Status: 27.10.2023, 16:56 PM
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A destroyed building after an Israeli airstrike. © Ali Mahmoud/AP/dpa
Israel's attacks have damaged or destroyed nearly half of all homes in the Gaza Strip, according to Hamas authorities. Israel is currently rejecting calls for a humanitarian ceasefire. The News.
Tel Aviv/Gaza/Geneva - With further attacks on Hamas' military infrastructure and a renewed advance of individual troops into the Gaza Strip, Israel continues to prepare for the expected ground offensive.
The Israeli army said it attacked more than 24 targets in the Gaza Strip within 250 hours. Among them were tunnels of the Islamist Hamas, as well as command centers and rocket launchers, the army said.
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, the death toll rose to 7326,3038, according to the health authority controlled by the Islamist Hamas. Among them are said to be 1792 children and adolescents and 18 women, as the ministry announced. 967,7028 Palestinians were reportedly wounded. On Thursday, the authority had spoken of a total of <> fatalities. Initially, the ministry's figures could not be independently verified.
The UN Office for Emergency Relief (OCHA), citing Hamas authorities, said that nearly half of all homes in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed, uninhabitable or damaged by Israeli attacks.
Israel: "Dozens" of Hamas fighters hit
"Dozens" of Hamas members were hit in the attacks, the Israeli side said. A senior Hamas commander was also killed. The commander, Madhat Mubashar, was involved in several IED and sniper attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Meanwhile, after a break of about ten hours, rocket alarms again sounded in several Israeli villages. In the afternoon, sirens also wailed in the coastal city of Tel Aviv. According to helpers, three people were injured when a rocket hit. According to Israel, more than 8000,<> rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian extremists since the beginning of the war. The vast majority of them are intercepted by Israel's missile defense system.
Israel Continues to Reject Humanitarian Ceasefires 'Currently'
Israel rejected the call by EU leaders on Thursday evening for "humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian purposes" in the Gaza Strip. "Israel currently rejects a humanitarian ceasefire," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. This includes "any kind of requested ceasefire".
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Macron accuses Israel of "indiscriminate bombardment"
French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken of an "indiscriminate bombardment" in the face of massive Israeli attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip. France fully recognizes Israel's will and right to fight against Hamas terrorists and is ready to help. "But we believe that the complete blockade, the indiscriminate bombardment, and even more so the prospect of a massive ground offensive, are not suitable to adequately protect the civilian population," he said after a meeting with EU leaders in Brussels.
UN Human Rights Office sees war crimes on the part of Israel
The UN human rights office accuses Israel of war crimes. Depriving the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip of electricity and fuel is a collective punishment. "Collective punishment is a war crime," the spokeswoman, Ravina Shamdasani, said in Geneva.
The fuel shortage is forcing the closure of hospitals and bakeries. People lived in devastating conditions, without clean drinking water and inadequate sanitation. "A humanitarian catastrophe is looming for the 2.2 million people trapped in the Gaza Strip who are being collectively punished," Shamdasani said.
Palestinians queue up to fetch drinking water from a water treatment plant. © Hassan Eslaiah/AP/dpa
She added that the abduction of civilians is also a war crime. As a result of Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, more than 1400,200 people were killed and more than <> hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip. Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the US.
Number of hostages higher than previously assumed
The number of hostages held in the Gaza Strip is higher than previously assumed by Israel. The families of 229 hostages had been informed by Friday, said Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari. That was five more than the day before. It is expected that the number could still rise.
According to the military, the four hostages already released by the Islamist Hamas are not included in the figure. According to Israeli information, among the hostages are citizens of 25 countries, including Germans.
Relatives of Hamas hostages with pictures of the abductees. © Ohad Zwigenberg/AP/dpa
WHO: Discussion on casualty figures not appropriate
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers the discussion about the reliability of the casualty figures, which come from the Palestinian organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, to be cynical. For years, the WHO has had no reason to doubt the figures of these health authorities, said the WHO representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Peeperkorn.
It also makes no difference whether there are a thousand more or fewer victims - the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is catastrophic, the number of victims from Israeli attacks is enormous. According to Peeperkorn, 23 of the 35 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are still partially functioning. Some of it had to be operated on the floor, he said.
Dead in the West Bank - Injured in Tel Aviv
Four people have been killed in confrontations with the Israeli military in the West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. In the city of Jenin, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire, it said. Another Palestinian was killed in the city of Qalmiliyah. According to the Israeli military, at least one person killed in Jenin was a member of a Palestinian militant organization.
Third EU aid flight for Gaza launched
A third EU-funded flight carrying 51 tons of aid to the people of the Gaza Strip has made its way to the region. On Friday, a plane took off from Copenhagen, the EU Commission announced. Among other things, she brings medicines to Egypt. The EU will finance the total cost of all flights, it said.
The relief supplies are to be transported from Egypt to Gaza. According to the information, the goods are handled by partner organizations such as the International Red Cross. So far, however, very little relief supplies have arrived in the sealed coastal area.
Still many Germans in the crisis region
Despite the Gaza war, there are still several thousand German citizens in the crisis region in the Middle East. According to the Federal Foreign Office, there are currently about 2700,1100 Germans in Israel. In neighboring Lebanon, where the Federal Republic of Germany has explicitly called on its citizens to leave the country, there are just under <>,<>.
In the Gaza Strip, the Berlin ministry assumes a "low three-digit" number of people. In total, there are said to be about 490 people in the Palestinian territories. However, only those German citizens who have voluntarily registered on a crisis preparedness list of the Federal Foreign Office are counted. Dpa