitism at Columbia protest camp

10:48 AM BST

34,454 Palestinians killed in Gaza war

At least 34,454 Palestinians have been killed and 77,575 others injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since Oct 7, the Hamas-run health ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Some 66 have been killed and 138 others wounded over the past 24 hours, the ministry said.

10:17 AM BST

Palestinian president says only US can stop Israeli assault on Rafah

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday said the United States is the only country capable of stopping an Israeli invasion of Rafah, saying it would be “the biggest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people”.

“We appeal to the United States of America to ask Israel to stop the Rafah operation because America is the only country capable of preventing Israel from committing this crime,” Mr Abbas said at a global economic summit in the Saudi capital.

09:57 AM BST

Pictured: Protests in Israel

A demonstration calling for the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government – Saeed Qaq/Anadolu via Getty Images

Police intervene as relatives of hostages stage a protest against the Israeli government – Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images

09:50 AM BST

Blinken flies to Saudi as window shrinks on Middle East mega-deal

Washington’s top diplomat will travel to Saudi Arabia on Sunday as the deadline approaches on a landmark – and, analysts say, long-shot – deal that would see the kingdom recognise Israel.

In September, before Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel sparked the war, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Fox News that “every day we get closer” to a deal that could also bolster the Washington-Riyadh security partnership.

However Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia’s 38-year-old de facto ruler, also said the Palestinian issue was “very important” for Riyadh, and Saudi officials have reiterated their insistence on recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

While it is no surprise Saudi Arabia would link ties with Israel to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “the price for normalisation, especially on the Palestinian front, has certainly gone up,” said Saudi analyst Aziz Alghashian.

The US State Department said that Blinken will discuss “a pathway to an independent Palestinian state with security guarantees for Israel”, during talks in Riyadh on Monday and Tuesday.

09:36 AM BST

Houthi claim to shoot down US drone

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed shooting down another of the US military’s MQ-9 Reaper drones.

The Houthis said they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

A defense department spokesperson acknowledged to The Associated Press that “a US Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.

Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi’s slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”

The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.

Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the US military has lost at least five drones to the rebels counting the recent shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this year.

09:32 AM BST

France to make proposals in Lebanon to prevent war between Hezbollah and Israel

France’s foreign minister said that he would make proposals to Lebanese officials on Sunday aimed at easing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel and preventing a war breaking out.

“If I look at the situation today if there was not a war in Gaza, we could be talking about a war in southern Lebanon given the number of strikes and the impact on the area,” Stephane Sejourne said after visiting the United Nations peace keeping force in Naqoura, southern Lebanon.

“I will pass messages and make proposals to the authorities here to stabilise this zone and avoid a war.”

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