Tel Aviv: Israel has agreed to allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip while the Israeli military keeps up its airstrikes on the Palestinian territory.
More than 1 million Palestinians, roughly half of Gaza’s population, have fled homes in the north and Gaza City after Israel told them to evacuate. The airstrikes early Thursday continued across the entire territory, including in areas in the south that Israel had declared as “safe zones.”
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that limited humanitarian aid would be allowed into Gaza from Egypt following a request from US President Joe Biden.
The war that began October 7 after Hamas militants stormed into Israel, and Israel vowed to destroy the militant group, has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday that 3,785 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 12,500 others have been wounded.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed. An Israeli military spokesperson said Thursday that the families of 206 people believed to have been captured by Hamas and taken into Gaza had been notified.
Currently:
- EU demands Meta and TikTok detail efforts to curb disinformation from Israel-Hamas war
- Woman becomes Israeli folk hero for plying Hamas militants with snacks until rescue mission arrives
- Egypt and other Arab countries typically don’t want to take in Palestinian refugees.
- Relatives of people taken hostage by Hamas militants tell their stories as they hope for their safe return.
Here’s what’s happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war:
Hamas says no aid or road repair equipment has entered Gaza
Hamas’ spokesman for the Rafah crossing, Wael Abu Omar, said that no aid or road repairing equipment has entered Gaza from Egypt as of Thursday afternoon.
Egypt and Israel reached a deal Wednesday evening that would allow aid to enter the Palestinian territory through the Rafah crossing.
Later that day, US President Joe Biden said that aid could begin rolling into the region by Friday, but that the roads near the crossing would first need hours of repairs. The crossing has been hit by four Israeli airstrikes since October 7, Egyptian authorities say.
European Parliament calls for humanitarian pause’ in Gaza
The European Parliament has called for a “humanitarian pause” in Gaza to make sure aid can reach the needy and stressed that Israel’s right to defend itself can only be done within the strictures of international law.
In the nonbinding resolution adopted Thursday in a 500-21 vote, with 24 abstentions, European lawmakers also called for the immediate release of all hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
The call for a “humanitarian pause” stopped short of demanding a cease-fire.
Gaza Hospital shuts off lights to conserve fuel
Gaza’s second-largest hospital has switched off the lights in the majority of the facility as staff try to conserve energy amid fuel shortages.
Lights are still on in Nasser Hospital’s intensive care unit, but in many other departments, doctors are using cellphones and flashlights to illuminate procedures.
Meanwhile, funerals were held for the victims of an earlier strike in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. A mother wept, clutching the small body of her child cocooned in white cloth.
Hamas commander killed in an Israeli strike
Gaza’s government press office says the commander of the Hamas-led National Security Forces, Maj. Gen. Jihad Muheisen, was killed in an Israeli strike on his home in Gaza City along with some of his relatives.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many of his relatives were killed in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza City. The National Security Forces is a paramilitary organisation in Gaza taken over by Hamas after its 2007 seizure of the strip.
Separately, Hamas officials told The Associated Press that Hamas legislative council member Jamila al-Shanti was killed in an Israeli airstrike Thursday. She was known as the first woman to be elected to political office within the Hamas group and the widow of one of the founders of the Islamist movement.
Israeli airstrike hits densely populated area in Southern Gaza
An Israeli airstrike hit a densely populated area in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, again Thursday.
Many wounded were being rushed to the Nasser Hospital from the strike in the al-Amal neighborhood.
Earlier, a doctor at a hospital said that at least a dozen people were killed and 40 others were wounded in an Israeli strike that hit a residential building in Khan Younis.
Palestinian death toll in Gaza increases to 3,785
The death toll in Gaza since Israel declared war has risen to 3,785 Palestinians killed, including 1,524 children, 1,000 women and 120 older people, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
In addition, 12,493 others have been wounded, including 3,983 children and 3,300 women.
Israel conducts a raid in the West Bank
The Israeli military has conducted an extensive raid in the West Bank, arresting more than 80 Palestinians.
The latest in a series of stepped-up Israeli operations in the territory since the outbreak of war, the raid Wednesday night provoked violent clashes and left three Palestinians dead, including two children.
The military said that 63 of the 80 suspects arrested overnight were linked to Hamas. Of the 524 Palestinians arrested since the start of the Israel-Hamas war October 7, 330 are Hamas affiliates.
Forces also demolished the home of a militant who killed an Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Shilo Yosef Amir, earlier this year. The militant, who the military identified as Ahmed Yasin Jidan, was shot shortly after killing Amir.
Clashes ensued across the territory in response to the raid, with Israeli forces firing on Palestinians who threw rocks and Molotov cocktails.
Since the latest war began, 72 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank. UN monitors are describing the period as the deadliest phase since they started recording data.
Sunak says UK standing by Israel in its ‘Darkest Hour’
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says Britain is standing by Israel in its “darkest hour” as it wages war on Hamas following the Palestinian militant group’s Oct. 7 attack.
Sunak spoke alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday, a day after US President Joe Biden made a similar trip to Israel to express solidarity.
“I am proud to stand here with you in Israel’s darkest hour as your friend,” Sunak said.
The UK prime minister acknowledged the “shocking scenes” over the past day, including the aftermath of an explosion at a Gaza hospital, saying “we mourn the loss of every innocent life.”
Sunak plans to travel to Saudi Arabia later Thursday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as Britain tries to dampen down regional tensions, get aid into Gaza and secure the release of UK hostages held by Hamas.
EU says promise of aid to Gaza a start but more needed
On the promise that some aid will be allowed to get into Gaza, the European Union said it was a start. But the bloc said that more needed to be done to be in line with international commitments.
“We also welcome the announcement made by Israel that it will not thwart the deliveries of food, water or medicine coming from Egypt,” European Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari said.
“And let me just add that we also understand that this will be a limited — the quantity of humanitarian aid will be limited in quantity as well as in nature. It needs to be reminded that international humanitarian law obliges all parties to ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access to people in need. Restrictions on the quantity, destination and categories of items are not in line with this obligation.”
He also said that a second plane with emergency aid was to land in Egypt later. Together it amounts to about 50 tons of essential humanitarian supplies, medicine, food, water and shelter.
Drone attack hits oil facility housing us troops in Syria
Syrian opposition activists say a drone attack has been conducted on an oil facility in eastern Syria housing American troops and a US base in a nearby area.
There was no immediate word on casualties and the US military didn’t immediately respond to requests for confirmation.
Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet, said that three drones with explosives struck the Conoco gas field in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq on Thursday.
Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, confirmed that five explosions were heard at the Conoco gas field.
Three drones also hit a US base in Syria
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that three drones also attacked the US base of Tanf in eastern Syria near where the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq meet. It said two drones were shot down before reaching their targets while the third hit the base, causing some material damage.
The Observatory, an opposition war monitor, and Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet, said the attack appears to be the work of Iran-based fighters who are deployed in eastern Syria and western Iraq.
Since the fighting in Gaza began October 7, Iran-backed fighters have been on alert in the region as the US sends aircraft carriers and warships to the region.
Coalition forces were slightly wounded in Iraq in a spate of drone attacks since Tuesday at US bases in Iraq.
Unknown how much fuel remains at Gaza hospitals
A Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson said it was
AP