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US military announces first aid shipment into Gaza via temporary maritime corridor, Gaza Strip - 17 May 2024

PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT

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Temporary floating pier anchored by the U.S. to boost aid deliveries to Gaza

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Ismael Abu Dayyah

Hamas claimed responsibility Sunday for a deadly rocket attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel as cease-fire negotiations dragged on with no breakthrough in sight. The talks are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/04/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-palestine/" target=_blank>viewed by some U.S. officials</a> as the “last chance” to avoid a return to all-out <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/israel-hamas-war/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">war in Gaza</a>.

Three soldiers were killed and others were wounded in the attack on Kerem Shalom, according to the Israel Defense Forces, and the crossing was closed for humanitarian aid. The IDF alleged that the rockets came from Rafah, the city in southern Gaza that is home to more than a million displaced Palestinians and, according to Israel, the last intact Hamas battalions.

Israel’s determination to invade Rafah, despite <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/02/rafah-invasion-gaza-israel-displaced-hamas/" target=_blank>concerns from Washington</a> and other allies, remains a key sticking point in cease-fire negotiations. Hamas insists that any hostage-release deal must include a permanent end to the war and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of “holding up the release of our hostages” and said Israel was “ready for a pause in the fighting.” Israel “has shown a willingness for significant movement” in the talks, he said, and accused Hamas of holding on to “extreme positions.”

But many in Israel increasingly believe it is their prime minister who is standing in the way of a deal. Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities Saturday night, calling for an immediate agreement to free the 132 hostages in Hamas captivity and a new round of elections to replace Netanyahu’s government — the most far right in Israel’s history.

With his public refusal to end the war, Netanyahu “is once again trying to torpedo the only chance there is now to save the abductees,” said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan was dragged into Gaza with his girlfriend from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7.

On Sunday, a group of hostage families demonstrated outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem as the war cabinet convened. “Today, you need to demonstrate leadership and make difficult decisions, a courageous decision,” said Albert Ariev, the father of 19-year-old hostage Karina Ariev. “There are 132 families awaiting your verdict, and millions of citizens hoping for change.”

The current proposal, submitted to Hamas last week, includes an initial 40-day cease-fire, during which Israeli troops would suspend combat operations and withdraw from populated areas. At the same time, Hamas would begin releasing hostages in exchange for the freeing of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

But Israel did not send a delegation to the negotiations in Cairo on Sunday, an Israeli official said, and Hamas officials returned from Cairo to their base in Qatar, which is under growing <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/05/03/us-qatar-hamas-hostages-ceasefire/" target=_blank>pressure from the United States to expel</a> the group if it blocks the latest cease-fire proposal. CIA Director William J. Burns also traveled to Qatar on Sunday to prevent the talks from collapsing, according to an official briefed on the talks. Both officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy.

Earlier, Hamas officials had expressed hope that a deal could be reached after months of fractious on-and-off negotiations, but they appeared unwilling to compromise on a definitive end to the fighting. “What does [a cease-fire] agreement mean if cease-fire is not the first of its results?” the group said in a statement.

Netanyahu <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/30/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-palestine/" target=_blank>reiterated</a> last week that Israel will launch a military operation in Rafah regardless of whether a deal is reached, a line echoed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday during a visit to central Gaza. “We recognize alarming signs that Hamas actually does not intend to follow any agreement with us,” he said. “This means action in Rafah and the entire Gaza Strip in the near future.”

Israel’s government voted unanimously Sunday to shut down Al Jazeera’s offices in Israel, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/05/al-jazeera-israel-shut-down-gaza/" target=_blank>calling </a>the outlet a threat to national security. Video footage <a href="https://twitter.com/shlomo_karhi/status/1787106864808784243?s=46&t=RyjxkEgQcJLVY_WhzINJ3g" target=_blank>tweeted</a> by Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi showed Israeli police entering the network’s Jerusalem bureau and confiscating equipment. The network has vowed to “pursue all available legal channels,” while the United Nations has <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1787108354499731572" target=_blank>urged</a> Israel to “overturn the ban.”

Northern Gaza is already experiencing a “full-blown famine” that is “moving its way south,” Cindy McCain, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, said in an <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/world-food-programme-director-cindy-mccain-gaza-full-blown-famine-rcna150644" target=_blank>interview with NBC News</a> on Sunday. The United Nations has been saying since mid-March that a famine is “imminent” in Gaza but has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/18/gaza-famine-report-ipc/" target=_blank>not yet made an official declaration.</a>

Four civilians were killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s state news agency. The attack took place in the town of Mays al-Jabal, close to the Israeli border. The IDF said Hezbollah launched about 40 projectiles into northern Israel, but some were intercepted. No casualties were reported.

Israel’s Defense Ministry briefed more than 10 humanitarian groups last week on its planned operation in Rafah, according to representatives from three international aid agencies, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the briefing. U.S. officials have insisted that Israel provide for the safe evacuation of the more than a million displaced Palestinians sheltering in the city.

At least 34,683 people have been killed and 78,018 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the <a href="https://t.me/MOHMediaGaza/5414" target=_blank>Gaza Health Ministry</a>, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says <a href="https://www.idf.il/%D7%90%D7%AA%D7%A8%D7%99-%D7%99%D7%97%D7%99%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%94/%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%9C%D7%99-%D7%95%D7%A4%D7%A6%D7%95%D7%A2%D7%99-%D7%A6%D7%94-%D7%9C-%D7%91%D7%9E%D7%9C%D7%97%D7%9E%D7%94/" target=_blank>263</a> soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.

Richard Beeston Bursary, Foreign Desk at the Times of London, 2018

Society of American Travel Writers Award, 2016

U.N. Press Foundation fellowship, 2015

U.S. State Department Critical Language Scholar, Cairo, Egypt, 2010

Hebrew University, MA in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

New York University, BA in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

Shira Rubin is a reporter for The Washington Post based in Tel Aviv. She covers news from Israel, the Palestinian territories and the region, with a focus on politics, culture, science and women's health.

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Asia 2000 annual travel award for journalists reporting in the Asia-Pacific.

Massey University, BA in Social Anthropology and Journalism

Rachel Pannett joined the Post's foreign desk in 2021 after more than a decade with The Wall Street Journal, where she was deputy bureau chief for Australia and New Zealand.

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Forbes 30 Under 30, Media & Marketing Europe, 2020

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MHP 30 To Watch: Young Journalist Award, 2019

Georgetown University, Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service

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Lior Soroka

Social Impact Media Award winner (SIMA), 2020

Religion Newswriters Association, Handa Fellow, 2016.

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School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, LLB Law

Columbia University, MS in Journalism

Adela Suliman is a breaking-news reporter in The Washington Post's London hub. 

Adela Suliman

Overseas Press Club award, 2017

Overseas Press Club award, 2018

Pulitzer finalist, 2018

George Washington University, BA in International Affairs

Susannah George is The Washington Post's Gulf bureau chief, based in Dubai, where she leads coverage of the oil-rich monarchies of the Persian Gulf and their neighbor, Iran. She previously spent four years as The Post's Afghanistan-Pakistan bureau chief. 

Susannah George

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