WRAPUP 4-Hamas says Gaza ceasefire efforts are back at square one

WRAPUP 4-Hamas says Gaza ceasefire efforts are back at square one * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS * Hamas says Israel's effective rejection of a ceasefire proposal put by mediators has brought things back to square one. * Hamas says it will hold consultations with Palestinian factions to review its negotiation strategy * White House says watching Israeli operations with concern, trying to keep talks going if only virtually By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO, May 10 (Reuters) - The Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Friday that efforts to find a Gaza Strip truce deal were back at square one after Israel effectively spurned a plan from international mediators, and the White House said it was trying to keep the sides engaged if only virtually. Hamas said in a statement it would consult with other Palestinian factions on its strategy for talks to halt seven months of war triggered by its deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Hours earlier, the United Nations warned that aid for Gaza could grind to a halt in days after Israel seized control this week of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a vital route for supplies to the devastated Palestinian enclave. Despite heavy U.S. pressure, Israel has said it will proceed with an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million displaced people have sought refuge and Israeli forces say Hamas militants are dug in. Israeli tanks captured the main road dividing the eastern and western sections of Rafah on Friday, effectively encircling the eastern part of the city in an assault that has caused Washington to hold up delivery of some military aid to its ally. The White House said that it was closely watching the Israeli operations with concern, but they appeared to be localized around the shuttered Rafah crossing and did not reflect a large-scale invasion. Once again, we urge the Israelis to open up that crossing to humanitarian assistance immediately, said White House national security spokesman John Kirby. Israel's plan for an all-out assault on Rafah has ignited one of the biggest rifts in generations with its main ally, the U.S. Washington held up a weapons shipment over fears of massive civilian casualties. Indirect diplomacy has failed to end a war that health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza say has killed almost 35,000 people since the Oct. 7 attack. Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 253 taken hostage on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. Ceasefire talks in Cairo broke up on Thursday with no agreement. Hamas had said it agreed at the start of the week to a proposal submitted by Qatari and Egyptian mediators that had previously been accepted by Israel. Israel said the Hamas proposal contained elements it cannot accept. Israels rejection of the mediators proposal through the amendments it made returned things to the first square, Hamas said in Friday's statement. In the light of Netanyahus behaviour and rejection of the mediators document and the attack on Rafah and the occupation of the crossing, the leadership of the movement will hold consultations with the brotherly leaders of the Palestinian factions to review our negotiation strategy. Hamas did not suspend nor withdraw from the negotiations; the occupation (Israelis) turned against the mediators proposal, a senior Hamas official, Khalil Al-Hayya, said in comments to Al Araby TV published by Hamas. Kirby said the end of the talks - which CIA Director William Burns was helping mediate - was deeply regrettable, but the U.S. believed the differences were surmountable. We are working hard to keep both sides engaged in continuing the discussion, if only virtually, he said. EXPLOSIONS AND GUNFIRE Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of Rafah on Friday, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas said it ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of the city, a sign the Israelis had penetrated several kilometres from the east to the outskirts of the built-up area. Israel has ordered civilians out of the eastern part of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter outside the city, previously the last refuge of more than a million who fled other parts of the enclave during the war. Israel says it cannot win the war without assaulting Rafah to root out thousands of Hamas fighters it believes are sheltering there. Hamas says it will fight to defend it. Supplies were already running short and aid operations could halt within days as fuel and food stocks get used up, U.N. aid agencies said. For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel, said the UNICEF Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Hamish Young. Aid agencies say the battle has threatened hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians. It is not safe, all of Rafah isn't safe, as tank shells landed everywhere since yesterday, Abu Hassan, 50, a resident of Tel al-Sultan west of Rafah told Reuters via a chat app. I am trying to leave but I can't afford 2,000 shekels ($540) to buy a tent for my family, he said. There is an increased movement of people out of Rafah even from the western areas, though they were not designated as red zones by the occupation. Israeli tanks have sealed off eastern Rafah from the south, capturing and shutting the only crossing between the enclave and Egypt. An advance on Friday to the Salahuddin road that bisects the Gaza Strip completed the encirclement of the ed zone where they have ordered residents out. The Israeli military said its forces in eastern Rafah had located several tunnel shafts, and troops backed by an air strike fought at close quarters with groups of Hamas fighters, killing several. It said Israeli jets had hit several sites from which rockets and mortar bombs had been fired towards Israel in recent days. The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the U.N. Security Council econsider the matter favorably. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem and Maggie Fick; Writing by Peter Graff, Timothy Heritage and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Nick Macfie and David Gregorio)

Israeli demonstrators torch part of UN compound in Jerusalem

Three held in Salem for murdering businessman from West Mogappair

The victim had cheated them to the tune of 12.5 crore by promising to get them government jobs

Food safety officials raid snack shop at Ammapet in Salem

Class X results | Salem registers 91.75 pass percentage, Namakkal 93.51

UGD pipeline laying works to begin from Javulikadai to Moongapadi Junction in Salem; traffic diversion announced

UGD pipeline laying works to begin from Javulikadai to Moongapadi Junction in Salem; traffic diversion announced - The Hindu

UGD pipeline laying works to begin from Javulikadai to Moongapadi Junction in Salem; traffic diversion announced The Hindu

Medical student dies in accident in Salem

UN agency shuts down east Jerusalem HQ after 'Israeli extremist' arson attack

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Thursday it was temporarily shuttering its east Jerusalem headquarters after Israeli extremists set fire to the perimeter following weeks of repeated attacks. The attack came after two months of Israeli extremists staging protests outside the UNRWA compound, he said. One protest this week became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings of the compound. This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem. This took place while UNRWA and other UN Agencies staff were on the compound. While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage pic.twitter.com/ZqHFDNkiWC Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) May 9, 2024 In recent months, according to The Guardian , hundreds of Israeli settlers and rightwing activists have protested by blocking the entrances of the UN agency and calling for its closure. Thursdays arson attempts marked an outrageous development, the head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini said. He added: Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk. In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I have taken the decision to close down our compound until proper security is restored. The UNRWA chief said: Over the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation. Our compound has been seriously vandalised and damaged. On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns. 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 October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Al Arabia reports. This led many donor nations, including its top donor the United States, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver desperately-needed aid in Gaza, although several have since resumed payments. An independent review group of UNRWA, led by French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some neutrality-related issues but said Israel had yet to provide evidence for its chief allegations, Al Arabia added. Qatars foreign ministry issued a statement Thursday condemning in the strongest terms the attack by Israeli settlers on the UNRWA headquarters. The ministry slammed the systematic Israeli targeting of UNRWA, maintaining it was aimed to liquidate it and deprive millions of Palestinians of its necessary services. Created in 1949, the agency employs around 30,000 people in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Israeli settlers attacked this West Bank village in a spasm of violence after a boys death

DUMA, West Bank: Charred homes and cars dotting this hilltop village surrounded by olive groves are a searing reminder of Palestinians vulnerability to rising violence from Israeli settlers. The trail of wreckage along Dumas main road is the aftermath of a three-hour attack in mid-April that left 15 homes damaged by arson and six residents injured by bullets, the head of its village council said. It was one of nearly 800 settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, according to the U.N. The burnt remains in Duma also highlight the villages limited resources to clean up and rebuild, let alone defend itself from future incursions, which seem inevitable as gun-toting settlers patrol the area roughly 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Jerusalem. We as the village of Duma ... do not have the power to defend ourselves, said Suleiman Dawabsha, chairman of the village council for this community of more than 2,000 people. He estimated the attack caused five million shekels ($1.3 million) in damage. The rampage on April 13 echoed a similar event that took place almost a decade ago. In 2015, three Palestinians from Duma were killed, including an 18 month-old baby, after settlers fire-bombed a home there. An Israeli man was later convicted for murder. The latest attack against Duma was part of a wave of settler violence touched off by the death of a 14-year-old Israeli who went missing on the morning of April 12. Authorities found his body the next day and they have arrested a man from Duma who they say was connected to the boys alleged murder. On April 15, two days after the attack in Duma, two Palestinians were shot dead by settlers near the town of Aqraba, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. And in a related spurt of violence, a man was killed by Israeli fire on April 12 in nearby al-Mughayyir, though it remains unclear whether the fatal bullet was fired by a soldier or settler. There have been 794 settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct. 7 from stones thrown at passing cars to bullets fired at residents, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. At least 10 Palestinians have been killed by settlers in these attacks, it said. Attacks by settlers arent the only form of violence on the rise in the West Bank. Since the war in Gaza began, nearly 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the territory, according to the Health Ministry based in Ramallah, which says the overwhelming majority have been shot dead by soldiers. Palestinians in the West Bank have killed nine Israelis, including five soldiers, since Oct. 7, according to UN data. The war has undoubtedly heightened tensions between settlers and Palestinians. But Israeli human rights groups blame the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for fueling settler violence by promoting an ideology of total Israeli supremacy in the West Bank. These groups say the Israeli army doesnt do enough to stop the violence, and even facilitates it in some cases by offering the settlers protection. The Israeli army said in a statement it tries to protect everyone living in the West Bank and that complaints about soldiers are investigated. No one was killed in the attack on Duma, but residents described narrow escapes. Ibrahim Dawabsha, a truck driver and father of four, said most of his family hid in the kitchen as settlers launched firebombs and set part of their home ablaze. My daughter was at her uncles house, there was no one there, he said. What they (might) do to her I dont know. The heads of Duma and al-Mughayyir said Israeli troops arrived shortly after the attacks on their communities began but did little to intervene. Instead, they fired at Palestinians attempting to confront the settlers, these officials said. A prominent Israeli human rights group, Yesh Din, described it as an umbrella of security a collaboration it says has become increasingly common since Israels right-wing coalition government came to power in late 2022. As soon as the Palestinians try to protect themselves, theyre the ones who the army attacks, said Ziv Stahl, Yesh Dins director. The United States has increased pressure on Israel to curb settler attacks in the West Bank, sanctioning some leaders, including a close ally of Israels far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Dawabsha, the chief of Duma, does not believe the pressure campaign will be effective. I am not pinning my hopes on the American government, he said. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war, territories Palestinians want as part of a future state. Settlers claim the West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians, is their biblical birthright. Around 500,000 Israeli settlers live across hundreds of settlements and outposts in the West Bank. These segregated and tightly guarded communities vary in size and nature. Larger settlements are akin to Jerusalems sprawling suburbs, while smaller unauthorized outposts can consist of just a few caravans parked on a hilltop. Outposts often receive tacit government support and sometimes they gain formal recognition and receive funding from the Israeli government. Dumas geography makes it uniquely vulnerable to attack. Overlooking Jordan and Israeli settlements to the east, the village is surrounded more closely by at least three outposts that the head of its council says have expanded gradually over the past decade. Duma is in a section of the West Bank known as Area B: Its civil affairs are governed by the Palestinian Authority, but the Israeli military is in charge of its security. Palestinians largely consider the PA to be ineffective and corrupt, and it rarely opposes Israels military operations in the territory. Over the past year, settlers have cut off Dumas access to four vital springs and wells that surround the village by sabotaging roads and other infrastructure, according to residents. In the days following Hamas Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, more than 100 Bedouin Arabs that were living a nomadic lifestyle in the pastures south of Duma relocated to its fringes in search of greater safety and resources. One of them, Ali Zawahiri, said his extended family relocated after settlers had begun burning their tents and stealing their livestock in apparent revenge attacks. The Bedouin Arabs living near Duma are one of 16 such communities in the West Bank that have relocated because of settler violence or threats since the start of 2023, according to Yesh Din. He is armed with a gun and I am just a person with nothing, Zawahiri said. An armed unit run by the Palestinian Authority that formerly patrolled the perimeter of West Bank towns at night halted operations shortly after the Gaza war broke out, when members of the force were kidnapped by settlers. When asked how they might better defend themselves in the future, residents of Duma struggled to answer. What preparations? said Ibrahim Dawabsha, whose truck his main source of income was burnt to ashes. There are no preparations.

Israeli tanks encircle eastern half of Rafah

Israeli tanks encircle eastern half of Rafah Israeli tanks captured the main road dividing the eastern and western halves of Rafah on Friday, effectively encircling the entire eastern side of the city in the southern Gaza Strip. Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of the city on Friday, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas said it ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of the city, a sign the Israelis had penetrated several kilometres from the east to the outskirts of the built-up area. Israel has ordered civilians out of the eastern half of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter outside the city, previously the last refuge of more than a million who fled other parts of the enclave during the war. Israel says it cannot win the war without assaulting Rafah to root out thousands of Hamas fighters it believes are sheltering there. Hamas says it will fight to defend it. Aid agencies say the battle puts hundreds of thousands of already displaced civilians in harm's way. It is not safe, all of Rafah isn't safe as tank shells landed everywhere since yesterday, Abu Hassan, 50, a resident of Tel al-Sultan west of Rafah told Reuters via a chat app. I am trying to leave but I can't afford 2,000 shekels to buy a tent for my family, he said. There is an increased movement of people out of Rafah even from the western areas, though they were not designated as red zones by the occupation. The army is targeting all of Rafah not only the east with tank shells and air strikes. The Israeli military said its forces in eastern Rafah had located several tunnel shafts and troops backed by an air strike fought at close quarters with groups of Hamas fighters, killing several. It said Israeli jets had hit several sites from which rockets and mortars had been fired towards Israel in recent days, including at the Kerem Shalmon crossing point. Israeli tanks have already sealed off eastern Rafah from the south, capturing and shutting the only crossing between the enclave and Egypt. An advance on Friday to the Salahuddin road that bisects the strip completed the encirclement of the ed zone where they have ordered residents out. The prospect of an assault on Rafah this week has opened up one of the biggest rifts for generations between Israel and its closest ally the United States, which has blocked shipments of weapons to Israel for the first time since the war began. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel would fight with our fingernails if it must. In a U.S. television interview, he said he hoped Israel would overcome its disagreements with President Joe Biden. Ceasefire talks broke up on Thursday with no agreement to halt the fighting and release hostages captured in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that precipitated the war. Hamas had said it agreed at the start of the week to a proposal submitted by Qatari and Egyptian mediators that had previously been accepted by Israel. Israel said the Hamas proposal contained elements it cannot accept. More than 34,000 Gazans have been killed in the seven months of war, according to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave who say thousands more dead are probably buried under rubble. Israel launched the assault to annihilate Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks, in which 1,200 people were killed according to Israeli tallies. (Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Israel hits Gaza after truce talks end

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Israel launched fresh strikes in the Gaza Strip Friday after negotiators pursuing a long-stalled truce agreement left talks in Cairo without having secured a deal. AFP journalists in the Gaza Strip early Friday witnessed artillery strikes on Rafah on the territory's southern border with Egypt, while witnesses reported air strikes and fighting in Gaza City further north. Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams left Cairo Thursday after what the Egyptian hosts described as a wo-day round of indirect negotiations on the terms of a Gaza truce, according to Egyptian intelligence-linked Al-Qahera News. Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip and whose unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel sparked the war there, said its delegation had left for Qatar, home to the Palestinian militant group's political leadership. The negotiating delegation left Cairo heading to Doha. In practice, the occupation (Israel) rejected the proposal submitted by the mediators and raised objections to it on several central issues, Hamas said in a message to other Palestinian factions, adding it stood by the proposal. Accordingly, the ball is now completely in the hands of the occupation. Hamas had said Monday that it had accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators. The deal, the group said, involved a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war, and the exchange of hostages held by militants for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel, with the aim of a permanent ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office at the time called the proposal far from Israel's essential demands, but said the government would still send negotiators to Cairo. Israel has long resisted the idea of a permanent ceasefire, insisting it must finish the job of dismantling Hamas. Tens of thousands of Palestinians flee Rafah amid Israeli bombardment Israel shells Rafah as Biden vows arms suspension 'A path forward' Mediator Egypt said the two sides must show flexibility in order to strike a deal for a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange in the seven-month war, according to a foreign ministry statement. CIA director William Burns, who is also part of the truce efforts, is due to return to the United States from the Middle East on Friday, the White House said. That doesn't mean there aren't still ongoing discussions, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. We still believe that there's a path forward, but it's going to take some leadership on both sides. But at a makeshift refugee camp in Rafah, displaced Gazan Inas Mazen al-Shami said she was fed up with the stalling. We have no money and we don't have the means to move from one place to another again and again. We have no means at all, she said. The Gaza war began with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. During the attack, militants also seized some 250 hostages, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza, including 36 who officials say are dead. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,904 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. Focus on Rafah All eyes have been on Rafah in recent weeks, where the population has swelled to around 1.5 million after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled fighting and bombardments in other areas of Gaza in a desperate search for safety. Countries around the world, including key Israeli backer the United States, have urged Israel not to extend its ground offensive into Rafah, citing fears of a large civilian toll. Israel insists, however, that in order to achieve its war aims, it must send ground troops into the city, where it claims senior Hamas military leaders are hiding. Israel has since Tuesday conducted military operations in parts of Rafah, and seized control of a key border crossing into Egypt, sparking condemnation from aid groups that rely on the crossing to send assistance into the territory. In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden issued his starkest warning yet to Israel since the start of the war, saying he would stop some US weapons supplies to Israel if it carried out its long-threatened ground assault. Biden told CNN: If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used... to deal with the cities. We're not gonna supply the weapons and the artillery shells that have been used, he added. In Israel's first reaction to Biden's threat, its UN ambassador Gilad Erdan called it a very disappointing statement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond directly to the US threat. However, he said in a statement: If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. It has been his repeated refrain in recent days as both international and domestic criticism of his handling of the war have intensified. US paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says 'No fuel, no movement' Israel's military said Wednesday it was reopening another aid crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, as well as the Erez crossing into north Gaza. But the head of the UN humanitarian office in the Palestinian territories, Andrea De Domenico, told AFP that military activity at Kerem Shalom made civilian aid deliveries practically impossible. He said the closure of the Rafah crossing, the only one equipped for fuel deliveries, had effectively halted aid operations. In Gaza there are no stocks of fuel, he said. That means no movement. It is completely crippling the humanitarian operations. UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini announced late Thursday that the agency was closing its east Jerusalem headquarters after the latest in a spate of attacks by Israeli extremists put its staff at serious risk. Lazzarini said the compound would remain closed until proper security is restored. A US container ship loaded with aid for Gaza left Cyprus Thursday in a new test of a maritime corridor to get relief into the besieged Palestinian territory, the Cyprus government said. US military engineers have been assembling a temporary pier to unload aid deliveries but the work has been delayed by heavy seas. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the pier will significantly increase the volume of aid reaching Gaza but said it was not a substitute for greater land access via Israel.

Salem Collector leads inspection for Yercaud Summer Fest and Flower Show - Afternoon News

Salem Collector leads inspection for Yercaud Summer Fest and Flower Show Afternoon News

Chennai man beaten to death over Rs 12 cr fraud near Krishnagiri, wife held hostage

CHENNAI: A 54-year-old man from West Mogappair in Chennai was allegedly beaten to death by three men near Salem on Monday. Kundrathur police said the deceased man, K Venkatesan, had taken Rs 12 crore from one of the suspects under the pretext of securing government jobs for some persons. On Sunday, after dropping his younger son Santhosh at a college in Kundrathur for NEET exam, Venkatesan and his wife Lakshmi (40) left for Salem in their car. They had told Santhosh that they were visiting a relative. However, when Santhosh tried to contact his parents later, the call did not go through. When he contacted his relatives in Salem, they said the couple had not reached there. When he went to the local police station to lodge a missing complaint, police personnel said since the parents were last seen at Kundrathur, Santhosh should file a case there itself. So, he went to the Kundrathur station and lodged a complaint, a police source said. On Monday night, Santhosh managed to video call his mother and she asked him to leave immediately for Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district as his signature was needed to sell a property. He alerted the police and went to Uthangarai along with a police team. When they reached the spot, they found that some men had detained Lakshmi at a stone-crushing unit. Police rescued the woman and arrested Ganesan (50) of Thippampatti, Nithyanandham (39) of Pollachi and Vignesh (28) of Uthangarai, the source added. Venkatesan and Ganesan were relatives. The trio revealed to police that Venkatesan had cheated Ganesan of Rs 12 crore after promising to secure government jobs for the latters friends and other relatives. When Ganesan recently came to know that Venkatesan was coming to Salem to sell a property, he hatched a plan with his friends. They abducted Venkatesan and his wife to the stone-crushing facility. The trio then beat Venkatesan to death and forced Lakshmi to talk to her son over the video call. They then buried the body on the crushing unit premises itself, the police said. Venkatesans body was exhumed on Wednesday, and sent for postmortem. Kundrathur police have altered the missing person story to murder. The arrested men were taken to Chennai on Thursday.

Netanyahu vows to continue attacks in Gaza despite Bidens threat to halt weapon shipment

Netanyahu vows to continue attacks in Gaza despite Bidens threat to halt weapon shipment Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a video statement that the Israeli forces will continue their attacks in Gaza despite the US threat to halt some weapon shipments. If Israel is forced to stand alone Israel [] The post Netanyahu vows to continue attacks in Gaza despite Bidens threat to halt weapon shipment appeared first on Mangalorean.com .

UNRWA Says It Closed East Jerusalem Headquarters After Fire and Attacks

The leader of the agency said Israeli residents had set the fire, which caused extensive damage, but that no staff had been injured.

BSP candidates for Ballia, Salempur file nomination

Unrwa Jerusalem HQ closed after Israeli extremist arson attack

Agency chief says compound has suffered a number of attacks with the lives of UN staff at a serious risk The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has temporarily closed its east Jerusalem headquarters after Israeli extremists set fire to the perimeter following weeks of repeated attacks. This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the Unrwa headquarters in occupied east Jerusalem, agency chief Philippe Lazzarini said on X, lamenting that it was the second attack on the compound in a matter of days. Continue reading...

WRAPUP 9-Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal

WRAPUP 9-Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Hamas will not make new concessions after accepting proposal, Al-Aqsa TV says * Israeli envoy to US says hold on arms sends 'wrong message' * UNRWA chief says Israeli residents set fire to perimeter of its headquarters in East Jerusalem * United Nations aid chief says nothing allowed into Gaza for three days * Israeli PM Netanyahu says Israelis will fight with only their fingernails, if they must * Ceasefire talks make some headway, but no deal, say Egyptian security sources By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Mohammad Salem and Jarrett Renshaw CAIRO/RAFAH, Gaza Strip/WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - I sraeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults the southern Gaza city. A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned. Israel has submitted to mediators its reservations about a Hamas proposal for a hostage release deal, the official said. If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails, Netanyahu said in a video statement. But we have much more than our fingernails. In Gaza, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli tanks massed on the eastern outskirts of the city. Residents and medics in Rafah, the biggest urban area in Gaza not yet overrun by Israeli ground forces, said an Israeli attack near a mosque killed at least three people and wounded others in the eastern Brazil neighbourhood. Video footage from the scene showed the minaret lying in the rubble and two bodies wrapped in blankets. An Israeli air strike on two houses in the Sabra neighbourhood of Rafah killed at least 12 people including women and children. Among the dead was a senior commander of the militant Al-Mujahedeen Brigades, and his family, and the family of another group leader, medics, relatives and the group said. Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in Rafah, where the population has been swelled by hundreds of thousands of Gazans seeking refuge from the bombardments that have reduced most of the coastal enclave to ruins. In the United States, the White House repeated its hope that Israel would not launch a full operation in Rafah, saying it did not believe that would advance Israel's aim of defeating Hamas. Smashing into Rafah, in [President Biden's] view, will not advance that objective, spokesperson John Kirby said. Kirby said Hamas had been pressured significantly by Israel and there were better options to hunt down what remains of the group's leadership than an operation with significant risk to civilians. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said. It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. Biden on Wednesday issued his starkest warning yet against a full ground invasion in Rafah, telling CNN that: I made it clear that if they go into Rafah...I'm not supplying the weapons. Israel's ambassador to the United States said the decision to withhold weapons from Israel over Rafah sends the wrong message to Hamas and the country's foes. It puts us in a corner because we have to deal with Rafah one way or the other, Ambassador Michael Herzog told a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar. The Israeli military has the munitions it requires for operations in Rafah and other planned operations, chief armed forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. Israeli armed forces have already killed 50 Palestinian gunmen in east Rafah and uncovered several tunnels, Hagari said. Hamas had no immediate comment. TALKS END In Cairo, delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar had been meeting since Tuesday. The talks in Egypt's capital made some headway but no deal was reached, according to two Egyptian security sources. Izzat El-Risheq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said the Hamas delegation had left Cairo, having reaffirmed its approval of the mediators' ceasefire proposal. The plan entails the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel. Hamas blames Israel for the lack of agreement, and its Al-Aqsa TV's Telegram account said the group would not make any concessions beyond those in the proposal it had accepted. Israel has said it is open to a truce, but has rejected demands for an end to the war. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington continued to engage with Israel on amendments to a ceasefire proposal, adding work to finalize the text of an agreement was incredibly difficult. MEDICAL SECTOR COLLAPSING Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, causing extensive damage to the outdoor areas but no casualties, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. There was no immediate comment from Israeli police. Once again, the lives of U.N. staff were at a serious risk, Lazzarini wrote, adding he had decided to close the compound until security is restored. On Tuesday, Israeli tanks seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off a vital aid route and forcing 80,000 people to flee the city this week, according to the United Nations. Israel kept up tank and aerial strikes across Gaza and tanks advanced in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north, forcing hundreds of families to flee, residents said. The Israeli military said it was securing Zeitoun, starting with a series of intelligence-based aerial strikes on approximately 25 militant targets. Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza was packed with people who had fled Rafah in recent days. Palestinian medics said two people, including a woman, were killed when a drone fired a missile at a group of people there. The closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt has prevented the evacuation of the wounded and sick and the entry of medical supplies, food trucks and fuel needed to operate hospitals, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday. The only kidney dialysis centre in the Rafah area had stopped operating due to the shelling. The entire medical sector has collapsed, said Ali Abu Khurma, a Jordanian surgeon volunteering at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah. United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said that for three consecutive days, othing and no one has been allowed in or out of Gaza. It means no aid. Our supplies are stuck. Our teams are stuck. Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed, and we are prevented from helping them. This is Gaza today, even after 7 months of horrors, Griffiths posted on X. (Additional reporting by Maytaal Angel in JERUSALEM, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in CAIRO, Doaa Rouqa in GAZA and other Reuters bureaux; Writing by Ros Russell, Alexandra Hudson and Deepa Babington, Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Angus MacSwan)

WRAPUP 8-Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal

WRAPUP 8-Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Israeli envoy to US says hold on arms sends 'wrong message' * UNRWA chief says Israeli residents set fire to perimeter of its headquarters in East Jerusalem * United Nations aid chief says nothing allowed into Gaza for three days * Israeli PM Netanyahu says Israelis will fight with only their fingernails, if they must * Ceasefire talks make some headway, but no deal, say Egyptian security sources By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Mohammad Salem and Jarrett Renshaw CAIRO/RAFAH, Gaza Strip/WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - I sraeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults the southern Gaza city. A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned. Israel has submitted to mediators its reservations about a Hamas proposal for a hostage release deal, the official said. If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails, Netanyahu said in a video statement. But we have much more than our fingernails. In Gaza, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli tanks massed on the eastern outskirts of the city. Residents and medics in Rafah, the biggest urban area in Gaza not yet overrun by Israeli ground forces, said an Israeli attack near a mosque killed at least three people and wounded others in the eastern Brazil neighbourhood. Video footage from the scene showed the minaret lying in the rubble and two bodies wrapped in blankets. An Israeli air strike on two houses in the Sabra neighbourhood of Rafah killed at least 12 people including women and children. Among the dead was a senior commander of the militant Al-Mujahedeen Brigades, and his family, and the family of another group leader, medics, relatives and the group said. Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in Rafah, where the population has been swelled by hundreds of thousands of Gazans seeking refuge from the bombardments that have reduced most of the coastal enclave to ruins. In the United States, the White House repeated its hope that Israel would not launch a full operation in Rafah, saying it did not believe that would advance Israel's aim of defeating Hamas. Smashing into Rafah, in [President Biden's] view, will not advance that objective, spokesperson John Kirby said. Kirby said Hamas had been pressured significantly by Israel and there were better options to hunt down what remains of the group's leadership than an operation with significant risk to civilians. Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said. It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. Biden on Wednesday issued his starkest warning yet against a full ground invasion in Rafah, telling CNN that: I made it clear that if they go into Rafah...I'm not supplying the weapons. Israel's ambassador to the United States said the decision to withhold weapons from Israel over Rafah sends the wrong message to Hamas and the country's foes. It puts us in a corner because we have to deal with Rafah one way or the other, Ambassador Michael Herzog told a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar. The Israeli military has the munitions it requires for operations in Rafah and other planned operations, chief armed forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said. Israeli armed forces have already killed 50 Palestinian gunmen in east Rafah and uncovered several tunnels, Hagari said. Hamas had no immediate comment. TALKS END In Cairo, delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar had been meeting since Tuesday. The talks in Egypt's capital made some headway but no deal was reached, according to two Egyptian security sources. Izzat El-Risheq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said the Hamas delegation had left Cairo, having reaffirmed its approval of the mediators' ceasefire proposal. The plan entails the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel. Hamas blamed Israel for the lack of agreement so far. Israel has said it is open to a truce, but has rejected demands for an end to the war. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington continued to engage with Israel on amendments to a ceasefire proposal, adding work to finalize the text of an agreement was incredibly difficult. MEDICAL SECTOR COLLAPSING Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the headquarters of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, causing extensive damage to the outdoor areas but no casualties, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. There was no immediate comment from Israeli police. Once again, the lives of U.N. staff were at a serious risk, Lazzarini wrote, adding he had decided to close the compound until security is restored. On Tuesday, Israeli tanks seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off a vital aid route and forcing 80,000 people to flee the city this week, according to the United Nations. Israel kept up tank and aerial strikes across Gaza and tanks advanced in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north, forcing hundreds of families to flee, residents said. The Israeli military said it was securing Zeitoun, starting with a series of intelligence-based aerial strikes on approximately 25 militant targets. Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza was packed with people who had fled Rafah in recent days. Palestinian medics said two people, including a woman, were killed when a drone fired a missile at a group of people there. The closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt has prevented the evacuation of the wounded and sick and the entry of medical supplies, food trucks and fuel needed to operate hospitals, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday. The only kidney dialysis centre in the Rafah area had stopped operating due to the shelling. The entire medical sector has collapsed, said Ali Abu Khurma, a Jordanian surgeon volunteering at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah. United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said that for three consecutive days, othing and no one has been allowed in or out of Gaza. It means no aid. Our supplies are stuck. Our teams are stuck. Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed, and we are prevented from helping them. This is Gaza today, even after 7 months of horrors, Griffiths posted on X. (Additional reporting by Maytaal Angel in JERUSALEM, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in CAIRO, Doaa Rouqa in GAZA and other Reuters bureaux; Writing by Ros Russell, Alexandra Hudson and Deepa Babington, Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Angus MacSwan)

Elderly couple found dead in a house in Salem

Childless elderly couple found dead near Salem

Two boys drown in a lake in Salem

Rafah Hospitals Face Imminent Fuel Shortage, Warns WHO

Rafah Hospitals Face Imminent Fuel Shortage, Warns WHO The World Health Organization says it has only three days of fuel for its medical operations in southern Gaza, with shortages already forcing one of three remaining hospitals in the city of Rafah to shut down. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel's military took control of the Palestinian side early Tuesday, blocking the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid. The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of full-blown famine. Israel said it reopened Kerem Shalom crossing, the other main entry point for aid, on Wednesday. U.N. officials say no aid has entered Gaza, and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side because of ongoing fighting. The war in Gaza has driven around 80% of the territory's population of 2.3 million from their homes and caused vast destruction to apartments, hospitals, mosques and schools across several cities. The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials. The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others. Here's the latest: ISRAELI DRONE STRIKE ON CAR IN LEBANON KILLS 4, GROUP SAYS Beirut Lebanon's Civil Defense paramedic group says an Israeli drone strike on a car in a Lebanese village near the border with Israel killed four people. It was not immediately clear if the four killed Thursday in the village of Bafliyeh were members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group. Hezbollah started attacking Israeli army posts along the Lebanon-Israel border a day after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7. Since then, more than 350 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 275 Hezbollah members and more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. In Israel, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed. Foreign officials have been visiting Lebanon over the past month in attempts to bring calm to the border, but Hezbollah has repeatedly said it will not stop fighting until there is a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. ISRAEL'S NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER SAYS HAMAS LOVES BIDEN Tel Aviv Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted Hamas loves Biden on X, formerly called Twitter, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah. Biden, in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, said the U.S. was still committed to Israel's defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used. There is widespread concern over the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering in Rafah. Ben Gvir, who used a heart emoji in his tweet regarding Biden and Hamas, has pushed for a punishing military response and has threatened to leave the government if Israel does not carry out a wide-ranging military operation in Rafah. Hamas' exercises and games have only one answer: an immediate order to occupy Rafah! he wrote on X on Monday. ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE KILLS 8 PEOPLE, INCLUDING 4 CHILDREN Cairo An Israeli airstrike on a residential building killed eight people including four children late Wednesday, according to hospital records. The strike hit a residential building in Tel al-Sultan in western Rafah. Israel's military took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing early Tuesday after issuing evacuation orders for eastern parts of the city, home to some 100,000. It then sent tanks to seize the nearby Rafah crossing with Egypt, shutting it down. Associated Press journalists heard sporadic explosions and gunfire in the area of the Rafah crossing overnight Tuesday, including two large blasts early Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon, hospital records showed at least 25 people were wounded when Israeli artillery fire struck part of central Rafah, an area that Israel did not tell Palestinians to evacuate ahead of its operation. The military had no immediate comment. ISRAELI SOLDIER KILLED BY MORTAR LAUNCHED FROM LEBANON AS TENSIONS RISE Tel Aviv An Israeli soldier was killed by a mortar launched from Lebanon, as tensions between Israel and Lebanon continue to rise during the war in Gaza. The soldier was killed on Wednesday and the army announced the death on Thursday. It was the third fatality in a week in Israel on the northern border from launches from Lebanon. The Israeli army said fighter jets struck Hezbollah military structures in southern Lebanon on Wednesday in response. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also toured Israel's northern border on Wednesday and warned that a war with Hezbollah would have a heavy cost for Israel and a catastrophic one for Hezbollah and Lebanon. He added that while Israel was open to a diplomatic solution on the northern border, the army was also preparing for a possible military operation to allow citizens to return to their homes. Tens of thousands of civilians have been evacuated from Israel and southern Lebanon since the war began. A total of 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed in Israel by Lebanese launches. In Lebanon, more than 370 people have been killed by Israeli strikes, including more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. ISRAELI STRIKE HITS BUILDING IN DAMASCUS SUBURB, SYRIAN MEDIA SAY Damascus Syrian state media say an Israeli strike on a building in a suburb of the capital, Damascus, caused damage but no casualties. State news agency SANA cited a military official as saying that Syrian air defenses shot down some of the Israeli missiles before they reached their targets early Thursday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strike targeted Iran-backed fighters in the southern Damascus suburb of Sayida Zeinab. It did not report any casualties. There was no comment from Israel's military on the strike. Israel rarely acknowledges such strikes, although it has carried hundreds over the past years, mainly targeting Iran-backed fighters such as Lebanon's Hezbollah group. The strike was the second on Syria since an April 1 attack blamed on Israel struck the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, killing seven people, including two Iranian generals. Iran responded days later by launching hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel. Most were shot down, Israel said. YEMEN'S HOUTHI REBELS CLAIM 2 ATTACKS IN GULF OF ADEN Yemen's Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage, while also saying they targeted a ship in the Indian Ocean in a previously unreported assault. The claims by Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree come as the tempo of the rebel attacks have waned in recent weeks as they've been targeted by repeated airstrikes launched by a U.S.-led coalition warship in waterways crucial to international trade. The Houthis insist their assaults will continue as long as Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip goes on. Saree in a prerecorded statement claimed attacks on the MSC Diego and MSC Gina. The Joint Maritime Information Center, a U.S.-led coalition of nations operating in the Mideast, said those two missile attacks happened early Tuesday. BIDEN SAYS US WON'T SUPPLY WEAPONS FOR ISRAEL TO ATTACK RAFAH President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in an interview with CNN, said the U.S. was still committed to Israel's defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used, that have been used. The interview marked Biden's toughest public comments yet about the potential Israeli military operation and followed his decision to pause a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel last week over concerns that the U.S. ally was moving closer to an attack on Rafah despite public and private warnings from his administration. UN IS NEGOTIATING WITH ISRAEL AND EGYPT TO RESUME FUEL SHIPMENTS INTO GAZA United Nations The United Nations is engaged in intensive discussions with Israeli and Egyptian authorities to restart fuel shipments to Gaza as soon as possible in order keep providing humanitarian operations. U.N. humanitarian staff in Gaza are rationing fuel to stretch what's available for as long as possible, but it is clear that it is a matter of hours, if not days, where we will have no more fuel, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday Between May 1 and May 5, a daily average of 48 trucks carrying more than 160,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza through the now-closed Rafah crossing with Egypt, Dujarric said. The U.N. spokesman confirmed that nothing has entered Gaza from the Kerem Shalom crossing, which Israel said it reopened Wednesday, because fighting is still ongoing. With rockets falling and other military activities, there is an issue of safety of humanitarian personnel, he said. A THIRD MASS GRAVE IS FOUND AT SHIFA HOSPITAL, GAZA'S HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS Jerusalem Dozens of bodies were buried in a mass grave on the grounds of Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, where Israeli forces staged two major operations during the war, the Health Ministry in Gaza said Wednesday. It is unclear who was buried in the grave or how they died. The Health Ministry says it was the third mass grave found at Shifa since the war began. A two-week Israeli raid in March left Gaza's largest medical complex in ruins. Mass graves have also been uncovered at other hospitals Israel raided. In some cases hospital officials said they had been dug purposely to bury the dead until it was safe to move the bodies to a final resting place. Israel says it has nothing to do with the mass graves, claiming the people buried there either died in battle or were patients who died in the hospital. The United Nations has called for a clear, transparent and credible investigation of the mass graves. CIA DIRECTOR IN ISRAEL AS MEDIATORS PUSH FOR A CEASE-FIRE Washington -A U.S. official says that CIA Director William Burns is in Israel as international mediators push for a cease-fire. The official said Burns arrived on Wednesday and was meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door negotiations. The official gave no details on the discussions. But Burns has been in the region meeting with Egyptian and Qatari officials in recent days. He had been scheduled to travel to Israel from Qatar earlier this week, but that meeting was postponed without explanation. All three countries have been involved in months of talks aimed at halting the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas. Hamas announced on Sunday that it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire plan. But Israel says the proposal does not meet its core demands.

Israels Army says commander of Hamas Naval unit in Gaza city killed

Jerusalem: The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have said Ahmed Ali, the commander of the naval unit of the Palestinian movement Hamas in Gaza City, has been killed in an airstrike. In a joint IDF and ISA [the Israel Securities Authority] activity based on Israeli Navy and ISA intelligence, an IAF [Israeli Air Force] aircraft eliminated []

Gazas militants fire rockets at Israels Kerem Shalom area: army

Jerusalem, May 9 (UNI) Militants in Gaza fired eight rockets from the Rafah area toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing area in Israel shortly after it reopened on Wednesday, injuring one Israeli soldier, according to the Israeli army. The soldier sustained light injuries and received medical treatment at the scene, the army said in a statement.... The post Gazas militants fire rockets at Israels Kerem Shalom area: army first appeared on Central India's Premier English Daily .

At least 30 killed during Israels continuing ground assault in Gazas Rafah

Jerusalem, May 9 (UNI) Israels army announced on Wednesday that it was continuing its ground assault on Gazas Rafah, reporting approximately 30 casualties since the offensive began on Monday night. According to an army statement, the 30 casualties were militants, while Gaza health officials reported about 35 deaths, including a four-month-old baby. The army said... The post At least 30 killed during Israels continuing ground assault in Gazas Rafah first appeared on Central India's Premier English Daily .

Showers temper heat in Tamil Nadu, rain likely till may 11

CHENNAI: After an intense spell of heatwave, the maximum temperature in many parts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, has dropped below normal. The regional meteorological centre (RMC) on Wednesday said heavy rainfall, due to cyclonic circulation, in interior districts and hilly areas of Nilgiris and Coimbatore will continue till May 11. Thunderstorm, lightning and winds with speed up to 30-40 kmph likely over TN, the RMC said. Except Karur, Erode and Madurai, the temperature has dropped significantly across TN due to the rainfall. Karur recorded the highest temperature of 41.2Celsius, which was 4.9C above normal. But Dharmapuri, which was inching closer to 43C till last week, recorded 35C --- about 1.5C below normal. Chennais Meenambakkam weather station, which was breaching 40C mark, has clocked below-normal temperature of 37.1C. P Senthamarai Kannan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said maximum temperature may fall by up to 2C in next five days over TN, Puducherry and Karaikal region. Temperature to rise in 3rd week of May In interior Tamil Nadu, the temperature will generally be 2-3 degrees above normal. On May 9, heavy rainfall is likely over Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Dindigul, Karur, Erode, Namakkal and Salem district and it will spread to places like Kallakurichi, Theni, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari during subsequent two days. In Chennai, the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy with possibility of light to moderate rainfall. Maximum temperature will be around 35-36 degree Celsius. In the last 24 hours ending 8.30am on Wednesday, KRP Dam weather station in Krishnagiri and Keelpennathur in Tiruvannamalai received the highest rainfall of 9cm. Till 5.30 pm, Valparai in Coimbatore received 29.8 mm of rainfall. Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, Meteorology and Climate Change, Skymet weather service, said the heatwave spell has ended but the temperature will start to rise again in the third week of May as the current rainfall activity subsides.

Tamil Nadu government school boys to get Rs 1k college aid from July

CHENNAI: Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena on Wednesday said the Tamil Pudhalvan scheme, under which `1,000 per month will be provided to male students of government schools joining higher education, will be implemented from this academic year beginning July. Meena said this while inaugurating the Kalloori Kanavu scheme under Nan Mudhalvan programme at the Anna Centenary Library on Wednesday. Under the Kalloori Kanavu scheme, career guidance programmes will be conducted across various districts till May 13 to help students make informed decision regarding higher education courses. Last year 30,000 more students joined higher education courses after Class 12 and the number may increase this year, the officer said. While TN has the highest gross enrolment ratio, initiatives like Kalloori Kanavu are essential to ensure that all students get higher education including polytechnic, engineering, law, arts and medicine. Students across the state will be informed about the various opportunities available to them through the scheme, he said. He also added that inter-department teams including education, revenue and local body officials have been formed in the districts to track students who are not pursuing higher education. These students will be encouraged to enrol for higher education. This will help improve the gross enrolment ratio gradually, he added. Last year, out of the 3,3,628 students who cleared Class 12 examinations in government schools, 2,43,70 joined higher education. The career guidance event was held in Chennai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Nagapattinam, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Salem on Wednesday. It will take place in Tiruvallur, The Nilgiris, Perambalur, Myladuthurai, Dindigul, Dharmapuri on Thursday, Chengalpattu, Tiruppur, Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Theni, Kanniyakumari, Krishnagiri on May 10, Kancheepuram, Erode, Thanjavur, Villupuram, Virudhunagar, Thoothukudi, Tirupattur on May 11, and Ranipet, Thenkasi, Namakkal, Karur, Tiruvarur, Pudukkottai, Kallakurichi, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore on May 13. Experts will interact with students in these programmes. This apart, universities will set up stalls at each location to clarify doubts of students on educational opportunities available to them. These stalls will showcase the various programmes offered. The 2022 edition of Kalloori Kanavu benefited over 75,000 students across state.

Groundwater level dips in 26 districts, west TN worst hit

CHENNAI: The groundwater levels in 26 districts of Tamil Nadu have witnessed a significant drop compared to April last year, exacerbating the water shortage across the state. Eleven districts, however, have seen a slight improvement in the water table. According to the Water Resources Departments (WRD) groundwater data for the month of April accessed by TNIE, some of the western districts have witnessed the steepest decline in water level. For instance, the average depth at which groundwater is available in Dharmapuri plummeted from 5.78 metres last April to 8.98 metres this year. Similarly, in Namakkal, the level dropped from 6.15 metres to 9.34 metres. Salem, Krishnagiri and Tiruppur are some of the other western districts that saw a significant drop. Coimbatore was among the worst hit, with water level dropping from 9.4 metres to 10.85 metres compared to last year. On an average, Chennai region has witnessed a 0.5 metre dip in groundwater level. Other districts that saw significant decline include Perambalur, Tiruchy, and Tirupattur (see table). In contrast, groundwater level has gone up in the southern districts of Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Thoothukudi, and Virudhunagar due to the heavy rain during northeast monsoon which led to flooding in many areas in these districts. K Balasubramani, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Munnetra Kazhagam, expressed concern over the poor efforts by the state in promoting rainwater harvesting. The impact of dwindling water level is acutely felt by farmers particularly in the western regions where groundnut, coconut and other cash crops are traditionally grown, he said. TNs budget for water management insufficient, says farmers association This year, due to water scarcity, farmers have refrained from sowing crops. The situation is grim in Mettur Dam, a vital water source for irrigation and drinking purposes, which has dried up entirely, leaving farmers anxious about the future, Balasubramani said. KV Elankeeran, president of the Federation of Cauvery Delta Farmers Association, said, It is essential to raise awareness about rainwater harvesting among farmers and the public to replenish the states groundwater levels. He also noted that existing rain harvesting tanks are in disuse. Echoing these concerns, a senior WRD official told TNIE, The budget allocation by Tamil Nadu for water management compared to neighbouring states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is insufficient. The WRDs dependency on external funding agencies like Japan International Cooperation Agency to implement vital projects is also delaying projects. However, efforts are under way to convert non-functional borewells into rainwater-recharging units to improve groundwater levels, the official said. In an attempt to address these challenges, the state planning commission and WRD are collaborating with experts and farmers to implement updated water policies introduced in 1994 and 2012, the official said.

Two boys drown in lake near Salem

WRAPUP 8-Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire

WRAPUP 8-Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Hamas says it will not compromise further to win ceasefire * Ceasefire talks in Cairo continue into the night -Egypt TV By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - P alestinian militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it was unwilling to make more concessions to Israel in negotiations over a ceasefire for Gaza, although talks were still under way in Cairo aimed at pausing Israel's seven-month-old offensive. Israel continued tank and aerial strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday and has threatened a major assault on it. Its forces moved in via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said in a statement late on Wednesday that the group would not go beyond a ceasefire proposal it accepted on Monday, which would also entail the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian women and children detained in Israel. Israel isnt serious about reaching an agreement and it is using the negotiation as a cover to invade Rafah and occupy the crossing, said Reshiq. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which on Monday declared that the three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. Delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been meeting in Cairo since Tuesday. Citing a senior source, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera TV said the talks in Cairo continued throughout Wednesday and into the night. The U.S. said on Tuesday that Hamas had revised its ceasefire proposal and the revision could overcome an impasse in negotiations. Just a few hours before Hamas' latest statement, Washington continued to say the two sides were not far apart. We believe there is a pathway to a deal ... The two sides are close enough they should do what they can to get to a deal, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. The U.S. aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, and a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington paused a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that Israel had used those bombs to kill Palestinian civilians. Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers, he told CNN. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, called Washington's decision very disappointing although he did not believe the U.S. would stop supplying arms to Israel. Israel says it must hit Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled combat farther north in Gaza. Hamas said its fighters on Wednesday were battling Israeli forces in Rafah's east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the city's long abandoned airport. Israeli tank shells landed in the middle of Rafah wounding at least 25 people on Wednesday, medics said. Residents said an Israeli air strike killed four people and wounded 16 others in western Rafah. The Israeli military said it troops had discovered Hamas infrastructure in several places in eastern Rafah and were conducting targeted raids on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. AID SHORTAGE The U.N., Gaza residents and humanitarian groups say further Israeli incursion into Rafah will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. A U.N. official said no fuel or aid had entered the Gaza Strip due to the military operation, a situation disastrous for the humanitarian response in Gaza where more than half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger. Palestinians have crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water and medicine. Rafah's main maternity hospital, where nearly half of Gaza's births take place, has stopped admitting patients, the United Nations Population Fund told Reuters on Wednesday. The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble, Rafah Mayor Ahmed Al-Sofi said, appealing to the international community to intervene. Israel has told civilians in Rafah, many of whom have been uprooted several times already, to go to an expanded humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, some 20 km (12 miles) away. Estimates of how many Palestinians have left Rafah since Monday ranged from 10,000, according to U.N. agency UNRWA, to tens of thousands, according to the Hamas-run Gaza government media office. Some streets look like a ghost town now, Aref, 35, told Reuters via a chat app. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. (Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One and Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Josie Kao and Daniel Wallis)

WRAPUP 7-Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire

WRAPUP 7-Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Hamas says it will not compromise further to win ceasefire * Ceasefire talks in Cairo continue into the night -Egypt TV By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - P alestinian militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it was unwilling to make more concessions to Israel in negotiations over a ceasefire for Gaza, although talks were still under way in Cairo aimed at pausing Israel's seven-month-old offensive. Israel continued tank and aerial strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday and has threatened a major assault on it. Its forces moved in via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients. Izzat El-Reshiq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said in a statement late on Wednesday that the group would not go beyond a ceasefire proposal it accepted on Monday, which would also entail the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian women and children detained in Israel. Israel isnt serious about reaching an agreement and it is using the negotiation as a cover to invade Rafah and occupy the crossing, said Reshiq. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which on Monday declared that the three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. Delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar have been meeting in Cairo since Tuesday. Citing a senior source, Egypt's state-affiliated Al Qahera TV said the talks in Cairo continued throughout Wednesday and into the night. The U.S. said on Tuesday that Hamas had revised its ceasefire proposal and the revision could overcome an impasse in negotiations. Just a few hours before Hamas' latest statement, Washington continued to say the two sides were not far apart. We believe there is a pathway to a deal ... The two sides are close enough they should do what they can to get to a deal, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters. The U.S. aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, and a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington paused a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs out of concern for civilians in Rafah. Israel says it must hit Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled combat farther north in Gaza. The U.N., Gaza residents and humanitarian groups say further Israeli incursion into Rafah will lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. Hamas said its fighters on Wednesday were battling Israeli forces in Rafah's east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the city's long abandoned airport. Israeli tank shells landed in the middle of Rafah wounding at least 25 people on Wednesday, medics said. Residents said an Israeli air strike killed four people and wounded 16 others in western Rafah. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. (Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One and Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Cynthia Osterman; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Josie Kao and Daniel Wallis)

Chennai: Government Schools to Get 100 Mbps Internet Connection

Chennai : All government schools, starting from the primary to higher secondary level, would be provided with 100 Mbps internet connections with the help of the public sector BSNL in the coming academic year, starting in June, with a view to providing a better learning experience to students and also equipping them to face the future in the hi-tech world. An official press release on Wednesday said that the modern facility had already been set up in 5907 of the total 6023 higher secondary and high schools, 3267 of the total 6992 middle schools and 8711 of the 24,338 primary schools in the State and the rest of the 19,668 schools would be equipped with 10 Mbps internet connection by May end. The State government that was keen on expanding technology to schools had already set up 8,180 hi-tech labs at a cost of Rs 519.73 crore and 22, 931 smart classrooms, costing Rs 455.32 crore benefitting 46,12,742 students, the release said, adding that those schools were getting 5 to 6 Mbps internet connection. Now, by June all the schools would get the 100 Mpbs connection and be equipped with the labs that would go a long way in preparing the students to face the developing technological world and making education easy and enjoyable for them. The ushering in of digital technology in education would help over 46 lakh students to learn their lessons through videos, assess their own learnings online, develop their computer applications skills, improve their English language skills and get career guidance, among other things. Also all government school students enrolling for higher education courses would receive Rs 1000 as assistance from June. Hitherto, only girls who studied from Class VI to XII in government schools were getting the assistance but now it has been extended to male students, too. Announcing that the male students would get the assistance from the coming academic year at a Kalluri Kanavu (College Dreams) event organized in Chennai as part of the Chief Ministers ambitious Naan Mudhalvan scheme, Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena said four more such events would be held in the coming days at different places to cover all the districts. The Chennai event was for students who had passed higher secondary education in the districts of Chennai, Trichy, Coimbatore, Nagapattinam, Madurai, Tirunelveli and Salem. The rest of the events would be on May 9, 10, 11 and 13, he said.

WRAPUP 6-Battles rage around Rafah after US halts some weapons to Israel

WRAPUP 6-Battles rage around Rafah after US halts some weapons to Israel * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, calls Washington's decision to suspend weapons supplies 'very disappointing' By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - H amas battled Israeli troops on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip's crowded southern city of Rafah on Wednesday and Washington said it had held up a shipment of powerful bombs to Israel to prevent Palestinian civilian casualties. The United States, which aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, said it believes a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal may lead to a breakthrough in an impasse in negotiations, with talks resuming in Cairo on Wednesday. Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients. A U.N. official said no fuel or aid had entered the Gaza Strip due to the military operation, a situation disastrous for the humanitarian response in Gaza where more than half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger. Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have fled combat further north in the coastal enclave following Israel's previous evacuation orders. They have crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water and medicine. Rafah's main maternity hospital, where nearly half of Gaza's births take place, has stopped admitting patients, the United Nations Population Fund told Reuters on Wednesday. Hamas said its fighters were battling Israeli forces in the east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the airport. Israeli tank shells landed in the middle of Rafah wounding at least 25 people, medics said. The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble. We stand on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, Rafah's mayor Ahmed Al-Sofi said, appealing to the international community to intervene. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington had carefully reviewed the delivery of weapons that might be used in Rafah and as a result paused a shipment consisting of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. This would be the first such delay since the Biden administration, offered its ironclad support to Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Washington is Israel's closest ally and main weapons supplier. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the decision was taken in the context of Israel's plan to invade Rafah, which Washington opposes without civilian safeguards. We've been very clear...from the very beginning that Israel shouldn't launch a major attack into Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace, he told a Senate hearing. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, called Washington's decision very disappointing although he did not believe the U.S. would stop supplying arms to Israel. U.S. President Joe Biden can't say he is our partner in the goal to destroy Hamas while on the other hand delay the means meant to destroy Hamas, Erdan told Israel's Channel 12 News. An Israeli government spokesperson said he had nothing to add to the reports. While Israel has stated its intention to destroy Hamas entirely, it is unclear how they would do so and experts doubt that is even possible. The Israeli military said it troops had discovered Hamas infrastructure in several places in eastern Rafah and were conducting targeted raids on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. It has told civilians, many of whom have been uprooted several times already, to go to an expanded humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, some 20 km (12 miles) away. The mayor said the coastal area lacked all he necessities of life. Around 10,000 Palestinians have left Rafah since Monday, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number at tens of thousands. Some streets look like a ghost town now, Aref, 35, told Reuters via a chat app. We don't fear death and martyrdom but we have kids to care for and live for another day when this war ends and we rebuild the city. Armed groups of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah said in separate statements that gunfights continued in the central Gaza Strip, while residents of northern Gaza reported heavy Israeli tank shelling against eastern areas of Gaza City. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war in Gaza, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. CEASEFIRE TALKS In Cairo, delegations to negotiations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar reacted positively to their resumption on Tuesday, two Egyptian sources said. The talks are ongoing, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said. CIA Director William Burns travelled from Cairo to Israel on Wednesday and met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli official said. Israel on Monday declared that a three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. White House spokesperson John Kirby said a new text presented by Hamas suggests gaps could be closed. The proposal included a first phase with a six-week ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and the release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage, according to several sources. UNRWA said no aid was getting into Gaza, despite desperate need. Israel said it was reopening the other crossing in southern Gaza, Kerem Shalom, but two Red Crescent sources said aid was still waiting on the Egyptian side of the border on Wednesday afternoon. (Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One and Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Ros Russell and Angus MacSwan; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Josie Kao)

Israeli official says PM, CIA chief discuss 'pausing' Rafah assault

JERUSALEM: An Israeli official said visiting CIA Director Bill Burns and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Wednesday he possibility of suspending military operations in Gaza's Rafah in exchange for Hamas freeing hostages. Netanyahu and the US spy chief, who has been involved in mediation efforts in the Israel-Hamas war, met in Jerusalem as part of Washington's latest efforts to secure a truce in the Gaza Strip. The two discussed the possibility of Israel pausing the operation in Rafah in exchange for hostage release, the Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The meeting came as truce negotiations resumed in Cairo, after Hamas on Monday announced it had accepted a ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar. Israel has defied international objections and sent tanks into Rafah, the Hamas-ruled territory's southernmost city on the Egyptian border which is packed with Palestinian civilians sheltering. 'No aid has entered,' says UN after Israel claimed to have reopened key Gaza crossing Overnight Monday-Tuesday, Israeli forces seized the Palestinian side of the key Rafah border crossing, which is the main conduit for aid into the besieged territory. Israel's incursion into eastern Rafah came after Hamas said it had accepted a truce proposal -- one Israel said was very far from what it negotiators had previously agreed to. On Wednesday, talks aimed at agreeing terms for a truce in the seven-month war were held in the Egyptian capital with all sides present, according to the Egyptian state-linked media. The United States, Israel's close ally and top provider of military assistance, confirmed negotiations were underway. The talks are ongoing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. A close assessment of the two sides' position suggests they should be able to close... the remaining gaps, so we're going to continue to support that process. Hamas accepts Gaza cease-fire; Israel presses on with Rafah attacks Hamas has warned the ongoing talks would be Israel's last chance to rescue the estimated 128 hostages still held in Gaza, including 36 who are dead according to Israeli officials. Mediation efforts have stalled as Hamas has insisted on a lasting ceasefire while Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to destroy the group's remaining forces in Rafah. The war was sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Militants also seized around 250 hostages. Scores of them were released during a one-week truce in November, including 80 Israelis freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 34,844 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

WRAPUP 5-Battles rage around Rafah after U.S. halts some weapons to Israel

WRAPUP 5-Battles rage around Rafah after U.S. halts some weapons to Israel * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * U.S. Defense Secretary says arms shipment paused to prevent civilian casualties * UNRWA said no aid getting into Gaza * Israeli government spokesperson has 'nothing to add' to report on weapons shipment * Red Crescent sources say aid was still waiting on the Egyptian side of Kerem Shalom crossing By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - H amas battled Israeli troops on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip's crowded southern city of Rafah on Wednesday and Washington said it had held up a shipment of powerful bombs to Israel to prevent civilian casualties. The United States, which aims to stave off a full Israeli invasion of Rafah, said it believes a revised Hamas ceasefire proposal may lead to a breakthrough in an impasse in negotiations, with talks resuming in Cairo on Wednesday. Israeli tanks rolled across the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients. A U.N. official said no fuel or aid had entered the Gaza Strip due to the military operation, a situation disastrous for the humanitarian response in Gaza where more than half the population is suffering catastrophic hunger. Israel has threatened a major assault on Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have fled combat further north in the enclave. They have crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water and medicine. Rafah's main maternity hospital, where nearly half of Gaza's births take place, has stopped admitting patients, the United Nations Population Fund told Reuters on Wednesday. Hamas said its fighters were battling with Israeli forces in the east and Islamic Jihad's fighters attacked Israeli soldiers and military vehicles with heavy artillery near the airport. The streets of the city echo with the cries of innocent lives lost, families torn apart, and homes reduced to rubble. We stand on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions, Rafah's mayor, Ahmed Al-Sofi, said in an appeal to the international community to intervene. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Washington had carefully reviewed the delivery of weapons that might be used in Rafah, and as a result paused a shipment consisting of 1,800 2,000-lb bombs and 1,700 500-lb bombs. This would be the first such delay since the Biden administration, offered its ironclad support to Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Washington is Israel's closest ally and main weapons supplier. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the decision was taken in the context of Israel's plan to carry out an offensive in Rafah that Washington opposes without civilian safeguards. We've been very clear ... from the very beginning that Israel shouldn't launch a major attack into the Rafah without accounting for and protecting the civilians that are in that battlespace, he told a Senate hearing. An Israeli government spokesperson said he had nothing to add to the reports. The Israeli military said it had uncovered Hamas infrastructure in several locations in eastern Rafah and its troops were conducting targeted raids on the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. It has told civilians, many of whom have been uprooted several times already, to go to an expanded humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi, some 20 km (12 miles) away. The mayor said the coastal area lacked all he necessities of life. Around 10,000 Palestinians have left Rafah since Monday, said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office put the number at tens of thousands. Some streets look like a ghost town now, Aref, 35, told Reuters via a chat app. We don't fear death and martyrdom but we have kids to care for and live for another day when this war ends and we rebuild the city. Armed groups of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah said in separate statements that gunfights continued in the central Gaza Strip, while residents of northern Gaza reported heavy Israeli tank shelling against eastern areas of Gaza City. CEASEFIRE TALKS In Cairo, delegations to negotiations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar reacted positively to their resumption on Tuesday, two Egyptian sources said. The talks are ongoing, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Air Force One on Wednesday. CIA Director William Burns travelled from Cairo to Israel on Wednesday and met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an Israeli official said. Israel on Monday declared that a three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been watered down. White House spokesperson John Kirby said a new text presented by Hamas suggests gaps could be closed. The proposal included a first phase with a six-week ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and the release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage, according to several sources. Israel's offensive has killed 34,844 Palestinians in seven months of war in Gaza, most of them civilians, the Gaza health ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 252 others, of whom 128 remain hostage in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures. UNRWA said no aid was getting into Gaza, despite desperate need. We're not receiving any aid into the #GazaStrip, Scott Anderson, deputy director at UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, posted on X. Israel said it was reopening the other crossing in southern Gaza, Kerem Shalom, but two Red Crescent sources said aid was still waiting on the Egyptian side of the border on Wednesday afternoon. (Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar and Dan Williams in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One and Susan Heavey and Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Michael Perry and Ros Russell; Editing by Philippa Fletcher)

'No aid has entered,' says UN after Israel claimed to have reopened key Gaza crossing

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Wednesday that it has reopened its Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza after days of closure, but the U.N. said no humanitarian aid has yet entered and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side after workers fled during Israel's military incursion in the area. The Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel was closed over the weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby, and on Tuesday, an Israeli tank brigade seized the nearby Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, forcing its closure. The two facilities are the main terminals for entry of food, medicine and other supplies essential for the survival of Gaza's population of 2.3 million Palestinians. Hamas accepts Gaza cease-fire; Israel presses on with Rafah attacks The Israeli foray did not appear to be the start of the full-scale invasion of the city of Rafah that Israel has repeatedly promised. But aid officials warn that the prolonged closure of the two crossings could cause the collapse of aid operations, worsening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where the U.N. says a full-blown famine is already underway in the north. The United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on Rafah, in a further widening of divisions between the two close allies. The U.S. says it is concerned over the fate of around 1.3 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah, most of whom fled fighting elsewhere. Israel says Rafah is Hamas' last stronghold and that a wider offensive there is needed to dismantle the group's military and governing capabilities. The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are meanwhile ramping up efforts to close the gaps in a possible agreement for at least a temporary cease-fire and the release of some of the scores of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas. Israel has linked the threatened Rafah operation to the fate of those negotiations. CIA chief William Burns, who has been shuttling around the region for talks on the cease-fire deal, met Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door negotiations. With the seizure of Rafah, Israel now controls all of Gaza's crossings for the first time since it withdrew troops and settlers from the territory nearly two decades ago, though it has maintained a blockade with Egypt's cooperation for most of that time. The Rafah crossing has been a vital conduit for humanitarian aid since the start of the war and is the only place where people can enter and exit. Kerem Shalom is Gaza's main cargo terminal. Associated Press journalists heard sporadic explosions and gunfire in the area of the Rafah crossing overnight, including two large blasts early Wednesday. The Israeli military reported six launches from Rafah toward the Kerem Shalom crossing on Tuesday. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, said the Kerem Shalom crossing reopened early Wednesday. But Juliette Touma, the director of communications for UNRWA, said no aid had entered as of midday Wednesday and that the U.N. agency had been forced to ration fuel, which is imported through Rafah. Gaza's Health Ministry meanwhile said at least 46 patients and wounded people who had been scheduled to leave Tuesday for medical treatment have been left stranded. US paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says U.N. agencies and aid groups have ramped up humanitarian assistance in recent weeks as Israel has lifted some restrictions and opened an additional crossing in the north under pressure from the United States, its closest ally. But aid workers say the closure of Rafah, which is the only gateway for the entry of fuel for trucks and generators, could have severe repercussions, and the U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of full-blown famine. COGAT said 60 aid trucks entered through the northern crossing on Tuesday. Some 500 trucks entered Gaza every day before the war. Israel's military offensive in Gaza has killed over 34,800 Palestinians, including more than 15,000 children and has driven some 80% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million Palestinians from their homes. Israel's military campaign has been one of the deadliest and most destructive in recent history, reducing large parts of Gaza to rubble. Biden has repeatedly warned Netanyahu against launching an invasion of Rafah. But Netanyahu's far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he calls off an offensive or makes too many concessions in the cease-fire talks. The U.S. has historically provided Israel enormous amounts of military aid, which has only accelerated since the start of the war. The paused shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) bombs and 1,700 smaller ones, with the U.S. concern focused on how the larger bombs could be used in a dense urban setting, a U.S. official said Tuesday on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter. The official said no final decision had been made yet on proceeding with the shipment. Police clearing pro-Palestinian tent encampment at George Washington University, 33 arrested

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with military widows and orphans

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu meets with military widows and orphans Tel Aviv [Israel], May 8 (ANI/TPS): Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem met with Israel Defence Forces (IDF) widows and orphans, who have lost the father of a family, the Swords of Iron War against Hamas terrorists in Gaza. The Prime Minister heard from the widows and orphans about their fathers and husbands - dedicated and loving family men - who have fallen. He also listened to the stories of their heroism during the events of October 7 and in the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Netanyahu embraced the family members and shared in their pain, and said that their loved ones fell in defence of the homeland. He added that the testament of the fallen is to complete the mission until total victory over Hamas, an objective that Israel will not shrink from. There are stories of great heroism here, said Netanyahu. It is not just thousands of people; it is the State of Israel that owes them its existence. This is neither a phrase nor mere words. IDF Widows and Orphans Organization CEO Shlomi Nahumson said, When you go around the streets of Jerusalem, the south, in Tel Aviv, you look left and right and you see the people, who are alive today, and they are going to work, and they are going to school and to kindergarten, and they are maintaining their daily routine, thanks to your fathers. (ANI/TPS)

GCC Urges Global Intervention to Halt Israeli Aggression in Palestinian Territories

GCC Calls for Urgent Global Action to Halt Israeli Violations-The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has urged the international community to swiftly unite in response to Israeli actions in the Palestinian Territories. GCC Secretary-General Jassim Mohammed Albudaiwi emphasized the need for immediate and collective measures to pressure Israeli forces into ceasing their aggressive violations, which endanger innocent lives. Albudaiwi highlighted that ongoing mob attacks and provocations hinder peace efforts and contribute to escalating violence in the region. He called for urgent international intervention to address the crisis and prevent further destabilization. Furthermore, Albudaiwi expressed concern over the expansion of Israeli military operations in Palestinian territories, particularly in Rafah, Gaza Strip. He warned that such actions not only jeopardize Palestinian lives but also pose a direct threat to regional security and peace. The GCC reiterated its call for an international conference involving all relevant parties to address issues concerning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The proposed solution aligns with UN resolutions and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, aiming to end the Israeli occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. Albudaiwi emphasized the urgency of diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions and achieve a sustainable resolution to the conflict. He stressed the importance of upholding international law and ensuring the protection of civilians in the Palestinian Territories. The GCC stands ready to support initiatives aimed at promoting dialogue and negotiation between the parties involved, with the ultimate goal of achieving lasting peace and stability in the region. Israeli Forces Assume Control of Rafah Border, Strikes Continue in Gaza Biden Halts Arms Shipment to Israel Amidst Concerns Over Potential Rafah Attack Israel Strikes Rafah Amidst Ceasefire Talks: Tensions Escalate in Gaza Conflict

Burglars decamp with 60 sovereigns of gold jewellery, 65 lakh in Salem

Police said the burglary took place when the owner was not at the house; the thieves had changed the direction of the CCTV cameras and had also taken away the hard disc recording the footage

Burglars decamp with 60 sovereigns of gold jewellery, 65 lakh in Salem - The Hindu

Burglars decamp with 60 sovereigns of gold jewellery, 65 lakh in Salem The Hindu

Heatwave ends in TN, Chennai sees marginal dip in mercury level

CHENNAI: The worst of the summer heat is over as the maximum temperature has dipped across Tamil Nadu, thanks to pre-monsoon showers. The weather in Chennai has improved marginally with cloudy skies. Maximum temperature will be around 36-37 degree Celsius for the next two days. Tamil Nadu has received 69% deficit rainfall from March 1 to May 7. The Chennai region has received zero rainfall making it one of the driest spells in the state capital. On Tuesday, Tiruchy recorded the highest temperature of 42.1 degree Celsius. While the State has not received any significant rainfall, places in Nilgiris, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and other interior districts, which endured one of the torrid heatwave spells, received good rainfall in the last couple of days bringing down the temperature. The regional meteorological centre said there would be heavy rainfall in ghat and interior districts on May 8 and 9 as well. As per the forecast, Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Theni, Dindigul, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Vellore and Virudhunagar districts would receive heavy rain on Wednesday. Moderate showers are predicted till May 13.

Logistics firms vehicle carrying 810 kg gold overturns in Erode's Chithode

ERODE: A vehicle of a private logistics company that was carrying 810 kg gold bars, worth approximately `562 crore from Coimbatore to Salem overturned on the roadside near Chithode early on Tuesday. Police said the gold belonged to a private dealer and there was no illegality in it. An officer in Erode district police said, The van left Coimbatore for Salem on Monday mid-night carrying 810 kg of gold bars. It was driven by Sasikumar and Balraj was the gunman. Both are employees of the company. Around 2 am on Tuesday, when the van reached Samathuvapuram near Chithode on Kochi - Salem National Highway, the driver lost control and the van overturned on the left side of the road. Both Sasikumar and Balraj were injured. Chithode police rescued the injured and sent them to Bhavani Government Hospital for treatment. The officer added, On investigation, it came to light that the van was loaded with gold bars. After that the vehicle was safely brought to Chithode police station. The gold belongs to a private dealer. Probably transported for jewel stores in Salem. But no illegality was found. So we allowed the gold to be transferred to another vehicle and taken to Salem by the logistics company. Erode SP G Jawahar said, The logistics company often used to carry gold belonging to private dealers. Our investigation did not find any illegal stuff. The Commercial Tax Department also conducted an investigation. No complaints have been received in this regard.

Showers sweep across Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem

DHARMAPURI: After temperature reached a blistering 41.6C on Monday, Salem district was blessed with a much-needed respite as rainfall swept through the region on Tuesday morning, bringing an average of 8.74 mm of precipitation. The rainfall offered a glimmer of hope for the water reservoirs in the area, particularly the Mettur dam. As of 8 am, the dams water level stood at 52.100 feet, and the storage was 19,160 mcft. Inflow to the dam was 54 cusecs while 1500 cusecs of water was discharged for drinking water requirements. No water is being released into the canals. Additionally, the Aanaimaduvu dam in Vazhaapadi and the Kariyakovil dam in PethanaikanPalayam experienced a slight uptick in water levels following the rainfall, albeit with no significant inflow or outflow reported. The level in Aanaimaduvu dam currently stands at 10.72 feet with a capacity of 13.01 mcft, while the Kariyakovil Dam recorded a level of 13.35 feet with a capacity of 17.31 mcft. Rain was reported in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts also. Dharmapuri received 203.2 mm total rainfall till Tuesday morning with Pennagaram receiving the maximum rain of 59 mm, followed by Dharmapuri 40 mm. The average rainfall in the district was 22.57 mm. Krishnagiri district received 276.54 mm total rainfall, Nedungal received the highest as 47.2 mm, Barur 46.2 mm, KRP dam 33.6 mm and other places, and average rainfall is 17.28 mm. Sources in Krishnagiri district disaster management told TNIE, Since last week, six cattle died in lightning strike at Shoolagiri, Denkanikottai taluk. Three asbestos roof houses were partially damaged in Shoolagiri due to rain and strong wind. On Monday evening, the roof of anganwadi centre was damaged due to wind near Denkanikottai.

Legal team visits Coimbatore jail to probe torture of Savukku Shankar

COIMBATORE/CHENNAI: Following allegations that YouTuber Savukku Shankar was tortured by Coimbatore Central Prison personnel, a five-member team headed by D Shanmugavel, chief legal aid defence counsel of District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and two doctors, visited the prison and held an investigation on Tuesday. The report will be submitted before the Judicial Magistrate - IV on Wednesday. Talking to reporters at the court, Shankars counsel S Gopalakrishnan alleged that his client was denied treatment for the hand fracture and was suffering in pain. The counsel showed an order copy given to the prison authority by Theni police for effecting arrest in a case related to Shankar and two others possessing ganja while they were staying in Theni on Saturday. Shankar had acknowledged receipt of the order affixing his left thumb impression instead of signing. Shankar did so because his right hand is fractured following the assault, Gopalakrishnan said. Responding to the allegation, the prison department in a release said, no prisoner has been assaulted. In another development, the fourth judicial magistrate court in Coimbatore on Tuesday posted to hear the bail plea submitted by Shankar on charges of making derogatory remarks, on May 10. The magistrate ordered that police petition seeking custody will be heard on May 9. YouTuber Savukku Shankar 'brutally attacked' by jail authorities, claims his mother; seeks judicial probe Fresh cases Salem cyber crime police on Tuesday registered another case against Shankar based on a complaint by a women sub-inspector demanding action against him for posting a video in which he spoke in an obscene manner about Tamil Nadu women police. Acting on her complaint, Shankar was booked under sections 294(b), 353, and 509 of the IPC, read with Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act and the Information Technology Act, 2000. The cyber crime wing of CCB Chennai too registered a case against Shankar based on a complaint lodged by journalist Sandhya Ravishankar in 2018. In a post on X, she said Shankar had made derogatory comments against her in a blog post. Earlier, the head of the Tamilar Munnetra Padai Veeralakshmi lodged a complaint against Shankar and Felix Gerald of Red Pix for making derogatory comments about women cops based on which both men have been booked. Lawyer claims YouTuber Savukku Shankar beaten in Coimbatore jail

Youth in Tamil Nadu gets Rs 2L for trauma in medical negligence case

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to a youth who had suffered mental agony and trauma due to alleged medical negligence eight years ago. Justice Anita Sumanth, in a recent order, directed the government pay the amount to Vishnu of Mettur in Salem within six weeks. The boy was admitted at the Government Hospital in Mettur in 2016 after complaining stomach pain. After undergoing, appendectomy, he suffered complications and was taken to Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital in Salem where he had undergone another surgery. Later, he was admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore. His mother Sasikala lodged complaints with the authorities seeking action against the doctor who had performed the surgery but the inquiries revealed no negligence. Later, she moved the HC. Even though she could not prove the charge of medical negligence, the court took a lenient stand. The narration of events informs me sufficiently to conclude that the tertiary care system in the state is undoubtedly responsible for the medical trauma that the child was put through, the judge said. The judge also directed the district collector to consider providing suitable government job to the victim who is now 22 years of age.

WRAPUP 1-US optimistic revised Hamas proposal may break Gaza ceasefire impasse

WRAPUP 1-US optimistic revised Hamas proposal may break Gaza ceasefire impasse (Repeats, no change to text) * Hamas presents revised ceasefire proposal, says US * US optimistic proposal can break ceasefire impasse between Israel and Hamas * Ceasefire talks resume in Cairo on Wednesday By Nidal al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland and Mohammad Salem CAIRO/WASHINGTON/RAFAH, Gaza Strip, May 8 (Reuters) - T he United States believes the remaining differences between Israel and Hamas can be bridged in negotiations over the Palestinian militant group's latest ceasefire proposal, as talks resume in Cairo on Wednesday. Israeli forces on Tuesday seized the main border crossing between Gaza and Egypt in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where more than one million displaced Palestinians have sought shelter during Israel's seven-month-old offensive. This cut off a vital route for aid into the tiny enclave, where hundreds of thousands of people are homeless and hungry. In Cairo, all five delegations participating in ceasefire talks on Tuesday - Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar - reacted positively to the resumption of negotiations, and meetings were expected to continue on Wednesday morning, two Egyptian sources said. CIA Director Bill Burns was to travel from Cairo to Israel later on Wednesday to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli officials, a source familiar with his travel said. Israel on Monday declared that a three-phase proposal approved by Hamas was unacceptable because terms had been softened. White House spokesperson John Kirby said Hamas presented a revised proposal, and the new text suggests the remaining gaps can absolutely be closed. Speaking on Tuesday, he declined to specify what those were. Since the only pause in the conflict so far, a week-long ceasefire in November, the two sides have been blocked by Hamas' refusal to free more Israeli hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict and Israel's insistence that it would discuss only a temporary halt. Israeli army footage on Tuesday showed tanks rolling through the Rafah crossing complex between Gaza and Egypt, and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side. Israel says Rafah is Hamas fighters' last stronghold. Hamas official Osama Hamdan, speaking to reporters in Beirut on Tuesday, warned that if Israel's military aggression continued in Rafah, there would be no truce agreement. Israel's military said it was conducting a limited operation in Rafah to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which runs Gaza. It told civilians, many of whom were previously displaced from other parts of Gaza earlier in the conflict, to go to an expanded humanitarian zone some 20 km (12 miles) away. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Israel and Hamas to spare no effort to agree to a truce. Make no mistake a full-scale assault on Rafah would be a human catastrophe, Guterres said. In Geneva, U.N. humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke said panic and despair were gripping the people in Rafah. HEAVY SHELLING IN RAFAH Residents reported heavy tank shelling on Tuesday evening in some areas of eastern Rafah. A Rafah municipal building caught fire after Israeli shelling, and one Palestinian was killed and several wounded, medics said. An Israeli strike also killed two Palestinians on a motorcycle, they said. Health officials said Abu Yousef Al-Najar, the main hospital in Rafah, closed on Tuesday after heavy bombardment nearby led medical staff and around 200 patients to flee. They have gone crazy. Tanks are firing shells and smoke bombs cover the skies, said Emad Joudat, 55, a Gaza City resident displaced in Rafah. The U.N. and other international aid agencies said the closing of the two crossings into southern Gaza - Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom - virtually cut the enclave off from outside aid and very few stores were available inside. Families have been crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water, medicine and other essentials. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said shipments had completely halted. These crossings are a lifeline... They need to be reopened without any delay, Philippe Lazzarini, head of U.N. aid agency UNRWA, said on X. The White House said it had been told the Kerem Shalom crossing would re-open on Wednesday and fuel deliveries through Rafah would resume then too. According to Hamas officials, a draft proposal and an official briefed on the talks, the proposal that Hamas approved on Monday included a first phase with a six-week ceasefire, an influx of aid to Gaza, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, alive or dead, and release by Israel of 30 detained Palestinian children and women for each released Israeli hostage. Critics of the Gaza war have urged U.S. President Joe Biden to pressure Israel to change course. The U.S., Israeli's closest ally and main weapons supplier, has delayed some arms shipments to Israel for two weeks, according to four sources on Tuesday. The White House and Pentagon declined comment, but this would be the first such delay since the Biden administration offered its full support to Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Israel's offensive has killed 34,789 Palestinians, most of them civilians, in the conflict, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

WRAPUP 9-US believes Hamas, Israel can break Gaza ceasefire impasse; Israeli forces cut Rafah aid route

WRAPUP 9-US believes Hamas, Israel can break Gaza ceasefire impasse; Israeli forces cut Rafah aid route * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * US says remaining obstacles to an agreement can be overcome * White House expects fuel via Rafah, Kerem Shalom to resume * Sources say US delays some arms shipments to Israel By Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO, May 7 - The U.S. said negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire should be able to close the gaps between Israel and Hamas while Israeli forces seized the main border crossing in Rafah on Tuesday, closing a vital route for aid. Hamas official Osama Hamdan, speaking to reporters in Beirut, warned that if Israel's military aggression continued in Rafah, there would be no truce agreement. The Palestinian militant group accused Israel of undermining ceasefire efforts in the seven-month-long war that has laid waste to Gaza and left hundreds of thousands of its people homeless and hungry. The truce comments came as Israel invaded Rafah, a southern Gazan city where more than one million displaced Palestinian civilians have sought shelter from Israel's offensive throughout the tiny territory. White House spokesperson John Kirby said Hamas offered amendments on Monday to an Israeli proposal aimed at ending the impasse. The deal text, as amended, suggests the remaining gaps can absolutely be closed, he said. He declined to specify what those were. Israel on Monday said a three-phase proposal that Hamas approved was unacceptable. Kirby said mediators from Qatar and Egypt along with U.S. and Israeli officials were gathering in Cairo. Hamas separately said its delegation was in Cairo as well. OFFENSIVE Israel's seizure of the Rafah crossing came despite weeks of calls that the U.S., other nations and international bodies hoped would deter a big offensive in the Rafah area - which Israel says is Hamas fighters' last stronghold. Israeli army footage showed tanks rolling through the Rafah crossing complex between Gaza and Egypt, and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said seizing the crossing was a very significant step toward Israel's stated aim of destroying Hamas's military capabilities. Residents reported heavy tank shelling on Tuesday evening in some areas of eastern Rafah. A Rafah municipal building caught fire after Israeli shelling, residents and Hamas media said. Medics said one Palestinian was killed and several wounded in the building while an Israeli strike also killed two Palestinians on a motorcycle. Health officials said Abu Yousef Al-Najar, the main hospital in Rafah, closed on Tuesday after heavy bombardment nearby led medical staff and around 200 patients to flee. They have gone crazy. Tanks are firing shells and smoke bombs cover the skies, said Emad Joudat, 55, a Gaza City resident displaced in Rafah. I am now seriously thinking of heading north, maybe to the central Gaza area. If they move further into Rafah, it will be the mother of massacres, he told Reuters via a chat app. Many of those in Rafah were previously displaced from other parts of Gaza following Israel's orders to evacuate from there. Families have been crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water, medicine and other essentials. The U.N. and other international aid agencies said the closing of the two crossings into southern Gaza - Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom - had virtually cut the enclave off from outside aid and very few stores were available inside. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said shipments had completely halted. These crossings are a lifeline... They need to be reopened without any delay, Philippe Lazzarini, head of U.N. aid agency UNRWA, said on X. Separately, Jordan said Israeli settlers attacked a humanitarian convoy on its way to a crossing in northern Gaza. The White House said it had been told the Kerem Shalom crossing would re-open on Wednesday and fuel deliveries through Rafah would resume then too. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Israel and Hamas to spare no effort to get a truce deal. Make no mistake a full-scale assault on Rafah would be a human catastrophe, Guterres said. 'PANIC AND DESPAIR' Israel's military said it was conducting a limited operation in Rafah to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which runs Gaza. It told civilians to go to what it calls an expanded humanitarian zone some 20 km (12 miles) away. In Geneva, U.N. humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke said panic and despair were gripping the people in Rafah. Civilians did not have enough time to prepare for evacuation and no safe route to travel, he said. The roads are littered with unexploded ordnance, massive bombs lying in the street. It's not safe, he said. Critics of the Gaza war have urged U.S. President Joe Biden to pressure Israel to change course. The U.S., Israeli's closest ally and main weapons supplier, has delayed some arms shipments to Israel for two weeks, according to four sources on Tuesday. The White House and Pentagon declined comment, but this would be the first such delay since the Biden administration offered its full support to Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. Israel's offensive has killed 34,789 Palestinians, most of them civilians, in the conflict, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November during which Hamas freed around half of the hostages and Israel released 240 Palestinians it was holding in its jails. Since then, all efforts to reach a new truce have foundered over Hamas' refusal to free more hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict, and Israel's insistence that it would discuss only a temporary pause.

WRAPUP 7-Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing, choking off vital aid

WRAPUP 7-Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing, choking off vital aid (Adds report of heavy shelling in Rafah, paragraphs 5-7) * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Rafah residents report heavy tank shelling late on Tuesday By Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO, May 7 - Israeli forces seized the main border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza on Tuesday, shutting down a vital aid route into the Palestinian enclave that is already on the brink of famine. The Palestinian militant group Hamas accused Israel of trying to undermine efforts to secure a ceasefire in the seven-month-long war that has laid waste to Gaza and left hundreds of thousands of its people homeless and hungry. Israeli army footage showed tanks rolling through the Rafah crossing complex and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said seizing the crossing was a very significant step towards its stated aim of destroying Hamas's military capabilities. Residents reported heavy tank shelling on Tuesday evening in some areas of eastern Rafah. They have gone crazy, tanks are firing shells and smoke bombs cover the skies and with smoke over Al-Salam and Jneinah neighborhoods, said Emad Joudat, 55, a Gaza city resident displaced in Rafah. I am now seriously thinking of heading north, maybe to the central Gaza area. If they move further into Rafah it will be the mother of massacres, he told Reuters via a chat app. U.N. and other international aid agencies said the closing of the two crossings into southern Gaza - Rafah and Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom - had virtually cut the enclave off from outside aid and very few stores were available inside. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said shipments had completely halted. As well as a key entry point for aid, the crossing was the only exit point for those needing to leave Gaza for medical treatment that is no longer available in the enclave. Lama Abu Holi, 8, has been in Al-Aqsa hospital for a month, waiting for a chance to leave for treatment for her injured legs. Today my name was at the border, and I should travel to get my legs treated, she said, holding a toy in her hospital bed. They hurt. I am supposed to have an operation. Because the border crossing is shut today, I could not travel. OFFENSIVE The seizure of the Rafah crossing came despite weeks of calls from the U.S., other nations and international bodies for Israel to hold off from a big offensive in the Rafah area - said by Israel to be the Hamas fighters' last stronghold but also the refuge of more than one million displaced Palestinian civilians. Many of them are struggling to find a safe place to go in the tiny territory that has been bombarded almost non-stop since Hamas fighters stormed over the border into Israel on Oct. 7. Families have been crammed into tented camps and makeshift shelters, suffering from shortages of food, water, medicine and other essentials. Israel's military said it was conducting a limited operation in Rafah to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which runs Gaza. It has told civilians to go to what it calls an expanded humanitarian zone some 20 km (12 miles) away. In Geneva, U.N. humanitarian office spokesperson Jens Laerke said panic and despair were gripping the people in Rafah. He said that under international law people must have adequate time to prepare for an evacuation, and have a safe route to a safe area with access to aid. This was not the case in the Rafah evacuation, he said. It's littered with unexploded ordnance, massive bombs lying in the street. It's not safe, he said. A total of 34,789 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been now killed in the conflict, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. 'HUMAN CATASTROPHE' U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Israel and Hamas to spare no effort to get a truce deal and urged Israel to reopen the border crossings immediately, saying Gaza risks running out of fuel on Tuesday evening. Make no mistake a full-scale assault on Rafah would be a human catastrophe, Guterres said. Hamas said late on Monday it had told Qatari and Egyptian mediators it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal but Netanyahu said the proposal falls far short of Israel's demands. However, the various players appeared willing to talk again on Tuesday. An official briefed on the talks said the Israeli delegation had arrived in the Egyptian capital Cairo. A Palestinian official close to mediation efforts told Reuters a Hamas delegation may arrive in Cairo on Tuesday or Wednesday to discuss a ceasefire. Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November during which Hamas freed around half of the hostages and Israel released 240 Palestinians it was holding in its jails. Since then, all efforts to reach a new truce have foundered over Hamas' refusal to free more hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict, and Israel's insistence that it would discuss only a temporary pause.

Doctorfound dead at Salem Govt. Hospital

Strong wind damages electric lines in Salem

Strong wind damages electric lines in Salem - The Hindu

Strong wind damages electric lines in Salem The Hindu

Container Carrying 666 Crore Worth of Gold Jewels Capsizes in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Late on Monday night, a private container carrying gold jewels worth 666 Crore capsized at Chitode near Erode, Tamil Nadu. The container, owned by a private logistics firm, was transporting the jewels from Coimbatore to Salem. However, when the vehicle approached Samathuvapuram, the driver, Sasikumar, lost control while negotiating a turn, causing the container to overturn. Both the driver, Sasikumar, and the armed security guard, Balraj, sustained serious injuries in the accident. The Chitode police promptly arrived at the scene, rescued the injured, and admitted them to a nearby hospital. Fortunately, the gold jewels stored inside the container remained unaffected by the accident. Upon learning about the incident, the consignee and consignor arranged for a new truck and a security guard. They transferred the gold jewels from the overturned container to the new truck and proceeded towards Salem. The Chitode police have registered a case and are currently investigating the matter. Historic Verdict: Girl Jailed for False Rape Accusation, Innocent Youth Acquitted Uttarakhand to Take Strict Action Against Forest Fire Perpetrators Devastation in West Bengal: 12 Dead Due to Storm and Lightning

Gold-laden van involved in accident in Erode, two injured

The van, carrying 810 kg of gold jewellery was going form Coimbatore to Salem; the driver and guard were injured in the accident and have been hospitalised

WRAPUP 3-Israeli military seizes Rafah border crossing, steps up attacks in southern Gaza

WRAPUP 3-Israeli military seizes Rafah border crossing, steps up attacks in southern Gaza * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * Egypt warns that Israel's operation in Rafah threatens ceasefire efforts By Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO, May 7 - The Israeli military seized control of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Tuesday and its tanks pushed into the southern Gazan town of Rafah after a night of air strikes on the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli offensive took place as mediators struggled to secure a ceasefire agreement between Israel and its Hamas foes and as the conflict entered its 8th month. The Palestinian militant group said late on Monday it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal but Israel said the terms did not meet its demands. Amid international concern over the plight of civilians crammed into Rafah, Israeli tanks and planes attacked several areas and houses there overnight. On Tuesday morning, people searched for bodies under the rubble of wrecked buildings. One corpse was taken away for burial, wrapped in a white shroud. Raed al-Derby said his wife and children had been killed. Standing in the street, anguish etched on his face, he told Reuters: We're patient and we will remain steadfast on this land.. We are waiting for liberation and this battle will be for liberation, God willing. More than one million people have sought refuge in Rafah, living in tented camps and makeshift shelters. Many are trying to leave, heeding Israeli orders for them to evacuate, but with large areas of the coastal enclave already laid to waste, they say they have nowhere safe to go to. The Israeli military said a limited operation in Rafah was meant to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which governs the besieged Palestinian territory. Egypt said the Israeli operation in Rafah threatened the ceasefire efforts, and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell said the assault would be deadly for civilians. I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties. he told reporters. There are no safe zones in Gaza. Israel has for weeks threatened to mount a major incursion in Rafah, which it says harbours thousands of Hamas fighters and where potentially dozens of hostages are being held. Victory over Hamas is impossible without taking Rafah, it says. A total of 34,789 Palestinians, most of then civilians, have been now killed in the conflict, the Gaza Health Ministry said. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. RAFAH CROSSING CLOSED A Gaza border authority spokesperson told Reuters the Rafah crossing, a vital route for aid into the devastated enclave, was closed because of the presence of Israeli tanks. Israeli Army Radio had earlier announced its forces were there and army footage showed tanks rolling through the crossing point and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said aid to Gaza had completely halted at Rafah and at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. The United States and other foreign governments have been pressing Israel not to start a campaign in Rafah until it had drawn up a humanitarian plan for the Palestinians sheltering there. The Israeli occupation has sentenced the residents of the Strip to death after closure of the Rafah border crossing, said Hisham Edwan, spokesperson for the Gaza Border Crossing Authority. Israel said the vast majority of people had been evacuated from the area of military operations and it has told them to go to what it calls an expanded humanitarian zone around 20 km (12 miles) away. Palestinian families piled children and possessions onto donkey carts and pick-up trucks or walked through the muddy streets. Abdullah Al-Najar said this was the fourth time he had been displaced since the fighting began in October. God knows where we will go now. We have not decided yet, he said. TRUCE TALKS IN CAIRO As the ceasefire talks stumbled, mediator Qatar said its delegation would head to Cairo on Tuesday to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Hamas said in a statement on Monday that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said later the proposal fell short of Israel's demands but Israel would send a delegation to meet with negotiators to try to reach an agreement. Netanyahu's war cabinet approved continuing an operation in Rafah, his office said. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal that Hamas approved was a watered-down version of an Egyptian offer and included elements Israel could not accept. Another official said Hamas had agreed to the phased ceasefire and hostage release deal Israel proposed on April 27 with only minor changes that did not affect the main parts of the proposal. A Palestinian official close to mediation efforts told Reuters a Hamas delegation may arrive in Cairo later on Tuesday or on Wednesday to discuss the ceasefire. Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November during which Hamas freed around half of the hostages and Israel released 240 Palestinians it was holding in its jails. Since then, all efforts to reach a new truce have foundered over Hamas' refusal to free more hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict, and Israel's insistence that it would discuss only a temporary pause.

Van with Rs 666 Cr worth gold jewels capsizes

13 kg gold seized at Chennai airport 13 kg gold seized at Chennai airport Erode (Tamil Nadu): A private container carrying Rs 666 Crore worth 810 kilogram gold jewels capsized at Chitode near Erode late on Monday night. According to police, a container belonging to a private logistics firm loaded with the jewels proceeded from Coimbatore last night to Salem. When the vehicle came near Samathuvapuram near here, the driver Sasikumar lost control over the vehicle when he was negotiating a turning which led to it capsizing, police said. In the incident, the driver Sasikumar and armed security Balraj fell down and sustained serious injuries. On getting information, the Chitode police rushed to the spot, removed the injured persons and admitted them to a hospital nearby. The gold jewels kept inside the container were not affected, police said. The consignee and consignor learnt about the incident and sent a new truck and security guard to the spot. They removed the gold jewels from the capsized vehicle into the new one and left for Salem. Chitode police registered a case and are investigating it

Van Carrying Gold Jewels Worth Rs 666 Cr Overturns in Tragic Incident

Van Carrying Gold Jewels Worth Rs 666 Cr Overturns in Tragic Incident A private container carrying Rs 666 Crore worth 810 kilogram gold jewels capsized at Chitode near Erode late on Monday night. According to police, a container belonging to a private logistics firm loaded with the jewels proceeded from Coimbatore last night to Salem. When the vehicle came near Samathuvapuram near here, the driver Sasikumar lost control over the vehicle when he was negotiating a turning which led to it capsizing, police said. In the incident, the driver Sasikumar and armed security Balraj fell down and sustained serious injuries. On getting information, the Chitode police rushed to the spot, removed the injured persons and admitted them to a hospital nearby. The gold jewels kept inside the container were not affected, police said. The consignee and consignor learnt about the incident and sent a new truck and security guard to the spot. They removed the gold jewels from the capsized vehicle into the new one and left for Salem. Chitode police registered a case and are investigating it.

After Coimbatore, Salem City police register case against YouTuber Savukku Shankar

Mr. Shankar has already been arrested by the Coimbatore city police for allegedly making derogatory remarks about women police personnel in T.N., and is currently lodged in jail there

Two Palestinians arrested for online incitement and support for Hamas

TEL AVIV: Combating online incitement and support for terrorism, Israeli police arrested two Palestinians in eastern Jerusalem with ties to Hamas, the police said on Tuesday. One suspect, a 35-year-old man, was arrested on Monday and is charged with incitement and supporting Hamas. The second suspect, 39, was arrested last week also for posting inflammatory []

WRAPUP 2-Israeli military seizes Rafah border crossing, steps up attacks in southern Gaza

WRAPUP 2-Israeli military seizes Rafah border crossing, steps up attacks in southern Gaza * LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: * EU foreign policy chief Borrell says assault on Rafah would be deadly for civilians. By Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi RAFAH, Gaza Strip/CAIRO, May 7 - The Israeli military seized control of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Tuesday and its tanks pushed into the southern Gazan town of Rafah after a night of air strikes on the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli offensive took place as mediators struggled to secure a ceasefire agreement between Israel and its Hamas foes and as the conflict entered its 8th month. The Palestinian militant group said late on Monday it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal but Israel said the terms did not meet its demands. Amid international concern over the plight of civilians crammed into Rafah, Israeli tanks and planes attacked several areas and houses there overnight. The Gaza health ministry said Israeli strikes across the enclave had killed 54 Palestinians and wounded 96 others in the past 24 hours. More than one million people have sought refuge in Rafah, living in tented camps and makeshift shelters. Many are trying to leave, heeding Israeli orders for them to evacuate, but with large areas of the coastal enclave already laid to waste, they say they have nowhere safe to go to. The Israeli military said a limited operation in Rafah was meant to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which governs the besieged Palestinian territory. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, said the assault on Rafah would be deadly for civilians. The Rafah offensive has started again, in spite all the requests of the international community, the U.S., the European Union member states, everybody asking (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu not to attack, Borrell told reporters. I am afraid that this is going to cause again a lot of casualties, civilian casualties. he said. There are no safe zones in Gaza. Israel has for weeks threatened to mount a major incursion in Rafah, which it says harbours thousands of Hamas fighters and where potentially dozens of hostages are being held. Victory over Hamas is impossible without taking Rafah, it says. A total of 34,789 Palestinians, most of then civilians, have been now killed in the conflict, the Gaza Health Ministry said in its daily update. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. RAFAH CROSSING CLOSED A Gaza border authority spokesperson told Reuters the Rafah crossing, a vital route for aid into the devastated enclave, was closed because of the presence of Israeli tanks. Israeli Army Radio had earlier announced its forces were there. Red Crescent sources in Egypt said aid to Gaza had completely halted at Rafah and at the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing. The United States and other foreign governments have been pressing Israel not to start a campaign in Rafah until it had drawn up a humanitarian plan for the Palestinians sheltering there. The Israeli occupation has sentenced the residents of the Strip to death after closure of the Rafah border crossing, said Hisham Edwan, spokesperson for the Gaza Border Crossing Authority. Israel said the vast majority of people had been evacuated from the area of military operations and it has told them to go to what it calls an expanded humanitarian zone around 20 km (12 miles) away. Some Palestinian families were on the move yet again, piling children and possessions onto donkey carts and pick-up trucks or on simply walking through the muddy streets. Abdullah Al-Najar said this was the fourth time he had been displaced since the fighting began in October. God knows where we will go now. We have not decided yet, he said. TRUCE TALKS IN CAIRO As the ceasefire talks stumbled, mediator Qatar said its delegation would head to Cairo on Tuesday to resume indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Hamas said in a statement on Monday that its chief, Ismail Haniyeh, had informed Qatari and Egyptian mediators the group accepted their proposal for a ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said later the proposal fell short of Israel's demands but Israel would send a delegation to meet with negotiators to try to reach an agreement. Netanyahu's war cabinet approved continuing an operation in Rafah, his office said. An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposal that Hamas approved was a watered-down version of an Egyptian offer and included elements Israel could not accept. Another official said Hamas had agreed to the phased ceasefire and hostage release deal Israel proposed on April 27 with only minor changes that did not affect the main parts of the proposal. A Palestinian official close to mediation efforts told Reuters a Hamas delegation may arrive in Cairo later on Tuesday or on Wednesday to discuss the ceasefire. Any truce would be the first pause in fighting since a week-long ceasefire in November during which Hamas freed around half of the hostages. Since then, all efforts to reach a new truce have foundered over Hamas' refusal to free more hostages without a promise of a permanent end to the conflict, and Israel's insistence that it would discuss only a temporary pause.

Egypt receives positive responses from Hamas, Israel on Gaza truce: media

Cairo/Jerusalem/Gaza, May 7 (UNI) An Egyptian security delegation mediating the Gaza truce received on Monday positive responses from Hamas and Israel, Egypts Al-Qahera News TV channel quoted a high-ranking security source as saying. The report said the Egyptian side has intensified communication with both sides to achieve calm before enforcing its three-stage Gaza truce proposal,... The post Egypt receives positive responses from Hamas, Israel on Gaza truce: media first appeared on Central India's Premier English Daily .

Reuters wins two Pulitzers, ProPublica takes coveted public service award

Reuters wins two Pulitzers, ProPublica takes coveted public service award Reuters won two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, taking home the breaking news photography award for searing images of the Israel-Gaza conflict as well as the national reporting award for a series of investigations into Elon Musk's manufacturing empire. ProPublica won the coveted public service award for stories detailing undisclosed gifts and trips that U.S. Supreme Court justices, particularly Clarence Thomas, accepted from wealthy donors. The New York Times and the Washington Post each captured three prizes. The annual Pulitzers, first presented in 1917, are the most prestigious honors in U.S. journalism. Reuters photographers - often working at great risk to their personal safety - have produced thousands of images documenting the war between Israel and Hamas, which began with the militant group's early-morning Oct. 7 attack in Israel that killed 1,200 people. Since then, Israel's retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed more than 34,000 people, including many children, and displaced the majority of its 2.3 million residents. Nearly half of the population is suffering catastrophic levels of hunger, according to the World Food Programme. The winning photos include an image taken in October by Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem, depicting a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her 5-year-old niece in Gaza. That photograph previously won the prestigious 2024 World Press Photo of the Year. Reuters' Musk series, The Musk Industrial Complex, revealed a spate of worker injuries and one death at Musk's rocket company SpaceX and the mistreatment of animals at his brain-implant company, Neuralink. In addition, Reuters found that electric car pioneer Tesla covered up dangerous defects, rigged its cars' dashboard driving-range estimates and shared sensitive images recorded by its vehicles without drivers' knowledge. The series prompted investigations in the U.S. and Europe and calls for action from U.S. lawmakers. Reuters shared the national reporting prize with the Washington Post, which won for its examination of the AR-15 rifle and its role in U.S. gun violence. These Pulitzer recognitions showcase some of Reuters greatest strengths urgent, expert, on-the-ground coverage of historic world events as they unfold, and dogged, revelatory and agenda-setting business journalism that serves our global audience and the public interest, Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni said. In addition to Salem, the winning photography team included staff photographers Ahmed Zakot, Amir Cohen, Ammar Awad, Evelyn Hockstein, Anas al-Shareef, Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Mohammed Salem and Ronen Zvulun, and freelance journalist Yasser Qudih. The team for the Musk series was Marisa Taylor, Steve Stecklow, Norihiko Shirouzu, Hyunjoo Jin, Rachael Levy, Kevin Krolicki, Marie Mannes, Waylon Cunningham and Koh Gui Qing. The Times won the international reporting prize for its coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict, while the newspaper's Hannah Dreier was awarded the investigative reporting prize for exposing the use of migrant child labor in the U.S. Lookout Santa Cruz, a digital-only local news outlet, won the breaking news reporting prize for its coverage of catastrophic flooding that struck California in January 2023. The Associated Press won for feature photography for its coverage of migrants trekking from Latin America to the U.S. The prizes are administered by Columbia University. They are named for newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, who died in 1911 and left money to create the awards and establish a journalism school at the university.

Reuters wins Pulitzers for national reporting and breaking news photography

Reuters wins Pulitzers for national reporting and breaking news photography Reuters won two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday, taking home the national reporting award for a series of investigations into Elon Musk's manufacturing empire and the breaking news photography award for searing images of the Israel-Gaza conflict. The New York Times captured at least three awards, winning for investigative reporting, international reporting and feature writing. Reuters' winning Musk series, The Musk Industrial Complex, revealed a spate of worker injuries and one death at Musk's rocket company SpaceX and the mistreatment of animals at his brain-implant company, Neuralink. In addition, Reuters found that electric car pioneer Tesla covered up dangerous defects, rigged its cars' dashboard driving-range estimates and shared sensitive images recorded by its vehicles without drivers' knowledge. The series prompted investigations in the U.S. and Europe and calls for action from U.S. lawmakers. Reuters shared the prize with the Washington Post, which won for its examination of the AR-15 rifle and its role in U.S. gun violence. Reuters was also honored for its photography coverage of the Israel-Gaza conflict. The agency's photographers - often working at great risk to their personal safety - have produced thousands of images documenting the war, which began with the militant group Hamas' early-morning Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 people. Since then, Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed more than 34,000 people, including many children, and displaced the majority of its 2.3 million residents. Nearly half of the population is suffering catastrophic levels of hunger, according to the World Food Programme. The winning photos include an affecting image taken in October by Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem, depicting a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her 5-year-old niece in Gaza. That photograph previously won the prestigious 2024 World Press Photo of the Year. Lookout Santa Cruz won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting for its coverage of catastrophic flooding and mudslides in California. The annual Pulitzers, first presented in 1917, are the most prestigious honors in U.S. journalism.

Israel Accuses Al Jazeera Of Being Mouthpiece For Journalism

JERUSALEMFollowing its ban of the Qatar-based news outlets operations in the country, Israel accused Al Jazeera Monday of being a mouthpiece for journalism. It is clear from its continuous, 24-hour coverage of the war in Gaza that Al Jazeera is working on behalf of journalistic principles, Prime Minister Benjamin Read more...

US concerned after Israeli raid of Al Jazeera operation, says State Dept

US concerned after Israeli raid of Al Jazeera operation, says State Dept The United States is quite concerned about Israel's shutdown of Al Jazeera's operations in the country, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday, a day after Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used as the TV station's local office. Washington thinks Qatari-owned Al Jazeera ought to be able to operate in Israel, Miller added.

VCK to organise protest against Salem caste violence on May 8

Denying temple entry for Dalits is a right-wing agenda to take temples out of HR and CE Department, says Ravikumar

VCK to organise protest against Salem caste violence on May 8 - The Hindu

VCK to organise protest against Salem caste violence on May 8 The Hindu

UPDATE 2-Belgian and Dutch students join Gaza protest wave

UPDATE 2-Belgian and Dutch students join Gaza protest wave Students in Belgium and the Netherlands occupied parts of the universities of Ghent and Amsterdam on Monday to protest against Israel's war in Gaza, joining international student protests that started on U.S. campuses. At a campus of University of Amsterdam (UvA) in downtown Amsterdam, hundreds of students set up camp, pitching dozens of tents, playing in drum circles, and barricading access with wooden pallets. The students want UvA and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) to stop their partnerships with Israel. Painting a banner with a friend, 21-year-old political science student Layla said the protest was about solidarity. As an individual, I feel I can't do much ... so every little bit feels like I am at least doing something. Just being here shows we don't support the actions of the Dutch government, she said, declining to give her last name for fear of reprisals. A UvA spokesperson said that while it condoned the protest during the day, it will not tolerate students staying the night. If students decide to spend the night, we will report it to the police, he said. VU did not reply to a request for comment. In neighbouring Belgium, some 100 students also occupied a part of Ghent's university UGent. Footage shared on social media shows students surrounded by tents chanting Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has to go, in one of UGent's buildings. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - areas of historic Palestine which the Palestinians want for a state - in a 1967 war from Jordan and Egypt and has since built settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and steadily expanded them. Several UGent employees and professors have signed an open letter supporting the protest and condemning the university's decision to continue research collaboration with Israel. UGent never gives permission to occupy buildings, but if this happen, a general framework of agreements applies, rector Rik Van de Walle said in a statement, adding that UGent subjects universities with which it collaborates to a human rights investigation. The Ghent university students said the protest would last until Wednesday, May 8th.

Netanyahu Heckled, Yelled At By Holocaust Survivor In Jerusalem Amid Gaza Hostage Crisis

On Holocaust Remembrance Day in Jerusalem, Netanyahu faced a protester, identified as Holocaust survivor Ami Schechter, who heckled him over hostages held in Gaza since October 7. Israeli media captured the incident at the Holocaust Museum. Ynet News quoted Schechter affirming his actions. Criticism mounts against Netanyahu, with an overwhelming majority blaming him for Hamas holding over 252 Israelis hostage. A poll by the Israel Democracy Institute shows 62% of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. Protests outside his Tel Aviv home continue, with families of hostages accusing him of prolonging the conflict with Hamas. Netanyahu's declaration rejecting a hostage-truce with Hamas intensified dissent. On the same day, Tel Aviv protesters highlighted the plight of Holocaust survivors, contrasting Netanyahu's assertion of defeating genocidal enemies on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Israel, disobedient to the US, ready to start invasion and genocide in Rafah

Palestinians gather as rescuers search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 6, 2024 [PHOTO: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem] data-medium-file=https://cf-ent-cdn.easternherald.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/-CGPfOWoVHcRcTbwHaRGUQ/easternherald.com/2024/05/raffah-invasion.jpeg/w=3620,h=2527 data-large-file=https://cf-ent-cdn.easternherald.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/-CGPfOWoVHcRcTbwHaRGUQ/easternherald.com/2024/05/raffah-invasion.jpeg/w=3620,h=2527 /> On Monday, Israel began evacuating Palestinian civilians from areas in Rafah in order to carry out a military operation, in a step it has long received international warnings about due to the presence of more than a million people in the border city with Egypt, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip. Israel has repeatedly []

Salem district registers 94.60% pass in Class XII examinations

Salem Collector asks officials to ensure regular drinking water supply to people

The UN nuclear watchdog chief travels to Iran as its monitoring remains hampered

JERUSALEM, May 6: The head of the United Nations atomic watchdog travelled on Monday to Iran, where his agency faces increasing difficulty in monitoring the Islamic Republics rapidly advancing nuclear programme as tensions remain high in the wider Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war. Rafael Mariano Grossi already has warned Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make several nuclear bombs if it chose to do so. He has acknowledged the agency cant guarantee that none of Irans [] The post The UN nuclear watchdog chief travels to Iran as its monitoring remains hampered appeared first on Daily Excelsior .

Safe summers for the strays

CHENNAI: As the summer sun rises from its slumber and roars into the afternoon, the siesta of stray animals and pets in Chennai takes a plunge into darkness. Thanks to initiatives by the government along with NGOs, these animals have found a way to beat the heat. Even as we try to shelter ourselves from the piercing rays, we can do our bit to keep our four-legged friends safe. Senior veterinarian Dr GR Baranidharan of The Ark 24 hrs Veterinary Clinic gives emphasis on providing shelter and water for animals such as dogs and cattle, till the conclusion of the summer season. Dogs and cats do not sweat as much as humans do. The presence of oral mucous membranes helps in evaporative cooling, which is why they pant a lot. However, it will be difficult for them when the temperature crosses more than 40 degrees Celsius. It is important to keep water for them during this summer outside our houses, says Baranidharan, adding that the chances of heatstroke are high. Here are a few organisations that are aiding stray animals get through the kathiri veyil. Heaven for Animals In 2021, Heaven For Animals was established in Chennai, as the first-ever cloud kitchen for community animals in the country. With more than 1,100 volunteers, it provides fresh, nutritious meals to over 4,000 community dogs daily. This year, we are providing more than 9,000 bowls of water in areas like Marina Beach, Besant Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur Beach, and so on, says PrakaashGanth, founder of Heaven For Animals, speaking about their summer initiatives. For details, call: 9585338338, 9786986986 Blue Cross of India, Chennai The organisation established in 1964 has been working closely with the Greater Chennai Corporation and other local bodies near Chennai, Puducherry and Neyveli to implement the Animal Birth Control programme on street and community animals. During summer, they also join the water bowl initiative. Dr S Chinny Krishna, co-founder and chairman of the Blue Cross of India, Chennai, shares We distribute almost 1,000 water bowls in areas like Maduravoyal, Kancheepuram, Avadi, and Ambattur. We also run three mobile hospitals where each one is a mini hospital. It is equipped with an air conditioned and full feature operation theatre, an autoclave and refrigerator, on-board oxygen, power inverter, spine board, catching nets and even spacious boarding space for two animals. For details, call: 04446274999 ScanFoundation India With initiatives to sponsor cats and dogs and also facilitating virtual adoption, ScanFoundation India has worked for the welfare of animals. We have placed almost 2,000 water bowls all over nine districts in the State. Volunteers have been attending to the needs of the stray dogs and every animal is taken care of. They are monitored to check if they carry any diseases which can be at high risk during summers, shares Dr Vijaya Priya, ScanFoundation India. For details, call: 9487487000 People For Cattle in India The Water Bowl challenge was a summer initiative for People For Cattle in India (PFCI) since 2014 to provide access to fresh drinking water for community animals and birds. Arun Prasanna, founder of PFCI shares, We have been consistently creating awareness and providing water to the animals for almost ten years now. We started this challenge with almost 400-500 bowls. This year we are providing 5,000 water bowls. In 2023, almost 4,000 bowls were distributed across Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Salem, Erode, and Tiruppur by PFCI. For details, call: 9884071136 SANS Animal Welfare Trust Rescuers and feeders have set out to work with the non-governmental organisation SANS Animal Welfare Trust for the welfare of animals, especially in summer. Sudha Chandrasekar, founder and chairperson of the Trust says, We had been regularly feeding cats, dogs and birds in and around areas of Marina Beach, Secretariat etc. Even though initiatives like water bowls are necessary, we need to also focus on plans like planting trees since providing shade to the animals is also necessary. Yearly, 300-400 saplings are supplied by our Trust. For details, call: 7010324993

Delivery agents, LPG workers in TN battle summer's fury without respite

CHENNAI: This summer, food delivery agents said they wish they could be anywhere other than on the streets, sweating under their helmets and perpetually thirsty. However, they have no such luck. It is important that they take orders from 11 am to 3 pm every day to claim their daily incentive. They usually get a small additional wage for deliveries during rain, but receive no bonuses in summer, they said. Said 42-year-old Ponraj (name changed) , a food delivery agent in Ambattur, There are some major apartments like the one on Maduravoyal service road which do not allow our bikes enter their premises. We are forced to walk at least a kilometre to the blocks mentioned in the address under this sun. We have fought against these apartment policies several times, but in vain. They ask us to go on foot for the fear of the delivery agents causing accidents. The practice is discriminatory because they allow all other vehicles inside. Das (name changed), another food delivery agent, said they are allocated waiting spaces near kitchens in restaurants, adding to the summer heat. Some persons rue that they get as low as `30 for covering even 10 km. M Subhash (38) from Kumarapalayam in Salem said he there was a recent policy change where rejecting two orders results in reduced incentives during peak hours (8 am to 1 pm), further exacerbating financial strain. With 12-hour shifts under the scorching sun, I struggle to meet a modest income target of Rs 35,000 a month. My only motivation is to support my younger sister, who is pursuing engineering at VIT, Vellore, Subhash said. There are instances when customers suddenly change delivery location, which is a few km away, say workers | Ashwin prasath While the heat wave in Virudhunagar is intense this summer, 50-year-old R Rajamanickam said his firm has permitted delivery persons to reject one order per day. While we toil hard under the blazing sun to meet the expenses of our family, there are instances when customers specify a location for delivery and later request us to deliver in another location, which is a few kilometres away. Some people dont pay extra and some give us a meagre amount of Rs 5 and even `1, said Rajamanickam. People handling LPG cylinders also shared the woes of food delivery agents in working in harsh summer. In the midst of a scorching summer in Vellore, K Paramasivam (52) traverses the streets of Sathuvachari barefoot, tirelessly delivering gas cylinders to the surrounding area. His works from 9 am to 5 pm and carries a maximum of three cylinders on his cycle with each cylinder weighing around 30 kg. Bathed in sweat, Paramasivam remains undeterred, to ensure people can cook their next meal without any LPG shortage. The heat makes our work riskier. We get tired fast and also find our body odour rising. Our work requires strong determination. Every day, we are swimming upstream against the intense heat with unwavering resolve. Thanks to our customers, we are offered water or buttermilk during deliveries. P Murali (56), another gas delivery man, said, During summer, I make sure to wear a cap and normal cotton dresses rather than the uniform. Despite such measures, we feel drained after a few hours of work. Since the onset of summer, Ive found myself drinking water at least three times more than I do in the winter. Even the water we get from houses is warm during summer. With the small tips ranging from Rs 20-Rs 30 from some customers offer, we buy ourselves some refreshments to beat the heat. I often try to complete my deliveries by noon, take a break and resume work after 3 pm. Selvam I, a cooking gas delivery worker in Somarasampettai, said, Touching cylinders exposed to heat is like touching hot metal rods. Therefore, some of us cover our hands with cloth while handling cylinders. But, most of the time, we have to ignore the heat from the cylinder ring and deliver it to the clients doorstep or inside the home. We would get blisters on our palms. Over the days, our hands have got used to this. Some clients give us tips, considering our situation, but not all. R Sudalai Kumar, of Mettukadai in Erode, who delivers water cans, said, I have been supplying water cans to households and business establishments for the past 13 years. Due to the intense heat this year, the demand for cans has increased. I used to distribute up to 220 cans every day before the summer season. It has now increased to 350 cans a day. (Inputs from Jose K Joseph, Praveena SA, Shakthivel K, P Srinivasan, Harini M, Sivaguru S, Nirupama Viswanathan) (In this series, TNIE looks at the condition of workers toiling under the sun)

Al Jazeera office in Jerusalem raided as Israel takes channel off air

Al Jazeera office in Jerusalem raided as Israel takes channel off air

Trains from Chennai run out of water, Southern Railway struggles to meet needs

CHENNAI: Southern Railway hasnt been spared the effects of Tamil Nadus water scarcity, with a few intercity and long distance express trains from Chennai Central and Coimbatore recently running out of water within two to three hours of departure leaving passengers in the lurch. Passengers on Chennai Central - Salem section also had to endure the stench emanating from the toilets after the trains tanks ran dry. The railway has been struggling to supply its trains, departing from Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore and a few other stations, with water amid groundwater depletion and dwindling supply from private tankers. According to sources, the railways typically supplies water to meet 50% of the need on off-peak days (Monday to Thursday) due to limited occupancy on trains and increases the supply to 75 % on weekends (Friday to Sunday) for regular services. However, due to shortage, the railways last week halved the supply during weekdays even when summer holidays were in full swing and all trains were operating at 100% occupancy. Consequently, trains departing from Chennai Central had only water to meet 25% of their usual demand. Rly officials told to closely monitor water scarcity issue The minimum water requirement for a regular train is 40,000 litres a trip. Southern Railway, however, maintained that prompt action was taken to supply water at the next nominated stations for trains in the Chennai - Salem section a few days ago. Officials from the Commercial and Mechanical departments have been briefed to closely monitor this issue specifically, said a senior official from Southern railway headquarters. He also said departmental action is being taken against those staff who failed to supply water for trains. While a few long-distance trains have been able to provide water at the next designated refilling station, supplying water to trains, maintaining coaches, including daily water washing, and providing drinking water to stations have turned into an uphill task for the railways. Passengers on special trains are the worst affected as these trains are given lower priority. The railways had designated Katpadi, Jolarpettai, Salem, and Erode stations for refilling the train tanks in the Chennai - Coimbatore section. Similarly, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Tiruchy, Madurai, and Tirunelveli have been nominated for refilling the tanks in the Chennai - Nagercoil section. K Swaminathan of Thiruvanmiyur, a regular traveller, said, Almost half of the passengers travelling in reserved coaches of the Kovai Express were compelled to relocate to another coach due to the foul odour from the toilets while returning from Coimbatore. Despite lodging multiple complaints through the helpline and Rail Madad application, all efforts proved futile. As groundwater levels continue to diminish over the years in Basin Bridge, Mannady, Periamet, and surrounding areas, the railway is wholly reliant on water provided by Chennai Metro Water and private tankers to manage its operations at two coaching depots (Basin Bridge and Gopalasamy Nagar) and MGR Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore stations. The water provided by Chennai Metro Water is received at Tiruvottiyur storage tanks and transported to the coaching yards and terminals through pipelines. Additionally, about 3.5 lakh litres of water generated by the recycling plant at Basin Bridge are reused for cleaning the coaches. However, supplying water to trains remains challenging due to scarcity. As a result, exterior cleaning of coaches is also being skipped for several rakes in order to save the water. The Basin Bridge coaching yard is responsible for primary maintenance of over 45 trains, which include primary maintenance of 33 trains. It requires 12 lakh litres of water per day, while MGR Chennai Central station, serving about 65,000 passengers daily, requires 10 lakh litres. Similarly, Egmore stations per day demand is 10 lakh litres of water per day, and the supply is outsourced to private tanker lorry companies. The GSN yard maintains about 27 trains a day. Washing the coach exterior is mandatory during primary maintenance. Necessary measures have been taken to wade through the water crisis during the summer season. The question of operating water special trains does not arise, a railway official said.

Al Jazeera Office In Israel Raided, Broadcast Suspended After Shutdown Order

Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the Qatari-owned TV station's local operations on Sunday, an Israeli official and an Al Jazeera source told Reuters.

Netanyahu defends Gaza offensive at Holocaust memorial ceremony

Netanyahu defends Gaza offensive at Holocaust memorial ceremony Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected international pressure to halt the war in Gaza in a fiery speech marking the country's annual Holocaust memorial day, declaring: If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. The message, delivered in a setting that typically avoids politics, was aimed at the growing chorus of world leaders who have criticised the heavy toll caused by Israel's military offensive against Hamas militants and have urged the sides to agree to a cease-fire. Netanyahu has said he is open to a deal that would pause nearly seven months of fighting and bring home hostages held by Hamas. But he also says he remains committed to an invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite widespread international opposition because of the more than 1 million civilians huddled there. I say to the leaders of the world: No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself, he said, speaking in English. Never again is now. Yom Hashoah, the day Israel observes as a memorial for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies in the Holocaust, is one of the most solemn dates on the country's calendar. Speeches at the ceremony generally avoid politics, though Netanyahu in recent years has used the occasion to lash out at Israel's archenemy Iran. The ceremony ushered in Israel's first Holocaust remembrance day since the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war, imbuing the already sombre day with additional meaning. Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people in the attack, making it the deadliest violence against Jews since the Holocaust. Israel responded with an air and ground offensive in Gaza, where the death toll has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials, and about 80 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million people are displaced. The death and destruction has prompted South Africa to file a genocide case against Israel in the UN's world court. Israel strongly rejects the charges. On Sunday, Netanyahu attacked those accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide against the Palestinians, claiming that Israel was doing everything possible to ensure the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The 24-hour memorial period began after sundown on Sunday with a ceremony at Yad Vashem, Israel's national Holocaust memorial, in Jerusalem. There are approximately 245,000 living Holocaust survivors around the world, according to the Claims Conference, an organization that negotiates for material compensation for Holocaust survivors. Approximately half of the survivors live in Israel. On Sunday, Tel Aviv University and the Anti-Defamation League released an annual Antisemitism Worldwide Report for 2023, which found a sharp increase in antisemitic attacks globally. It said the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States doubled, from 3,697 in 2022 to 7,523 in 2023. While most of these incidents occurred after the war erupted in October, the number of antisemitic incidents, which include vandalism, harassment, assault, and bomb threats, from January to September was already significantly higher than the previous year. The report found an average of three bomb threats per day at synagogues and Jewish institutions in the U.S., more than 10 times the number in 2022. Other countries tracked similar rises in antisemitic incidents. In France, the number nearly quadrupled, from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, while it more than doubled in the United Kingdom and Canada. In the aftermath of the October 7 war crimes committed by Hamas, the world has seen the worst wave of antisemitic incidents since the end of the Second World War, the report stated. Netanyahu also compared the recent wave of protests on American campuses to German universities in the 1930s, in the runup to the Holocaust. He condemned the explosion of a volcano of antisemitism spitting out boiling lava of lies against us around the world. Nearly 2,500 students have been arrested in a wave of protests at U.S. college campuses, while there have been smaller protests in other countries, including France. Protesters reject antisemitism accusations and say they are criticizing Israel. Campuses and the federal government are struggling to define exactly where political speech crosses into antisemitism.

The Israeli police raid Al Jazeeras office in Jerusalem, and the White House announced Mistake

Police raid on Al Jazeera [PHOTO: ABACA PRESS / PROFIMEDIA] data-medium-file=https://cf-ent-cdn.easternherald.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/-CGPfOWoVHcRcTbwHaRGUQ/easternherald.com/2024/05/police-raid-al-jazeera.jpg/w=790,h=526 data-large-file=https://cf-ent-cdn.easternherald.com/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/-CGPfOWoVHcRcTbwHaRGUQ/easternherald.com/2024/05/police-raid-al-jazeera.jpg/w=790,h=526 /> Videos circulating on the internet depict plainclothes police officers dismantling recording equipment within the mentioned hotel room. Additionally, one of these videos was shared by Israeli Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karhi. . pic.twitter.com/BFWkOiniDH []

Israel Shuts Down Al Jazeera's Jerusalem Office and Confiscates Equipment

Israel Shuts Down Al Jazeera's Jerusalem Office and Confiscates Equipment Israel ordered the local offices of Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance. The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel's reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet. Al Jazeera went off Israel's main cable provider in the hours after the order. However, its website and multiple online streaming links still operated Sunday. The network has reported the Israeli-Hamas war nonstop since the militants' initial cross-border attack October 7 and has maintained 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid Israel's grinding ground offensive that has killed and wounded members of its own staff. While including on-the-ground reporting of the war's casualties, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel's security and incited against soldiers, Netanyahu said in a statement. It's time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country. Al Jazeera issued a statement vowing it will pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public's right to information. Israel's ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law, the network said. Israel's direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera.'' Israeli media said the order allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days. The Israeli government has taken action against individual reporters over the decades since its founding in 1948, but broadly allows for a rambunctious media scene that includes foreign bureaus from around the world, even from Arab nations. That changed with a law passed last month, which Netanyahu's office says allows the government to take action against a foreign channel seen as harming the country. Israeli Communication Minister Shlomo Karhi later published footage online of authorities raiding a hotel room Al Jazeera had been broadcasting from in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to one day have for their future state. He said officials seized some of the channel's equipment there. We finally are able to stop Al Jazeera's well-oiled incitement machine that harms the security of the country, Karhi said. The ban did not appear to affect the channel's operations in the occupied West Bank or Gaza Strip, where Israel wields control but which are not sovereign Israeli territory. The decision threatens to heighten tensions with Qatar at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza, along with Egypt and the United States. Qatar has had strained ties with Netanyahu in particular since he made comments suggesting that Qatar is not exerting enough pressure on Hamas to prompt it to relent in its terms for a truce deal. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders in exile at a political office in Doha. The sides appear to be close to striking a deal, but multiple previous rounds of talks have ended with no agreement. In a statement Sunday, Hamas condemned the Israeli government order, calling on international organisations to take measures against Israel. The Foreign Press Association in Israel criticised the order. With this decision, Israel joins a dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station, it said. This is a dark day for the media. Omar Shakir, Human Rights Watch's Israel and Palestine director, criticized the Israeli order as an assault on freedom of the press. Rather than trying to silence reporting on its atrocities in Gaza, the Israeli government should stop committing them, he added. Shortly after the government's decision, Cabinet members from the National Unity party criticized its timing, saying it may sabotage the efforts to finalize the negotiations and stems from political considerations. The party said that in general, it supported the decision. Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations took a major downturn nearly two years ago when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. Those relations further deteriorated following the outbreak of Israel's war against Hamas on Oct. 7, when the militant group carried out a cross-border attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Since then, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed over 34,000 people, according to local health officials there, who don't break figures down into civilians and combatants. In December, an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera cameraman as he reported on the war in southern Gaza. The channel's bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, was wounded in the same attack. Dahdouh, a correspondent well-known to Palestinians during many wars, later evacuated Gaza but only after Israeli strikes killed his wife, three of his children and a grandson. Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres. Criticism of the channel is not new, however. The U.S. government singled out the broadcaster during America's occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and for airing videos of the late al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. Al Jazeera has been closed or blocked by other Mideast governments. Most notably in 2013, Egyptian authorities raided a luxury hotel used by Al Jazeera as an operating base after the military takeover that followed mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi. Three Al Jazeera staff members, Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences, but were released in 2015 following widespread international criticism.

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Al Jazeera's Local Operations Ordered to Close as Israel and Qatar Engage in Hamas Ceasefire Talks

Al Jazeera's Local Operations Ordered to Close as Israel and Qatar Engage in Hamas Ceasefire Talks Israel ordered the local offices of Qatar's Al Jazeera satellite news network to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance. The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channel's reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet. The network has reported the Israeli-Hamas war nonstop since the militants' initial cross-border attack Oct. 7 and has maintained 24-hour coverage in the Gaza Strip amid Israel's grinding ground offensive that has killed and wounded members of its own staff. While including on-the-ground reporting of the war's casualties, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region, drawing Netanyahu's ire. ''Al Jazeera reporters harmed Israel's security and incited against soldiers, Netanyahu said in a statement. It's time to remove the Hamas mouthpiece from our country. Al Jazeera issued a statement vowing it will pursue all available legal channels through international legal institutions in its quest to protect both its rights and journalists, as well as the public's right to information. ''Israel's ongoing suppression of the free press, seen as an effort to conceal its actions in the Gaza Strip, stands in contravention of international and humanitarian law, the network said. Israel's direct targeting and killing of journalists, arrests, intimidation and threats will not deter Al Jazeera from its commitment to cover, whilst more than 140 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the beginning of the war on Gaza. Israeli media said the order allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days. The Israeli government has taken action against individual reporters over the decades since its founding in 1948, but broadly allows for a rambunctious media scene that includes foreign bureaus from around the world, even from Arab nations. That changed with a law passed last month, which Netanyahu's office says allows the government to take action against a foreign channel seen as harming the country. Immediately after the announcement, Al Jazeera's English arm began broadcasting a prerecorded message from one of its correspondents from a hotel the channel has used for months in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians hope to one day have for their future state. ''They're also banning any devices that includes my mobile phone, correspondent Imran Khan said. ''If I use that to do any kind of newsgathering, then the Israelis can simply confiscate it.'' Al Jazeera went off Israel's main cable provider in the hours after the order. However, its website and streaming links across multiple online platforms still operated Sunday. The ban did not appear to affect the channel's operations in the occupied West Bank or Gaza Strip, where Israel wields control but which are not sovereign Israeli territory. The decision threatens to heighten tensions with Qatar at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza, along with Egypt and the United States. Qatar has had strained ties with Netanyahu in particular since he made comments suggesting that Qatar is not exerting enough pressure on Hamas to prompt it to relent in its terms for a truce deal. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders in exile at a political office in Doha. The sides appear to be close to striking a deal, but multiple previous rounds of talks have ended with no agreement. In a statement Sunday, Hamas condemned the Israeli government order, calling on international organizations to take measures against Israel. Shortly after the government's decision, Cabinet members from the National Unity party criticized its timing, saying it may sabotage the efforts to finalize the negotiations and stems from political considerations. The party said that in general, it supported the decision. Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations took a major downturn nearly two years ago when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. Those relations further deteriorated following the outbreak of Israel's war against Hamas on Oct. 7, when the militant group carried out a cross-border attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. Since then, the Israeli military campaign in Gaza has killed over 34,000 people, according to local health officials there, who don't break figures down into civilians and combatants. In December, an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera cameraman as he reported on the war in southern Gaza. The channel's bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, was wounded in the same attack. Dahdouh, a correspondent well-known to Palestinians during many wars, later evacuated Gaza but only after Israeli strikes killed his wife, three of his children and a grandson. Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres. Israel accuses Al Jazeera, funded by Qatar's government, of collaborating with Hamas. Criticism of the channel is not new, however. The U.S. government singled out the broadcaster during America's occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and over airing videos of the late al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden. Al Jazeera has been closed or blocked by other Mideast governments. Those include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during a yearslong boycott of Doha by the countries amid a yearslong political dispute that ended in 2021. In 2013, Egyptian authorities raided a luxury hotel used by Al Jazeera as an operating base after the military takeover that followed mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi. The channel was apparently targeted over its constant coverage of Muslim Brotherhood protests over Morsi's ouster. Three Al-Jazeera staff members, Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences, but were released in 2015 following widespread international criticism.

Israeli police raid Al Jazeera after shutdown order

Israeli police raid Al Jazeera after shutdown order (Recasts) JERUSALEM/DOHA, May 5 (Reuters) - Israeli police raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its de facto office on Sunday following a government decision to shut down the Qatari-owned TV station's local operations, an Israeli official and an Al Jazeera source told Reuters. Video circulated online showed plainclothes officers dismantling camera equipment in a hotel room. The Al Jazeera source said the hotel was in East Jerusalem. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet shut down the network for as long as the war in Gaza continues, on the grounds the Qatari television network threatens national security. Al Jazeera called the move a criminal action and rejected the accusation the network threatened Israeli security as a dangerous and ridiculous lie that puts its journalists at risk. It said that it reserved the right to pursue every legal step. The network has been critical of Israel's military operation in Gaza, from where it has reported around the clock throughout the war. The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel, Netanyahu posted on social media following the unanimous cabinet vote. A government statement said Israel's communications minister signed orders to act immediately, but at least one lawmaker who supported the closure said Al Jazeera could still try to block it in court. The measure, the statement said, will include closing Al Jazeera's offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, cutting off the channel from cable and satellite companies and blocking its websites. It did not mention Al Jazeera's Gaza operations. There was no official comment from the Qatari government, which deferred to Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera previously called Israeli efforts to curtail its operations an escalation and said in a statement in early April that it comes as part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence Al Jazeera. It said that Israeli authorities have deliberately targeted and killed several of its journalists including Samer Abu Daqqa and Hamza AlDahdooh, both killed in Gaza during the conflict. Israel has said it does not target journalists. Qatar established Al Jazeera in 1996 and views the network as a way to bolster its global profile. Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns and denounces this criminal act that violates human rights and the basic right to access of information, the network said in a statement. Al Jazeera affirms its right to continue to provide news and information to its global audiences. The UN Human Rights Office also criticised the closure. We regret cabinet decision to close Al Jazeera in Israel, it said on X. A free & independent media is essential to ensuring transparency & accountability. Now, even more so given tight restrictions on reporting from Gaza. Freedom of expression is a key human right. We urge govt to overturn ban. Israel's parliament last month ratified a law allowing the temporary closure in Israel of foreign broadcasters considered to be a threat to national security. The law allows Netanyahu and his security cabinet to shut the network's offices in Israel for 45 days, a period that can be renewed, so it could stay in force until the end of July or until the end of major military operations in Gaza. Qatar, where several Hamas political leaders are based, is trying to mediate a ceasefire and hostage release deal that could halt the Gaza war.

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Israeli Cabinet votes to close Al Jazeera offices amid escalating tensions

Israeli Cabinet votes to close Al Jazeera offices amid escalating tensions Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel's long-running feud with the channel at a time when cease-fire negotiations with Hamas - mediated by Qatar - are gaining steam. Netanyahu announced the decision on X, formerly Twitter, but details on the implications of the step on the channel, when it would go into effect or whether the measure was permanent or temporary were not immediately clear. My government decided unanimously: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will close in Israel, Netanyahu posted on X. Al Jazeera has vehemently denied that it incites against Israel. There was no immediate comment from the channel headquarters in the Qatari capital of Doha. But several Al Jazeera correspondents went on air to give their understanding on how the decision would affect the channel. An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic service said the order would affect the broadcaster's operations in Israel and in east Jerusalem, where it has been doing live shots for months since the Oct 7 attack that sparked the war in Gaza. It would not affect Al Jazeera's operations in the Palestinian territories, the correspondent said. Another correspondent, on Al Jazeera's English channel, said the order barred the channel from holding offices or operating them in Israel. He said the broadcaster's websites would be blocked, though they were still accessible by Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem. Israeli media said the vote allows Israel to block the channel from operating in the country for 45 days, according to the decision. Israel's Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said in a video posted to X that the channel's ''equipment will be confiscated. The decision threatens to heighten tensions with Qatar at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza, along with Egypt and the United States. Qatar has had strained ties with Netanyahu, in particular since he made comments suggesting that Qatar is not exerting enough pressure on Hamas to prompt it to relent in its terms for a truce deal. Qatar hosts Hamas leaders in exile. The sides appear to be close to striking a deal, but multiple previous rounds of talks have ended with no agreement. Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias. Relations took a major downturn nearly two years ago when Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. Those relations further deteriorated following the outbreak of Israel's war against Hamas on Oct. 7, when the militant group carried out a cross-border attack in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage. In December, an Israeli strike killed an Al Jazeera cameraman as he reported on the war in southern Gaza. The channel's bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, was injured in the same attack. Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres. Israel accuses Al Jazeera of collaborating with Hamas. Al Jazeera, which is funded by Qatar's government, did not immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press for comment. While Al Jazeera's English operation often resembles the programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. It similarly came under harsh U.S. criticism during America's occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled director Saddam Hussein. Al Jazeera has been closed or blocked by other Mideast governments. Those include Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain during a yearslong boycott of Doha by the countries amid a yearslong political dispute that ended in 2021. Sunday's development immediately recalled Egypt's shutdown of Al Jazeera after the country's 2013 military takeover following mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group. The channel covered many of the Brotherhood's protests live, to the anger of Egypt's military government. At the time, Egyptian security forces raided a luxury hotel the channel operated out of, arresting its correspondents. Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian producer Baher Mohamed received 10-year prison sentences, but were later released in 2015 amid widespread international criticism. Egypt considers the Brotherhood a terrorist group and accused both Qatar and Al Jazeera of supporting it.

Israel shuts down Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem

Israel shuts down Al Jazeera offices in Jerusalem Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera. Netanyahu announced the decision on X, formerly Twitter, but details on the implications of the step on the channel, when it would go into effect or whether it was permanent or temporary shuttered were not immediately clear. The decision escalated Israel's long-running feud against Al Jazeera. It also threatened to heighten tensions with Qatar, which owns the channel, at a time when the Doha government is playing a key role in mediation efforts to halt the war in Gaza. Israel has long had a rocky relationship with Al Jazeera, accusing it of bias against it. Al Jazeera is one of the few international media outlets to remain in Gaza throughout the war, broadcasting bloody scenes of airstrikes and overcrowded hospitals and accusing Israel of massacres. Israel accuses Al Jazeera of collaborating with Hamas. Al Jazeera, the Doha-based broadcaster funded by Qatar's government, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Al Jazeera's Arabic-language broadcaster acknowledged the news in its broadcast Sunday. Its English arm continued to operate with live shots from East Jerusalem just minutes after the announcement by Netanyahu. While Al Jazeera's English operation often resembles the programming found on other major broadcast networks, its Arabic arm often publishes verbatim video statements from Hamas and other militant groups in the region. It similarly came under harsh U.S. criticism during America's occupation of Iraq after its 2003 invasion toppled director Saddam Hussein. It remains unclear how such an order would be enforced by Israel.

1.5L to take NEET UG test across TN on May 5

CHENNAI : Nearly 1.5 lakh students from across the state will write the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test on Sunday for admission to MBBS courses. According to the National Testing Agency (NTA), a total of 24 lakh candidates are appearing for test in 557 cities in the country and 14 outside. The examination will be conducted in a single shift from 2 pm to 5.20 pm. This includes 12,730 government school students who took coaching from the school education department. Salem had the highest number of students taking coaching, with 992 of them attending it while only 71 went for the classes in Karur. NTA has advised the candidates to reach their examination centres on time with their admit cards. The cards should have three pages with a postcard size photograph pasted on the second page. It has also advised the candidates not to indulge in the use of unfair means and impersonation as they will face strict action including debarment from all the examinations conducted by NTA.