More than a million people have fled their homes in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected Israeli invasion that seeks to eliminate Hamas’ leadership after its deadly incursion. Aid groups warn an Israeli ground offensive could hasten a humanitarian crisis.
Israeli forces, supported by U.S. warships, positioned themselves along Gaza’s border and drilled for what Israel said would be a broad campaign to dismantle the militant group. A week of blistering airstrikes have demolished neighborhoods but failed to stop militant rocket fire into Israel.
The war that began Oct. 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides, with more than 4,000 dead. The Gaza Health Ministry said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and 9,700 wounded. More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, and at least 199 others, including children, were captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza, according to Israel.
Currently:
- Water has run out at U.N. shelters across Gaza and overwhelmed doctors at the territory’s largest hospital struggled to care for patients they fear will die once generators run out of fuel.
2. U.S. President Joe Biden is considering a trip to Israel in the coming days, though no travel has yet been confirmed.
3. An urban battle during Israel’s 2014 war against Hamas offers a glimpse of the type of fighting that could lie ahead.
Here’s what’s happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war, as reported by the Associated Press:
Gaza Health Ministry: 2,750 Palestinians dead, 9,700 hurt
Newslooks- JERUSALEM (AP)
Israeli forces kept up their bombardment of Gaza on Monday after diplomatic efforts to arrange a ceasefire to allow foreign passport holders to leave and aid to be brought into the besieged Palestinian enclave failed.
Residents of Hamas-ruled Gaza said overnight air strikes were the heaviest yet as the conflict entered its 10th day with an Israeli ground offensive believed to be imminent.
Bombing carried on through the day, they said, and many buildings were flattened, trapping yet more people under the rubble. Israeli officials issued multiple warnings of Hamas rocket fire into Israel.
Diplomatic efforts have been underway to get aid into the enclave, which has endured unrelenting Israeli bombing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants that killed 1,300 people – the bloodiest single day in the state’s 75-year history.
But Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said there was no Gaza ceasefire and that Israel was continuing its operations.
“There are no such efforts under way at this time. If anything changes we will inform the public. We are continuing our fight against Hamas, this murderous organisation that carried this (the assaults) out.”
With food, fuel and water running short, hundreds of tons of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah border crossing.
Earlier on Monday, Egyptian security sources had told Reuters that an agreement had been reached to open the crossing to allow aid into the enclave.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement: “There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out.”
Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq said that there was “no truth” to the reports about the crossing opening or a temporary ceasefire.
Egypt has said the crossing was rendered inoperable due to Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Monday the Israeli government had yet to take a stance that allowed the crossing to open.
AP Journalists said a small crowd of people had gathered at the crossing, the only one not controlled by Israel, waiting to enter Egypt.
The United States had told its citizens in Gaza to go to the crossing. The U.S. government estimates the number of dual-citizen Palestinian-Americans in Gaza at 500 to 600.
Washington is also seeking to secure the release of 199 hostages that Israel says were taken by Hamas back into Gaza. Among them are elderly people, women and children and foreigners, including Americans.
U.S. President Joe Biden has sent military aid to Israel but also stressed the need to get humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians and urged Israel to follow the rules of war in its response to the Hamas attacks.
HEAVY BOMBING
In Gaza’s north, where Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in an elaborate tunnel network, local people said Israeli aircraft bombed areas around the Al-Quds hospital early on Monday. Surrounding houses were damaged, forcing hundreds of people to take shelter in the Red Crescent-run hospital.
Israeli planes also bombed three headquarters of the Civil Emergency and Ambulance Service in Gaza City, killing five people and paralyzing the rescue services in those areas, health officials said.
Israel has urged Gazans to evacuate south, which hundreds of thousands have already done in the enclave, home to about 2.3 million people. Hamas has told people to ignore Israel’s message and residents fear Israeli air strikes in southern Gaza too.
In southern Gaza, five members a family were killed in Khan Younis refugee camp. Their neighbour, Suhail Baker, 45, said he was woken by the sound of an explosion.
“We woke up in horror, and we see them dismembered, it took a long time to remove the rubble by the bulldozers to recover the bodies,” said Baker.
On a nearby street, Abu Ahmed, an elderly man sitting outside his house, said: “Israel has taken a decision to kill every last one of us.”
Reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip are expected to last only around 24 more hours, putting thousands of patients at risk, the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) said early on Monday.
More than one million people – almost half the population of Gaza – have been displaced within the enclave, the United Nations said, and it is struggling to cope with their needs.
For the fifth consecutive day, Gaza has had no electricity, pushing vital services, including health, water and sanitation to the brink of collapse. People are consuming brackish water from agricultural wells, raising concerns over the spread of disease.
THE U.N. HEALTH AGENCY RUSHES MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO LEBANON
BEIRUT — The World Health Organization says it has sent two shipments of medical supplies to Beirut in preparation for a potential escalation of the so-far sporadic clashes on the border between armed groups in Lebanon and Israeli forces.
The U.N. agency said in a statement Monday that it “has expedited the delivery of critical medical supplies to Lebanon in order to be ready to respond to any potential health crisis.”
Two shipments containing “enough surgical and trauma medicines and supplies to meet the needs of 800 to 1,000 injured patients” arrived in Beirut from Dubai Monday the statement said.
Lebanon’s health system has been overstretched since the country fell into a severe economic crisis four years ago. Many medical professionals have left the country and hospitals have faced supply and equipment shortages.
The WHO noted that clashes on the border have already resulted in civilian casualties.
“If these clashes escalate, more civilians will be at risk, and they will need immediate access to lifesaving medical care,” the statement said.
Since the outbreak of the latest Hamas-Israel war on Oct. 7, armed groups in Lebanon, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, have launched missiles at sites in northern Israel, while Israel has hit sites in southern Lebanon with airstrikes and shelling.
Strikes from the Lebanese side have killed one Israeli soldier and one civilian, while Israeli strikes have killed three civilians on the Lebanese side — including Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah — as well as four Hezbollah fighters. Two members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad were killed Monday in clashes with Israeli forces after crossing the border between the two countries.
UK WORKING TO PREVENT THE CONFLICT FROM SPREADING
LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he is working with other leaders from around the world to ensure the Israel-Hamas conflict does not spread.
Sunak, who has spoken by phone to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and met King Abdullah of Jordan in London on Sunday, said “nobody wants to see regional escalation. And certainly the Israeli prime minister does not, when I’ve spoken to him.”
Sunak said Britain has sent Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to “make sure that no arm shipments, for example, have been sent to other terrorist organizations in the region.”
Sunak also said he had raised with Netanyahu “the need to minimize the impact on civilians” of Israel’s offensive against Hamas.
“And the humanitarian situation is one which of course we’re concerned about, and that I’ve raised in all the calls and interactions I’ve had with other leaders from across the region,” Sunak said.
NORWAY SAYS IT HAS 170 NATIONALS WHO WANT HELP TO LEAVE
GAZA
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The Norwegian government says that as of Sunday evening there are 170 of their nationals who want assistance from Norway to leave Gaza.
Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said that “the situation in Gaza is unclear and is getting worse with every passing hour.”
Speaking of leaving Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, Huitfeldt said “we cannot guarantee that it will be possible for Norwegian citizens to cross (there). The border can be both opened and closed at short notice.”
The possibilities to leave the area via Lebanon “have been limited in a short time,” Huitfeldt said because “several airlines have stopped their flights.”
