CAIRO -- Officials from Egypt, Israel and the United States are scheduled to hold a meeting on Sunday in Cairo to discuss the reopening of the Rafah crossing in Gaza, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV channel reported.

GAZA -- Hamas announced on Thursday that it has informed mediators of its readiness to reach a "full agreement," including a comprehensive hostages-prisoners exchange deal, if Israel stops its war in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the Gaza-ruling Palestinian faction.

Hamas said it has showed flexibility and positivity in response to the efforts of the mediators throughout all previous indirect negotiating rounds, but Israel used these negotiations "as a cover for the continuation of aggression" against the Palestinian people, citing military operations in Rafah and seizure of the crossing as evidence.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions will not accept to be part of this policy by continuing negotiations in light of "aggression, killing, siege, starvation and genocide of our people," it added.

Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Tuesday that Israel had handed over a document with the Israeli proposal to Qatar and Egypt to resume negotiations for the exchange of detainees with Hamas and a ceasefire in Gaza.

The last round of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, hosted by Egypt for two days earlier this month, stalled after the Israeli attack on Rafah city in southern Gaza Strip.

Hamas's inclination to seek an agreement came amid continued fighting in Rafah city despite international condemnations of the Israeli attack.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on Oct. 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

JERUSALEM, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army announced on Wednesday that it has gained full operational control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land along the border between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Spokesman Daniel Hagari said the corridor served as Hamas's "oxygen tube" through which they smuggled weapons into the Gaza Strip.

During the operation, the forces located along the corridor dozens of loaded launchers ready to fire rockets and launch pits from which Hamas fired rockets and mortar bombs into Israel, Hagari said.

"Hamas took advantage of the Philadelphi area and built these infrastructures just tens of meters away from the border with Egypt so that we wouldn't attack them," Hagari said.

He added that the Israeli forces also located about 20 tunnels in the corridor area, which are being investigated and neutralized.

The Philadelphi Corridor, spanning 14 kilometers in length and several hundred meters in width, was established following the return of the Sinai Peninsula from Israel to Egypt in 1982, as stipulated by the peace agreements between the two countries.

It was under Israeli supervision until 2005 when the IDF left the Gaza Strip, and its control passed to the Palestinian Authority. After two years, Hamas took over the corridor until the current conflict.

RAMALLAH - Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency, blamed the US administration on Tuesday for the ongoing escalation in Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip.

"We hold the US administration fully responsible for the situation in Rafah and across Gaza," Abu Rudeineh told reporters in Ramallah, adding that the Israeli side ignored the ruling of an international court and has turned the city "unlivable".

He criticized the US administration's silence on Israeli actions, calling it an endorsement of what he termed as a "genocidal war" against Palestinians.

Abu Rudeineh also pointed out the continued political, financial, and military support provided by the United States to Israel, despite widespread international opposition to Israeli aggression.

He warned of the potential complete reoccupation of Gaza with "unprecedented American support" for the Israeli government's plans, urging immediate compliance with the International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s ruling.

Israel has been persisting in its assault on Rafah, where over 1 million displaced Palestinians are taking refuge, despite the recent ruling by ICJ ordering a halt to its attacks.

Additionally, Abu Rudeineh saw the recognition of Palestine by Spain, Norway, and Ireland as a sign of growing European support, with ongoing efforts from Palestine and other Arab states to persuade more countries to recognize the Palestinian state.

More than 50 international rights groups have called for an official declaration of famine in Gaza, blaming Israel's alleged use of starvation as a "weapon", which contravenes international law.

They made their demand on Sunday in a collective statement published on the website of the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a nonprofit organization for the protection of human rights.

The statement said food insecurity is increasing throughout Gaza due to Israel's "crimes of starvation", which are being used as a weapon against the Palestinians and are "part of a larger crime of genocide".

It said food security levels have significantly declined "as a result of the Israeli army's ground operation in Rafah", which began on May 7. Israel blocked the entry of humanitarian aid trucks at the southern city's border crossing with Egypt on May 6.

According to the United Nations, starvation of the civilian population is illegal under International Humanitarian Law and in direct breach of UNSC Resolution 2417.When the UN General Assembly adopted The Right to Food Resolution on Dec 16, 2021, with 186 yay and two nay votes — Israel and the United States were the only ones against it.

About 80 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people have fled their homes. Severe hunger is widespread, and UN officials said parts of the territory are experiencing famine.

"Israel must be pressured to act immediately to implement the precautionary measures announced by the International Court of Justice regarding the opening of the Rafah crossing," the statement read.

The ICJ on Friday ordered Israel to stop its military offensive in Rafah with immediate effect, noting that the situation had deteriorated since its previous rulings on Jan 26 and March 28, where Israel had been asked to take all measures to prevent genocidal acts and ensure unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said in response to the ruling: "The charges of genocide brought by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague are false, outrageous and morally repugnant."

In a post on X, Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said 360 trucks were transferred to Gaza on Sunday, including 124 aid trucks that arrived at the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem border crossing from Egypt. It also said 37 pallets of aid were airdropped over Gaza and six tankers of fuel entered the territory.

The joint statement also noted that the majority of goods entering Gaza through the Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem crossing are for merchants and that the people living there — the majority of whom have lost their means of support — must pay for them.

'Not enough'

"This means that even with the very limited aid that Israel has provided, the amount of relief needed to address the growing number of displaced people in the south is insufficient," the statement said.

The goods are "completely blocked" from getting to areas north of the Gaza Valley, including Gaza City and North Gaza governorates, where people are experiencing a severe shortage of vegetables, meat and other foods.

The aid groups blamed Israel for leading Gaza to this "catastrophic humanitarian and food crisis".

Ahmad Ghouri, a senior lecturer in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom, said Israel "has not fulfilled its obligations".

It "has failed and, in fact, refused to comply with the ICJ orders leading to ongoing violations of human rights", he told China Daily.

On Tuesday, 19 NGOs, including ActionAid and Oxfam, demanded that all permanent and elected members of the Security Council enforce the ICJ's orders on Israel's actions in Rafah and return to talks with Palestine for peace.

Agencies contributed to this story.

jan@chinadailyapac.com

Editor's note: As Spain, Ireland and Norway formally recognize the State of Palestine, China Daily looks at the impact it could have on the Gaza conflict as well as the plight of the Palestinians in light of continued Israeli attacks.

Spain, Norway and Ireland formally recognized the State of Palestine on Tuesday in a coordinated effort by the three western European nations designed to mount international pressure on Israel, which slammed the diplomatic move that will have no immediate impact on its assaults in Gaza.

With the number of European countries recognizing the State of Palestine continuing to grow, Israel and its staunch ally, the United States, are becoming more isolated than ever in the face of increasing acceptance of a two-state solution as the only route to peace.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told his nation in a televised address from Madrid that "this is a historic decision that has a single goal, and that is to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace".

Ireland and Norway joined Spain in formalizing a decision they had jointly announced the previous week.

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz quickly lashed out at Spain on X, saying Sanchez's government was "being complicit in inciting genocide against Jews and war crimes".

Last week's announcement by Spain, Ireland and Norway triggered an angry response from Israel, which summoned the nations' ambassadors in Tel Aviv to the foreign ministry.

Several other European countries, including Malta and Slovenia, have also signaled their intent to recognize a Palestinian state. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said last week that Belgium was waiting for the "right moment".

Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob said on Monday his government will decide on the recognition of a Palestinian state on Thursday and forward its decision to parliament for final approval, The Associated Press reported.

Shada Islam, a Brussels-based commentator on EU affairs, suggested that the recognition by Norway, Ireland, and Spain is "almost certainly" going to be followed by Belgium, Malta and Slovenia in the coming weeks, Xinhua reported.

"The move by Spain, Ireland and Norway will further isolate Israel in the UN … Their decision sends a strong message to Palestinian people that at least some EU member states have retained their moral compass," Islam told Xinhua.

In March, Slovenia and Malta signed a statement with Spain and Ireland expressing their willingness to recognize a Palestinian state.

Awni Khattab, a displaced Gazan, said he hoped the recognition would lead to territorial sovereignty for Palestinians. "We hope this decision will be implemented and that a Palestinian state will be established along the (June) 1967 borders," he told Agence France-Presse.

Increasingly isolated

Despite angry reactions from Israel, which has found itself increasingly isolated after more than seven months of conflict in Gaza, calls are growing louder for a two-state solution to the crisis in the Middle East.

The two-state solution and the establishment of a "credible Palestinian state" will serve "not just the interest of the Palestinians that delivers their right to self-determination", said Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, who was in Brussels.

The two-state solution adopted in UN resolutions has met resistance from Israel and the US for decades.

The White House said on May 22 that US President Joe Biden believes a Palestinian state should be achieved through negotiations, rather than unilateral recognition, Reuters reported. The Palestinian Authority has slammed the US for its blind support of Israel.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to the story.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com.

GAZA - At least 21 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured on Tuesday in an Israeli bombardment of displaced persons' tents in the Al-Mawasi area in the west of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian security and medical sources.

Security sources told Xinhua that Israeli artillery bombed tents for the displaced in the Al-Mawasi area on the seashore west of Rafah.

Al-Mawasi was a humanitarian zone where residents in Gaza used to take refuge in based on the Israeli army's order.

Local medical sources told Xinhua that the Israeli bombing led to the killing of at least 20 people, including women and children, and dozens of injuries.

CAIRO - Egypt has warned against the safety risks facing its army personnel deployed on the border with the Gaza Strip, Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV channel reported Monday, citing a high-ranking security source.

Commenting on the killing of an Egyptian soldier near the Rafah crossing earlier in the day, the source said investigation committees have been formed to find out the details of the incident to determine responsibilities and prevent its future recurrence.

The Egyptian army announced on Monday the killing of an Egyptian border guard in the Rafah border area with Gaza in a shooting incident.

The Israel Defense Forces also confirmed that a "shooting incident" occurred "on the Egyptian border", after Israeli media reported an exchange of fire between Israeli and Egyptian soldiers near the Rafah crossing on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian security source said initial investigations into the incident indicated that a shooting incident erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants, leading to gunfire from several directions and prompting the Egyptian soldier to take "protective measures".

The source affirmed that the international community must bear its responsibilities regarding the seriousness of the situation on the Egyptian border with Gaza, not only for security purposes but also for the entry of humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave.

BRUSSELS — Relations between Europe and Israel took a nosedive on the eve of diplomatic recognition of a Palestinian state by Ireland, Spain and Norway.

Even though the European Union has been steadfast in condemning the Oct 7 Hamas attack in Israel, the bloc has been equally critical of Israel's ensuing offensive, The Associated Press reported.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell threw his full weight to support the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, including the leaders of Hamas.

"The prosecutor of the court has been strongly intimidated and accused of antisemitism," Borrell said. "The word antisemitic, it's too heavy. It's too important."

Angry words abounded on Monday, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accusing Spain of "rewarding terror" by recognizing a Palestinian state, and saying that "the days of the Inquisition are over".

Spain's foreign minister condemned a "scandalous and execrable" video posted by his Israeli counterpart suggesting that Hamas would be grateful to Spain.

Katz posted a short video on X on Sunday, with the label "Hamas: Gracias Espana", or "Hamas: Thanks Spain".

The video shows the Spanish flag and then a couple dancing to flamenco music. Footage of Hamas fighters is interspersed in the video, including people fleeing during the Oct 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.

"We are not going to fall into provocations. The video is scandalous and execrable," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told a news conference in Brussels. "It's scandalous because all the world knows, including my colleague in Israel, that Spain condemned the actions of Hamas from the first moment. And execrable for the use of one of those symbols of Spanish culture."

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said on Saturday that the conflict in Gaza is a "real genocide", echoing a comment by Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz who last week also described the conflict as a genocide.

The Israeli embassy in Madrid "regrets" Robles' comments in a statement posted on Saturday on X.

Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, declared last week it would recognize a Palestinian state on May 28.Israel said this amounted to a "reward for terrorism" and recalled its ambassadors from the three countries.

Attacks urged to stop

The United Nations' top court, the International Court of Justice, on Friday demanded that Israel immediately halt its offensive on Rafah, even if it stopped short of ordering a cease-fire for the Gaza enclave.

Israel has strongly rejected accusations by South Africa at the ICJ that it is committing genocide against Palestinians, arguing that it is acting to defend itself and fighting Hamas.

The latest attacks have centered on Rafah, where Palestinian health workers said Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of people on Sunday.

An exchange of fire has erupted between Egyptian soldiers and the Israeli army at the Rafah crossing, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, moves are underway to try to establish conditions for lasting peace and a hostage release deal.

A "strong" Palestinian Authority is needed to bring peace in the Middle East, Borrell said just before going into the meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa.

An Israeli official said on Saturday that "there is an intention to renew these talks this week" after negotiations involving US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators stalled in early May.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed over 36,050 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials on Monday.

Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on Oct 7 killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Agencies via Xinhua

Israel's heavy bombing of a camp housing displaced people in a designated "safe zone" in Rafah on Sunday has killed dozens of Palestinians, with reports of women and children being "burned alive". This has sparked renewed international outcry and condemnation, leading to calls for an immediate cease-fire.

The attack killed at least 40 civilians, Palestine's WAFA news agency reported, while some Western media, citing ActionAid UK, reported the death toll had risen to 50.

The Arab Parliament, the legislative body of the Arab League, issued a statement on Monday on its website saying the "massacre of the occupation entity" at a camp for internally displaced people near Rafah "is a blatant challenge and violation of humanitarian law and requires urgent international intervention".

The statement said the failure to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and the massacres it commits against the Palestinians makes it continue to kill and destroy, WAFA reported.

Posting on X, the Israel Defense Forces said its aircraft "struck a Hamas compound in Rafah", where "significant Hamas terrorists were operating" on Sunday.

"The IDF is aware of reports indicating that as a result of the strike and fire that was ignited several civilians in the area were harmed. The incident is under review," it said.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the West Bank and Gaza, said on X that even as the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its offensive in Rafah, Israel continues to intensify "its attacks on it".

Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, Israel's military prosecutor, said they were committed to conducting the probe "to the fullest extent" of the Rafah incident, according to a report by Al Jazeera.

Omar Awadallah, Palestine's assistant foreign minister for the UN and Specialized Agencies, told China Daily that they were working with the International Criminal Court and the ICJ to "ask countries to act", as well as working toward a resolution at the UN Security Council.

"From the Security Council, we want a resolution that calls to end immediately the Israeli aggression and the attacks and operations, vicious operations against our Palestinian people," said Awadallah, who is also in charge of overseeing Palestine's affairs at the ICJ.

"Israel is acting as a state that is not compatible with international law and a state that is against international law. It thinks that it is above the international law because of the impunity granted to it by the US."

Medecins Sans Frontieres said in a post on X that it was "horrified by this deadly event", which showed once again that "nowhere is safe".

RAMALLAH -- The Palestinian presidency expressed on Monday its readiness to immediately work on reopening the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

In a statement carried by the Palestinian official news agency WAFA, the presidency said that the Palestinian side is ready to immediately work on reopening the Rafah crossing under the agreement signed for the management of crossings in 2005.

It came in response to statements by the European Union (EU)'s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, who announced earlier that the EU agreed to reactivate its border assistance mission in Rafah.

Borrell said during a press conference in Brussels that the border mission's revival will require support from Egypt, Palestinians, and Israel.

Borrell's statements came as the Rafah crossing, a main entry point for aid to Gaza, has been closed for nearly three weeks since Israeli forces took control of it from the Gazan side.

The border assistance mission, deployed by the EU to Rafah in 2005, has suspended its operation since 2007 following the control of Gaza by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

GAZA -- Hamas has informed mediators that it will not participate in any negotiation for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip or a prisoner exchange deal after Israel's attack on the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah on Sunday night, a source in the movement said on Monday.

The source told Xinhua that the decision was made in response to the Israeli army's targeting of tents housing displaced civilians in the northwest of Rafah, killing and wounding dozens of them.

The source also said that the Hamas leadership had not received any official notification from mediators in Egypt or Qatar regarding the resumption of negotiations.

At least 45 Palestinians, including children and women, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on tents for displaced people near Rafah city, Gaza's health authorities said in a press statement on Monday.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in a press conference in Beirut on Monday that Israel would not receive the hostages "except according to our conditions presented to the mediators."

Hamdan added that Hamas's conditions for reaching a deal, including a permanent ceasefire, remained unchanged.

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Channel 13 reported Monday that an "unusual incident" occurred between the Israeli and Egyptian soldiers at the Rafah crossing.

Israel is currently "investigating" the incident, said the report.

ISTANBUL - Widespread protests erupted overnight in Istanbul following Israel's attack on a Palestinian camp in the Gaza Strip, local media reported on Monday.

Many demonstrators gathered in front of the Israeli Consulate General in the Levent neighborhood on the European side to denounce the attack, the state-run TRT broadcaster said.

Protesters urged the international community to intervene and stop the Israeli attacks on Palestinian civilians.

Demonstrations also occurred in the Sariyer district, home to the US Consulate General. A banner bearing the message "Free Palestine" was unfurled, and the group chanted, "Down with Israel, collaborator US."

Another group gathered in Sarachane Park in the Fatih district, where they prayed for the civilians who lost their lives.

At least 40 people were killed on Sunday evening in Israel's bombing of tents of Palestinians in northwestern Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip.

GAZA - At least 40 people were killed and some others injured on Sunday evening in Israel's bombing of tents in northwestern Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

Israeli forces fired about eight rockets toward the tents in a newly established camp crowded with thousands of displaced people near the warehouses of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), WAFA added.

Local sources told Xinhua that it was a "severe and unprecedented" Israeli airstrike on the densely populated area of displaced families, igniting tents made of plastic and tin, as well as civilian vehicles.

Video clips circulated on Facebook showed flames rising intensively in the area and fires engulfing tents still inhabited by many, including children and women.

The sources mentioned that the Civil Defense and ambulance crews face significant obstacles in retrieving the bodies due to the difficult terrain.

Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that crowded with Gazans, the area had been classified by the Israeli military as a "safe area" before the strike.

In a statement released Sunday night, Hamas slammed the bombing as "complete defiance and disregard for the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that demanded it to stop its aggression against Rafah."

It also noted that Israel would not have committed without the US support and green light, saying to hold the US administration fully responsible for the deadly attack.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that "an IDF aircraft struck a Hamas compound in Rafah in which significant Hamas terrorists were operating".

"The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, using precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence that indicated Hamas' use of the area," it added.

The Israeli airstrike came hours after Al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas armed wing, launched a large rocket barrage from Rafah towards the coastal city of Tel Aviv in central Israel for the first time in months.

On May 7, the Israeli army announced that it had taken control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, situated south of the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt and in the eastern area of Rafah, which resulted in a halt in aid entering Gaza.

Israel considers Rafah a last stronghold for Hamas, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007.

JERUSALEM -- Israel has agreed to renew talks with Hamas on a hostage deal next week, with the mediation of Egypt, Qatar and the United States, Israel's state-owned Kan TV reported on Saturday.

According to the report, at a meeting in Paris on Friday, David Barnea, the chief of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency, presented a new proposal approved by the Israeli war cabinet to William Burns, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

An Israeli government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the three officials discussed the basis for continuing negotiations next week under the new proposals put forward by Egypt and Qatar, with the participation of the United States.

Kan TV reported that Burns had offered potential solutions to the contentious issues that had stalled previous negotiations, adding that the upcoming talks will be led by Egypt and Qatar, with active involvement from the United States.

The previous round of ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip, which took place in Egypt, collapsed earlier this month.

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news channel that the movement "was not informed by the mediators of anything related to the resumption of negotiations."

Hamdan added, "Today's talk about new negotiations is not serious. We do not need new negotiations."

He added that negotiations should aim to stop "the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, end the siege, and achieve a fair exchange deal."

On Saturday, Gaza health authorities accused Israel of obstructing the wounded and sick individuals from leaving Gaza.

More than 20,000 wounded people and patients with cancer, heart and blood diseases are waiting for the Rafah border crossing to open in "inhumane conditions due to the occupation, siege and war of extermination imposed on civilians in Gaza," spokesman Ashraf Al-Qedra said in a press statement.

Meanwhile, Egypt is continuing its efforts to resume negotiations between Israel and Hamas, according to media reports.

"Egypt is continuing its efforts to reactivate the ceasefire negotiations and the exchange of prisoners and detainees, and is also conducting intensive communications to restore calm in the Gaza Strip," Egypt's Al-Qahera News TV channel quoted an unnamed high-ranking source as saying on Saturday.

JERUSALEM - Israel has agreed to renew talks on a hostage deal with Hamas soon, with the mediation of Qatar and the United States, Israel's state-owned Kan TV reported on Saturday.

GAZA/JERUSALEM — Israel and Hamas, engaged in heavy fighting in the Gaza Strip, both angrily rejected on Monday moves to arrest their leaders for "war crimes" made before an international court.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor Karim Khan said he had applied for arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders over the conflict.

Khan said Israel had committed "crimes against humanity" during the conflict, started by Hamas' Oct 7 attack, as part "of a widespread and systematic attack against the Palestinian civilian population".

Khan also said the leaders of Hamas, including Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh and Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, "bear criminal responsibility" for actions committed during the Oct 7 attack.

Israel slammed as a "historical disgrace" the demand targeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, while Hamas said it "strongly condemns" the move.

Netanyahu said he rejected "with disgust The Hague prosecutor's comparison" between Israel and Hamas.

The warrants, if granted by the ICC judges, would mean that any of the 124 ICC member states would technically be obliged to arrest Netanyahu and the others if they traveled there. However, the court has no mechanism to enforce its warrants.

Israel's top ally the United States joined the condemnation, while France said it supported the court's independence and its "fight against impunity".

The conflict continued unabated, with Israeli forces battling Hamas in Rafah, as well as in other flashpoints in central and northern areas.

Netanyahu has vowed to keep fighting Hamas in Gaza until the group is defeated and all remaining hostages are released.

The Israeli military said on Monday the bodies of four hostages retrieved from Gaza last week had been found in tunnels under Jabalia in the north.

More than seven months into the conflict, severe divisions within the Israeli war cabinet are growing, obscuring clear answers to crucial questions about the conflict's duration, intensity and scope.

The deep disagreements have peaked recently, with Gallant and minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz coming out harshly against Netanyahu.

Gantz even threatened to resign if the cabinet did not approve by June 8 a comprehensive plan.

Foreign interests

Eyal Pinko, a researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University, told Xinhua News Agency that Gantz has long been influenced by the US interests, actively promoting its ambitions over an extended period.

Harel Chorev, historian and Palestinian affairs expert at Tel Aviv University, said that "Netanyahu constantly refuses to deal with the postwar issue, while Gantz wants to force him to talk about it and to provide a decent plan".

He said a divided cabinet might lead to a more right-handed government or policy, being harsher in the Gaza issue.

Yonatan Freeman, international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that the divisions in the cabinet and the possible departure of Gantz would not affect the way the operation is conducted.

Agencies - Xinhua

GAZA -- Fifteen people were killed and 30 injured in Israeli raids on Palestinians en route returning to their homes in Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported on Saturday.

Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that Israeli warplanes also fired missiles at residential homes and a shelter center for displaced people in Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

The raids caused large explosions in the camp, which has been witnessing a military operation for several days, while ambulances and civil defense crews rushed to the sites of the attacks.

The 33rd Arab Summit has concluded with a "Bahrain Declaration" that called for international protection and deployment of United Nations peacekeeping forces in the occupied Palestinian territories until implementation of the two-state solution.

Leaders of the 22-member Arab League called on Thursday for an immediate halt to Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip, complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, lifting of the siege, removal of all obstacles, and opening of all crossings to ensure the entry of adequate humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave.

It condemned Israeli control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing to tighten the siege on civilians in the Gaza Strip.

The declaration supported Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' call to convene an international peace conference and take irreversible steps to implement the two-state solution.

It came as Israel vowed on Thursday to "intensify" its ground offensive in Rafah, in defiance of global warnings over the fate of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians sheltering in Gaza's far-southern city.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said "additional forces will enter" the Rafah area and "this activity will intensify".

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, said in a news release on Thursday that Rafah has "emptied of at least 600,000 people in just the last week" and that another 100,000 have been uprooted from the north of the enclave as the Israeli military announced evacuation orders.

UNRWA said families "keep fleeing where they can, including to rubble and sand dunes", in search of safety, but that "there's no such thing in Gaza".

The conflict broke out after the Hamas attack on Oct 7 on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people.

Israel then launched a military offensive on Gaza, where at least 35,303 people have been killed.

'Exceptional' declaration

The Bahrain Declaration and meeting in the Bahraini capital Manama had been hailed as significant and "exceptional" by experts, especially given that Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco had normalized ties with Israel through the United States-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020.

"We stress the need for Israel, the occupying power, to cease all its illegal actions that violate the rights of the Palestinian people and undermine the two-state solution and the prospects for a just and comprehensive peace in the region, including the construction and expansion of settlements, the confiscation of Palestinian land and the displacement of Palestinians from their homes," the declaration read.

Jasim Husain, a Gulf analyst and former member of Bahrain's parliament, told China Daily that the summit was "exceptional" and that it was historic for many leaders, including the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "to be in the same area".

"The main outcome of the conference is the call for an international conference on Palestine in order to declare two-state solution. A Palestinian state (existing) alongside Israel," said Husain, noting that there were "no endorsement and no threats of breaking ties with Israel".

Another "outstanding" point was the speech by Abbas, who told the summit that Hamas' "unilateral decision" to launch the Oct 7 attack had "provided Israel with more pretexts and justifications to attack the Gaza Strip", Husain noted.

The Arab leaders also called on the international community to fulfill its legal obligations and take decisive measures to end the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories.

Rasha Al Joundy, a senior researcher at the Dubai Public Policy Research Centre, told China Daily that Arab leaders are urging the international community to assume its responsibilities to advance the peace process.

While noting that the UN Security Council is being "paralyzed by vetoes from the US", Al Joundy said Arab states want to "use their relationship with Israel to send aid to Gaza, and keep the channels open with Tel Aviv to mediate and send messages to the political leadership there".

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.

jan@chinadailyapac.com