Hamas accused the Israeli Prime Minister on Friday May 3 of seeking “to frustrate any possibility of agreement” for a truce in the war in Gaza. “[Benyamin] Netanyahu is not interested in a deal and so he is making statements in the media to thwart ongoing efforts.”, declared Hossam Badran, member of the political bureau of the Palestinian Islamist movement. The head of the Israeli government repeated on Thursday his intention to launch an offensive in Rafah “with or without agreement”. Follow our live stream.
The WHO fears “a bloodbath” in Rafah. A ground offensive by the Israeli army on the town of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, “could further weaken a health system already on its knees”warned the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Israeli hostage in Gaza declared dead. “It is now confirmed that Dror Or, kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, was murdered and his body held in Gaza”, wrote the Israeli government. This 49-year-old man was married to Yonat Or, killed during the October 7 assault, while two of their three children, Noam and Alma, aged 17 and 13 respectively, were kidnapped and then released as part of a truce agreement at the end of November.
The body of a missing person discovered in Israel. The remains of Eliakim Livman, an Israeli whom authorities believed to be hostage in the Gaza Strip, have been discovered in Israel, the army and his family said. This 24-year-old member of the Nova festival security team “was assassinated during the massacre of October 7” And “his body discovered in Israeli territory”according to the army.
Gaza’s future artificial port moved due to bad weather. The US military has announced that it has “temporarily paused the assembly at sea of the artificial port near Gaza” due to swell and strong winds. The site was moved to the Israeli port of Ashdod, where the construction of this future artificial and temporary port intended to transport aid to Gaza will continue. The building will be “put in place at the planned location, when the sea is calm”.