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Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Israeli protesters demand ceasefire, hostage deal as Hamas rejects Israel's relocation plan
Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Sunday that Israel's plan to relocate residents from Gaza City constitutes a 'new wave of genocide and displacement' for hundreds of thousands of residents in the area. The group said the planned deployment of tents and other shelter equipment by Israel into southern Gaza was a 'blatant deception.' The Israeli military has said it is preparing to provide tents and other equipment starting from Sunday ahead of its plan to relocate residents from combat zones to the south of the enclave 'to ensure their safety.' Hamas said in a statement that the deployment of tents under the guise of humanitarian purposes is a blatant deception intended to 'cover up a brutal crime that the occupation forces prepare to execute.' Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza ahead of military offensive, as Israelis call for end of war Protesters in Israel demanding a hostage deal escalated their campaign Sunday with a one-day nationwide strike that blocked roads and closed businesses, as police blasted crowds with water cannons and made dozens of arrests. The 'day of stoppage' was organized by two groups representing some of the families of hostages and bereaved families, weeks after militant groups released videos of hostages and Israel announced plans for a new offensive. Protesters, who fear further fighting could endanger the 50 hostages believed to remain in Gaza, only about 20 of whom are thought to be alive, chanted: 'We don't win a war over the bodies of hostages.' Protesters gathered at dozens of points throughout Israel, including outside politicians' homes, military headquarters and on major highways, where they were sprayed with water cannons as they blocked lanes and lit bonfires that cloaked roads in smoke. Some restaurants and theatres were closed in solidarity. Police said they had arrested 32 as part of the nationwide demonstration – one of the fiercest since the uproar over six hostages found dead in Gaza last September. 'Military pressure doesn't bring hostages back – it only kills them,' former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv's hostage square. 'The only way to bring them back is through a deal, all at once, without games.' '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, centre and everything in between.' Protesters at highway intersections handed out yellow ribbons, the symbol that represents the hostages, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which organized the stoppage, said. Even though Israel's largest labour 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.' National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in a statement accused protesters of trying to 'weaken Israel.' Like Smotrich he said the strike 'strengthens Hamas and delays the return of the hostages.' Hospitals and eyewitnesses in Gaza reported at least 17 aid-seekers had been killed by Israeli forces on Sunday, including nine awaiting aid trucks close to the Morag corridor. Hamza Asfour said he was just north of the corridor awaiting a convoy, when Israeli snipers fired, first to disperse the crowds, then from tanks hundreds of meters (yards) away. He saw two people with gunshot wounds – one in the chest and other in the shoulder. 'It's either to take this risk or wait and see my family die of starvation,' he said. 'There is no other option.' The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the distribution points, said there was no gunfire Sunday 'at or near' its sites, which sit at the end of aid truck routes. Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions about strikes in the three areas. 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. On Sunday, two children died of malnutrition related causes in Gaza, bringing the total over the last 24 hours to seven, according to the ministry, which 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. Inside Israel, the movement to stop Netanyahu's Gaza war is gaining momentum 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 people from combat zones 'for their protection.' The majority of assistance has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after a ceasefire collapsed when Israel restarted its offensive. 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. 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 defences – notably during its 12-day war with Iran in June – Israel has intercepted the vast majority of missiles launched from Yemen. With a file from Reuters.
BBC News
30-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Last hospital in North Gaza governorate evacuated after Israeli order
The last hospital providing health services in the North Gaza governorate is out of service after the Israeli military ordered its immediate evacuation, the hospital's director has Mohammed Salha said patients were evacuated from al-Awda hospital in Jabalia on Thursday evening. He told the BBC "we are feeling really bad about this forced evacuation" after "two weeks of siege", saying there is now "no health facility working in the north".Israel has not yet commented, but the BBC has contacted the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). "We're really sad that we evacuated the hospital, but the Israeli occupation forces threatened us that if we didn't evacuate, they would enter and kill whoever is inside," Dr Salha said in a voice note to the BBC. "Or they would bomb the hospital. We were thinking of the lives of patients and our staff."Dr Salha told the BBC the hospital faced "a lot of bombing and shooting from the tanks" from around noon local time (09:00 GMT) on Thursday. He received a call from the Israeli forces at about 13:00 to evacuate, and initially refused because there were patients in need of healthcare. He offered to stay with another 10 of his staff and evacuate the others, but the military refused, he said. After seven hours of negotiations, the evacuation occurred at about 20: carried patients more than 300 metres (984 feet) to ambulances parked far away from the hospital "because the roads are totally destroyed".A video sent by Dr Salha of the evacuation, and verified by the BBC, shows a line of ambulances with lights and sirens on driving at night."Due to impassable roads" the hospital's medical equipment could not be relocated, the World Health Organization (WHO) humanitarian agency OCHA said on Thursday "ongoing hostilities over the past two weeks have damaged the hospital, disrupted access, and created panic, deterring people from seeking care". Patients were evacuated to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza Salha told the BBC they would provide services through a primary health centre in Gaza City and said another might be established in a Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, said the closure of al-Awda meant there was no remaining functioning hospital in the North Gaza governorate, "severing a critical lifeline for the people there". "WHO pleads for the hospital's protection and staff and patients' safety, and reiterates its call for the active protection of civilians and healthcare," he said. "Hospitals must never be attacked or militarized."The IDF had ordered evacuations of the areas of Al-Atatra, Jabalia Al-Balad, Shujaiya, Al-Daraj and Al-Zeitoun on Thursday evening, spokesperson Avichay Adraee said at the time on social media."Terrorist organisations continue their subversive activity in the region, and therefore the IDF will expand its offensive activity in the areas where you are present to destroy the capabilities of the terrorist organisations," he said."From this moment on, the mentioned areas will be considered dangerous combat."Al-Awda hospital was inside an evacuation zone announced last week, but had still been functioning, its director previously said.A statement from 18 charities on Thursday said the hospital was under military besiegement "for the fourth time since October 2023 and has been struck at least 28 times". The emergency room was hit, injuring four staff, and the desalination plant and storage unit also struck, leading to the loss of all medicine, supplies and equipment, the charities IDF told the BBC last week it was "operating in the area against terror targets", but that it was "not aware of any siege on the hospital itself".Apart from hospitals, some primary healthcare centres are still operating in Gaza, with 61 out of 158 partially or fully functional as of 18 May, OCHA said. Nine out of 27 UN Palestinian refugee agency health centres were also did not report how many, if any, centres were in the north Gaza governorate. Israel is continuing its bombardment of Gaza, which most Palestinians are not currently able to leave, after a brief ceasefire earlier this began to allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza last week, after a nearly three-month blockade that halted the delivery of supplies including food, medicine, fuel and shelter. Security broke down and looting took place as Palestinians searched for food in Gaza City on Thursday. Scenes of chaos have also broken out at aid distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - a US-and Israeli-backed UN and many aid groups have refused to co-operate with the GHF's plans, which they say contradict humanitarian principles and appear to "weaponise aid".Israel said it imposed the blockade on Gaza to pressurise Hamas to release the remaining hostages, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. It has also accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies.A UN-backed assessment this month said Gaza's 2.1 million people were at a "critical risk" of famine. The UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher told the BBC people in the territory were being subjected to "forced starvation" by launched a military campaign in Gaza in response to Hamas's cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken least 54,249 people have been killed in Gaza since then, including 3,986 since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March, according to the territory's Hamas-run health reporting by Naomi Scherbel-Ball and Alice Cuddy in Jerusalem
