The Israeli military said Thursday that two soldiers were killed in a car-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank. Violence in the West Bank has surged throughout the war in Gaza as Israel raids Palestinian towns in the territory to crack down on militancy, with incursions resulting in the deaths of more than 500 Palestinians.
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinians in the border city of Rafah reported heavy fighting Wednesday, and Israel’s military said it seized control of the entire length of Gaza’s border with Egypt.
Fighting in Rafah has already spurred more than 1 million Palestinians to flee, most of whom had already been displaced in the war between Israel and Hamas. They now seek refuge in makeshift tent camps and other war-ravaged areas, where they lack shelter, food, water and other essentials for survival, the United Nations says. Chinese President Xi Jinping promised more humanitarian aid for people in Gaza as he opened a summit with leaders of Arab states Thursday in Beijing.
Israeli bombardments and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Israel launched its war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in which militants stormed into southern Israel, killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.
Currently:
— China leader Xi Jinping pledges more Gaza aid at a summit with Arab leaders.
— A ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels was full of grain bound for Iran, the group’s main benefactor.
— A string of problems battered the plan to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza through a U.S. military-built pier.
— Israel says it’s taken control of a key area of Gaza’s border with Egypt that’s awash in smuggling tunnels.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s the latest:
Survey in March, April found most Israelis believed campaign against Hamas about right or not far enough
WASHINGTON — A new Pew Research Center survey conducted in late winter and early spring shows a majority of Israelis believed at the time that the Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza was either about right or hadn’t gone far enough.
The poll, released Thursday, was conducted in March and early April. That was before the Israeli military offensive in the southern city of Rafah and renewed operations in parts of Gaza’s north after Hamas militants resurfaced there.
The survey shows that roughly two-thirds of Israelis expressed confidence at the time that Israel will either probably (27%) or definitely (40%) achieve its goals against Hamas.
However, majorities of Israeli adults were worried about some aspects of the conflict: 61% said they were extremely or very concerned about fighting spreading in the region, and 68% said they were extremely or very concerned about the war going on for a long time.
Forty percent of Israelis then thought that Israel should govern the Gaza Strip, while 12% thought the Palestinian Authority should. Fourteen percent thought the people of Gaza should decide that.
At the time, only 26% of Israelis said that Israel and an independent Palestinian state could coexist peacefully. That’s down from 35% last year before the war, and about half as many who thought so when the question was asked in 2013.
The survey questioned 1,001 adults between March 3 and April 4. It has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS IT IS REVIEWING INCIDENT THAT KILLED 2 PALESTINIAN RED CRESCENT WORKERS
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military said Thursday that it was reviewing an incident that killed two workers with the Palestinian Red Crescent in the Gaza city of Rafah.
The Gaza Health Ministry said the two medics were killed Wednesday when the ambulance they were traveling in to evacuate casualties came under Israeli fire.
The Israeli military said a “suspicious vehicle” approached soldiers, posing “a threat” to the forces. A tank then fired at the vehicle, the military said in a statement. The statement did not specify whether the vehicle was an ambulance.
The area of Rafah, where Israel is deepening its offensive, has seen intensifying fighting in recent days that has killed dozens of Palestinians.
Israel has come under fierce international criticism for the high civilian death toll during the war. Scores of aid and medical workers have also been killed. The Palestinian Red Crescent said 19 workers have been killed in Gaza since the war began.
Israel accuses Hamas of embedding itself in civilian areas and using ambulances to transport its members.
MORE THAN 4,000 PALLETS OF AID REACH GAZA FROM CYPRUS WITH THOUSANDS MORE PLANNED
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Over 4,000 pallets of humanitarian aid have been shipped from Cyprus to Gaza via the U.S-built pier and causeway offshore the Palestinian territory, a Cypriot official said Thursday.
Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Thursday some 14,000 pallets of aid have been collected in the east Mediterranean island nation for eventual shipment to Gaza as part of the maritime aid corridor initiative. Of the 4,134 pallets that have already reached Gaza, approximately half have been picked up by humanitarian aid groups for distribution to civilians in need. The other half has been offloaded and stored.
The aid includes food, hygiene items, shelters and pharmaceuticals. Donor countries include the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy and Romania. Other donors include the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism and the U.N.’s World Food Program and the International Organization for Migration.
The Cypriot official said the initiative that started May 9 is ongoing, with ships still departing with loads of aid, despite the recent damage to part of the U.S.-built pier that suspended operations. The pier is expected to come back on line by the middle of next week.
POLICE CLEAR OUT A PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTER TENT CAMP AT A UNIVERSITY IN SWEDEN
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Swedish police cleared out a tent camp Thursday outside a southern Sweden university where pro-Palestinian students have been camping since May 16.
Police say that some 40 people are suspected of disobeying law enforcement during the early morning action and video shows police carrying away people who refused to leave the area outside Lund University.
Swedish broadcaster SVT said that there were about 100 people in the camp.
In a statement, police said everything has gone smoothly.
In recent weeks, there have been campus protests by pro-Palestinian activists across Europe and in the United States as some called for a break in academic ties with Israel over the war in Gaza.
2 SOLDIERS KILLED IN CAR-RAMMING ATTACK IN THE WEST BANK, ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military said Thursday that two soldiers were killed in a car-ramming attack in the occupied West Bank.
The military said it received a report late Wednesday about the ramming near the Palestinian city of Nablus. The military said the attacker fled the scene and that soldiers had launched a search for him.
On Thursday, the military said the soldiers who were struck had died and that top military officials conducted an initial inquiry into the attack.
Israeli Army Radio reported that the attacker had turned himself in to Palestinian security forces, which could not immediately be confirmed.
Violence in the West Bank has surged throughout the war in Gaza. Israel has been conducting raids into Palestinian cities and towns in the territory to crack down on militancy and the incursions have led to the deaths of more than 500 Palestinians. Most of those killed have been in clashes with the military. But people throwing stones as well as others not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.
Palestinian attacks against Israelis have also been on the rise in the territory.
CHINA PLEDGES MORE GAZA AID DURING THE OPENING OF ITS SUMMIT WITH ARAB STATES
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state and promised more humanitarian aid for people in Gaza as he opened a summit with leaders of Arab states Thursday in Beijing.
“Since last October, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has escalated drastically, throwing people into tremendous suffering,” Xi said in a speech opening the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum. “War should not continue indefinitely.”
He restated China’s backing of a two-state solution and pledged 500 million yuan ($69 million) in humanitarian aid for Gaza. He also promised to donate $3 million to a United Nations agency that provides assistance and relief to refugees of the Israel-Hamas war.
Beijing and the Arab states back Palestinians in the conflict, where Israel is facing growing international condemnation after its strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in which at least 45 people were killed over the weekend. The overall Palestinian death toll in the war exceeds 36,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Beijing has long backed Palestinians and denounced Israel over its settlements in the occupied territories. It has not criticized the initial Hamas attack on Oct. 7 — which killed about 1,200 people — while the United States and others have called it an act of terrorism. However, China has growing economic ties with Israel.
IRAN OPENS REGISTRATION FOR PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS AHEAD OF JUNE 28 ELECTION
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran opened a five-day registration period Thursday for hopefuls wanting to run in the June 28 presidential election to replace the late Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this month with seven others.
The five-day period will see those between the ages of 40 to 75 with at least a master’s degree register as potential candidates. All candidates ultimately must be approved by Iran’s 12-member Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 85, who maintains final say over all matters of state.
The panel has never accepted a woman, nor anyone calling for radical change within the country’s governance.
Who will run — and potentially be accepted — remains in question. The country’s acting president, Mohammad Mokhber, a previously behind-the-scenes bureaucrat, could be a front-runner, because he’s already been seen meeting with Khamenei. Also discussed as possible aspirants are former hard-line President Mohammad Ahmadinejad and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami — but whether they’d be allowed to run is another question.
The five-day registration period will close on Tuesday. The Guardian Council is expected to issue its final list of candidates within 10 days afterwards. That will allow for a shortened two-week campaign before the vote in late June.
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