GAZA: Palestinian health officials called on Wednesday for a humanitarian corridor to three hospitals in northern Gaza that have come close to collapse as Israeli troops have cut off the area during almost two weeks of heavy fighting against Hamas.
Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and the Indonesian hospitals have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military at the start of a major push into the Jabalia area of northern Gaza 12 days ago.
“We are calling on the international community, the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, to play their humanitarian role by opening up a corridor toward our health care system and allow the entry of fuel, medical, delegations, supplies and food,” said Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital.
“We are talking about more than 300 medical staff working at Kamal Adwan Hospital, and we can’t provide even a single meal for them to be able to offer medical services safely.”
Jabalia, home to one of Gaza’s eight historic refugee camps, was cleared early in the war by Israeli troops pushing through northern Gaza but Hamas fighters have re-established themselves in the area.
Palestinian health officials said the new Israeli offensive has killed around 350 Palestinians in Jabalia and nearby areas. In Gaza City on Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike on a house killed 13 people, medics said. In its daily update, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli military strikes had killed 65 Palestinians across the enclave in the past 24 hours.
The dire humanitarian situation has prompted worldwide alarm, with the United States issuing one of its strongest warnings to Israel that it must improve the situation or face potential restrictions on military aid.
The Israeli military says it has killed more than 50 Palestinian fighters over the past days in airstrikes and close quarters combat as troops try to root out Hamas forces operating as guerrillas in the rubble.
It has told people to evacuate to what it said were safer areas in the south, fueling fears among Palestinians that the drive is aimed at clearing them from northern Gaza permanently as part of a plan to control the enclave.
Israel has denied the evacuation orders are part of a systematic clearance plan, saying they have been issued to ensure people’s safety and separate them from militants.
Aid supplies
The Israeli military denies restricting supplies, saying that since Oct 1, more than 9,000 tons of humanitarian aid including food, water, gas, shelter equipment, and medical supplies have entered Gaza through various crossings.
It said some of that aid was transferred directly into northern Gaza, where the United Nations estimates some 400,000 Palestinians remain.
However, how much of that has reached those in need in northern Gaza remains unclear.
“Nothing entered northern Gaza. People in northern Gaza are starving,” said Hadeel Obeid, a supervisor nurse at the Indonesian Hospital, where 28 patients were being treated.
“Our administrative manager provides just one meal for all persons including doctors, nurses, patients, and their companions. It’s a small amount, not enough for an adult person,” she told Reuters via a messaging app.
Medical supplies were running down due to the daily demands of caring for the wounded, she said.
Israel launched the offensive against Hamas after the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive so far, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
Food, medicines running out in North Gaza hospitals as Israel presses offensive
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Food, medicines running out in North Gaza hospitals as Israel presses offensive
- Doctors at the Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda and the Indonesian hospitals have refused to leave their patients despite evacuation orders
- New Israeli offensive has killed around 350 Palestinians in Jabalia and nearby areas
UNRWA ‘very near’ possible breaking point in Gaza operation, head says
- UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says agency facing a combination of a financial and political threats to its existence
- It has long had tense relations with Israel but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza
BERLIN: The UN Palestinian refugee agency is close to a possible breaking point for its operations in the Gaza Strip due to increasingly complicated conditions, its head said on Wednesday.
“I will not hide the fact that we might reach a point that we won’t be able anymore to operate,” UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told journalists at a news conference in Berlin.
“We are very near to a possible breaking point. When will it be? I don’t know. But we are very near of that,” he said.
He said the agency was facing a combination of a financial and political threats to its existence, in addition to difficulties in day-to-day operations, as aid is even more desperately needed against the threat of disease and famine.
He said there was a real risk, heading into winter, with people’s immune systems weakened, that famine or acute malnutrition could become a likelihood.
UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
It has long had tense relations with Israel but ties have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza.
Israel launched the offensive against Hamas after the Palestinian militant group led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage to Gaza, by Israeli tallies. More than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in the offensive, according to Gaza’s health authorities.
Israeli leaders in January accused UNRWA staff of collaborating with Hamas militants in Gaza, leading some donors to suspend funding, although many of those decisions have since been reversed. The UN launched an investigation into Israel’s accusations and dismissed nine staff.
West Bank facing ‘most dangerous olive season ever’: UN experts
- Farmers facing intimidation, restriction of access to lands, severe harassment and attacks by armed Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces
GENEVA: Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank are facing “the most dangerous olive season ever,” UN experts said Wednesday, urging Israeli settlers and forces not to interfere with the harvest.
They also recommended a “foreign presence” to act as a buffer between the two sides.
A dozen United Nations experts said farmers were facing intimidation, restriction of access to lands, severe harassment and attacks by armed Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces.
“In 2023, the harvest was marred by a sharp increase in movement restrictions and violence by Israeli forces and settlers,” the independent experts said in a statement.
Last year, they said, “Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, faced the highest level of Israeli settler violence.”
Settlers had assaulted Palestinians, set fire to or damaged their crops, stolen sheep and blocked them from getting to their land, water and grazing areas, the statement added.
“Last year, Israel also seized more Palestinian land than in any year in the past 30 years,” they said, adding that the situation was “expected to worsen.”
Historical importance
Olive harvests are central to Palestinian life and culture, said the independent experts, who are mandated by the Human Rights Council but do not speak for the United Nations.
“Restricting olive harvests, destroying orchards and banning access to water sources is an attempt by Israel to expand its illegal settlements,” they argued.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, was among the signatories.
The experts, also including those on the right to food, to safe drinking water and sanitation and to adequate housing, said Palestinian farmers were facing “enormous challenges, threats and harassment” in accessing their olive trees.
In 2023, more than 9,600 hectares (24,000 acres) of olive-cultivated land across the occupied West Bank was not harvested due to Israeli-imposed restrictions, they said.
That had meant the loss of 1,200 metric tons of olive oil, worth $10 million, they added.
“This situation is expected to worsen,” they warned, as the Israeli authorities had revoked or failed to issue permits allowing farmers to access their lands.
They urged Israeli forces to refrain from interfering with this year’s olive harvest, and “concentrate their efforts on withdrawing the occupation and dismantling the colonies.”
The experts said they would “continue to call for protection, including through a foreign presence acting as a buffer between the Palestinians and their aggressors, and to protect Palestinian farmers and their families.”
Violence has soared in the West Bank since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel in October last year.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 705 Palestinians in the West Bank since, the Ramallah-based health ministry said earlier this month.
Israeli officials say at least 24 Israelis, civilians or members of the security forces, have been killed in attacks carried out by Palestinian militants or in Israeli military operations over the same period in the West Bank.
Earthquake with 5.9 magnitude shakes eastern Turkiye
- People rushed out of homes and offices in panic throughout the region
- Many were waiting in the streets and parks, reluctant to return indoors
ISTANBUL: A moderately strong earthquake struck eastern Turkiye on Wednesday, causing widespread panic, officials said. There were no immediate reports of any serious injury or damage.
The earthquake with a magnitude 5.9 struck the town of Kale in Malatya province at 10:46 a.m. (07:46 GMT), according to the government-run Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, or AFAD. It was felt in the nearby cities of Diyarbakir, Elazig, Erzincan and Tunceli, HaberTurk television reported.
“We have not received any reports of any problems so far,” Malatya Mayor Sami Er told the state-run Anadolu Agency, adding that officials were still assessing possible damage in more remote areas.
People rushed out of homes and offices in panic throughout the region, HaberTurk reported. Many were waiting in the streets and parks, reluctant to return indoors. Schools were ordered closed in Elazig.
Malatya was one 11 provinces that was devastated by a powerful earthquake that hit struck parts of Turkiye and northern Syria last year. More than 53,000 people were killed in Turkiye.
EU won’t pull back UN troops from south Lebanon, Austrian minister says
- Benjamin Netanyahu earlier called on the UN to withdraw UNIFIL ‘from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones’
- European nations contribute about 3,600 troops to the 10,000-strong UNIFIL force in Lebanon
BRUSSELS: European Union countries that contribute to UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL in Lebanon have no intention of pulling back from the south of the country despite Israeli calls to do so, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said.
Since an Israeli ground operation against Hezbollah militants began on Oct. 1, UNIFIL positions have come under fire and two Israeli tanks burst through the gates of one of its bases, the UN says. Five peacekeepers have been injured.
Sixteen EU countries, including Austria, contribute to UNIFIL and the recent incidents have sparked widespread alarm among European governments.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the UN to withdraw UNIFIL “from Hezbollah strongholds and from the combat zones.”
But Schallenberg, summarizing a discussion among EU foreign ministers on Monday, said European nations were not minded to pull troops back or out.
“There was no debate about pulling back or whatever,” he said in an interview in Brussels.
“They are there to stay but the security and the safety of our troops is paramount and has to be ensured by everybody,” said Schallenberg, whose country has about 160 soldiers in UNIFIL.
European nations contribute about 3,600 troops to the 10,000-strong force.
EU contributors plan to hold a video call on Wednesday on their current posture and the longer-term role of the mission when it comes to troop levels, equipment and rules of engagement, according to European officials.
Israeli officials have said their forces are not deliberately targeting UNIFIL but Hezbollah has used peacekeepers’ positions as cover for attacks and Israel has a right to respond.
Schallenberg said Israel had a right to defend itself against Hezbollah but even unintentional attacks on peacekeeping positions were a breach of international law.
“There’s a clear demand on Israel to be very cautious on this,” he said in the interview, which took place late on Tuesday afternoon.
Lebanon says five dead in Israeli strikes on Nabatiyeh municipality
- UN special coordinator for Lebanon urges protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure
- The mayor of Nabatiyeh was among those killed Wednesday in Israeli strikes
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s health ministry said five people were killed in Israeli strikes Wednesday on the municipality of the southern city of Nabatiyeh, after an official said the mayor was among the dead.
“The Israeli enemy raid... on two buildings, that of the Nabatiyeh municipality and the union of municipalities, killed five people in a preliminary toll,” the ministry said in a statement, adding rescuers were searching for survivors under the rubble.
The mayor of Nabatiyeh was among those killed, authorities said.
“The mayor of Nabatiyeh, among others... was martyred. It’s a massacre,” Nabatiyeh governor Howaida Turk said, adding he had been in the municipality building.
Hezbollah-affiliated rescuers also said several people were killed in the strike on the municipality building including mayor Ahmad Kahil.
UN Lebanon envoy urges protection of civilians
The UN special coordinator for Lebanon urged the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure after deadly Israeli strikes hit municipality buildings in the southern city of Nabatiyeh on Wednesday.
“Today, Israeli air strikes hit the town of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon, yet again,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said in a statement, adding that “civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected at all times.”
The Israeli military launched strikes in southern Beirut on Wednesday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon, saying it would leave Hezbollah forces near his country’s border.
An AFP journalist saw black smoke rising from Beirut’s Haret Hreik area after two strikes, which followed an Israeli military warning for residents to evacuate.
One of the strikes targeted weapons “stockpiled by Hezbollah in an underground storage facility,” the military said.
Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the offensive came as the United States ramped up pressure on Israel, criticizing the bombing of Beirut and urging more aid access for Gazans.
In a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Netanyahu said he was “opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was,” according to his office.
Israel insists it needs a buffer zone along its northern border, free of Hezbollah fighters.
“Netanyahu clarified that Israel would not agree to any arrangement that does not provide this (a buffer zone) and which does not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping,” the statement said.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader, Naim Qassem, said the only solution was a ceasefire while threatening to expand its missile strikes across Israel.
“Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place” in Israel, he said.
Early Wednesday Israel’s military said about 50 projectiles were fired from Lebanon at the country’s north, without any reports of casualties.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said it launched several salvos of rockets on northern Israel and army positions.
The Israeli military said it had “eliminated dozens of terrorists during exchanges of fire and aerial strikes” in Lebanon.
Israel bombed several areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, including in the Bekaa Valley, where a hospital was knocked out of service, the official National News Agency reported.
The Israeli military said it had captured three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry reported nine deaths from strikes on the country’s south, and five more in the east, including three children.
The US State Department criticized Israeli strikes.
“We have made clear that we are opposed to the campaign the way we’ve seen it conducted over the past weeks” in Beirut, said spokesman Matthew Miller.
In a letter to Israel’s government on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned US weapons deliveries to Israel could be withheld unless more aid reaches Gazans.
The letter made clear “there are changes that they need to make again to see that the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up from the very, very low levels that it is at today,” Miller said.
The United Nations warned restrictions on aid to Gaza were the worst since Israel’s offensive on Hamas began in October last year.
“We see now what is probably the worst restrictions we’ve seen on humanitarian aid, ever,” said James Elder, a spokesman for the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF, noting there were several days where no trucks were allowed into Gaza.
Israeli forces have been conducting air and ground assaults on northern Gaza and Jabalia, amid claims Hamas militants were regrouping in the area.
“The whole area has been reduced to ashes,” said Rana Abdel Majid, 38, from northern Gaza’s Al-Faluja area, describing the “indiscriminate, merciless bombing” that has levelled entire blocks.
Israel’s military said it had “eliminated over 50 terrorists in close-quarters encounters and aerial strikes” in Jabalia during the past day.
At a shelter hit by an Israeli strike in the central Nuseirat camp, Fatima Al-Azab said: “There is no safety anywhere.”
“They are all children, sleeping in the covers, all burned and cut up,” she said.
Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza after an October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas that resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures, including hostages killed in captivity.
The Israeli campaign has killed 42,344 people, the majority civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory which the UN considers reliable.
Israel escalated its air campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon from September 23, launching a ground offensive a week later to push the group back from its northern border.
Hezbollah has fired thousands of projectiles into Israel over the past year in support of Hamas, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis.
At least 1,356 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel intensified its bombing last month, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.
The war in Lebanon, which has suffered years of economic crisis, has displaced at least 690,000 people, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration.
Israel is also weighing how to respond to Iran’s launch of about 200 missiles at the country on October 1.
Netanyahu’s office said Israel — and not its top ally the United States — would decide how to strike back.
“We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interest,” it said.
Iran’s top diplomat told UN chief Antonio Guterres his country was ready for a “decisive and regretful” response if Israel attacks, his office said.
The Iranian barrage was in retaliation for an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and another that killed Iranian general Abbas Nilforoushan on September 27.
