‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 32: UN warns Israel has turned Gaza into “graveyard for children” as attack enters second month.

South Africa recalls ambassador from Tel Aviv, and Jordan warns expelling Palestinians is “declaration of war”. Nearly one million Palestinians are still living in northern Gaza where fighting intensified between resistance fighters and Israeli forces. 

Casualties 

Gaza: 10,328 Killed, 4,237 of them children; nearly 26,000 Wounded

Occupied West Bank and Jerusalem: 163 Killed

Key Developments

  • International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says that Gaza received only 570 aid trucks in the past month, which is roughly what Gaza required daily prior to October 7.
  • Gaza’s Ministry of Interior says that almost 900,000 people are still in northern Gaza, where most of the armed clashes between resistance fighters and Israeli soldiers are taking place.
  • World Health Organization (WHO) says Israel carried out 229 attacks against hospitals and healthcare centers, which resulted in the death of 509 patients and medical staff and injured 447 people.
  • Israel destroys the solar panels on the roof of Shifa Hospital, the largest medical center in the Gaza Strip, which is still operating despite shortages of staff and fuel to operate electricity generators.
  • Almost 70 percent of the Gaza population is internally displaced, 710,000 of them sheltering in UNRWA facilities.
  • At least 163 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. Four Palestinian prisoners arrested after October 7 died in Israeli custody.
  • Hundreds of Lebanese walk in the funeral procession of three girls and their grandmother in the village of Blida on Tuesday morning. 
  • The Israeli army says it has fired back at Hezbollah sites in Lebanon and that it intercepted two drones in the Upper Galilee.
  • The U.S. deploys a nuclear submarine to the Red Sea on Sunday, the latest in its show of force in the region.
  • UN Chief: ‘Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children’Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip entered its second month on Tuesday. At least 10,500 Palestinians have been killed and 24,000 injured in airstrikes and ground shelling, which have targeted houses, schools, hospitals, water tanks, solar panels, main roads, mosques, and universities.

The Israeli military severed northern Gaza from the rest of the region and launched airstrikes yesterday, as ground battles with Hamas militants are expected to advance.A strike early yesterday hit the roof of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, killing a number of people who were sheltering on its top floor. The strike also destroyed solar panels used to help generate power for the facility, which is currently running on one generator due to a lack of fuel. Najib Jobain, Jack Jeffrey and Lee Keath report for AP News.

More than 10,000 people, including 4,000 children, have been killed in Gaza since the war broke out, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The figure surpasses the United Nations’ estimate of approximately 5,400 deaths resulting from all Israel-Hamas conflicts following the group’s control of the territory in 2007. The Israel Defence Forces cautioned that “any information provided by a terrorist organization should be viewed with caution,” although the World Health Organization regional emergency director said he was “confident that the information management systems that the ministry of health has put in place over the years stand[s] up to analysis.” George Wright reports for BBC News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday rejected calls for a ceasefire and said that Israel would have indefinite “overall security responsibility” in Gaza after its war with Hamas. Until all hostages are released, Netanyahu refused to entertain cease-fire talks, but said he was open to “little pauses” in the fighting to allow the delivery of aid and the hostage releases. Najib Jobain and Samy Magdy report for AP News

Senior Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk denied that his group killed Israeli civilians, saying “women, children and civilians were exempt” from Hamas’ attacks, while Israel says more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attacks of Oct. 7. Marzouk said that only “conscripts […] or soldiers” were killed, which contradicts video footage showing Hamas men shooting children and unarmed adults. Feras Kilani reports for BBC News

Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, 22, was arrested by Israeli troops in the West Bank yesterday on suspicion of inciting violence and calling for terrorist activity. Tamimi is widely regarded as a hero following her slapping an Israeli soldier during a village raid, then aged 16, resulting in an eight-month prison sentence. Israeli authorities allege that Tamimi wrote an Instagram post calling for settlers to be killed and saying that what Hilter did was not enough, but her mother claims the post was fake as her daughter does not have an Instagram account. Ismael Khader and Rami Ayyub report for Reuters

The U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned yesterday that Gaza is “becoming a graveyard for children” amid the rising death toll and intensifying violence. Guterres told reporters that a cease-fire is becoming “more urgent with every passing hour.” A spokesperson for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East also said that most of the displaced Gaza residents – estimated to be around 70% of the total population  are living in crowded and “inhumane” U.N. shelters due to a lack of resources, including food, clean water and sanitation. Richard Roth, Hamdi Alkhshali, Pierre Meilhan and Jessie Yeung report for CNN.

An Indonesian hospital in Gaza has denied accusations made by the Israeli military that its hospital facility was used by Hamas to launch an attack. Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as a cover for its underground operations. The chairman of the voluntary group operating the hospital said that the hospital was built “according to the needs of Gazans,” and that “Israel’s accusation is a precondition” to them attacking the hospital. Ananda Teresia reports for Reuters.

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – REGIONAL RESPONSE

South Africa recalled its ambassador and diplomats from Israel yesterday and called Israel’s actions a “genocide” in Gaza. The South African government, led by the African National Congress party which has strong ties to Palestine, also threatened action against the Israeli ambassador over his alleged disparaging remarks on their stance toward the Israel-Hamas war, although no details about the remarks have been provided. Mogomotsi Magome reports for AP News

Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh said he is leaving “all options open” in response to Israel’s “aggression on Gaza.” He denied Israel’s claim that they are acting in self-defense and said Israel’s attacks do not “discriminate between civilian and military targets.” In a statement, Israel said its “relations with Jordan are of strategic importance to both countries and we regret the inflammatory comments from Jordan’s leadership.” Suleiman Al-Khalidi reports for Reuters

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE 

Israel has attempted to gain international support for the transfer of several hundred thousands of civilians from Gaza to Egypt, according to six senior anonymous foreign diplomats. The idea  which was proposed as a humanitarian initiative that would permit civilians to escape to refugee camps in Egypt  was dismissed by most countries, including the US and the UK, because of the risk of permanent displacement. The risk that Egypt would become destabilized due to the mass migration, leaving a significant number of civilians displaced, was also cited by Israel interlocutors as reasons for their concern. Patrick Kingsley reports for the New York Times

ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR – U.S. RESPONSE

A 69-year-old man died on Sunday from a head injury during an altercation in Ventura County, Southern Califonia, where pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrations were taking place, the county’s Sheriff’s Office said yesterday. Paul Kessler “fell backwards and struck his head on the ground” following a “physical altercation” with at least one counter-protester, the Sheriff’s office said,referring to Kessler as a “pro-Israeli protestor.” No suspect has been named but the Sheriff’s office said it “has not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime” as investigations are underway. Taylor Romine reports for CNN

Concern grows over the United States’ influence over Israel as the Biden administration’s attempts to secure a pause in Israel’s fighting remain a “work in progress”, said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Blinken said U.S. diplomacy was multi-regional and was not solely Israel-focused, adding that “sometimes, the absence of something bad happening may not be the most obvious evidence of progress, but it is.” Dan De Luce, Keir SImmons and Abigail Williams report for NBC News

A private university has banned a student chapter of the national Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) on its campus. Brandeis University in Massachusetts, founded as a nonsectarian Jewish university in 1948, said the SJP’s chapter “engage[s] in conduct that supports Hamas in its call for the elimination of the only Jewish state in the world,” but added that “students are welcome to express their support for Palestinians in a manner that complies with [their] rights and responsibilities.” The move comes after Florida officials ordered state colleges and universities to disband chapters in the SJP two weeks ago. Olafmihan Oshin reports for The Hill.

The Israeli military confirmed the arrest of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, 22, during a West Bank raid. Tamimi is accused of “inciting terrorism” according to the army’s statement. Tamimi’s arrest was hailed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “Well done to the IDF and the other security forces who arrested the terrorist and ‘human rights activist’ Ahed Tamimi from Nabi Saleh, who was previously convicted of attacking IDF soldiers and since the outbreak of the war has expressed sympathy and support for the human animal Nazis on social media,” the far-right minister, who was convicted of incitement in 2007, wrote on X. Tamimi became an icon of the Palestinian cause after she was jailed as a teenager for slapping an Israeli soldier. She said the soldiers had shot her cousin in the head with a rubber bullet an hour prior to the filmed encounter.

Ahed Tamimi Taken Into Custody Once More Over Alleged Terrorism Incitement

The Israeli military confirmed the arrest of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, 22, during a West Bank raid. Tamimi is accused of “inciting terrorism” according to the army’s statement. Tamimi’s arrest was hailed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. “Well done to the IDF and the other security forces who arrested the terrorist and ‘human rights activist’ Ahed Tamimi from Nabi Saleh, who was previously convicted of attacking IDF soldiers and since the outbreak of the war has expressed sympathy and support for the human animal Nazis on social media,” the far-right minister, who was convicted of incitement in 2007, wrote on X. Tamimi became an icon of the Palestinian cause after she was jailed as a teenager for slapping an Israeli soldier. She said the soldiers had shot her cousin in the head with a rubber bullet an hour prior to the filmed encounter.

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