Live Updates: Algeria proposes UNSC resolution calling for truce in Gaza

Wednesday May 29, 2024

2300 GMT — Algeria has circulated a proposed UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and ordering Israel to halt its military invasion in the southern city of Rafah immediately.

The draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, also demands that the ceasefire be respected by all parties. It also calls for the immediate release of all hostages taken during Hamas' blitz in southern Israel's military and settlements on October 7.

The draft demands compliance with previous council resolutions that call for the opening of all border crossings and humanitarian access to Gaza's 2.4 million people who desperately need food and other aid.

The proposed resolution says that "the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip constitutes a threat to regional and international peace and security."

The draft says Israel "shall immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in Rafah."

The draft condemns "the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, including women and children, and civilian infrastructure" and reiterates the council’s demand for all parties to comply with international law requiring the protection of civilians.

The United States shielded its ally Israel many times and has vetoed multiple resolutions demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

READ MOREUS says Israel hasn't breached Biden's 'red line' despite Rafah massacre

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2300 GMT — US-built pier will be removed from Gaza coast and repaired

The Pentagon has said the US-built temporary pier taking humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians has been damaged in rough seas and weather and will be removed from the coast of Gaza to be repaired.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters that over the next two days the pier will be pulled out and sent to the southern Israeli city of Ashdod [Isdud in Arabic], where US Central Command will repair it.

Singh says the fixes will take "at least over a week" and then the pier will need to be anchored back into the beach in Gaza.

The US-built pier has been criticised since its inception, with Palestinians and rights activists saying Washington should instead do more to pressure Israel to allow steady deliveries to enter by land.

Israel keeps brutal siege on land entries in tact ignoring global pleas and amidst starvation in many parts of the enclave.

2100 GMT — Mexico seeks to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel

Mexico has formally requested to intervene in the case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has announced.

"Mexico, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration of intervention in the case concerning 'Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip' (South Africa v. Israel)," said the ICJ in a statement.

Article 63 entitles any state party to a convention to participate in it, which is the case with Mexico.

In its petition, Mexico argues that "genocidal intent" encompasses mass killings and the pervasive destruction of culture, which could be understood as "cultural cleansing" and "cultural warfare," and a "clear conduct intended to severely harm the targeted group as a part of a policy aimed at the eradication of said culture."

2221 GMT — Biden's blurred red lines under scrutiny after Rafah carnage

Joe Biden's red lines over Israel's invasion on Rafah have kept shifting, but the US president faces growing pressure to take a firmer stance after a deadly strike in the Gaza city.

Despite global outrage over the attack in which 45 people were killed and 250 wounded, the White House insisted that it did not believe Israel had launched the major invasion that Biden has warned against.

John Kirby, the US National Security Council spokesman, said that Biden had been consistent and was not "moving the stick" on what defined an all-out military invasion by key ally Israel.

But Biden faces a difficult balancing act both domestically and internationally over Gaza, especially in a year when the 81-year-old Democrat is locked in an election battle with Donald Trump.

"Biden wants to appear tough on Rafah, and has really tried to be stern with (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, but in an election year, his red lines are increasingly blurred," Colin Clarke, director of research at the Soufan Group, told the AFP news agency.

"I think he'll continue shifting those lines, ducking and weaving, largely in response to events on the ground."

READ MOREFresh Israeli strikes on Rafah tents kill, injure dozens of Palestinians

1900 GMT — Palestine reports 3,222 massacres in Gaza since October

The Israeli occupation army has carried out 3,222 massacres in Gaza since October 7, 2023, killing nearly 36,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring over 81,000 others.

In a statement, the Gaza media office provided information about the devastating attacks that Israel has been carrying out for the last 235 days on Gaza, saying Israeli army has "carried out 3,222 massacres in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023."

The statement said that 15,328 children and 10,171 women were killed in the Israeli army's attacks, 10,000 people are under rubble or missing, and the number of dead reaching hospitals is 36,096, and the number of injured is 81,136.

2130 GMT — California academic workers strike in support of pro-Palestine protests

Discord from last month's violent mob attack on pro-Palestine students and activists encamped at the University of California, Los Angeles, has flared again as academic workers staged a protest strike on campus protesting UCLA's response to the incident.

Unionised academic researchers, graduate teaching assistants and post-doctoral scholars at UCLA walked off the job over what they regard as unfair labor practices in the university's handling of pro-Palestine demonstrations in recent weeks, organisers said.

They were joined by fellow academic workers at two other University of California campuses — UC Davis near Sacramento, and UC Santa Cruz, where the protest strike began on May 20.

The strike was organised by the United Auto Workers union Local 4811, which represents some 48,000 non-tenured academic employees total across 10 University of California campuses and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

For our live updates from Tuesday, May 28, 2024, click here.