Israel-Gaza war live: No sign of breakthrough in hostage and ceasefire talks, Israeli official says; Kerem Shalom aid crossing reopens | Israel-Gaza war

Israel will not agree to end the war and leave Hamas in power, an Israeli government spokesman reiterated on Wednesday.

According to Reuters, the same spokesman declined to comment on the reports US weapon retention.

More details coming soon…

“A full-scale attack on Rafah would be a human catastrophe,” says the UN Secretary-General

No sign of breakthrough in Cairo hostage and cease-fire talks – Israeli official

The times of Israel reports that Tel Aviv is to cancel its annual pride parade and replace it with a march dedicated to the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. “It’s not time for celebrations,” Tel Aviv’s mayor Ron Hulday said on social media.

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that it strongly condemned Israel’s seizure of the Rafah border crossing from the Palestinian side and warned of the consequences of military escalation, Reuters reports.

Our graphics team created this updated map of the situation in southern Gaza and Rafa.

My colleagues Neha Gohil and John Henley have put this together explainer for student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza.

Help for Gaza was loaded onto a ship in Cyprus on Wednesday in what was expected to be the first shipment delivered through a US wharf built to expedite supplies to GazaReuters reports.

The containers were stacked on the American-flagged Sagamore, docked at the port of Larnaca, on Wednesday. Some containers on the ship were labeled as aid from the United Arab Emirates.

Konstantinos Letimbiotis, a spokesman for the Cypriot government, said the American jetty built to send aid to Gaza had been completed. It is not clear when the ship will set sail.

At least 34,844 Palestinians were killed and 78,404 wounded in Israelthe military offensive in Gaza since October 7, Gaza’s health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The Hamas-managed health ministry does not differentiate between combatants and non-combatants.

The police have started clearing a a pro-Palestinian tent camp at George Washington University in Washington, hours after dozens of protesters left the venue and marched toward the president Ellen Granbergat his home, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

The GW Hatchet, the university’s student newspaper, said police officers gave a third and final warning to demonstrators around 3:30 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday that anyone remaining at the camp would be arrested.

According to event organizers, nearly 30 people were arrested as police used pepper spray to control the crowd.

mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) chief Pamela Smith are set to testify about the District’s handling of the protest at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Wednesday afternoon, AP reports.

Here are some of the latest images in the news:

In addition to the earlier statement of Israeli military that Kerem Shalom Crossing in Gaza was reopened on Wednesday (see 07.23 BST), on United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency (Unrwa) said that no help had come in yet and there was no one to receive it at Palestinian country, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (Cogat), Israel’s military authority in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, said the Kerem Shalom border crossing was reopened early Wednesday. But Juliet TumaUnrwa’s director of communications, said that as of midday Wednesday no help had arrived and that UN the agency has been forced to limit the fuel that is imported through Rafa.

The Rafah checkpoint has been a vital channel for humanitarian aid since the beginning of the war and is the only place where people can enter and leave. Kerem Shalom is the main cargo terminal in Gaza.

Russia said on Wednesday that the war in Gaza escalated due to Israelinvasion of Rafa and this Moscow so far saw no prospect of a peaceful settlement in Gaza or beyond Middle EastReuters reports.

“An additional destabilizing factor, including for the entire region, was the launch of an Israeli military ground operation in Rafah,” a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

“About a million and a half Palestinian civilians are concentrated there. In this regard, we demand strict compliance with the provisions of international humanitarian law.

According to Reuters, speaking more broadly about efforts to find a lasting settlement in the Middle East, Zakharova said: “I would like to call it a settlement, but, alas, it is far from a settlement.”

“There is no prospect of resolving the situation in Gaza Tape. On the contrary, the situation in the conflict zone is escalating daily.

Australia again objects to a major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah, the foreign minister said