Gaza/Jerusalem/Paris: More foreigners came under siege on Thursday after the Hamas-run government said at least 195 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on Jabalia refugee camp. They are preparing to leave the Gaza Strip in what UN human rights officials say may be a possible war crime.
On Wednesday, at least 320 foreigners included on the original list of 500 and dozens of seriously injured foreigners entered Egypt under an agreement between Israel, Egypt, and Hamas.
Passport holders from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were evacuated.
Border officials in Gaza said border crossings would reopen on Thursday to allow more foreigners to leave. Diplomatic sources said about 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza over a period of about two weeks.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says more than 20,000 injured people remain in the Gaza Strip, even though foreign passport holders and seriously injured Palestinians first crossed the border into Egypt. Trapped.
MSF noted in a statement on Wednesday that “a number of seriously injured people” had been evacuated and said 22 international staff in Gaza were among those who left the border via the Rafah border crossing. .
“However, there are still more than 20,000 injured people in Gaza with limited access to medical care due to the siege,” the newspaper said.
It added that MSF’s Palestinian staff were still providing care in the territory and another international team was waiting to enter the territory to replace those who left “as soon as the situation allows.”
The organization also called for the evacuation of more people, as well as a ceasefire and acceptance of more significant aid.
“Those wishing to leave Gaza must be allowed without delay. They must also be granted the right to return home,” the statement said.
First Australian to leave Gaza for Egypt
Foreign Secretary Tim Watts said on Thursday that 20 Australians were among the first group of foreign nationals to leave the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip and enter Egypt through the Rafah border crossing.
At least 320 foreigners left the Palestinian enclave and crossed into Egypt on Wednesday. He became the first foreigner to benefit from the Qatar-brokered agreement.
Mr Watts said there were still 65 Australians trapped in Gaza and the government was using all available means of communication to urge them to make their way to the Rafah border as soon as possible.
“We are communicating through all available channels and providing support in any way possible,” Watts told ABC television. “It’s not always perfect. This is a war zone.”
Mr Watts said the government was not planning any further support flights at this time as there were enough commercial options available. The Australian government has conducted several repatriation flights since the conflict began on October 7.
After the Islamic extremist group crossed the border and started rampaging in southern Israel on October 7, Israel intensified its offensive against Hamas extremists and bombed the Gaza Strip from land, sea, and air as part of its Hamas clearance operation. did. Israel says Hamas has killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians. and took over 200 hostages.
The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 8,796 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in the narrow coastal enclave since October 7, including 3,648 children.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, explosions were heard in the area around al-Quds Hospital in the densely populated Gaza City early Thursday morning. Israeli authorities had previously warned the hospital to evacuate immediately, but United Nations officials said it was impossible to do so without putting patients at risk.
Two Hamas commanders killed, Israel says
Israel said attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday killed two Hamas military leaders in Jabalia, Gaza’s largest refugee camp. Israel said the group has set up terrorist infrastructure under, around and inside command centers and other “civilian buildings, deliberately endangering Gaza’s civilian population.”
A Hamas-run media office in Gaza said Thursday that two Israeli attacks on Jabalia left at least 195 Palestinians dead and 120 missing under the rubble. At least 777 people were injured, the statement said.
Palestinians sifted through the rubble on Wednesday in a frantic search for trapped victims. “This is a massacre,” one witness said.
UN human rights officials said the attack on the camp could constitute a war crime.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said on social media: “Given the large number of civilian casualties and scale of destruction caused by Israel’s airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp, this is an unwarranted attack that may amount to a war crime. There are serious concerns.” Site X.
The Israeli military announced on Wednesday that one soldier had been killed in the Gaza Strip. Fifteen people were killed on Tuesday.
The situation in the seaside enclave is becoming increasingly desperate due to Israeli attacks and a tightening blockade, amid growing international calls for a moratorium on humanitarian action. Food, fuel, drinking water and medicine are in short supply.
Dr. Fatih Abu al-Hassan, a US passport holder waiting to enter Egypt on Wednesday, described hellish conditions in Gaza with no water, food or shelter.
“We open our eyes to the dead, but we close our eyes to the dead,” he said.
Hospitals are struggling, with fuel shortages forcing the closure of Gaza’s only cancer hospital. Israel has refused to allow humanitarian aid convoys to bring in fuel, citing concerns that Hamas fighters would divert the fuel for military purposes.
Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Khudra said the Indonesian hospital’s main generator had stopped working due to a lack of fuel.
The hospital had switched to backup generators, which will no longer provide power to refrigerators and oxygen generators for bodies. “If fuel is not available in the next few days, it will inevitably lead to a catastrophe,” he said.
US diplomats leave for Israel again
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed on Thursday, scheduled to make his second visit to Israel in less than a month. The prime minister will meet with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Friday to express solidarity and reiterate the need to minimize casualties for Palestinian civilians, his spokesman said. said.
Blinken will also stop in Jordan, one of the few Arab countries that has normalized relations with Israel. Jordan withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv on Wednesday until Israel ends its attack on Gaza. Israel said it regretted Jordan’s decision.
The spokesperson said Blinken stressed the importance of protecting civilian lives in Jordan and the U.S. commitment to ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly evacuated from Gaza, which is a growing concern in the Arab world. It is said that he plans to announce it again.
He will promote talks led by Egypt and Qatar to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas.
Also on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives could pass a bill with Republican support that would provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel.
However, the bill is unlikely to pass as it faces strong opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has threatened to veto it. President Joe Biden wants a $106 billion bill that would fund not just Israel, but Ukraine, border security and humanitarian aid.