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TogglePublished: 08:33, November 10, 2023 | Updated: 11:35, November 10, 2023
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UN: “The carnage simply has to stop”
The United Nations has called for an end to the carnage that has struck during Israel’s military operation in the war-torn Gaza Strip, according to a statement from a senior UN aid official released today.
“The current course chosen by the Israeli authorities will not bring the peace and stability that both Israelis and Palestinians want and deserve,” Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), wrote in a media opinion piece.
“Destruction of entire neighborhoods is not an answer to Hamas’ monstrous crimes.”
“On the contrary, a new generation of harmed Palestinians is emerging who are likely to continue the cycle of violence. “The carnage simply must stop.”
German Foreign Minister: Israel must not miss the “historic opportunity” for peace with Arab states
Israel should not miss a “historic opportunity” for peace with Arab states because of its war, said the German Foreign Minister at the start of her trip to the region.
Annalena Baerbock is traveling to the Middle East for the third time since the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, triggering a conflict with Israel.
One of her stops will be the United Arab Emirates, which was among the countries that normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
She will also visit Saudi Arabia, which had held talks about possible normalization with Israel until they were interrupted when the current war broke out.
Baerbock will also visit Israel.
“In this almost intractable turmoil, it is crucial not to lose sight of the bigger picture,” she said. “Israel’s historic opportunity for peace with its Arab neighbors must not be missed – because that is precisely the goal of the terrorists.”
Iran warns that an expansion of the war between Israel and Hamas is “inevitable.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday that an expansion of the Israel-Hamas war has become “inevitable” amid widespread fears in the region and beyond that the conflict could expand.
“Due to the increasing intensity of the war against the civilian population of Gaza, the expansion of the scale of the war has now become inevitable,” Amir-Abdollahian said in a phone call to his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
His comments were quoted on the ministry’s website.
The Islamic Republic, which provides financial and military support to Hamas, hailed the militant group’s attack on Israel as a “success” but denied any involvement.
The Israeli military has surrounded the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, where Hamas is said to hide its underground headquarters, and is moving closer around the hospital.
IDF troops are said to be about 250 meters from Al-Shifa Hospital, where an estimated 60,000 people have sought refuge, many in a makeshift camp.
There have been reports of heavy fighting around the medical facility in recent days as Israeli troops fought their way through the narrow streets in their mission to destroy Hamas.
Overnight, Hamas-led local authorities accused the IDF of shelling areas around hospitals in the northern coastal strip, including Al-Shifa, as well as the Rantisi Children’s Hospital and the Indonesian Hospital.
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Blinken says “far too many” Palestinians have died and more must be done to save lives
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “far too many” Palestinians had died and more needed to be done to save lives and get help where it was needed most.
Speaking in New Dheli on Friday, Bliken said the US “recognizes” Israel’s steps to minimize civilian casualties, but that was not enough.
He said the US had suggested additional ideas to the Israelis on how to achieve this, including longer “humanitarian pauses” and expanding aid deliveries to Gaza.
Blinken’s comments come as the Israeli military moves deeper into dense urban neighborhoods to fight Hamas militants.
Turkey is discussing increasing the number of aid trucks to Gaza to 500 daily
Turkey spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Ankara about increasing the daily number of aid trucks to Gaza to at least 500, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday.
The top US diplomat took a positive stance on the issue during talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Erdogan said.
Ankara, in cooperation with other countries, will take steps to provide Gaza with ambulances, food, water and medicine, Erdogan also said while speaking to reporters during his return flight from Uzbekistan.
BREAKING: The Palestinian Authority says it is ready to take responsibility in Gaza as part of a political solution
The Palestinian Authority is ready to assume responsibility in the Gaza Strip as part of a comprehensive political solution for the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (see below on November 5).
Blinken welcomes pauses but says more needs to be done to protect civilians
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that he welcomed Israel’s agreed pause in its offensive in Gaza, but more needed to be done.
“I think some progress has been made,” Blinken said in New Delhi.
“But it was also clear to me that much more needed to be done to protect civilians and provide them with humanitarian assistance.”
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UN report paints a bleak picture of the Palestinian economy: GDP shrinking by 4 percent
A new UN report paints a stark picture of the devastation wrought by the collapse of the Palestinian economy after a month of war and Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip.
Gross domestic product shrank by 4 percent in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the first month of the war, plunging over 400,000 people into poverty.
Such economic impacts have not occurred in the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine or in any previous war between Israel and Hamas, the United Nations said.
The rapid assessment of the economic impact of the Gaza war released on Thursday by the UN Development Program and the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia was the first UN report to show the devastating impact of the conflict, particularly on the Palestinians.
If the war continues into a second month, the United Nations expects Palestinian GDP, which was $20.4 billion before the war began, to fall by 8.4% – a loss of $1.7 billion . And if the conflict continues into a third month, Palestinian GDP will fall by 12%, with losses of $2.5 billion and more than 660,000 people pushed into poverty, it is forecast.
Netanyahu doubts the daily breaks in fighting
The White House said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to suspend military operations in parts of the northern Gaza Strip for four hours a day, but there were no signs of the fighting easing.
- The breaks, which would allow people to escape along two humanitarian corridors and could be used to release hostages, are significant first steps, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
- However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that the breaks would remain scattered, and there was no official confirmation of a plan for recurring breaks.
- When asked if there would be a “stop” in the fighting, Netanyahu replied on Fox News Channel: “No.” The fighting against the Hamas enemy, the Hamas terrorists, continues, but in certain places we want for to allow the safe passage of civilians out of the combat zone for a certain period of time of a few hours here or a few hours there, and that’s what we’re doing.’
UN calls daily four-hour pause in fighting “very cynical and cruel”
Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, called Israel’s decision to impose a four-hour humanitarian pause in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip each day to allow civilians to escape to the south “very cynical and cruel.”
“In the Gaza Strip, on this tiny piece of land where people are trapped and where the destruction is enormous, there have been constant bombings, 6,000 bombs every week.” “After what Israel is doing to the Gaza Strip, there will be no turning back ” Albanese told reporters in Adelaide, Australia, on Friday.
“So four hours of ceasefire, yes, to let people breathe a sigh of relief and remember what life sounds like without bombing before they get bombed again. “It’s very cynical and cruel.”
Netanyahu says he doesn’t seek to ‘rule Gaza’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war in Gaza would continue until Hamas was defeated, but assured that the country had no intention of conquering or ruling the blockaded territory after the fighting ended.
Netanyahu said Israel does not seek to “rule Gaza,” adding: “We do not seek to occupy it, but we seek to provide it and ourselves with a better future.”
In an interview with Fox News that aired Thursday evening, Netanyahu made it clear that while Israel has no intention of occupying Gaza, he envisions a radically transformed territory without Hamas.
“We must see Gaza demilitarized, de-radicalized and rebuilt,” he said.
Israel-Hamas LIVE: Netanyahu says he does not seek to ‘rule Gaza’ as UN calls four-hour daily lulls in fighting ‘very cynical and cruel’