Summary of the day so far
It’s nearly 10.30pm in Tel Aviv and Gaza. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Benjamin Netanyahu launched a blistering attack on the leaders of the UK, France and Canada for being “on the wrong side of humanity”. The statement by the Israeli leader came after two Israeli embassy staff members were killed at the Jewish museum in Washington DC, and days after Britain, France and Canada attacked Israel’s expansion of its war as disproportionate, described conditions in Gaza as “intolerable” and threatened a “concrete” response if Israel’s campaign continues.
Donald Trump is “saddened and outraged” by the fatal shooting of the two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC on Wednesday night, the White House said. The two victims have been identified as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. US federal agents descended early on Thursday on a Chicago apartment believed to be the home of the alleged gunman, identified as Elias Rodriguez. Flags at Israeli diplomatic missions around the world were lowered to half mast.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington DC took place. France’s foreign ministry rejected the comments, calling them “unjustified” and “outrageous”.
In the last two days, 29 children and elderly people have died from starvation in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority health minister, as Israeli strikes killed at least 52 people since dawn amid a renewed military offensive across the territory. In addition, Unicef said more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year.
Flour and other aid starting reaching Palestinians in Gaza on Thursday after Israel began allowing limited goods through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week blockade. The UN food agency said a handful of bakeries it supports in south and central Gaza have resumed bread production after trucks were finally able to collect cargo from the Kerem Shalom crossing point. The Palestinian Red Crescent said Palestinians in Gaza had yet to receive aid deliveries that had crossed over the border and that sending so few trucks was an “invitation for killing” because of the risk of mobbing.
The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighbourhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia. The Israeli army said in an Arabic-language statement that it was “operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organisations continue their activities and operations in the mentioned regions”.
The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies and its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of capacity due to fuel shortages. Asked how long his organisation could continue operating in Gaza, Palestine Red Crescent Society president Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva: “It’s a matter of time. It could be days.
Ireland’s tánaiste Simon Harris accused the Israeli government of “genocidal activity” in Gaza. Harris said it was “clear” that Israel wants to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as part of what he said was “a consistent pattern of war crimes”, adding that the world had “not done enough” to put pressure on Israel to change course.
Netanyahu announced the appointment Maj Gen David Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency, despite Israel’s attorney general saying on Wednesday that Netanyahu was barred from appointing a new Shin Bet chief, following a supreme court ruling that the government’s decision to fire former head Ronen Bar was “unlawful”.
A Palestinian Red Crescent rescue worker who survived the killing of 15 paramedics in southern Gaza in March was spared because he spoke to Israeli soldiers in Hebrew, the head of the organisation said. Assad Al-Nassasrah, a Red Crescent paramedic who was freed from Israeli detention on 29 April, pleaded in Hebrew and said his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel, he said.
Iran said that it will hold the US responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites in remarks that set a fraught backdrop for the fifth and probably most important round of talks between Iran and the US on the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
Netanyahu says Maj Gen David Zini has been named next head of Shin Bet
Benjamin Netanyahu announced he has appointed Maj Gen David Zini as the next head of the Shin Bet domestic security agency.
The announcement comes a day after Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav Miara, said Netanyahu was barred from appointing a new Shin Bet chief, following a supreme court ruling that the government’s decision to fire former head Ronen Bar was “unlawful”.
Zini currently serves as the head of the Israel Defense Forces training command and general staff corps, according to the Times of Israel.
Updated
A Palestinian Red Crescent rescue worker who survived the killing of 15 paramedics in southern Gaza in March was spared because he spoke to Israeli soldiers in Hebrew, the head of the organisation said.
Assad Al-Nassasrah, a Red Crescent paramedic, went missing during the 23 March shootings that drew international condemnation. The bodies of 15 emergency aid workers were uncovered in a mass grave by Red Crescent and UN officials who accused Israeli forces of killing them.
Al-Nassasrah was freed from Israeli detention on 29 April; one other paramedic survived.
Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, told reporters on Thursday that Al-Nassasrah was spared after he pleaded in Hebrew and said his mother was a Palestinian citizen of Israel.
What does Assad say in Hebrew? ‘Don’t shoot. I am Israeli.’ And the soldier got a bit confused. That confusion ... made him survive.
“Assad will be a witness that can put all the Israeli stories in shambles,” he added.
Al-Khatib said the organisation was working with lawyers and considering formal submissions to international courts and to the UN security council. He said:
We think the international community is responsible to provide justice to those killed. We don’t train our people to go and die.
Here’s more on Benjamin Netanyahu’s video statement, in which he accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of being “on the wrong side of history”.
Last night in Washington, something horrific happened. A brutal terrorist shot in cold blood a young, beautiful couple, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim.
The Israeli prime minister said the “terrorist who cruelly gunned them down” did so because “he wanted to kill Jews”.
Netanyahu called out French president Emmanuel Macron and the UK and Canadian prime ministers, Keir Starmer and Mark Carney, for demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and threatening Israel with sanctions.
These three leaders effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power. They want Israel to stand down and accept that Hamas’s army of mass murderers will survive, rebuild.
Addressing the three leaders directly, Netanyahu said:
You’re on the wrong side of justice, you’re on the wrong side of humanity and you’re on the wrong side of history.
Starmer, Macron and Carney 'on the wrong side of humanity,' says Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu has launched a blistering attack on Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney, saying the leaders of the UK, France and Canada are
on the wrong side of justice. You’re on the wrong side of humanity and you’re on the wrong side of history.”
He posted the statement on a video you can see here on X addressing the murder of the two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC.
It follows developments earlier this week when Britain, France and Canada attacked Israel’s expansion of its war as disproportionate, described conditions in Gaza as “intolerable” and threatened a “concrete” response if Israel’s campaign continues.
More to follow…
Trump 'saddened and outraged' by shooting of Israeli embassy staffers
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has told the media that Donald Trump is “saddened and outraged” by the fatal shooting of the two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington DC last night.
She adds: “The department of justice will be prosecuting the perpetrator of this to the full extent of the law.”
Leavitt confirms that Trump spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today.
She says Trump believes things are moving in the right direction, and the two leaders talked about a potential deal with Iran.
Earlier Reuters reported that US special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Rome on Friday for a new round of talks with an Iranian delegation over Tehran’s nuclear program.
It will be the fifth such round of talks. The source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity, that Witkoff will be joined by a top state department official, Michael Anton. “Discussions are expected to be both direct and indirect, as in previous rounds,” the source said.
Benjamin Netanyahu said construction of the first humanitarian aid distribution zones in Gaza would be complete in the coming days, Reuters reported.
It comes after Israel allowed 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment into the enclave on Wednesday. “Ultimately, we intend to have large safe zones in the south of Gaza. The Palestinian population will move there for their own safety, while we conduct combat in other zones,” Netanyahu added in a video statement released by his office on Thursday.
However, Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday that people in Gaza have yet to receive aid deliveries that have crossed over the border and that sending so few trucks was an “invitation for killing” because of the risk of mobbing.
Twenty-nine children and elderly people have died from starvation in Gaza in the last two days, the Palestinian Authority health minister has said. You can read our report here:
Iran 'to hold US responsible for any attacks by Israel on its nuclear sites'
Iran has said that it will hold the US responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites in remarks that set a fraught backdrop for the fifth and probably most important round of talks between Iran and the US on the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, issued the warning on Thursday after reports appeared in the America media claiming US intelligence understood Israel was planning an attack on Iranian nuclear sites – with or without American support – if the talks broke down.
The report may be accurate or alternatively an attempt by the US to strengthen its negotiating hand before the indirect talks in Rome, which are being mediated by Oman. Israel has repeatedly said it will attack Iran’s nuclear sites, while Donald Trump has said the US will do so if the talks break down.
Araghchi said in a letter to the United Nations: “Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime of Israel and will decisively respond to any threat or unlawful act by this regime.”
He said Iran would view Washington as a “participant” in any such attack, and Tehran would have to adopt “special measures” to protect its nuclear sites and material from any attacks or sabotage. Araghchi said the UN nuclear inspectorate, the IAEA, would only be subsequently informed of such steps.
You can read the full piece here
Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Donald Trump on Thursday and they discussed the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, a statement from the Israeli PM’s office said.
The two leaders also discussed the war in Gaza, and Trump expressed his support for Netanyahu’s goals which include the release of all hostages, according to the statement.
The Israeli army has warned residents in the southern Lebanese town of Toul to evacuate the area around a building it said was used by Hezbollah militants.
The “urgent warning” on Thursday was accompanied by a map showing a structure and the 500-metre radius around it marked in red, Agence France-Presse reported.
“You are located near facilities belonging to the terrorist (group) Hezbollah,” the statement said in Arabic, urging people “to evacuate these buildings immediately and move away from them”.
Israel has kept up its air strikes in neighbouring Lebanon despite a November truce aimed at halting more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah that included two months of full-blown war.
Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah fighters were to pull back north of the Litani River and dismantle military infrastructure south of it.
Israel was to withdraw all forces from Lebanon, but it has kept troops in five areas that it deems “strategic”.
The Lebanese army has deployed in the south and has been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure.
Ayman Odeh, a member of the Arab-Jewish Hadash party, was forcefully removed from the podium in the Israeli parliament as he criticised Israel’s war on Gaza and the mounting death toll.
The UN food agency said on Thursday that a handful of bakeries it supports in south and central Gaza have resumed bread production after trucks were finally able to collect cargo from the Kerem Shalom crossing point.
“We are in a race against time to prevent widespread starvation,” said WFP country director Antoine Renard in a statement to journalists.
Smoke rises to the sky after an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel.
The head of the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Thursday its operations in Gaza may stop within days in the absence of fresh supplies and its ambulance fleet was running at only a third of capacity due to fuel shortages.
Flour and other aid began reaching some of Gaza’s most vulnerable areas on Thursday after Israel let some trucks through, but nowhere near enough to make up for shortages caused by an 11-week Israeli blockade, Palestinian officials said.
Israel said it let in 100 trucks carrying baby food and medical equipment on Wednesday, two days after announcing its first relaxation of the blockade under mounting international pressure amid warnings of starvation in Gaza, Reuters reported.
Asked how long his organisation could continue operating in Gaza, Palestine Red Crescent Society president Younis Al-Khatib told reporters in Geneva: “It’s a matter of time. It could be days.
“We are running out of fuel. The capacity of ambulances we work with now is one-third,” he added, saying its gasoline-powered ambulances had already halted but it had some that were running on solar power provided by the United Nations.
The PRCS is part of the world’s largest humanitarian network, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and provides medical care in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
France rejects Israeli comments accusing some European officials of antisemitic incitement, foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told reporters at a weekly news conference, adding these comments were “unjustified” and outrageous”.
“France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn always and without ambiguity all antisemitic acts,” he said.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said he has no interest in running again to be the country’s president, dispelling fears he would seek a third term under the current presidential system which would see he tenure as the Turkey’s leader enter its third decade.
Erdoğan was speaking about the need for a new constitution in Turkey and called on opposition parties to participate during a flight to Hungary, according to local media.
The last time Turkey’s constitution was changed from a ceremonial to executive presidency in 2017 Erdoğan said it re-set the clock on his terms. He had served as president since 2014 and was prime minister before that from 2003. His current term ends in 2028.
Erdoğan told reporters he had “no concern about being re-elected or running for office again” but wanted a new constitution “for our country”. He added: “Our concern is how we can increase the reputation of our country with the steps we will take.”
The statement comes as his most popular challenger, Ekrem Imamoglu, the Istanbul mayor, remains behind bars in pre-trial detention on corruption charges. The move, which the opposition CHP party says was politically motivated, triggered protests across the country for the last month.
Updated
More than 9,000 children treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, says Unicef
The UN humanitarian aid organisation for children, Unicef, says more than 9,000 children have been treated for malnutrition in Gaza this year, and food security experts say tens of thousands of cases are expected in the coming year, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Experts also warn the territory could plunge into famine if Israel does not stop its military campaign and fully lift its blockade – but the World Health Organization said last week that people are already starving.
“Everywhere you look, people are hungry … They point their fingers to their mouths showing that [they] need something to eat,” said Nestor Owomuhangi, the representative of the United Nations Population Fund for the Palestinian territories. “The worst has already arrived in Gaza.”
“Children are already dying from malnutrition and there are more babies in Gaza now who will be in mortal danger if they don’t get fast access to the nutrition supplies needed to save their lives,” said Tess Ingram of Unicef.
Israel’s ambassador to Paris was being summoned to the French foreign ministry on Thursday afternoon after Israeli soldiers fired warning shots at a delegation of diplomats the previous day, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The diplomats, including one from France, came under fire Wednesday while visiting Jenin, a city in the Israel-occupied West Bank. The Israeli military said the visit had been approved but the soldiers fired warning shots when the delegation deviated from an approved route.
French foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine said the shots put diplomats in danger and were “unjustifiable and unacceptable.” The Israeli ambassador was summoned “to explain himself about this extremely serious incident,” the French foreign ministry said.
Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would hold the United States responsible for any Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities, after US media reported that Israel was preparing for a strike.
The report came even as Iran and the US were to meet in Rome on Friday for a fifth round of Omani-mediated nuclear talks.
“We believe that in the event of any attack on the nuclear facilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran by the Zionist regime, the US government will also be involved and bear legal responsibility,” Araghchi said in a letter to the United Nations published on Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Iran strongly warns against any adventurism by the Zionist regime and will respond decisively to any threat or unlawful act by this regime,” Araghchi added. Iran does not recognise Israel and generally refers to it as the “Zionist regime”.
On Tuesday, CNN reported that Israel was making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.
The nuclear talks, which began on 12 April, are the highest-level contact between the longtime foes since the US in 2018 pulled out of a landmark deal between Iran and world powers, during president Donald Trump’s first term in office.
Israel has been threatening to use force against Iranian nuclear sites since the talks began.
On Thursday, Ali Mohammad Naini, the spokesperson for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned of a “devastating” response in case of an Israeli attack.
“If the delusional Zionist regime commits a foolish act and launches an attack, it will definitely receive a devastating and decisive response in its small and vulnerable geography,” said Naini, according to ISNA news agency.
Also on Thursday, a group of demonstrators gathered near the Fordow nuclear enrichment plant south of Tehran to voice their support for the country’s nuclear activities.
The crowd waved Iranian flags and chanted slogans such as “nuclear energy is our inalienable right” and “no compromise, no surrender, only confrontation with America”.
Reuters has a quick snap that the president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society has said that no aid has been distributed to Gaza yet today. Most trucks destined to enter today have been inspected at the Israeli-run Kerem Shalom checkpoint, but have not crossed over yet.
Al Jazeera is reporting that at least 51 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrikes and attacks since dawn.
Palestinian health minister claims there have been 29 'starvation-related' deaths in Gaza
The Palestinian health minister said on Thursday that 29 children and elderly people had died from starvation-related deaths in Gaza in recent days and that many thousands more were at risk.
“In the last couple of days we lost 29 children,” Palestinian health minister Majed Abu Ramadan told reporters, describing them as “starvation-related deaths”. Reuters reports he later clarified that the total included elderly people as well as children.
Majed Abu Ramadan is a minister in the Palestinian Authority based in Ramallah, rather than being part of the Hamas-led health authority in Gaza itself.
Asked to react to earlier comments by the UN aid chief to the BBC that 14,000 babies could die without aid, he said: “The number 14,000 is very realistic … may be even underestimating.”
My colleague in the US, Michael Sainato, has this report
Donald Trump, Republicans and Democrats have condemned antisemitism in the shooting of two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC on Wednesday night.
The French government has instructed police and military officials to put “visible and dissuasive” security in place around Jewish sites after the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC.
The Associated Press (AP) reports that the instructions were issued on Thursday by interior minister Bruno Retailleau and published by his ministry.
The minister said security should be reinforced around Jewish sites including synagogues, schools, shops, media and cultural events after Wednesday’s shooting.
Earlier today Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar implicated that he thought rhetoric from France’s president Emmanuel Macron had been a “blood libel” and that there was a “direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder” from European leaders and officials.
UK's Starmer and Lammy condemn Washington DC shooting
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has condemned the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC.
According to the PA news agency, Starmer said:
I thoroughly condemn the antisemitic attack outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC.
Antisemitism is an evil we must stamp out wherever it appears.
My thoughts are with their colleagues, family and loved ones, and as always, I stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.
Downing Street said the prime minister “stands in solidarity with the Jewish community here in the UK”, adding the government has offered its “full support to the Israeli embassy in London”.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson added:
As you know, we continue to provide around £18m a year in funding for protective security measures for Jewish community sites in the UK.
The government’s approach towards Israel’s actions in Gaza will not change as a result of the killings, the spokesperson indicated, but he added this “does not take away at all from the fact that antisemitism is an evil that must be stamped out wherever it appears”.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy also condemned the “appalling” incident. In a post on X, he said:
Horrified by the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in DC
We condemn this appalling, antisemitic crime.
Our thoughts are with the victims, their families and colleagues at this awful time.”
Here are some of the latest images coming in via the newswires:
Japan makes 'severe protest' to Israel over West Bank warning shots
Japan’s foreign ministry said it had made “a severe protest” to Israel over its military’s firing of warning shots at a diplomatic delegation including Japanese diplomats that were visiting a refugee camp in the Israel-occupied West Bank on Wednesday.
Vice-minister for foreignaffairs Takehiro Funakoshi summoned the Israeli ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, to request a full explanation and preventive measures, reports the Associated Press (AP). Fukakoshi told Gilad the incident was “deeply regrettable and should not have happened”.
Funakoshi also reiterated Japan’s strong concern over Israel’s attempted reoccupation of the Gaza Strip and the expansion of military operations, urging it to allow a full and immediate resumption of aid into Gaza, the foreign ministry said.
Funakoshi also offered his condolences on the killing of two Israeli embassy staff in Washington DC, stating that “terrorism is not tolerated anywhere in the world”.
Israeli foreign minister accuses Europe of 'antisemitic incitement' after Washington DC shooting
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar accused unnamed European officials on Thursday of “toxic antisemitic incitement” he blamed for a hostile climate in which the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington DC took place.
Israel has faced criticism from Europe as it has intensified its military campaign in Gaza, where humanitarian groups have warned that an 11-week Israeli blockade on aid supplies has left the Palestinian territory on the brink of famine.
Saar did not name any countries or officials, reports Reuters, but said the climate of hostility towards Israel was behind the shooting of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC on Wednesday.
He told a news conference in Jerusalem:
There is a direct line connecting antisemitic and anti-Israel incitement to this murder.
This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and organisations, especially from Europe.
Reuters reports that Saar declined to identify which leader or officials he had in mind, but his remarks come after increasingly tough words from western allies of Israel including France and the UK, which joined Canada this week in warning of possible “concrete action” against Israel over its war in Gaza.
US officials said a suspect who chanted pro-Palestinian slogans was in custody.
President Donald Trump and a wide range of European and other foreign leaders condemned the attack.
Saar said the “global atmosphere” against Israel had worsened sharply since the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas militants that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken as hostage back into the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Israel’s air and ground campaign has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians and laid waste to the densely populated territory, drawing mass protests across the world ranging from US university campuses to the streets of European cities.
Last year, the International court of justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take action to prevent alleged acts of genocide in Gaza after a case brought by South Africa that stirred deep anger in Israel.
Saar said:
These libels about genocide, crimes against humanity and murdering babies pave the way exactly for such murders.
Updated
Israel army issues evacuation warning for 14 areas of north Gaza
The Israeli army issued an evacuation warning on Thursday for 14 neighbourhoods in the northern Gaza Strip, including parts of Beit Lahia and Jabalia.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Israeli army said in an Arabic-language statement that it was “operating with intense force in your areas, as terrorist organisations continue their activities and operations in the mentioned regions”.
A similar warning for northern Gaza was issued on Wednesday evening in what the army said was a response to rocket fire.
Italy condemns attack on Israeli embassy employees
Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani has condemned the shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night that left two Israeli embassy staff dead.
Tajani said in a statement:
Antisemitic violence that is the child of hatred against Jews is not acceptable and must be stopped.
He said Italy was committed to fighting all forms of hatred and discrimination and promoting “a culture of respect and peaceful coexistence through education, remembrance and the firm defense of human rights”.
Israel’s military said it intercepted two missiles launched from Yemen and that sirens had sounded twice across the country including in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Thursday, as the Houthis stepped up attacks.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group launched a ballistic missile towards Israel’s Ben Gurion airport and two drones towards the Tel Aviv area, reports Reuters.
Undeterred by Israeli strikes on Yemen, the Houthis said they would continue to fire at Israel even though they have agreed to a ceasefire with the United States to halt attacks on US ships in the Red Sea.
Israel has carried out retaliatory strikes including one on 6 May that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sana’a, and another last week targeting the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif.
France and EU condemn shooting outside Jewish museum in Washington
French president Emmanuel Macron said he had contacted his Israeli counterpart after the killings of two Israeli embassy staff members in Washington DC. Macron posted on X:
To President @Isaac_Herzog, I extended our thoughts to the families and loved ones of the victims.
France’s foreign minister called the shooting on Wednesday “an abhorrent act of antisemitic barbarity”. In a post in English on X, the minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said:
Nothing can justify such violence. My thoughts go to their loved ones, their colleagues, and the State of Israel.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, also condemned the shooting. Kallas said:
There is and should be no place in our societies for hatred, extremism, or antisemitism.
Updated
Aid groups have collected humanitarian aid carried by about 90 trucks, out of a total of nearly 200 that have entered Gaza since Israel began allowing limited goods in earlier this week, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), said the trucks that entered carried medicine, wheat flour and nutrition supplies, reports the Associated Press (AP). Aid groups faced significant challenges distributing the aid because of insecurity, the risk of looting and coordination issues with Israeli authorities, Laerke added.
Here is the Guardian’s report on the fatal shooting near Washington DC Jewish museum that Irish deputy premier Simon Harris commented on:
A suspect is in custody after shooting dead two Israeli embassy staff outside a Jewish museum in Washington on Wednesday night.
The gunman, named by police as Elias Rodriguez, 30, of Chicago, approached a group of four people leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum and opened fire, killing a man and woman.
Metropolitan police chief Pamela Smith said the shooter had been pacing outside the museum, which is steps away from the FBI’s field office, before the shooting.
After killing the pair, he walked inside, where event security detained him. The suspect yelled: “Free, free Palestine,” after he was arrested, police said.
He was not on any security watchlists and there were no heightened security threats before the shooting, officials said. The firearm was retrieved as well, officials said.
The two victims of the shooting have been named as Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim. They were both Israeli embassy employees, and, according to the Israeli ambassador, Yechiel Leiter, they were a young couple who were about to become engaged.
“Yaron and Sarah were our friends and colleagues,” the embassy said on X. “They were in the prime of their lives. This evening, a terrorist shot and killed them as they exited an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in DC.”
Tánaiste Simon Harris also condemned shots fired near an EU delegation in the West Bank on Wednesday. Two Irish officials were among those present when what the Israeli military called “warning shots” were fired near delegates.
“This is an utterly, utterly inappropriate and indeed illegal action,” Ireland’s deputy premier said, adding:
A number of diplomats, including the Irish head of mission to Palestine and his deputy, were visiting Jenin, a region in the West Bank. They were visiting, effectively, an area that’s a refugee camp. They were standing at the gates of that refugee camp, and the governor of Jenin, a member of the Palestinian Authority, was speaking and giving them an update.
When his speech ended and the diplomats began to disperse, my understanding from speaking to our people on the ground is that a number of members of the Israel Defense Forces stepped forward and fired warning shots over their heads, or what is described as warning shots – whether they were warning shots or otherwise, they were shots – and firing shots at diplomats is an absolute, clear breach of international law.
Asked about the Israeli authorities’ explanation that shots were fired because diplomats had deviated from the agreed route, Harris said:
Do they think we’re thick? They knew that diplomats were visiting the region, and the diplomats notified the Israel Defense Forces in advance.
I don’t accept in any manner or means the Israel Defense Forces’ explanation in relation to this. I find it utterly offensive, in fact. There needs to be – as we’ve said at an EU level – a full investigation in relation to this, and those who fired the shots, or those who gave the commands to fire the shots, need to be held accountable.
Harris also condemned the shooting of two Israeli embassy officials at an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC as a “vile antisemitic murder”.
He said a young woman from the Irish embassy was also at the event at the museum. Harris said:
This is a vile antisemitic murder of two young members of the Israeli embassy – a young couple, I believe, who were due to very shortly be engaged.
It is a despicable act. It’s a heinous crime. It is antisemitic and it’s vile.
Ireland's deputy premier accuses Israel of 'genocidal activity' in Gaza
Ireland’s deputy premier has accused the Israeli government of “genocidal activity” in Gaza, reports the PA news agency.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said it was “clear” that Israel wants to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as part of what he said was “a consistent pattern of war crimes”.
He said the world had “not done enough” to put pressure on Israel to change course, and said he would look to draft a bill that would ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.
Asked on Newstalk radio whether what was happening in Gaza was ethnic cleansing, Harris said:
In light of the very clear comments that we’ve seen from the Israeli government in recent days, we’re very much now in the space of genocidal activity.
I think that is just a statement of fact, we have seen a consistent pattern of war crimes, and we now have an Israeli government that is being very blunt in terms of outlining what it is intending to carry out in Gaza and they’ve dropped the pretence, quite frankly, in terms of what they actually want to achieve.
The foreign affairs minister also said that the Israeli government’s “convoluted” scheme “to pretend” to provide the most basic level of aid to thousands of starving Palestinians was “despicable”. Harris said:
This idea that the Israeli government will come up with some sort of a convoluted scheme to effectively pretend to be providing the most basic level of aid is despicable.
Benjamin Netanyahu has been very clear about this in recent days, when he has effectively said, to paraphrase him, the only reason we’re doing this is to allow us to continue what he describes as their ‘political objectives’, and their political objectives now are very clear.
They want to clear the Gazan Strip, they want to clear Gaza of Palestinian people, and that is a war crime and the forcible displacement of people, as you say, with the offer of food somewhere else, it really is despicable.
He said that a two-state solution seemed “further away than ever before” and that the EU-Israel association agreement should be suspended as it is being reviewed.
Updated
UN dispatches aid as Netanyahu says he wants full control of Gaza
The United Nations (UN) said on Wednesday it had “dispatched” about 90 trucks carrying aid into Gaza, as international pressure intensified over Israel’s renewed offensive and blockade of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
The first aid distribution in Gaza since early March came as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a “temporary ceasefire”, but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring the entire territory under its control.
Three days after Israel announced it would allow in limited aid, the UN “collected around 90 truckloads of goods from the Kerem Shalom crossing and dispatched them into Gaza“, said Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN secretary general António Guterres, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The development came hours after Israeli troops fired what the military called “warning shots” near a delegation of foreign diplomats visiting the occupied West Bank, triggering global condemnation.
In Gaza, the Hamas government media office reported the arrival of 87 aid trucks, which it said were allocated to international and local organisations to meet “urgent humanitarian needs”.
Netanyahu said it was necessary to “avoid a humanitarian crisis in order to preserve our freedom of operational action” in Gaza.
Palestinians have been scrambling for basic supplies after weeks of near-total isolation, with Israel’s blockade leading to critical food and medicine shortages.
Israel has meanwhile kept up its bombardment, with Gaza’s health ministry reporting Wednesday that the bodies of 82 people were taken to hospitals across the territory over the previous 24 hours.
More on this in a moment, but first here are some other key updates:
Two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington were fatally shot while leaving an event at a Jewish museum. The suspect yelling, “Free, free Palestine” after he was arrested, according to Washington police and federal authorities.
Netanyahu said Israeli forces had “probably” killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. He said Israel has achieved “a lot” in its “clear and justified” goal of defeating Hamas, but he adds that “our work isn’t over yet”.
The Israeli leader said the entire of the Gaza Strip will be under Israeli security control by the end of its new offensive. Netanyahu said he is “prepared” to end the war “under clear conditions that ensure Israel’s security”, which would include the Palestinian territory being “completely disarmed” and Israel “making the most of the Trump plan”.
International criminal court (ICC) prosecutors have urged judges to reject a request by Israel to scrap arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defence minister while the court reconsiders its jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank. In a 10-page written submission posted on the ICC website late Wednesday, prosecutors argue there is “no basis to withdraw or vacate” the pending warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant.
Ireland’s deputy premier has accused the Israeli government of “genocidal activity” in Gaza. Tánaiste Simon Harris said it was “clear” that Israel wants to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as part of what he said was “a consistent pattern of war crimes”.
The UN secretary general condemned Israel’s firing at diplomats which he said was “unacceptable”. Countries including the Netherlands, Turkey, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Ireland and France all condemned the incident. The British, French and other European ministers summoned the Israeli ambassadors in their respective capitals to explain the “unacceptable” incident.
