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Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, an Israeli army spokesman, confirmed on Monday that Israel had expanded its ground operations to southern Gaza, an area that had already been bombed but where troops had not entered on a large scale. "We have pursued Hamas in the north as we will now do in the south," he said. The Israeli Armed Forces have again ordered today, in the midst of the attacks, the evacuation of six neighborhoods of the southern city of Khan Younis, from where many Gazans travel to go to the city of Rafah (also in the south). They had previously fled the north of the enclave because of the fighting. The southern area is now home to some 1.7 million of the 2.3 million inhabitants living in one of the world's most densely populated territories. Hisham Ibrahim, commander of the Israeli army, said his troops were close to meeting the objectives in northern Gaza: "We are beginning to expand the ground maneuver to other parts of the Strip, with one goal: to overthrow the Hamas terrorist group." Israeli strikes have killed some 15,900 people in the enclave since Oct. 7, according to Gaza's Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. For its part, Israel has confirmed the deaths of 15 of the 137 hostages still held hostage in the Gaza Strip.
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El País
Japan calls on Israel and Palestine to negotiate a new humanitarian pause
Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno on Tuesday called on Israel and Palestine to negotiate another ceasefire to achieve a new humanitarian pause to allow aid to enter the Gaza Strip. He said this during the press conference after the government session, after Israeli forces advanced into the southern Gaza Strip on Monday and bombed the enclave, reaching 15,899 Palestinian victims since the conflict reignited on October 7. (Image: EFE)
ACT.5 DEC 2023 - 06:01
El País
Israel Defense Forces Report Shelling Hezbollah Camp
The Israel Defense Forces' X account confirmed an attack on Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon. The offensive, according to the institution on the social network, was the response to a previous attack by the terrorist group on Israeli territory. "The Israel Defense Forces attacked several areas in Lebanese territory with artillery fire to eliminate a threat."
ACT.5 DEC 2023 - 05:20
El País
Israel contradicts WHO director-general
On Monday night, Tedros Adhanom, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), denounced that the Israel Defense Forces asked the agency to remove medical supplies from a warehouse in southern Gaza within 24 hours, thus anticipating military operations in the area. "We call on Israel to withdraw the order," Adhanom wrote on his Twitter account.
The Israeli Government's reply took a couple of hours. From the account of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), a unit attached to the Ministry of Defense, what the director of the WHO said was contradicted. "The truth is that we never asked him to evacuate the warehouse and we also made that clear (and in writing) to the representatives of the United Nations," reads the post, which was later shared by the Israel Defense Forces.
ACT.5 DEC 2023 - 06:02
El País
WHO calls on Israel to protect Gaza's hospital infrastructure
The World Health Organization (WHO), through its X account (formerly Twitter), expressed its bewilderment at the resumption of hostilities and bombings in Gaza. "No place is safe," the agency said, urging the Israeli government to protect, as far as possible, as many civilians and hospital infrastructure as possible, thus respecting international humanitarian law.
"We have seen what happened in northern Gaza and it cannot be replicated in the south. Gaza cannot afford to lose another hospital, as health needs must continue to be addressed."
As the Israeli military offensive progresses and evacuation orders are issued to the populations of southern Gaza, civilians are concentrated in small and unsanitary places. In addition, the WHO warned, hospitals that are still functioning are working without enough fuel, medicines, water and workers. The agency and its allies, the letter reads, have not been able to offer sufficient support, due to the lack of access to supplies and absence of security guarantees for their staff.
An estimated 1.9 million people, or about 80 per cent of Gaza's population, are internally displaced. The recent evacuation orders cover 20 per cent of the territory of Khan Younis and neighbouring towns, which were home to 460,000 people before the hostilities.
From 7 October to 28 November, WHO has recorded an unprecedented number of attacks on the delivery of health services: 203 attacks on hospitals, ambulances, medical supplies, and arrests of stretcher bearers, nurses and doctors. "This is unacceptable. These means are designed to protect civilians. The only viable way out is a sustained ceasefire."
ACT.5 DEC 2023 - 00:22
El País
Israeli sources estimate that two civilians in Gaza lose their lives for every Hamas militant killed
About two civilians were killed for every Hamas fighter killed in the Gaza Strip, senior Israeli military officials said Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"I'm not saying it's good that we have a two-to-one ratio," one official told reporters, adding that the use of human shields was part of Hamas' "basic strategy." "Hopefully this proportion will be much lower in the next phase of the war," he added.
The rising death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza have sparked outrage around the world. Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry has estimated that Israel's post-Oct. 7 campaign killed nearly 16,000 people. According to Israel, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed by Hamas on October 7 and some 240 people were kidnapped and taken to the Palestinian enclave.
Asked about reports that 5,000 Hamas fighters had been killed, one of the senior officials said: "The numbers are more or less that."
The United States, Israel's main ally, has called on it to do more to avoid civilian casualties as operations move south, where many Gazans have sought refuge after fleeing devastated north.
The army is deploying high-tech mapping software to try to reduce the number of noncombatant deaths, senior Israeli military officials said. The system integrates mobile phone signals, aerial surveillance and artificial intelligence, to maintain a constantly updated map that shows population concentrations throughout the territory.
Each of the map's 623 cells is color-coded, with green indicating areas where at least 75% of the population has been evacuated. "In the south, because we have almost doubled the population, the operations are much more precise," the official said. "We're taking a lot more time to make sure our efforts (to warn civilians) are effective." The map, the result of eight years of research, is made available to commanders and units on the ground, they added.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), however, has questioned the usefulness of such a tool in a region where access to telecommunications and electricity is sporadic. (AFP)
ACT.5 DEC 2023 - 06:06
El País
The president of the Red Cross denounces the "indescribable" situation of civilians in Gaza
The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, managed on Monday to visit the wounded at the European Hospital in Gaza, in Khan Younis (south of the Palestinian Strip), where she denounced the "atrocious" injuries suffered by many children and the "indescribable" situation suffered by civilian victims. "The things I've seen there are beyond what anyone could describe," he said in a video message posted after his visit. "What shocked me the most was to see children with horrific injuries, and at the same time they have lost their parents."
"We are facing a situation that cannot be alleviated by sending more trucks (with humanitarian aid), what we need is to protect the civilians in Gaza, those children, women and elderly people that I saw today and they have nowhere to go," he added.
The president of the ICRC, an organisation specialising in humanitarian care in conflict zones, said that many of the people she met in hospital today had had to flee from various sites in recent weeks.
"I saw people who have lost a hand or a foot because they couldn't be treated in the first hospitals they went to," Spoljaric said, adding that the northern half of Gaza, controlled by Israel, "has totally lost its ability to perform surgeries."
"We have to look for solutions to this, we cannot look the other way in the face of what is clearly a moral failure of the international community," he said. In this regard, Spoljaric reiterated the call for the parties to the conflict and actors with influence over them to work to de-escalate hostilities and seek alternatives to the military path, "which is causing immense suffering on both sides."
Spoljaric also described as "unacceptable" the high number of workers from the United Nations (more than a hundred) and other humanitarian organizations who have lost their lives in the conflict. (Image: EFE)
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 22:07
El País
The WHO denounces that the Israeli army has asked them to withdraw their supplies from their medical warehouses in southern Gaza
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom, has denounced that the Israel Defense Forces have asked the organization to remove all its medical supplies from a medical warehouse located in the south of the Strip within 24 hours, because the Israeli army's ground operations will render it out of use.
"We call on Israel to withdraw the order and take all possible measures to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and humanitarian facilities," the international leader said in a message on the social network X.
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 21:58
El País
The Palestine Red Crescent announces that it has lost contact with its teams in Gaza due to the telecommunications blackout
The Palestine Red Crescent has reported on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that it has "completely" lost contact with the organization's operations room in Gaza and with all its teams operating in the Strip due to "the fourth telecommunications blackout during the ongoing aggression" in the enclave. "We express our concern for the safety of our teams working in the Gaza Strip amid intense and continuous Israeli airstrikes 24 hours a day," he added. "We are extremely concerned that our teams will continue to provide emergency services, especially as this disruption affects the central operating room" and, the organization added, "makes it difficult for ambulances to reach the injured and sick."
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 20:46
El País
La ONU pide a Israel que "evite más acciones que puedan exacerbar la ya catastrófica situación humanitaria en Gaza"
El secretario general de la ONU, António Guterres, ha hecho un llamamiento a Israel para que "evite más acciones que puedan exacerbar la ya catastrófica situación humanitaria en gaza y exponer a los civiles a más sufrimiento", según ha explicado un portavoz del organismo. "El secretario general reitera la necesidad de un flujo sostenido de ayuda humanitaria, sin impedimentos y de manera continuada, para satisfacer las necesidades de la gente en toda la Franja. Para las personas a las que se les ha ordenado evacuar, no hay ningún lugar seguro y muy poco con lo que sobrevivir", ha dicho Stephane Dujarric, portavoz de la ONU. (Reuters)
ACT.4 DIC 2023 - 20:19
El País
Niños palestinos desplazados de Jan Yunis, este lunes en un refugio improvisado en Rafah, al sur de la franja de Gaza. / MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
Qué ha pasado en las últimas horas
Estas son las noticias más relevantes de la guerra entre Israel y Hamás en Gaza a las 20.0 de este lunes 4 de diciembre:
Israel ordena nuevas evacuaciones y avanza con tanques en el sur de Gaza. El ejército exhorta a la población a abandonar parte de la ciudad de Jan Yunis, que acoge a unos 200.000 desplazados del norte. Los servicios secretos aseguran que matarán a todos los líderes de Hamás “en cualquier lugar” y “aunque lleve años”.
Nuevo apagón de telecomunicaciones en Gaza, según la compañía proveedora. Paltel, la principal compañía de telecomunicaciones palestina, ha informado de que "todos los servicios de telecomunicaciones en la Franja se han perdido" debido al corte de las principales rutas de fibra. "Gaza vuelve a quedarse a oscuras", ha escrito la compañía en redes sociales.
Al menos 15.899 palestinos han muerto en Gaza desde el inicio de la ofensiva israelí. El 70% de ellos son mujeres y niños, según el último balance de víctimas mortales ofrecido este lunes por el Ministerio de Salud de la Franja, controlada por Hamás.
Israel confirma la muerte de 15 de los 137 rehenes que siguen secuestrados en Gaza. La Oficina del primer ministro, Benjamín Netanyahu, ha difundido un comunicado en el que publica los nombres de “15 civiles y soldados que fueron asesinados y siguen secuestrados en Gaza”.
Estados Unidos cree que las "evacuaciones selectivas" de Israel son una "mejora" con respecto a la estrategia anterior a la tregua. El portavoz del Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos, Matthew Miller, ha asegurado que es "demasiado pronto" para evaluar si Israel está haciendo o no caso a sus peticiones para proteger a la población civil de Gaza, una vez retomadas las operaciones militares tras la tregua de siete días. Pero ha afirmado en una rueda de prensa que las "evacuaciones selectivas" que Israel está llevando a cabo estos días son una "mejora" en comparación con "pedir a una ciudad entera que la desaloje".
ACT.4 DIC 2023 - 20:00
El País
Nuevo apagón de telecomunicaciones en Gaza, según la compañía proveedora
La compañía de telecomunicaciones Paltel, la principal proveedora de servicios en Gaza, ha anunciado que "todos los servicios de telecomunicaciones en la Franja se han perdido" debido al corte de las principales rutas de fibra. "Gaza vuelve a quedarse a oscuras", ha añadido la compañía en su perfil de la red social X (el antiguo Twitter). Hace unas horas, esta misma compañía había informado de que las telecomunicaciones habían sido cortadas en Ciudad de Gaza y en el norte de la Franja.
ACT.4 DIC 2023 - 20:00
El País
Borrell califica de “carnicería” las acciones israelíes en Gaza
El alto representante de la Unión Europea para la Política Exterior, Josep Borrell, ha advertido este lunes de que “lo que estamos viendo” en Gaza es “una carnicería” al igual que lo fueron los ataques terroristas de Hamás en Israel el pasado 7 de octubre, y ha señalado que “un horror no puede justificar otro horror”.
Ante estas declaraciones, en un foro sobre derechos humanos entre la Unión Europea y las ONG celebrado en Bruselas, algunos asistentes al acto se retiraron de la sala. “Puede que esté diciendo algo inconveniente”, ha señalado Borrell al ser advertido de lo que ocurría. “Pero Naciones Unidas ha dicho que lo que está pasando en Gaza es otra [carnicería], porque uno no puede aceptar este número de víctimas civiles aunque Israel tenga el derecho a defenderse”.
“Un horror no puede justificar otro horror; la comunidad internacional está cada vez más alzando su voz pidiendo que se detenga este horror”, ha reiterado.
Borrell ha señalado también que, igual que él puede criticar al régimen de Franco sin ser antiespañol, hoy se debe poder criticar al Gobierno israelí sin que eso signifique ser tildado de antisemita. “Pido el derecho a defender una solución de dos Estados sin estar en contra de la existencia del Estado de Israel”, ha añadido.
En este sentido, Borrell ha instado a seguir trabajando por una solución política que evite que Gaza “se convierta en un nuevo Mogadiscio [la capital de Somalia], un lugar sin ley y orden que pueda convertirse en la cuna de todo tipo de violencia, movimientos terroristas y migración irregular”.
“Pedimos la liberación de todos los rehenes, poner fin a esta catástrofe humanitaria, a buscar la solución para el día después y a poner fin a los asentamientos ilegales y las agresiones contra los palestinos en Cisjordania”, ha resumido el alto representante. (Efe)
ACT.4 DIC 2023 - 20:18
El País
The U.S. believes Israel's "targeted evacuations" are an "improvement" over the pre-truce strategy
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said it was "too early" to assess whether or not Israel was heeding his pleas to protect civilians in Gaza after the resumption of military operations following the humanitarian pause. Miller did insist, at a press conference, that the "selective evacuations" that Israel is carrying out these days are an "improvement" compared to "asking an entire city to evacuate it."
The United States, Israel's closest ally, has urged it to do more to safeguard civilian lives in the southern part of Gaza than in last month's military campaign, during which the Israeli army attacked the northern Gaza Strip. Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, confirmed this morning that Israel has expanded its ground operations to southern Gaza, an area that had already been bombed but where Israeli troops had not entered on a large scale, to which hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated. (Reuters)
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 20:01
Isabel FerrerThe Hague
Oxfam sues Dutch government to block shipment of F-35 parts to Israel
The Dutch branch of the humanitarian organization Oxfam Novib sued the government in court on Monday in an attempt to prevent the shipment to Israel of parts from F-35 fighter jets, deployed in the Gaza Strip. It is the first time in its 67-year history that the NGO has made such a decision. The organization alleges that such exports can make the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes. For that reason, he has asked the District Judges in The Hague to resolve the case on a fast track. Amnesty International, PAX and The Rights Forum have joined the legal proceedings.
The Netherlands has an air base that is also one of the regional depots for F-35 parts. They are owned by the United States, which serves them from that base to its international partners. Oxfam Novib claims that Israel kills civilians with these planes, and Michiel Servaes, its director, has said: "It is unbelievable that these bombs are being dropped thanks to Dutch military support." For her part, Liesbeth Zegveld, the plaintiffs' lawyer, has argued that "it is clear that these aircraft are being used, at this very moment, over Gaza to support Israeli troops on the ground." The Dutch state's lawyer, Reimer Veldhuis, said it was "legitimate" to ask whether Israel had gone too far in its response to Hamas after the attack launched by the Palestinian militia on October 7. He then admitted the difficulty of giving an answer, but also that "a deliberate violation of the laws of war with the use of the F-35s has not been proven."
The State Attorney's Office has also recalled that even if the Netherlands stops exports, other countries can continue to send the pieces. "There are complex interests at stake," and this situation needs "time and coordination," according to Veldhuis. The court decision is expected on December 15, but given the situation it could be announced earlier.
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 18:27
El País
A large plume of smoke after an Israeli attack was taken Monday from southern Israel near the Gaza border. / JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP
MSF doctor in Khan Younis: "The sound of drones is part of our lives and is an indication that our situation is deteriorating"
Nicholas Papachrysostomou is the emergency coordinator of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Gaza and has released an audio message in which he narrates how the situation in the southern Gaza Strip is deteriorating day by day with more bombings, more deaths and more displaced people. Here's a verbatim transcript of the most impactful parts of his message:
"The sound of drones is part of our lives and is indicative of our situation deteriorating day by day. The ground operation in the south, around Khan Younis, is a reality. A few kilometres from where the MSF team is, the sounds of battles can be heard. Shrapnel, tanks, bombardments... It's not just aerial bombardments; We are talking about a crisis and that has consequences. The death toll has exploded. The number of injured has exploded.
The orders are always the same: "this neighborhood has to be evacuated, this neighborhood too"... It's always the same. And with the people, services have to move, such as access to healthcare. We had to close two primary clinics because they were in neighborhoods that have been ordered to evacuate. Stopping our support of these clinics is a critical consequence. In seven days, in the clinic where my team was, we saw 1,800 patients before leaving, more than half of them were displaced. One in five were under the age of five. The Ministry of Health is there, obviously, and they try, but they can't cope, the staff is exhausted, they need help."
Papachrysostomou also referred to the situation of two of the hospitals that are still functioning:
"Al Aqsa is an overflowing hospital. In the last 48 hours the team has seen 100 dead, 400 wounded... People arrive too late, after brutal bombings. The stories they tell us are hard to believe.
In Al-Nasr hospital there are thousands of displaced people, people who are sleeping around the hospital, there are families on the floor, there is no space for anything. He's not going to take the hospital anymore. Their days are numbered. There are hundreds of shops, tents, people who have entered incomplete buildings."
Papachrysostomou ends his message by calling for an end to attacks on humanitarian structures and a long-term ceasefire so that aid can enter. "You have to restart everything and for that you have to stop everything that's happening now."
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 19:31
El País
Netanyahu Says Milei Is a "True Friend of the Jewish People" and Invites Him to Visit Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister, has congratulated the new president of Argentina, Javier Milei, for his support for Israel during the conflict with Hamas, and also for his electoral victory. Both leaders held a conversation this morning in which they expressed mutual deference, and in which the far-right Milei proposed moving the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem, a city that Israel de facto controls and claims as its capital since 1980, despite the lack of international consensus on the matter. The United States is the only country that recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"The prime minister has told the president-elect [Milei] that he is a true friend of the Jewish people. The prime minister thanked the president-elect for his intention to move Argentina's embassy to Jerusalem and invited him to visit Israel," Netanyahu's office said. (Reuters)
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 17:32
El País
Telecommunications in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip suffer a new decline, according to the provider company
Paltel, the main Palestinian telecommunications company, has reported that "all services" of telecommunications in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip "have been lost" due to the disconnection of key elements of its network, due to the "ongoing aggression". This was stated by the company in a message on the social network X (formerly Twitter), where it specified that its technical teams are working with "all available means" to restore services.
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 16:06
A group of Palestinians mourned the deaths of several family members in Israeli shelling in Khan Younis on Monday. / Mohammed Dahman/AP
Nearly 15,900 killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli offensive
At least 15,899 Palestinians, 70 percent of them women and children, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, according to the latest death toll released Monday by the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled Strip. (Reuters)
ACT.4 DEC 2023 - 17:21