Key Developments:
- In the last 24 hours, over 320 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, while in the West Bank, Israeli fire has killed at least 52 Palestinians since Saturday.
- After Israel ordered Palestinians to evacuate to the south of Gaza, Israeli air forces bombed convoys fleeing the area. The media office of Hamas said the attack killed at least 70 people, mainly women and children.
- Human Rights Watch has confirmed that Israel used white phosphorus munitions in Lebanon and on civilians in Gaza, despite the government’s denial of these claims.
- Israel continues preparing for a ground assault on Gaza, already beginning with raids around Gaza’s perimeter.
- On Palestine’s northern border with Lebanon, the Israel regime targeted journalists in southern Lebanon, killing one and injuring 6 in a shelling attack.
Gaza
The death toll in Gaza is expected to rise drastically, as Israel instructed over 1 million Palestinians to evacuate from the north of the Gaza Strip to the South within 24 hours on Friday morning to “save themselves.”
| Palestinians | Israelis | |
| Killed | 2,385 | 1,300 |
| Injured | >10,900 | >3,400 |
In a statement, Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA commissioner-general, said that in Gaza, “it has become a matter of life and death.”
“Clean water is running out in Gaza after its water plant and public water networks stopped working. People are now forced to use dirty water from wells, increasing risks of waterborne diseases,” said Lazzarini.
Israel’s complete siege of the Gaza Strip — which prevents food, water, medicine, and fuel from reaching the 2.3 million people — has continued as the population enters its 7th day of bombardment by Israeli airstrikes that continue to level entire neighborhoods.
The UN’s refugee agency has warned that Gaza is rapidly becoming a “hell hole.”
Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, says they are “demanding the opening of the crossings to take the sick and wounded out for treatment abroad and to bring its emergency needs of medicines, medical consumables, and fuel to hospitals and medical centers in light of the power outage due to the Israeli aggression.”
“We fear that thousands of wounded and sick people will lose their lives due to the catastrophic situation in the health sector, in addition to the huge depletion of health teams as a result of this brutal Zionist aggression against all health and humanitarian sectors,” he continued in a statement.
While thousands of residents have abandoned their homes to escape the Israeli military’s impending ground assault on the north, many have said they will not leave.
In Gaza City, Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, said, “Forget about food, forget about electricity, forget about fuel. The only concern now is just if you’ll make it- if you’re going to live.”
At this stage in Israel’s onslaught, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric says this mass evacuation will have “devastating humanitarian consequences” while calling on Israel to rescind the evacuation order, as it could “transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”
António Guterres, the UN chief, released a statement saying that “moving more than 1 million people across a densely populated warzone to a place with no food, water or accommodation when the entire territory is under siege is extremely dangerous and in some cases simply not possible.”
After Israel’s evacuation notice, The World Health Organization joined the United Nations in pleading for the “immediate reversal of the Gaza evacuation order to protect health and reduce suffering.”
Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the chief of the Arab League, says that the “forced transfer” of over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza constitutes “a crime.”
Similarly, the human rights group Amnesty International says that 24 hours “cannot be considered an effective warning and may amount to forced displacement of the civilian population, a violation of international humanitarian law.”
Still, the Israeli military refused to revoke the decision.
Daniel Hagari, an Israeli spokesperson, said the army would “control the attacks so they can move safely” — yet at least 70 people, mainly women and children, were killed by Israeli airstrikes on conveys as they fled to the South.
“The massacre reveals the extent of Israeli lies … and deception, after Israeli suspicious calls for our people to leave their homes,” Hamas said in a statement. “They were directly targeted by [Israeli forces] committing a heinous crime that will remain a testament to Zionist terrorism and aggression.”
Israel’s evacuation notice includes hospitals; however, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, there is no way to evacuate vulnerable hospital patients, including those critically injured or dependent on life support, without endangering their lives, as affirmed by doctors in the Gaza Strip who say that all of the hospitals are already at capacity.
“We cannot evacuate hospitals and leave the wounded and sick to die,” said Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Health Ministry.
On Friday evening, the humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) tweeted that Israel gave Al-Awda Hospital in the north of Gaza only two hours to evacuate.
“Our staff are still treating patients. We unequivocally condemn this action, the continued indiscriminate bloodshed, and attacks on health care in Gaza. We are trying to protect our staff and patients,” the statement continued.
Later, Israel extended the hospital’s evacuation order until 6:00 a.m. “Still, the evacuation of patients remains complicated,” MFS said.
Meanwhile, in the South of Gaza, the Al-Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis is filled with people who have been displaced from their homes, seeking shelter and trying to access basic necessities such as energy, clean water, and medical supplies, as reported by Al Jazeera.
“We adamantly reject expulsion from our homes once again,” Hamas’s political bureau member, Izzat al-Rished, said in a statement.
“We will resist Israel’s attempt to ethnically cleanse Gaza. Israel has publicly declared its plan to commit genocide against Palestinians. What the Zionists are doing is inhumane. It is unprecedented. We will either live standing tall, or we will die fighting,” he continued.
Meanwhile, Palestinian fighters continued targeting the south of Israel on Friday, firing two rockets in Sderot. No casualties were reported in the area, which has already been evacuated.
That same day, three Hezbollah fighters were injured by Israeli fire at the border between Lebanon and Israel, where tension has been building since Saturday.
According to the Israeli military, “a number of suspects approached the northern security fence with Lebanon and attempted to sabotage the security fence in the area.”
On Saturday, Hamas fired more rockets into the south of Israel, intercepted by the Iron Dome system.
Ground invasion preparation
As Israel and Hamas continue to fight, Israel has begun shifting their air war to a ground assault.
During a brief national address on Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We are striking our enemies with unprecedented might,” and that the week-long assault is “only the beginning.”
Israeli media reports that the army already carried out localized raids inside Gaza using infantry and tanks. The army’s fighting force is expected to triple as they call upon 350,000 reservists.
Israel announced their purpose was to target several Hamas positions along the border, searching for information about Israeli captives and depleting Hamas’s anti-tank missile capabilities. The operation also went to collect the bodies of missing Israelis that had been left along the border inside the Gaza Strip.
Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israel at the Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera, “Israel’s goal for a ground invasion is to destroy Hamas infrastructure and eliminate altogether [its] military capabilities to [ever again] launch anything that we saw on Saturday,”
Currently, the Israeli military says there are still 120 captives being held in Gaza, although Hamas reported that 13 of them have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. During the ground invasion, Israel said they aimed to rescue the captives.
Some analysts are saying that the enormous concentration of soldiers in a potential wide-ranging ground invasion will likely weaken Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, as a large portion of the army is dedicated to manning checkpoints and protecting Israeli settlers living illegally in the area.
“To maintain the simplest checkpoint, Israel needs at least 50 men and women. Bigger ones need hundreds. It can be assumed during this conflict that the Israeli army will eventually deploy up to 50,000 soldiers, one-third of its peacetime strength, just to man roadblocks and control stations,” says Zoran Kusova.
Journalists being targeted
On Friday, Israel targeted journalists in a shelling attack in Alma al-Shaab, southern Lebanon, near the border to Israel, killing at least one journalist, Issam Abdallah, a videographer for Reuters, while injuring six others.
“I can clearly say that we journalists were targeted on purpose,” said the Al Jazeera Lebanon Bureau chief, Mazen Ibrahim, who witnessed the attack.
“We were far from the confrontations. All of the journalists were wearing their safety kit. They all had press slogans on their chest and cars,” he said.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, nine Palestinian journalists and one Israeli were killed in the first few days of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
West Bank
Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem continues to be as deadly as ever.
Within the last 24 hours, at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. Since Saturday, at least 53 people have been killed in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Within the last 24 hours, at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. Since Saturday, at least 53 people have been killed in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
In addition, the Palestinian Prisoners Club reported that 400 Palestinians across the West Bank were detained in the last week, including 40 Palestinians on Saturday alone. According to Al Jazeera, some of the detainees are Hamas leaders.
There is a discussion between Israeli politicians wanting to cut electricity and water to the political prisoners. Human rights organizations say this would be classed as collective punishment and illegal, amounting to torture.
Leila Warah
Leila Warah is a freelance multimedia journalist based in Palestine.
“What Israel Will Face in Gaza” – from Foreign Affairs
“And the battle will not end when Israel has reoccupied the territory. There is no Palestinian entity that Israel trusts to govern Gaza in Hamas’s stead. As a result, a military victory could mean Israel has to administer the territory for the foreseeable future. Israeli officials, in other words, will have to govern an immiserated people who see them as their enemy and who may wage a guerrilla war.”
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/israel/what-israel-will-face-gaza
If I wrote this before, so if it is already out there, forget it.
The Taliban said they were prepared to cross countless deserts in their 4×4 Tacoma’s, Persia, Iraq and Jordan to engage. Comic right? but these guys deal in justice (see comments how the USA beat it out of Kandahar and what exactly the women said about our “allies” and why they trusted the Taliban) and they deal in death if you cross them.
Just illustrates how deadly serious these guys are.
So we have the current crop along the Mediterranean who want the Israelis and USA OUT. Just as deadly and better armed and with more savvy.
From the looks of it the current crop of Israeli intellectuals and politicians have cooked up a hell of a mess with not only with the concentration camp gangs but all the rest of the Arab and Muslim population. And these guys are freedom fighters willing to engage to the death. Not from some airplane at 5000 feet but face to face, These Arab Muslim Freedom Fighters are willing to engage in hand to hand combat like the Japanese and Marines on Iwo Jima.
From photos you see rows and rows of tanks, mostly manned by baristas from Starbucks and “code breakers” from Intel and MS….good luck with all that!
The Israelis are just fine at slinging the BS….but these other guys are dead serious.
People willing to fight for their freedom in hand to hand combat is a serious business and not for the feint hearted.
Hope the US governments who funded this Occupation throughout the years, ignored the land theft, and said that “Israel had the right to defend itself” when Palestinian civilians were slaughtered, and the world saw their dead babies being dug out of the rubble, are proud of our dear little “ally” and the role THEY played in the “wiping out” of poor, helpless victims, who have had to endure the brutality of their occupier, by precision bombs, snipers, and terrorist settlers, who tortured them. We have been complicit in one of the worst crimes against humanity in our time.
“Israel may be on verge of ‘mass ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians in Gaza, UN expert warnsIsrael has ordered 1.1 million people to leave northern Gaza ahead of expected invasion
Israel may be on the verge of a “mass ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in Gaza in the wake of the bloody Hamas attack, a United Nations expert has warned.
Israeli officials have already ordered an estimated 1.1 million people living in north Gaza to leave their homes and move south ahead of an expected ground invasion by their forces massed at the border.
The IDF has since entered Gaza to carry out limited operations in search of more than 100 civilians and soldiers captured by Hamas during the brutal and unexpected 7 October attacks, which killed more than 1,300.
Now Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territory, has warned that Palestinians may be facing another “Nakba”, or forced expulsion from their land.
The Nakba — or “catastrophe” in Arabic — refers to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the territory during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.” Independent UK.
It seems even the US media is complicit in this slaughter now, despite Journalists being killed by Israel right now. It is strange they never mention the root cause of this slaughter, and question US wisdom in funding, arming, and protecting, the occupier.
Ethnic cleansing has begun. Once they have the all land north of the Gaza river the Israelis will never let the Palestinians return. Any attempt by the UN to help the Palestinians or rein in the Israelis will be vetoed by the US.