The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza said Israeli air strikes had killed 6,546 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 7, including 2,704 children. The figure includes 756 people – including 344 children – killed in the past 24 hours, adding that a total of 17,439 were injured. Joe Biden, the US president, said he accepted that “innocents have been killed and that is the price of waging war…” [But] I have no confidence in the numbers the Palestinians are using.”
Biden again called for a two-state solution Sometime after the end of the current fight between Israel and Hamas, he calls on Israelis and Palestinians to work out peaceful coexistence. The US president added that he “did not demand” that Israel delay a ground offensive in Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli military was “preparing for the ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.” with the aim of destroying Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities. In a televised statement, the Israeli prime minister said his war cabinet was working “around the clock” to achieve victory.
Israel has agreed to a request to allow the US to bring its air defense assets to the region ahead of an expected ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Pentagon is working to deploy systems to protect U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, according to a report.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki met with senior officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Wednesday. Maliki’s visit came a day after he deplored the UN Security Council’s inaction. The Palestinian Authority is controlled by Fatah and partially governs the West Bank. it also claims Gaza but has no control there.
The World Health Organization called on Hamas on Wednesday to provide evidence of the lives of the hostages it is holding and to release them all on health grounds. The WHO said the International Committee of the Red Cross should be given immediate medical access to determine their health status.
Aid efforts in Gaza will have to stop on Wednesday evening if fuel deliveries do not arrive. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Relief (UNRWA) warned. Hospitals, bakeries and water pumps could also fail. Oxfam accused Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war against the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
A school housing Palestinians in Gaza suffered “severe collateral damage” due to a “close combat strike,” UNRWA said. One civilian was killed and 44 others were injured, including nine children, it said. According to the United Nations, around 1.4 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are now internally displaced.
The entire immediate family of an Al Jazeera correspondent was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza. Wael al-Dahdouh fled with his family to Nuseirat camp after Israel ordered people in the northern half of the territory to leave. Al-Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed late Tuesday in the airstrike, which came amid an overnight wave of deadly Israeli attacks.
A Red Cross mission to assess the state of hospitals in the Gaza Strip has described scenes of chaos and exhaustion in the face of a total blockade. a critical fuel shortage and relentless Israeli bombing.
This is what UN Secretary-General António Guterres said He said he was “shocked” that the Israeli government misrepresented his comments to the United Nations to suggest he justified the October 7 Hamas attacks. Israel has called for his resignation and requested that travel visas for UN officials be revoked.
Israel has “completely” rejected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s claim that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. Erdoğan told his party’s lawmakers that Hamas is “a liberation group, mujahideen, that defends its country.” Erdoğan also announced that he had canceled a planned trip to Israel.
The Prime Minister of Qatar expressed his hope for an early breakthrough in the negotiations It is pushing for the release of hostages held by Hamas, although its government has warned that an Israeli invasion could jeopardize those efforts.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has called for a pause in fighting So that humanitarian aid can reach those in need. Sunak specifically avoided supporting a full ceasefire in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Emmanuel Macron said he thought it would be a “mistake” for Israel to launch a “massive” ground attack to Gaza. The French President held talks with his Egyptian counterpart in Cairo. Abdel Fatah al-Sisiwho also urged efforts to be made “to prevent ground invasion.”
The Israeli blockade has hollowed out Gaza’s economy and left 80% of its residents dependent on international aid even before the current crisis broke out, the UN said. It said a “decade-long” blockade had left two-thirds of Gaza’s population living in poverty and unemployment at 45%.
The US has expressed deep disappointment at the UN Security Council after Russia vetoed its latest draft resolution affirming Israel’s right to “collective self-defense” and to “humanitarian pauses”. to let aid into Gaza.