Israel-Hamas Fresh Updates 70 People Mostly Women and Children Killed in Israeli Air Strikes, Death Toll More Than 3300

Israel-Hamas Fresh Updates 70 People Mostly Women and Children Killed in Israeli Air Strikes, Death Toll More Than 3300

• UN’s Guterres urges Israel to reconsider Gaza evacuation order
• ‘Nowhere safe to go’: Confusion, fear after Israel’s warning to evacuate
• WHO says impossible to safely evacuate critically injured from Gaza hospitals
• Former UK Labour leader Corbyn calls UK support for evacuation order ‘despicable
• 15 medical staff killed by Israel in Gaza: Palestinian Health Ministry
• Russia calls for immediate ceasefire at UNSC meeting
• Seventy dead while fleeing northern Gaza amid Israeli deadline
• Second flight carrying 235 Indians from Israel lands at Delhi airport
• New York, Florida, other US states buy Israeli bonds
• Israel strikes Hezbollah target in Lebanon
• Prepared to act against Israel: Hezbollah
• PM Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will eliminate Hamas and the counter-offensive is ‘only the beginning’
• Health authorities in Gaza said more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,700 wounded. Israel said Thursday that 1,300 people were killed

 

Health authorities in Gaza said more than 1,900 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,700 wounded. Israel said Thursday that 1,300 people were killed

Health authorities in Gaza said Friday that around 1,900 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 7,700 wounded by Israeli airstrikes that have turned entire buildings to rubble. More than half of the dead are women and children. Israel said Thursday that 1,300 people were killed during rocket attacks and deadly raids into Israeli territory by fighters from Hamas, a U.S-designated terror group. More than 3,000 people have been wounded.

The United Nations on Thursday said that 12 of its workers had been killed in the fighting in Gaza since Saturday. Israel said Thursday it had so far confirmed the identities of 97 hostages taken to Gaza.

UN’s Guterres urges Israel to reconsider Gaza evacuation order

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged the government of Israel to reconsider its evacuation order in northern Gaza, which affects half of the 2.3 million people living in the Palestinian territory.

“We have approached a moment of calamitous escalation, and find ourselves at a critical crossroads,” Guterres wrote in an opinion piece published in the New York Times.

“It is imperative that all parties – and those with influence over them – do everything possible to avoid fresh violence or spillover of the conflict to the West Bank and the wider region.”

Before the order was made, Israel already imposed a total blockade of Gaza, cutting its electricity and water, and preventing food from entering the area, in retaliation to the Hamas attack last week. Human rights advocates and political analysts describe the decision as a violation of international law.

‘Nowhere safe to go’: Confusion, fear after Israel’s warning to evacuate

On Friday morning Gaza residents woke up to the news that the Israeli military had issued evacuation orders for more than a million people in the northern Gaza Strip – nearly half of a total of 2.3 million residents.

The directive comes ahead of a feared ground invasion.

However, not everyone living in the northern parts of the besieged enclave feels there is any point leaving.

“There’s nowhere safe to go. Where am I supposed to go?” asks Mohammed Elewa. He is one of many in Gaza City who say they have to stay because they cannot make their way to the south.

WHO says impossible to safely evacuate critically injured from Gaza hospitals

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said the evacuation of hundreds of critically injured patients from hospitals in northern Gaza is impossible “without endangering their lives”.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health informed the WHO that lives will be put at “immediate risk” if the ministry’s two hospitals in the north of Gaza attempts to move patients who are critically injured or on life support, as demanded by Israeli forces.

Israel’s 24-hour ultimatum for 1.1 million Palestinians to leave northern Gaza must be rescinded, the WHO said, adding that “a mass evacuation would be disastrous – for patients, health workers and other civilians left behind or caught in the mass movement”.

“Of the thousands of patients with injuries and other conditions receiving care in hospitals, there are hundreds that are severely wounded and over 100 who require critical care,” the WHO said in a statement.

“These are the sickest of the sick. Many thousands more, also with wounds or other health needs, cannot access any kind of care,” the WHO said.

“The compressed timeframe, complex transport logistics, damaged roads, and, above all, lack of supportive care during transport all add to the difficulty of moving” patients from Gaza’s hospitals, it added.

The WHO called on Israel to lift its to blockade of Gaza and immediately establish a “humanitarian corridor” to allow for life-saving medical supplies to reach hospitals in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Former UK Labour leader Corbyn calls UK support for evacuation order ‘despicable’

The former leader of the UK’s Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, says that the British government’s support for Israel’s forced evacuation order in Gaza was “despicable”, adding that there was no justification for “collective punishment”.

“We should condemn the targeting of all civilian life, no matter who does it,” Corbyn told Al Jazeera. “This should not be a controversial thing to say. The heinous attacks on civilians in Israel by Hamas were deplorable. This cannot justify the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians, who are paying a price for a crime they did not commit. All human life is equal. Why is it so difficult for our politicians to be consistent in this basic moral principle?”

“The UK government’s support for Israel’s forced evacuation order of 1.1 million people is despicable – it must be rescinded immediately. There is no justification for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

“In the aftermath of horror, the global community has a responsibility to de-escalate this catastrophic situation. That means calling for an immediate ceasefire. That means the release of Israeli hostages. That means ending the siege of Gaza. And that means recognising the underlying roots of this tragic cycle of violence: the enduring occupation of the Palestinian people,” he added.

15 medical staff killed by Israel in Gaza: Palestinian Health Ministry

The Palestinian Ministry of Health says that 15 medical staff have now been killed in the Israeli bombing of Gaza, with 27 others injured.

Also, 23 ambulances and medical vehicles have been hit, as well as 15 medical facilities.

Russia calls for immediate ceasefire at UNSC meeting
By Gabriel Elizondo at the United Nations, New York

The draft resolution that was circulated by Russia during a two-and-a-half-hour closed-door UN Security Council meeting is really the first draft by any of the Security Council members since this conflict began.

The Russians clearly are hitting on some of the key points, particularly trying to secure that safe passageway for people that are in Gaza to get out to a safer area, and also calling for an immediate ceasefire … and humanitarian aid.

The Russians clearly feel that this is their opportunity to try to push diplomacy forward through the Security Council. The meeting was closed doors. Journalists were not allowed inside.

However, we were told from sources that were inside that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres briefed the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

He also stressed his worry about this conflict spilling over to the West Bank or southern Lebanon.

Seventy dead while fleeing northern Gaza amid Israeli deadline

As we reported earlier, dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids while they were fleeing the northern Gaza Strip, according to Hamas officials, after the Israeli military ordered more than one million residents to evacuate.

The media office of Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs the besieged Gaza Strip, said mostly women and children were among the 70 people killed in air attacks on cars leaving Gaza City.

The demand by Israel was rejected by the United Nations, which called it “impossible”.

 

Second flight carrying 235 Indians from Israel lands at Delhi airport

Following the evacuation of 212 Indians, the government, under ‘Operation Ajay’, successfully brought back another group of 235 Indian nationals from Israel. The flight, carrying these individuals, arrived at the Delhi airport on Saturday morning. Passengers were selected on a “first come first serve” basis following a campaign by the Indian embassy, encouraging all Indians to register in the mission’s database. The government is fully funding their return journey.

New York, Florida, other US states buy Israeli bonds

Several US states have purchased Israeli bonds as the country enters a war with Hamas and looks to raise funds. The purchases include $20 million from the New York State Common Retirement Fund. “New York state’s pension fund buys Israel bonds because we have confidence in the spirit of innovation and tenacity of Israeli people and in the strength of our investments there,” New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement Friday. Public finance officials in Ohio, Florida, Texas and Illinois have also announced their own debt purchases. (Bloomberg)

Israel strikes Hezbollah target in Lebanon

Israel’s military said early on Saturday it had struck a Hezbollah target in southern Lebanon in response to the “infiltration of unidentified aerial objects into Israel” and fire on an Israeli drone.The military intercepted the objects and the fire on its drone, it said.