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ToggleBy Chris Jewers
Published: 08:44, November 28, 2023 | Updated: 12:03, November 28, 2023
The WHO warns that more people in Gaza could die from disease than from bombings
A WHO spokesman said more people in Gaza could die from disease than from bombings if the health system is not repaired.
“Ultimately, if we fail to rebuild this health system, more people will die from disease than from the bombing,” Margaret Harris of the WHO told a U.N. briefing in Geneva.
She reiterated her concerns about an increase in outbreaks of infectious diseases, particularly diarrheal diseases.
Citing a UN report on the living conditions of displaced residents in the northern Gaza Strip, she said: “(There are) no medicines, no vaccination activities, no access to clean water and hygiene and no food.” “We have a very high number of diarrhea cases seen in infants,” she said.
She described the collapse of Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza as a “tragedy” and expressed concern about the detention of some of the hospital’s medical staff by Israeli forces during a WHO evacuation convoy.
James Elder, a spokesman for the U.N. Children’s Fund in Gaza, told reporters via video link that hospitals in Gaza were full of children with war wounds and gastroenteritis from drinking dirty water.
“I’ve met a lot of parents… They know exactly what their children need.” “They don’t have access to clean water and it’s crippling,” he said.
He described seeing a child missing part of his leg lying on the hospital floor for several hours without receiving any treatment due to a lack of medical staff.
Breaking News: Ten more hostages will be released today in exchange for 30 prisoners
According to a source close to Hamas, 10 hostages will be released today in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners, AFP news agency reports.
“Lists of 10 Israeli hostages and 30 Palestinian prisoners for the fifth day of the ceasefire were exchanged without objection,” the source told AFP.
“Some foreign workers held in Gaza will also be released.”
This is a breaking news update. Continue…
The United Nations is calling for independent investigations into all crimes committed by Israel and Hama
United Nations experts have called for a full and independent investigation into all crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in their ongoing conflict.
UN experts Morris Tidball-Binz, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, issued a joint statement in Geneva on Monday.
They said: “Independent investigators must be provided with the necessary resources, support and access they need to conduct rapid, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict.”
They called on all parties involved in the conflict to protect the civilian population, to comply with their obligations under international law and to cooperate fully with the investigation.
BREAKING: Qatar says there have been ‘minimal violations’ of ceasefire agreement as smoke reportedly rises over Gaza
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said there were “minimal violations” of the ceasefire agreement as smoke rose over the Gaza Strip.
It added that the violations did not jeopardize the overall agreement.
- According to the BBC, there were reports that Palestinian groups may have fired on Israeli soldiers without knowing about yesterday’s ceasefire extension.
- An AFP journalist also reported seeing Israeli tank fire three times in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood as Palestinians tried to take advantage of the lull to return to their homes.
- The Israeli military described the shelling as “warning shots” and said its tank fired as suspected militants approached army positions.
- At least one person was injured, the AFP reporter saw.
- Hamas and UN officials have reported that at least one person has been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire began on November 24.
US aid to Gaza is expected to arrive today
America is sending three military planes to Egypt starting today to bring vital humanitarian aid to Gaza, senior US officials said.
The relief flights carrying food, medical supplies and winter equipment are the first by the US military since the conflict began with the Hamas attack on October 7.
The flights begin a day after President Joe Biden said he would use the ceasefire extension to bring more aid to Gaza, and as international efforts continue to extend the lull in fighting that has so far killed thousands.
Once they arrive, the United Nations will then move aid from Egypt’s North Sinai region, which borders the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, to the affected Palestinian territory itself, US officials said, according to the AFP news agency.
Two more planeloads would arrive “in the coming days,” it said.
WATCH: Hamas handed over hostages to the Red Cross last night
The United Nations says the ceasefire has allowed for an increase in aid to Gaza, but more trucks are still needed
According to the United Nations, the ceasefire increased deliveries of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war.
But the 160 to 200 trucks a day are still less than half of what Gaza imported before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have risen sharply.
Juliette Toma, a spokeswoman for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, said people in shelters were asking for heavy clothing, mattresses and blankets and that some were sleeping in damaged vehicles.
“The need is overwhelming,” she told The Associated Press. “They’ve lost everything and they need everything.”
Meanwhile, the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza issued a statement saying the coastal strip needed 1,000 trucks a day to recover.
Nearly 100 released Palestinian prisoners were “never charged” by Israel, a report says
According to a report by CNN, of the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel, 98 were held without charge.
It said 119 were children and the remaining 31 were women.
In its report, CNN explains that Israel often places Palestinians in “administrative detention,” a practice that has been widely criticized.
This means that the inmate is unaware of the allegations against him and his case is not subject to trial. In other words, you will be detained without a civil trial.
According to Israeli authorities, this practice is permitted under Article 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which relates to the protection of civilians in time of war.
As of early October, 1,200 Palestinians were in administrative detention, the highest number in more than three decades, according to human rights organizations.
Arrests have increased since the Hamas attack on October 7th.
The ceasefire appears to be in effect even on the fifth day of the agreement
- Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists appeared to be sticking to a ceasefire for the fifth morning today, according to local reports.
- This came after a last-minute four-day ceasefire was extended on Monday by at least two days to allow more hostages to be released.
- Over the fence in Israel, a single column of black smoke could be seen rising over the devastated wasteland of the northern Gaza war zone, but there were no signs of jets in the sky or rumbles of explosions.
- Both sides reported some Israeli tank fire in the Sheikh Radwan district of Gaza City in the morning, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
- An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said: “After suspects approached IDF troops, an IDF tank fired a warning shot.”
Erdogan announced that the Iranian president did not appear at the summit
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has failed to show up for a summit in Ankara, something Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously announced to reporters but Tehran itself had never officially confirmed.
The confusion surrounding Raisi’s visit underscores the tensions that exist between the two regional powers despite their shared views on the Israel-Hamas war.
The Turkish presidency told AFP that Erdogan had no meetings planned for Tuesday. Later reports suggested that the summit had been postponed.
This is despite Erdogan personally announcing the Iranian president’s first official visit to Turkey on his return flight from a summit between regional leaders in Riyadh on November 11, which Raisi also attended.
The visit was also announced by Turkey’s state media and was hotly discussed on television on Monday.
But it was never officially confirmed by Raisi’s office or announced by Iranian media.
According to the country’s state news agency, a shell falls near a southern Lebanese town
- According to the Lebanese state news agency, an Israeli shell landed near the southern Lebanese town of Aita al-Shaab this morning.
- It came hours after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was extended.
- The ceasefire did not officially include Lebanon, but weeks of cross-border shelling between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, ended for the first time when the ceasefire first came into effect last Friday.
Hamas’s release of more hostages to Israel last night led to officials agreeing to an extension of their ceasefire for another two days as both parties continue to negotiate terms for the release of more prisoners.
But hopes that Hamas could eventually return all the hostages to Israel without any problems were dashed last night when it emerged that up to 40 people captured during the ruthless October 7 attacks – including the ten-month-old old Kfir Bibas – the Palestinian group are no longer in captivity.
IDF spokesman Avichay Adraee said yesterday that Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and his mother Shiri were taken to Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip and handed over to elements of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Follow the link below to read the full story…
French helicopter carrier docks in Egypt
- The French helicopter carrier Dixmude has docked in Egypt and could begin treating wounded Gazan children as soon as this week, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Tuesday.
- His arrival comes as Western powers seek to step up aid efforts.
- It is the first Western military ship to dock in Egypt since the conflict began, docking on Monday in al-Arish, 31 miles west of Gaza, now a hub for international aid to Gaza.
ISW provides information about the current status of the Israel-Hamas war
- The Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, released its latest daily update on the Israel-Hamas war overnight.
- It was reported that Hamas was preparing to resume fighting with Israel in anticipation of the end of the temporary ceasefire, and that there had been clashes between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces in the West Bank.
You can read the full update below:
Israel-Hamas hostage deal: What do we know on the fifth day of the ceasefire?
- In total, 50 Israeli hostages were released under the ceasefire agreement, with another 19 hostages released under separate agreements, including Thai workers and a Russian-Israeli dual citizen.
- In return, 150 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel.
- Hamas said it is currently drawing up lists of additional hostages to be released, although the process is reportedly being complicated by the fact that some are being held by other Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza Strip.
- John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said: “To extend the pause, Hamas has committed to releasing an additional 20 women and children.”
- Israel views the ceasefire as temporary to ensure the release of hostages and plans to continue its war. The government agreed to a war budget of 30.3 billion shekels ($8.2 billion), which will now go to parliament.
- But pressure is growing for a more permanent ceasefire and the expansion of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has claimed that Hamas has brought its latest hostage into the IDF’s line of fire, hours after receiving the terror group’s fourth batch of hostages this evening.
An IDF spokesman claimed today that Hamas had handed over 10-month-old Kfir Bibas to a separate Palestinian terror group in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Click the link below to read the full story…
UN: More than 1.8 million people displaced in Gaza Strip
According to the U.N. Office for Humanitarian Affairs, Israel’s bombardment and ground offensive have displaced more than 1.8 million people, nearly 80% of Gaza’s population, with most seeking refuge in the south.
During the ceasefire, Israeli troops prevented people from returning to the north.
Hundreds of thousands of people crowded into UN-run schools and other facilities, with many forced to sleep outside on the streets due to overcrowding. It is unclear where they would go if Israel expanded its ground operations, as Egypt has refused to accept refugees and Israel has sealed its border.
There are fears that Israel will expand its offensive if the current temporary ceasefire ends.
Freed hostage describes ‘oppressive’ conditions in Hamas captivity
The hostages freed from Gaza remained largely hidden from public view, but details of their captivity began to emerge.
In one of the first interviews with a freed hostage, 78-year-old Ruti Munder told Israel’s Channel 13 television that she was initially well fed in captivity, but that conditions worsened as shortages increased.
She said she was kept in a “suffocating” room and slept on plastic chairs with a sheet for nearly 50 days.
Yesterday we looked at what has been said so far about the conditions under which the Hamas terrorist group is holding hostages in the Gaza Strip.
Click the link below to read the full story:
Day 53 of the Israel-Hamas War: What You Need to Know
Good morning and welcome to Web’s live blog about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, which reached its 53rd day today.
The ceasefire between the two sides entered its fifth day today after an agreement was reached on Monday to extend it until the end of Wednesday.
Hamas has promised to release more hostages and delay the resumption of the war in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The terrorist group released eleven more hostages last night. However, Israel said Hamas handed over 10-month-old Kfir Bibas to a separate Palestinian terror group in the southern city of Khan Younis. You can read the whole story here.
After releasing four groups of hostages in the last four days, Hamas and other terror groups are still holding about 160 people in Gaza, out of the 240 seized in their Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war .
According to the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, almost 15,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Israel’s retaliatory operation on the ground and in the air.
Follow us for more updates…
Important updates
- Day 53 of the Israel-Hamas War: What You Need to Know
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