The Israeli military says it will advance wherever Hamas is found. This is the most important information you should know
Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops would advance wherever Hamas was located, including in the southern Gaza Strip.
In recent days there have been increasing signs that a ground offensive in the southern part of the enclave could be imminent.
Israeli leaders have declared that the northern part of Gaza, including Gaza City, is now under Israeli control. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given little information about his plan for Gaza following the military operation.
Meanwhile, more fuel was allowed into the Gaza Strip on Friday as water and sewage systems were on the verge of collapse, Israel’s national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said. The lack of fuel has also contributed to the dire situation in hospitals, where doctors say intensive care patients have died and operations have stopped due to a lack of power.
Elsewhere, negotiators are working to reach an agreement to release the Gaza hostages. According to the Israeli military, at least two hostages have been found dead in the enclave in the past two days.
Here’s the most important thing you should know:
The latest on hospitals in the Gaza Strip: According to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry in Ramallah, citing medical sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave, of Gaza’s 35 hospitals, 26 have been closed due to damage from shelling or lack of fuel. Most of the patients in the intensive care unit of Al-Shifa Hospital, who were on ventilators due to lack of fuel and oxygen, died, a doctor at the hospital told Al Jazeera. The hospital, which is the largest in Gaza, is facing severe shortages of basic needs, including a lack of water and electricity in the complex’s main buildings, Dr. Ahmad Mofeed Al-Mokhalalati.
Fuel enters Gaza: An Israeli government agency reported that two fuel tankers entered the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing on Friday. The news comes shortly after Israel’s War Cabinet approved a measure to allow regular deliveries to the besieged enclave following weeks of pressure from U.S. officials and other world leaders. According to a U.S. State Department official, most of the fuel will be dumped in a tank in Rafah, where it will be used by U.N. aid trucks and to support water and sanitation systems, waste disposal facilities, bakeries and hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip. A smaller portion is used to operate mobile phone and internet generators. Some members of the Israeli government have already criticized the decision.
Reduces drinking water: A UN human rights official called on Israel to stop using water as a “weapon of war” in the Gaza Strip. Dehydration and water-borne diseases are increasing in the enclave, said Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, U.N. special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation. For days, humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations Palestine Refugee Agency, have stressed the need for fuel to power desalination stations and water pumps in Gaza. According to the organization, around 70% of Gaza’s population now drinks “salted and contaminated” water.
They find hostage corpses: The Israeli military said Friday it had recovered the body of a second Israeli hostage from a building near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Previously, the IDF said on Thursday it had recovered the body of Yehudit Waiss, a 65-year-old Israeli woman who was also found near the hospital. Meanwhile, a new video has emerged online that appears to show an Israeli hostage being held in Gaza. He appeared on the Telegram channel of Hamas’s military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.
Call to Action: The Israeli military estimates that 237 hostages are being held in Gaza. Some families of those missing and abducted by Hamas marched from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Friday, demanding the government guarantee the safe return of the hostages. Pope Francis plans to meet with relatives of Israeli and Palestinian hostages, the Vatican press office reported Friday. The pope will speak to those groups separately, and the Vatican said the meetings would be “exclusively humanitarian in nature.”
The latest on the hostage negotiations: Israel, Hamas and the United States, with Qatari mediation, have worked to reach an agreement on a number of sticking points for the hostages’ release. Hamas has demanded that Israel stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza as part of its demand that Israel end its military operations, according to two Israeli officials and a third source familiar with the ongoing negotiations. The sources indicated that Israel is unlikely to comply with this request because it would mean losing track of the movements of Hamas operatives, including any efforts to move hostages within the Gaza Strip.
Research inquiries: According to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti have petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate whether crimes were committed in Palestinian territories. A group of independent United Nations human rights experts also said Thursday that Israel’s actions in Gaza “point to impending genocide.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry rejected the accusation, saying in a statement that it was Hamas that had put Gazans “in danger.”