Efforts were under way on Sunday to resume evacuations of injured Gazans and foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, suspended since Saturday after a deadly ambulance attack, Egyptian, U.S. and Qatari officials said.
Quick Read
- Evacuation Efforts Suspended: Plans to restart evacuations through Rafah crossing into Egypt for the injured and foreign passport holders were in progress after being halted by a deadly ambulance attack.
- Abbas Calls for Ceasefire: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded an immediate Israeli ceasefire during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
- Deaths in Gaza Camp Strike: Gaza’s health ministry reported dozens of fatalities from an overnight strike on a refugee camp.
- Blinken’s Unannounced West Bank Visit: Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to the West Bank to discuss preventing the spread of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
- Rafah Crossing as Aid Conduit: Despite the evacuations halt, aid trucks were still entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing, which is not controlled by Israel.
- American Evacuations: Over 300 Americans have been evacuated from Gaza, with efforts expected to resume for the remaining individuals.
- Casualties in Gaza: Reports from the Gaza health ministry indicated significant casualties, including a claim of at least 47 people killed in an overnight camp attack and 21 members of a single family in separate strikes.
- Palestinian Authority’s Demands: Abbas pressed for immediate cessation of Israeli military actions and described the situation as “genocidal” warfare.
- International Diplomatic Pressure: Foreign ministers from various nations met with Blinken, advocating for a ceasefire, which was echoed by Pope Francis’s calls for peace.
- U.S. Stance on Ceasefire: Blinken argued against a full ceasefire, suggesting localized pauses for humanitarian reasons, fearing a ceasefire would advantage Hamas.
- Israel’s Defense Claim: Israel maintains it is targeting Hamas, accusing the group of using civilians as human shields.
- War Toll: According to Gaza health officials, the conflict has resulted in over 9,770 Palestinian deaths since it began with a Hamas attack on October 7.
- Continued Israeli Strikes: Israel continued its military actions in Gaza, with reports of houses and a refugee camp being targeted.
- Civilian Impact in Gaza: The humanitarian situation in Gaza has worsened, with shortages of food and water and collapsing medical services.
- Internal Displacement in Gaza: The U.N. reports nearly 1.5 million internally displaced persons within Gaza.
- Mediation Efforts by Qatar: Qatar, in cooperation with the U.S., is facilitating talks for the release of Israeli hostages, calling for a period of calm for successful negotiations.
- Netanyahu’s Cabinet Incident: Israeli PM Netanyahu reprimanded a cabinet member who suggested the possibility of a nuclear strike on Gaza.
- Escalating West Bank Violence: Rising violence in the West Bank has raised fears of the conflict widening, with recent fatalities reported during clashes and arrest raids by Israeli forces.
The Associated Press has the story:
Gaza: Injured evacuations suspended after a deadly ambulance attack
Newslooks- GAZA/RAMALLAH, (AP)
Efforts were under way on Sunday to resume evacuations of injured Gazans and foreign passport holders through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, suspended since Saturday after a deadly ambulance attack, Egyptian, U.S. and Qatari officials said.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded an immediate Israeli ceasefire at a meeting with U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah, while Gaza’s health ministry said dozens died in a strike on a refugee camp overnight.
Blinken, who has dismissed the idea of a ceasefire by Israel for fear it would benefit Hamas, was making an unannounced visit to the occupied West Bank as part of efforts to prevent the Israel-Hamas war spreading.
The Rafah crossing to Egypt’s Sinai peninsula is the only exit point from Gaza not controlled by Israel. Aid trucks were still able to travel into Gaza, two Egyptian sources said.
Evacuations began on Wednesday under an internationally brokered deal.
More than 300 Americans have left Gaza, but some still remain, Jonathan Finer, deputy national security adviser, said.
“We believe it will (reopen) this afternoon,” a senior U.S. State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Don’t hold me to it,” the official added.
At the Maghazi refugee camp refugee camp in Gaza, people searched for victims or survivors.
“All night I and the other men were trying to pick the dead from the rubble. We got children, dismembered, torn apart flesh,” said Saeed al-Nejma, 53, adding that he had been asleep with his family in their house when the blast hit his neighborhood.
A spokesman for the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said the Israeli military had struck the camp overnight, killing at least 47 people.
In a separate attack, 21 Palestinians from one family, including women and children, were killed in Israeli strikes overnight, the health ministry said.
Reuters could not independently verify these accounts.
‘NO WORDS’
“We demand that you stop them from committing these crimes immediately,” Abbas told Blinken, urging an “immediate ceasefire” from Israel.
“There are no words to describe the war of genocide and destruction to which our Palestinian people are being subjected in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli war machine, without regard to the rules of international law,” Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Abbas as telling Blinken.
Foreign ministers from Qatar, Saudi, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates met Blinken in Amman on Saturday and also urged him to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire.
Pope Francis joined calls for peace. “Stop in the name of God,” he said, calling for humanitarian aid and help for the injured in order to ease the “very grave” situation in Gaza.
But Blinken says a ceasefire would benefit Hamas, allowing it to regroup and attack again. Instead, the U.S. wants localised pauses in fighting to allow in humanitarian aid and for people to leave Gaza.
“The Secretary reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance and resumption of essential services in Gaza,” spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Israel says it is targeting Hamas, not civilians, and that the Islamist Palestinian group is using residents as human shields.
Gaza health officials said on Sunday more than 9,770 Palestinians have been killed in the war, which began when Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 240 hostage.
MORE STRIKES
Israel continued to strike the Gaza Strip by air, sea, and ground overnight.
Gaza health officials said Israeli air strikes destroyed houses in the Maghazi refugee camp. Asked for comment, the Israeli military said they were gathering details.
Mohammad Al-Aloul, a photographer for Turkish news agency Anadolu, said he lost his four children, four of his brothers and their children in the strike, which destroyed his house.
“I arrived in hospital and found out that my four children, including my only daughter, were martyred,” Al-Aloul said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said there was also intense bombardment, violent artillery explosions, and air strikes in the vicinity of the Al-Quds Hospital in Gaza’s Tal Al-Hawa area.
U.S. special envoy David Satterfield said in Amman on Saturday that 800,000 to a million people had moved south, while 350,000 to 400,000 remained in and around Gaza City.
Living conditions in Gaza, already dire before the war, have deteriorated. Food is scarce, residents are drinking salty water and medical services are collapsing.
The U.N. humanitarian office estimates that nearly 1.5 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are internally displaced.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said that without a “period of calm” in Gaza its mediators would not be able to secure the release of Israeli hostages held in the enclave.
The Gulf state has, in coordination with the U.S., led mediation talks with Hamas and Israeli officials over the release of hostages since the Oct. 7 attack.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disciplined a junior member of his cabinet who voiced openness to the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza.
WEST BANK VIOLENCE WORSENS
Worsening violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has fuelled concerns that it could become a third front in a wider war, in addition to Israel’s northern border, where clashes with Lebanese Hezbollah forces have mounted.
In Abu Dis, a Palestinian village near Jerusalem, Israeli police conducting an arrest raid were fired on by a gunman and killed him, a police spokesperson said.
The Palestinian health ministry said three Palestinians were killed in the incident, which it described as clashes with Israeli forces. Another Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Hebron, the ministry said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on that.
