May 9, 2024

Daily News Brief

*) US won't supply weapons to Israel if it invades Gaza's Rafah city — Biden https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/us-wont-supply-weapons-to-israel-if-it-invades-gazas-rafah-city-biden-18086860 US President Joe Biden has said America will not supply weapons or artillery shells to ally Israel if Tel Aviv invades southern Gaza's Rafah city. Biden admitted in an interview with CNN that “bombs the US has supplied to Israel and now paused have been used to kill civilians.” He said he “made it clear that if [Israeli troops] go into Rafah…” the US will not supply the weapons that have been used historically there. However, he also said the US was still committed to Israel's so-called “defence” and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other arms. *) Israel pounds overcrowded Gaza's Rafah as truce talks resume in Cairo https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/israel-pounds-overcrowded-gazas-rafah-as-truce-talks-resume-in-cairo-18078947 Meanwhile in Gaza, Israel has bombarded Rafah, where it has launched a ground invasion, as talks resume in Cairo aimed at agreeing the terms of a ceasefire. This week Israel sent tanks into Rafah and seized the nearby crossing into Egypt that is the main conduit for aid into the Palestinian territory. Then overnight heavy Israeli strikes and shelling hit across Gaza as Palestinians scrambled in the dark to pull survivors out from under the rubble of buildings. *) Medics uncover 49 bodies from new mass grave at Gaza's al-Shifa hospital https://www.trtworld.com/middle-east/medics-uncover-49-bodies-from-new-mass-grave-at-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-18080518 Gaza health workers have uncovered at least 49 bodies at al Shifa hospital, the latest such discovery at the facility previously raided by Israeli forces. Motassem Salah, head of the emergency department at al Shifa, told journalists that "a third mass grave was found inside this hospital”. So far 520 bodies have been recovered from "seven mass graves" found at three different hospitals across Gaza in recent weeks. *) Russia's Putin set to mark Victory Day as Ukraine feels the pinch https://www.trtworld.com/europe/ukraine-thwarts-alleged-russian-plot-to-murder-zelenskyy-two-arrested-18068292 Russian President Vladimir Putin is all set to address the annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, an event he hopes will rally patriotism as his forces advance in Ukraine. The May 9 parade marks the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II and has become one of Russia's most important public holidays under President Putin. The Russian leader has repeatedly framed the current fight against Ukraine as an existential battle against "Nazism" *) Eric Saade wears Palestinian keffiyeh during Eurovision performance https://www.trtworld.com/europe/eric-saade-wears-palestinian-keffiyeh-during-eurovision-performance-18085450 Swedish singer Eric Saade has performed at the semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh around his wrist. A keffiyeh is a Palestinian scarf that symbolises support of Palestine and protests against Israel’s war on Gaza. He was one of three contestants who opened this year’s Eurovision contest in Malmo city in southern Sweden, which has faced calls for Israel to be excluded.