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The Gaza government's press office reported on Friday that at least 12,000 Palestinians, including 5,000 children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Strip since October 7. In addition, the Gazan authorities have reported that "many" are missing under the rubble of the attacked buildings. The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) confirmed this morning that from today the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza is stopped — it was already minimal — through the Rafah crossing, which connects the Strip with Egypt. "Due to the disruption of communications due to lack of fuel, UNRWA will not be able to manage and coordinate humanitarian aid convoys. Therefore, humanitarian aid stops entering Gaza," tweeted the agency's director in Spain, Raquel Martí. Many of UNRWA's services, which support 813,000 displaced people in the Israeli-besieged enclave, were already closed due to lack of fuel. The U.N.'s announcement comes as Gaza's population faces the "immediate possibility of starvation," according to the U.N., with only 10 percent of the food needed coming in so far.
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Israel says it is close to destroying the northern Gaza Strip
Two Israeli soldiers, in Gaza on Thursday. Photo: IDF
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El País
At least 26 Palestinians, most of them children, killed in Israeli bombardment of southern Gaza
At least 26 Palestinians, most of them children, have been killed in an Israeli bombardment of southern Gaza on Saturday, Reuters has reported. The attack comes just hours after Israeli army chief Daniel Hagari announced that the armed forces were opening the door to continuing the offensive in the southern Gaza Strip, after five weeks of operations in the north.
The bombing took place in the city of Khan Younis, where Mark Regev, assistant to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had gone on Friday afternoon to warn of a possible attack: "We are asking people to move. I know it's not easy for a lot of them, but we don't want to see them caught in the crossfire."
The head of the Israeli army did not answer, in response to questions from journalists, where the Palestinian population will be able to take refuge now that the attacks are also beginning in the south of the Strip. Hagari has only insisted that they are "determined to continue to advance to all places where Hamas is located," with "very clear objectives."
So far, more than 12,000 people have been killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks, 5,000 of them children, according to the Strip's government. More than 1.5 million people have already been displaced.
ACT.18 NOV 2023 - 05:50
EFE
Pope to meet with relatives of Hamas abductees and Gaza victims
Pope Francis will meet next Wednesday at the Vatican with relatives of Israelis who are still being held hostage by Hamas and with another group of families of Palestinians suffering from the conflict on the border with Gaza. He will do so at separate times, according to a statement from the spokesman of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, who pointed out that "with these meetings, of an exclusively humanitarian nature, Pope Francis wants to demonstrate his spiritual closeness to the suffering of each one."
Some relatives were in Rome and met with Italian authorities in recent days, but the meeting with the pontiff did not take place.
For his part, the Vatican Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, recalled on Friday, speaking of the war in Gaza, that "the fundamental principle of international humanitarian law is that there are some places that, even in the event of war, must be safeguarded: first of all hospitals".
In a talk with young people, organized by a television channel, Parolin mentioned the Al Shifa hospital, one of the most important in Gaza that has been attacked by Israeli troops — on the grounds that there are Hamas militants under the center. The president also repeated the appeal that Pope Francis has made several times about the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas: "It is a key point to resolve the situation."
ACT.18 NOV 2023 - 04:35
EFE
Deputy speaker of Israeli parliament urges 'burn Gaza' and no fuel
The deputy speaker of the Israeli parliament, Nissim Vaturi, on Friday called for "burning Gaza" in a message posted on social media in reaction to the government's decision to allow two diesel tankers into the Strip daily.
"All this concern about whether or not there is internet in Gaza shows that we haven't learned anything. We are all too human. Burn Gaza now, nothing less!" wrote Vaturi, of the right-wing Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the social network X. In another message, he said: "Don't allow fuel to come in, don't let water in until the hostages are returned!"
The Islamist group Hamas killed more than 7,1 people in Israel on October 200 and kidnapped more than 240 people held captive in Gaza. Since then, more than 12,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks, 5,000 of them children, according to the Gaza Strip government.
Israel announced Friday that two truckloads of diesel will be allowed to enter Gaza daily from Egypt, in a concession offered in the face of international pressure to allow aid into the Strip, where more than 1.5 million people have been displaced. The international community has been pressuring Israel for weeks to allow fuel into Gaza, which is also needed for electricity generation and the operation of many other basic civilian services, such as hospitals.
The Director of the National Security Council and National Security Adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said at a press conference that the aim of such a measure is to prevent an epidemic that could affect civilians or their soldiers. "If there is a humanitarian crisis and an international outcry, we will not be able to continue the fight under these conditions," he said, before clarifying that this decision will not affect the operations.
ACT.18 NOV 2023 - 03:33
El País
Israel Calls for Evacuation of Palestinian Khan Younis City
Mark Regev, an aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warns of a possible attack on the Palestinian town of Khan Younis. The official asks the civilian population in the area to move west, near the border with Egypt. "We're asking people to move. I know it's not easy for a lot of them, but we don't want to see them caught in the crossfire," he told MSNBC on Friday.
His words force hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, who previously fled the northern Gaza Strip, to relocate again, which will worsen the current humanitarian crisis. The residents of Khan Younis, who number more than 400,000, will suffer the same fate and will have no choice but to move.
Regev notes that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will advance into the city to expel Hamas fighters, who are hiding in underground tunnels and bunkers. Regarding the civilian population, he says that they will not suffer any more cornering: "I am quite sure that they will not have to move again."
ACT.18 NOV 2023 - 03:11
El País
Israeli Attack Claims Lives of Five Palestinians in West Bank
The Red Crescent ambulance service, in the early hours of Saturday, confirms that five Palestinians were killed and two more wounded after an attack carried out by Israel in the West Bank. All of the victims were male, ranging in age from 19 to 25. The events took place in the Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus, located 49 kilometres from Jerusalem.
Since October 7, when Hamas militias launched a deadly attack on Israel, violence against the population of the West Bank, the other territory that makes up Palestine — besides Gaza — has increased steadily. A total of 186 Palestinians, including 51 children, have been killed in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) offensive.
ACT.18 NOV 2023 - 03:04
El País
Palestinian telecommunications company resumes service in Gaza with help from UNRWA
The Palestinian telecommunications company, Paltel, has announced on its X account that it has managed to resume operations in some areas of Gaza. The partial return of service has been possible thanks to the supply of "a limited amount of fuel" provided through the United Nations agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which has allowed its main generators to be put into operation. According to the company's post, the continuity of service will depend on whether new supplies are received regularly.
ACT.17 NOV 2023 - 22:53