Middle East updates: Israel marks 76th anniversary amid war

Around 450,000 Palestinians were driven out of Rafah in Gaza's south over the past week, according to the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees.

There were roughly 1.3 million people sheltering in Rafah before Israel began pushing into the city, which Israel has said is the last Hamas stronghold.

An additional 100,000 people have also fled northern Gaza, a UN spokesman said, following an evacuation order by the Israeli military battling Hamas militants there.

In a roundup of its activities, the Israel Defense Forces said its forces had eliminated "several armed terrorist" cells in close-quarter fighting on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

In the east of the city, the IDF said it had also destroyed militant cells and a launch post from where missiles were being fired at Israeli troops.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who also serves as foreign minister, said Israel's operation in Rafah has pushed cease-fire negotiations "backward." 

"Especially in the past few weeks, we have seen some momentum building but unfortunately things didn't move in the right direction and right now we are on a status of almost a stalemate," he said during the Qatar Economic Forum.

"Of course, what happened with Rafah has set us backward," he added.

"There is no clarity how to stop the war from the Israeli side. I don't think that they are considering this as an option... even when we are talking about the deal and leading to a potential cease-fire."

Qatar, Egypt and the US have mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist militant group classified by Israel and several other countries as a terrorist organization. 

The Qatari capital, Doha, has been home to Hamas' political office since 2012.

The three mediators have warned Israel against a full-scale assault on Rafah, the city in south Gaza where thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter throughout the war. 

Palestinians on Wednesday will mark the 76th year of Nakba, which means "catastrophic" in Arabic. It refers to their mass expulsion during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that led to the creation of Israel. 

Some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes and the event had a profound impact on Palestinian people. Today, the Palestinian refugee community numbers around 6 million.

The ongoing war in Gaza has displaced around 1.7 million Palestinians internally, with a UN estimate saying it would take until 2040 to rebuild destroyed homes. 

 

A day after a somber Memorial Day in Israel, the country is marking its 76th Independence Day with a muted celebration from sunset on Monday to sundown on Tuesday.

Israelis observed a moment of silence, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing that "our war of independence is not over yet. It continues even today... We are determined to win this struggle."

Israel's Independence Day celebrates the creation of the state in 1948. This year, the usual firework displays were canceled, and the traditional torch-lighting ceremony was a televised event.

Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza are facing an impossible situation as the war there continues. 

Around 360,000 Palestinians have been driven out of Rafah in Gaza's south over the past week by escalating Israeli military operations, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees said Monday. Israel has said the city, which is sheltering Gaza's big refugee population, is the last stronghold of Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, Israel and others.

The war in Gaza started on October 7 when Hamas militants attacked Israel and killed some 1,200 people and took another 250 people hostage. Israel's subsequent counteroffensive has killed at least 35,091 people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. 

On Monday, there were demonstrations in Tel Aviv and Binyamina calling for the release of the hostages, with protesters chanting: "No hostages, no independence."

ss/rm (AP, AFP, Reuters)