Rafah massacre: Biden pushing for six-week Gaza fighting halt after deadly Rafah strikes – live

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it was ready to support any action leading to the release of Israeli hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza.

“We are ready to support any action that will lead to the release of the hostages and a ceasefire. But we believe that the actions should be constructive, aimed at a comprehensive solution of the problem within the framework of international law and previously-adopted Security Council resolutions,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

If every war has a tipping point, the death of little Hind Rajab should be it.

The six-year-old was killed in Gaza City by what undeniably looks like Israeli gunfire, while trapped in a car, surrounded by the bodies of her dead relatives.

An ambulance that had reportedly received permission to rescue Hind from the unthinkable scene was also fired on. Two paramedics lost their lives. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has accused Israel of deliberately targeting them.

Israel has not released an official statement regarding Hind, her family, or the deaths of the paramedics – naysayers will argue that we can’t possibly attribute culpability; that we don’t know what really happened.

But all too often, the simplest explanation is the right one. And the facts speak for themselves, no matter which way you look at it: a little girl died, alone and terrified, in unimaginable circumstances. Her death shames us all.

Victoria Richards writes.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Monday appealed for a full ceasefire to end the Gaza war after talks with Joe Biden.

Mr Biden earlier said he was pushing for a six-week pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza to broker a hostage release deal and allow the flow of more humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

But Jordan has repeatedly pushed for a complete ceasefire since Israel’s offensive began in Gaza in retaliation against Hamas’s attack in southern Israel.

“We cannot afford an Israeli attack on Rafah. It is certain to produce another humanitarian catastrophe,” said the Jordanian monarch.

He added: “We cannot stand by and let this continue. We need a lasting ceasefire now – this war must end”.

Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinian gunmen in fighting in the southern and central Gaza Strip over the last 24 hours, the military said on Tuesday.

It said more than 30 gunmen were killed in Khan Younis, a southern city close to Rafah on Gaza’s Egyptian border, where Israeli leaders have said they plan to operate next in a bid to destroy remaining Hamas battalions.

China has urged Israel to stop its military offensive in Gaza’s Rafah city “as soon as possible” after Benjamin Netanyahu’s forces killed at least 67 people in an attack on Monday.

“China… opposes and condemns actions that harm civilians and violate international law,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

China asked Israel to “stop its military operation as soon as possible, make every effort to avoid innocent civilian casualties… to prevent a more serious humanitarian disaster in the Rafah area.”

More than 12,300 Palestinian minors and 8,400 women have been killed so far in Israel’s relentless offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Minors made up about 43 per cent of the total number of 28,340 Palestinians killed so far. Women and minors together make up 73 per cent of those killed in the war, according to the ministry’s figures.

The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel says its forces have killed roughly 10,000 Hamas fighters, without providing evidence. It blames Hamas for the death toll, saying it embeds in civilian areas.

In its report, the Gaza ministry told the Associated Press that more than 7,000 people are missing and presumed dead. It said 67,984 people have been wounded in the war.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has called on president Joe Biden to stop providing weapons to Israel instead of simply demanding that the two sides in the war in Gaza stop killing civilians.

“If you believe that too many people are being killed, maybe you should provide less arms to prevent so many people being killed,” Mr Borrell told reporters in Brussels.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 28,000 Palestinians in the territory, displaced over 80 per cent of the population and set off a massive humanitarian crisis.

Mr Borrell said that it’s not good enough for countries to just send their delegations to Tel Aviv and beg Israel not to kill so many civilians, saying: “How many is too many? Which is the standard? (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu doesn’t listen to anyone.”

In an impassioned plea, the EU’s top diplomat also expressed concern about the likelihood of an imminent Israeli ground assault on Rafah following Monday’s airstrikes that killed 67 Palestinians.

“They are going to evacuate. Where, to the moon? Where are they going to evacuate these people?” he asked.

The Israeli military on Tuesday announced that two officers, including a battalion commander, and one soldier were killed during fighting in the Gaza Strip.

All three men – aged 36, 30 and 27 – were from the 630th Reserve Battalion of the Southern Brigade.

Meanwhile, the armed wing of the Hamas militants on Monday said that three of the eight Israeli hostages who sustained injuries following Israeli airstrikes had died from their wounds.

“We will postpone the announcement of the names and pictures of the dead for the coming days until the fate of the remaining wounded becomes clear,” the Al Qassam Brigades said in a statement.