Live Updates: Illegal settlers storm Al Aqsa Mosque, perform Talmudic rituals

Wednesday May 29, 2024

09:01 GMT — Dozens of illegal Israeli settlers stormed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem amid restrictions on Palestinians' entry into the mosque.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted eyewitnesses who said the settlers stormed the holy mosque from its western Al-Mugharbah Gate area, the gate which is used by the settlers to storm into the mosque.

The settlers, under the Israeli forces' protection, did provocative tours inside the mosque and performed Talmudic rituals inside.

It added that the Israeli forces intensified their restrictions in Jerusalem's Old City area and gates leading to the mosque.

09:14 GMT — WHO delivers aid to north of Gaza for 1st time in 2 weeks, says Tedros

A World Health Organization mission reached the north of Gaza for the first time in more than two weeks, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The mission delivered fuel, hospital beds, medicines and other medical supplies to Al Ahli hospital, Tedros announced on X.

"Amid ongoing intense hostilities, @WHO and partners still managed to reach Al-Ahli Hospital in #Gaza city. First mission to the north of the Strip since 13 May," said Tedros.

He said the supplies were enough to cover the needs of 1,500 people but insisted that much more was needed.

09:09 GMT — 'Enough is enough': F1 icon Lewis Hamilton says Israel's attacks on Gaza 'must stop'

Seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has called for a halt to Israel's attacks on Gaza that have continued since more than seven months and caused a humanitarian catastrophe.

"Enough is enough. We cannot continue to watch this tragedy unfold and not speak up. The trauma and terror so many, but particularly innocent children, are experiencing is horrifying. This must stop - for the children, for their families, and for their lives," the 39-year-old Mercedes driver from UK wrote in an Instagram story.

Hamilton also shared a Reels video on children living in Rafah, the southern Gaza city Israel invaded despite a ruling of the International Court of Justice against it.

07:34 GMT — Saudi Arabia condemns Israel's 'continuous genocidal massacres' against Palestinians in Rafah

Saudi Arabia strongly condemned what it described as Israel's "continuous genocidal massacres" against displaced Palestinians in Rafah, southern Gaza.

At least 21 people were killed on Tuesday in Israeli shelling of a refugee tent encampment in al Mawasi area west of Rafah, the Rafah Emergency Committee said.

It came after at least 45 civilians were killed and dozens injured in an Israeli strike on a tent encampment in Tel al Sultan on Sunday.

In a statement, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said the Israeli massacres against Palestinians continue "without deterrence by continuing to target the tents of defenseless Palestinian refugees in Rafah."

06:00 GMT — Algeria proposes UNSC resolution calling for truce in Gaza

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.

05:23 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.

04:30 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.

03:21 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.

02:30 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.

02:00 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.

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