Gaza live: Israel to build 'different government' in Gaza, says defence minister

Heavy seas battered the US maritime humanitarian mission to Gaza on Saturday, US Central Command (Centcom) said, with four vessels serving a floating aid delivery pier breaking free from their moorings.

No injuries were reported and the aid pier remains fully functional, Centcom said in a statement, adding that no US personnel would enter Gaza.

Two of the affected vessels were now anchored on the beach near the pier and the other two were beached on the coast of Israel near Ashkelon, Centcom said, adding that efforts to recover the vessels were under way with assistance from the Israeli Navy.

Reporting by Reuters

A suspected Israeli reservist has threatened mutiny if the war on Gaza ends before "complete victory", saying he wants to annihilate Palestinians in the besieged enclave. 

The masked soldier, who has not been identified, said in a video posted on Friday he will not obey orders by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. 

He said he and "100,000 reservists" reject plans to hand Gaza back to Palestinians, including the Palestinian Authority, Hamas or another "Arab entity". 

"Yoav Gallant, you can't win the war. Resign. You can't win this war. You can't command us," the suspected reservist said in the video.

"I am telling you, Mr Yoav Gallant, if we do not continue until victory, 100,000 reservists will remain on the fence and we will call residents of the State of Israel to come to Gaza under our protection," he added, referring to the boundary fence between Israel and Gaza.

Read more: Suspected Israeli reservist threatens mutiny over Gaza war plans 

The Spanish defence minister said on Saturday the Israeli war on Gaza is a "real genocide", as relations between Israel and Spain worsen following Madrid's decision to recognise a Palestinian state.

The remark by Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles in an interview with TVE state television echoed a comment by Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz who earlier this week also described the conflict as a genocide.

"We cannot ignore what is happening in Gaza, which is a real genocide," Robles said in the interview, during which she also discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and conflicts in Africa.

She also said Madrid's recognition of Palestine was not a move against Israel, adding that it was designed to help "end violence in Gaza". "This is not against anyone, this is not against the Israeli state, this is not against the Israelis, who are people we respect," she said.

Reuters couldn't immediately reach Israeli officials for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.

Reporting by Reuters

On almost every street in western Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, dozens of cars, trucks and animal-drawn carts are seen laden with luggage, mattresses and blankets. 

They carry Palestinians fleeing Rafah, where Israel has expanded its aerial bombardment and ground attacks in recent weeks. 

"We stayed in Rafah for around four miserable months with very little aid and no running water," said Ahmed Abu al-Enein, 39, who was originally displaced from Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip. 

"But we had no other choice, either a miserable life or death."

Abu al-Enein is now on his fifth displacement, carrying his tent once again to Deir al-Balah, where he set up camp with his family near the seashore. 

He is one of nearly 900,000 people who have been forced out of Rafah since early May due to a fresh Israeli ground assault there. 

Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip, had become a shelter for the internally displaced after Israel pushed them out of other parts of Gaza earlier in its ongoing military campaign, which has killed over 35,000 people and wounded 80,000 more. 

For months, the small city bordering Egypt was turned into a large makeshift camp, with tents scattered all around.  

Most UN and international organisations moved their bases to Rafah too and had their aid warehouses in the city. 

Though it was still subject to repeated deadly air strikes and aid restrictions and struggled to accommodate the growing numbers of displaced people, the border city had become the best available option for people's survival.

But western Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, to where Israel is now forcing Rafah’s displaced to move, have significantly weaker infrastructure, limited space and fewer service capabilities.

Read more: Palestinians escape death in Rafah to 'miserable life' elsewhere in Gaza

An Israeli official said Saturday the government had an "intention" to renew "this week" talks aimed at reaching a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, after a meeting in Paris between US and Israeli officials.

"There is an intention to renew the talks this week and there is an agreement," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli official did not elaborate on the agreement, but Israeli media reported that Mossad chief David Barnea had agreed during meetings in Paris with mediators CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on a new framework for the stalled negotiations.

Reporting by AFP

Israeli forces have killed at least 46 Palestinians and wounded 130 more over the past 24 hours in five "massacres", according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

Mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas to reach a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal are due to restart next week, an official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Saturday.

The decision to restart the talks, said the source, who declined to be identified by name or nationality given the sensitivity of the issue, came after the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency met with the head of the CIA and the prime minister of Qatar, which has been a mediator.

"At the end of the meeting, it was decided that in the coming week negotiations will open based on new proposals led by the mediators, Egypt and Qatar and with active US involvement," the source said.

Reporting by Reuters

The International Criminal Court (ICC)'s prosecutor, Karim Khan, has finally issued arrest warrants over the war in Gaza, a move that had been rumoured for weeks. 

On the Hamas side, Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, Qassam Brigades commander Mohammed Deif and political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh stand accused of eight counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. On the Israeli side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are accused of seven counts.

Leaving aside the different words used in reaction to the prosecutor's decision by Israel and Hamas, and by their supporters, three main objections have been raised. 

These include the alleged moral equivalence between Hamas and Israeli leaders established by the warrants; a dispute over the court's jurisdiction in the matter; and the principle of complementarity, under which a state has the right to investigate crimes prior to ICC intervention. 

The first objection has a political nature, the other two a legal one.

A detailed rebuttal to the warrants issued by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlines all three objections. He cites the "shameful" equivalence established between Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation in many western countries, and the democratic government of Israel.

In retrospect, it is worth asking whether the ICC prosecutor might have avoided a political headache by issuing two separate indictments, especially considering the differences in the counts ascribed to Hamas and Israeli leaders. 

Regardless, the accusation that he has drawn a moral equivalence is ludicrous. 

Read more: Western objections to ICC warrants are baseless by Marco Carnelos

The British government has criticised the International Court of Justice for ordering Israel to immediately halt its military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, saying the ruling would strengthen Palestinian armed group Hamas.

The ICJ, which is the highest UN body for hearing disputes between states, made the emergency ruling on Friday in South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide.

"The reason there isn’t a pause in the fighting is because Hamas turned down a very generous hostage deal from Israel. The intervention of these courts - including the ICJ today - will strengthen the view of Hamas that they can hold on to hostages and stay in Gaza," a UK foreign ministry spokesperson said late on Friday.

"And if that happens there won’t be either peace, or a two-state solution."

The ICJ, or World Court, has no means to enforce its orders, but the ruling highlighted Israel's global isolation over its military assault on Gaza launched since October. 

The Palestinian Wafa news agency said an Israeli air strike killed 10 Palestinians, including children and women, in the city of Beit Hanoun, in the north of the Gaza Strip. 

Wafa said medical sources confirmed the number of dead and added that 17 other people sustained injuries in the attack. 

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, called on Israel to "immediately" follow the ICJ's ruling to halt its military offensive on Rafah. 

Borrell also called on Israel to ensure Rafah remains open for humanitarian aid and to allow a UN-mandated investigative body to investigate allegations of genocide. 

"ICJ orders are binding on the parties and they have to be fully effectively implemented," Borrell said on Saturday. 

We take note of the order of the @CIJ_ICJ to #Israel -in the case brought by #SouthAfrica- to:
1️⃣ Immediately halt its military offensive in the Rafah Governorate.

2️⃣ Maintain the Rafah crossing open for humanitarian assistance.
🧵 1/2

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) May 25, 2024

Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares demanded the implementation of Friday's ruling announced by the ICJ, which called for an end to Israel's offensive in Rafah. 

"ICJ's ruling, including the cessation of Israel's offensive in Rafah, are mandatory. We demand its application," Albares said on X. 

"We also demand the release of the hostages and access to the humanitarian aid. The suffering of Gazans and the violence must end." 

Las medidas cautelares de @CIJ_ICJ, incluido el cese de la ofensiva de Israel en Rafah, son obligatorias. Exigimos su aplicación.

También el alto el fuego, la liberación de los rehenes y el acceso humanitario.
El sufrimiento de los gazatíes y la violencia deben terminar.

— José Manuel Albares (@jmalbares) May 25, 2024

Part of the floating American-built pier off the coast of Gaza broke off and drifted to the shore of Ashdod, Israeli media reported on Saturday.

It broke off apparently due to strong winds, Channel 12 reported. 

#شاهد | فيديو لانهيار جزء من الرصيف الأمريكي البحري من شاطئ غز.ة إلى أسدود. pic.twitter.com/4sK13ocAtl

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) May 25, 2024

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on Saturday that Rome would resume funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), at a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa.

"Italy has decided to resume financing specific projects intended for assistance to Palestinian refugees but only after rigorous controls that guarantee that not even a penny risks ending up supporting terrorism," he said.

Tajani said he had informed Mustafa that Rome had "arranged new funding for the Palestinian population, of a total of 35 million euros ($38 million)".

"Of this, five million will be allocated to UNRWA," he said.

The remaining 30 million euros will be allocated to Italy's "Food for Gaza" initiative in coordination with UN aid agencies.

Unrwa, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has been in crisis since January, when Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of being involved in the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas.

That led many nations, including top donor the United States, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver aid in Gaza, although several have since resumed payments.

An independent review of Unrwa, led by French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, said Israel had "yet to provide supporting evidence" for its leading allegations.

Many countries that cut their funding have since resumed it. 

Reporting by AFP

G7 finance leaders will call on Israel to maintain correspondent banking links between Israeli and Palestinian banks to allow vital transactions, trade and services to continue, according to a draft joint statement seen by Reuters on Saturday.

The statement, to be released at the end of a Group of Seven finance ministers and central bank governors' meeting in northern Italy, also calls for Israel "to release withheld clearance revenues to the Palestinian Authority, in view of its urgent fiscal needs".

The statement echoes a warning on Thursday from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said the failure to renew a soon-to-expire banking waiver would cut off a critical lifeline for the Palestinian territories amid a devastating conflict in Gaza.

"We call on Israel to take the necessary measures to ensure that correspondent banking services between Israeli and Palestinian banks remain in place, so that vital financial transactions and critical trade and services continue," the draft statement said.

The G7 finance leaders also called for the removal or relaxation of other measures "that have negatively impacted commerce to avoid further exacerbating the economic situation in the West Bank".

Reporting by Reuters