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 8,500 Palestinians have been so far killed in an exchange of fire between the two sides.
Bodies have started to pile up in Jabalia camp in Gaza following Israel's intensive bombing.
Rocket sirens are sounding in central Israel, including Tel Aviv, following Israel’s heavy bombing of the residential Jablia camp in Gaza, according to Israeli media.
Israel’s bombing of the camp has left at least 400 people dead or wounded.
An Israeli army spokesperson has confirmed that they bombed the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza on CNN on Tuesday.
The spokesperson was asked if he knew that there were innocent civilians, men women and children in the camp, to which he responded with: “This is the tragedy of war…we’ve been saying for days, move south.”
The Ministry of Health confirmed that 400 people were killed or wounded in the bombing of the camp.
The United Nations chief said on Tuesday that the “level of humanitarian assistance that has been allowed into Gaza up until this point is completely inadequate.”
Antonio Guterres stated that he was “deeply alarmed by the intensification of the conflict.”
“I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for impeded access to be granted, consistently, safely and to scale,” he posted on social media platform X.
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Israel is deploying forces “on a large scale, deep in the Strip” on Tuesday.
“There are battles against the forces that are operating [in Gaza] and the results and achievements on the battlefield are very high. Unfortunately, in war, there are also prices, and the prices in the last day were heavy prices. Despite that, we are also determined to continue and win,” he added.
Earlier today, the Israeli military announced that two soldiers were killed in Gaza and two were seriously wounded in the heavy bombing of the besiged enclave.
The Israeli military has confirmed two of its soldiers have been killed in its ground operation in Gaza.
That brings the Israeli death toll since October 7 to at least 1,407, including 317 military personnel and 58 police officers.
The Israeli army named the soldiers as Roei Wolf and Lavi Lipshitz. Both were 20 years old.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s opening remarks at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing Tuesday were quickly and repeatedly interrupted by protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Within minutes of speaking, Blinken was interrupted by a man shouting “ceasefire now” and “save the children of Gaza”.
Subsequently, four other solo protesters and another group of protesters interrupted Blinken, shouting, “From Palestine to Mexico, all the walls have got to go!” and “Let Gaza Live!”
There were other protesters in the audience with their hands, painted red, in the air.
A dozen protesters were arrested during the congressional hearing Tuesday, according to Capitol Police. They were arrested on the charge of crowding, obstructing or incommoding.
An Israeli air strike on the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza on Tuesday killed at least 100 Palestinians, according to Palestinian officials speaking to Al-Jazeera Arabic.
The Palestinian interior ministry announced there were 400 dead and wounded in total. A ministry spokesperson stated an entire residential complex had been destroyed.
“These buildings house hundreds of citizens. The occupation’s air force destroyed this district with six US-made bombs. It is the latest massacre caused by Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip,” interior ministry spokesperson Iyad al-Bazum told reporters.
“The international community must act immediately to stop Israel before it is too late.”
Footage from the camp shows buildings completely levelled to the ground, and panicked Palestinian residents carrying wounded children away from the scene.
Civil defence teams rushed to the scene to try and rescue people, searching through the rubble with their bare hands. Many families were in their homes when the bombs hit.
Gaza’s civil defence director has stated the Jabalia refugee camp has been “completely destroyed” by Israeli bombardment.
A spokesperson from the Palestine Red Crescent Society says teams are working on the ground to try and transfer the casualties to hospital following the attack on the Jabalia refugee camp.
“The situation is absolutely horrific,” Nebal Farsakh told Al Jazeera from Ramallah.
“We have been witnessing this increasing number of casualties among Palestinian civilians in Gaza due to attacks against residential buildings, homes, streets, as well as places of worship and hospitals,” the spokesperson stated.
“Hospitals are already overwhelmed, and they barely can deal with the increasing number of casualties they are dealing with every single hour,” Farsakh added.
“[They] are working on full capacity. This comes at the same time all hospitals are literally collapsing due to shortages [of] medical supplies as well as medicines, and they are running out of fuel, which is urgently needed”.
Yemeni Armed Forces have launched large-scale military strikes against Israeli targets in the occupied territories in support of the Palestinian people during their days-long resistance against the illegal entity’s onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the forces’ spokesman, said in a statement on Tuesday that the Yemeni army launched a “large batch of ballistic and winged missiles, and a large number of drones” at various targets in the occupied territories.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that this is the third operation in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine,” Saree stated, adding, “For the 25th day, the world is witnessing what is happening in occupied Palestine and what the Gaza Strip is being exposed to in terms of the brutal Israeli-American aggression, daily massacres, genocide, total destruction, and the stifling siege.”
The spokesman stressed the Palestinian people’s right to self-defense and said the Israeli occupation is the entity that destabilizes the region and promulgates violence.
“We affirm that the position of our Yemeni people towards the Palestinian issue is firm and principled, and that the Palestinian people have the full right to self-defense and to restore their full legitimate rights, and that what destabilizes the region and expands the circle of conflict is the persistence of the Zionist enemy entity in committing crimes,” Saree continued.
The Israeli military announced it has engaged in “fierce battles deep” in the Gaza Strip in recent hours.
The Israeli forces attacked a Hamas outpost in the north, an army statement said in a post on X in Hebrew, adding “dozens” of fighters were killed and a significant amount of weapons was seized.
Gaza’s health ministry says Israel is continuing to target hospitals and medical centres in the besieged Strip.
“Violations against medical teams are ongoing. One-hundred thirty medical staff have lost their lives,” Ashraf al-Qudra, Gaza health ministry spokesman, stated in a press conference.
“The Israeli occupiers continue to intentionally hit medical institutions. Fifty-seven medical institutions have so far been hit. Thirty-two medical centres are out of service because of being targeted or lack of fuel.”
“The Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital has been targeted directly and part of it was destroyed. A lot of the cancer patients suffered panic attacks because of this,” she added.
A new investigation by the UK-based rights group has found that “the Israeli army indiscriminately, and therefore unlawfully, used white phosphorous in an attack on Dhayra, in south Lebanon, on October 16.
“The attack must be investigated as a war crime,” Amnesty International wrote on X.
Al Jazeera Arabic has reported on Tuesday Israeli tanks are advancing in northwest Gaza and south of Gaza City amid heavy clashes with Palestinian fighters.
Hamas has announced its fighters have engaged in confrontations with Israeli forces northwest of Gaza City, killing one soldier and shelling two armoured vehicles.
On Monday, Israeli tanks were seen on the outskirts of Gaza City before Hamas said it forced them to retreat after heavy fighting.
UNICEF says at least 940 children have been reported missing in Gaza, adding infant dehydration is a growing threat with only five percent of normal water output.
“Gaza has become a graveyard of children,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told a UN press briefing in Geneva.
About 3,500 children have been killed in the war so far, Gaza’s health ministry has confirmed.
Elder reiterated the UN children’s agency call for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access to supplies for the enclave. Children in Gaza are dying not only from Israeli air strikes but also because of a lack of medical care, he added.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health has released updated casualty figures from the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
At least 8,525 people have died since 7 Ocotober, including 3,542 children and 2,187 women, according to officials.
Around 2,000 people are still missing, including 1,100 children. The vast majority of these people are believed to be dead and buried under rubble.
At least 21,543 have suffered injuries of various severity.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels acknowledged launching drones towards Israel in retaliation for its war on Gaza.
“These drones belong to the state of Yemen,” Abdelaziz bin Habtour, prime minister of the Houthi government, told told AFP news agency.
Earlier, an unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down over the Red Sea during an approach on Israel.
The number of hostages believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza is up to 240, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said at a press conference Tuesday.
Hagari also stated 315 IDF soldiers have died since Hamas’ attack in Israel on October 7.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has announced it was “doing everything to bring all the kidnapped and missing people home.”
Netanyahu’s office issued a brief statement after Hamas released a short video Monday, showing three women believed to be hostages in Haza.
“Our hearts go out to you and the other abductees. We are doing everything to bring all the kidnapped and missing people home,” the statement read.
The word “Israel” is missing on digital mapping platforms of tech giants Baidu and Alibaba, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
According to the US media outlet, while Baidu’s Chinese language online maps have Israel and the Palestinian territories delineated, the name of the country is not explicitly mentioned.
The same situation is observed on Alibaba’s Amap platform, WSJ added.
It was unclear if “Israel” was marked prior to the events of October 7.
Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has said his country will not allow anything to be “imposed” on the Sinai region during a visit to the area bordering Israel and besieged Gaza.
Madbouly’s comments during a visit to a military base are seemingly a reference to proposals within Israel to resettle Gaza’s Palestinian population in the Sinai.
“We are ready to spend millions of lives on every grain of sand here,” Madbouly stated, adding: “Egypt will never allow anything to be imposed on it.”
According to Israel’s Ynetnews, citing Egyptian officials, Israel has put forward a number of initiatives to entice Egypt into accepting Palestinian refugees.
One of the proposals includes wiping out a subtantial chunk of Egypt’s debts through the World Bank, a report by the outlet states.
It’s not clear what influence Israel has at the World Bank to be able to have part of Egypt’s international debts written off.
A number of recent reports note that Israel wants Egypt to host Gaza’s refugee population.
On Monday, Haaretz reported the existence of an Israeli Intelligence Ministry document that said Israel wants the permanent resettlement of Gaza’s Palestinians in tent cities in Sinai.
Sixty-four employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have been killed in the Gaza Strip so far.
Its Director of Communications Juliette Touma made the announcement in a post on X.
“UNRWA will never be the same without them RIP,” she stated.
“[It] condemns in the strongest terms the deliberate targeting of the remaining hospitals, health centres, ambulances and medical and first aid teams working in the Gaza Strip, by directly bombing them, damaging parts of them, or bombing their surroundings, as happened in the targeting of the Indonesian hospital… as well as the targeting of the Turkish Friendship Hospital… bombing of the European Hospital area and the vicinity of Al-Quds Hospital. This is in addition to the repeated power cuts to Al-Aqsa Hospital,” the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates wrote on X.
The ministry considers that targeting the remaining hospitals is a deepening of the war of genocide committed by the occupying state in the Gaza Strip, depriving citizens and patients of their right to the simplest forms of health treatment, as well as expanding the forced displacement of citizens, according to the statement.
“It calls on the international community to listen to the cries and suffering of Palestinian citizens… and to take necessary measures imposed by international law to provide protection for hospitals. The Ministry reaffirms that stopping the war is the correct way to protect civilians and secure access to their basic needs.”
More than 800,000 civilians have left the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, Israeli military spokesperson Jonathan Conricus said at a briefing on Tuesday.
“We are happy to see that more than 800,000 have evacuated from the northern part, from the main combat area,” he noted.
Humanitarian assistance continues to be delivered to Gaza through the Rafah border crossing, Conricus continued, adding that there was food and water in the south of the enclave.
“As days go by, I think we will be ramping up our facilitation of humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip.”
On October 13, Israel informed the United Nations that 1.1 mln Palestinians should relocate to the south of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. The Israeli army explained the recommendation saying that Hamas militants were hiding in tunnels under civilian buildings in Gaza. Hamas, however, urged Gaza residents to ignore Israel’s demand, and asked the UN to take measures to prevent people from being forced from their homes.
A new report by the Financial Times says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to convince European Union leaders to put pressure on Egypt to take refugees from the Gaza Strip
People briefed with the discussions told the British publication that the idea was put forward in meetings with European officials last week. They said the proposal was floated by countries such as Austria and the Czech Republic in private conversations that led up to a summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
However, European powerhouses such as Germany and France dismissed the proposal as unrealistic, pointing to Egyptian officials’ resistance to the idea of accepting refugees from Gaza, even temporarily.
Egypt has repeatedly said that Palestinians should not move away from their ancestral lands in order for them to be able to achieve a longstanding dream of nationhood. On Sunday, the White House said that “ensuring that Palestinians in Gaza are not displaced to Egypt or any other nation” was on the agenda of a phone call between United States President Joe Biden and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The IDF announced Tuesday its forces have struck “approximately 300 targets”, including military compounds inside underground tunnels belonging to Hamas over the past day.
During ground operations, IDF soldiers “had several engagements with terrorist cells that fired both anti-tank missiles and machine gun fire toward them. The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure”, it said.
Israel’s expanded ground operations in recent days have killed “numerous Hamas terrorists”, and hundreds of military targets have been struck, the IDF added.
Israeli forces have continued to raid several areas in the West Bank amid rising tensions in the occupied territory.
Israeli forces moved into the town of Illar north of Tulkarm amid confrontations between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers, Al-Aqsa TV reported.
A joint statement by two Palestinian armed groups – the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and al-Quds Brigades – said they trapped Israeli forces in Shuweika district in Tulkarm, inflicting casualties. There was no comment yet from the Israeli army on the claim.
At least 122 Palestinians have been killed and 1,680 others detained by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank since October 7, according to Palestinian figures.
Khalid bin Salman Al Saud says he “stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza” during a meeting with US National Security adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington, DC, on Monday.
The Saudi defence minister said he also pushed for the “protection of civilians, allowing humanitarian aid, and resuming the peace process”.
In a separate readout of the talks, the White House announced Sullivan “confirmed President [Joe] Biden’s commitment to support the defence of US partners against threats from state and non-state actors, including those backed by Iran”.
The meeting comes amid a series of attacks targeting US forces in the Middle East, which have prompted fears that the war in Gaza could lead to a wider escalation.
Speaking before the United Nations Security Council, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister shared the grim reality Palestinians in Gaza are grappling with in the wake of Israel’s ground operation.
“2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza face death every day and every night,” Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad Al-Maliki said.
“Save them. Look at them as human beings. You cannot look only at one side and ignore this tragic humanity completely.”
The foreign minister added the majority of Gazans are now homeless and displaced.
“Moving from one family home to another, from a hospital to a church, from a mosque to an UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) school. Sleeping in their cars, sleeping in the streets and still being killed wherever they go,” he said, adding that Palestinians feel like there is nowhere safe left in Gaza anymore.
Citing the Save the Children Foundation, Al-Maliki stated 3,500 Palestinian children have been killed in the conflict in just three weeks, surpassing the annual number of children killed in conflict zones worldwide since 2019.
He questioned the UN Security Council’s inaction, asking, “How many more days will you wait to say enough?” urging the council to fulfill its duty to maintain international peace and security.
The foreign minister implored the Security Council to follow the General Assembly’s example by immediately establishing a durable humanitarian truce. He insisted that the Security Council must uphold its responsibilities to end the bloodshed, which he characterized as a threat to regional and international peace and security.
On Friday, an overwhelming majority of nations – 120 countries – voted for a United Nations resolution calling for a “sustained humanitarian truce” in Gaza. The US, like Israel, has sharply criticized the effort and was one of 14 countries that voted against it on Friday.
Jordan brought the resolution to the General Assembly after successive attempts to call for ceasefires and humanitarian pauses failed in the more powerful Security Council.
Gilad Erdan, Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, criticized the UN Security Council Monday for continuing to not condemn Hamas for its October 7 attacks on Israel.
Erdan and other members of the Israeli delegation wore yellow Star of David stickers with “Never Again” written in the middle as an affront to the Security Council’s silence.
“From this day on, each time you look at me, you will remember what staying silent in the face of evil means. Just like my parents, and the grandparents of millions of Jews, my team and I will wear yellow stars,” Erdan said.
“We will wear this star until you condemn the atrocities of Hamas and demand the immediate release of our hostages,” he added.
“We walk with the yellow star as a symbol of pride, a reminder that we swore to fight back to defend ourselves.”
Addressing the United Nations Security Council Monday, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield underscored the importance of protecting all civilian lives in the escalating conflict in the Middle East, saying regardless of their nationality, “a civilian is a civilian is a civilian.”
Thomas-Greenfield acknowledged the deaths of more than 60 staff members with the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza since the war’s onset and emphasized the need to protect not only the lives of aid workers, but also the lives of journalists living and working inside Gaza.
The ambassador underlined the need for rapid and increased humanitarian assistance, including food, fuel, water, medicine, and essential services in Gaza and called for a scaling up of these supplies. She also underscored the need for humanitarian pauses in the conflict, which could permit safe passage for civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid delivery.
The ambassador also expressed the US’ deep concern for the “significant uptick in violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.”
“We condemn the killings of Palestinian civilians – and we urge Israel to prevent these attacks, working with the Palestinian Authority,” she added.
More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, which is governed by the Palestinian Authority, since the October 7 attacks. Some have been killed by Israeli military forces and some by armed Israeli settlers living in the territory.
Thomas-Greenfield urged all members of the Security Council to work together to prevent any spillover of the crisis, and called out the General Assembly for not explicitly condemning Hamas’ actions.
“The United States will continue to engage with any Council member – with any Member State – that is committed to adopting a strong and balanced resolution,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
“But any Council product must support direct diplomacy efforts that can save lives and advance the prospects of a more peaceful and secure future for the region,” she added.
She expressed disappointment that the US-proposed resolution to the Security Council was blocked, emphasizing the importance of a unified Security Council in addressing the crisis.
At least 31 journalists have lost their lives since the latest Israel-Gaza conflict began on October 7, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a statement.
The journalists’ death toll includes 26 Palestinians, four Israelis, and one Lebanese, CPJ said, adding that it is investigating “numerous unconfirmed reports” of missing journalists and others who may been killed, detained, injured, or threatened.
On Friday, the journalism advocacy group announced this has been the “deadliest period” for journalists covering conflict since it began tracking in 1992.
The chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a stark warning regarding water supply in Gaza on Monday, stressing that the situation is on the verge of “becoming a catastrophe.”
Catherine Russell, whose agency provides humanitarian aid to children, outlined to the UN Security Council the devastating impact of heavy bombardment of civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
“What little clean water remains in Gaza is quickly running out, leaving more than 2 million people in dire need. We estimate that 55% of the water supply infrastructure requires repair or rehabilitation,” Russell said.
“Only one desalination plant is operating at just 5% capacity, while all six of Gaza’s water-waste treatment plants are now non-operational due to the lack of fuel or power.”
She described the current situation as being on the “verge of becoming a catastrophe,” stressing that more civilians will likely die from dehydration and waterborne illnesses unless clean water supply is restored.
In addition to the difficult environmental conditions, Russell drew attention to the “terrible trauma” being experienced by both children in Israel and Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
“We are doing our best to reach every child in need, but the delivery of humanitarian aid – especially Gaza – is now extremely challenging. This is due to both the current siege conditions imposed on Gaza, and the highly dangerous circumstances under which our staff are operating,” Russell continued.
The official added that without “an urgent end” to hostilities she fears “deeply” for the fate of the region’s children.
“I implore the Security Council to immediately adopt a resolution that reminds parties of their obligations under international law … calls for a ceasefire … demands that parties allow safe and unimpeded humanitarian access … demands the immediate and safe release of all abducted and detained children … and urges parties to afford children the special protection to which they are entitled.”
“Children do not start conflicts, and they are powerless to stop them. They need all of us …to put their safety and security at the forefront of our efforts,” she concluded.
The Al-Quds hospital trembled following heavy “artillery and airstrikes” in the surrounding Tal Al Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Cross Society said early Tuesday morning local time.
Those sheltering inside the hospital are “experiencing fear and panic”, the Palestinian Red Cross Society said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Some 12,000 internally displaced civilians are sheltering at the hospital, group announced on Sunday.
The Al-Quds hospital is located north of Wadi Gaza — the line south of which Israel has urged people in Gaza to flee.
An Israeli attack has damaged the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, Gaza’s leading cancer hospital, director Sobhi Skaik told CNN on Monday.
The building suffered a direct hit to the third floor, Skaik said, causing damage to oxygen and water supplies but no injuries to people inside.
“The most severe damage is the anxiety and panic that afflicts patients,” Skaik continued, adding, “Today, there were people who fled the hospital because of what they saw.”
The hospital, which is located just to the south of Gaza City, was funded by the Turkish government, which expressed its anger over the strike in a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
“There is no explanation for such an attack, even though all necessary information, including the coordinates of the institution in question … was shared with the Israeli authorities in advance,” said officials in Ankara, Turkey’s capital.
Director Skaik stated 200 people worked at the hospital, treating thousands of patients from across the strip each year.
He added the international community needed to do more to protect those most in need.
“We hope that a cancer patient will not be killed in a hospital bed as a result of airstrikes.”
Separately, Dr. Ateh Al Kahlout, the director the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, told CNN the building and its immediate vicinity had been shelled four times over the course of the day.
The hospital is in the northeast corner of the Gaza strip, which has come under some of the most sustained Israeli attacks since October 7.
Health officials have previously reported medical teams being unable to enter or exit the building due to damage from air strikes.
The hospital continues to be operating below full capacity, Al Kahlout told CNN, while at the same time it continues to provide shelter to thousands of displaced people.
At least 491 people were killed and 372 were injured in attacks on the health sector in Gaza since October 7, according to a statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday.
Out of the casualties, at least 16 health workers lost their lives and 30 were injured while on duty, WHO said, adding that 82 attacks on healthcare facilities have been documented in the enclave.
Since the first attack by Hamas, 28 ambulances have also been damaged and 36 health facilities have been affected, the statement read.
WHO further announced another 118 attacks on the health sector in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have been documented, killing three and injuring 15 health personnel on duty since October 7.
The UN’s Humanitarian chief expressed “real fears” about what comes next in Gaza as Israel press ahead with its ground invasion amid calls for a ceasefire.
“We have very real fears about what lies ahead,” Martin Griffiths said on Monday, adding, “The current situation in Gaza may pale in comparison with what is to come.”
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Griffiths called the trickle of aid going into the besieged enclave via the Rafah border crossing “a drop in the ocean compared to the vast scale of needs.”
“It is imperative that we are able get humanitarian supplies and relief into Gaza safely, reliably, without impediment, and at the scale required,” he stated.
Israeli aircraft have dropped new leaflets in Arabic over Gaza, warning people in northern and central parts of the strip that “the governorate of Gaza has become a battlefield.”
“Shelters in the north of the Gaza Strip and the governorate of Gaza have become unsafe,” according to the leaflet.
“Hamas and the terrorist organizations are using the shelters, hospitals and schools in this area. Therefore, your presence in these places is not safe,” the flier continued.
“You must immediately evacuate and move to the humanitarian area to the south of Wadi Gaza,” the leaflet concluded, referring to a waterway that bisects the enclave.
In just the past three days, 10 United Nations staff members have been killed in Gaza, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said Monday.
That brings the total number of UNRWA staff killed in Gaza since October 7 to 63, the agency confirmed.
The UNRWA, which runs the “largest humanitarian operation” in the Gaza Strip, also described dire conditions at its network of schools that are sheltering displaced Gazans.
“The average number of IDPs (internally displaced persons) per shelter has almost reached four times their intended capacity,” UNRWA added.
Overcrowded conditions “create severe health and protection concerns for IDPs and place a “heavy toll on their mental health,” the agency stressed.
More than 511,000 people are sheltering in 92 shelters — an increase of about 13,000 internally displaced persons since the UNRWA’s last update.
Several incidents of collateral damage to UNRWA premises have also been observed in the past 72 hours, the agency noted.
A Hamas official has pushed back against Israel’s claim that it has freed a soldier who had been held captive by the group in Gaza, saying that it was an attempt to take attention away from a video the group had released earlier showing three captives calling for the Israeli government to do more for their release.
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, stated that “no one believed” the Israeli government’s narrative, not even Israelis themselves.
For his part, Hamas spokesperson Abdul Latif al-Qanou said that the presence of Israeli tanks on the outskirts of Gaza City earlier on Monday was a “photo opportunity to restore the prestige of their army”.
Al-Qanou added that only a limited number of Israeli tanks had entered Gaza, under the cover of aircraft and tank fire.
A female Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 has been rescued during ground operations in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces announced.
An IDF spokesperson said they initially misspoke when they said she had been released from Hamas. The initial IDF announcement was a translation error as she had been “actively rescued” with “boots on the ground” in a joint operation between the IDF and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), or Shin Bet, IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus stated on Tuesday local time.
“Based on intelligence” the Israeli special forces went into northern Gaza knowing her whereabouts and rescued her, Conricus added.
“They were in there for a job,” Conricus said, adding that he is happy with the results as Pvt. Ori Megidish is “well mentally and physically” and reunited with her family.
He stated that Megidish has also provided information about her captivity with Israeli intelligence officers which “can be used for the future.”
Conricus did not share if there were other such operations planned based on existing intelligence on the exact whereabouts of the remaining hostages, but told CNN “we are definitely committed to get all of our 238 hostages currently held by Hamas in Gaza, all of them, to get them home.”
He alleged that Hamas is indulging in psychological warfare by using hostages as leverage.
Conricus pushed back on claims that Israel’s ground operations in northern Gaza would potentially have a negative impact on hostage negotiations, saying that based on the rescue of Pvt. Ori Megidish, “I would argue that the reality on the ground dictates differently.”
Conricus, who did not rule out other potential hostage rescue missions in the future, added that Israeli forces on the ground are expecting “fierce resistance” and “tunnel warfare, booby traps, IEDS, anti-tank mines, snipers, and many other things,” but so far “progress is good.”
He stated that the Israeli military is making “considerable efforts, now in the ground warfare, to distinguish between combatants and non-combatant,” adding that they are “moving slowly and deliberately.”
Spokesman for the Al-Quds Brigades, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wing, announced in a statement that the “resistance” in all its factions will continue to confront Israel’s ground operation.
“We say to the families of captives that your government is risking the lives of your children to gain time,” Abu Hamza said.
“Every minute that passes is a threat to the lives of its prisoners,” he added, referring to the Israeli government.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement says Israel’s recent attempt to invade the besieged Gaza Strip was futile and failed to achieve any of the occupying regime’s goals.
The Gaza-based resistance movement also announced in a statement on Monday that the Israeli regime’s attempted ground offensive against the coastal sliver had failed to yield any results and the occupation troops had only targeted “open areas” in the besieged strip.
“The Zionist invasion of Gaza began a few days ago, and the enemy was not able to achieve anything other than targeting open areas,” the statement said, adding, “The enemy infiltrated into open areas in Gaza with air cover, which led to crimes against civilians.”
The Islamic Jihad also stressed that the Palestinian resistance would press ahead with its efforts to thwart Israel’s plots and confront its aggression.
“The resistance has been steadfast in this field and continues its struggle and can neutralize the plans and goals of the enemy,” the statement said, adding, “During this infiltration, the enemy received blows from the resistance.”
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