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Israeli strikes across Gaza kill multiple Palestinians and shatter ceasefire with Hamas [Update @post#234]

Israel intensifies Gaza City attacks as UN warns of 'horrific' consequences for displaced families

Israeli forces are intensifying their attacks on the outskirts of Gaza City, residents say, as the military steps up preparations for a ground offensive to conquer it.

Hospitals said women and children were among more than 30 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in the city on Wednesday, most of them in the north and west.

The Israeli military's chief of staff vowed to "continue striking Hamas's centres of gravity until it is defeated" and its hostages freed.

The UN and aid groups said the Israeli operations were already having "horrific humanitarian consequences" for displaced families sheltering in the city, which is home to a million people and where a famine was declared last month.

Meanwhile, Israeli protesters took part in what they called a "day of disruption" to press their government to immediately agree a deal that would end the war in return for the release of all 48 Israeli and foreign hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

Hospital officials said Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip had killed at least 46 people since midnight.

Gaza City's Shifa hospital said it had received the bodies of 21 people, including five killed when an Israeli warplane targeted an apartment in the western Fisherman's Port area.

One of the strikes killed the parents and two sisters of three-year-old Ibrahim al-Mabhuh, his grandmother said.

Umm Abu al-Abed Abu al-Jubein told Reuters news agency that she had found him buried underneath the rubble of a destroyed column in the home where the displaced family from the nearby town of Jabalia had been sheltering.

"He is the only one that God saved... We woke up to the boy screaming," she said.

First responders said Israeli drones also dropped incendiary bombs in the vicinity of a clinic overnight in the northern Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, where troops and tanks were reportedly advancing.

Videos posted on social media overnight appeared to a fire next to an ambulance inside the Sheikh Radwan Clinic's compound, and another ambulance ablaze on a nearby street.

Residents also told Reuters that Israeli forces dropped grenades on three schools in Sheikh Radwan being used as shelters for displaced families, setting tents ablaze, and detonated armoured vehicles laden with explosives to destroy homes in the east of the neighbourhood.

"Sheikh Radwan is being burnt upside-down. The occupation [Israel] destroyed houses, burnt tents, and drones played audio messages ordering people to leave the area," said Zakeya Sami, a 60-year-old mother of five.

The Israeli military said it was checking the reports.

During a visit to Gaza on Wednesday, the military's Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, told troops: "We have entered the second phase of Operation 'Gideon's Chariots' to fulfil the objectives of the war."

"Returning our hostages is both a moral and national mission. We will continue striking Hamas's centres of gravity until it is defeated."

Hamas denounced what it called the "operations of systematic destruction" by Israeli forces in Gaza City, saying they constituted "an unprecedented violation" of international law.

UN agencies and their humanitarian partners in the Gaza Site Management Cluster said the announcement of intensified Israeli military operations in Gaza City on 7 August was "having horrific humanitarian consequences for people in displacement sites, many of whom were earlier displaced from North Gaza [governorate]", which includes Jabalia.

They warned that many households were unable to move due to high costs and logistical challenges, as well as a lack of safe space. And they said forcing hundreds of thousands to move south could amount to forcible transfer under international law.

Since 14 August, more than 82,000 people had been newly displaced, according to the cluster. Most people moved towards the crowded coast. Only a third have left for southern Gaza, as the Israeli military has instructed.

The military has told them to head to the al-Mawasi area, saying medical care, water and food will be provided. However, the UN has the tent camps there are overcrowded and unsafe, and that southern hospitals are operating at several times their capacity.

On Tuesday, five children were killed while queuing for water at a tent camp in al-Mawasi. Witnesses said they were struck by an Israeli drone.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that a strike in the area had targeted a "key Hamas terrorist" and that that it was "aware of claims regarding casualties as a result of the strike". The incident was "under review", it added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel's intention to conquer all of Gaza after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down in July.

The hostages' families fear the offensive will endanger those held in Gaza City and want the prime minister to instead negotiate an agreement that would secure their release.

Regional mediators have presented a proposal that would see 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 dead hostages released during a 60-day truce. However, Netanyahu has said he will only accept a comprehensive deal that would see them all freed and Hamas disarmed.

On Wednesday, Israelis demanding an immediate deal set fire to tyres and rubbish bins and damaged parked cars in Jerusalem.

Thirteen were arrested after they climbed on the roof of the National Library and displayed a banner that said: "You have abandoned and also killed."

Some hostages' relatives addressed a large crowd near the prime minister's residence.

They included Ofir Braslavski, the father of Rom Braslavski, 21, who was seen emaciated and injured in a video sent by his Islamic Jihad captors in early August.

"My son Rom is dying, starving, and tortured. You can see in his eyes that he no longer wants to live. There is nothing harder a father can witness when he cannot do anything," he said, according to the Haaretz newspaper.

"How is it possible that a month after my son's video was released, showing the horrors there, the government leaves him there? And the prime minister wants to conquer more territory? I can't understand that."

US President Donald Trump, who helped broker the previous ceasefire and hostage release deal in January, wrote on social media: "Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!"

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 63,746 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

The ministry also says 367 people, have so far died during the war as a result of malnutrition and starvation, including six over the past 24 hours.

BBC
 
Can you imagine if another country did this to Israel? Israel would probably whine and cry for months.

Evil monsters.

=========================================

Israeli forces kill 69, wound 422 in Gaza in 24 hours: Health Ministry​

Gaza’s Ministry of Health says Israeli forces have killed at least 69 Palestinians and wounded 422 in Gaza over the past 24 hours.

The ministry added that the total number of casualties of Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has risen to 64,300 killed and 162,005 wounded.

Source: https://aje.io/gzdbl1?update=3927460.
 

Israel destroys dozens of buildings in Gaza City as new offensive intensifies​


Israeli strikes and demolitions have destroyed dozens of buildings in areas of Gaza City, satellite images show, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its offensive has established control over 40% of the city.

The new images reviewed by BBC Verify show that intensive bombardments and controlled explosions have levelled several neighbourhoods over the past four weeks.

Rows of tents - which have sprung up over the city to shelter Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military campaign - have also disappeared over the past month, the images show.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel's intention to seize all of the strip and launch an incursion into Gaza City after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down in July.

UN humanitarian officials have warned that the impact of a full-blown offensive would be "beyond catastrophic". Strikes have intensified in areas of Gaza City in recent weeks and dozens of Palestinians have been killed in attacks this week alone according to the Hamas-run health ministry and civil defence agency.

Satellite images show that significant damage has already occurred in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun and Tuffah neighbourhoods in recent weeks. The photos show that dozens of buildings in the city were levelled between August and September.

In a statement to BBC Verify, the IDF said it was "locating and destroying terror infrastructures embedded, among other things, inside buildings".

In Sheikh Radwan - a neighbourhood located about three kilometres from Gaza City centre - a number of buildings have been wiped away. BBC Verify previously geolocated footage of strikes carried out by the IDF to the area on 29 August.

The images clearly show track marks left by Israeli armoured vehicles, many of which pass through sections of the neighbourhood where buildings and trees once stood.

 

Israeli military tells Gaza City residents to leave, bombs high-rise tower​


The Israeli military told Palestinians in Gaza City to leave for the south on Saturday before bombing a high-rise tower as its forces advance deeper into the enclave's largest urban area.

Israeli forces have been carrying out an offensive on the suburbs of the northern city for weeks after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to capture it.

Netanyahu says Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian Islamist militants, whose October 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war.

The assault threatens to displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering there from nearly two years of fighting. Before the war, around a million people, nearly half of Gaza's population, lived in the city.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X that residents should leave the city for a designated coastal area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, assuring those fleeing that they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter there.
The designated area was a "humanitarian zone", Adraee said.

The military also issued so-called "evacuation warnings" to civilians in certain areas of the city, warning it was about to carry out attacks.

The military later bombed a high-rise Gaza City tower that it said was being used by Hamas, without providing evidence to support the assertion. It said civilians were warned in advance.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz shared a video on X of what appeared to be the multi-storey building collapsing after the strike, sending a cloud of dust and debris into the air.

It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.

The Israeli military said Hamas used the building to gather intelligence and that explosive devices had been planted nearby. Hamas denied using the building for military purposes, and Palestinians said it had been used to shelter the displaced.

Before the strike, Gazan health authorities reported at least 23 Palestinians had been killed on Saturday, including at least 13 in the Gaza City area.

 

'City of fear’: Palestinians trapped as Israel intensifies Gaza City attack​


Israeli military’s indiscriminate bombing of Gaza City is reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble, forcing residents to flee in panic, with nowhere safe in the enclave, which has been under unrelenting bombardment for 23 months.

Israel’s round-the-clock assault on what UNICEF has dubbed the “city of fear” included an attack on a tent in the neighbourhood of Tal al-Hawa on Thursday that wiped out an entire family of five people, including three children.

Video footage of the attack showed Palestinians outside damaged tents, clearing up scattered belongings, including a pair of blood-stained pink slippers that lay among the debris.

“My children and I were sleeping in the tent when we heard the sound of bombing. Shrapnel fell on us, and my four children started screaming,” Israa al-Basous told the AFP news agency.

Attacks were reported in Gaza City’s Zeitoun, Sabra, Tuffah, Nassr and Shujayea districts, as the military erased entire neighbourhoods in its bid to drive out approximately one million people from the enclave’s largest urban hub.

Heavy bombardment in the Tuffah neighbourhood killed at least eight people and injured dozens more, according to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson of the territory’s civil emergency service.

In Shujayea, an Israeli strike on a residential building killed at least two people, according to an ambulance source. And in Zeitoun, three bodies were pulled out dead from under the rubble of a destroyed home that belonged to the al-Ghaf family.

“They’re moving from one area to another that is less dangerous, but still within the range of Israeli military fire, the air strikes and bombardment,” said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Gaza City.

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Mahmoud said many of the displaced were moving in the hope of finding safety for a few days, only to find themselves being displaced all over again.

Many had fled to the city’s Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, only to find tanks pushing into the area northwest of the city centre, destroying houses and causing fires in tent encampments.

75 killed across the enclave​

As terrified residents scattered in the aim of finding shelter from the bombs, Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said that troops now held 40 percent of the city.

The operation, he said, would “continue to expand and intensify” in the coming days.

Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency analysed satellite images that showed the “heavy presence” of more than 52 Israeli army vehicles in the Zeitoun neighbourhood.

The images, dating from August 25 and September 1, demonstrate a clear pattern of forced displacement of residents from northern and central Gaza City towards the west – in particular, along al-Rashid Street and the beach.

Palestinians who have fled Gaza City over the past few months have found dire conditions further south, where the mass movement of people has further overcrowded tent camps and pushed prices of basic goods much higher.

Shorouk Abu Eid, a pregnant woman from Gaza City, who was displaced to Khan Younis four months ago, said the arrival of more people from the north has worsened their plight.

“There is no privacy, no peace of mind,” she told The Associated Press news agency.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Can you imagine if another country did this to Israel? Israel would probably whine and cry for months.

Evil monsters.

=========================================

Israeli forces kill 69, wound 422 in Gaza in 24 hours: Health Ministry​

Gaza’s Ministry of Health says Israeli forces have killed at least 69 Palestinians and wounded 422 in Gaza over the past 24 hours.

The ministry added that the total number of casualties of Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has risen to 64,300 killed and 162,005 wounded.

Source: https://aje.io/gzdbl1?update=3927460.
The western leaders would have waged war or committed suicide by now
 
Just read about 5 kids droned to death while queuing for water in al-Mawasi which is meant to be a safe area.

Scumbaggery isn't a strong enough word.
 
Why is France ahead of any Muslim country in accepting Gaza people into their countries?
 
Israel destroys second high-rise as assault on Gaza City intensifies

The Israeli military has destroyed a high-rise block in Gaza City, the second major tower it has targeted in as many days.

Defence Minister Israel Katz posted video of the building collapsing on X, with the caption: "We're continuing".

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which has been expanding operations in Gaza, said the Sussi Tower was being used by Hamas - a claim denied by the militant group.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties. Ahead of Saturday's strike, Israel dropped leaflets repeating calls for Palestinians to relocate to what it calls a humanitarian zone in the south.

In a social media post, IDF Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee urged residents to "join the thousands of people who have already gone" to al-Mawasi - an area between Khan Younis and the coastline.

The IDF has repeatedly encouraged civilians to move there, saying medical care, water and food will be provided.

However, the UN has said the tent camps in al-Mawasi are overcrowded and unsafe, and that southern hospitals are overwhelmed.

On Tuesday, five children were killed while queuing for water in al-Mawasi. Witnesses said they were struck by an Israeli drone, an incident which the IDF said was "under review".

The Sussi Tower is the second high-rise to be destroyed in as many days. On Friday social-media footage showed the Mushtaha Tower, in the city's al-Rimal neighbourhood, collapsing after a massive explosion at its base.

The IDF said precautionary measures had been taken to mitigate harm to civilians, "including advance warnings to the population" and the use of "precise munitions".

But Palestinians said displaced families had been sheltering in the Mushtaha Tower, and Gaza civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal accused Israel of enacting "a policy of forced displacement".

Satellite imagery shows several neighbourhoods in parts of the city have been levelled by Israeli strikes and demolitions over the past month.

The residential and commercial tower blocks in Gaza City represented an important chapter in the city's history, tied to hopes of ending the Israeli occupation and building an independent Palestinian state.

The rise of multi-storey towers – more than five floors – began after the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993, which allowed tens of thousands of Palestinians to return from exile to Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

Following the Israeli withdrawal from most of Gaza in 1994, vertical expansion became a necessity to accommodate the influx of returnees.

The Palestinian Authority encouraged large investments in the construction sector, with entire neighbourhoods named after the towers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel's intention to seize all of the Gaza Strip after indirect talks with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal broke down in July.

The UN estimates nearly one million people remain in Gaza City, where it declared a famine last month. It has warned of an imminent "disaster" if the assault proceeds.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 63,746 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

The ministry also says 367 people have so far died during the war as a result of malnutrition and starvation.

BBC
 
Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn have killed at least 40 people and destroyed another high-rise in Gaza City, bringing the number of buildings razed during its campaign to seize the largest urban centre in the Gaza Strip to at least 50.
Six people have been killed and many wounded in a shooting in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli officials say, blaming the attack on two Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. Police say the perpetrators have been killed.
 
Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn have killed at least 40 people and destroyed another high-rise in Gaza City, bringing the number of buildings razed during its campaign to seize the largest urban centre in the Gaza Strip to at least 50.
Six people have been killed and many wounded in a shooting in occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli officials say, blaming the attack on two Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. Police say the perpetrators have been killed.
 
There is something seriously wrong with Israeli society. They teach their kids hate, they want greater Israel, 80% support the genocide in Gaza and 50% think that the IDF is not doing enough, they watch the bombs being dropped on Gaza from nearby spots and cheer this on, they write names of people they don’t like on bombs and sign these with their names, they block the aid trucks trying to enter Gaza, they support ethnic cleansing, they discriminate Arab Israelis living in Israel with Israeli passports, etc. etc. I could go on but I think people get the idea.
 
Flotilla for Gaza says its boat was struck by suspected drone in Tunisia

The Global Sumud Flotilla for Gaza said on Tuesday that one of its vessels, carrying members of its steering committee, was struck by what is suspected to be a drone, with all passengers and crew reported safe.

The Flotilla, an international initiative seeking to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza via civilian boats, was docked in Tunisia's Sidi Bou Said port.



 
'Netanyahu, we're not leaving': Defiance in Gaza City as Israel shows aid sites planned for evacuees

Israel has ordered the entire population of Gaza City to leave, as its forces prepare to capture the north of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli airstrikes have continued to destroy tower blocks, and the army says it now has operational control of 40% of the city, as ground forces prepare to fight what prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the "last important stronghold" of Hamas.

Netanyahu this week said 100,000 people had left the city, but up to a million people are still living there – many in tents or shelters. Many of them say they will not – or cannot – leave.

After a strike hit a tower block near his home today, Ammar Sukkar called on Hamas negotiators to come and negotiate from a tent, not from air-conditioned rooms in Qatar – and insisted he would stay in the city.

"Whether you like it or not, Netanyahu, we're not leaving," he told a trusted freelancer working for the BBC. "Go and deal with Hamas, go and kill them. We're not to blame. And even if we're buried here, we're not leaving. This is my land."

Wael Shaban, also living near the tower that was targeted today, said they had been given 15 minutes to flee before the strike.

"When we came back, the tents, the flour, everything has gone. Nothing is left. It's all to pressure us to go south, but we don't have the money to go. We can't even afford flour to eat. Transport to the south costs 1,500 shekels."

Israel's army is telling Gaza City residents that there is plenty of shelter, food and water in so-called humanitarian zones further south.

But aid organisations say the areas they are being sent to are already vastly overcrowded, and lack food and medical resources. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said nowhere in Gaza can currently absorb such a large movement of people, describing the mass evacuation plan as "unfeasible" and "incomprehensible".

Israel's army is currently building a new aid distribution site near Rafah, 30km (18 miles) to the south. It says it's also providing thousands of extra tents, and laying a new water pipeline from Egypt.

The BBC travelled to the area, as part of a military embed, to see the new site. It's the first time the BBC has been allowed to enter Gaza at all since December 2023.

Military embeds are offered at Israel's discretion, are highly controlled and offer no access to Palestinians or areas not under Israeli military control – but they are currently the only way for BBC journalists to enter Gaza at all.

Israel does not allow news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza to report independently.

Rafah is a reminder of what happened the last time Israel's prime minister sent his forces into a city to crush "the last stronghold" of Hamas.

Driving down the newly paved military road along Gaza's border with Egypt, we pass the shattered remains of the old Rafah border crossing, the roof of one building cracked and pancaked on the ground.

Further along the road, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, discrete piles of masonry and splintered metal mapped where each house or farm building once stood.

The city of Rafah itself, close to the new aid site, has been all but flattened into the desert. Still and silent, its life erased; only a few pock-marked structures stick up from the sea of rubble strewn for kilometres across the sand.

It was easy to spot the new earth mounds and concrete blast blocks rising out of the rubble-filled landscape beyond it, near Tel el-Sultan.

A short drive from the main Kerem Shalom crossing point, the corner of the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone, where many displaced people are sheltering, is just visible up the coast.

"The whole idea is a safe, quick route," said Israeli military spokesman, Lt Col Nadav Shoshani. "As short a distance as possible for the trucks and for the people coming in. We can guarantee 0% looting."

We were shown two separate areas, each around 100m (328ft) wide, where Israeli forces said unloading and distribution could be carried out in a continuous loop.

Inside one perimeter wall, two US trucks were already parked on the sand.

Israel says the new aid distribution sites will be handed over to the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in the coming days, and security here - as at other GHF sites – will be provided by private US security forces, with Israeli troops securing the area around.

But the UN says more than 1,100 people have been killed trying to access aid from GHF sites since they began operating in May.

Lt Col Shoshani said many lessons had been learned in how the sites were set up.

"You can see the sandbars, concrete walls, making it very clear where you're supposed to go, and making sure people don't approach troops and engage in a dangerous situation," he said. "What's [also] important is how close they are - just a very short walking distance to where the people are. That makes it easier, but also more safe."

But some of those now being told to leave Gaza City say it won't be any safer elsewhere, after repeated Israeli strikes on targets in shelters, tents and designated humanitarian zones.

"This is Hamas's MO (Mode of Operation)," said Lt Col Shoshani. "It's saying: no, don't go, you're our shields! Don't move south!"

"A year ago, we carried out a similar operation [in Rafah] that was successful," he said. "Civilians were able to get out of the line of fire, maximum Hamas terrorists dead, that is what we want to achieve in Gaza City."

Rafah's residents were evacuated before the ground operation there in May 2024 – "temporarily" the army said – to displacement zones set up along the coast. The area they left behind is still under full military control.

But evacuating Gaza City – and fighting Hamas in its tunnels and streets – will be a more difficult, and more dangerous, task.

Hamas fighters are increasingly turning to insurgency tactics and guerrilla attacks. Earlier this week, four Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack on the outskirts of Gaza City.

Israel's leaders, meanwhile, are under intense pressure at home from hostage families, who say plans to take the city are a death sentence for living relatives being held there.

Benjamin Netanyahu – unmoved by the criticism at home – has previously boasted of his determination in staring down international opposition, and pressing ahead with his offensive in Rafah.

Now, with prospects of a ceasefire deal dead, and up to a million exhausted Gazans in the line of fire, he's telling his critics that one more offensive stands between him and victory over Hamas.

 
New Nato mission to bolster eastern flank after Russia drone incursion

More Nato countries will move their troops and fighter jets eastwards in response to Wednesday's unprecedented Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace.

Denmark, France and Germany have joined a new mission to bolster the military alliance's eastern flank. Other Nato allies are expected to take part later.

It came as the Kremlin said on Friday that peace talks with Kyiv were on "pause", with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying: "You can't wear rose-tinted glasses and expect that the negotiation process will yield immediate results."

Political tensions have been high across Europe after Poland said 19 Russian drones had flown through its airspace on Wednesday. Some were shot down, while others crashed into fields and even a house in eastern Poland.

Russia's military said it had "no plans to target facilities" in Poland - but Polish and European leaders believe the incursion was deliberate.

According to the Danish defence ministry, Denmark will contribute two F-16 fighter jets to support Poland's air defence, and a warship.

"Denmark fully supports Poland in this situation," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said. "We must not be naive. Putin will stop at nothing, and he is testing us. Therefore, it is crucial... Denmark is contributing to this."

France will contribute three Rafale fighter jets, and Germany will give four Eurofighters.

The UK is "fully committed" to help strengthen the Eastern Sentry, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that it will provide more details soon.

On Friday, European countries - and the US - stood by Poland during an urgent UN Security Council session in New York discussing Russia's drone incursion.

"The United States stands by our Nato allies in the face of these alarming airspace violations," acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea said. "And rest assured, we will defend every inch of Nato territory.

She added that since Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin held a summit in Alaska nearly a month ago to discuss peace, "Russia has intensified its bombing campaign against Ukraine".

While addressing the UN on Friday, Poland's Secretary of State Marcin Bosacki held up photos of one of the downed drones, and a damaged house.

"We know - and I repeat - we know that it was not a mistake," he said.

The Netherlands and Czech Republic have already said they would send defences to Poland, while Lithuania will receive a German brigade and greater warning of Russian attacks on Ukraine that could cross over.

Germany also said it would "intensify its engagement along Nato's eastern border" and extend and expand air policing over Poland.

BBC
 

UN General Assembly votes to back two-state solution for Israel and Palestine​

The resolution supports the recognition of an independent Palestinian state and envisions a two-state solution. It condemns the attack by Hamas on southern Israel on Oct. 7. It also condemns Israel's siege and starvation in Gaza, which produced a humanitarian catastrophe.

The United Nations General Assembly overwhemingly backed a nonbinding solution on Friday supporting a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of a Palestinian state.

Out of the 193-member world body, 142 countries voted in favour on the New York Declaration, 10 against and 12 abstained.

The resolution, presented by France and Saudi Arabia, envisions the Palestinian Authority (PA) governing and in control of all Palestinian territory, with a transitional administrative committee immediately established after a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Hamas must end its rule in Gaza and hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority,” the declaration says, adding that it must also free all hostages.

It also suggests the deployment of a UN-backed mission to protect Palestinian civilians and provide safety guarantees for both Palestinian and Israel civilians, support the peaceful transfer of governing to the PA and monitor the ceasefire and a future peace agreement.

The seven-page document condemns “the attacks committed by Hamas against civilians” in southern Israel on Oct 7 in 2023, when Hamas-led militants killed roughly 1,200 people, many of them civilians, and took 250 hostages. Of those, 50 are still being held, including about 20 who are believed to be alive.

It also condemns Israel's attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza and its "siege and starvation, which has produced a devastating humanitarian catastrophe and protection crisis." Following Oct 7, a subsequent Israeli offensive has to date killed more than 64,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry whose figure does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The figures are repeatedly cited by international institutions, such as the UN.

Large swathes of Gaza have been levelled and most of the territory's more than 2 million people have been displaced. The UN has declared famine is now occurring in the Gaza governorate, and expects it will expand to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis by the end of this month.

 

Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march in New Zealand's biggest city​


Sept 13 (Reuters) - Thousands took part in a pro-Palestinian march in Auckland, New Zealand's biggest city, on Saturday, in what organisers said was the largest rally of its kind since the war in Gaza began between Israel and militant Islamist Palestinian group Hamas.

Some 50,000 attended the March for Humanity rally in central Auckland on Saturday morning, the Aotearoa for Palestine group said. New Zealand police estimated the attendance at 20,000.
Aotearoa for Palestine spokesperson Arama Rata said it was New Zealand's largest march in support of Palestinians since conflict broke out in Gaza in October 2023, when Israel launched an offensive in retaliation of a Hamas-led cross-border attack that killed about 1,200 people and resulted in the capture of 251 hostages.

Palestinian authorities have said that more than 64,000 people have been killed in the conflict in Gaza, while humanitarian organisations say a shortage of food is leading to widespread starvation.

Many in Saturday's protest crowd carried Palestinian flags and banners with slogans including "Don't normalise genocide" and "Grow a spine stand with Palestine", public broadcaster Radio New Zealand reported.

Organisers, motivated by a march that shut down Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge in August, wanted to close a major city bridge with Saturday's rally, Rata said, but were forced to abandon those plans on Friday due to strong winds.

Police said there were no arrests at the march and that roads along the route were being reopened.

Aotearoa for Palestine said it wanted New Zealand's centre-right coalition government to impose sanctions on Israel.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in August described recent Israeli actions in Gaza, including a lack of humanitarian assistance, as "utterly appalling", and New Zealand has been weighing up whether to recognise a Palestinian state.

Ben Kepes, a spokesperson for the New Zealand Jewish Council, a body representing around 10,000 Jews who live in the country, said he appreciated the peaceful nature of Saturday's march but condemned calls to sanction Israel.

 

The rabid hounds keep hunting the innocent Palestinians​

====

At least 62 people killed since dawn​

At least 62 Palestinians, including seven aid seekers, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since the morning.

At least 49 of those were killed in war-battered Gaza City.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
First sick children have left Gaza for UK - Cooper

The first group of critically ill and injured Palestinian children set to receive NHS treatment have left Gaza and are expected to arrive in the UK in days.

They are the first children to be brought to the UK for treatment as part of a government operation being co-ordinated by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Home Office and Department of Health.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the children had been evacuated from Gaza in an interview with the Daily Mirror newspaper.

A Foreign Office source told the BBC the report was correct and the children were due to arrive in the UK in the "coming days".

The UK government is also working to evacuate students with places to study at British universities.

Cooper did not confirm how large the first group was but the BBC understands it contains between 30 and 50 Palestinian children.

Each child could be accompanied by family members if necessary, according to the Mirror.

Cooper told the newspaper "it was a lot of diplomatic work in order to help them actually leave Gaza".

She added: "But that work is underway and I'm determined to make sure that we can do our bit to help those injured families and also to help students get into their courses this autumn."

Some Gazan children have been brought privately to the UK for medical treatment through an initiative by Project Pure Hope, but the government until now had not evacuated any through its own scheme during the conflict.

On Saturday, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said the bodies of 47 people killed by the Israeli military had arrived at its hospitals over the previous day.

Since UN-backed global food security experts confirmed a famine in Gaza City on 22 August, the ministry has reported that at least 142 people have died from starvation and malnutrition across the territory.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization said that Israel's offensive in Gaza had stretched the territory's health system "beyond breaking point".

Israel has said it is expanding its efforts to facilitate aid deliveries and has disputed the health ministry's figures on malnutrition-related deaths.

The Israeli military launched its campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 64,803 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

BBC
 
Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, UN commission of inquiry says

A United Nations commission of inquiry says Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

A new report says there are reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023: killing members of a group, causing them serious bodily and mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to destroy the group, and preventing births.

It cites statements by Israeli leaders, and the pattern of conduct by Israeli forces, as evidence of genocidal intent.

Israel's foreign ministry said it categorically rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false".

A spokesperson accused the three experts on the commission of serving as "Hamas proxies" and relying "entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others" that had "already been thoroughly debunked".

"In stark contrast to the lies in the report, Hamas is the party that attempted genocide in Israel - murdering 1,200 people, raping women, burning families alive, and openly declaring its goal of killing every Jew," the spokesperson added.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

At least 64,905 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Most of the population has also been repeatedly displaced; more than 90% of homes are estimated to be damaged or destroyed; the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed; and UN-backed food security experts have declared a famine in Gaza City.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

The three-member expert panel is chaired by Navi Pillay, a South African former UN human rights chief who was president of the international tribunal on Rwanda's genocide.

The commission's latest report alleges that Israeli authorities and Israeli forces have committed four of the five acts of genocide defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention against a national, ethnic, racial or religious group - in this case, Palestinians in Gaza:

  • Killing members of the group through attacks on protected objects; targeting civilians and other protected persons; and the deliberate infliction of conditions causing deaths
  • Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group through direct attacks on civilians and protected objects; severe mistreatment of detainees; forced displacement; and environmental destruction
  • Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the group in whole or in part through destruction of structures and land essential to Palestinians; destruction and denial of access to medical services; forced displacement; blocking essential aid, water, electricity and fuel from reaching Palestinians; reproductive violence; and specific conditions impacting children
  • Imposing measures intended to prevent births through the December 2023 attack on Gaza's largest fertility clinic, reportedly destroying around 4,000 embryos and 1,000 sperm samples and unfertilised eggs
To fulfil the legal definition of genocide under the Genocide Convention, it must also be established that the perpetrator committed any one of those acts with specific intent to destroy the group in whole or in part.

The commission says it analysed statements made by Israeli leaders and alleges that President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have "incited the commission of genocide".

It also states that "genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference" that could be concluded from the pattern of conduct of Israeli authorities and security forces in Gaza.

The commission says the pattern of conduct includes intentionally killing and seriously harming an unprecedented number of Palestinians using heavy munitions; systematic and widespread attacks on religious, cultural and education sites; and imposing a siege on Gaza and starving its population.

Israel's government insists that its efforts are directed solely at dismantling Hamas's capabilities and not at the people of Gaza. It says its forces operate in accordance with international law and take all feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians.

"As early as 7 October 2023, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to inflict… 'mighty vengeance' on 'all of the places where Hamas is deployed, hiding and operating in, that wicked city, we will turn them into rubble'," Pillay said in an interview with the BBC.

"His use of the phrase 'wicked city' in the same statement implied that he saw the whole city of Gaza [Gaza City] as responsible and a target for vengeance. And he told Palestinians to 'leave now because we will operate forcefully everywhere'."

She added: "It took us two years to gather all the actions and make factual findings, verify whether that had happened… It's only the facts that will direct you. And you can only bring it under the Genocide Convention if those acts were done with this intention."

The commission says the acts of Israeli political and military leaders are "attributable to the State of Israel", and that the state therefore "bears responsibility for the failure to prevent genocide, the commission of genocide and the failure to punish genocide".

It also warns all other countries have an immediate obligation under the Genocide Convention to "prevent and punish the crime of genocide", employing all measures at their disposal. If they do not, it says, they could be complicit.

"We have not gone so far as to name parties as co-conspirators, or being complicit in genocide. But that is the… ongoing work of this commission. They will get there," Pillay said.

A number of international and Israeli human rights organisations, independent UN experts, and scholars have also accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is meanwhile hearing a case brought by South Africa that accuses Israeli forces of genocide. Israel has called the case "wholly unfounded" and based on "biased and false claims".

BBC
 
'The bombing has been insane': Gaza City Palestinians scramble to flee Israeli assault

Thousands of families are attempting to flee Gaza City as the Israeli military confirms it has begun ground operations that are part of its large-scale assault aimed at occupying the city.

Lina al-Maghrebi, 32, a mother of three from the city's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood told the BBC she had resisted leaving her home - despite the danger - until she received a phone call from an Israeli officer ordering her to evacuate.

"I was forced to sell my jewellery to cover the cost of displacement and a tent," she said. "It took us 10 hours to reach Khan Younis, and we paid 3,500 shekels (£735) for the ride. The line of cars and trucks seemed endless."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a "powerful operation" had been launched in Gaza City, which he described as Hamas's last major stronghold.

The Israeli military has designated al-Rashid coastal road as the only permitted route for civilians to use to evacuate. Many have described severe congestion, endless queues of cars and trucks, and long delays, with families stranded on the roadside while airstrikes continue overhead.

Nivin Imad al-Din, 38, a mother of five, said she fled south after Israeli warplanes dropped evacuation leaflets in her neighbourhood, though her husband refused to leave their home.

Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Gaza City in recent weeks

"I couldn't take my furniture with me because I couldn't afford the cost of a large truck," she explained. "Leaving everything behind was the hardest decision I've ever made."

The cost of displacement has surged far beyond the reach of most households. Residents said renting a small truck now costs around 3,000 shekels (£630), while a tent for five people sells for about 4,000 shekels (£840). With most families deprived of income since the war began, some are forced to walk for miles or remain in their homes despite the risks.

Overnight into Tuesday, Israeli warplanes carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Gaza City, with concentrated bombardment on the central al-Daraj neighbourhood, the Beach refugee camp in the west, and Sheikh Radwan in the north.

The attacks were accompanied by artillery fire, drone fire and helicopter gunship activity.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was "gradually" moving into Gaza City as part of the "next phase" of its offensive.

It said air and ground forces would be part of this next stage of the military's operation, with the number of troops increasing day-by-day.

Residents described the overnight strikes as "hell".

Ghazi al-Aloul, a displaced resident from northern Gaza, told the BBC he is now sleeping at the entrance of al-Quds Hospital in Tel al-Hawa, southwest Gaza.

"I did not choose this," he said. "I was forced after leaving the home where my family and I had been sheltering for nearly a month after fleeing the north".

"The bombardment has been insane for hours, and the army is threatening to demolish several residential buildings in the area."

Sami Abu Dalal, from al-Daraj in central Gaza, described the night as "extremely difficult".

"Whole residential blocks were levelled on top of their inhabitants, leaving many dead, missing, or injured," he said.

He said Israel was advancing on three fronts - and was accompanied by the use of booby-trapped vehicles, intense airstrikes, and heavy shelling. Meanwhile, Apache helicopters hovered over different parts of the city, firing continuously.

Israel's ramped up offensive comes as a United Nations commission of inquiry have released a report that says Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza - Israel categorically rejected the report.

BBC
 
Even they know, there are hounds among themselves hunting innocent souls
===
Gaza City evacuation orders constitute ethnic cleansing, war crimes: Israeli rights groups

Israeli human rights organisations have called on Israeli officials to cancel the mass evacuation threat for Gaza City, saying such an order constitutes forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.

Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that the organisations, which include the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Physicians for Human Rights, Gisha, and Adalah – the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said the threats are intended to “displace an exhausted and starving population that has nowhere to flee”.

It posited that the orders “do not stem from military necessity” and are “contrary to international law” and therefore should not be accepted.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Even they know, there are hounds among themselves hunting innocent souls
===
Gaza City evacuation orders constitute ethnic cleansing, war crimes: Israeli rights groups

Israeli human rights organisations have called on Israeli officials to cancel the mass evacuation threat for Gaza City, saying such an order constitutes forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.

Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that the organisations, which include the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), Physicians for Human Rights, Gisha, and Adalah – the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, said the threats are intended to “displace an exhausted and starving population that has nowhere to flee”.

It posited that the orders “do not stem from military necessity” and are “contrary to international law” and therefore should not be accepted.

Source: Al Jazeera

This conflict has exposed Israel to the world. More people now know what vile scumbags these Zinists are.
 
This conflict has exposed Israel to the world. More people now know what vile scumbags these Zinists are.
Exposing will mean zilch if world doesn't do anything because within 5 years there will be another conflict world will turn to.
 
Israeli tanks push into major Gaza City residential area

Local residents and eyewitnesses say dozens of Israeli tanks and military vehicles have pushed into a major residential district of Gaza City, on the second day of Israel's ground offensive aimed at occupying the area.

Video footage shows tanks, bulldozers and armoured personnel carriers moving on the edges of Sheikh Radwan, in northern Gaza City. Thick clouds of smoke can be seen as Israeli forces fire artillery shells and smoke bombs to cover their advance.

The Sheikh Radwan district was home to tens of thousands of people before the war and is considered one of the city's most densely populated areas.

Israel says the aim of its Gaza City offensive is to free hostages held by Hamas and defeat up to 3,000 fighters in what it describes as the group's "last stronghold" - but the operation has drawn widespread international condemnation.


 
The world needs to rein in the apartheid idiots
===
Israel is torturing Palestinian detainees with total ‘impunity’

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,141 people and wounded 165,925 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and about 200 were taken captive

Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, says conditions for Palestinians held in Israeli jails are “terrible, to say the least”.

There are more than 10,000 Palestinians being held in different Israeli prisons and detention centres, Sunghay told Al Jazeera, enduring “ill-treatment and torture”.

“The conditions are horrendous”, he said, citing testimonies.

He said that international bodies, including the ICR,C do not have access to inspect conditions inside the prisons, and that Israeli politicians refuse to adhere to court rulings saying Palestinians should be treated humanely.

“Unfortunately, I do not expect the conditions to change anytime soon,” Sunghay said. “There is not enough pressure on Israel to change this situation and make sure they abide by international human rights and humanitarian laws.”

He said most detainees are held without charge or trial under the widely criticised practice of administrative detention.

There has been a history of torture in Israeli prisons, Sunghay added, and this is being carried out with “impunity”.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
The world needs to rein in the apartheid idiots
===
Israel is torturing Palestinian detainees with total ‘impunity’

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,141 people and wounded 165,925 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and about 200 were taken captive

Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory, says conditions for Palestinians held in Israeli jails are “terrible, to say the least”.

There are more than 10,000 Palestinians being held in different Israeli prisons and detention centres, Sunghay told Al Jazeera, enduring “ill-treatment and torture”.

“The conditions are horrendous”, he said, citing testimonies.

He said that international bodies, including the ICR,C do not have access to inspect conditions inside the prisons, and that Israeli politicians refuse to adhere to court rulings saying Palestinians should be treated humanely.

“Unfortunately, I do not expect the conditions to change anytime soon,” Sunghay said. “There is not enough pressure on Israel to change this situation and make sure they abide by international human rights and humanitarian laws.”

He said most detainees are held without charge or trial under the widely criticised practice of administrative detention.

There has been a history of torture in Israeli prisons, Sunghay added, and this is being carried out with “impunity”.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
US casts 6th veto at United Nations over war in Gaza

The United States vetoed on Thursday a draft United Nations Security Council resolution that would have demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and that Israel lift all restrictions on aid deliveries to the Palestinian enclave.

The text, drafted by the elected 10 members of the 15-member council, would also have demanded the immediate, dignified and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups.

It received 14 votes in favor. It was the sixth time the U.S. had cast a veto in the Security Council over the nearly two-year war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.

"Famine has been confirmed in Gaza - not projected, not declared, confirmed," Denmark's U.N. Ambassador Christina Markus Lassen told the council before the vote.

"Meanwhile, Israel has expanded its military operation in Gaza City, further deepening the suffering of civilians. As a result, it is this catastrophic situation, this humanitarian and human failure, that has compelled us to act today," she said.

Gaza City and surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine, and it will likely spread, a global hunger monitor determined last month.


 
US blocks UN call for Gaza ceasefire for sixth time

The US has for the sixth time vetoed a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council that would have demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.

US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus said the text did not go far enough in condemning Hamas or recognise Israel's right to defend itself.

All 14 other members of the Security Council voted in favour of the draft resolution - which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as "catastrophic" and called on Israel to lift all aid restrictions.

It comes as the UN's humanitarian office warns that the last lifelines for civilians are collapsing in Gaza City as Israel expands its military offensive.

On the global stage, Israel and its closest ally look increasingly isolated.

Speaking prior to the vote, Ortagus said Washington's opposition to the resolution should "come as no surprise".

"It fails to condemn Hamas or recognise Israel's right to defend itself, and it wrongly legitimises the false narratives benefitting Hamas, which have sadly found currency in this council," she said.

After the vote, UN members reacted swiftly to express their disappointment.

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour called the US's decision "deeply regrettable and painful", saying it had prevented the Security Council from "playing its rightful role in the face of these atrocities".

Pakistan's ambassador Asim Ahmad described the veto as "a dark moment in this chamber".

"The world is watching. The cries of children should pierce our hearts," he said.

Amar Bendjama, Algeria's ambassador, apologised to the Palestinian people.

"Palestinian brothers, Palestinian sisters, forgive us," he said.

"Forgive us, because the world speaks of rights, but denies them to Palestinians. Forgive us because our efforts, our sincere efforts, shattered against this wall of rejection."

This latest UN vote came just days before world leaders gather for the UN General Assembly where Gaza will be a major topic and key American allies, including the UK, are expected to recognise an independent Palestinian state.

In Gaza, thousands of people are continuing to flee the region amid ongoing deadly attacks as Israeli tanks and troops continue to advance on the third day of a ground offensive.

Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN's humanitarian office, told the BBC the situation in Gaza City is "nothing short of cataclysmic".

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 65,141 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

The ministry says another 435 people have so far died during the war as a result of malnutrition and starvation, including four over the past 24 hours.

BBC
 
Hezbollah chief warns pressure on the group ‘only benefits Israel’

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem has said the Lebanese group’s weapons are aimed solely at Israel and warned that pressure on the group “only benefits Israel”.

“When the US openly declares that it acts in Israel’s interest, how can we trust any American or non-American proposal, or accept to make concession after concession?” he said, speaking at a televised event.

The US has been pushing Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah under the terms of a ceasefire agreement brokered in November 2024. Despite the truce, Israel has continued to attack southern Lebanon on an almost daily basis.

Qassem said the group is open to dialogue “from a position of strength”, adding that its commitment to resist Israeli occupation is “unshakable” and aimed at expelling Israeli forces and liberating land.

Qassem called on the Lebanese government to confront Israeli attacks and urged officials to “think outside the box” and avoid choices that risk internal strife.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Israeli air strikes on a tent camp in central Gaza City killed at least four people and wounded many, as heavy shelling and detonations continued across the north. Former New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern urged urgent humanitarian action, calling for recognition of Palestinian statehood and access to aid.

On the ground, displaced Palestinians described fleeing Gaza City on foot under relentless bombardment, while Israel also issued new land seizure orders near East Jerusalem to expand settlements.

Analysts say Palestinians want tangible global action rather than rhetoric, while international voices grow louder, including Irish band Kneecap condemning Canada’s entry ban as silencing dissent.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces intensified operations across Gaza, a soldier was injured by sniper fire, Berlin saw large pro-Palestine rallies, and the al-Shifa Hospital director mourned his brother and sister-in-law killed in the strikes.
 
Starmer set to announce UK recognition of Palestinian state on Sunday

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce the UK's recognition of a Palestinian state in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

The prime minister said in July that the UK's position would shift in September unless Israel met several conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza and committing to a long-term peace process that would lead to a two-state solution.

The UK has long called for an agreement that would see a Palestinian state co-exist alongside Israel - something Israeli leadership has desisted from since the start of its war with Palestinian armed group Hamas.

The PM's move has drawn fierce criticism from the Israeli government, families of hostages held in Gaza and some Conservatives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously said it "rewards terror".

The decision to recognise a Palestinian state represents a major change in UK foreign policy, after successive governments said recognition should come as part of a peace process and at a time of maximum impact.

However, ministers argue there was a moral responsibility to act to keep hopes of a long-term peace alive.

Efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza - let alone a long-term solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict - have faltered. Israel recently sparked international outrage when it carried out an air strike on a Hamas negotiating team in Qatar.

Government sources said the situation on the ground had also worsened significantly in the last few weeks. They cited images showing starvation and violence in Gaza, which Sir Keir previously described as "intolerable".

Israel's latest ground operation in Gaza City, described by a UN official as "cataclysmic", has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee.

It is the latest Israeli offensive in the nearly two-year war that began with a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel - in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages taken back to Gaza - and has seen much of the Palestinian territory's population displaced, its infrastructure destroyed, and at least 65,208 people killed, according to Hamas-run health ministry figures.

Earlier this week, a United Nations commision of inquiry concluded Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel denounced as "distorted and false".

Ministers have also highlighted the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law, as a key factor in the decision to recognise Palestinian statehood.

Justice Secretary David Lammy, who was foreign secretary when recognition was proposed, cited the controversial E1 settlement project - which critics warn would put an end to hopes for a viable, contiguous Palestinian state - as well as violence from Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the UK's recognition pledge when he visited Sir Keir earlier this month, with Downing Street saying both leaders had agreed Hamas should play no role in the future governance of Palestine.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she wanted to see a two-state solution in the Middle East.

But she wrote in The Telegraph over the weekend: "It is obvious, and the US has been clear on this, that recognition of a Palestinian state at this time and without the release of the hostages, would be a reward for terrorism."

Meanwhile, in an open letter to Sir Keir on Saturday, family members of some of the hostages taken by Hamas urged the prime minister not to take the step until the 48 still in Gaza, of whom 20 are thought to still be alive, had been returned.

The announcement of the forthcoming recognition had "dramatically complicated efforts to bring home our loved ones", they wrote. "Hamas has already celebrated the UK's decision as a victory and reneged on a ceasefire deal."

Sources in government said ministers will be setting out next steps for sanctioning Hamas in the coming weeks.

During a state visit to the UK this week, US President Donald Trump also said he disagreed with recognition.

Sir Keir had set a deadline of the UN General Assembly meeting, which takes place this week, for Israel to take "substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution".

He said in July: "With that solution now under threat, this is the moment to act."

A number of other countries including Portugal, France, Canada and Australia have also said they will recognise a Palestinian state, while Spain, Ireland and Norway took the step last year.

Palestine is currently recognised by around 75% of the UN's 193 member states, but has no internationally agreed boundaries, no capital and no army - making recognition largely symbolic.

The two-state solution refers to the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel currently occupies both the West Bank and Gaza, meaning the Palestinian Authority is not in full control of its land or people.

Recognising a Palestinian state has long been a cause championed by many within the Labour Party. The PM has been under mounting pressure to take a tougher stance on Israel, particularly from MPs on the left of his party.

Shortly before he gave his speech in July, more than half of Labour MPs signed a letter calling for the government to immediately recognise a Palestinian state.

However, critics questioned why the government had appeared to put conditions on Israel but not Hamas.

Britain's Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim Mirvis, called on the government to pause its decision.

"The intended recognition is not contingent upon a functioning or democratic Palestinian government, nor even upon the most basic commitment to a peaceful future," he said.

"Astonishingly, it is not even conditional upon the release of the 48 hostages who remain in captivity."

Government sources insisted their demands for Hamas to release the hostages and agree to a ceasefire had not changed.

But officials in the Foreign Office argued statehood was a right of the Palestinian people and could not be dependent on Hamas, which the government considers a terrorist organisation.

BBC
 
Kremlin reaffirms commitment to two-state solution for Middle East peace

Russia still believes that a two-state solution is the only way to settle the conflict in the Middle East, the Kremlin has said, after it was asked about a decision by some Western countries to recognise Palestine.

“We remain committed to the fundamental resolutions of the UN Security Council and remain committed to the international position on the possibility of resolving the Palestinian-Israeli problem on the basis of a two-state approach,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“This remains our approach, and we believe that it is the only possible way to find a solution to this extremely complex, longstanding conflict, which is now perhaps at its most acute and tragic stage in its entire history,” he added.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Bedouin face eviction as Israeli settlement spreads near Jerusalem

The land available to Atallah al-Jahalin’s Bedouin community for grazing livestock near Jerusalem has steadily shrunk, as expanding Jewish settlements on Israeli-occupied territory encircle the city and push deeper into the West Bank.

Now, the group of some 80 families faces eviction from the last patches of valley and scrubland they have called home for decades.

Their predicament is tied to an Israeli settlement project that would slice through the West Bank, sever its connection to East Jerusalem, and -- according to Israeli officials -- "bury" any remaining hope of a future Palestinian state.

As more Western powers move to recognise a Palestinian state amid frustration over the war in Gaza, Palestinians around Jerusalem say they are watching their land vanish under the advance of Israeli cranes and bulldozers. Settlements now form an almost unbroken ring around the city.

“Where else could I go? There is nothing,” said Jahalin, seated beneath a towering cedar tree near Maale Adumim, a settlement that has already grown into a Jewish suburb of Jerusalem on Israeli-occupied Palestinian land.
The so-called E1 project, recently greenlit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, will fill the last major gap in the settlement belt -- an area that, until now, had remained untouched by construction.


 
Two Gaza hospitals forced to stop operations as Israeli offensive escalates, health ministry says

Two Gaza City hospitals have been taken out of service due to the escalation of Israel's ground offensive and damage caused by continued Israeli bombing, Gaza's health ministry said, as tanks advanced deeper into the territory.

The ministry said in a statement that Al-Rantissi Children's Hospital had been badly damaged in an Israeli bombardment a few days ago. At the same time, it reported Israeli attacks in the vicinity of the nearby Eye Hospital, which forced the suspension of services there, too.

"The occupation deliberately and systematically targets the healthcare system in the Gaza governorate as part of its genocidal policy against the Strip," it said.

"None of the facilities or hospitals have safe access routes that allow patients and the wounded to reach them," the ministry added.

There was no immediate Israeli military comment.

Separately, Jordan's armed forces have decided their field hospital in Gaza City's Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood will be relocated to Khan Younis for the safety of the hospital's staff, Jordan's state news agency Petra reported on Monday.

A Jordanian military source was cited by Petra as saying the vicinity of the hospital had been subject to constant bombardment. The attacks damaged some medical equipment and led to the suspension of some services, the source said.

The field hospital has been providing services in the Gaza City suburb for more than 16 years, according to Petra.

TANKS PUSH DEEPER INTO GAZA CITY

Nearly two years into the war, Israel describes Gaza City as the last bastion of Hamas. Since Israel launched its ground assault on the city this month, the military has been demolishing housing blocks it says were being used by the group.

On Monday, residents said Israeli tanks had advanced deeper into the Sheikh Radwan area and Jala Street in northern Gaza City, where the two hospitals are located, while in Tel Al-Hawa in the southeast tanks had pushed deeper in the direction of the western parts of the city.

They said Israeli forces had used explosive-laden vehicles, detonated remotely, to blow up dozens of houses in the two areas.

In a meeting on Monday at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv with Defence Minister Israel Katz and Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his determination to eliminate Hamas, secure the release of the remaining hostages and ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, his office said.

The offensive has alarmed the families of Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. Twenty of those 48 captives are thought to still be alive.

Hamas' military wing released a video on Monday of Israeli hostage Alon Ohel, 24. It was not immediately clear when the video was recorded. Ohel was last seen in a video released by Hamas on September 5.

A representative said that Ohel’s family had consented to the media identifying Ohel but had not given permission for the video to be published. The video was released on the eve of the Jewish New Year, known in Hebrew as Rosh Hashanah.

Rights groups have condemned Hamas and another militant group in Gaza for releasing videos of hostages, calling it inhumane treatment that amounts to a war crime. Israeli officials have described the videos as psychological warfare.

Meanwhile, local health authorities said at least 25 people had been killed by Israeli fire on Monday across the enclave, most of them in Gaza City.

Hamas' October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel killed 1,200 people, and 251 others were taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's two-year-long campaign has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gazan health authorities, and has spread famine, demolished most buildings, and displaced most of the territory's population, in many cases multiple times.

 
European recognition of Palestinian state shows US still only power that counts

Britain and France's recognition of a state of Palestine at the United Nations is a historic moment in the century-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But it is also a diplomatic gamble illustrating how major European powers believe the conflict has reached the point where it requires them to take such an unprecedented move.

Faced with the current catastrophe in Gaza, and meting out condemnation for both Israel and Hamas, French President Emmanuel Macron said "right must prevail over might".

His move, co-ordinated with the UK and under Saudi sponsorship, is meant to keep the two-state solution on life support.

They believe this long-held international formula for peace is the only path to a fair, shared future for the two societies.

The alternative, UN Secretary General António Guterres told a UN conference in New York, was a "one-state" solution, meaning Israeli domination and the "subjugation" of Palestinians.

Nothing, he said, could justify their collective punishment, starvation or any form of ethnic cleansing.

Israel is furious and is threatening to respond.

It sees the UN conference - along with recognition of a Palestinian state by the UK, France, Canada, Australia and others - as a reward for Hamas after its attack on Israel and its hostage taking of 7 October 2023.

Some Israeli ministers want the response to be an announcement of annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, forever ruling out a viable Palestinian state on the territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition, including far-right figures whose avowed policy is to expel Palestinians and build Jewish settlements in their place, is intent on pulling the plug on a two-state solution.

President Donald Trump's administration continues to back its Israeli ally, rejecting the Europeans' move, punishing Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

It barred him from attending the conference in New York and he spoke via video link instead.

The Palestine conference and the Trump administration's reaction marks the deepest ever split between Washington and its European allies over how to solve the Middle East conflict.

But the Europeans believe they have been left with little choice given the situation on the ground.

Israel is now deploying a third army division into Gaza City, with dozens of Palestinians being killed every day; Hamas continues to hold nearly 50 hostages, many of them dead; while the West Bank is in the grip of Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence.

All this nearly two years on from the 7 October attacks, with few signs that further military pressure will force the surrender by Hamas that Israel seeks.

Macron's strategy is an attempt to show that diplomacy offers a viable alternative.

First to get a workable end to the war in Gaza, followed by a longer term solution in the form of two states - Israeli and Palestinian.

The European countries argue Israel's strategy has failed, resulting only in further civilian suffering and endangering the remaining hostages.

Crucially, the UN conference was also led by Saudi Arabia and supported by the Arab League.

The French argue this shows its form of diplomacy can exert leverage over Hamas because key Arab countries at the conference have now called on the group to disarm, hand its weapons to the PA, adding it can have no future leadership role for Palestinians.

Macron believes the process therefore creates an incentive for Israel, while it also keeps the door open to a normalisation of relations with Saudi Arabia - a long desired goal for Netanyahu and Trump.

But the decision to recognise a Palestinian state against the wishes of Washington amounts to a significant diplomatic gamble.

Watching Macron at the podium in front of the United Nations, you saw a president trying to take on a global leadership role to find a way out of the "nightmare" of Gaza, as the UN secretary general put it, and find a shared Israeli-Palestinian future.

But, speaking in terms of raw power, this was the wrong president.

Without the US leading the effort, there isn't the same kind of meaningful pressure that only Washington can bring to bear on all sides.

And the Trump administration continues to reject the Europeans' approach.

Trump travels to the UN on Tuesday where he will speak and later reportedly meet Arab leaders, entirely separately from their work with the Europeans on Monday.

This lack of co-ordination between key countries adds to the sense of dysfunction, while Qatar as the previous mediator between Israel and Hamas still refuses to become involved again after Israel attacked Hamas leaders on its soil earlier this month.

Both Macron and Starmer brought up their countries' colonial legacies in the Middle East.

They recalled how, after Britain pulled out of historical Palestine in 1948, the international community recognised the state of Israel.

Now, they said, they were recognising the equal right of Palestinians to their own state.

Palestinians welcome their recognition from the Europeans nations, but they also know these are the superpowers of the past.

Their decisions don't count like they once did.

Palestinian statehood only becomes feasible if it's backed by the superpower of today, the United States.

And President Trump so far has other ideas.

BBC
 

Trump to present plan on ending Israel’s Gaza war to Arab, Muslim leaders​


United States President Donald Trump is expected to offer a plan and discuss his vision for ending Israel’s war on Gaza and the future of the mostly destroyed Palestinian enclave to Arab and Muslim leaders on Tuesday.

Trump will hold a meeting with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Turkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

The US president will discuss how the Israeli military may withdraw from Gaza in the future, how he wants the regional leaders to send in troops to maintain order, and how a transition and rebuilding process can begin and be funded, unnamed Israeli and Arab sources told Israel’s Channel 12 and US-based Axios.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who is expected to attend the meeting, told the conference on the two-state solution hosted by France and Saudi Arabia at the UN on Monday that his country is ready to provide peacekeeping forces in Gaza.

“We are ready to take our part in this journey towards peace. We are willing to provide peacekeeping forces,” he said, on the day that France and several other countries recognised Palestinian statehood, joining the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal, and others who had made the move earlier.

The Gaza plan was reportedly not drafted by Israel, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been made aware of the details. It is believed to envisage some future involvement by the Palestinian Authority (PA), something Israel has repeatedly said it will not tolerate.

The plan sees no role for Hamas, which the US and Israel have demanded must be disarmed and eliminated.

Nearly two years into a genocidal war that has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza – mostly civilians, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health – no breakthrough appears in sight to end the killings and Israeli-induced famine.

Ceasefire talks were making progress earlier this month when the Israeli military launched unprecedented air attacks on Qatar, in an attempt to assassinate the top leadership of Hamas. The Palestinian group had said it agreed to a proposal on the table, and Israel claimed it had accepted it hours before launching the strikes.

Source: Al Jazeera
 

Footage shows public executions in Gaza City street​

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Footage has emerged showing the public executions of three men accused of being Israeli collaborators in Gaza City.

BBC Verify has verified that the location of the executions was a street outside Shifa hospital in the centre of the city, which is the focus of a major Israeli ground offensive.

Videos circulating on Sunday evening showed at least five armed and masked men, three blindfolded Palestinian men kneeling on the ground and a large crowd.

One of the armed men is heard saying: "The death sentence has been decided for all collaborators".

There are cheers before the three men are pushed to the ground and shot several times in the back of the head. The crowd then praises Hamas's armed wing, the Qassam Brigades.

A Palestinian security official from the Hamas-run Gaza government told Reuters that the executions were carried out by the "Joint Operations Room of the Palestinian resistance".

This is a rare instance in which a public execution in Gaza has been captured on video. There have been previous reports of Hamas using violence on those who dissent. In May, Hamas-led groups reportedly executed four Palestinians for looting aid trucks.

In Sunday's footage, one armed man singles out Yasser Abu Shabab as a "major collaborator" who they seek to kill.

Abu Shabab is major figurehead of a clan which has reportedly been armed by the Israeli government. It has been operating in Rafah, in an area under Israeli military control. The group has presented itself as an opposition force to Hamas.

In July Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed that Israel was arming clans in Gaza that he said were opposed to Hamas. However, Yasser Abu Shabab posted online to "categorically reject" that Israel had supplied his group's weapons.

That same month, a senior officer in Hamas's security forces told the BBC that the Palestinian armed group had lost much of its control over the Gaza Strip and that armed clans were filling the void.

Abu Shabab's armed group has been advertising for recruits on social media, Reuters reported. The news agency quoted residents and sources close to Hamas as saying that other groups opposed to Hamas had also emerged in parts of northern Gaza and near Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Israeli troops meanwhile have continued to operate in Gaza City. The Israeli military said troops had "dismantled military infrastructure used by Hamas" and killed a Hamas cell that had attacked Israeli soldiers, wounding an officer.

It has said its objectives are to free the hostages still held by Hamas and defeat up to 3,000 fighters in what it has described as the group's "main stronghold".

However, the offensive on Gaza's biggest urban area, where one million people were living and a famine was confirmed last month, has drawn widespread international condemnation.

Last week a spokeswoman for the UN's humanitarian office said she had seen a constant stream of Palestinians heading south during a recent visit to the city, but that hundreds of thousands remained in the city. She described the situation in the city as "cataclysmic".

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 65,344 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

 
Hamas are brutal but extrajudicial punishments are not a new thing. Nazi collaborators were shot by resistance groups during WWII when the Allies liberated countries occupied. This is war and if you are helping the IDF that is committing a genocide then this is what you should expect since society is so broken there are no jails or courts. However, I don’t trust Hamas and their claims on who is a traitor or not.
 
Casualties from Israeli strikes overwhelm Gaza City medics

Doctors at one of Gaza City's last functioning hospitals say they are overwhelmed with casualties from Israeli strikes and are having to carry out operations in filthy conditions with few or no anaesthetics.

One Australian medic volunteering at al-Shifa hospital told the BBC that every day was a mass casualty event, while another described how a baby had been saved from the body of a pregnant woman who had been decapitated.

Israeli forces are now just 500m (1,640ft) away from the hospital as they expand their ground offensive to fully occupy Gaza City, which Israel's military calls Hamas's "main stronghold".

Witnesses say tanks are advancing into the city centre from the south and north-west.

Israeli air and artillery strikes, attacks by quadcopter drones and detonations of remotely driven vehicles laden with explosives continue to drive tens of thousands of Palestinians from their homes each day.

Al-Shifa hospital was once the biggest medical complex in the Gaza Strip. After 23 months of war, it now lies in ruins, pockmarked by craters, with burned-out wards and bullet holes.

But inside medics are working beyond full stretch. Many of the beds do not even have mattresses, medicines are in short supply and the casualties are endless.

"It's just a mass murder, a killing, a torture, a nightmare," Dr Nada Abu Alrub, an emergency specialist from Australia volunteering at the hospital, told the BBC in a video call on Tuesday.

She said they were operating on severely wounded patients with "minimal to hardly no anaesthesia".

"No painkillers as well, with their limbs hanging with a piece of skin and the tendon. Brain matter out. Organs are out. It's horrific," she added.

Last week, she said, doctors had to conduct an emergency Caesarean on a nine-month pregnant woman whose head had been blown off. They managed to save her daughter.

"The baby was a bit bradycardic, so her heart rate was low," she recalled. "She was transferred to another hospital."

Dr Saya Aziz, an Australian anaesthetist, described how a six-year-old boy with a fractured arm and leg had been waiting for three days for an operation to place external fixators on them because the hospital's only orthopaedic surgeon had to prioritise more serious cases.

"Every couple of hours there are multiple amputation cases with massive resuscitation. It's life or limb, literally," she told the BBC.

"And you go in and you're trying to anaesthetise them [while] they're swatting flies in theatre.

"There's blood over the beds. There's no equipment. There's no replacements. And you can see the sorrow and the sadness of the healthcare workers."

Outside the hospital, Israel's tanks are advancing, as the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza City continues.

One video posted on social media showed a tank at Hamid junction in the Rimal neighbourhood, which is less than 500m from al-Shifa.

Another video showed troops to the south, only 700m from the city centre.

Palestinian journalist Fathi Sabah, who lives in southern Gaza but owns an apartment in the city's southern Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, said members of his family had narrowly escaped an Israeli incursion.

"My wife and son went to our flat to collect some belongings. They suddenly found themselves trapped as tanks surrounded the area," he said.

"They lived through the hardest night of their lives before escaping through a back door. It's unbelievable how quickly the tanks reached the heart of the city."

Around one million Palestinians were estimated to be living in Gaza City before Israel announced its plans for the offensive last month.

The UN says more than 320,000 have fled southwards since then, while the Israeli military puts the figure at 640,000.

The Israeli military has told people to head south for their safety to a designated "humanitarian area" in al-Mawasi, where it has said medical care, water and food will be provided.

However, witnesses say the coastal al-Rashid road is severely congested and that families are struggling for hours to complete the journey.

The cost of evacuation has also reportedly soared to more than $3,000 (£2,200) per family - far beyond the reach of most residents.

The UN has also said the tent camps in al-Mawasi are overcrowded and unsafe, and that southern hospitals are operating at several times their capacity.

"The tanks are only a few metres from my house but I cannot afford the cost of fleeing," Sultan Nassar, a 62-year-old father of five from the Sabra neighbourhood, told the BBC. "Death is everywhere, in the north and in the south."

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said the oxygen station at al-Quds hospital in Tal al-Hawa had ceased operating after being struck by gunfire from Israeli forces, and that it only had enough pre-filled oxygen cylinders to last three days.

Israeli military vehicles were currently positioned at the southern gate of the hospital, preventing anyone from entering or leaving, it added.

On Monday, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said the Israeli advance and bombardment had forced al-Rantisi children's hospital and the nearby St John Eye hospital in the northern Nasr neighbourhood to evacuate patients and shut down.

The Jordanian armed forces also decided to close their field hospital in Tal al-Hawa and relocate it to southern Gaza, with Jordan's state news agency reporting that shelling and other intense explosions in the vicinity had damaged the facility and some medical equipment.

The Palestinian Medical Relief Society's primary healthcare centre in Gaza City was destroyed in an Israeli air strike which reportedly injured two health workers, the World Health Organization said. The centre was providing blood services, trauma care, cancer medications, and chronic disease treatment.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 65,382 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry.

BBC
 
Two children among 12 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike in Gaza’s Nuseirat

There’s been another horrifying attack on a place where Palestinians displaced from Gaza City were seeking refuge.

This time, it was in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza – in the Al-Ahli stadium, which has been converted into a shelter for displaced people.

At least 12 Palestinians have been killed – among them are seven women and at least two children.

This is not the first time Israeli forces attacked a family that has been recently evacuated from Gaza City. A couple of days ago, a tent in Deir el-Balah was struck, killing a family.

Despite these endless evacuation orders from Israeli forces telling Palestinians to leave Gaza City for the central and southern areas of the Strip, they are still being targeted wherever they go.

Source: Al Jazeera
 
Israeli forces near Gaza City centre as Hamas reportedly prepares for street-to-street fighting

Israeli forces have neared the centre of Gaza City, as Hamas fighters reportedly regroup amid fears of intense street-to-street fighting.

Thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee the city since Israel launched its ground offensive last week.

Israel describes the city as the "last stronghold" of Hamas and says its aim is to "eliminate terrorists" and rescue its 48 remaining hostages, 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

The BBC has verified footage of an Israeli tank at Hamid Junction, around 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the central al-Shifa hospital. Israeli armoured vehicles were also reportedly seen close to the main UN compound in southern Gaza City, about 700m (2297ft) from the centre.


 
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