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[VIDEOS/PICTURES] Bloodshed in the land of Palestine - 2023 Edition

Having read this entire thread in entirety -- took a few hours -- it started off with raw emotions last year, and now has tapered into a dumping ground of news articles.

Just death counts with no follow up of anguish or prayers for the deceased, or even calls for ummah to unite no more.

Begs the question whether the original emotions were feigned by certain individuals at the start, and now cannot be sustained.
 
Farhan The Man said:
Having read this entire thread in entirety -- took a few hours -- it started off with raw emotions last year, and now has tapered into a dumping ground of news articles.

Just death counts with no follow up of anguish or prayers for the deceased, or even calls for ummah to unite no more.

Begs the question whether the original emotions were feigned by certain individuals at the start, and now cannot be sustained.
Click to expand...

You read the entire thread! 1521 posts!

Emotions tend to be raw in the begininng. That's human nature.

May Palestine become victorious against oppressors.
 
Wishing words, devoid of action, are meaningless.

It is abundantly clear Allah is helping those who helped themselves.

Jews are by far Allah's favorite in this race to glory. Fact.
 
Hamas confirms death of commander in Israeli strike on West Bank

Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades confirmed death of one of its commanders Zahi Yaser Oufi in an Israeli strike on the West Bank city of Tulkarm along with seven other fighters, the group said in a statement on Friday.

The Israeli military said that it killed Oufi, head of the Hamas network in Tulkarm, in an attack on Thursday.


Reuters
 
Cricket Warrior said:
Hamas confirms death of commander in Israeli strike on West Bank

Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades confirmed death of one of its commanders Zahi Yaser Oufi in an Israeli strike on the West Bank city of Tulkarm along with seven other fighters, the group said in a statement on Friday.

The Israeli military said that it killed Oufi, head of the Hamas network in Tulkarm, in an attack on Thursday.


Reuters
Click to expand...
Nice way to start the day for me.
 
Farhan The Man said:
Wishing words, devoid of action, are meaningless.

It is abundantly clear Allah is helping those who helped themselves.

Jews are by far Allah's favorite in this race to glory. Fact.
Click to expand...

Do not confuse temporary setback with final outcome.

Evil will be defeated one day in sha Allah.
 
Netanyahu says Macron's call for arms embargo is 'a disgrace'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised French President Emmanuel Macron over his call to halt arms deliveries to Israel for use in Gaza.

Macron told France Inter radio that "the priority is that we return to a political solution, that we stop delivering weapons to fight in Gaza".

At a summit in Paris on Saturday, the French president reiterated his concern over the conflict in Gaza continuing despite ceasefire calls, and he also criticised Israel's decision to send ground troops into Lebanon.

Netanyahu responded: "Shame on them," referring to Macron and other Western leaders who have called for what he described as an arms embargo on Israel.

In a video released by his office, Netanyahu said "Israel will win with or without their support", adding that calling for an arms embargo was "a disgrace".

In an interview with the French broadcaster, which was recorded on Tuesday and aired on Saturday, Macron said "France is not delivering any" weapons to Israel.

He added: "I think we are not being heard."

"I think it is a mistake, including for the security of Israel," he said, adding that the conflict was leading to "hatred".

Macron also said that avoiding an escalation in Lebanon was a "priority" and that "Lebanon cannot become a new Gaza".

Netanyahu's office responded by saying that any country that did not stand with Israel was supporting Iran and its allies and proxies.

Netanyahu said: "As Israel fights the forces of barbarism led by Iran, all civilised countries should be standing firmly by Israel's side.

"Yet, President Macron and other Western leaders are now calling for arms embargoes against Israel. Shame on them."

Macron's office later said that France is a "steadfast friend of Israel", adding that Netanyahu's reaction was "excessive and detached from the friendship between France and Israel".

Speaking at the at the 19th Francophonie Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris on Saturday, Macron said that while both the US and France had called for a ceasefire in Lebanon, he added: "I regret that Prime Minister Netanyahu has made another choice, has taken this responsibility, in particular, for ground operations on Lebanese soil."

However, Macron reaffirmed Israel's right to self-defence and said that he would be meeting relatives of Franco-Israelis held hostage in Gaza on Monday.

Monday will mark the first anniversary of Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage. More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since then, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry says.

BBC
 
Israeli strikes on Gaza mosque and school kill 26, health ministry says

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 26 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes on a mosque and school housing displaced Palestinians in the centre of the territory.

Dozens of people were also injured in strikes that hit Ibn Rushd school and Al-Aqsa Martyrs mosque in Deir al-Balah early on Sunday morning, according to the health ministry.

The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas militants operating within "command and control" centres at the sites.

Videos verified by the BBC from the mosque show bodies and blood on the ground among the rubble, while footage at the school shows the structure on fire and a man being pulled out on a stretcher.

Earlier, the Hamas-run civil defence agency said 21 people were killed and a large number wounded in the strike on the mosque, according to the AFP news agency.

Sunday's strikes occurred almost exactly one year on from 7 October 2023, when Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.

Since then, 41,870 Palestinians have been killed and more than 97,000 injured in Gaza, according to the health ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

According to the United Nations, which uses Gaza health ministry figures and considers them reliable, 187 people were killed in Gaza from 30 September to 4 October alone.

In a statement on the strike on the mosque, Hamas accused Israel of "bombing citizens' homes and demolishing them over their heads, resulting in the deaths and injuries of dozens".

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that "before the attacks many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weaponry, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence information."

Hamas has denied using schools and other civilian sites for military purposes.

Elsewhere in Gaza, Israel's military began to surround Jabalia in the north overnight in response to what the IDF said were efforts by Hamas to rebuild in the area.

The military said it had struck "dozens of military targets" before and during the ground operation.

The IDF warned the public that north Gaza is "still considered a dangerous combat zone" and published a new map on Sunday showing zones for potential evacuation in the north.

It also said it had expanded the humanitarian zone in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, although it is still smaller than it was at the start of July.

Both the mosque and the school hit on Sunday are located in the humanitarian zone.

The IDF said it had re-opened two evacuation routes from the north to access the zone.

Israel does not allow international journalists from media organisations, including the BBC, independent access to Gaza, making it hard to verify the facts on the ground.

BBC
 
Palestinian journalist, 19, killed in Israeli raid after receiving threats

Israeli forces have killed Palestinian journalist Hassan Hamad in an air strike on his home in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, days after the slain journalist said he was warned by an Israeli officer to stop filming in Gaza.

With the killing of the 19-year-old journalist, whose work appeared on Al Jazeera and other networks, the number of Palestinian journalists killed since the war began has risen to 175, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says at least 128 journalists and media workers are among the more than 41,000 people killed since Israel launched the devastating war on Gaza in October 2023.


www.aljazeera.com

Palestinian journalist, 19, killed in Israeli raid after receiving threats

Hassan Hamad was killed in an attack on his home in Jabalia camp, taking the total number of journalists killed to 175.
www.aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com
 
A question for Pro-Palestinians: What explanation is there for demonstrating on the anniversary of the 7th of October attacks?

To the rest of the world, surely this only looks like you're celebrating the massacre that took place on the 7th of October.

When someone asks you why you're demonstrating on the anniversary of the 7th of October attacks, what is your response? What is the reason? Help me understand the mind set here when they are celebrating killings, rapes, kidnappings
 
I do not know what sort of Israeli response did Hamas expect after their actions a year ago? They must've know Israel would strike back in some manner, but it doesn't look like Hamas made plans to save up rations and think of public safety etc.... instead they seem to be singularly focussed focussed on the attack. I do not know what they were willing to pay for this operation, but in hindsight it looks like a hefty price.
 
Chickens coming home to roost.

Slowly, but surely, reality is setting in for armchair warriors -- aka cohort with UK/NA passports and ME residencies.

Their mouths were writing big checks that palistinies couldn't cash.

Now the latter are cannon fodder whilst the "warriors" go about their business of writing smaller checks.
 
Oct 7 was a turning point.

Before it, Israel's message to Palestinians was: "You are worthless, so you'll live here without safety, dignity, freedom, or rights."

After it, that message became: "We will mass slaughter your children until you accept to live like we proposed."
 
As expected on this anniversary, tepid to no proclamations thus far from armchair warriors sitting in comfort of NA/UK/ME surroundings.

Compare this to last year of full on chest-baring, shahadah-screaming, unwarranted gibberish from 1.5billion leaderless vs.30million with a leader.

Always quality over quantity.
 
North Gaza hospitals ordered to evacuate; U.S. backs Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon

The Israeli military has ordered three hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate as it intensifies attacks on the area, according to Gazan health officials. A U.N. official described the situation in the north as “hell,” with “at least 400,000 people” trapped there.

The Biden administration has dropped its support for an immediate cease-fire in Lebanon and is openly supporting Israel’s ground offensive, a State Department spokesman said Tuesday, calling the Israeli actions “incursions to degrade Hezbollah’s infrastructure.” President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call Wednesday.

SOURCE:https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/09/israel-lebanon-hezbollah-war-news-gaza/
 
At least 28 people have been killed and 54 injured in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced families in the central Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent says

Videos from the scene at Rufaida al-Aslamia school in the town of Deir al-Balah show a cloud of smoke and dust rising up as people rush to help the injured.

Witnesses said there were two air strikes that hit two rooms in the school where food aid was being stored and distributed.

The Israeli military said the “precise strike” targeted Hamas fighters operating inside a "command-and-control centre” at the school.

It also said it had taken numerous steps to mitigate harm to the civilians living there.

“This is a further example of the Hamas terrorist organisation’s systematic abuse of civilian infrastructure in violation of international law,” it added. Hamas has denied the allegation.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry also put the death toll at 28 and denounced what it called a “new massacre” by the Israeli military.

A list published by al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah suggested that at least two of those killed were children, five were women and three were men in their 60s.

Another person named on the list was Ahmed Adel Hamouda, 58, whose widow said he had worked in the school’s administration.

“They killed my only support in life. They killed the support of our three disabled daughters, Rahab, Alaa and Reem,” she said.

Eyewitness Khaled al-Sultan told BBC Arabic’s Gaza Today programme that he saw “horrible things that are beyond description”.

“We were not able to retrieve one complete body because all the victims' bodies turned into pieces. The number of martyrs is shocking,” he added.

Another man, Taha Majad, asked: “Why would a shelter school like this be bombed by F-16 jets? We are humans, aren’t we?”

Rufaida al-Aslamia school in the town of Deir al-Balah

Source: BBC
 
Thousands trapped in Jabalia camp as Israel escalates deadly attacks in northern Gaza

Thousands of people are trapped in Gaza's Jabalia camp as Israeli forces attack the area, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) said on Friday, a week after Israel launched an offensive there which it says is aimed at stopping Hamas regrouping.

At least 20 Palestinians were killed and dozens more were wounded late on Friday by Israeli strikes in Jabalia, which also damaged four nearby homes, medics told Reuters. The death toll is likely to rise, they added.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 61 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Friday, the medics added. Nearly half of the fatalities, including the 20 killed at the home, occurred in Jabalia, the northern district which is the largest of Gaza's historic refugee camps.

The Israeli military says it has killed dozens of militants in Jabalia, though it remains unclear how many of the dead were civilians rather than fighters.


 
Nicaragua breaks diplomatic relations with Israel

Nicaragua is breaking off diplomatic relations with Israel, the Central American nation said on Friday, calling the Israeli government "fascist" and "genocidal."

Nicaragua's government, in a statement, said the break in relations was due to Israel's attacks on Palestinian territories.

The nation's congress had, earlier in the day, passed a resolution requesting Nicaragua take action to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Gaza war.

The conflict, the Nicaraguan government said, now also "extends against Lebanon and gravely threatens Syria, Yemen and Iran."

The Middle East is on high alert for further regional escalation after Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel on Oct. 1. Iran backs Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, which Israel has targeted in a series of recent deadly attacks.

Iran is also an ally of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega's administration. Nicaragua has become increasingly isolated in recent years after Ortega cracked down on anti-government protests in 2018, which rights groups say left around 300 dead.

REUTERS
 
Food aid has not entered northern Gaza since 1 October, says organisation

No food aid has entered northern Gaza since 1 October, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has said.

In a post on X, the organisation said "escalating violence" in the region was having a "disastrous impact" on food security.

It warned that it was "unclear" how long its supplies in the area would last.

Concerns of a hunger crisis have risen in Gaza after the UN's independent investigator on the right to food accused Israel of carrying out a "starvation campaign" against Palestinians last month.

Israel has denied such allegations and insisted that it has allowed food and other aid into Gaza in significant quantities.

The WFP said its food distribution points, as well as kitchens and bakeries in northern Gaza, have been forced to shut down due to airstrikes, military ground operations and evacuation orders.

Sky News
 
Israeli tanks deepen their push into the northern Gaza Strip

Israeli forces widened their raid into northern Gaza, and tanks reached the north edge of Gaza City, pounding some districts of the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, residents said, forcing many families to leave their homes.

Residents said Israeli forces have effectively isolated Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahiya in the far north of the enclave from Gaza City, blocking access between the two areas except upon their permission for families willing to leave the three towns, heeding evacuation orders.

Gaza's health ministry said the eight-day-old Israeli incursions in the north have so far killed dozens of Palestinians, with dozens of others feared dead on roads and under rubble of their houses, beyond the reach of medical teams.

Many Jabalia residents posted on social media platforms: "We will not leave, we die, and we don't leave."

The northern part of Gaza, home to well over half the territory's 2.3 million people, was bombed to rubble in the first phase of Israel's assault on the territory a year ago, after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israeli towns by militants who killed 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages.

After a year of Israeli assaults that killed 42,000 Palestinians, hundreds of thousands of residents have come back to ruined northern areas. A week ago Israel sent troops back to root out fighters it said were regrouping for more attacks. Hamas denies fighters operate among civilians.

The escalation in northern Gaza has taken place alongside a huge Israeli air assault and ground campaign on a separate front in southern Lebanon against Hezbollah, which like Hamas is an ally of Iran.

"As the world is focused on Lebanon and possible Israeli strike against Iran, Israel is wiping out Jabalia," said Nasser, a resident of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

"The occupation is blowing up roads and destroying residential districts. People also don't find anything to eat, they are trapped inside their homes, fearing bombs could fall onto their heads," he told Reuters via a chat app.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday that forces operating throughout the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours had attacked about 40 targets and killed dozens of militants.

"The forces of Division 162 continue to operate in the Jabalia region, in the last day the forces killed dozens of terrorists and found explosives, weapons, grenades and other means of warfare in the region," it said.

The armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and smaller other factions said their fighters attacked Israeli forces in Jabalia and nearby areas with anti-tank rockets and mortar fire.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in Gaza. They have also voiced concerns over severe shortages of food, fuel, and medical supplies in northern Gaza, and said there is a risk of famine there.

Some tank shells landed in some streets of the Gaza City suburb of Sheikh Radwan, where tanks arrived at the edges of the territory, residents said, spreading panic among the population further south.

SOURCE: https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...eir-push-into-northern-gaza-strip-2024-10-13/
 
UN condemns 'large number of civilian casualties' in north Gaza

The UN has condemned the "large number of civilian casualties" caused by Israeli strikes on northern Gaza in recent days.

The comments - made by a spokesperson for Secretary General Antonio Guterres - come as at least 10 people have reportedly been killed by Israeli artillery fire at a food distribution centre at Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, where Israeli tanks and troops are continuing a ground offensive.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said shells hit inside and outside the centre on Monday morning as some hungry people were trying to get food handouts.

The Israeli military said it was reviewing the incident, adding that it operates "only against terror targets".

Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed since the military said it was launching the offensive in the area and two neighbouring northern towns nine days ago to root out Hamas fighters who had regrouped there.

The UN said on Sunday that more than 50,000 people had fled the Jabalia area, but that others remained stranded in their homes amid increased bombardment and fighting on the ground. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said civilians must "be protected at all times".

"The secretary general condemns the large number of civilian casualties in the intensifying Israeli campaign in northern Gaza, including its schools, displacing sheltered Palestinian civilians," he told reporters at a news conference in New York.

The offensive had also forced the closure of water wells, bakeries, medical points and shelters, as well as the suspension of other humanitarian services, including malnutrition treatment, it warned.

The UN said it had not been allowed to deliver essential supplies, including food, since 1 October, with two nearby border crossings closed and no deliveries allowed from the south.

The Israeli military said a convoy of 30 aid lorries entered through a crossing south of Gaza City on Sunday, when US President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of what the White House called the “imperative to restore access to the north”.

The military has ordered residents of Jabalia and neighbouring areas to evacuate to the Israeli-designated “humanitarian area” in southern Gaza, saying it is “operating with great force against the terrorist organisations and will continue to do so for a long time”.

But many of the estimated 400,000 Palestinians living in the north say they are reluctant to flee to the south, fearing that if they do they will not be allowed to return home.

They believe the Israeli military is planning to implement a plan, proposed by retired Israeli generals, to completely empty the north of civilians and besiege Hamas fighters remaining there until they release Israeli hostages held since Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel.

The Israeli military has denied it is implementing the plan. "We are making sure we're getting civilians out of harm's way while we operate against those terror cells in Jabalia," spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani told reporters.

Overnight, four people were killed when an Israeli aircraft struck a tented camp for displaced people next to al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah.

The Israeli military said it had conducted a “a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a command-and-control centre in the area of a parking lot”, and that it took measures to mitigate harm to civilians.

“Shortly after the strike, a fire ignited in the hospital's parking lot, most likely due to secondary explosions. The incident is under review,” Lt Col Shoshani wrote on X. “The hospital and its functionality were not affected from the strike.”

A video posted online appeared to show secondary explosions, but it was not clear whether they were caused by weapons or fuel tanks.

A spokesman for al-Aqsa hospital, Dr Khalil al-Daqran, said more than 50 tents were burned and that it was struggling to treat about 50 people who were injured, including children, women and the elderly, as well as casualties from other recent Israeli strikes.

A resident of the camp, Umm Mahmoud Wadi, said her family lost everything.

"Where should I take my daughters? Winter is coming. There's no bedding, no clothes, nothing. I'm devastated. The gas bottle exploded - and we [our world] exploded.”

On Sunday night, more than 20 people were reportedly killed by tank fire at a UN-run school being used as a shelter for displaced families in Nuseirat refugee camp, which just north of Deir al-Balah.

A spokeswoman for Unrwa told the BBC that it had been “another night of absolute horror for people in the Gaza Strip”.

Louise Wateridge said the severe damage to al-Mufti school in Nuseirat meant it could not be used for the second round of the major polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, which began in the centre of the territory on Monday.

Local medics and Unrwa workers are leading the effort to give drops of the vaccine to 590,000 children aged under 10 over the next two weeks.

The campaign was organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef after the first case of polio in two decades was discovered in an unvaccinated baby in central Gaza, where 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is now sheltering.

UN officials are pressing for humanitarian pauses to be respected during the vaccination drive.

“This is critical because we cannot issue vaccinations for children who are fleeing for their lives, who are forcibly displaced. We cannot issue vaccination while there are bombs coming from the sky,” Ms Wateridge said.

She added: “These pauses are in the daytime, there are very specific timeframes for us to reach these thousands of children. The strikes and the military operations do continue around that and it's incredibly dangerous and terrifying experience to run any kind of humanitarian response in these conditions."

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 42,280 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

BBC
 
US tells Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation or risk military aid

The United States has told Israel it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on U.S. military aid, U.S. officials said, in the strongest such warning since Israel's war with Hamas began a year ago.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote to Israeli officials on Sunday demanding concrete measures to address the worsening situation in the Palestinian enclave amid a renewed Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.

Failure to do so could impact U.S. policy, said the letter, which was first reported by Israeli News 12.

"We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government ... are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza," said a copy of the letter posted by an Axios reporter on X.

The letter cited restrictions Israel was imposing, including those on commercial imports, the denial of most humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza, and "burdensome and excessive" restrictions on what goods can enter Gaza.


 

Nicaraguan president compares Netanyahu with Hitler​

Daniel Ortega lashes Israeli Prime Minister for war in Gaza and calls him 'son of the devil'​


President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday with Adolf Hitler, and called him "son of the devil," three days after Managua announced the rupture of diplomatic relations with Israel.

"At the head of the Government of Israel there is a prime minister who is the son of the devil," said Ortega in his speech in an act marking the 45th anniversary of the Nicaraguan police.

Ortega said he compares Netanyahu to Hitler because Israel's prime minister" has a policy of terror in practice" in the Middle East.

"And it's Hitler, yes, the prime minister of Israel is Hitler, installed there, calling to destroy the peoples," he added.

On Friday, the Nicaraguan government broke off diplomatic relations with Israel "one year after the brutal genocide that the fascist and criminal war government of Israel continues to commit against the Palestinian people."

"The government of the Republic of Nicaragua breaks all diplomatic relations with the fascist government of Israel," the statement said.

The decision, which had been announced by Vice President Rosario Murillo, wife of President Ortega, was taken based on a resolution of the Nicaraguan Parliament. The government also ordered the withdrawal of its ambassador to Israel on Monday.

Israel and Nicaragua had reestablished diplomatic relations in 2017 after Ortega broke ties in 2010.

The Nicaraguan president also accused the United States and the countries of the European Union of supporting and arming Israel.

"They lead the planet to a total war or simply they have no choice but to wait for defeat," said Ortega, who has been in power since 2007.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/nicaraguan-president-compares-netanyahu-with-hitler/3363355.
 
US gives Israel 30 days to boost Gaza aid or risk cut to military support

The US has written to Israel, giving it 30 days to boost humanitarian aid access in Gaza or risk having some US military assistance cut off.

The letter, sent on Sunday, amounts to the strongest known written warning from the US to its ally and comes amid a new Israeli offensive in northern Gaza that has reportedly caused a large number of civilian casualties.

It says the US has deep concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation, adding that Israel denied or impeded nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between the north and south last month.

Israel is reviewing the letter, an Israeli official was reported as saying, adding the country "takes this matter seriously" and intends to "address the concerns raised" with US counterparts.

Israel has previously said it is targeting Hamas operatives in the north and not stopping the entry of humanitarian aid.

On Monday, the Israeli military body responsible for managing crossings into Gaza, Cogat, said 30 lorries carrying aid from the World Food Programme had entered northern Gaza through the Erez crossing.

That ended a two-week period during which the UN said no food aid was delivered to the north, and supplies essential for survival were running out for the 400,000 Palestinians there.

A UN official has said that Gaza is in a state of "constant peak emergency".

Antoine Renard, head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in the occupied Palestinian territories, told the AFP news agency people in the north of the territory were "relying solely on assistance" with practically no access to fresh food other than that provided by UN agencies.

The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel, and the Israeli military has relied heavily on US-supplied aircraft, guided bombs, missiles and shells to fight the war against Hamas in Gaza over the past year.

The US letter to the Israeli government - the contents of which have now been confirmed by the state department - was first reported by the Axios website. It is signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

"We are now writing to underscore the US government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," it says.

It states that Israeli evacuation orders have forced 1.7 million people into the narrow, coastal al-Mawasi area where they are at “high risk of lethal contagion” due to extreme overcrowding, and that humanitarian organisations report that their survival needs cannot be met.

"We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government - including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, continuing burdensome and excessive dual-use restrictions, and instituting new vetting and onerous liability and customs requirements for humanitarian staff and shipments - together with increased lawlessness and looting - are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza," it adds.

The letter says Israel "must, starting now and within 30 days" act on a series of concrete measures to boost aid supplies, adding that failure may “have implications for US policy”.

It cites US laws which can prohibit military assistance to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian aid.

It says Israel must "surge all forms of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza" before winter, including by enabling a minimum of 350 lorries a day to enter through all four major crossings and a new fifth crossing, as well as allowing people in al-Mawasi to move inland.

It also calls on Israel to end the "isolation of northern Gaza" by reaffirming that there will be "no Israeli government policy of forced evacuation of civilians" from north to south.

At a news conference in Washington on Tuesday, US state department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that the letter was "a private diplomatic communication that we did not intend to make public".

"Secretary [Blinken] along with Secretary Austin thought it was appropriate to make clear to the government of Israel that there are changes they need to make again to see the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up," he said.

Mr Miller declined to speculate on what consequences there might be for Israel if it did not boost humanitarian aid access.

But he noted: "Recipients of US military assistance do not arbitrarily deny or impede provisioning of US humanitarian assistance. That’s just the law and we of course will follow the law. But our hope is that Israel will make the changes that we have outlined."

He also said the 30-day time limit was not linked to the upcoming US presidential election on 5 November, saying it was "appropriate to give them time to work through the different issues".

Israel has previously insisted there are no limits to the amount of aid or humanitarian assistance that can be delivered into and across Gaza, and blames UN agencies for failing to distribute supplies. It also accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.

Before Israel’s ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah in May, President Joe Biden suspended a single consignment of 2,000 and 500lb bombs for the first time as he tried to dissuade it from an all-out assault.

But the president immediately faced a backlash from Republicans in Washington and from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared to compare it to an "arms embargo". The suspension was partially lifted in July and has not been repeated.

Earlier on Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that families in northern Gaza were "facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion, and exhaustion" because of the Israeli offensive that began 10 days ago.

The Israeli military says it has sent tanks and troops back into the town of Jabalia and its urban refugee camp for a third time to root out Hamas fighters who have regrouped there.

It has ordered residents of Jabalia, as well as neighbouring Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, to evacuate to the al-Mawasi "humanitarian area".

The UN says about 50,000 people have fled to Gaza City and other parts of the north. But for many it is unsafe to leave their homes or they are unable to leave because they are sick or disabled.

Khalid, a resident of Jabalia whose accounts of the past year are featured in a new BBC documentary, said in a voice note that he and his family had been living in fear for a week.

"We were told to go to the south, but we couldn’t because the Israeli army has surrounded the area, either with dirt barricades or using quadcopter drones. We can’t move, it’s too difficult."

"At the same time, because of the intense bombing we’re living in constant terror. My daughter has become sick and she has a fever. Her entire body is shaking in fear because of the sound of the bombings and I don’t know what to do with her. I can’t even take her to the hospital," he added.

Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defence agency said its first responders had recovered the bodies of 42 people killed by Israeli air and artillery strikes in Jabalia and neighbouring areas on Tuesday.

They reportedly included 11 members of the same family, nearly all of them women and children, whose home was destroyed in an air strike overnight.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday that its troops had killed “dozens of terrorists” in the Jabalia area over the previous day.

On Monday, Israeli human rights groups warned of what they called “alarming signs that the Israeli military is beginning to quietly implement the Generals’ Plan”, echoing widespread Palestinian concerns.

The controversial plan calls for the forcible transfer of all civilians in the north followed by a siege of the Hamas fighters remaining there to force their surrender and the release of Israeli hostages.

The Israeli military denies it is being implemented, saying it is only “getting civilians out of harm's way”.

Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to the group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 42,340 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

BBC
 

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar 'highly likely' killed in Gaza, Israeli army claims​


Sinwar, who is believed to have been the mastermind of the 7 October attack on Izrael, became the leader of Hamas in Gaza after replacing Ismail Haniyeh following his assassination in Tehran in August.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar has been "highly likely" killed after Israeli forces engaged with and killed three militants during ground operations in Gaza on Thursday, the IDF said in a joint statement with Shin Bet.

It said the identities of the three had not been confirmed so far, but it was “checking the possibility” that one of them was Sinwar.

Money, documents and weapons were found on the bodies of the militants, according to a statement released to domestic media.

The Israeli army retrieved the bodies for a DNA test. Israel has Sinwar's DNA and biometric data on file since his time spent in an Israeli jail.

The units that engaged the three militants were not participating in an assassination operation and did not have knowledge of Sinwar's presence there.

"In the building where the terrorists were eliminated, there were no signs of the presence of hostages in the area," the IDF added.

The operation took place in the Gaza city of Rafah, Israeli military radio said.

Sinwar, a secretive figure who led Hamas' hardliners and is close to Iran, was one of the chief architects of Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October.

He has been at the top of Israel’s kill list after the attack, which left 1,200 people dead and about 250 taken hostage.

Sinwar was born in 1962 in a refugee camp in Khan Yunis in Gaza. As an early member of Hamas — formed in 1987 — he was in charge of the militant group's security branch, known for its cruelty against those it suspected of spying for Israel, earning him the "Butcher of Khan Yunis" moniker.

Having spent half of his adult life in Israeli jails, Sinwar steadily rose to power in the organisation since his release in 2011.

He was chosen as the group’s top leader following the assassination of Ismael Haniyeh in July in an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran.

Unlike Haniyeh, who had lived in exile in Qatar for years, Sinwar remained in Gaza. As Hamas' leader in the territory since 2017, he rarely appeared in public but kept an iron grip on Hamas' rule.

Last month, people close to him told Reuters he remained unrepentant about the 7 October attacks and the resulting Israeli offensive in Gaza.

www.euronews.com

Hamas leader Sinwar 'highly likely' killed in Gaza, Israeli army says

Sinwar, who is believed to have been the mastermind of the 7 October attack on Izrael, became the leader of Hamas in Gaza after replacing Ismail Haniyeh following his assassination in Tehran in August.
www.euronews.com www.euronews.com
 
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead.

"Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF (Israeli military) soldiers," Katz said in a statement.

Reuters
 
FearlessRoar said:
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead.

"Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF (Israeli military) soldiers," Katz said in a statement.

Reuters
Click to expand...
Looks like IDF reversed the brain surgery Sinwar had in Israel by taking a headshot. He is confirmed dead. They checked dental records and confirmed although he still can be identified by sight.
 
FearlessRoar said:
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar is dead.

"Mass murderer Yahya Sinwar, who was responsible for the massacre and atrocities of October 7, was killed today by IDF (Israeli military) soldiers," Katz said in a statement.

Reuters
Click to expand...
Poor guy!
 
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