White House says Israel’s plan to improve aid flow into Gaza must now be ‘fully and rapidly implemented’See all our Israel-Gaza war coverageWelcome to our latest live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and wider Middle East crisis. Here’s a snapshot of all the key developments.Israel has approved the reopening of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza and the temporary use of Israel’s Ashdod port to increase humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza, a statement from the prime minister’s office said early on Friday.At least 33,037 Palestinians have been killed and 75,668 injured in the Israeli offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the territory’s health ministry said. The Hamas-led ministry said on Thursday about 62 Palestinians were killed and 91 injured over the past 24 hours. It was not possible to independently verify the figures.The findings of an investigation into the aid worker killings may come in “the next few days”, an Israeli spokesperson suggested to the BBC, after officials signalled earlier that it could take weeks. WCK has called for an “independent, third-party investigation” into the Israeli strikes and asked Australia, Canada, Poland, the US and the UK – whose citizens were killed – to join them in demanding the inquiry.A fourth former supreme court justice has put his name to a letter warning the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, that the UK is breaching international law by continuing to arm Israel, as the number of legal experts signing the letter rose to more than 750. Lord Carnwath joins Lady Hale, who was president of the UK’s highest court, and lords Sumption and Wilson in urging ministers to act to prevent the “plausible risk” of genocide in Gaza.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also said it again attacked what it described as “terrorist infrastructure” in Lebanon. It identified launches “crossing from Lebanon toward the areas of Betzet and Shlomi in northern Israel” and struck the sources of the fire, it said. As well, “IDF fighter jets struck terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Yaroun, Aynata, and Maroun El Ras”.US forces destroyed an anti-ship missile in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen on Thursday, US central command said on Friday, adding there were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition or commercial ships.Israeli media reported a step up in GPS jamming inside the country, believed to be a preparation for a potential attack from Iran, which has vowed revenge after an airstrike on its consulate in Damascus killed several senior military commanders.Former US president Donald Trump urged Israel in its war with Hamas to “get it over with fast”. In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump said Israel was “absolutely losing the PR war” and called for a swift resolution to the bloodshed. “Let’s get back to peace and stop killing people.”A political row has developed in Israel over plans to allow members of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, the Haredim, to be conscripted, ending a longstanding religious exemption from military service. Supporters of both sides of the argument are threatening to walk out of Netanyahu’s wartime national coalition if they do not get their way. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/apr/05/middle-east-crisis-live-us-welcomes-israeli-plan-to-reopen-erez-crossing-for-gaza-aid
Author : Geneva Abdul
Publish date : 2024-04-05 08:18:17
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