23 minutes ago
The WHO says it has reestablished contact with the team in Gaza
The World Health Organization has restored contact with its team in the Gaza Strip after heavy Israeli bombing led to a communications blackout, its director general said.
“They said the last two nights were extremely tense, there were many airstrikes – without fuel, water, electricity, connectivity and safe shelter for evacuation,” wrote Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the social media platform X.
“Like everyone else in Gaza, they and their families are not safe,” he added, stressing the need to protect health facilities and humanitarian workers and reiterating his calls for a ceasefire. He warned that hospitals in the besieged area are running out of medical supplies and are overflowing with patients.
— Natasha Turak
33 minutes ago
Palestinians wait in front of a bakery to meet their daily food needs
Palestinians wait outside a bakery to meet their daily food needs during the 23rd day of Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza, on October 29, 2023.
Palestinians wait outside a bakery to meet their daily food needs during the 23rd day of Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza, on October 29, 2023. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Abed Rahim Khatib | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Palestinians wait outside a bakery to meet their daily food needs during the 23rd day of Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza, on October 29, 2023. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Abed Rahim Khatib | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Palestinians wait outside a bakery to meet their daily food needs during the 23rd day of Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza, on October 29, 2023. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Abed Rahim Khatib | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A view from a bakery as Palestinians wait outside to meet their daily food needs during the 23rd day of Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza, October 29, 2023.
Abed Rahim Khatib | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
54 minutes ago
The World Food Program says 40 more aid trucks are expected to arrive in Gaza, but more are ‘needed’
Forty more aid trucks are expected to arrive in Gaza on Sunday as the humanitarian situation on the ground worsens and Israeli bombings increase, according to a United Nations World Food Program official.
“We hope to allow more trucks into Gaza today – 40 trucks are expected to pass through,” Samer Abdeljaber, WFP country director for Palestine, said in an interview with CNN. “However, we also recognize that this is not enough compared to the increasing needs… at the moment we need more than that in Gaza.”
“For WFP to reach a million people, we need 40 trucks a day. If we want to support 2 million people, we need 100 trucks of food,” he said.
Abdeljaber said the trucks would carry supplies such as food, water and medical equipment, but not fuel. He added that the internet and communications outage resulting from the Israeli bombings posed a major challenge to coordinating facilities on the ground.
— Natasha Turak
An hour ago
The Palestinian Red Crescent says the IDF ordered it to evacuate its hospital under threat of bombing
The Palestinian Red Crescent said the IDF warned it to evacuate its hospital before a bombing.
“Urgent: @PRCS has just received serious threats from the occupation authorities to immediately evacuate Al-Quds Hospital in the Gaza Strip, which is also planned.” #bombed. “Raids have occurred 50 meters from the hospital since this morning,” the PRCS wrote in a tweet.
“Two phone calls were received with a clear and direct threat that the hospital must be evacuated immediately or PRCS will bear full responsibility for the lives of everyone in the hospital,” the organization said in a separate statement.
Israel has ordered the 1.1 million residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate the area amid heavy bombing, but the Palestinian Red Crescent said it would stay to continue providing urgent patient care at its hospital. Evacuations are also becoming much more difficult as ambulances are running out of fuel, aid organizations say.
— Natasha Turak
An hour ago
Internet and telephone connections have been restored for many in Gaza
According to telecommunications company Paltel, internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and local confirmation, internet and phone connectivity was restored for many people in Gaza on Sunday morning.
For more than 24 hours, people in the besieged Gaza Strip were unable to communicate with each other or seek help despite the relentless Israeli bombardment. There has been a complete communications blackout in the narrow coastal region since Friday evening, worsening the misery of the more than 2.3 million people living there. Many residents, particularly in the northern half of the Strip, were unable to call ambulances to take the injured to hospitals or get help for those trapped under the rubble of bombed homes.
“The aggressive bombardment was terrible,” said Raed Sharif, a volunteer who helped transport wounded people to hospitals in Gaza City. “There were strikes everywhere.”
The medical group Doctors Without Borders said the communications blackout had further isolated the population suffering under siege and bombardment. The power outage also limited the group’s ability to coordinate and provide medical assistance, it said.
—Associated Press
An hour ago
According to the IDF, more than 450 targets in Gaza have been attacked in the last 24 hours
A view of the remains of a mosque and houses destroyed by Israeli attacks in the central Gaza Strip, October 29, 2023.
Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa | Portal
Israeli forces attacked more than 450 targets in Gaza last day, the IDF said in a statement. The targets included command centers, missile launch sites and observation posts.
“As part of the expansion of ground activities, combined combat forces attacked terrorist cells that attempted to attack the armed forces and terrorist cells that planned to launch anti-tank missiles,” the statement said. It added that an IDF officer in northern Gaza was seriously injured by a mortar shell in northern Gaza and was evacuated for treatment.
Aid groups and journalists in Gaza say the bombings that began Friday evening were the worst they have seen in Israel since the country began its retaliatory strikes against the Hamas attack on October 7.
— Natasha Turak
3 hours ago
UN Security Council holds emergency meeting on Gaza offensive
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 26: Ambassador of the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, Riyad H. Mansour, speaks at the General Assembly during the 10th Emergency Special Session of the 39th Plenary Session at the United Nations October 26 2023 in New York City. The United Nations continues to meet to discuss the status of the Palestinians and the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. (Photo by Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The United Nations Security Council plans to hold an emergency meeting on Monday on Israel’s ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The United Arab Emirates, currently a rotating member of the UN Security Council, condemned the violence and called for a ceasefire. Members Russia and China have also called for a ceasefire, while the United States has so far voted against such efforts by the international body.
In a UN vote on Friday, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. 120 countries were in favor, 14 were against and 45 countries abstained. The USA and Israel voted against the resolution.
— Natasha Turak
3 hours ago
Thousands break into United Nations warehouses in Gaza
Palestinians storm a United Nations-run relief center distributing food to displaced families in Deir al-Balah on Oct. 28, 2023, amid ongoing fighting after Israel urged more than a million residents in the northern Gaza Strip to head south for their safety draw between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty Images
Thousands of people broke into several warehouses and took property belonging to the UN aid agency in the Gaza Strip, the agency said in a statement. Wheat flour, hygiene products and other basic food items were taken, the statement continued.
“This is a worrying sign that civil order is beginning to collapse after three weeks of war and a strict siege in the Gaza Strip,” said Thomas White, UNRWA Director of Gaza Affairs. “The needs of communities are immense, if only for survival, while the help we receive is paltry,” he added.
Palestinians storm a United Nations-run relief center distributing food to displaced families in Deir al-Balah on Oct. 28, 2023, amid ongoing fighting after Israel urged more than a million residents in the northern Gaza Strip to head south for their safety draw between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty Images
Only 80 trucks passed through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, bringing aid into Gaza, compared to 200 aid trucks per day before October 7, the statement said.
They are subject to strict controls, an ongoing ban on fuel distribution and increased demand due to the migration of residents south, the statement said, adding that no trucks entered the strip on Saturday, when the strip was at full blackout.
Palestinians storm a United Nations-run relief center distributing food to displaced families in Deir al-Balah on Oct. 28, 2023, amid ongoing fighting after Israel urged more than a million residents in the northern Gaza Strip to head south for their safety draw between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.
Mohammed Abed | Afp | Getty Images
4 hours ago
The IDF again warns Gazans to move south “temporarily.”
The IDF reiterates its calls for Gazans to move south, saying the “urgency” for them to move away from what they describe as a Hamas stronghold has increased.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a post
Israel has cut off water, food, fuel and aid to the besieged enclave since the start of the war to weaken Hamas militants, and Palestinians trapped in Gaza say there is nowhere to hide.
Hagari said the IDF had been warning citizens to move away from Hamas strongholds for over two weeks.
“Today we are increasing the urgency of this warning,” he said.
– Joanna Tan
5 hours ago
Israel will continue to carry out “large-scale, significant attacks” in Gaza
Clouds of smoke could be seen rising from the rubble of the Israeli bombardment, increasing in intensity after military officials announced an expanded ground operation in the Gaza Strip to wipe out Hamas, as seen from Sderot, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023.
Marcus Yam | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Israel will continue to conduct “large-scale, significant attacks” to track down Hamas militants and their leadership in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said.
“The IDF continues to conduct large-scale, significant air and sea strikes and target terrorists,” spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in the latest press release.
Backed by air support, IDF forces – infantry, tanks and artillery – entered northern Gaza overnight and “expanded their ground activities,” he said.
He also said the IDF killed key Hamas leaders, including the commander of the Gaza Brigade’s naval forces and other brigade commanders. CNBC was unable to verify these claims.
“These commanders are the operational commanders of Hamas, the tactical leaders of Hamas. Their elimination makes it easier for the war to continue and allows forces on the ground to fight a weaker enemy,” he said.
“Expanding the IDF’s operational activities advances the war goals,” he added.
– Joanna Tan
5 hours ago
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says Gaza faces ‘genocidal war’
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the international community to stop Israeli aggression and bombing in the Gaza Strip.
Christophe Ena | Afp | Getty Images
“Our people in the Gaza Strip are facing a war of genocide and massacre carried out by the Israeli occupying forces in front of the eyes of the entire world,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said at a meeting with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
Abbas is president of the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized government of the Palestinian people that governs parts of the occupied West Bank. His Fatah movement, a rival to Hamas, controls the PLO.
At a meeting with PLO leaders in Ramallah, Abbas called on the international community to end Israel’s aggression in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
He asked how it was possible “to remain silent in the face of over 3,000 Palestinian children killed and the shelling of hospitals, as well as the ruthless destruction and collective punishment of civilians.”
“Gaza will remain an integral part of the Palestinian state alongside the West Bank, including East Jerusalem…Jerusalem, with its Islamic and Christian shrines, will remain our eternal capital,” he declared, pledging to rebuild everything in Gaza destroyed by Israel’s bombing .
– Joanna Tan
8 hours ago
The Israeli military spokesman declined to answer the question of whether Israel was responsible for the power outage in the Gaza Strip
Israel’s top military spokesman would not say whether Israel was behind the telecommunications outage that hit Gaza on Friday and has largely cut off the besieged enclave, but said it would do whatever was necessary to protect its forces.
Asked whether Israel had turned off cell phone services at the start of the ground offensive that began Friday evening, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “We are doing what we have to do to secure our forces for as long as necessary, temporarily or permanently.” necessary, and we will say nothing more about that.”
—Portal
5 hours ago
The Palestinian Red Crescent says three of its ambulances are out of fuel
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, three of its ambulances can no longer be used because they are running out of fuel.
“From the operations center in Gaza to the operations center of the Palestinian Red Crescent, we would like to inform you that due to the fuel (gasoline) shortage, three ambulances running on this type of fuel have been stopped,” said the voice message from a humanitarian Aid workers in the Gaza Strip, the PRCS said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“As a result, the operational capacity has been reduced to only 27 ambulances,” he added, according to the translation from Arabic.
He said that due to the communications failure, “ambulances have been geographically distributed across all areas…this action increases the danger to response teams.”
– Joanna Tan
18 hours ago
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: This is the second phase of the war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the media during a joint press conference with the French President in Jerusalem on October 24, 2023.
Christophe Ena | AFP | Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference Saturday that Israel is in the second phase of what he expects to be a long and difficult war as the country expands its ground presence in Gaza.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister Benny Gantz also spoke at the briefing and reiterated that the war against Hamas is probably not over yet.
Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s twin goals in the war: the destruction of Hamas’s military and government power and the rescue of all of the group’s hostages. Responding to a question about the possible conflict between those goals, he rejected the idea that there was any tension between eliminating Hamas and rescuing the hostages.
The prime minister warned civilians in Gaza to find safe areas as Israel increases its presence in the region. On Friday evening, Israel launched a series of bombings in the Gaza Strip. Since then, there have been a number of reports of civilians losing connection to the internet and cellular communications.
Gallant spoke about the complications of repatriating the hostages under Hamas. He said there may be a higher chance of rescuing the abductees if Israel’s military pressure escalates, something Gantz emphasized in his own remarks.
Earlier on Saturday, a Hamas spokesman reportedly said in a broadcast on a Hamas-operated television channel that the militant group was willing to return its hostages in exchange for Israel’s Palestinian prisoners.
—Rebecca Picciotto
20 hours ago
A spokesman said Hamas was willing to exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners
A spokesman for Hamas’ military wing said the group was ready to exchange dozens of hostages it was holding for all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
The spokesman said in a televised address on Saturday under the pseudonym Abu Obeida that such a deal could also be carried out in stages but that the Israelis should “know the price they have to pay.”
On Saturday, hundreds of relatives of hostages gathered in a square in downtown Tel Aviv, calling on the government to put the return of their relatives above Israel’s military goals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to meet with the hostage families later on Saturday. Military officials said they wanted to both overthrow Hamas and return the hostages, but did not explain how they could achieve both goals at the same time.
The families of the hostages fear that Israel’s intensified offensive in Gaza is endangering the prisoners.
– The Associated Press
17 hours ago
Israel’s communications minister says he will block Elon Musk’s deployment of Starlink in Gaza
The upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket launches a stack of Starlink “V2 Mini” satellites into orbit on February 27, 2028.
SpaceX
Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Saturday strongly criticized Elon Musk’s announcement to deploy Starlink, the Internet provider operated by SpaceX, in Gaza, where access to the Internet and cellular communications has been disrupted.
Earlier Saturday, Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that he would use Starlink to “support connectivity” for internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.
The Minister of Communications replied Musk with a post of his own in which he said Israel would use “all means at its disposal” to combat the Starlink launch in Gaza. He added that Hamas would ultimately use Starlink for “terrorist activities.”
“Perhaps Musk would be willing to condition this on the release of our kidnapped babies, sons, daughters and elderly people. All of you!” Karhi wrote in the social media post. “Until then, my office will cut all ties with Starlink.”
Starlink was used by the Ukrainian armed forces in the fight against Russia.
But Musk has come under fire for his alleged interference in some episodes of Russia’s war against Ukraine. In September, a Ukrainian adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Musk for shutting down the Starlink connection in the region to prevent a Ukrainian attack on Russian warships.
—Rebecca Picciotto