Good morning from London, the pause in fighting in the #Israel - #Gaza war was due to start nearly to hours ago. Here are some observations of colleagues on the ground -
V #BBC Yolande Knell:
'In the hours before the truce was due to take hold, there was intense fighting in Gaza.
Smoke could be seen rising up from Israeli air strikes and there was the constant sound of artillery and gunfire.
@PalestineNews@palestine@israel That would be the case if #Hamas didn't literally put their #HQ under it...
The same reason why hospital ships like USNS Mercy don't have any armament nor armed personnel onboard:
Because doing so is a violation of #ICRC standards and a #warcrime.
It's very interesting to see people pointing out alleged warcrimes by the #IDF being 100% able to ignore Hamas's proven ones.
Like massacres of unarmed civilians and taking hostages as well as the crime if aggression.
Stern statement from Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Jordan yesterday, after his trip to Rafah. Anyone who respects human rights & wants to know what's happening in Israel-Palestine should read this in its entirety.
HCHR calls for Member States to press urgently for an immediate #CeaseFire
"the complete siege now lasting over one month has made it an agony for residents in Gaza...to survive. All forms of #CollectivePunishment must come to an end."
v Reuters - quotes from the speech of Israel PM Netanyahu :
ONGOING GROUND OPERATION IN #GAZA IS THE SECOND STAGE OF THE #WAR
WE WILL EXERT EVERY EFFORT TO RETURN #HOSTAGES
THOSE ACCUSING US OF WAR CRIMES ARE HYPOCRITS
THE WAR INSIDE THE GAZA STRIP WILL BE DIFFICULT AND LONG
CAN'T SAY #IRAN WAS INVOLVED IN PLANNING OF OCT. 7 ATTACK BUT THEY FUND #HAMAS
V #BBC Imogen Foulkes:
The International Committee of the Red Cross has called for an immediate de-escalation of the conflict in #Gaza , deploring the loss of life and what it said was an intolerable level of suffering.
The #ICRC is the guardian of the Geneva conventions, the laws of war, and since the #Hamas attack on Israel three weeks ago it has repeatedly called for the release of all #hostages , and appealed for access to Gaza for aid supplies.
(Cont.)
The Red Cross issued an urgent warning. "Two million civilians were trapped in #Gaza with nowhere to flee, amid massive bombardment and a military siege". This, the #ICRC statement continued, was a "catastrophic failingthe world must not tolerate".
It condemned the use of civilians as human shields and called for the release of #hostages
"But the absolute priority is the preservation of life, and that means allowing sustained deliveries of aid, and access for aid agencies," said the statement.
The #ICRC say they are "deeply alarmed" after staff at the Al-#Quds hospital in #Gaza were told to immediately evacuate the site.
The hospital is thought to be providing shelter to more than 14,000 civilians as well as hundreds of patients.
"Hospitals are places of help and refuge; they must be protected at all cost. PRCS’s Al-Quds hospital in Gaza city is caring for 100s of injured people and bed-ridden, long-term patients.
"Evacuating is close to, if not impossible in the current situation"
A recap of main events today (while i was working on a completely different story so details to come later):
-emergency government and war cabinet formed in #Israel
#Gaza 's only power station stopped working, leaving the territory without main electricity
17 Brits, including children are dead or missing after #hamas attack in Israel
The #ICRC has condemned the #hostage taking during the attacks on #Israel by #Hamas , saying "our hearts go out" to those who have lost family members or are worried about loved ones.
"We reiterate our call for their immediate release and stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits," the #RedCross said.
Their quote regarding the evacuation orders:
"The instructions issued by the Israeli authorities for the population of #Gaza City are not compatible with international humanitarian law"
The conditions in #Gaza are "fast becoming untenable," #UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said. "I fear that the worst is yet to come Humanity is failing."
So far at least five planes carrying humanitarian relief have arrived in Egypt's Sinai, Red Cross #ICRC officials said.
The #WHO said a plane carrying trauma medicines and health supplies had also landed.
Al Arish airport on #Sinai is about 45 km from the Gaza border, but the #Rafah crossing with #Egypt remains closed. #Israel#hamas
#ICRC says it is "shocked and horrified" by reports of the huge blast at the Al Ahli Arab hospital in #Gaza
"Hospitals should be sanctuaries to preserve human life, not scenes of death and destruction," says ICRC.
"No patient should be killed in a hospital bed. No doctors should lose their lives while trying to save patients."
V BBC Monitoring, haven'tseen elsewhere: #Israeli media have been discussing a quid pro quo deal - in exchange for aid via #Rafah#Israel has requested #ICRC access to the #hostages