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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 09 June 2024

Settlers set fire to homes, land in occupied West Bank city of Burqa

Settlers set a house ablaze in the town of Burqa, north of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to local social media platforms.

Several settlers from the Israeli settlement of Homesh, near Nablus, also threw burning tyres at the homes of citizens in multiple areas north of the village, setting nearby agricultural land on fire, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.




Commander of Israeli army’s Gaza division resigns

Brigadier-General Avi Rosenfeld is the first Israeli military combat commander to resign since October 7, The Times of Israel reports.

In his letter of resignation, he wrote that he failed in his mission to protect Israeli civilians in the towns and villages along Gaza. “I intend to continue to take part in the investigations and the learning of lessons, to do everything so that what happened on October 7 does not happen in the future,” Rosenfeld is quoted as saying.

The newspaper said Rosenfeld is only the second senior officer in the army to resign over the Hamas attack, after the chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate announced he was quitting in April.



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SvennoJ on 09 June 2024

Gantz resigned from the war cabinet, but seeing his speech and the fact that the war cabinet will continue regardless leaves little hope for any change for the better.


Benny Gantz resigns from Israel’s war cabinet

Centrist politician Benny Gantz resigned from Israel’s war cabinet, leaving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more reliant on far-right allies.

“I’m proud of joining the emergency cabinet after the tragedy on October 7 befell us. But after eight months of combat we have to look forward,” Gantz told reporters. “Netanyahu knows what he must do and he must do it.”

Gantz also called on Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to “be brave and do what is right”.

“We are leaving the unity government with a heavy heart,” he said.

“I call upon the citizens of Israel who are serving in the army and the security apparatus to remain committed,” Benny Gantz told the media after announcing his resignation.

“In this war, more than 1,000 families have paid the ultimate price and thousands of soldiers have been injured on the battlefield. These are the true heroes and I see them in front of me in every step I take.

“There are families that lost their dearest children and their dearest people, including my partner, Gadi Eisenkot.”


“After October 7, we’ve shown our determination, we’ve shown our fortitude, we’ve shown our resilience and our ability to face any challenges. We will never return to October 6, not before our enemies and not domestically and I tell you with full confidence if we remain strong on the inside. We will be able to vanquish any enemy,” said Benny Gantz.

Hamas leader in Gaza Yaha Sinwar “does not care about his people, and he sees no problem whatsoever with his people being killed as far as we’re concerned. We will do everything in our power to bring our captives back home. We said behind closed doors what we need to do, these are very sensitive topics that I cannot discuss in public.”


“Netanyahu is preventing us from progressing to a real victory. That is why we are leaving the emergency government today with a heavy heart,” Gantz said.

He called for early elections saying “there should be elections that will eventually establish a government that will win the trust of the people and be able to face challenges.”

Demonstrations against the Netanyahu-led government are important but must be lawful, he added. “The protests are important, however, they need to be conducted in a legal manner and they must not encourage hatred. We are not each other’s enemies. Our enemies are outside of our borders,” he told reporters.

“I will be part of a national unity government that includes all centrist parties and only that option will allow us to face all the challenges that stand before us, even with Netanyahu. Like I said, what we need is true and genuine unity and not partial unity.”




Netanyahu: ‘Not the time to abandon the battle’

Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a brief statement calling on Benny Gantz not to “abandon the front” after he announced he’s quitting the emergency government.

“Benny, this is not the time to abandon the battle – this is the time to join forces,” said Netanyahu.

His departure is not expected to bring down the government, a coalition including religious and ultra-nationalist parties, but it marks the first political blow to Netanyahu eight months into the Gaza war.

Gantz’ departure will not endanger the parliamentary majority of 64 seats in the 120-seat Knesset held by the ruling right-wing coalition.

Netanyahu said Israel’s future depends on continuing the war. “We are committed to absolute victory, and we do not want, nor can we afford, to leave the arena because the future of the state depends on it, and we have no choice but to do so. We are also committed to the release of hostages through various means, I will not delve into the details.”


‘No act less stately than withdrawing from the government’: Smotrich

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reacted to Benny Gantz’ resignation from Israel’s war cabinet by stating in a post on X, “There is no act less stately than withdrawing from the government during a war.”

“This is exactly what Sinwar, Nasrallah and Iran were aiming for, and unfortunately you are fulfilling their request,” Smotrich also said, referring to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

“I call on all the leaders of the Zionist parties for whom the State of Israel is important to join the unity government until victory.”



SvennoJ on 09 June 2024

UN’s nuclear agency urged to investigate Gaza for depleted uranium

The International Atomic Energy Agency must send monitors into Gaza to check whether Israel’s military has fired depleted uranium munitions during its war on the territory, says Palestine’s Ambassador to Austria Salah Abdel Shafi.

While depleted uranium ammunition is not considered a nuclear weapon, its emission of low levels of radiation has led the IAEA to warn of possible dangers of exposure.

The US used thousands of tons of DU in Iraq, so would make sense it's part of US ammunition supplied to Israel

Weaponised uranium and adverse health outcomes in Iraq: a systematic review

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7903104/



Pot calling the kettle black

Israel army on claim 3 captives killed: ‘Just Hamas propaganda’

Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner denied that three Israeli captives were killed during the bloody raid on Saturday that freed four captives.

The comments come after the armed wing of Hamas said the three were killed during the incursion, including one US citizen.

“This is just Hamas propaganda, their attempt to try and create concern in Israel,” Lerner told the UK’s Sky News. “When we listen to what Hamas is saying, I say take it with a pinch of salt. Everything they say.”

The Saturday raid killed more than 274 Palestinians and wounded hundreds in the Nuseirat refugee camp, including more than 140 women, children and elderly.

A ‘complex war crime’

The Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s armed wing, says three captives were killed, including a US citizen, in the Israeli raid in which four captives were freed.

It didn’t release the names of those killed, but a video released showed what appeared to be three bodies with censor bars over their faces. “Your captives will not be released unless our prisoners are freed,” it said.

The Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida wrote on the Telegram channel: “By committing horrific massacres, the enemy was able to free some of his prisoners. But at the same time, it killed some of them. The operation will pose a great danger [for] the enemy’s prisoners and will have a negative impact on their conditions.”

Obeida described the Israeli raid as a “complex war crime”.

Lie or not, does it matter with 274 dead. Hamas knows Palestinian lives are not worth anything to Israel nor the US. Problem for Hamas is, the lives of US/Israeli citizens are also not worth much. The 'rescue' was a PR stunt, like the last one. Not done out of care for the remaining hostages whose lives will only become more difficult now.


Nuseirat assault: ‘Houses destroyed with occupants inside’

Soon after the Israeli raid started at about 11am (08:00 GMT) in Nuseirat’s busy market area, bombs rained down and turned the neighbourhood into “smoke and flames”, said Muhannad Thabet, 35, a resident.

“People were screaming – young and old, women and men. Everyone wanted to flee the place, but the bombing was intense and anyone who moved was at risk of being killed because of the heavy bombardment and gunfire.

“Houses were destroyed with their occupants inside. There were also large numbers of displaced people and shops, stalls and cars were on fire because of the bombing.”

Israel sent in a special forces team of troops and Shin Bet operatives who simultaneously raided two buildings to extract the captives – Noa Argamani, 26, Almog Meir Jan, 22, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41.

While Biden forgot about his (non existent) red lines

Battles rage as Israeli tanks advance further into Rafah

A column of tanks moved into two new districts in an apparent effort to complete the encirclement of the entire eastern side of Rafah, touching off clashes with dug-in Palestinian fighters, according to residents trapped in their homes.

Palestinian medics said an Israeli air strike on a house in Tal as-Sultan in western Rafah killed two people.

The Israeli military said troops of its 162nd division were raiding some districts of Rafah where they located “numerous additional terror tunnel shafts, mortars, and [other] weapons” belonging to Palestinian armed groups.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 37,084 Palestinians, the Health Ministry said, and thousands more dead are believed buried under the debris.



SvennoJ on 09 June 2024

US resumes airdrops of aid into northern Gaza

The US military says it has resumed air drops of aid into Gaza.

A US cargo plane dropped more than 10 metric tonnes of rations into northern Gaza on Sunday.

The airdrop provided “life-saving humanitarian assistance in northern Gaza”, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. “To date the US has airdropped more than 1,050 metric tons of humanitarian assistance” in addition to aid delivered via a temporary pier attached to the Gaza coast, it said.

“These airdrops are part of a sustained effort, and we continue to plan follow-on aerial deliveries,” CENTCOM added.

The United Nations has said the Palestinian territory has been brought to the brink of famine because not enough aid is reaching civilians. Airdrops are one of the least efficient ways of delivering assistance, but aid trucks have been prevented from crossing into Gaza.


The pier delivered 1,000 tons before it washed away. Now it's doing up to 500 tons every two days which is nothing but a drop in the bucket (equivalent of 13 large aid trucks per day) Dropping half a truck of aid, it's desperately needed, yet pressuring Israel to let an aid convoy through would help a lot more.



Or well, at least air drops actually have a chance of reaching people :/

WFP ‘pauses’ delivery of Gaza aid through US-built pier

Cindy McCain, the director of the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), says the distribution of aid through the US-built pier off Gaza has been “paused” because of concerns about safety amid the latest Israeli assaults on Gaza.

McCain made her comments after she was asked about operations at the pier in an interview with the US broadcaster CBS.

“Right now, we’re paused,” she said on the Face the Nation programme, adding that two of the WFP’s warehouses had also come under rocket fire and one person had been injured.

“I’m concerned about the safety of our people. We’ve stepped back for the moment … to make sure we’re on safe terms and on safe ground before we’ll restart. But the rest of the country is operational. We’re doing everything we can in the north and the south.”

McCain did not say when operations might resume at the pier, which was completed in mid-May but was then damaged in a storm, which meant operations were suspended for two weeks.



SvennoJ on 10 June 2024

Concern at Security Council of US taking ‘complete control’ of conflict resolution process

Various versions of the US draft resolution have been circulating for days.

This version does differ in some significant ways. First of all, it explicitly states that Israel has accepted the ceasefire deal – a previous version only said that a ceasefire deal was acceptable to Israel.

It removes any mention of the creation of buffer zones being unacceptable. There are thoughts that Israel does plan to create a buffer zone in Gaza, and it explicitly states that any ceasefire will continue after six weeks and be renewed as long as negotiations continue.

It welcomes the readiness of the US, Egypt and Qatar to work to ensure negotiations keep going until all the agreements are reached and phase two is able to begin,

But it’s still not a categorical, permanent ceasefire. That’s what some members of the Security Council want. They’ve been calling in the past for an immediate, permanent, unconditional ceasefire. They don’t want this now to supersede those calls, nor are they particularly keen on the US taking complete control over any sort of conflict resolution process that will be enshrined in this resolution.

The main supplier and enabler of the Gaza genocide is not fit to be guarantor for a ceasefire deal. Nor has Israel accepted the deal, at least not the version the US wants us to believe. Plus this version, US and Israel only have to say Hamas stopped negotiating to resume the slaughter.

And as with all other proposals, no mention of the West Bank violence.



US is still trying to have its cake and eat it too. Essentially trying to get Egypt and Hamas to accept total surrender and let Israel continue doing what it wants in Rafah and the rest of Gaza.

Blinken due in Egypt in eighth visit to Middle East since Gaza war began

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to arrive in Egypt in a few hours on his eighth visit to the Middle East since the war in Gaza began, Blinken is expected to push the US’s latest ceasefire plan – the one its diplomats are trying to move to a vote in the Security Council.

In Cairo, he will hold talks behind closed doors with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a key US partner in peace efforts. He is also expected to discuss ways to open the Rafah crossing, which has been closed since it was seized by Israel a month ago.

Blinken will then travel to Jerusalem for discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The US has said Israel has accepted the plan, but Hamas has not formally responded.

Blinken will also visit Jordan and Qatar before returning on Wednesday.

Israel’s Smotrich reiterates opposition to ceasefire deal

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, has insisted he will not support the US-backed ceasefire proposal because it does not guarantee Hamas’s destruction.

“Our responsibility as a leadership is to think about things that are not only here and now, but also what the long-term implications are of every decision we make on the security of the people of Israel, with the future of the Jewish people,” Smotrich said at a finance committee meeting, according to Israel’s 0404 news site.

“We will turn over every stone in order to bring back all the abductees, but we will not commit suicide collectively.”

What is the status of the US-backed ceasefire plan?

As we’ve been reporting, US Secretary of State Blinken is back in the region for a renewed Gaza ceasefire push. Here’s where things stand on a possible deal:

  • On May 31, US President Joe Biden unveiled a three-stage ceasefire plan, which he said was agreed by Israel.
  • However, neither Israel nor Hamas appear to have fully backed the proposal, which the US has been working on multiple drafts of.
  • A key sticking point is a transition from a six-week ceasefire, outlined in stage one, to a permanent ceasefire, negotiations for which are to take place in stage two. The third stage talks about the reconstruction process.
  • Netanyahu has ruled out a permanent truce while Hamas wants clear guarantees of an end to the war.
  • In an interview with Al Jazeera, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that Israel is trying to block ceasefire efforts. Netanyahu and his coalition partners have warned against striking any deal with Hamas.
  • On Sunday, the US called for the UN Security Council to vote on the Gaza ceasefire deal. The latest version of the proposal explicitly states that any ceasefire will continue after six weeks, and be renewed as long as negotiations continue, reported Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, “but it’s still not a categorical, permanent ceasefire”.

Political solution only way out of Gaza war: Ex-Israeli negotiator

The Israeli government is still operating under the misguided premise that military pressure will free its captives, despite mounting evidence that such pressure has actually put many of them in peril, says former Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin.

“There is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to the future of Gaza, to the question of Hamas,” Baskin, who helped mediate the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit back in 2011, told Al Jazeera. “There are only political solutions … and those are the ones that are not being pursued by the government of Israel.”

Israeli people, he added, are united in their desire for Hamas to lose power in Gaza and for the captives to come home, but see “very few coherent answers in front of us … to find a way out of this war”.



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SvennoJ on 10 June 2024

Hamas ready to ‘deal positively with any initiative’ to end war

Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has said the group will engage positively with any proposal that brings about an end to the war, while calling on the United States to push Israel towards a permanent ceasefire.

“We call upon the US administration to put pressure on the occupation to stop the war on Gaza and the Hamas movement is ready to deal positively with any initiative that secures an end to the war”, said Abu Zuhri in comments carried by Reuters.

The statement comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarks on a trip to the Middle East as part of a renewed ceasefire push. As we reported, Blinken is expected first in Cairo today, after which he will travel to Jerusalem for discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.


Israel trying to ‘block’ ceasefire agreement: Hamas’s Haniyeh

Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political bureau, has spoken to Al Jazeera Arabic about the US-proposed ceasefire deal and prospects for ending the war.

He said Israel attacked the Nuseirat camp and freed four Israeli captives while killing at least 274 Palestinians to block any agreement that would end the war. Haniyeh also accused the US of being a part of the attack, saying the Biden administration is “no less criminal” than Israel’s leadership.

In his comments to Al Jazeera Arabic, Haniyeh also addressed the resignations of Israeli war cabinet ministers Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, saying they are trying to “jump off the boat … before it sinks”.

The resignations of the two Israeli officials, Haniyeh said, show that Israel’s political system is in a state of “collapse”.

Haniyeh also claimed that Gantz, who has been touted as a possible centrist alternative to Netanyahu, is no different from Prime Minister Netanyahu. "Both are murderers seeking destruction,” he said.

 

Is Benny Gantz a ‘centrist’ challenging Netanyahu for power in Israel?

In his 2019 campaign for the Israeli parliament, Benny Gantz – the man many see as a likely successor to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – put out a video to show Israelis where he stood on crucial policy issues.

Black-and-white images of destruction in Gaza from a campaign he oversaw while he was army chief of staff ran along with claims of sending the Palestinian enclave “back to the Stone Age”.

“This was his entrance into Israeli politics,” Eyal Lurie-Paredes, a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera. “That’s just to give you an idea of how he thinks about human rights and Palestinians.”

US considering unilateral deal with Hamas to free US captives: Report

White House officials have discussed possibly striking a unilateral deal with Hamas to release five American captives in Gaza if Israel does not reach a captive exchange deal with the group, reports NBC News, quoting two current US and two former US officials aware of the discussions.

Qatari mediators would help facilitate any such US deal, which would exclude Israel, the officials told NBC News. They provided no insight into what the US could offer Hamas in return for the captives’ release.

The White House believes the five captives are still in Gaza and the remains of three other US citizens killed on October 7 are in the enclave.

Israeli negotiators unaware of US discussions on captive deal: Report

Israeli officials have told the country’s national broadcaster that they have no knowledge of the US considering a deal with Hamas to secure the release of American captives.

“We do not know of such a move by the US,” the unnamed officials engaged in Israel’s ceasefire negotiations told Kan. “[The US administration] stressed it is working towards the release of all the abductees."

Earlier, NBC News reported that Biden administration officials held discussions about possibly striking a unilateral deal with Hamas to free five US citizens still believed held captive in Gaza if Israel does not finalise a deal with the group.


SvennoJ on 10 June 2024

Two killed in Israeli attacks in occupied West Bank: Reports

Two men have been shot dead by Israeli forces in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

One was killed at the Far’a camp, while the other was killed at the Tulkarem camp. Israeli soldiers also arrested a number of people before withdrawing early on Monday, reports said.

The Red Crescent said four people at Far’a were taken to hospital after they were injured by “shrapnel from an explosion” at the camp.

Israel carries out raids across occupied West Bank

Israeli forces carried out a series of raids across the occupied West Bank overnight on Sunday. Israeli soldiers raided homes in Qalqilya, arresting at least four Palestinians.

The towns of Arrabeh and Yabad and the village of Jalbun located in the Jenin governorate were raided but no arrests were made. Israeli forces also stormed the town of Beitunia and the village of Tal in the early hours of Monday morning.

Israeli forces arrest 30 in latest West Bank raids

Most of the arrests were in Bethlehem governorate, with some in the governorates of Qalqilya, Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron, Salfit, Jerusalem, and Tubas, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society. Among those arrested were a woman and several minors who had previously been imprisoned. 

Israeli raid in Far’a camp ongoing for 12 hours

The raid in Far’a has been going on for 12 hours. Israeli soldiers killed a 15-year-old boy there. In nearby Tulkarem, they killed a 21-year-old. Of course, there are detentions as well.

If we take a broader look at what’s happening, one can read that this government is back to its hard-right core. Its agenda is focused on the West Bank, on taking over as much land as possible.

Many are predicting that, without Benny Gantz – the one who was mindful of political and diplomatic considerations – the Israeli cabinet will be free to escalate assaults in the West Bank.

Already, we’ve seen more than 530 people killed since October in the West Bank, the bloodiest year on record in over 15 years, and we’ve seen over 9,000 people detained. Forty percent of all Palestinians in prison are now there without charge.



SvennoJ on 10 June 2024

US military confirms Houthi missile strikes on 2 ships in Gulf of Aden

Yemen’s Houthis damaged two commercial vessels in missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden in the last 24 hours as part of the group’s ongoing campaign against ships linked to Israel, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said late on Sunday.

The Houthis hit the Tavvishi, a Liberian-flagged and Swiss-owned container ship, with an antiship ballistic missile, CENTCOM said. The vessel was damaged, but no crew were injured, according to CENTCOM.

The Houthis started targeting Israeli-linked ships in a show of solidarity with Palestinians but expanded their attacks to include those linked the United States and the United Kingdom after Washington and London launched air strikes on Yemen.

Antitank missiles fired at northern Israel

Since early this morning, at least six antitank missiles launched from Lebanon have hit settlements in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel, according to Israel’s Army Radio.

The attacks sparked several fires and damaged a home in the northeastern kibbutz of Menara, but caused no casualties, Army Radio said.

Since the Gaza war broke out, Israel’s military and Lebanese group Hezbollah have traded near daily, cross-border fire, pushing tens of thousands of residents on both sides of the border to evacuate.

Hezbollah claims attack on Israeli army division HQ

Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group has claimed to have carried out an air attack “with a swarm of drones” on the newly established command headquarters of the Israeli army’s 146th Division east of Israel’s northern city of Nahariya.

The group said in a statement on Telegram the attack resulted in “the killing or wounding” of Israeli forces as well as the destruction of their settlements and a blaze.

It said the operation was in response to Israel’s attack on the Lebanese villages of Aitaroun and Markaba that killed two Hezbollah fighters on Saturday.



SvennoJ on 10 June 2024

Overnight attacks hit Gaza City, Rafah: Report

Israeli attacks overnight have killed and injured more Palestinians from the north to the south of Gaza, reports the Wafa news agency.

According to its reports, they include:

  • Bombardment of a family home in Gaza City’s Shujaya neighbourhood, which killed two people and injured others, and artillery attacks on homes in Gaza City’s Zeitoun and Tal al-Hawa neighbourhoods.
  • Artillery attacks in several areas north of Rafah, including Khirbet al-Adas and al-Hashaashin, causing an undetermined number of casualties.
  • Air raids on Deir el-Balah city.

‘Trail of destruction’ after Israeli operation in Nuseirat

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud has spoken to residents of the Nuseirat refugee camp who witnessed the Israeli military’s operation there on Saturday that killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians.

Anaas Alayan, one resident of the camp, said Israeli special forces committed mass “executions” on the street. “I went down to the street and found bodies everywhere,” he told Al Jazeera.

The military, which rescued four Israeli captives during the operation, killed at least 274 Palestinians, including at least 64 children during the day-time assault, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The camp is now left with a “trail of destruction”, according to Mahmoud.

Bodies keep arriving into Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Hospital

Israeli forces have withdrawn from the eastern part of Deir el-Balah, but it is a very sad morning. Civil defence teams were able to bring the bodies of five people who were killed in the area. We’re expecting them to bring more bodies from eastern Deir el-Balah.

There have been a couple of air strikes in the area after the Israeli forces withdrew, as well as intensive artillery shelling throughout the night.

Al-Aqsa Hospital in the city has been appealing to the international community to intervene to provide it with medical supplies and fuel, as it is currently working with only one generator. Due to the huge amount of injuries it has received in the past few days, the hospital is overwhelmed.

Israeli military claims to kill elite Hamas commandos in central Gaza

In its latest war update, the Israeli military says it has carried out more air strikes and “targeted raids” in central Gaza, killing Hamas fighters and destroying military infrastructure.

Several of the Hamas fighters killed via air strikes were members of the group’s elite Nukhba Forces, according to the Israeli military.

Israel’s latest attacks throughout Gaza have also killed civilians, including women and children sheltering in their homes in Gaza City, according to the Wafa news agency.

Qassam Brigades claims attack on Israeli forces in Rafah city

The armed wing of Hamas has claimed to have “killed and wounded” an unnamed number of Israeli forces in the Shaboura camp of Gaza’s Rafah city. The statement made on Telegram said the Qassam Brigades detonated a booby-trapped house with the Israeli forces inside.

“Immediately upon the arrival of the rescue force, our [fighters] destroyed the vicinity of the house that was blown up with mortar shells,” it added.

More on Qassam Brigades’ attack on Israeli forces in Rafah

There is a very serious security development that took place a couple of hours ago in Rafah, where the Qassam Brigades has announced they managed to ambush an Israeli force in a residential building.

They managed to blow up the entire building [with the soldiers inside]. A number of soldiers have been killed and others injured. And later, Israeli helicopters started to evacuate the injured to Israeli hospitals in order to get treatment.

Within the operation, Israeli forces managed to throw smoke grenades in order to make a cover for evacuating soldiers killed and injured.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 10 June 2024

SvennoJ on 10 June 2024

Israeli bombings worsen water shortages

With many of Gaza’s water wells and pipelines destroyed in the war, accessing water has become a daily struggle for Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

Anas al-Jamal, a pregnant woman in the enclave, tells Al Jazeera she has to leave her home every day to search for water to carry home.“ The water scarcity is severely affecting me because I’m supposed to rest and avoid strenuous physical activity,” al-Jamal told Al Jazeera. “We’re really struggling.”

Many in Gaza back to eating ‘one meal per day’

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary has sent us an update from Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Hospital, where she says an extra emergency department has been opened to deal with the massive influx of injured patients.

The hospital, running on just one generator, remains flooded with sick and injured patients, and is performing surgeries on an “hourly basis”, she said.

At the same time, the flow of aid into Gaza has remained scarce, with many people now eating “only one meal per day”. “This is not only in the south, but also in the north” of Gaza, said Khoudary, adding that markets are largely empty and what food available is hard to afford for most people.

Israel keeps Rafah crossing closed amid ‘imminent’ famine: PRCS

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said Israel continues to close Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt “amid imminent acute levels of famine across the Gaza Strip”.

“This enforcement of collective punishment on the Palestinian population in Gaza not only further exacerbates the humanitarian situation in the Strip, but also comes as a direct violation of the International Court of Justice’s May Order on Provisional Measures and international humanitarian law,” the medical charity said on X.

https://x.com/PalestineRCS/status/1800117310872535245

Women-led organisations in Gaza keep operating despite war damage

The vast majority of women-led organisations in Gaza have sustained damage to their offices during the war, according to a survey by UN Women.

Thirty-five percent of the organisations have had their offices completely destroyed, it said. Nevertheless, more than half of women-led organisations have continued operating at full capacity, relying on a large volunteer network to provide life-saving assistance and relief.

"Despite all their suffering and deprivation, Palestinian women, and the organisations they lead, are… at the heart of the current humanitarian response”, said the UN organisation.