The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that they cannot provide Security too the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians “seeking refuge under a UN flag.” More than 50 U.N. facilities have been “affected” by the conflict, including “five direct hits,” and 38 people have died in U.N. shelters, Thomas White, director of UNRWA affairs, said on Friday, adding: “Let “Let us be clear that there is currently no safe place in Gaza.”
UNRWA is “virtually out of business,” the UN humanitarian chief said on Friday. as he paid tribute to at least 72 UNRWA workers killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7. In a briefing to UN member states in New York, Martin Griffiths said what has unfolded over the last 26 days of the conflict is “nothing short of… a plague on our collective conscience.”
Israeli forces have surrounded Gaza City, attacking Hamas infrastructure and destroying tunnels Used by militants for attacks, the Israeli military said on Friday. The airstrikes continued alongside what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as an intensifying ground offensive in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the second phase of the war.
Israel will continue its offensive in Gaza “with full force” and reject any temporary ceasefire This does not include the release of more than 240 hostages held by Hamas, Benjamin Netanyahu said, rejecting US calls for a pause in the fighting. “I have made it clear that we are continuing with full force and that Israel rejects a temporary ceasefire that does not include the release of our hostages,” the Israeli prime minister said on Friday.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken flew to Israel on Friday to urge the Israeli prime minister to temporarily stop its military offensive to enable aid deliveries to the area. The top US diplomat put the greatest pressure yet on the Israeli government to rethink its strategy in Gaza. He called for local humanitarian pauses and stressed that Israel cannot achieve long-term security through military means alone.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. They say “crimes against humanity” are being committed in Gaza. “There is no concept that can explain or excuse the brutality we have experienced since October 7,” Erdogan said during a summit of Turkish states in the Kazakh capital Astana.
France reacted with “astonishment” and “incomprehension” after reporting an Israeli airstrike the Institut Français in Gaza and that the Gaza office of the Agence France-Presse news agency (AFP) was also affected. AFP said its office in Gaza City suffered significant damage in an attack on the building on Thursday. No injuries were reported.
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said his powerful militia was engaged in cross-border fighting with Israel and threatened further “realistic escalation.” Hassan Nasrallah did not announce that Hezbollah had fully joined the war between Israel and Hamas, but warned that fighting on the Lebanese-Israeli border would not be limited to the previous levels. Hezbollah should not try to exploit the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the White House said.
Israeli forces killed six Palestinians in raids across the West Bank on Friday. The Palestinian Health Ministry said this as violence in the occupied territories increased alongside the Gaza war. The Israeli army said its forces would “operate against Hamas” across the West Bank, with operations in Jenin and the northern city of Nablus.
The US has confirmed for the first time that it is flying unarmed surveillance drones over Gaza. “The US is introducing unarmed drones to support hostage rescue efforts [unmanned aerial vehicle] We have conducted flights over Gaza and provided advice and assistance to our Israeli partner in the recovery of their hostages,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said on Friday.
The first people in a group of around 100 Britons due to leave Gaza on Friday have made the crossing to Egypt. amid concerns about whether individuals in the northern Palestinian territory will make it to the southern Rafah border crossing. As of Friday, there were 127 people on the British list to be evacuated to Egypt since the border crossing opened on Wednesday. Among the Brits who were able to leave Gaza were the in-laws of Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf. Hundreds of British nationals are believed to remain trapped in the Gaza Strip.
According to the White House, 100 American citizens and family members left the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Another large group of Americans is expected to leave Gaza on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
On Friday, 34 French citizens were evacuated from the Gaza Strip. according to the French Foreign Ministry.
Doctors and aid workers in Gaza say they have been subjected to a “humanitarian tragedy” by the international community. as they “fight for survival” after nearly four weeks of war between Israel and Hamas.
Thousands of Palestinian workers from Gaza who were stranded in Israel when war broke out last month have been deported Returns to the war-torn Strip after being expelled by the Israeli government. The U.N. human rights office said it was “deeply concerned” about the deportations.
Rishi Sunak has described pro-Palestinian protests planned in London on Armistice Day as “provocative and disrespectful”. The British prime minister’s intervention on Friday came as two women pictured at a pro-Palestinian march in London carrying photos of paragliders were charged with terrorism offences.
Five people were arrested during a pro-Palestinian sit-in at King’s Cross station in London after the demonstration was banned. On Friday evening, numerous people could still be seen outside King’s Cross station on social media.
The Jewish population in Britain has experienced the worst wave of hate incidents in modern times According to anti-Semitism experts, more than 1,000 cases have been recorded in Israel following the Hamas massacres.