Renewed fighting in Gaza stretched into a second day on Saturday after talks to extend a week-old truce with Hamas collapsed and mediators said Israeli bombardments were complicating attempts to again pause hostilities.
Quick Read
- Renewed Fighting in Gaza: Fighting in Gaza resumed after a week-old truce with Hamas collapsed, with intense Israeli bombardment reported in eastern areas of Khan Younis.
- Casualties and Destruction: Gaza health officials reported 184 people killed and at least 589 wounded by Friday evening, with more than 20 houses hit in the strikes.
- Mass Displacement: Residents were seen fleeing with belongings as the conflict intensified, searching for safer areas.
- Breakdown of Truce: The truce, which involved the exchange of hostages for Palestinians in Israeli jails, collapsed over disagreements on terms for its extension.
- U.N. on Humanitarian Emergency: The U.N. described the situation as a return to “Hell on Earth” in Gaza, with U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths emphasizing the dire situation for families and the lack of safe places.
- Failure of Hostage Exchange Extension: The truce involved Israel releasing 10 hostages daily, but mediators couldn’t find a formula to release more, including Israeli soldiers and civilian men.
- Israel’s Accusation Against Hamas: Israel accused Hamas of refusing to release all the women it held, leading to the truce breakdown.
- Qatar’s Continued Mediation Efforts: Despite the renewed conflict, Qatar stated that negotiations were ongoing to restore the truce.
- U.S. Blames Hamas for Renewed Fighting: The U.S. blamed Hamas for the renewed conflict, citing Hamas’ failure to produce a new list of hostages and an attack in Jerusalem.
- Hamas Accusations Against U.S.: Hamas accused the U.S. of supporting Israeli actions and blamed it for the war’s resumption.
- Israeli Military Actions: Israel conducted over 200 strikes on “terror targets” in Gaza.
- Aid and Supply Challenges: The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Israeli forces stopped all aid deliveries into Gaza, while COGAT said aid agreed under the truce was halted but other supplies were allowed in.
- Evacuation Orders and Leaflets: Israel dropped leaflets in Khan Younis, ordering residents to evacuate further south to Rafah, warning of potential expansion of the war.
- U.S. Plan to Minimize Civilian Harm: The U.S. is reportedly working with Israel on a plan to minimize civilian harm in southern Gaza.
- Intense Bombing in Southern Gaza: Bombing was most intense in Khan Younis and Rafah, with many seeking shelter there due to fighting in the north.
Reuters has the story:
Renewed Gaza fighting: Overwhelmed hospitals receive new wave of wounded
Newslooks- GAZA, (Reuters)
Renewed fighting in Gaza stretched into a second day on Saturday after talks to extend a week-old truce with Hamas collapsed and mediators said Israeli bombardments were complicating attempts to again pause hostilities.
Eastern areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza came under intense bombardment as the truce deadline lapsed shortly after dawn on Friday, with columns of smoke rising into the sky, Reuters journalists in the city said.
By Friday evening, Gaza health officials said Israeli air strikes had killed 184 people, wounded at least 589 others and hit more than 20 houses.
Residents took to the road with belongings heaped up in carts, searching for shelter further west.
The warring sides blamed the other for the collapse of the truce by rejecting terms to extend the daily release of hostages held by militants in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
The United Nations said the fighting would worsen an extreme humanitarian emergency. “Hell on Earth has returned to Gaza,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the U.N. humanitarian office in Geneva.
“Today, in a matter of hours, scores were reportedly killed and injured. Families were told to evacuate, again. Hopes were dashed,” said U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths, adding that children, women and men of Gaza had “nowhere safe to go and very little to survive on.”
A pause that started on Nov. 24 had been extended twice and Israel had said it could continue as long as Hamas released 10 hostages each day. But after seven days during which women, children and foreign hostages were freed, mediators failed to find a formula to release more, including Israeli soldiers and civilian men.
Israel accused Hamas of refusing to release all the women it held. A Palestinian official said the breakdown occurred over female Israeli soldiers.
Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas after an Oct. 7 rampage in which it says the militant group killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostage.
Israeli assaults since have laid waste much of Gaza, which Hamas has ruled since 2007. Palestinian health authorities deemed reliable by the United Nations say more than 15,000 Gazans have been killed and thousands are missing.
QATAR SAYS NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUING
Qatar, which has played a central role as mediator, said negotiations were still going on with Israelis and Palestinians to restore the truce, but Israel’s renewed bombardment of Gaza had complicated matters.
In the north of Gaza, previously the main war zone, huge plumes of smoke rose above the ruins, seen from across the fence in Israel. Gunfire and explosions rang out above the sound of barking dogs.
Residents and officials from Hamas said its fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades battled Israeli troops and tanks in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in the north.
Sirens blared across southern Israel as militants fired rockets from the coastal enclave into towns. Hamas said it had targeted Tel Aviv, but there were no reports of casualties or damage there.
There were casualties reported in southern Lebanon, another flashpoint of conflict for Israel. A Lebanese official said Israeli shelling killed three people on Friday. The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, said it had carried out several attacks on Israeli military positions at the border in support of Palestinians.
The Israeli army said its artillery struck sources of fire from Lebanon and air defences had intercepted two launches. Reuters could not confirm any of the battlefield accounts.
U.S. AND HAMAS TRADE ACCUSATIONS
The United States blamed Hamas for the renewed fighting, saying it had failed to produce a new list of hostages to release.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, ending a trip to the region, said Hamas had started firing rockets before the pause in hostilities expired, had carried out a deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem on Thursday and had not followed through on commitments on hostages.
Democratic U.S. Senator Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Washington should be putting pressure on Israel, telling Reuters:
“We should be pushing Israel to realize this is not only a military conflict, but it is a conflict for hearts and minds of people in the world and people in United States.”
“Today, it brazenly repeats the Zionist lies, which hold Hamas responsible for resuming the war and not extending the humanitarian truce,” it said in a statement.
Israel said its ground, air and naval forces struck more than 200 “terror targets” in Gaza.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces had stopped all deliveries of aid into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians, said aid agreed under the truce had been stopped but, at Washington’s request, “dozens” of other trucks with water, food and medical supplies had reached the enclave.
Gazans said they feared the bombing of southern parts of the territory could herald an expansion of the war into areas Israel had previously described as safe.
The United States is working on a plan with Israel to minimize harm to civilians in any military operation in southern Gaza, a senior U.S. official said. Friday’s bombing was most intense in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, however, medics and witnesses said. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans have been sheltering there because of fighting in the north.
Leaflets dropped on eastern areas of Khan Younis ordered residents of four towns to evacuate – not to other areas in Khan Younis as in the past, but further south to Rafah.
“You have been warned,” said the leaflets, written in Arabic.
Israel released a link to a map showing Gaza divided into hundreds of districts, which it said would be used in future to communicate which areas were safe.
In Rafah, residents carried several small children, streaked with blood and covered in dust, out of a house that had been struck. Mohammed Abu-Elneen, whose father owns the house, said it was sheltering people displaced from elsewhere.
Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals receive new wave of wounded
Quick Read
- Truce Collapse and Casualties in Gaza: Following the lapse of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas, Gaza’s health ministry reported 54 people killed in Israeli airstrikes.
- Situation at Nasser Hospital: At Nasser Hospital in Gaza, there was a rush of wounded individuals, with footage showing many injured, including children, and others mourning outside with the bodies of those killed.
- Strain on Gaza’s Health Facilities: The health facilities in Gaza, heavily impacted by the conflict, are struggling to cope with the new wave of casualties.
- U.N. Secretary-General’s Statement: António Guterres highlighted the dire situation, noting the lack of basic supplies, staff, and fuel in Gaza’s hospitals.
- Impact of Hostilities on Gaza’s Population: Prior to the recent bombardment and invasion, Gaza had 2.3 million residents. Palestinian health authorities and the U.N. report substantial casualties and displacement, with many missing and feared buried under rubble.
- WHO Representatives’ Observations: Dr. Richard Peeperkorn and Rob Holden from the World Health Organisation (WHO) described the grave conditions in Gaza’s health system and the hospitals, likening the scene to a horror movie.
- Urgent Need for Fuel and Aid: Humanitarian officials emphasize the critical need for fuel to keep hospitals running, with the U.N. describing the situation as catastrophic.
- Halting of Aid and Fuel Delivery: Following the resumption of Israel’s military campaign, the delivery of aid and fuel at Egypt’s Rafah crossing stopped, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals receive new wave of wounded
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza, (Reuters)
At Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, a man cradling a boy with a bloodied scalp cried for help.
Another boy with a gash on his cheek and tears in his eyes lay under a blanket. A third, his face covered in blood, waited for treatment.
Within hours of the lapse of a week-old truce between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas which runs Gaza, the enclave’s health ministry reported that 54 people had already been killed in Israeli air strikes.
Reuters footage from Nasser Hospital, the second largest in the Gaza strip, showed a steady stream of wounded being brought in as other people wept outside beside bodies of loved ones killed in strikes.
Aid groups and the United Nations say a small fraction of health facilities in the devastated enclave are still functioning and those are in no shape to handle a new wave of casualties.
“Hospitals across Gaza lack the basic supplies, staff and fuel to deliver primary health care at the scale needed, let alone safely treat urgent cases,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday.
Gaza had 2.3 million residents before Israel began a bombardment and ground invasion in response to the Oct. 7 rampage by Hamas, when Israel says gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.
Palestinian health authorities that the U.N. deems credible say more than 15,000 Gazans have been confirmed killed and thousands more are missing and feared buried under rubble. The U.N. says as many as 80% of the population may have been driven from their homes.e
“Gaza’s health system has been crippled by the ongoing hostilities,” Dr Richard Peeperkorn, the World Health Organisation’s representative in Gaza, said.
“It cannot afford to lose any more hospitals or hospital beds,” he told reporters by video link. “We are extremely concerned about the resumption of violence.”
Rob Holden, a WHO senior emergency officer, told the same briefing that he had visited Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Friday morning.
“The only way to describe it is like a horror movie when you walk in there,” he said, adding that there were “patients on the floor with the most traumatic injuries that you can imagine”.
Humanitarian officials say fuel is critically needed to keep hospitals functioning and the U.N. on Friday described the hostilities as “catastrophic”.
After Israel resumed its military campaign on Friday, the entry of aid and fuel trucks for Gaza at Egypt’s Rafah crossing halted. The quantity of aid delivered had increased during the truce, though aid officials said it was still far less than what was needed.
Thousands march for Palestine as Israel and Hamas resume fighting
Quick Read
- Ongoing Protests in Jordan: For the eighth consecutive week, thousands of people in Jordan have participated in a march to support Palestinians in Gaza, coinciding with the resumption of Israeli attacks following the end of a humanitarian pause.
- Location of the March: The march in Jordan started from the Grand Husseini Mosque in Amman, proceeding to Palm Square.
- Jordanian Government’s Condemnation: Jordan’s government condemned the resumption of Israel’s military action in Gaza, labeling it as “futile, aggressive,” and called for an international response against Israel.
- Protests in the Occupied West Bank: Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, particularly in Hebron, organized protests against the Israeli assault on Gaza.
- Solidarity March in Yemen: In Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, tens of thousands participated in a solidarity march with Palestinians.
- Casualties in Gaza: According to Palestinian authorities, more than 184 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded since the end of the humanitarian pause on Friday morning.
Rallies held in Yemen, Jordan and the occupied West Bank as Israel-Hamas war resumes after weeklong truce.
Reuters has the story:
Thousands of people in Jordan have participated in a march for the eighth week in a row in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in a protest that coincides with the end of a humanitarian pause and resumption of Israeli attacks.
The march began after the Friday prayer in front of the Grand Husseini Mosque in the centre of the capital, Amman, and proceeded to Palm Square, correspondent reported.
Jordan’s government condemned Friday’s resumption of Israel’s “futile, aggressive” war on Gaza, calling for a “deterrent” international stance against Israel.
Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank gathered in the city of Hebron to protest against the Israeli assault on Gaza.
In Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, tens of thousands of people took part in a march to show solidarity with Palestinians.
More than 184 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded in Israeli attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip since the humanitarian pause ended on Friday morning, according to Palestinian authorities.
