The International Organization for Migration has increased its estimate of the death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea (PNG) to more than 670.

Serhan Aktoprak, the chief of the United Nations agency's mission in the South Pacific island nation, said on Sunday the revised death toll was based on calculations by Yambali village and Enga provincial officials that more than 150 homes had been buried by Friday's landslide.

The previous estimate had been 60 homes.

"They are estimating that more than 670 people [are] under the soil at the moment," Aktoprak said.

"The situation is terrible with the land still sliding. The water is running and this is creating a massive risk for eveyrone involved," added Aktoprak, who is based in capital, Port Moresby.

Local officials had initially put the death toll on Friday at 100 or more. Only five bodies and a leg of a sixth victim had been recovered by Sunday, while seven people, including a child, had received medical treatment.

Authorities are trying to establish evacuation centres on safer ground on either side of the massive swath of debris.

Meanwhile, emergency responders were moving survivors of the massive landslide to safer ground as tonnes of unstable earth and tribal warfare, which is rife in the country's highlands, threatened the rescue effort.

Damage to infrastructure also made it more difficult for rescue and relief efforts to reach the area, according to Justine McMahon, a CARE Australia humanitarian group representative in PNG.

"The ground is quite unstable, making it difficult for rescuers to get in. The main road has also been cut off by about 200 metres [656 feet], hampering relief," she told Al Jazeera.

Car-sized boulders

Heavy earth-moving equipment are yet to arrive at the mountainous location 600km (370 miles) northwest of Port Moresby.

At some points, the landslide - a mix of car-sized boulders, uprooted trees and churned-up earth - was thought to be 8 metres (26 feet) deep.

Aid agencies said the catastrophe had effectively wiped out the village's livestock, food gardens and sources of clean water.

A Papua New Guinea government official has told the United Nations that more than 2,000 people are believed to have been buried alive by last Friday's landslide and has formally asked for international help.

The government figure is roughly triple the U.N. estimate of 670 killed by the landslide in the South Pacific island nation's mountainous interior. The remains of only five people had been recovered by Monday, local authorities reported. It was not immediately clear why the tally of six reported on Sunday had been revised down.

In a letter to the United Nations resident coordinator dated Sunday and seen by The Associated Press, the acting director of the country's National Disaster Center, Luseta Laso Mana, said the landslide "buried more than 2,000 people alive" and caused "major destruction" in Yambali village in Enga province.

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'Heinous massacre': Israel's attack on Rafah tent camp widely condemned

Several countries and global organisations have condemned the Israeli air attack on tents housing displaced people in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah that killed at least 40 Palestinians, including many children.

The Palestinian presidency on Monday accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, joining a chorus of worldwide condemnation following the attack.

"The perpetration of this heinous massacre by the Israeli occupation forces is a challenge to all international legitimacy resolutions," the Palestinian presidency said in a statement, accusing Israeli forces of "deliberately targeting" the tents of displaced people.

In a statement on X, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said the images from Rafah are yet another testament that Gaza is "hell on earth".

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri called the attack a "massacre", holding the United States responsible for aiding Israel with weapons and money.

Israel's top military prosecutor described the attack as "very grave" and said an investigation will be conducted. "The details of the incident are still under an investigation, which we are committed to conducting to the fullest extent," Major-General Yifat Tomer Yerushalmi told a news conference, adding that the Israeli army "regrets any harm to non-combatants during the war".

Palestinian witnesses and Al Jazeera's fact-checking agency Sanad said the camp sheltering civilians in Rafah's Tal as-Sultan area was deliberately targeted.

The Wafa news agency, citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), said the dead included women and children, with many "burned alive" inside their tents.

Just a month or so ago, the IDF used tanks to literally crush families alive in tents whilst they were sleeping.

One of the residents who arrived at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah said the "tents were melting and the people's bodies are also melting" after the attack.

Here are some reactions from governments and other officials from around the world:

'Deliberate bombardment'

• Qatar condemned the Rafah attack as a grave violation of international laws that will aggravate the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip. It said the attack could hinder mediation efforts to reach a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Qatar, alongside the US and Egypt, has been engaged in months of talks aimed at securing a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
• Egypt condemned the "deliberate bombardment". In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Israel to "implement the measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning an immediate cessation of military operations" in Rafah.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country would do "everything possible" to hold "barbaric" Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to account over the deadly strikes. "We will do everything possible to hold these barbarians and murderers accountable who have nothing to do with humanity," he said.
• Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the bombing of Rafah was "one more day with innocent Palestinian civilians being killed". He said the gravity of the attack "is even larger" because it comes after the ICJ order directing Israel to halt its operation in Rafah and the rest of Gaza.
• Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin described the attack as "barbaric". "One cannot bomb an area like that without shocking consequences in terms of innocent children and civilians. We would urge Israel to stop, to stop now, in terms of the military operation in Rafah."
• Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said the attacks are a "material breach of the decision of the highest court of the world". He added: "We've had a compulsory order from the International Court of Justice ordering Israel to stop its attack in Rafah. It is compulsory. It's binding."

• The European Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Israel must abide by the ICJ ruling to stop its offensive in Rafah as EU foreign ministers met their Arab counterparts in Brussels hours after Israel's deadly attack on Rafah.
• Before the EU ministers' meeting on Monday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, "International humanitarian law applies for all, also for Israel's conduct of the war."
• Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the United Kingdom's Labour Party, labelled Israel's bombing of the Rafah camp a "monstrous failure of humanity". In a post on X, he said, "Palestinian children should wake up feeling excited to go to school and play with their friends. Instead, for those murdered in Rafah, their last moments on this earth were filled with unimaginable fear as bombs rained down on their tents."

'Children dismembered, burnt alive'

• Humza Yousaf, the former first minister of Scotland, posted on X: "Days after the ICJ orders Israel to halt its military offensive in Rafah, the Israeli Government bombs displaced people living in tents. Innocent men, women & children dismembered and burnt alive. Bear witness to the images and ask yourself, are you on the right side of history?"

• In one of the strongest criticisms Italy has made so far, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said the Israeli attacks were no longer justifiable. "There is an increasingly difficult situation, in which the Palestinian people are being squeezed without regard for the rights of innocent men, women and children who have nothing to do with Hamas and this can no longer be justified," he said. "We are watching the situation with despair."
• Jagmeet Singh, a Canadian legislator and leader of the New Democratic Party, posted on X: "The world is failing the people of Gaza. Canada is failing the people of Gaza."
• US House Representative Ro Khanna, a Democrat, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "immediately halt" the assault on Rafah. "The horrific loss of innocent lives today with the bombing of a refugee camp underscores the moral urgency of stopping the Rafah campaign," he said.
• Aida Touma-Sliman, a Palestinian citizen of Israel and member of the Israeli Knesset, denounced the Netanyahu government for its "madness and vindictiveness". Writing on X, Touma-Sliman said, "This bloody government refuses to obey all orders of the tribunal, and is taking the madness and vindictiveness to a new criminal level."

• Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territory, described Israel's attack on the tent camp in Rafah as "unacceptable". In a post on X, she wrote, "The #GazaGenocide will not easily end without external pressure: Israel must face sanctions, justice, suspension of agreements, trade, partnership and investments, as well as participation in int'l forums."

'Monstrous atrocity'

• Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to housing, called for action against Israel in the wake of its latest attack. Writing on X, he said, "Attacking women and children while they cower in their shelters in Rafah is a monstrous atrocity. We need concerted global action to stop Israel's actions now."
• Chris Gunness, former spokesperson for UNRWA, said the three judges at the pre-trial chamber at the International Criminal Court (ICC) "are as horrified as the rest of the world" about the Israeli attack on Rafah. "There is no exception to the Genocide Convention. There are no excuses. This is the crime of crimes," he said.
• In a statement on X, charity Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials MSF) said it was "horrified" by the attack, which "shows once again that nowhere is safe." It added: "We continue to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza."
• ActionAid humanitarian group says it was "outraged and heartbroken" by the "inhumane, barbaric" attack on the Rafah camp. "The images coming from our partners of burned bodies are a scar on the face of humanity and the global community, which so far has failed to protect the people of Gaza," it says, adding that one of its colleagues narrowly escaped, having left the shelter just a day before the attack.
• Triestino Mariniello, a lawyer with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCGR), said the attack on a designated safe zone shows that Israel is still ignoring the ICJ. "These horrible images that arrive from Rafah show that the Israeli authorities are completely disregarding the binding, provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice."
• In her post on X, Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the US-based think tank DAWN, asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken: "Does burning people in refugee tents count as a 'serious offensive that fails to protect civilians' in Rafah?"
• Dalal Mawad, an award-winning Lebanese journalist, also weighed in, writing on X: "In 1996, I saw a decapitated newborn baby in the Qana massacre perpetrated by Israel in a UN displaced camp in the south of Lebanon. I never recovered from that sight. Last night, the same crime was committed again. Impunity means history will always repeat itself."

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The development comes more than 30 years after the first Oslo agreement was signed in 1993. Since then, "the Palestinians have taken important steps towards a two-state solution," the Norwegian government said.

It said that the World Bank determined that a Palestinian state had met key criteria to function as a state in 2011, that national institutions have been built up to provide the population with important services.

"The war in Gaza and the constant expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank still mean that the situation in Palestine is more difficult than it has been in decades," the Norwegian government said.
[...]

© AFP via Getty ImagesSmoke is seen billowing over Palestinian territory following Israeli bombardment on May 21, 2024.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that his country will recognize a Palestinian state also on May 28. Sánchez, Spain's Socialist leader since 2018, made the expected announcement to the nation's Parliament on Wednesday.

Sánchez has spent months touring European and Middle Eastern countries to garner support for the recognition of a Palestinian state, as well as a possible ceasefire in Gaza.

He has said several times that he was committed to the move.

Earlier this month, Spain's Foreign Minister José Albares said he had informed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken of his government's intention to recognize a Palestinian state.

The fast-moving developments drew Israel's condemnation. Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz ordered Israel's ambassadors from Ireland and Norway to immediately return to Israel, as Norway said it would recognize a Palestinian state and Ireland was expected to do the same.

"Ireland and Norway intend to send a message today to the Palestinians and the whole world: terrorism pays," Katz said.

He said that the recognition could impede efforts to return Israel's hostages being held in Gaza and makes a cease-fire less likely by "rewarding the jihadists of Hamas and Iran."

He also threatened to recall Israel's ambassador to Spain if the country takes a similar position.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed Norway's recognition of a Palestinian state and called on other countries to follow.

In a statement carried by the official Wafa news agency, he says Norway's decision, announced Wednesday, will enshrine "the Palestinian people's right to self-determination" and support efforts to bring about a two-state solution with Israel.

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The ICC's three pretrial judges will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to issue warrants. ICC spokesman Fadi Al-Abdallah told RFE/RL in an e-mail that the ICC judges "will issue their decision in due course" but did not offer a specific time frame.

Louis Charbonneau, United Nations director at Human Rights Watch said:

"Karim Khan's decision to seek arrest warrants for five people for grave international crimes committed in Israel and Palestine since October 7 in the face of pressure from U.S. lawmakers and others reaffirms the crucial role of the [court]. Victims of serious abuses in Israel and Palestine have faced a wall of impunity for decades. This principled first step by the prosecutor opens the door to those responsible for the atrocities committed in recent months to answer for their actions at a fair trial."

David Bosco, a professor at Indiana University-Bloomington and an expert on the ICC, said:

"One thing that's important to note is that over the years that the ICC has been operating, the judges and the prosecutor do not always agree. So it's not a foregone conclusion that the prosecutor will get all the arrest warrants that he wants, or for the precise charges that he wants. I think the arrest warrants for Hamas are probably more straightforward in the sense that you have...the October 7 attack that seemed to be aimed primarily at civilians.

"With Israel, you've got a more complicated situation involving humanitarian aid and whether Israel has been allowing enough humanitarian aid in and has it actually been trying to use starvation as a weapon? Those are somewhat more complicated cases, I would say, from a legal perspective."

Anthony Dworkin, a senior fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and former executive director of the Crimes of War Project, said:

"The warrants represent a significant moment, both in the evolution of the International Criminal Court and the conflict in the Middle East."

"We've seen before many countries, a number of leaders, being indicted by the ICC or having arrest warrants issued against them, but this is the first time a country that's an ally of the West in Europe and the United States has had an arrest warrant against them.

"I think even the fact that the prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants is likely to step up pressure on those countries that are particularly supporting Israel militarily to really review the kind of support that they're giving [and] to investigate whether they believe that military assistance is being used to commit war crimes."

The Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty establishing the International Criminal Court, has been signed by 124 countries.

The six-member panel wrote in an opinion article for the Financial Times on May 20:

"It is important to understand that the charges have nothing to do with the reasons for the conflict. The charges concern waging war in a manner that violates the long-established rules of international law that apply to armed groups and the armed forces in every state in the world."