CAIRO: Israeli forces pushed toward the heart of Gaza City on Wednesday, risking the lives of Palestinians who had stayed put in hopes that growing pressure on Israel for a ceasefire would mean they would not lose their homes.
US President Donald Trump met leaders of Muslim countries at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday for talks which focused on an end to the war.
Trump, who earlier condemned moves by a string of countries to put pressure on Israel by recognizing a Palestinian state, said a meeting with Israel would be next.
The Israeli government has urged the population of Gaza City to move south but many people hesitated, citing the lack of security and widespread hunger there. “We moved to the western area near the beach, but many families didn’t have the time, tanks took them by surprise,” said Thaer, a 35-year-old father of one from Tel Al-Hawa.
Airstrikes hit shelter
Israeli forces, which began closing in on the city of more than a million in August, have ignored calls to stop an offensive that the government says aims to destroy the last stronghold of Hamas militants whose 2023 attack on Israel and seizure of hostages triggered the war.
Medics said at least 20 people were killed and many others wounded when Israeli airstrikes hit a shelter housing displaced families near a market in the middle of the city. Two other people were killed in a house nearby, they said.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the reported attack on the shelter, where footage obtained by Reuters showed people sifting through the rubble.
“We were sleeping in God’s care, there was nothing — they did not inform us, or not even give us a sign — it was a surprise,” said Sami Hajjaj. “There are children and women, around 200 people maybe, six-seven families, this square is full of families,” he said.
In the city’s Tel Al-Hawa suburb tanks entered populated areas trapping people in their homes, while more tanks were seen stationed close to Al-Quds Hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said an oxygen station had been damaged.
Tanks have also advanced closer to Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, witnesses and Hamas media said.
On Monday, Palestinian authorities said tank shelling had damaged the Rantissi Hospital and put the nearby Al-Naser eye hospital at risk, forcing them to close. Jordan, which runs a third hospital in the area, said it had moved it further south due to repeated bombardment.
The Israeli military said it would continue to enable the provision of medical services and functioning of health care facilities in Gaza and that staff and patients from Al-Naser and Rantissi had voluntarily evacuated.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Gaza City in northern Gaza, further south over the past few weeks, but many more remain, saying there is nowhere safe for them to go.
Seven people were killed in Nuseirat and near Rafah in Gaza’s south, medics said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which insists its attacks are aimed at ending Hamas rule of the enclave.
Israel has drawn widespread condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed, according to local health authorities, and famine has spread.
International frustration over the war in Gaza prompted some Israeli and US allies to recognize a Palestinian state this week. Support for the war in Israel has also wavered, with 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive, still held by Hamas in Gaza and 465 soldiers killed in combat.
Hamas has acknowledged the death of some of its military leaders but has not disclosed the number of its fighters killed. The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israeli tanks push deeper into Gaza City as Trump talks peace
https://arab.news/65mhz
Israeli tanks push deeper into Gaza City as Trump talks peace
- Medics say shelling forced hospitals to close, trapped civilians
- Israel says military offensive is only way to free hostages
UN, aid groups warn Gaza operations at risk from Israel impediments
- Dozens of international aid groups face de-registration by December 31, which then means they have to close operations within 60 days
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations and aid groups warned on Wednesday that humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, particularly Gaza, were at risk of collapse if Israel does not lift impediments that include a “vague, arbitrary, and highly politicized” registration process.
Dozens of international aid groups face de-registration by December 31, which then means they have to close operations within 60 days, said the UN and more than 200 local and international aid groups in a joint statement.
“The deregistration of INGOs (international aid groups) in Gaza will have a catastrophic impact on access to essential and basic services,” the statement read.
“INGOs run or support the majority of field hospitals, primary health care centers, emergency shelter responses, water and sanitation services, nutrition stabilization centers for children with acute malnutrition, and critical mine action activities,” it said.
SUPPLIES LEFT OUT OF REACH: GROUPS
While some international aid groups have been registered under the system that was introduced in March, “the ongoing re-registration process and other arbitrary hindrances to humanitarian operations have left millions of dollars’ worth of essential supplies — including food, medical items, hygiene materials, and shelter assistance — stuck outside of Gaza and unable to reach people in need,” the statement read.
Israel’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement. Under the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year-old war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas began on October 10. Hamas released hostages, Israel freed detained Palestinians and more aid began flowing into the enclave where a global hunger monitor said in August famine had taken hold.
However, Hamas says fewer aid trucks are entering Gaza than was agreed. Aid agencies say there is far less aid than required, and that Israel is blocking many necessary items from coming in. Israel denies that and says it is abiding by its obligations under the truce.
“The UN will not be able to compensate for the collapse of INGOs’ operations if they are de-registered, and the humanitarian response cannot be replaced by alternative actors operating outside established humanitarian principles,” the statement by the UN and aid groups said.
The statement stressed “humanitarian access is not optional, conditional or political,” adding: “Lifesaving assistance must be allowed to reach Palestinians without further delay.”
