Wednesday, October 9, 2024
0553 GMT — Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said that at least 400,000 Palestinians remain trapped in northern Gaza, facing escalating Israeli invasion.
"Recent evacuation orders from the Israeli Authorities are forcing people to flee again & again, especially from Jabalia Camp," Lazzarini said in a statement on his social media account X.
Many individuals and families refuse to evacuate, fully aware that no location within Gaza offers genuine safety, he added.
As the Israeli invasion intensifies, UNRWA shelters and services are being forced to shut down, the chief underlined with some facilities closing for the first time since the Gaza war began.
"With almost no basic supplies available, hunger is spreading & deepening again. This recent military operation also threatens the implementation of the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign for children," Lazzarini noted.
0828 GMT — Hamas, Fatah leaders to hold Palestinian unity talks in Cairo
Leaders from Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement will hold further unity talks in Cairo on Wednesday, a Hamas official has told Reuters. According to Taher al Nono, the media adviser of the Hamas political chief, the Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Tuesday. It was led by Khalil al Hayya, the group's chief negotiator and Hamas' second-in-command, currently based in Qatar.
"The meeting will discuss the Israeli aggression on Gaza, and the challenges facing the Palestinian cause," Nono said.
There was no immediate comment from Fatah.
0811 GMT — French FM describes Netanyahu’s threats to Lebanon as 'provocations'
The French foreign minister has described the Israeli premier’s threats to Lebanon as “provocations.”
“If those provocations turn real, this would drag Lebanon, a friendly country to France already so fragile, to chaos,” Jean-Noel Barrot told broadcaster France 2 in an interview.
In a recorded video published earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the Lebanese people and delivered unprecedented criticism of Hezbollah.
He warned the Lebanese people before their country “falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”
0747 GMT — Israel yet to brief US on plans for response to Iranian missile attack
Israeli leaders have not yet briefed the United States on the specifics of their military response to last week’s Iranian ballistic missile attack, despite ongoing discussions between US military officials about potentially supporting Israel with intelligence or air strikes, two US officials have said.
Over the weekend, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to discuss possible responses to Iran’s missile strike, though Israel has not made a final decision on its course of action or timing, according to one former and two current officials familiar with the call, NBC News reported.
0718 GMT — 18 Palestinians dead after Israeli strikes in Gaza
Israel’s bombardment of central and northern Gaza killed at least 18 people, including five children and two women, Palestinian officials have said.
Two strikes hit tents for displaced people in the urban Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza.
The bodies of nine people, including three children, were brought to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby town of Deir al Balah, an AP journalist saw the bodies at the morgue.
0617 GMT — Hezbollah says two Israeli infiltration attempts repelled
Hezbollah has said that its militants repelled two Israeli army attempts to infiltrate southern Lebanon, as Israel intensifies its ground offensive.
In a statement issued after midnight, Hezbollah said its members detonated an explosive device targeting Israeli forces and engaged in combat with them as they "attempted to infiltrate the border town of Blida" in the southeast.
In another statement, it said its militants targeted Israeli soldiers with artillery "and rocket-propelled weapons" as they attempted to advance towards the border area of Labouneh.
0159 GMT — Biden to speak to Netanyahu about Iran
US President Joe Biden is expected to hold a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about any plans to strike Iran, three officials briefed according to Axios media outlet.
0154 GMT — US lawmaker renews probe into Israeli killing of Turkish-American activist
US Representative Pramila Jayapal has slammed the Biden administration for the lack of movement toward an independent investigation into the killing of Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi last month by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
Jayapal also urged the US government to demand accountability by stopping certain offensive military assistance to Israel.
“It has been 32 days since Aysenur Ezgi Eygi was killed in the West Bank, and we have seen no movement toward an independent investigation by the US government and no additional information on changes in the practices of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units that are using live ammunition on those who are peacefully protesting," Jayapal, a Democratic representative from Washington's 7th congressional district, said in a statement
Noting that she has had numerous briefings with State Department officials and has been in close touch with Eygi’s family, she said: "I am frankly appalled with the lack of movement on this case."
0135 GMT — Israel forces fire anti-tank bomb into Palestinian home in West Bank
Israeli forces have fired an Energa anti-tank rifle grenade at a home in the town of Aqaba in the occupied West Bank, according to witnesses.
Armed clashes broke out between Palestinian resistance forces and Israeli troops in the town, with an explosive device targeting an Israeli military vehicle, the witnesses said.
The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said in a statement that its fighters were “engaged in fierce battles with Israeli forces invading Aqaba, targeting them with heavy gunfire and explosives and achieving direct hits.”
0027 GMT — Israel committed massacres in North Gaza: Civil Defense
Israeli army has committed massacres in North Gaza province during a wide-scale assault, the Palestinian Civil Defense said.
"The humanitarian situation in the northern province is becoming increasingly dangerous by the hour as the occupation continues its assault on Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia and Jabalia for the fourth consecutive day, enforcing a strict siege that prevents the entry of water, food and medicine," the agency said in a statement.
"The occupation has committed massacres against civilians, resulting in dozens of martyrs and hundreds of injured," it added.
It said the bodies of the victims remained in the streets as rescue teams could not reach them due to the Israeli army's targeting of ambulances and civil defence crews.
The statement also noted that the Israeli military "threatened over 200,000 residents in the areas and neighbourhoods of North Gaza with eviction, committing massacres to force civilians to flee."
2346 GMT — White House losing trust in Netanyahu: report
The White House's distrust of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has grown increasingly in recent weeks as Tel Aviv carries out multiple attacks across the region, according to a report.
Four US officials told the Axios news website that Washington is not opposed to Israel carrying out its attacks but wants it to measure its attack.
"Our trust of the Israelis is very low right now, and for a good reason," one of the officials said.
Netanyahu's further decision to walk away from a US-backed 21-day ceasefire proposal in Lebanon further eroded US trust, as has Israel's decision to order all civilians in northern Gaza to flee south as it prepares a new offensive on the region.
US officials have said they are concerned that the directive is setting the stage for a potential siege and that Palestinian civilians would not be allowed to return.
"They tell us what we want to hear — the problem is lack of trust," a US official told Axios.
2014 GMT — Israel issues ultimatum to Beirut's southern residents to flee
The Israeli military has declared residents in the southern suburbs of Beirut to flee their homes, citing plans to target the area with air strikes soon.
"Urgent warning to the residents of the southern suburbs in Haret Hreik ... specifically to those in the buildings marked on the maps and those nearby," Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army's spokesperson for Arabic media, posted on X.
He shared two maps that he claimed showed buildings near Hezbollah facilities and interests, warning residents to flee because the Israeli army would soon attack them "in the near future."
"You must evacuate these buildings and those nearby immediately and keep a distance of at least 500 meters," Adraee added.
2224 GMT — Anadolu marks Gaza war anniversary with short film
Anadolu Agency, marking the first anniversary of the Israeli carnage in besieged Gaza, released a short animation in 13 languages depicting Israel's genocide in the blockaded enclave.
It highlights Israel's year-long massacre in the enclave, which has displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
The animation begins with a scene of a young child who, after losing their home in the attack, asks their family: "Where will we go?"
It portrays the suffering endured by Palestinians under Israeli bombardment for the past year.
The animation further illustrates how the Israeli army, through evacuation orders issued since October 7, 2023, has pushed Palestinians into so-called safe zones, forcing them into displacement within Gaza.
The animation shows Palestinian civilians trying to flee to these alleged safe areas, only to be directly targeted by Israeli bombings and soldiers along the way.
2100 GMT — Hamas slams Israel's orders to empty out 3 Gaza hospitals
Hamas has condemned Israel's orders to evacuate three hospitals in northern Gaza as a "criminal attempt to implement a displacement plan."
"The Israeli army's warning to evacuate Kamal Adwan, the Indonesian, and Al-Awda hospitals of patients and medical staff is a criminal attempt to carry out Tel Aviv 's displacement plans," Hamas said in a statement.
"This terrorist threat against hospitals and the forced evacuation is tantamount to a death sentence for thousands of patients and wounded individuals, including women, the elderly, and children."
2031 GMT — Hezbollah said it attacked 6 Israeli military sites with rockets, drones
Hezbollah said that it attacked six Israeli military positions in northern Israeli settlements using rockets and drones.
The group said in a series of statements that its fighters targeted military gatherings in Yiftah, Avivim, Biranit Orchards, Maroun El Ras and Metula with rockets.
It reported using a "swarm of kamikaze drones" to strike an Israeli military position in the settlement of Ya'ara.
