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Rescue Ship Picks up 80 Migrants off Libya

A member of the French NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) new boat Ocean Viking takes part in a team exercise to get ready for a rescue situation at sea with an inflatable dinghy, on their way to the coasts of Libya, on August 5, 2019. / AFP / Anne CHAON
A member of the French NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) new boat Ocean Viking takes part in a team exercise to get ready for a rescue situation at sea with an inflatable dinghy, on their way to the coasts of Libya, on August 5, 2019. / AFP / Anne CHAON
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Rescue Ship Picks up 80 Migrants off Libya

A member of the French NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) new boat Ocean Viking takes part in a team exercise to get ready for a rescue situation at sea with an inflatable dinghy, on their way to the coasts of Libya, on August 5, 2019. / AFP / Anne CHAON
A member of the French NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) new boat Ocean Viking takes part in a team exercise to get ready for a rescue situation at sea with an inflatable dinghy, on their way to the coasts of Libya, on August 5, 2019. / AFP / Anne CHAON

A ship operated by the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders has rescued 80 migrants from a rubber dinghy off Libya.

Doctors Without Borders said on Twitter Friday that the migrants were in distress, and posted pictures showing the migrants being ferried to the Norwegian-flagged rescue ship Ocean Viking aboard an orange dinghy.

A hotline for migrants run by a network of activists said it was alerted to the boat off Libya carrying 80 people, including five women and four children, and informed both authorities and the Ocean Viking.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, who has triggered a government crisis in Italy, said he is preparing to sign a ban on the ship's entry into Italian waters. Under a new government decree, the ship would risk a 1 million-euro fine.

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Israeli Defense Minister Officially Steps Down

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant talks during the joint statements after his meeting with Greece's National Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos (not pictured) at the Defense Ministry in Athens, Greece, 4 Μay 2023. (EPA)
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant talks during the joint statements after his meeting with Greece's National Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos (not pictured) at the Defense Ministry in Athens, Greece, 4 Μay 2023. (EPA)
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Israeli Defense Minister Officially Steps Down

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant talks during the joint statements after his meeting with Greece's National Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos (not pictured) at the Defense Ministry in Athens, Greece, 4 Μay 2023. (EPA)
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant talks during the joint statements after his meeting with Greece's National Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos (not pictured) at the Defense Ministry in Athens, Greece, 4 Μay 2023. (EPA)

Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant officially stepped down Friday in a ceremony that replaced him with Israel Katz, the former foreign minister, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Gallant earlier this week.

Israel has been rocked by Gallant’s dismissal, with the news setting off mass protests across the country. Many in Israel view Gallant as the sole moderate voice in a far-right government, and see his removal as a sign that the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu has lost interest in returning hostages still held in Gaza, The AP reported.

Israel Katz, his replacement, currently serves as foreign minister and is a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and veteran Cabinet minister.

Also Friday, the Israeli military body handling aid to Gaza, COGAT, said it is preparing to open a new aid crossing into Gaza as the deadline for a US deadline to increase desperately-needed aid into the war-ravaged territory approaches. But the body did not say when the crossing will open nor if aid will be delivered to north of Gaza, where the UN and aid groups say the humanitarian situation is most dire.

The United Nations humanitarian office says Israel's monthlong offensive in northern Gaza is preventing the estimated 75,000 to 95,000 Palestinians in the north from receiving essential items for their survival.

On Thursday, the Israeli military said it will allow 300 truckloads of humanitarian aid supplied by the United Arab Emirates to enter the Gaza Strip in the coming days. That’s less than the 350 trucks per day that the United States said it wants to see enter the war-ravaged territory.