Israel’s army says it has targeted the head of Hamas’s military wing, Mohammed Deif, during the ongoing strikes on Gaza.
A spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Brig Gen Hidai Zilberman, said Israel had tried to assassinate Deif, the head of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Deif, who has been on the Israeli army’s most-wanted list for over two decades, has survived repeated attempts on his life over the years, including in the last major conflict in 2014.
Israeli news website Ynet reported that in one of the operations, Deif had been in his bunker when Israel hit the location.
He tends to stay in the background and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Hamas has not confirmed the reports.
Israel has accused a United Nations relief agency of “cynical misrepresentation” for suggesting it was preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday the aid agency for Palestinians, known as UNRWA, called on Israel to enable access to Gaza for humanitarian supplies and its staff.
The agency said Israel had not approved such access and was therefore failing to meet its obligations under international law.
But Israel’s foreign ministry denied this in a statement on Wednesday.
It said rocket fire from Palestinian militants in Gaza, not Israel, had halted the transfer of humanitarian aid on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“UNRWA’s claim that Israel is preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza is a cynical misrepresentation and simply a lie,” the statement said.
“Israel will continue its efforts to co-ordinate the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza, taking into account security considerations.”
Now let’s turn to the UK, where Prime Minister Boris Johnson has condemned a spike in anti-Semitic incidents in the country since the Israel-Gaza conflict began.
Johnson was asked what he would do to support Jewish communities in the UK during questioning by opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer in parliament.
“I share his horror at the outbreak of anti-Semitic incidents and the government has conveyed that message loud and clear to those who are responsible for enforcing the law against hate crime,” Johnson said.
He said anti-Semitism must be called out “at every stage”, adding: “We will not let it take root, we will not allow it to grow and fester.”
His comments came after 116 anti-Semitic incidents were reported over 11 days from 8 May in the UK – a five-fold increase on the previous period.
Those incidents were recorded by the Community Security Trust (CST), which offers safety advice to the Jewish community in the UK.
Recent incidents dealt with by the police include an attack on Rabbi Rafi Goodwin near his synagogue in north London.
The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) has said that Iran backs the Palestinians against what it calls the “Zionist regime” (Israel).
In a televised address, Hossein Salami said the conflict showed that “Palestinians have emerged as a missile-equipped nation.”
Iran is a major supporter of Hamas, which it backs financially and militarily. The two sides fell out after Hamas refused to support Iran’s ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Syria’s civil war. But the two sides have since reconciled.
Following news of Joe Biden’s call for a “de-escalation”, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, Hazem Qassem, has told reporters that Israel has been refusing to engage with diplomatic efforts to end the violence.
“There are no specific dates for the issue of the ceasefire, because all the international efforts that are being made, as well as the Egyptian efforts, are met with an Israeli position that refuses to deal with ceasefire initiatives,” he said.
He told Reuters news agency that if Israel ended its “bombardment on Gaza… there can be room to talk about arrangements to restore calm”.
Source-BBC
