Secy of State #Blinken returned to #Israel Mon. Blinken met Israeli PM #Netanyahu & Pres #Herzog in #Jerusalem; he heads to #TelAviv next to meet w/ the #war cabinet ahead of their military offensive against #Hamas. Blinken’s 2nd visit in just a few days, comes after Pres #Biden warned that a new Israeli #occupation of #Gaza would be a “big mistake” — his firmest effort to signal restraint to Israel as the #HumanitarianCrisis in Gaza reaches critical.
Hamas’s ruthless & spectacular attack on Israel last Sat was many things: an atrocity, a display of militant ingenuity, & a demo of the weakness of #Israeli intelligence & defenses.
But the question is where will the Palestinians go?
Palestinians have begun leaving parts of eastern Rafah in Gaza after Israel urged 100,000 people to move towards an expanded "humanitarian zone".
The evacuation comes ahead of an expected offensive on the city, where more than 1.4 million people are sheltering.
During #Biden’s speech on #healthcare yesterday he was interrupted by protesters advocating for #Palestinians in #Gaza. Instead of ignoring them & moving on, #POTUS responded, “They have a point; we need to get more care into Gaza.” He added, “Everybody deserves healthcare.”
The volume of #HumanitarianAid delivered to #Gaza has collapsed in recent weeks as Israeli airstrikes have targeted police officers who guard the convoys, #UN ofcls say, exposing them to looting by #criminal gangs & desperate #civilians.
The #Biden admin has concluded it is “reasonable to assess” that #Israel’s military campaign in #Gaza has violated #InternationalLaw, but has not found specific instances that would justify the withholding of #military aid, #State Dept told #Congress Fri.
@palestine
Gender alert: The gendered impact of the crisis in Gaza
Description : "Since 7 October 2023, more than 24,620 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip, 70 per cent of whom were women or children. More than 1.9 million people — 85 per cent of the total population of Gaza — have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be nearly 1 million women and girls."
The announcement came hours after #POTUS had a tense phone call w/PM #Netanyahu during which Biden threatened to condition future support for Israel depending on how it addresses his concerns about #CivilianCasualties & the #HumanitarianCrisis in Gaza.
#Rafah border crossing opened Sat to let a trickle of desperately needed #HumanitarianAid into #Gaza for the 1st time since #Israel sealed it off & began… airstrikes following #Hamas’ bloody rampage 2 wks ago.
…Just 20 trucks were allowed in, an amt aid workers said was insufficient to address the unprecedented #HumanitarianCrisis. <200 trucks carrying 3k tons of aid have been waiting nearby for days.
4 Israeli #hostages have been #rescued alive from #Gaza, the Israeli military said Sat. #Israel’s forces rescued Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; & Shlomi Ziv, 41, from 2 locations in #Nuseirat in central Gaza, the #IDF said in a stmnt. ≥125 people were #killed in the operation.
All “are in good medical condition” & have been transferred to a hospital for further medical examinations, the IDF said.
President Isaac #Herzog & PM Benjamin #Netanyahu spoke to #freed hostage #NoaArgamani after her rescue.
Video shared by a fmr spox for PM, showed the phone call between Argamani & Herzog.
The Spanish, Irish & Norwegian govts announced Wed that they would recognize a #Palestinian state, saying there would be no #peace in the #MiddleEast w/o it.
Israel denounced the move as giving aid to its enemy #Hamas.
The coordinated announcements are purely symbolic — but not w/o some power.
Visual evidence, data and interviews show that the Myanmar military’s campaign of terror, which began after a coup sparked widespread resistance, is getting worse.
Even for a country long notorious for military abuses, the violence and humanitarian crisis now are unprecedented, many experts say.
#Israel has agreed to daily, 4-hour pauses in operations inside #Gaza to allow more #civilians to leave the northern part of the enclave & facilitate an increase in #HumanitarianAid entering from #Egypt, the #WhiteHouse said Thurs. The pauses are to begin “today,” #NSC spox #JohnKirby said.
After a sobering trip to #Kyiv, Secy of State Antony J. #Blinken is urging #POTUS#Biden to lift some restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms.
#Israel bombed the densely-populated #Jabalya#refugee camp in northern #Gaza for the 2nd time in 2 days Wednesday, prompting warnings of #WarCrimes by the UN #HumanRights Council (#OHCHR) & some nations took diplomatic measures & condemned Israel’s offensive in the besieged enclave.
2 drones fired from the southern Red Sea area hit the #SinaiPeninsula, #Egypt’s armed forces said in a stmnt. 1 fell on the town of #Taba, which abuts the border w/ #Israel, while debris from a 2nd fell on an uninhabited area in the beachside town of #Nuweiba. Earlier, Egyptian state media had reported that 6 people in Taba had been injured.
#Palestinians warned Sat that the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3M people, was about to collapse, w/ >½ of the population #displaced by the fighting. At the same time, #Israel said it was ramping up attacks on #Gaza.
“We will deepen our attacks to minimize the dangers to our forces in the next stages of the #war. We are going to increase the attacks, from today,” #IDF spox Rear Adm Hagari said.
Israel’s Seizure of #Gaza Border Zone Strains Ties With Egypt
Israel defied ominous Egyptian warnings & took control of the #PhiladelphiCorridor, but the reaction from #Egypt, which wants to maintain its #security cooperation with #Israel, has been muted.