BlackMask Breaking News

United States Secretary oRafah’sa f State Antony Blinken (pictured above discussed Monday the Israeli military operation in Rafah, the displacement of Palestinians, and the state of the border crossings with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry (right) in a phone call, the State Department said in a statement. Blinken reaffirmed that the US “does not support a major military ground operation in Rafah” due to the humanitarian condition of over a million people seeking shelter in the city. He stressed his government’s stance of “rejection of any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.” Moreover, the two politicians talked about the humanitarian aid flow in the region using the Kerem Shalom crossing point “to its maximum extent” as well as the “reopening of the Rafah border crossing.” The protection of aid workers was also part of their conversation.

Sky News host Chris Kenny says the West must be “very sceptical” of death toll claims coming from Gaza as they are numbers only Hamas allows out of the region. “I have said before that we have to be very sceptical … about claims made when it comes to casualties in Gaza … the only numbers coming out of Gaza are numbers that Hamas allows out of Gaza,” Mr Kenny said.

“The UN, quietly, has dramatically revised downwards its claims about the number of women and children killed in Gaza, just a week ago they were claiming more than 9,500 women had been killed and more than 14,500 children, two days later, they reduced those numbers to less than 5,000 women and less than 8,000 children.

“If those numbers are true, they are horrible, a horrendous toll, a terrible loss because of a war Hamas has deliberately, started, and deliberately prolonged.

“So, the UN now revises down the civilian toll by almost half … the bottom line is the war must end … Hamas must hand over the remaining hostages and surrender its terrorists, the sooner the better.”

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary General António Guterres, said last week the UN is consistently revising and cross-checking its figures — which it obtains from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, the Gaza Media Office and other sources — but blamed the “fog of war” for the difficulty in being able to ascertain accurate death tolls. Israeli officials and others have criticized the UN for relying on statistics from Gaza’s government, which has been run by Hamas since the group took control of the territory in 2007, and for using figures that don’t differentiate between Palestinian civilians and combatants.

NN: Hamas is making idiots of the free world

An Israeli fighter jet intercepted a drone as it approached Israeli airspace from the east, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced. The military clarified that the drone was downed before breaching Israeli territory, hence no alarms were triggered. This incident comes amidst heightened tensions in the region, as Israel continues its war on Gaza while fighting a concurrent battle along its border with Lebanon.

US destroys two Houthi drones, one anti-ship missile

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) stated in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that its forces destroyed one uncrewed aerial system (UAS) in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen on Monday. Additionally, US forces neutralized another UAS launched by the Yemen-based Houthis over the Red Sea on the same day. The report stated further that the USS Mason destroyed one inbound anti-ship ballistic missile fired off by the Houthis over the Red Sea. “There were no injuries or damages reported by US, coalition, or merchant vessels,” CENTCOM stated.

Hezbollah claims responsibility for 7 attacks on Israel

Hezbollah asserted responsibility for seven attacks on Israeli targets, as stated in its daily report. The group claimed these actions were retaliation for Israeli strikes on southern Lebanese communities, particularly in Odaisseh, affecting civilian residences. The most recent assault targeted Israeli soldiers in the settlement of Metulla, a drone strike on an Israeli military base in Beit Hillel, a rocket strike on Kfarchouba and an antitank-guided missile attack on an Israeli Merkava tank.

The Biden administration supposedly assessed that Israel gathered enough troops on the edge of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah for a full-scale incursion into the city in the coming days, CNN reported, citing two senior administration officials.Senior United States officials are allegedly unsure if Israel intends to commit to a major invasion of Rafah, with one of the sources cited by the news agency stressing that Israel is currently “nowhere close” to making suitable preparations for such a move, as it hasn’t yet established the proper infrastructure related to food, hygiene and shelter for civilians. US President Joe Biden previously stressed that a major ground operation in Rafah would mean the end of offensive weapons shipments for Israel. NN:  i See a full blown invasion and soon.

Crude oil prices for future contracts rose on Monday as investors braced for the release of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) monthly report on May 14, which will reveal the group’s outlook for the coming period. Additionally, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas appears to have sparked concerns about the possibility of the Middle East conflict escalating further. This, in turn, raised the potential for it to impact the supply of the commodity. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June contracts surged 1.52% to $79.47 per barrel at 10:34 am ET. Brent for July deliveries jumped 1.21% to $83.77 per barrel.

EIA: US crude inventories down by 1.4 million barrels

Commercial crude oil inventories in the United States, which are not taking into account those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, were down by 1.4 million barrels to 459.5 million barrels in the week ending May 3, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed in its report on Wednesday. The figure marked a slightly lower-than-expected draw. The country’s inventories now stand 3% below the five-year average for this time of year. US crude oil refinery inputs averaged 15.9 million barrels per day for the corresponding week, which is 307,000 barrels per day more than the previous week’s average. Refineries operated at 85.5% of their operable capacity last week, while gasoline production increased, averaging 9.5 million barrels per day. Imports of crude oil in the country averaged 7 million barrels per day last week, going up by 198,000 barrels per day. Total commercial petroleum inventories fell by 2.1 million barrels last week.

The Israeli military ordered fresh evacuations from areas in Rafah Saturday as it prepared to expand operations in Gaza’s southernmost city. A post on social media site X by Avichay Adraee, the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson for the Arab media, called on people to leave Jabalia, as well as a refugee camp in the area, along with several other neighborhoods in the city. People living there were in a “dangerous combat zone,” he said, adding that Hamas was trying to rebuild its capabilities in the area. “Therefore everyone who is in those areas exposes themselves and their families to danger,” he added. “Go immediately to the shelters west of Gaza City,” he said. The warning came amid heavy clashes on the outskirts of the city between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants leaving the crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible. More than 110,000 people have already fled north from the city. Adraee advised others to move to Al-Mawasi, a nearby coastal area where Israel has promised an “expanded humanitarian area” would await them.

Ukrainian drones hit an oil depot and an electric substation in Russia, Ukraine’s Channel 24 reported on Monday citing a source. According to the source, Ukraine’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were hovering over the Belgorod and Lipetsk regions, located on the Russian territory, overnight, striking the aforementioned objects and damaging them. Meanwhile, earlier, Moscow shared that its forces intercepted 31 Ukrainian drones, alongside 16 missiles.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are said to have deployed additional troops in an attempt to go deeper into the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera Arabic reported on Monday. According to the media, the Israeli military opened fire on the camp’s shelter centers and Palestinian ambulances that attempted to reach the wounded in the aftermath of the reported Israeli airstrikes in the area. Hamas previously claimed to have launched an attack against Israeli soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip’s al-Mabhouh area.

Hamas strikes Israeli forces in northern Gaza

Hamas’s military faction, the Qassam Brigades, on Sunday, asserted that they targeted Israeli troops and vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip’s al-Mabhouh area. Moreover, the group claimed to have launched mortar shells at Israeli forces stationed in a residence in eastern Jabalia, leading to casualties. Al Jazeera previously reported that Israeli forces were active in the Jabalia Refugee Camp. NN: This is a escalating war.

The United States is willing to offer support to Israel if it abandons plans to invade Rafah, the Washington Post reported. The aid includes “sensitive intelligence to help the Israeli military pinpoint the location of Hamas leaders and find the group’s hidden tunnels,” according to four people familiar with the matter. Israel has ordered Palestinian civilians to evacuate from parts of Rafah and has vowed to press on with the operation in spite of vocal international opposition.