CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Israeli airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health authorities said on Wednesday, as the military said troops continued to target militants and seize weapons and ammunition.
As last-ditch diplomatic efforts continued to halt the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli military said jets hit around 30 targets throughout the Gaza Strip including tunnels, launch sites and an observation post.
It said troops killed dozens of armed fighters and captured weapons including explosives, grenades and automatic rifles.
The military issued new evacuation orders in the heavily overcrowded area of Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the fighting have sought shelter.
The evacuation orders, which the military said were needed to clear civilians from what had become “a dangerous combat zone,” were soon followed by tank fire with at least one person killed and several wounded by machine gun fire, medics and residents said.
The conflict churned on as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ended his latest visit to the Middle East with no clear sign over whether a deal to end the fighting is in sight.
At stake in the talks Blinken had with leaders of ceasefire mediators, Egypt and Qatar, as well as in Israel, is the fate of tiny, crowded Gaza, where Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 40,000 people since October according to Palestinian health authorities, and of the remaining hostages being held there.
The war in Gaza began on Oct. 7 last year when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities and military bases, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
For the displaced left exposed in Deir Al-Balah, the lack of progress toward a ceasefire compounded the misery as they searched for space away from the fighting.
“Where will we go? Where will we go?” said Aburakan, 55, a displaced person from Gaza City in the territory’s north who has had to change refuge five times since October.
“We feel they are closing in. I live a few hundred meters from the threatened areas, and I have been searching since the early morning in vain for a space in western Deir Al-Balah, Khan Younis, or Nuseirat,” he told Reuters via a chat app.
“Unfortunately, we may die before we see an end to this war. All ceasefire talk is a lie.”
Palestinian and United Nations officials say most of the 2.3 million population have become internally displaced by Israel’s ongoing military offensive and bombardment that have also flattened swathes of built-up areas across the enclave.
Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza after Blinken ends visit with truce deal still elusive
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Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza after Blinken ends visit with truce deal still elusive
- At least 50 Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours, Palestinian health authorities say
- Israeli military issued new evacuation orders for Palestinians in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza
The Palestinian economy is in free fall and will require billions to rebuild, the UN says
The report made no mention of corruption in Palestinian institutions
GENEVA: The Palestinian economy is “in free fall,” the United Nations reported Thursday, with production in Gaza plunging to one-sixth of its level before Israeli forces began a blistering military response to the Oct. 7 attacks in the territory.
The report from UN Trade and Development, or UNCTAD, also warned of “rapid and alarming economic decline” in the West Bank, citing expanded Israeli settlements, land confiscations, demolition of Palestinian buildings and violence by settlers.
The report made no mention of corruption in Palestinian institutions.
“The Palestinian economy is in free fall,” Pedro Manuel Moreno, the agency’s deputy secretary-general, told reporters in Geneva. “The report calls for the international community to halt this economic free fall, address the humanitarian crisis, and lay the groundwork for lasting peace and development.”
That would include a “comprehensive recovery plan” for Palestinian areas, more international aid, the lifting of Israel’s blockade on Gaza, and the release of revenues and withheld funds for Palestinians retained by Israel, he said.
Gaza’s economy was weak even before the war, when unemployment was close to 50 percent, but the war has brought it to a near-standstill, with the UN estimating that roughly 90 percent of the territory’s population has been displaced, many living in squalid tent camps and dependent on international aid.
The war has also hurt the West Bank. After the Oct. 7 attacks, Israel immediately revoked work permits that allowed some 150,000 Palestinians to work inside Israel, depriving them of a key source of income.
A military crackdown that Israel says is aimed at militants has also rippled through the economy, with frequent army raids and military checkpoints making it difficult for people to work or move around.
With violence continuing, there’s little sign of any recovery plan being launched anytime soon.
Mutasim Elagraa, who coordinates UNCTAD’s assistance to Palestinians, said: “If we want to return Gaza to pre-October 2023, we need tens of billions of dollars, or even more, and decades.”
The ultimate goal is “to put Gaza on a path of sustainable development,” which will take more time and money, he said.
Economic output in Gaza plunged to just over $221 million in the half-year including the last quarter of 2023 and first quarter of 2024 — the last quarter for which figures are available — or about 16 percent of the total figure for the same half-year period in 2022 and 2023, when the total was just over $1.34 billion, the agency said.
Meanwhile, more than 300,000 jobs in the West Bank — home to some 3 million Palestinians — have been lost, driving unemployment rates up to 32 percent, up from under 13 percent before the conflict, the agency reported.
By early this year, as much as 96 percent of Gaza’s farming assets, including livestock farms, orchards, machinery and storage facilities, had been “decimated,” UNCTAD said.
Over 80 percent of businesses were damaged or destroyed, and the damage has continued to worsen, it said.
Since the 1990s, Israel has collected import duties for Palestinians — leaving about two-thirds of all Palestinian tax revenue under the control of the Israeli government. Israel has repeatedly withheld or suspended the payments, accusing the Palestinian Authority of encouraging violence or taking hostile steps against Israel in the UN and other international bodies.
From 2019 through April this year, Israel had withheld or deducted a total of more than $1.4 billion, crimping the ability of Palestinian officials to provide public services and pay salaries, pensions and debts, it said. The European Union last month said it paid some $43 million to help the Palestinian Authority pay salaries and pensions in the West Bank.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,084 Palestinians and wounded another 95,029, the territory’s Health Ministry said. The ministry’s count does not differentiate between civilians and militants.
Israel launched its campaign vowing to destroy the Palestinian group Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel in which militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 250 others.
UN chief Guterres says 6 colleagues killed in Israel strike on Gaza school
- The Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat, already hit several times during the war, was struck again on Wednesday, killing 18 people
- ‘Among those killed was manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people,’ UNRWA says
GAZA: An Israeli air strike hit a school in central Gaza on Wednesday, with the Hamas-run territory’s civil defense agency reporting that 18 people were killed, including UN staffers, and the military saying it had targeted militants.
The Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat, already hit several times during the war, was struck again on Wednesday, killing 18 people, including two members of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said Gaza’s civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal.
UNRWA gave the higher figure of six staffers killed at the Nuseirat school-turned-shelter, calling it the highest death toll among its team in a single incident.
“This school has been hit five times since the war began. It is home to around 12,000 displaced people, mainly women and children,” the UN agency separately posted on X. “No one is safe in Gaza.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres deplored the killings, which he also said included six UNRWA colleagues.
“What’s happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable,” he wrote on social media platform X.
“These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now.”
Gaza’s civil defense agency said at least 18 other people were wounded in the school bombing.
AFP could not independently verify the toll, which the agency said included several women and children.
Israel’s military said its air force had “conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command-and-control center” on the grounds of Al-Jawni, without elaborating on the outcome or the identities of those targeted.
“Most of the people took refuge in schools and the schools were bombed,” said Basil Amarneh from Gaza’s Al-Aqsa hospital, where children were arriving in the arms of medics.
“Where will people go?”
The vast majority of the Gaza Strip’s 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once by the war, triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, with many seeking safety in schools.
Israeli forces have struck several such schools in recent months, saying Palestinian militants were operating there and hiding among displaced civilians — charges denied by Hamas.
In July, at least 16 people were killed in an air strike on the Al-Jawni facility that Israel said had targeted “terrorists.”
Israel’s military offensive since the war began on October 7 has killed at least 41,084 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.
The October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which also includes hostages killed in captivity.
Israel’s military meanwhile reported the deaths of two soldiers late Tuesday when an army helicopter crashed in the area of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
The military announced on Wednesday that the helicopter had crashed while landing and that another eight soldiers were injured.
The aircraft had been on a “life-saving operation” to evacuate a wounded soldier when it crashed, Major General Tomer Bar said in a statement.
“An investigative committee has been appointed to investigate the details of the crash,” he said, and called it an “operational accident.”
The latest deaths bring the Israeli military’s losses in the Gaza campaign to 344 since its ground offensive began on October 27.
Deadly Israeli strike on Gaza school draws global condemnation
- UN chief Antonio Guterres branded the strike “totally unacceptable“
- EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “outraged” by the deaths and that the strikes showed a “disregard of the basic principles” of international humanitarian law
GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Israel faced international condemnation Thursday after a strike killed 18 people at a school-turned-shelter for displaced Palestinians in war-torn Gaza, where the Israeli military said it targeted Hamas militants.
The attack flattened part of the UN-run Al-Jawni school in Nuseirat on Wednesday, leaving only a charred heap of rebar and concrete.
“For the fifth time, Israeli forces bombed the UNRWA-run Al-Jawni School, killing 18 citizens,” Gaza civil defense spokesperson Mahmud Bassal wrote on Telegram, referring to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
UNRWA later said six of its staff had been killed in two Israeli strikes on the school and its surroundings, calling it the highest death toll among its team in a single incident.
“Among those killed was the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members providing assistance to displaced people,” it said on X. “Schools and other civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times, they are not a target.”
The Israeli military said it had conducted a “precise strike” on Hamas militants within the school grounds. It did not elaborate on the outcome, but said “numerous steps” were taken to reduce the risk to civilians.
UN chief Antonio Guterres branded the strike “totally unacceptable.”
His condemnation was echoed by Israeli ally Germany, which said “humanitarian aid workers must never be victims of rockets.”
Jordan and the European Union also criticized the attack, while Israel’s main backer the United States called on it to protect humanitarian sites.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he was “outraged” by the deaths and that the strikes showed a “disregard of the basic principles” of international humanitarian law.
US Secretary of State Blinken said: “We need to see humanitarian sites protected, and that’s something that we continue to raise with Israel.”
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said UNRWA had not provided the names of its killed workers, “despite repeated requests.”
He said a military inquiry found that “a significant number of the names (of the dead) that have appeared in the media and on social networks are Hamas terrorist operatives.”
In response, UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma said the agency was “not aware of any such requests,” that it provided Israel each year with a list of its staff and that it “called repeatedly” on Israel and Palestinian militants “to never use civilian facilities for military or fighting purposes.”
She said the agency was “not in a position to determine” if the school had been used by Hamas for military purposes, but UNRWA had “repeatedly called for independent investigations” into “these very serious claims.”
Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said the school was “no longer a school” and had become “a legitimate target” as it was used by Hamas to launch attacks.
UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid into Gaza, has been in crisis since Israel accused a dozen of its 30,000 employees of being involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks that sparked the war.
The UN immediately fired the implicated staff members, and a probe found some “neutrality related issues” but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its chief allegations.
Survivors of the strike scrambled to recover bodies and belongings from the rubble, saying they had to step over “shredded limbs.”
“I can hardly stand up,” a man holding a plastic bag of human remains told AFP.
“We’ve been going through hell for 340 days now, what we’ve seen over these days, we haven’t even seen it in Hollywood movies, now we’re seeing it in Gaza.”
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said after the school strike that at least 220 members of the agency’s staff had been killed in the war.
“Endless & senseless killing, day after day,” he posted on X.
“Humanitarian staff, premises & operations have been blatantly & unabatedly disregarded since the beginning of the war.”
Across Gaza, many school buildings have been repurposed to shelter displaced families, with the vast majority of the territory’s 2.4 million people repeatedly uprooted by the war.
In Gaza City, civil defense spokesman Bassal said two strikes in the Zeitun neighborhood killed seven people — including two children.
Later, he said two people were killed in the Jabalia camp. Medical sources said five people were killed in strikes on the Khan Yunis area.
The bloodshed shows no signs of abating despite months of ceasefire negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
A Hamas delegation met Qatari and Egyptian mediators in Doha on Wednesday, the Palestinian Islamists said, though there was no indication of a breakthrough.
The October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Among the dead included in that count were hostages killed in captivity.
Israel’s retaliation has killed at least 41,118 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.
Lufthansa extends Beirut flight suspension
- The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July
- Lufthansa had also suspended flights to Tel Aviv in Israel due to the tensions, but resumed them on September 5
FRANKFURT: German airline group Lufthansa said Thursday it was extending a suspension of flights to Lebanese capital Beirut until October 15 due to heightened regional tensions.
Services to Beirut had previously been suspended until the end of September.
The Lufthansa group, whose carriers also include SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines, has not flown to Beirut since late July.
Lebanese group Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip.
Lufthansa had also suspended flights to Tel Aviv in Israel due to the tensions, but resumed them on September 5.
Flights to Tehran also resumed on September 5, although Austrian Airlines is currently the only airline in the group serving the Iranian capital, a Lufthansa spokesman told AFP.
Germany, France and Britain on Tuesday said they were taking steps to cancel air transport agreements with Iran because of what they said was Iran's delivery of ballistic missiles to Russia.
"The Lufthansa group is aware of the planned sanctions and is in contact with the relevant authorities," the spokesman said.
Germany's foreign ministry on Wednesday said the country was "currently in intensive consultation with its European and international partners about the imposition of new sanctions, including in the aviation sector".
EU top diplomat urges Lebanon and Israel to ease tensions along their border
- “Since I lasted visited Lebanon in January the drums of war have not stopped pounding,” Borrell told reporters in Beirut
- Borrell said that according to the United Nations more than 4,000 residential buildings have been completely destroyed in Lebanon
BEIRUT: The European Union’s top diplomat on Thursday urged Lebanon and Israel to work on deescalating tensions along the border, saying that since his last trip to the region in January “the drums of war have not stopped pounding.”
The comments of Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, came as members of the militant Hezbollah group and Israel’s military carried out cross border attacks along the tense frontier on Thursday.
Western and Arab officials have visited Beirut over the past year to try to reduce tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border, but Hezbollah officials have said they will only stop carrying out attacks along the border when Israel stops its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
“Since I lasted visited Lebanon in January the drums of war have not stopped pounding,” Borrell told reporters in Beirut during a joint press conference with Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib. “Since then the fears I was outlining have been growing, more escalation, fears of a spillover of the war in Gaza and fears of more widespread human suffering.”
In late August, Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah pulled back after an exchange of heavy fire that briefly raised fears of an all-out war.
Borrell said that according to the United Nations more than 4,000 residential buildings have been completely destroyed in Lebanon and more than 110,000 Lebanese have been forced to leave their homes along the border. He said the same thing is happening on the Israeli side of the border.
The European official said that his message is that the European Union “stands on the side of the Lebanese people to help to overcome the threats and challenges as much as we can.”
More than 500 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes since Oct. 8, most of them fighters with Hezbollah and other armed groups but also more than 100 civilians. In northern Israel, 23 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed by strikes from Lebanon.
“We need to deescalate military tensions and I use this opportunity to urge all sides to pursue this path,” said Borrell, who on Tuesday visited UN peacekeepers deployed in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel.
He added that the “full and asymmetrical implementation” of the UN Security Council resolution that ended the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war should pave the way for a comprehensive settlement including land border demarcation and allowing the return of people and reconstruction in the affected border areas.
“The European Union is doing a lot but we don’t have a magic wand,” he said.
