CAIRO: Israeli tanks moved deeper into Gaza City’s residential districts on Sunday, as local health authorities said they have been unable to respond to dozens of desperate calls, expressing concern about the fate of residents in the targeted areas.
Witnesses and medics said Israeli tanks had deepened their incursions in the Sabra, Tel Al-Hawa, Sheikh Radwan and Al-Naser neighborhoods, closing in on the heart and the western areas of Gaza City, where hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering.
The Israeli military launched its long-threatended ground offensive on Gaza City on September 16 after weeks of intensifying strikes on the urban center, forcing hundreds of Palestinians to flee although many still remain.
Trump scheduled to meet Netanyahu
Hamas, which Israel has demanded surrender, said Sunday it had not received a new proposal from mediators, after US President Donald Trump said Friday that “a deal on Gaza” seemed likely. Trump is scheduled to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Israel separately said that Ambassador Mike Huckabee would travel to Egypt to meet with Egyptian officials “as part of regular diplomatic consultations conducted between US embassies in the region.”
Egypt is among those mediating between Israel and Hamas.
The Civil Emergency Service in Gaza said late on Saturday that Israel had denied 73 requests, sent via international organizations, to rescue injured Palestinians in Gaza City.
Israeli authorities had no immediate comment. The military earlier said forces were expanding operations in the city and that five militants firing an anti-tank missile toward Israeli troops had been killed by the Israeli air force.
At least five killed in air strike
Over the past 24 hours, the air force had struck 140 military targets across Gaza, including militants and what it described as military infrastructure, the military said.
At least five people were killed in an air strike in Gaza’s Al Naser area, local health authorities said. Medics reported 16 more deaths in strikes on houses in central Gaza, bringing Sunday’s death toll to at least 21.
Israel’s military siege has caused a humanitarian catastrophe across Gaza. Four health facilities in Gaza City have shut down this month, the World Health Organization has said. Some malnutrition centers have also closed, the UN says.
Thousands remain in Gaza City
The World Food Programme estimates that between 350,000 and 400,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City since last month, although hundreds of thousands remain. The Israeli military estimates that around a million Palestinians were in Gaza City in August.
Israel began its assault on Gaza nearly two years ago after an attack led by the Hamas killed about 1,200 people, with 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in the enclave, according to Gaza’s health authorities, displaced the entire population, and crippled the territory’s health system.
Tanks thrust deeper into Gaza, medics say many injured trapped
https://arab.news/9yrm4
Tanks thrust deeper into Gaza, medics say many injured trapped
- Witnesses and medics said Israeli tanks had deepened their incursions in the Sabra, Tel Al-Hawa, Sheikh Radwan and Al-Naser neighborhoods
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.”
