Gaza live: Gaza death toll rises to 35,80

Bahrain has signalled its willingness to be a member of an Arab multinational force that would administer security in Gaza once Israel ends its war on the embattled enclave, a US official familiar with the Biden administration's plans for the region has told Middle East Eye.

US officials have made several overtures in recent weeks to see if Bahrain would be a member of the force that will fill the security vacuum in Gaza until a Palestinian governing authority can be formed, the US official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Manama has said it wants to take a bigger role in post-war Gaza's governance, pointing to its position as the fourth country to normalise ties with Israel in 2020 as part of the controversial Abraham Accords agreements, the official said.

Bahrain's willingness to entertain the idea suggests that Saudi Arabia is also open to an Arab peacekeeping force in Gaza, given Manama's political, military and financial reliance on its larger neighbour.

READ MORE: Bahrain signals willingness to join Arab multinational force in Gaza, US official says

Irish Foreign Minsiter and Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin said that his country will recognise the State of Palestine "before the end of the month".

"The specific date is still fluid because we’re still in discussions with some countries in respect of a joint recognition of a Palestinian state," he told the Newstalk radio station.

The leaders of Ireland, Malta, Slovakia and Spain had previously said in a joint statement in March that they were ready to recognise Palestinian statehood.

Last week, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Ireland, Slovenia and Spain were going to symbolically recognise the State of Palestine on 21 May, with other states potentially following suit.

The Israeli army said that a barrage of around 60 rockets were fired at northern Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday, mostly targeting Mount Meron, where a sensitive air traffic control base is situated.

The military said that while several rockets were intercepted, some caused "minor damage".

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a response to Israel's killing of one of its members yesterday.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has reportedly ordered army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to block Al Jazeera from broadcasting in the occupied West Bank.

Quoting unnamed sources in the Israeli military, Israel’s Army Radio reported that the army was working to implement Gallant’s order against the Qatari broadcaster. 

According to the Times of Israel, it is not clear whether the order would apply to areas of the West Bank where Israeli settlers live, or if it would extend to Palestinian areas, where Al Jazeera is widely watched. 

It is also not clear if the order would mean the closure of Al Jazeera’s offices in Ramallah as well as a block on the network being watched across the West Bank. 

An Israeli army spokesperson told the Times of Israel: “The IDF [Israel Defence Forces] is working to implement the defence minister’s order.”

READ MORE: Israel's Gallant reportedly orders Al Jazeera closure in West Bank

The Israeli army said that one of the two rockets fired from Gaza was not intercepted and hit an empty home in Sderot, southern Israel, causing damage.

It had initially said that both rockets were intercepted.

The Israeli military said the incident is "under review".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Israel would not stop at Gaza, Ramallah, and would go as far as Anatolia if it is not stopped.

"Do not think that Israel will stop in Gaza, do not think that Ramallah will be safe and that fierce state will sooner or later set its sights on Anatolia with the delusion of the promised land if this terrorist state is not stopped," he said during his party's group meeting on Wednesday.

"There are people who are disturbed when I compare Hamas to the National Forces," he added, referring to Turkey's revolutionary forces during the Turkish War of Independence. "Why are you disturbed? Those who call Hamas a terrorist organisation today, believe me, even if it were a century ago, they would also call the National Forces a terrorist organisation."

Reporters in northern Gaza say that tens of families are besieged by Israeli forces in Jabalia, as fighting with Palestinian factions continues.

Heavy Israeli bombings are being reported from the area and ambulances are struggling to reach the injured.

The EU urged Israel on Wednesday to end its military operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, "immediately", warning that a failure to do so would strain relations with the bloc.

"Should Israel continue its military operation in Rafah, it would inevitably put a heavy strain on the EU's relationship with Israel," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement in the bloc's name.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met with a delegation of top Hamas figures headed by Khalil al-Hayya alongside Muhammad Nasr and Osama Hamdan in Lebanon.

Hezbollah said the meeting consisted of "an extensive and in-depth assessment of the events and developments taking place in the Gaza Strip in particular and occupied Palestine in general and the various support fronts".

The men also discussed the development regarding ceasefire negotiations, international political positions as well as the student-led pro-Palestine protests across the globe.

Pro-Palestine student protesters at the University of Melbourne, Australia renamed the Arts West building to "Mahmoud's Hall".

Mahmoud Alnaouq was a Palestinian man who was about to start pursue a Master's Degree at the University of Melbourne, but was killed along with his family by an Israeli shelling in Gaza in October.

Every year, Palestinians commemorate the Nakba (the Arabic word for “catastrophe”) of May 1948, when the establishment of the state of Israel caused the displacement of more than 750,000 people, the demolition of hundreds of villages, and the seizure of nearly 80 percent of historic Palestine. 

This year, Palestinians commemorate this event in light of an ongoing second Nakba - perhaps the most horrific and the bloodiest in the history of the Palestinian people.

Today, 76 years after the first Nakba, the wounds are still open, as millions of Palestinian refugees have been denied their right of return to their homeland, while Israel has occupied the rest of their territories in a continuing quest to erase the Palestinian people. 

My father is one of those refugees. He was born in Haifa in 1931, but he passed away before realising his right of return.

This year, the descendants of displaced Palestinians need not commemorate the painful memories of the catastrophe, because they are reliving it. It is as though each Palestinian generation is destined to live their own Nakba. This time, Israel is committing a genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. 

READ MORE: The world must stop a second Nakba 76 years after the first, opinion by Fareed Taamallah

Australian Labor senator Fatima Payman broke ranks from her party to accuse Israel of committing a "genocide" in Gaza, and called on the prime minister and the Australian government to sanction Israel.

Payman criticised Australian leaders for "performative gestures", it was seems to be a veiled criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

"Instead of advocating for justice, I see our leaders performatively gesture defending the oppressor's right to oppress, while gaslighting the global community about the rights of self defence," she said on Wednesday.

"This is a genocide and we need to stop pretending otherwise. The lack of clarity, the moral confusion, the indecisiveness is eating at the heart of this nation."