DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Nearly three dozen trucks entered Gaza on Sunday in the largest aid convoy since the war between Israel and Hamas began, but humanitarian workers said the aid was still badly needed after thousands broke into warehouses to grab flour. and basic hygiene products.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the death toll among Palestinians passed 8,000, mostly women and minors, as Israeli tanks and infantry pursued what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the “second stage” of the war sparked by Hamas’ brutal incursion on October 7. .
The number of casualties is unprecedented in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
More than 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during the initial attack.
Communications were restored to most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents Sunday after Israeli bombardment that residents described as the heaviest of the war knocked out phone and internet service late Friday.
Israel only allowed a small amount of aid to enter. On Sunday, 33 trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered the only border crossing from Egypt, a spokesman at the Rafah crossing, Wael Abo Omar, told the Associated Press.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said the death toll among Palestinians exceeded 8,000, mostly women and minors.AP Nearly three dozen trucks entered Gaza on Sunday in the largest aid convoy yet.AP/Abed Khaled
After visiting the Rafah crossing, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court called the civilian suffering “profound” and said he could not enter Gaza. “This is the most tragic day,” said Karim Khan, whose court has been investigating the actions of the Israeli and Palestinian authorities since 2014.
Khan called on Israel to respect international law but stopped short of accusing it of war crimes.
He called the Hamas attack on October 7 a serious violation of international humanitarian law. “The burden rests on those who aim the gun, missile or rocket,” he said.
Israel’s military said Sunday it had struck more than 450 militant targets in the past 24 hours, including Hamas command centers and anti-tank missile launcher positions.
A huge plume of smoke rose over Gaza City. Military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said dozens of militants were killed.
Palestinians mourn their relatives who died in the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, at a mortuary in Khan Younis, Sunday, Oct. 29. 2023. AP/Fatima Shbair Israel has allowed a small set of aid to enter. On Sunday 33 trucks carrying water, food and medicine entered the only border crossing from Egypt.AP/Hatem Ali Communications were restored to most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents Sunday.AP
Hagari also blamed the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yehiya Sinwar, for bringing destruction on his people with the Oct. 7 attack. “We will pursue it until we get it,” he said.
The military wing of Hamas said its militants were fighting Israeli forces that entered the northwestern Gaza Strip with small arms and anti-tank missiles. Palestinian militants continue to launch rockets into Israel.
The destruction of aid warehouses is “a worrying sign that civil order is beginning to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza,” said Thomas White, the Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, known as UNRWA. “People are scared, frustrated and desperate.”
UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma said people broke into four facilities on Saturday. He said the warehouse did not contain any fuel, which has been in short supply since Israel cut off all shipments. Israel says Hamas will use it for military purposes.
One warehouse holds 80 tons of food, the UN World Food Program says.
More than 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during the initial attack. AP/ Bernat Armangue
It emphasized that at least 40 of its trucks have to cross into Gaza every day just to meet the growing food needs.
President Joe Biden in a call with Netanyahu on Sunday “underscored the need to immediately and significantly increase the flow of humanitarian aid to meet the needs of civilians in Gaza,” the US said.
Israeli authorities say they will soon allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
How celebrities, schools and businesses responded to Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel
But the civil affairs chief of COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, did not provide details on how much aid would be provided.
Elad Goren also said Israel had opened two water channels in southern Gaza in the past week. AP cannot independently verify that any line is working.
The military wing of Hamas said its militants were fighting Israeli forces that entered the northwestern Gaza Strip with small arms and anti-tank missiles. AP Israeli authorities say they will soon allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.AP
Meanwhile, overcrowded hospitals in Gaza are increasingly threatened.
Residents living near Shifa Hospital, the region’s largest, said overnight Israeli airstrikes hit near a complex where tens of thousands of civilians were taking shelter.
Israel has accused Hamas of having a secret command post under the hospital but has not provided much evidence. Hamas denies the allegations.
“Getting to the hospital is becoming more and more difficult,” Mahmoud al-Sawah, who is sheltering in the hospital, said by phone. “It looks like they want to cut off the area.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said nearby Israeli airstrikes damaged another part of a hospital in Gaza after it received two calls from Israeli authorities on Sunday ordering it to evacuate. Several windows were blown out, and the room was covered in debris. Rescue services said the airstrikes had hit nearly 50 meters (yards) from Al-Quds Hospital where 14,000 people were sheltering.
Israel ordered the hospital to evacuate more than a week ago, but it and other medical facilities have refused, saying evacuation would mean death for patients on ventilators.
“Under no circumstances should a hospital be bombed,” the director general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Robert Mardini, told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
