Israel-Gaza war live: Fresh strikes reported on Rafah as US says Israel’s actions do not cross red line | Israel-Gaza war

It’s past 9.30am Gaza and Tel Avivwelcome to our latest live blog on Israel-Gaza war and beyond Middle East crisis.

Israel struck new blows in Rafa on Wednesday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

AFP journalists in Rafah reported fresh strikes early Wednesday, hours after witnessing and a Palestinian A security source said Israeli tanks had penetrated into the heart of the city.

“People are currently in their homes because anyone who moves is being shot at by Israeli drones,” a resident Abdel Khatib said AFP.

It comes as the White House it says in Israel’s Rafah operation has not crossed the US red line.

“We haven’t seen them break Rafah,” said a spokesman for the US National Security Council. John Kirby.

Meanwhile, Algeria has submitted a project for a decision on United Nations Security Council members calling for an end to Israel’s offensive in Rafah and for an “immediate ceasefire,” according to draft text seen by several news agencies.

The UN Security Council is due to discuss the war again on Wednesday, but it is unclear when the vote on the resolution will take place.

More on that in a bit, but first, here’s a rundown of the latest developments:

• Israeli tanks reached Rafa’s middle on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing witnesses. They also moved towards the western districts, taking up positions at Top of Zurub Hill, after a heavy bombardment. Not all Palestinians sheltering there can move, and some have decided it is more dangerous to move because fighting continues in much of Gaza and there is little shelter, food, water or sanitation elsewhere. The Israeli military stated that his forces continued to operate in Rafa area without commenting on the reported progress in the city center.

• The Israeli army denied attacking a tent camp west of Rafah on Tuesday after Gaza health officials said Israeli tank fire killed at least 21 people there, in an area that Israel has designated as a civilian evacuation zone, Reuters reports. Two days after an Israeli airstrike on another camp sparked global condemnation, Gaza’s emergency services said four tank shells on Tuesday hit a group of tents in al-Mawasia coastal strip designated by Israel as an extended humanitarian zone, where it advised civilians in Rafah to go for safety.

• Ann a Guardian investigation revealed how the former head of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, threatened the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in a series of secret meetings in which he tries to pressure her to drop a war crimes investigation. An investigation with Israeli magazines +972 and Local Call may also reveal how Israel worked almost decade-long secret “war” against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance, hacking, pressure, defamation and alleged threats against senior ICC officials in an attempt to thwart the court’s investigations.

• US aid efforts to Gaza have since failed the temporary wharf built by the military broke up in a heavy sea, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The $320 million pier was intended to provide a key shipping line for aid by sea to reach starving Palestinians and ease the humanitarian disaster. The effort is now on hold for at least a week.

• Ireland, Spain and Norway have officially recognized a Palestinian state. A joint decision by two EU countries plus Norway, a nation with a strong diplomatic tradition of peacemaking, could generate momentum for the recognition of a Palestinian state by other EU countries and could spur further steps at the UN that would deepen the international conflict of Israel isolation.

• Denmark’s parliament voted against a bill to recognize a Palestinian state on Tuesdayafter the Danish foreign minister had earlier stated that the necessary prerequisites for an independent state were lacking.

• Nikki Haley, the failed Republican presidential candidate, signed Israeli artillery shells with the caption “Finish them!” on a Memorial Day visit to Israel. The graphic show of support from the former South Carolina governor came during a trip to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, where she was accompanied by Danny Danon, Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations and a prominent hawkish member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party in the Knesset .