A young man’s desperation amid the rubble of a building in Khan Younis, November 6
Few know what is happening in the hell of Gaza. Apart from the Israel Defense Forces reports (with some embedded journalists) and the daily bulletin on the deaths provided by Hamas, the witness accounts appear fragmented and incomplete. Even humanitarian organizations admit there are difficulties communicating with the remaining staff, who are almost entirely Palestinian.
The United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) is giving up Of the 1.5 million internally displaced people (65% of the population), around 717,000 are in UNRWA shelters122,000 in hospitals, churches or public buildings, 110,000 in 89 non-UNRWA schools and the rest in homes. Diseases also spread due to the lack of drinking water: acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, chickenpox.
“An entire population is under siege and attack.”18 United Nations agencies denounce that they are being denied access to essential goods and that their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship are being bombed. “We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.” It’s 30 days. That’s enough”. The signatures come from UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, UN humanitarian chief Martin Grittiths and 15 other officials. An appeal Griffiths made this evening repeated before the UN Security Council, which returned to a meeting on the Israel-Hamas dossier at the initiative of the Chinese presidency and the United Arab Emirates.
“The path forward is clear: a humanitarian ceasefire.” Now,” says the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. “The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis of humanity.” And he warns: Gaza is becoming “a children’s cemetery.”
UNRWA estimates that one child is killed and two injured every ten minutes. According to the Hamas Ministry, there are more than 10,000 victims: Since October 7, “10,022 people have been killed, including 4,104 minors.” and 2,641 women.” The number of injuries would be 25,408. Unverifiable figures, although in recent days UNRWA Secretary-General Philippe Lazzarini had considered them plausible given the number of victims (which has risen to 88) among UN staff. The Pentagon limits itself to speaking of “thousands of civilian casualties.”.
A raid damaged the solar panels on the roof of the major Al-Shifa Hospital, resulting in one death and several injuries. However, Israel denies the attack, although it sees it as the militiamen’s main hideout. “We invite the United Nations to visit hospitals to check Israeli lies,” Hamas provokes (who would benefit from a ceasefire to regroup): “The occupiers’ lies are aimed at justifying their attacks on medical facilities in order to destroy them and pressure Palestinians to leave our land.”
Footage released by the army shows several thousand people lining the road The “evacuation corridor” of Salah a-Din, the artery connecting the north and south of the strip, is guaranteed safe between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
On military ground, Israeli forces have completed the encirclement of Gaza City, separating Hamas positions in the north of the Gaza Strip from those in the south. They have remained since ground operations began on October 27th 31 soldiers killed. Today the army announced that it had seized control of a Gaza outpost, hitting over 450 targets in 24 hours and eliminating Hamas commanders hiding in tunnels. Another person suspected of involvement in the October 7 attack was also killed: Deir al-Balah battalion commander Wail Asfa, who was imprisoned in Israel from 1992 to 1998.
The army has been preparing for battle for months: 129,000 winter jackets and 369,000 disposable thermal bags would have been distributed to the troops.
The good news is slowly coming from the south. Egypt’s Rafah border crossing reopened today (it had been closed since the 3rd). to allow the departure of foreigners and Palestinians with dual citizenship. In total, more than 1,100 people left, including “almost all Italians, except for those who wanted to stay, including a few Red Cross employees,” said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
About thirty rockets were fired from Lebanon over the north of the Jewish state and an outbreak towards Haifa. The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, claimed responsibility. There are 1,300 Italian soldiers present in Lebanon as part of the UN peacekeeping missions (Unifil). And Israeli forces say they are ready “at any moment” for an attack by Hezbollah militias from the north.
Several settlements in the north were also evacuated. In the last month or so 130,000 Israelis (out of 9.6 million) were forced to leave their homes and another 120,000 left the border areas voluntarily north and south. Now they report that United Nations agencies are helping displaced people in Gaza, but have forgotten about them.