34 minutes ago
US Representative Rashida Tlaib releases voice note from a US citizen trapped in Gaza
US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan posted on her Instagram a voice memo and text message from a Palestinian American stuck in the Gaza Strip. U.S. citizen Zakaria Alarayshi lives in Dearborn, Minnesota, but was visiting family in Gaza with his wife when the conflict began.
“This is a message to President Biden. This war must stop. Women and children are dying every minute. Entire families are wiped out in their homes. We have no food, water, medicine and nowhere to go. That’s what we do.” “They’re dying slowly,” Alarayshi said in the voice recording, which CNBC was unable to verify.
“We are asking you, and we are asking our president, for an immediate ceasefire and for help to get us out of here. Nowhere in Gaza is safe. They asked us to go south, so we did. And now they are bombing our streets, our homes and our businesses,” he said. “We need immediate help. Are there any people left in the world?”
Alarayshi said he and his wife went to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, where foreign passport holders are allowed to enter Egypt in small numbers – but he told Rep. Tlaib that he and his wife were turned away at set times.
“The voices of those on the ground in Gaza need to be heard now more than ever,” Tlaib wrote in her post.
—Natasha Turak
An hour ago
The number of hostages held by Hamas currently stands at 242
The Israeli military says the number of hostage-takings by the Palestinian militant group Hamas currently stands at 242, according to a transcript of comments from an Israel Defense Forces spokesman reported by NBC News.
“So far, the families of 242 abductees have been notified. We are committed to the national mission to return everyone home,” said Daniel Hagari.
The IDF had previously said the number of hostages was being revised because families could be alerted. Hamas took hundreds of prisoners during its terrorist attack against Israel on October 7th. So far only four people have been released, with a fifth rescued by the IDF.
The remaining hostages could give Hamas a certain negotiating advantage in the event of an Israeli ground attack on the Gaza Strip, analysts have said in the past.
— Ruxandra Iordache
An hour ago
UNICEF condemns “massacre” in Jabalia refugee camp
UNICEF on Thursday condemned the impact on civilians of an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp earlier this week.
“The images of carnage emerging from Jabaliya camp in the Gaza Strip following the attacks yesterday and today are horrific and appalling. According to reports, many children are among the victims.” UNICEF announced this on social media. The organization had previously called for a ceasefire.
Earlier this week, Israel announced that it had attacked the Jabalia refugee camp in an operation that killed a senior Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari. A local hospital said dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured in the offensive.
CNBC could not independently verify the numbers.
— Ruxandra Iordache
An hour ago
Egypt said 7,000 people should leave Gaza
Civilians leaving Gaza show their documents as Palestinians and foreigners with dual nationality prepare to cross the Rafah border point with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on November 2, 2023.
Mohammed Abed | AFP | Getty Images
According to NBC News, Egypt is working to evacuate around 7,000 people from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing, the country’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry statement said civilians from more than 60 countries were allowed to pass.
Evacuations of foreign nationals from the Gaza Strip began on Wednesday for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, following an agreement between Israel, Hamas and Egypt brokered by Qatar in coordination with the United States
Civilians in the heavily bombed Gaza Strip face severe shortages of fuel, food, water, electricity and medical equipment.
— Ruxandra Iordache
2 hours ago
The Israeli military said it tried to evacuate foreign nationals from the Gaza Strip but was prevented from doing so by Hamas
The Israeli military said it had made two attempts to evacuate international civilians from the Gaza Strip since the start of the conflict with Hamas, but was prevented from continuing the operation by the Palestinian militant group.
“We made two attempts in the past during the war, in the initial phase and then after a week, to remove international citizens, particularly Americans, from the Gaza Strip. Both attempts were stopped by Hamas,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Jonathan Conricus said said in a TV interview with NEWSMAXand added that Hamas was “holding on in a way.” [these civilians] Hostage.”
CNBC was unable to verify the claim.
The Rafah crossing, which connects the Gaza border with Egypt, is the only crossing not controlled by Israel.
Foreign nationals were able to leave the Gaza Strip and enter Egypt for the first time since the start of the war on Wednesday under a deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas brokered by Qatar in coordination with the United States.
“We understand that the day after Hamas, Egypt will play a crucial role when we all need to find a solution for the civilians left behind in the Gaza Strip,” Conricus said.
— Ruxandra Iordache
4 hours ago
The Indonesian hospital’s main power generator has stopped working
The Ministry of Health in Gaza told NBC News that the Indonesian hospital’s main power generator in the area stopped working, putting hundreds of lives at risk.
The report comes after a Palestinian Health Ministry official warned on Wednesday that the Al-Shifa medical complex and the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza would run out of fuel for generators in a few hours.
—Christine Wang
3 hours ago
The Jabalia refugee camp is a “Hamas stronghold,” says an IDF spokesman
The Israeli army spokesman for international media, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus.
Jalaa Marey | Afp | Getty Images
The Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, which was attacked by Israel earlier this week, “is a Hamas stronghold,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said in an MSNBC television interview.
“Really think about hotbeds of terrorist activity where terrorists have had a really long time to establish themselves in the area and among the civilian population, which is Jabalia,” said IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus.
Israel admitted carrying out an airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp, killing dozens of people and wounding hundreds, according to a local hospital. The Israeli military has questioned the figures, saying they are published by Hamas-run entities, but says it does not provide any information on the death toll.
Israel says the operation in the Jabalia refugee camp was necessary to target a senior Hamas commander, Ibrahim Biari, whom the IDF says it killed in the attack.
CNBC could not independently verify the numbers and developments on the ground.
— Ruxandra Iordache
4 hours ago
There was an exchange of fire between Israel and Lebanon overnight
The Israeli military used Lebanese rockets overnight, the Israel Defense Forces said on Telegram overnight.
The IDF said Lebanon fired a surface-to-air missile at an Israeli drone and that the IDF retaliated against the “terror cell” that fired the projectile.
Additional Lebanese launches were identified in the Har Dov and Mount Hermon areas, striking in open terrain, the IDF said.
Since the start of the conflict with the Palestinian Hamas, Israel has been engaged in a shootout with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Hezbollah has repeatedly reiterated its solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Israel accuses Tehran of orchestrating a spate of attacks on its territory by proxies such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Yemen’s Houthis. Iran has repeatedly denied involvement in the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.
CNBC could not independently verify the report.
— Ruxandra Iordache
4 hours ago
Reporters Without Borders files war crimes charges over journalists’ deaths in Gaza
Reporters Without Borders filed a war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court over journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas war. The organization said its complaint concerns eight Palestinian journalists and one Israeli journalist.
RSF said the Palestinian journalists in Gaza were killed in an “indiscriminate attack.”
“Even if these journalists were victims of attacks on legitimate military targets, as the Israeli authorities claim, the attacks nevertheless clearly caused excessive and disproportionate harm to the civilian population and still constitute a war crime within the meaning of this article,” the organization said.
RSF noted that the Israeli journalist was killed on October 7 while reporting on an attack on his kibbutz by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. It said his death was “the intentional killing of a person protected by the Geneva Conventions, which constitutes a war crime.”
The organization also called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the deaths of all journalists killed since the start of the war, noting that this is the third complaint of war crimes against Palestinian journalists in Gaza since 2018.
—Christine Wang
4 hours ago
According to Doctors Without Borders, 20,000 people are still injured in the Gaza Strip
Over 20,000 people in the Gaza Strip remain injured and have limited access to medical care due to the ongoing bombardment and siege of the Gaza Strip, Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders) said on Wednesday.
Doctors Without Borders urged a ceasefire, saying that a new team of its international members was ready to enter the Gaza Strip as soon as possible to support medical assistance on the ground and that Palestinian personnel would continue their work in the Gaza areas continue.
“Around two million Palestinians are still trapped under fire in the Gaza Strip, including 300 Palestinian Doctors Without Borders and their families,” it said.
In a separate video address On Wednesday, Dr. Christos Christou, President of MSF International: “What medical staff can do is just a drop in the ocean given the immense needs… Our teams still working in Gaza are exhausted and scared.”
He urged: “As a doctor and surgeon, I implore: give Gaza the ceasefire they need now, so that medicine can be delivered and they can receive medical care.”
The health system in the Gaza Strip has been severely affected by a lack of fuel and electricity supplies as well as a lack of medical resources since the siege began in early October.
— Ruxandra Iordache
5 hours ago
Several countries announce the evacuation of their citizens from Gaza
Several countries have announced the evacuation of the first group of their citizens from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said 20 Australians and three people who were either permanent residents or immediate family members of a citizen were evacuated through the border crossing on Wednesday. But Australian Deputy Foreign Minister Tim Watts said 65 citizens, residents and close relatives still needed to be evacuated.
“We continue to urge that they be able to cross the Rafah border crossing as quickly as possible,” Watts said.
The Bulgarian government also announced that 36 Bulgarian citizens and their family members had successfully left Gaza.
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel said the evacuation through the Rafah crossing was carried out “in a complex and extremely dynamic situation” and that all Bulgarian nationals in the first possible group allowed to leave Gaza were “in good condition.”
Earlier on Wednesday, France, the United Kingdom and the United States announced that the first of their citizens were able to evacuate Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
—Associated Press
6 hours ago
Blinken travels to Tel Aviv and Amman
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Tel Aviv (Israel) and Amman (Jordan) in the coming days.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves goodbye before departing from the airport in Amman on October 13, 2023, en route to Qatar. Blinken began a tour of Arab capitals on Oct. 12 to build pressure on Hamas as Israel prepares what is likely to be a massive offensive on the Gaza Strip following the militants’ attacks. (Photo by Jacquelyn Martin / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JACQUELYN MARTIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Jacquelyn Martin | AFP | Getty Images
The ministry said the minister would reaffirm U.S. support for Israel and discuss efforts to protect U.S. citizens, release hostages, increase aid to the Gaza Strip and prevent the conflict from spreading.
Blinken is also expected to discuss resuming essential services in Jordan and “ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced from Gaza.” The ministry said he would also speak about efforts to “reduce regional tensions and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to create the necessary conditions for lasting and sustainable peace in the Middle East, including the establishment of a Palestinian state.” .”
—Christine Wang
11 hours ago
Biden says there should be a humanitarian “pause” in the war between Israel and Hamas
U.S. President Joe Biden holds an event on American pension economics in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on October 31, 2023.
Leah Millis | Portal
US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he believes there needs to be a humanitarian “pause” in the Israel-Hamas war to get “prisoners out”.
Biden was speaking at a fundraiser for his 2024 re-election campaign when a protester interrupted him and called for a ceasefire.
“I think we need a break,” Biden replied. “A break means giving yourself time to get the prisoners out.”
Israeli ground forces have advanced into Gaza City in heavy fighting with militants following Hamas’ killing of about 1,400 Israelis on October 7.
– Associated Press
15 hours ago
The most senior UN official to visit Gaza calls for a humanitarian pause and fuel
UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini visits the UNRWA building in Rafah, Gaza, and makes statements to members of the press on November 1, 2023.
Hani Alshaer | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Relief (UNRWA), visited civilians and humanitarian workers in Gaza.
“Philippe is the highest-ranking official admitted to Gaza since the start of the war,” U.N. Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during a daily news conference.
“He said the staff told him that Gaza urgently needed fuel and that a humanitarian pause was also needed more than ever,” Dujarric said.
Dujarric added that UNRWA had lost 70 colleagues since hostilities began on October 7.
– Amanda Macias
5 hours ago