Live: Israel and Hamas claim victory as fragile ceasefire holds
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The Cabinet of South Africa, made up of the country's president, deputy president and ministers, has condemned Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza, as well as the appropriation of Palestinian property in occupied East Jerusalem.
"Cabinet calls on Israel to stop the barbaric attacks on Palestinians and commit itself to international efforts aimed at reviving a political process," the body said in a statement on Thursday.
South Africa also "strongly condemned the attacks on Palestinian protesters at al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome on the Rock and the unlawful evictions of Palestinians".
According to Palestinian media, groups of settlers attacked residents of Sheikh Jarrah, while heavily armed police patrolled the area. The Anadolu agency also reported a number of confrontations between Palestinians and settlers in the area.
مجموعات من المستوطنين يقتحمون حي الشيخ جراح بحماية من شرطة الاحتلال .. دعوات شبابية بالتوجه للحي pic.twitter.com/376sizzntg
— AlQastal القسطل (@AlQastalps) May 13, 2021
Sheikh Jarrah locals have called on Palestinians in other cities to support them as settlers backed by Israeli security forces attempt to appropriate property from Palestinian families.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that Washington is intensifying diplomatic efforts to end the violence across Israel and the Palestinian territories, reasserting America's support for what he called "Israel's right to defend itself".
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Australian counterpart, Blinken said he has held phone conversations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"This is part of a comprehensive ongoing outreach and dialogue at all levels of the US government to our respective counterparts, with the objective of achieving an end to the violence," Blinken said.
The top US diplomat said Washington is also engaged with regional partners to end the crisis.
"We believe that Israelis and Palestinians deserve equal measures of freedom, security, dignity and prosperity; that recognition will continue to drive our approach," Blinken said.
But Palestinian rights activists say the US approach is far from a reflection of that pronouncement, amid failure to condemn Israeli air strikes that have claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives in Gaza.
Moreover, Washington has only expressed "concern" at Israel's efforts to displace Palestinians from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, which sparked the current crisis.
Earlier on Thursday, President Joe Biden appeared to endorse the Israeli violence, saying that air raids on Gaza are not a "significant over-reaction" by Israel.
"I have my intelligence community, the Defence Department, as well as the State Department… in contact with all of their counterparts, not only in Israel, but in the region, and one of the things I have seen thus far is there has not been a significant over-reaction," Biden said.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has responsibility for the welfare of Palestinian refugees, says four of its buildings, including schools, have been hit by Israeli bombardment.
On 11 and 12 May, two schools were hit causing "extensive" damage to 29 classrooms.
The agency says all of its staff have reported they are safe and well.
Update: On 11 & 12 May 2021 at least 4 UNRWA buildings were hit within the context of military operations on Gaza, causing extensive damage. https://t.co/kLkUol3dZW https://t.co/GnOveBlKbn
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 13, 2021
Chat messages seen by Middle East Eye reveal plans by far-right Israeli groups to incite violence against Palestinian citizens of Israel.
One message said: "Bring everything, knives, gasoline." Another read: "Today we'll go back to make some mess at 6pm. Let's meet at the seafront."
Far-right groups in Israel have attacked Palestinians and trashed businesses believed to be owned by Arabs since the unrest began last weekend.
"We need molotov cocktails. To the mosque. To make them shake. We'll burn their houses, their cars, everything"
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 13, 2021
Far-right Israeli groups are planning further attacks against Palestinians in Israel, according to messages seen by MEE https://t.co/JNha7gnAul
Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, has warned Israel against invading Gaza amid an Israeli military build-up around the besieged Palestinian territories.
"Amid suggestions of a ground operation, we say: Any ground incursion in the area in the Gaza Strip will be an opportunity to increase our share of dead and captured soldiers from the enemy, and we are ready to teach [Israel] harsh lessons," Abu Ubaida said in a statement.
The Gazan Health Ministry has confirmed that at least 103 Palestinians have been killed in the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza. That number is accurate as of Thursday evening and includes 27 children and 11 women. A further 580 people have been wounded.
Tensions are increasing in the mixed city of Haifa as Palestinian protesters clashed with far-right mobs and Israeli police made arrests.
According to the Anadolu Agency, police arrested eight Palestinians during confrontations in the city.
In Nazareth, police raided homes and arrested a young man in his twenties.
To the south, in Jaffa, roadside fires were visible and barricades were set up in the streets.
Kan News reported stone-throwing and fireworks being set off in the village of Manda.
At least three rockets have been fired from south Lebanon towards Israel late on Thursday. The Israeli army said they landed in the sea.
"A short while ago, three rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of northern Israel," the military said in a tweet.
Lebanese news outlets, including MTV and the Daily Star, reported that Lebanon's security forces arrested Palestinian nationals linked to the rocket attack.
Al Jazeera cited a security source as saying that the rockets were launched from al-Rashidiya Palestinian refugee camp outside the southern coastal city of Tyre.
Hezbollah, which has a large security presence in the area, has not fought an all-out war with Israel since 2006. In the past, including during the 2014 Gaza war, Palestinian armed groups unrelated to Hezbollah have claimed firing rockets at Israel.
An Israeli police officer was injured after being shot at by Palestinian gunmen in Ramla, according to the Times of Israel.
The incident followed a physical attack on an Israeli soldier in Jaffa, which left the man seriously injured. In Lod, two men of unspecified background were also wounded.
Thursday saw no respite in the violence, as Israeli ultra-nationlists attacked Palestinian citizens of Israel and raided homes. Others chanted “death to Arabs”.
Videos shared online purportedly from Lod showed men running from repeated gunfire.
Other videos showed young Palestinians arriving from Jerusalem to protect their communities from attack by Israeli mobs.
Lod is in a state of emergency, with a curfew being enforced from 8pm- 3am.
#شاهد: رصاص حيّ في اللد #الداخل_الفلسطيني_ينتفض #الشيخ_جراح pic.twitter.com/SAl5Xrw5nj
— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) May 13, 2021
Translation: Live ammunition in Lod
They want to ban Christmas and mixed marriages between Arabs and Jews. They also want to expel Palestinians to Arab countries and one of their most infamous campaigns involved pressuring a Jewish-Israeli model not to marry Leonardo DiCaprio.
In this deep dive we look at Lehava, one of Israel’s most prolific far-right organisations.
Lehava, which means "flame" in Hebrew, is the acronym for "Prevention of Assimilation in the Holy Land".
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) April 30, 2021
The group's primary goal is preventing "Jewish assimilation” and "miscegenation" - marriages or relationships between Jews and non-Jews https://t.co/zKUpcMcGB1
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier on Thursday that the government might deploy military troops to cities where violence has been taking place.
He also said that Israel is considering putting “rioters” under administrative detention, a highly controversial practice in which suspects can be held without charges or trial.
“Our goal is to bring results and to bring them quickly,” Netanyahu said. “We are hearing [police officers'] whispers about fears of inquiry committees. We will give you all the tools. You have the support, don’t be afraid.”
CNN’s Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr said 120 US military and civilian personnel would be withdrawn from Israel, where they were set to take part in military exercises.
Military and commercial air travel has been affected by the violence, which involves the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel.
Earlier on Thursday, Hamas said it fired a number of rockets at Israel's Ramon Airport near Eilat.
Israel-Palestine: Hamas warns off airlines as it launches new long-range missilehttps://t.co/sMzne442AS pic.twitter.com/PE7tzSGVBs
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 13, 2021
US President Joe Biden was speaking at a press conference a short while ago. Below is a short transcript of some of his comments on the situation in Israel and Palestine:
"I have my intelligence community, the Defense Department, as well as the State department, have been in contact with all of their counterparts, not only in Israel, but in the region, and one of the things I have seen thus far is there has not been a significant over-reaction.
"The question is how do we get to a point - they get to a point - where there is a significant reduction in the attacks - particularly the rocket attacks that are indiscriminately fired in the population centres - but I expect I'll be having some discussions.
"We haven't just spoken with the Israelis - it's been the Egyptians, the Saudis and others - so it's a work in progress right now."
A video posted on Twitter shows the moment Israeli journalist Yoav Zehavi of public broadcaster Kan News was attacked by Israeli ultra-nationalists.
Zehavi was struck by at least two men, once with what appeared to be a motorcyle helmet.
The journalist said a police report had been filed.
חברים הכל בסדר, אנחנו במשטרה מגישים תלונה. תודה על הדאגה 🙏
— Yoav Zehavi יואב זהבי يوآف زهافي (@Yoav__Zehavi) May 13, 2021
Translation: Friends, everything is fine, we are at the police filing a complaint. Thanks for your concern
