Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Vienna on Friday that the Biden administration has not seen a plan from Israel detailing how it would protect civilians if the military moves into the densely populated city. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said at a news conference the same day that the United States cannot support an offensive in Rafah that “doesn’t also include a credible, achievable, executable plan to take care for the safety and security” of Gazans there — and an operation without such a plan would “be a disaster.”
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said this week that the Israeli military intends to direct a “significant” portion of Rafah’s population toward “humanitarian islands” in central Gaza that would be created with the “international community.” The IDF has ordered civilians to evacuate multiple times during the war, including to Rafah — with more than 80 percent of Gaza’s population being forced from their homes.
Separately, Israel said Friday that it will send a delegation to Qatar to continue negotiations for the release of Hamas-held hostages in exchange for Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners. The move comes on the heels of the latest cease-fire proposal put forward by Hamas, which Israel has accused of making “unrealistic demands.” Kirby said Friday that the Hamas proposal was “in broad brushstrokes, within the bounds of the deal that we’ve been working on now for several months.”
Here’s what else to know
President Biden praised a recent speech by Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) that criticized Netanyahu’s government and called for Israel to hold a new election. Biden described it as “a good speech” that “expressed a serious concern shared not only by [Schumer] but by many Americans.” Israeli officials criticized Schumer’s remarks, with Israel’s ambassador to the United States calling it “counterproductive to our common goals.”
Acute malnutrition among young children in north Gaza has doubled in one month, according to UNICEF. About 31 percent of children under age 2 suffer acute malnutrition, it said, up from 15.6 percent in January. The figures were based on nutrition screenings conducted by UNICEF and partners in north Gaza in February. Malnutrition is “reaching devastating and unprecedented levels in the Gaza Strip due to the wide-reaching impacts of the war and ongoing restrictions on aid delivery,” it added. At least 27 people, mostly children, have died of malnutrition or dehydration in recent weeks, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A second aid vessel is preparing to set sail from Cyprus to Gaza with “hundreds more tons of food,” World Central Kitchen said Friday on social media. A first ship co-organized by the U.S. nonprofit organization — founded by celebrity chef José Andrés — arrived earlier that day by way of a new maritime corridor meant to increase aid to the region, which is on the brink of famine.
At least 20 people were killed and more than 150 injured late Thursday while awaiting aid in northern Gaza, in what Palestinian officials in the enclave said was an Israeli attack. Witnesses interviewed by The Washington Post said they saw an Israeli helicopter and drones randomly firing on Palestinians. The Israeli military denied responsibility for the killings, and late Friday released edited footage of what it said showed “Palestinian gunmen opening fire in the midst of Gazan civilians.” The accounts from witnesses and the IDF could not be independently corroborated.
More than a dozen authors have dropped out of a PEN America festival, citing the literary nonprofit’s inaction over the war in Gaza. Naomi Klein, Hisham Matar and Maaza Mengiste are among the writers who have said they will not be participating in the annual PEN World Voices Festival this year, criticizing the organization for failing to call “for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.” The nonprofit has said on its website that it has “done considerable work in response to the war. Some has been public, and some has been behind the scenes to protect the imperiled artists and writers we are assisting.”
At least 31,553 people have been killed and 73,546 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 249 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
