Military confrontations are escalating in the south as the Israeli army and Hezbollah continue to exchange artillery fire. In a new incident, the toll of the Israeli aggression on the town of Tyre-Harfafah rose to two martyrs and a number of wounded as a result of targeting a drone directly at a team of workers from "MTC" company who were performing maintenance work for one of the transmission stations in the town, accompanied by civil defense in the Islamic Message Scouts.

Regionally, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to support Palestine's membership request in the international organization, in a symbolic resolution due to the American veto in the Security Council. The resolution, which stipulates the "Palestinians' accession to the organization" while granting them additional rights as an observer state, garnered support from 143 members against objections from 9 members and abstention from 25.

With the escalation of Israeli bombardment, the UNRWA agency announced that about 110,000 people fled from Rafah in southern Gaza in search of a safe haven. Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that the War Cabinet decided to deepen the operation in Rafah, despite U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to suspend arms shipments to Israel if it fully invaded Rafah.

Meanwhile, the Al-Qassam Brigades announced the execution of several qualitative operations, most notably the complex operation east of Rafah, targeting soldiers and vehicles of the Israeli army with various shells, causing the entire Israeli force to incur casualties.

On another front, informed sources told CNN that Hamas demanded Israel to agree in advance to an initial ceasefire for 12 weeks instead of 6 weeks, indicating that this demand created a major obstacle regarding ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.

Today, the Egyptian Foreign Minister informed his American counterpart of the risks of an Israeli attack on Rafah and stressed the need to reach an agreement for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Reuters quoted the White House as confirming that President Biden ordered his team to continue working with Israel to "permanently defeat" the Hamas movement.

In turn, Haaretz newspaper reported that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad admitted for the first time that it was surprised by Hamas's attack on settlements and military bases adjacent to the Gaza Strip on October 7th.

On the Arab level, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is making an official visit to Japan from the 20th to the 23rd of this current May, during which he will meet with Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Internationally, the Russian Ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, reminded that President Vladimir Putin sent a clear signal to the West confirming Russia's readiness to discuss security and strategic issues on the basis of equality.

Economically, the global market anticipates a 25% increase in coffee prices, reaching the highest level in the past 45 years after the decline in crops in Vietnam.