Currently Online 
Situation in northern Gaza is ‘apocalyptic,’ UN leaders warn
A Palestinian child sits next to the shrouded bodies of people killed in an Israeli strike in northern Gaza on Thursday.
The situation in northern Gaza is “apocalyptic,” a group of 15 United Nations heads warned Friday.
A letter signed by leaders from UN organizations including OCHA, the UN’s humanitarian affairs body, UNHCR, the UN’s high commissioner for refugees, and the World Health Organization (WHO), warns that “the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.”
Northern Gaza has been under siege by the Israeli military for almost a month. Hundreds of people have been killed, hospitals have been hit, and schools sheltering displaced families have been attacked.
People are desperate for food because “livestock are also dying, crop lands have been destroyed, trees burned to the ground, and agrifood systems infrastructure has been decimated,” the letter stated.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it launched operations after detecting Hamas members in the area at the beginning of October. The IDF has said it is “doing everything possible to avoid causing harm to uninvolved civilians.”
The UN leaders called on Israel to “cease its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help,” adding that the area has been “denied basic aid and life-saving supplies while bombardment and other attacks continue.”
“International humanitarian law, including the rules of distinction, proportionality and precautions, must be respected,” the letter said. International humanitarian law obligations “do not depend on reciprocity. No violation by one party ever releases the other from its legal obligations,” it said.
Hamas official says Gaza ceasefire proposal does not meet demands
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri tells Al Jazeera that the ceasefire proposal presented to the group does not meet its demands.
Abu Zuhri said Hamas would not accept a temporary truce in exchange for the release of Israeli captives in Gaza because Israel would then resume its bombing campaign.
Israel’s Mossad spy chief and the CIA director this week attended talks in Qatar’s capital – the first high-level talks since ceasefire efforts aimed at ending the war in Gaza broke down in August.
Families of nearly 100 Israeli captives who remain in Gaza have put pressure on the Israeli government to sign a deal to secure the release of their relatives.
Hamas official Abu Zuhri also added that the group was aiming to “stop the war of extermination” against the people of Gaza and would therefore not accept anything short of a permanent truce.
He said Hamas believes Israel does not want a ceasefire agreement but is looking to return the captives home without an end to the war, which the group rejects. Abu Zuhri added that the US was not interested in a real agreement.
