Palestinian group, Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, has announced the start of military the operation Al-Aqsa Flood against Israel. Thousands of rockets have been fired from the blockaded enclave towards the occupied territories as far away as Tel Aviv, killing over 1,400 Israelis, including both military and settlers. More than 11,200 Palestinians have been so far killed in an exchange of fire between the two sides.
At least 11,500 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict escalated on October 7, Al Jazeera reported, citing the enclave’s government.
More than 29,000 people have suffered wounds in Gaza.
Heavy rainfall has descended on the besieged Gaza Strip, causing flooding in some areas and miserable conditions for displaced Palestinians.
In southern Gaza, where many displaced Palestinians are now living in temporary accomodation, the rain has seeped through their tents, soaking belongings and causing makeshift beds to become damp.
People are also struggling to stay warm in the cold conditions, with little to no source of heating due to the cutting of electricity and scarce levels of fuel.
The death toll of Palestinians killed by an Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm has risen to seven, according to medics.
Israeli forces used snipers, bulldozers and drones in an operation that lasted over 12 hours.
At least 32 Palestinians have been killed in Tulkarm since 7 October, and 195 across the whole of the occupied West Bank.
The United Nations says that infrastructure servicing running water and waste management in southern Gaza has ceased to function.
“Due to lack of fuel, public sewage pumping stations, 60 water wells in the south, the two main desalination plants in Rafah and the Middle Area, the two main sewage pumps in the south, and the Rafah wastewater treatment plant have all ceased operations,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported, citing the organisation’s Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.
“Coupled with the shutdown of municipal sanitation work, this is posing a serious threat to public health, increasing the risk of water contamination and the outbreak of diseases,” it added.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has announced all the population of Gaza is currently suffering from food insecurity due to relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza.
“At this point, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) considers all the civilian population in Gaza to be food insecure,” QU Dongyu, director-general of the UN agency, said in a statement.
He also stated that before the current escalation, “close to 60% of households in Gaza were considered food insecure or vulnerable to food insecurity.”
Dongyu added that the FAO “is fully committed to addressing the pressing humanitarian needs of the population in the Gaza Strip,” and stressed that an “immediate cease-fire” is “a prerequisite for food security, and the right to food is a basic human right.”
The director of Gaza’s largest hospital has confirmed 179 people have been buried in a “mass grave” in the complex.
“We were forced to bury them in a mass grave,” said al-Shifa Hospital Director Mohammad Abu Salmiya.
He added that seven babies and 29 intensive care patients are among those buried.
More than one million civilians could have left northern Gaza since the start of Israel’s ground operations, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Peter Lerner said at a briefing.
“Over the different periods of time, I can say that we’ve had quite a substantial success with several hundreds of thousands – some estimate that over a million – people have evacuated from northern areas and headed down south, which, of course, gives the ground operations the ability to maneuver and identify the enemy wherever they are hiding,” he pointed out.
However, according to Lerner, distinguishing between terrorists and civilians is “a huge challenge.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has destroyed 15,000 targets since the start of its ground operations in the Gaza Strip, IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner said at a briefing.
“I can report that as we move into day 38, the IDF has had some substantial successes, including destroying some 15,000 targets, including 300 tunnel shafts,” he specified.
According to Lerner, IDF forces are also seeking out terrorist infrastructure, including places where members of the Hamas movement “are hiding out, where they are colluding, where they are planning their next attack.”
Israel’s controversial Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he supports “voluntary migration” of Palestinians in Gaza, calling it the “right humanitarian solution.”
On Monday, lawmakers Danny Danon, former ambassador to the UN, and Ram Ben-Barak, former deputy director of the Mossad, published a comment piece in the Wall Street Journal suggesting moving some people of Gaza to nations that will accept them.
“I welcome the initiative of members of Knesset Ram Ben-Barak and Danny Danon on the voluntary immigration of Gaza Arabs to the countries of the world. This is the right humanitarian solution for the residents of Gaza and the entire region,” Smotrich wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
“The reception of refugees by the countries of the world that really want their best interests, with the support and generous financial assistance of the international community, and within the state of Israel is the only solution that will bring to the end of the suffering and pain of Jews and Arabs alike.”
In March, Smotrich received a backlash after saying the Palestinian people are “an invention” of the past century, with Palestinian officials blasting his comments as proof of the “racist” outlook of Israel’s far-right government.
Street fighting in Gaza City is preventing emergency workers from responding to calls for help from people trapped under rubble after Israeli bombardments, according to a UN report.
People who can no longer get out of their homes and those who need ambulances for the wounded often wait in vain, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported, citing the Palestinian Red Cross.
The emergency numbers of the Red Cross had received hundreds of calls from desperate people. There is a lack of fuel for the ambulances and fighting near the hospitals was so intense that rescue teams were unable to mobilise, the report added.
The Israeli military confirmed two more soldiers have been killed in its ground-invasion of the Gaza Strip, bringing its death toll to 46.
Staff Sergeant Roee Marom, 21, a squad commander in the 906 Battalion; and Major Raz Abulafia, 27, of the 6863 Battalion, were killed fighting in Gaza, a military spokesperson confirmed Tuesday morning.
Israel and Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam brigades, have been engaging in fierce urban combat around Gaza City.
On Tuesday, Hamas released a video showing its fighters hiding in bombed-out buildings as they fired on Israeli tanks and soldiers with Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG’s) and bazookas.
At least nine Palestinians, including children, have been killed and several more injured by Israeli air strikes on Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Israeli raids hit two homes belonging to the Al-Agha and Abu Gemayzeh families, according to Palestinian news agency, Wafa news.
The Gaza Strip is facing an imminent, complete halt of communications and internet services by Thursday, the Palestinian telecommunication minister has stated.
The expected interruption is due to the depletion of fuel supplies and is expected to exacerbate the ongoing humanitarian crisis by hindering Palestinians’ ability to reach emergency, relief and rescue services, according to Ishaq Sidr, the minister of telecommunications and information technology.
An outage could prevent Civil Defense and Red Crescent teams from coordinating a response to emergency sites, Sidr said at a news conference from the occupied West Bank.
Any interruption between the crews of these groups on the ground and their centers of communication “may cause the inability to direct these crews to distress sites, which means the loss of many lives, and deliberately depriving our people in Gaza of their right to communicate, especially in light of the displacement and continuous bombing,” Sidr added.
The minister characterized these developments as a “violation of international law and basic human rights.”
Five Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military during a large-scale raid on Tulkarm refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to local media.
Saeed Suleiman Youssef Abu Tahoun, 24, Jihad Khaled Muqbil Ghanem, 27, and Musab Omar Ahmed Al-Ghoul, 21, were killed by an Israeli drone strike, according to local media.
Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said Mahmoud Ali Hadayda, 25, and Hazem al-Hosary, 28 were both shot by Israeli soldiers. They were rushed to Martyr Thabet Thabet Government Hospital for treatment where they died of their wounds.
Israeli forces raided homes throughout the camp and initially prevented ambulances from entering.
Israeli troops were supported by rooftop snipers, a reconnaissance plane and military bulldozer. Heaving fighting was reported between Palestinian fighters and the Israeli military, according to local media
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a Palestinian armed group, announced it damaged 3 Israeli military vehicles and targeted a military bulldozer with an explosive device amid the fighting. The group claimed to have inflicted casualties amongst the Israeli troops.
Separately, local media reported that Mohammad Abd al-Majid al-Halayqa, died after being shot by the near the Beit Aynoun intersection in Hebron.
Israeli air raids on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza killed dozens of Palestinians on Monday evening, Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported.
At least 31 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli attack, which also left dozens injured, said the agency.
It added that the Israeli airstrikes targeted 12 homes in a densely populated area near the Jabalia Services Club in the camp for Palestinian refugees.
At least 102 United Nations staff members have been killed in Gaza since the war began, a UN aid agency operating in the enclave confirmed Monday.
“In the last 24 hours, one UNRWA staff member was killed with her family in the north of the Gaza Strip due to strikes,” bringing the death toll to more than 100, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said in a statement.
At least 27 staff members have also been injured since the start of the war, it said.
“This is the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history of the United Nations,” UNRWA added.
United Nations offices around the world lowered their flags to half-mast on Monday and all UN staff held a moment of silence to mourn and honor their colleagues who lost their lives in Gaza, according to the statement.
The United Nations on Monday voiced concern over the “really dire” situation in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the humanitarian disaster there is taking place in “plain sight”.
“The situation is really, really dire. We’re extremely concerned about what may happen over the next few days,” Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at his daily press briefing.
“This is not happening behind closed doors. This is happening in plain sight, this humanitarian disaster, and we need all the help that we can get,” he stated.
Dujarric added that the UN has been taking the initiative to remain side by side with the people of Gaza.
“We’re continuing to deliver whatever humanitarian aid we can as safely as possible. This is one of the reasons we have and will continue to push for humanitarian cease-fire,” he continued.
In a press briefing on the Gaza war, US national security advisor Jake Sullivan stated: “I cannot look you in the eye and tell you how many of those hostages are still alive.”
Among the 239 hostages being held in Gaza, there are also nine Americans.
The group did not give an exact number of “executions” but announced it received hundreds of reports.
The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory added there were reports that Palestinians were targeted by live bullets and sometimes artillery in premeditated killings during their attempt to flee at the request of the Israeli army to the area south of Wadi Gaza.
The Observatory received reports from displaced people reporting killings at military checkpoints set up by the Israeli army as part of its designation of a “safe corridor” along the main traffic artery, Salah al-Din Road, between 9:00 and 16:00 local time during the day.
The group has called on the United Nations and the International Criminal Court to open an independent investigation into the matter.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday doubled down on Israel’s war against Hamas, vowing that Israel will see the “war to the end.”
“This is neither an ‘operation’ nor a ’round’ but a war to the end. It is important to me that you know this. This is not lip service, but from the heart and mind. If we do not finish them, it will come back,” Netanyahu told soldiers of Israel’s Caracal Battalion during a visit.
Netanyahu on Sunday refused to answer whether he would take responsibility for failing to prevent the October 7 attack on Israel, saying that there would be time for such “difficult” questions once the war is over.
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Netanyahu acknowledged that it is “a question that needs to be asked,” but that the country for now needs to unite around the goal of defeating Hamas – the militant group that controls Gaza and launched the assault on Israel.
“We’re going to answer all these questions,” the prime minister continued, adding that, “Right now, I think what we have to do is unite the country for one purpose; to achieve victory.”
Parachuting aid into the Gaza Strip is a “last resort”, a UN official said on Monday but stressed that it would be logistically “very challenging.”
“Parachuting is always the last resort in terms if you ask any logistical colleagues because it’s very, very expensive and not sustainable,” Andrea De Domenico, head of the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, stated at a news briefing.
De Domenico added that there are ways to bring in assistance if the parties agree on unimpeded and continuous access.
His remarks came after Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on the EU and the UN to parachute aid into the Gaza Strip.
“So I think it is the first entry points should be insisting in opening the crossings and making sure that sustained supplies goes in rather than thinking of extreme scenarios.”
“I know that the Jordanians did already a launch with aid through aircraft. But of course as you can imagine the quantities are limited and as I said is really logistically very, very challenging,” De Domenico continued.
Turning to the intensified fighting around Al-Shifa hospital over the weekend, he said infrastructure, including water tanks, oxygen stations, the cardiovascular facility, and the maternity ward, were damaged.
“We call everybody to respect hospitals… Hospitals must not be made places of warfare. Any military operation around or within hospital must take steps to spare and protect the patients, medical staff and other civilians.”
“And all feasible precautions must be taken, including the effective warnings which consider the ability of patients, medical staff and other civilians to evacuate safely,” he stressed.
De Domenico added that there are “simply no options” to relocate the patients in safety in any place in Gaza.
The official also warned that the lives in Gaza are “hanging by a thread” due to depleting fuel and medical supplies.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen stated on Monday that his country may have up to three weeks to continue its bombardment of Gaza before pressure for a ceasefire ratchets up.
“From a political point of view, we recognise that Israel has come under more pressure,” Cohen said.
“The pressure is not very high, but it is increasing.”
He added that “in conversations I hold with foreign ministers, they emphasise the humanitarian issue [in Gaza], the aspect of their identification and shock from the October 7 massacre is reduced. There are also those who request – not publicly – to work towards a ceasefire.”
The Israeli bombardment of Gaza since 7 October has killed 11,240 Palestinians, including 4,630 children and 3,130 women, the government media office in Gaza confirmed on Monday.
Around 29,000 people have been wounded, 70 percent of them women and children.
More than 3,000 people are still missing, including at least 1,500 children. The vast majority of these people are believed to be dead and buried under rubble.
Biden also said that the hospital, referring to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, must be protected and that he hopes there will be “less intrusive” action there.
He added that there is an effort to use a pause in hostilities to deal with the release of prisoners being negotiated by Qatar.
Al-Shifa, the enclave’s largest hospital, has been under siege for days and running without fuel.
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