Israeli airstrikes hit residential buildings in a refugee camp near Gaza City for the second straight day, leaving many dead and injured, the Hamas-led government said. The consequences of Wednesday’s strikes were initially unknown.
Meanwhile, dozens of people with foreign passports entered the Rafah border crossing from Gaza to Egypt. It appeared to be the first time since the Israel-Hamas war began more than three weeks ago that foreign passport holders were allowed to leave the besieged area.
Communications and internet services have been gradually restored after the second major cut in five days, according to Paltel, the largest telecommunications provider. Humanitarian aid organizations have warned that such power outages are significantly impacting their work in the already dire situation in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, the Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,805. In the occupied West Bank, 130 Palestinians have been killed by violence and Israeli raids.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, most of them civilians killed in Hamas’s first rampage on October 7 that began the fighting. In addition, around 240 hostages were brought from Israel to Gaza by the militant group. One of the prisoners, an Israeli soldier, was rescued during a special operation.
At the moment:
Here’s what’s happening in the recent war between Israel and Hamas:
SEVERAL US CITIZENS AMONG FOREIGN NATIONALS WHO LEFT GAZA, STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS
WASHINGTON – The State Department has confirmed that a number of U.S. citizens held captive in Gaza have entered Egypt following an agreement allowing foreigners to leave the enclave.
“An initial group of foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, departed Gaza via Rafah today, and we expect the departure of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to continue over the next few days,” said ministry spokesman Matthew Miller.
He declined to say how many Americans made it to Egypt on Wednesday, but said consular officials were there to help them.
About 400 American citizens in Gaza have told the State Department they want to leave the area, and U.S. officials say they, along with family members, are eyeing about 1,000 people they want to get out, Miller said.
“Over the past 24 hours, we have notified U.S. citizens and their family members, as well as family members with whom we are in contact, that they will be assigned specific departure dates. We have asked them to continue to monitor their email regularly over the next 24 to 72 hours for specific instructions on how to exit,” Miller said.
UN Secretary-General condemns civilian killings and says he is appalled by the escalation of violence
UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “is appalled by the escalating violence in Gaza,” including the killing of Palestinians by Israeli airstrikes in the Jabaliya refugee camp on Tuesday and Wednesday, his spokesman says.
“He condemns in the strongest terms any killing of civilians,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday.
Dujarric said: “The Secretary-General reiterates that all parties must comply with international and humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and caution.”
The UN chief also reiterated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages kidnapped by Hamas from Israel during its surprise attacks on October 7, Dujarric said. And he again called for “the provision of vital humanitarian assistance at the scale necessary to meet the growing needs of the Palestinian population.”
5 FRENCH CITIZENS AMONG THOSE LEAVING GAZA THROUGH THE RAFAH CROSSING
PARIS – Five French citizens were among dozens of seriously injured people who were able to leave the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday, the French Foreign Ministry said. A team from the French Embassy in Egypt was waiting for the group and France thanked the Egyptian authorities for facilitating their departure.
“We reiterate our call to protect all civilians in Gaza,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said last month that several dozen French citizens and their families were in the Gaza Strip – including local residents and people visiting family or providing humanitarian assistance. France has been working for weeks to get its citizens out of the crisis. Nine French nationals remain missing and are believed to be held hostage by Hamas militants.
French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated on Wednesday during a visit to Kazakhstan the need to protect civilians caught up in the war between Israel and Hamas, which has killed thousands, including 1,400 Israelis and more than 8,700 Palestinians.
“We are saying that the way you protect yourself should be in accordance with international law… You must attack and punish the terrorist group Hamas, (but) you must protect civilians in your counterattack,” Macron said.
His remarks to students in Astana were in response to a question and were directed at Israel.
JEWISH HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION CRITICIZES BOLIVIA FOR STOPPING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A Jewish human rights organization has criticized Chile and Colombia for recalling their ambassadors to Israel, as well as Bolivia for cutting diplomatic ties with Israel in protest against the ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center noted on Wednesday that Bolivia never mentioned the October 7 Hamas attack against Israel in its decision to cut diplomatic relations with Israel, and said the Andean country’s decision on Tuesday was consistent with Bolivia’s partnership have to do with Iran.
“Bolivia’s alliance with Iran is becoming clearer every day, considering that the separation is not due to the true interests of the Bolivian people,” said Ariel Gelblung, the director of the Center for Latin America.
The center described the decision by the governments of Colombia and Chile to recall their ambassadors on Tuesday evening as “a clearly coordinated action.”
“Both leaders have always been hostile to Israel and both have had diplomatic disagreements with representatives of the Jewish state in the past,” the organization said.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has devoted much of his account on X, formerly Twitter, to posting and retweeting criticism of Israel.
“The head of state who is committing this genocide is a criminal against humanity,” Petro wrote late Tuesday.
Bolivia, Chile and Colombia are all led by left-wing governments.
CYPRIOT SHIPS LOADED WITH HUMANITARIAN AID GO TO GAZA
NICOSIA, Cyprus – Cyprus’ government spokesman says that as part of a Cypriot initiative for the continuous flow of humanitarian aid from Cyprus to Gaza, ships will go directly to the enclave, where United Nations staff will receive them for distribution.
Spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis said on Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “saw the initiative in a positive light” during a lengthy telephone conversation with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday evening.
Cyprus is working with other European Union member states and Arab countries to work out the logistics of delivering aid to Gaza as soon as local conditions permit.
Ships loaded with medical supplies, food and clothing will leave Cyprus’ main port of Limassol after being screened to ensure nothing being transported can be used as a weapon against Israel.
HEAD OF UN AGENCY FOR PALESTINIAN REFUGEES TRAVELS TO Gaza, meets with staff and others
CAIRO – Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, traveled to Gaza on Wednesday, where he met with Palestinian communities and other UNRWA colleagues working in the territory.
He said he was shocked by the scale of humanitarian needs in Gaza and called for increased aid to the Strip’s 2.3 million residents.
“I was shocked that everyone there was asking for food and water… I have never seen anything like that in Gaza,” he said in his comments to reporters.
Lazzarini is the highest-ranking UN official to enter the besieged enclave since the conflict erupted on October 7.
4 ITALIAN CITIZENS LEAVE THE Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing
ROME – Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani says a handful of Italian citizens have left the Gaza Strip.
“I have just spoken to the first four Italians who left the Gaza Strip,” Tajani wrote on the social media platform X. “They are tired but in good condition, supported by the Italian consul in Cairo.” We will continue work to get everyone else out.”
Tajani said last week that there were 14 Italians in the Gaza Strip – seven with Italian citizenship and seven with dual Italian citizenship.
Palestinians shot and killed in West Bank, rights group says
JERUSALEM – A 65-year-old Palestinian father with intellectual disabilities was killed by a single shot in the head in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday as Israeli forces operated nearby, according to an Israeli human rights group that had footage of the shooting.
The video, taken from a surveillance camera in the crisis town of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank, shows a Palestinian – identified by human rights group B’Tselem as Majdi Awad – walking down an alley early in the morning before suddenly fainting and being shot and killed falls to the ground.
B’Tselem spokesman Roy Yellin said it was not yet clear whether the man was shot by Israeli forces, but that the incident occurred just 100 meters (328.08 feet) from an area where Israeli forces were stationed . Awad was pronounced dead upon arrival at a nearby hospital and identified by his family members, Yellin said, adding that B’Tselem’s preliminary investigation revealed that Awad was likely shot by a sniper.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, 130 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank either by Israeli forces or by Jewish settlers. UN monitors say it is the deadliest period on record in the area.
The military did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the video or to confirm that soldiers had been operating in Tulkarem on Wednesday morning.
The most important US ally Jordan recalls its ambassador to Israel
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan, a key U.S. ally, said Wednesday it had recalled its ambassador to Israel and told the Israeli ambassador to stay away from the country in protest over the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.
Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ayman al-Safadi, who is also foreign minister, said the ambassadors’ return was in the context of Israel “ending its war on Gaza… and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing.”
In 1994, Jordan became the second Arab country after Egypt to sign a peace agreement with Israel.
ISRAELI FORCES RAID West Bank refugee camp, killing three Palestinians
Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank early Wednesday, killing three Palestinians, wounding scores of others and arresting a senior Palestinian official, Palestinian health and Israeli military officials said.
The raid, which the military said was intended to stamp out militancy, involved a drone strike – a once rare but now increasingly common method of attack in the West Bank. According to the military, the attack targeted and hit several militants. Soldiers and militants exchanged fire in the camp. The military said soldiers found and destroyed an underground shaft full of ammunition.
During the nighttime raid, soldiers arrested Ata Abu Rmeileh, Jenin’s highest-ranking Fatah official. Fatah is the party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas’s main rival. The military said Rmeileh, who was arrested along with his son, was involved in promoting militancy in the region. The Israeli military arrested 70 Palestinians overnight, bringing the total number of Palestinians arrested since the start of the war to 1,830, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.
Videos shared on social media showed lines of Israeli military vehicles streaming into the city, Israeli bulldozers driving through the camp’s narrow streets and a puddle of blood on the floor of a large hospital.
Violence in the West Bank has increased since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli troops and settlers have killed 125 Palestinians there since then.