Israel Prepares to Move Palestinians to Southern Gaza: AP
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NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Israel announced Saturday that it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a military offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas.
The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, said the supply of tents to the territory would resume on Sunday. The military said it had no comment on when the mass movement of Palestinians would begin, but Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media that 'we are now in the stage of discussions to finalize the plan to defeat Hamas in Gaza."
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Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza as airstrikes continue
Israel has announced plans to relocate Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as it prepares for a military offensive in densely populated areas of the territory. The Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian aid, COGAT, stated that the supply of tents to Gaza would resume on Sunday. While the military offered no comment on the timeline for this mass movement, Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed on social media that "we are now in the stage of discussions to finalize the plan to defeat Hamas in Gaza." Amidst these developments, the families of Israeli hostages, expressing growing frustration over 22 months of war, have called for a "nationwide day of stoppage" across Israel on Sunday. Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to still be alive. They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages speaking under duress and pleading for help and food. The families and supporters have pressed the government for a deal to stop the war — a call that some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have made as well in recent weeks. A group representing the families has urged Israelis into the streets on Sunday. "Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home," it said in a statement. "I want to believe that there is hope, and it will not come from above, it will come only from us," said Dana Silberman Sitton, sister of Shiri Bibas and aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were killed in captivity. She spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv, along with Pushpa Joshi, sister of kidnapped Nepalese hostage Bipin Joshi, a student seized from a kibbutz. "I miss my best friend," Pushpa said. An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a baby girl and her parents on Saturday, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the girl were killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area. "Two and a half months, what has she done?" neighbor Fathi Shubeir asked, sweating as temperatures in the shattered territory soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). "They are civilians in an area designated safe." Israel's military said it couldn't comment on the strike without more details. It said it is dismantling Hamas' military capabilities and takes precautions not to harm civilians. Muwasi is one of the heavily populated areas in Gaza where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel plans to widen the coming military offensive, along with Gaza City and "central camps" — an apparent reference to the built-up Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza. Israel may be using the threat to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages taken in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war. Elsewhere, an official at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the Zikim area of northern Gaza, as well as four people killed in shelling. Another 11 malnutrition-related deaths occurred in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's Health Ministry said Saturday, with one child among them. That brings malnutrition-related deaths during the war to 251. The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water as diseases spread, while some Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the mass relocation of people from Gaza. A 20-year old Palestinian woman described as being in a "state of severe physical deterioration" died Friday after being transferred from Gaza to Italy for treatment, the hospital said Saturday. The U.N. and partners say getting food and other aid into the territory of over 2 million people, and then on to distribution points, remains highly challenging with Israeli restrictions and pressure from crowds of hungry Palestinians. The U.N. human rights office says at least 1,760 people were killed while seeking aid between May 27 and Wednesday. It says 766 were killed along routes of supply convoys and 994 in the vicinity of "non-U.N. militarized sites," a reference to the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which since May has been the primary distributor of aid in Gaza. The U.S. State Department on Saturday said all visitor visas for people from Gaza are being stopped while a review is carried out of how "a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas" were issued in recent days. The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Protestors go on strike in Israel demanding ceasefire and hostage releases
Protestors go on strike in Israel demanding ceasefire and hostage releases JERUSALEM (AP) — Police in Israel made more than two dozen arrests on Sunday for 'disruption of order' as families of hostages held in Gaza step up their campaign with a nationwide strike. Police said that most of the protests had not been disruptive, but acknowledged several exceptions and said they 'will act firmly against anyone who violates the law or endangers public order.' The arrests come as some businesses, theaters and restaurants close in solidarity and Israel's leaders plan a new offensive into Gaza City. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below. JERUSALEM (AP) — Protestors in Israel demanding their government make a deal to secure the release of hostages held by militants in Gaza escalated their campaign on Sunday, staging a strike that snarled traffic and shuttered businesses. The action organized by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum marked a fresh push, weeks after militant groups released videos of hostages and Israel signaled plans for a new Gaza offensive. Protesters fear further fighting could endanger the 50 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are thought to be alive. They chanted, 'We don't win a war over the bodies of hostages' and demanded a deal. Netanyahu's allies oppose any deal that leaves Hamas in power 'Today, we stop everything to save and bring back the hostages and soldiers. Today, we stop everything to remember the supreme value of the sanctity of life,' said Anat Angrest, mother of hostage Matan Angrest. 'Today, we stop everything to join hands — right, left, center and everything in between.' Although Israel's largest labor union, Histadrut, ultimately did not join Sunday's action, strikes of this magnitude are relatively rare in Israel. Many businesses and municipalities decided independently to strike. Still, an end to the conflict does not appear near. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the immediate release of the hostages but is balancing competing pressures, haunted by the potential for mutiny within his coalition. Far-right members of his cabinet insist they won't support any deal that allows Hamas to retain power. The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages, they threatened to topple Netanyahu's government. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called the stoppage 'a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas' hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardize its security and future.' Israeli airstrike hits power plant in Yemen Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's capital Sunday, escalating strikes on Iran-backed Houthis, who since the war began have fired missiles at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea. Both the IDF and a Houthi-run television station in Yemen announced the strikes. Al-Masirah Television said they targeted a power plant in the southern district of Sanhan, sparking a fire and knocking it out of service, the Yemeni station said. Israel's military said Sunday's strikes targeted energy infrastructure it claimed was being used by the Houthis, and were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel. While some projectiles have breached its missile defenses — notably during its war with Iran in June — Israel has intercepted the vast majority of missiles launched from Yemen. More tents sent to Gaza ahead of new displacement order While demonstrators in Israel demanded a ceasefire, Israel began preparing for an invasion of Gaza City and other populated parts of the besieged strip, aimed at destroying Hamas. The military body that coordinates its humanitarian aid to Gaza said Sunday that the supply of tents to the territory would resume. COGAT said it would allow the United Nations to resume importing tents and shelter equipment into Gaza ahead of plans to forcibly evacuate peopel from combat zones 'for their protection.' Tents and the majority of assistance has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after a ceasefire collapsed. Deliveries have since partially resumed, though aid organizations say the flow is far below what is needed. Some have accused Israel of 'weaponizing aid' through blockades and rules they say turn humanitarian assistance into a tool of its political and military goals. Israel's air and ground war has already killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza and displaced most of the population. The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own. ___ Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel. AP writer Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo. ___ Follow AP's war coverage at Sam Metz And Natalie Melzer, The Associated Press
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
I'm Israeli. The world must stop our government's genocide in Gaza while we still can.
Knowing my own society is committing these crimes has shattered everything I thought I knew about myself, about my country, about humanity. The international community has failed us all. A few years ago, at a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists, we sat on the grass trying to brainstorm new initiatives. Some Palestinians I had just met proposed, sarcastically, to form a Palestinian 'reservation' that would preserve their culture, along the lines of Indigenous reservations in North America. As a Jewish Israeli who hadn't fully grasped the depth of injustice baked into Zionism's premise of Jewish supremacy, I was horrified. I couldn't believe their imagination had taken them so far. Now, looking back, I see it was no joke. It was a warning. What I once found unthinkable is quickly becoming our reality. The combination of genocide in the Gaza Strip, accelerated ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and demolition of entire Bedouin villages within Israel makes it clear: There is a coherent logic behind the actions of the Israeli regime since its establishment. Maintaining Jewish supremacy over the entire territory reflects an apartheid logic that restricts or erases Palestinian rights. The genocide in Gaza is its most extreme manifestation, showing how far the regime is willing to go to achieve its objective. As a Jewish Israeli, I ask Americans not to look away Immediately after Hamas' criminal atrocity on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli politicians, military commanders and members of Knesset openly declared their goals. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tied the war to the biblical commandment to "blot out the memory of Amalek" – a message every Israeli understands as a call for total annihilation. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a complete siege on Gaza City ‒ no electricity, no food, no fuel. President Isaac Herzog claimed that it was false to speak of innocent civilians in Gaza, and that 'an entire nation ... is responsible' for Hamas' crimes. Words quickly turned into actions. As early as November 2023, Brig. Gen. Yogev Bar-Sheshet reported from inside the Gaza Strip: 'There's nothing left. Anyone who comes back here, if they come back at all, will find scorched earth. No homes, no agriculture, nothing. They have no future.' The attack on the population of Gaza goes far beyond the staggering number of deaths. It is a methodical policy with a clear objective: full occupation of the Gaza Strip and ethnic cleansing of its residents. The siege, starvation tactics, leveling of entire cities, relentless air strikes and manipulative use of humanitarian aid to force population transfer through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's 'aid centers' – all this is designed to eliminate Palestinian life in the Gaza Strip. More than 90% of the population has been displaced, and about 92% of all housing units have been destroyed or damaged. Most hospitals and schools have been attacked, and many have been put out of service by Israel. The options Israel leaves to 2 million people of Gaza range from expulsion to death by starvation, disease, shooting or air strikes. We must call the suffering in Gaza what it is: genocide This is not about random acts of cruelty. This is genocide, in the full sense of the word: a coordinated attack on all aspects of the lives of a group of people, aimed at erasing the foundations of their existence. The vision of a land 'cleansed' of Palestinians, free for Jewish Israelis to take over, is not limited to the Gaza Strip. While the attack in Gaza is underway, Israel has also ramped up efforts to drive Palestinians in the West Bank into ever-shrinking enclaves and degrade their living conditions. The military has taken over and destroyed entire neighborhoods, displacing about 40,000 people. Also, in recent months, consistent attacks by settlers have driven 40 communities out of their homes, while many others face imminent expulsion. Meanwhile, the network of checkpoints installed by Israel severely restricts Palestinians' freedom of movement, blocks farmers from accessing their land and damages the economy. In Gaza and in all the areas under Israel's control, we are witnessing the complete stripping away of Palestinians' rights, both as individuals and as a collective, in the face of unrestrained, deliberate and systematic Israeli violence. When I talk with Palestinian friends and partners, I can hardly look them in the eye anymore. Knowing my own society is committing these crimes has shattered everything I thought I knew about myself, about my country, about humanity. To begin rebuilding from the ashes, the genocide must stop. Yet this will not happen from within. There is no institution or mechanism in Israel today capable or willing to stop the government's campaign of annihilation. The international community has also failed. Some leaders have issued hollow statements, while others – especially the United States, both under the Trump administration and the Biden administration – are directly assisting Israel in the horrors. Only sustained public pressure on world leaders, and an uncompromising demand that they use every measure available under international law, can bring this genocide to an end. That is the only hope of saving whoever and whatever little remain from this catastrophe. Yair Dvir is the spokesperson for the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem.
