US urges Hamas and Israel to agree to the proposed Gaza truce.

Timmy Mabs | 3rd June, 2024.

Rafah was attached by Isreal in May.
(Photo credit: AFP)

Israel resumed its airstrikes on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, on Sunday night. Over half of Gaza's population is seeking sanctuary in Rafah, where there has been an Israeli military operation for the past three weeks.

Mediators are pushing Israel and Hamas to accept the cease-fire and hostage-release plan that US President Joe Biden put up on Friday; Hamas has welcomed the proposal. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has emphasised that Israel will fight on until Hamas is defeated and the hostages that were captured during their October 7 raid are freed.

Netanyahu's coalition partners are putting pressure on him to sign a ceasefire agreement, or else his government would fall apart. However, since Biden had earlier said that a significant Israeli offensive on Rafah would be a red line, continuing with the attack carries the risk of publicly alienating Israel. The government must embrace Biden's proposal for a truce, according to demonstrators who have voiced their support for the quick release of hostages and who assembled in Tel Aviv on Saturday. 

The Mercy Corps received a donation of NT$16.21 million (US$500,000) on May 9 from Taiwan for humanitarian aid, along with supplies for medical care and communications, to Palestine. Foreign Ministry officials have not yet commented on this particular deal.