Israel vs Palestine: Current situation of things
This is how things stand now
-Israel’s defence minister has ordered a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip, including a ban on food and water.
-Air raids have targeted the Jabalia camp, one of the most crowded camps in Gaza, killing and wounding dozens.
-Israel’s military has also called up 300,00 reservists as it plans to go “on offensive”.
-The European Commission says it’s putting its full portfolio of development aid to Palestinians, worth 691 million euros ($729m), under review.
-The Lebanon-Israel border has become an “active borderline” following reports from the Israeli military that armed infiltrators had entered the country from Lebanon.
-The death toll surpasses 1,300 as Israel strikes Gaza and fierce battles intensify between Hamas gunmen and Israeli troops.
-Israel’s response to the unprecedented attack will “change the Middle East”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.
‘Hamas does not represent the entire Palestinian population’: EP member slams aid decision
A Swedish politician and member of the European Parliament has criticised a decision to suspend European Union aid to Palestinians, a move announced by Oliver Varhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.
“Hamas does not represent the entire Palestinian population,” Evin Incir told Al Jazeera.
“This is something that Commissioner Varhelyi knows very well, but it seems to be his goal in life to withdraw and hold in the money from the Palestinian Authority and the people of Palestine. I do not understand where these bad feelings from his side come from towards the Palestinian people. But I know one thing: to punish the Palestinian people for the terrorist attacks of Hamas would not serve anyone anything good. It will only fuel the ongoing violence.”
Incir accused Varhelyi of trying to take the EU on a “dangerous path”, saying he knows its funds do not go to Hamas.
“He is trying to lie in the face of the European people and trying to connect the EU financial support to Hamas. It doesn’t go there. It goes through the Palestinian Authority.”
Nablus villages feel wrath of Israeli settlers
Settler attacks have been on the rise in the West Bank, especially in the villages near Nablus, paramedics and officials say.
In Duma, south of Nablus, a Palestinian man was shot with live rounds by Israeli soldiers as settlers torched cars and attacked farmers, said Suleiman Dawabsheh, head of the village council.
Two Palestinians, ages 20 and 23, were also shot with live ammunition in Einabus, another village near Nablus, while 12 people were evacuated as a result of tear gas.
Mustafa Shehadeh, 28, a paramedic working in the villages south of Nablus, described the scene there:
“A big group of Israeli settlers attacked the northeastern part of Einabus. They attacked the home of Radar Deif and torched parts of it as well as his car.
“We went there after getting a call about settler attacks. We tried to get into the house, but the Israeli army stopped us and tried to prevent us from getting everyone, including a 6-year-old girl with asthma, out of the house.
“We finally managed to get in. After we left the house, settlers attacked us with stones. Tens of people from the village were tear-gassed, and the Israeli army prevented ambulances from evacuating them immediately.”
Palestinian group takes responsibility for incursion into Israel
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad has taken responsibility for a failed effort to infiltrate Israel from neighbouring Lebanon.
“Al-Quds Brigade claims responsibility for the afternoon operation on the south Lebanon border,” the armed group said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it had “killed a number of militants” who crossed into Israel from Lebanese territory.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 560
At least 560 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed by Israel since October 7, says the health ministry in the besieged coastal enclave.
The ministry also said some 2,900 people have been injured.
In Gaza, the situation is ‘very dangerous’
Hind Khoudary, a journalist in Gaza, has described the situation in the enclave as “very dangerous”.
“I saw thousands of Palestinian refugees in UNRWA schools without electricity, without water, without food. Everyone was saying that they can’t even afford water, they left their homes after receiving those text messages from the Israeli army that they needed to leave their houses,” she told Al Jazeera.
“At the same time, there is no safe space for Palestinians to go, even the UNRWA schools,” Khoudary said, referring to schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
(Al Jazeera)
Beit Hanoun hospital out of service due to Israeli shelling
Israeli shelling near Beit Hanoun’s hospital – the only one in the town – has put it out of service, Gaza’s ministry of health says.
The ministry attributed the suspension of services to “repeated targeting of the hospital vicinity”.
Hezollah member ‘killed in Israeli bombardment’ of Lebanon
A Hezbollah member has been killed in an Israeli attack on southern Lebanon, Reuters and AFP have reported, as the risk of Hezbollah being dragged into the Israel-Hamas conflict increases.
Reuters said it received the information from two sources close to Hezbollah and a Lebanese security source while AFP said Hezbollah officials had confirmed the news.
There has been no comment on the reports from Hezbollah.
What is the ‘total blockade’ of Gaza?
Israel has announced the “total blockade” of Gaza, including a ban on food and water, as part of its retaliatory measures.
During the announcement, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant justified the move by describing Palestinians as “beastly people”.
But Israel has had Gaza under a land, air and sea blockade since 2007.
We’ll have more information on the reports as soon as we get it.
Israel announces launch of largest wave of air attacks on Gaza
The Israeli army says it is carrying out one of the largest waves of air attacks against Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Israeli media has also reported that Israel has hit 1,000 targets in Gaza, adding that the military has announced it will continue hitting the territory, even if it comes at the cost of harming Israeli captives in the enclave.
In Gaza, residential buildings, mosques, a university, a hospital and a telecommunications company have all been hit, according to Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum.
The correspondent said that Israeli drones continue to roam the skies of Gaza, as plumes of smoke rise from the rubble of destroyed buildings.
Gaza hospital system could collapse, medical advocate warns
Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, a medical referent for Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, warns that the territory’s health system could collapse in the coming days due to power cuts imposed by Israel.
“There are as well now cuts in the telecommunication and internet in several areas,” Abu Mughaiseeb told Al Jazeera as explosions sounded in the background. If things do not calm down, he warned, “I think the situation will collapse in the hospitals.”
He added that there is “no safe place” in Gaza. “The civilians who were injured or killed, they are collateral damage, and then they will be numbers — just numbers, added numbers.”
Aim of operation in Gaza is to remove Hamas’s capacity to attack Israel: Netanyahu
Netanyahu says the war’s aim is to deprive Hamas of the capacity to harm Israel, Israeli Army Radio reports.
“If there is accurate intelligence information about the location of Israeli captives, certainly Israel will refrain from attacking that location, but as long as such information does not exist, all Hamas targets will be attacked,” the prime minister was cited as saying.
A senior Israeli political official said the government has information to indicate that Iran pushed Hamas into action and is prompting Hezbollah to prepare for a campaign.
Add Comment