Hamas launches war on Israel

[Jimbuna]

Israeli forces besiege Gaza hospital as Hamas offers truce terms

Israeli forces have besieged a hospital in northern Gaza as they continue an offensive to seize territory in the Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry has said.

Medical staff and patients at the Indonesian Hospital, in Beit Lahia, came under "heavy fire... preventing the arrival of patients, medical staff, and supplies", the ministry said on Sunday.

Israel's military said it had launched "extensive ground operations" over the past day as part of a new offensive aimed at destroying Hamas which it has called "Operation Gideon's Chariots".

This week has also seen the deadliest wave of air strikes on Gaza in months.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it troops were fighting "terrorist infrastructure sites" in northern Gaza, including the area near to the Indonesian hospital.

The health ministry said three public hospitals were now "out of action" in the North Gaza governorate. At least 67 people have died and 361 have been injured in the last 24 hours, it said.

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mohammed Salha, director of the al-Awda private hospital in northern Gaza, said the closure of the Indonesian Hospital would have an impact on the care he was able to provide.

He said al-Awda depended on the Indonesian Hospital for stores of oxygen and for its intensive care unit.

Mr Salha added that there had been a bombing near his hospital overnight causing "a lot of damage" to the facility that staff were attempting to quickly repair.

On Tuesday, Israeli strikes had hit two of the largest hospitals in Khan Younis, the Nasser Medical Complex and European Hospital.

The Israeli military accused Hamas of hiding a command and control centre beneath European Hospital, and said it conducted a "precise strike" on "Hamas terrorists".

Israeli media reported the target of the strike was senior Hamas figure Mohammed Sinwar - the younger brother of the former Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.

Israeli strikes on Saturday hit the southern city of Khan Younis again, as well as towns in the north of Gaza, including Beit Lahia and the Jabalia refugee camp, the health ministry and rescuers from the civil defence forces said.

Thousands of people have been killed since Israel resumed its strikes on 18 March, following the collapse of a fragile ceasefire which lasted two months.

Israel's military has said the expansion of its campaign is aimed at "achieving all the war's objectives" including releasing hostages and "the defeat of Hamas".

Aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among Gaza's 2.1 million population, as footage and accounts emerge of emaciated children suffering malnutrition. Israel has been blocking supplies of food and other aid from entering the territory for 10 weeks.

New indirect talks aimed at securing a ceasefire were held on Saturday in Qatar, just hours after Israel launched its major new offensive.

Hamas offered to release nine hostages in exchange for a 60-day truce, a Palestinian official told the BBC.

The official said the new proposed deal would also allow the entry of 400 aid trucks a day, and the evacuation of medical patients from Gaza. Israel, in turn, has demanded proof of life and detailed information about all remaining hostages.

Israel said prior to the talks that it would not withdraw troops from Gaza or commit to an end to the war.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month promised a major military escalation in the war to occupy and control swathes of Gaza, force the Palestinian population to the south of the territory, and "destroy" Hamas.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, which saw about 1,200 people killed and more than 250 taken hostage.

Some 58 hostages remain in Gaza, up to 23 of whom are believed to be alive.

More than 53,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's military campaign in Gaza.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy90d929yyno

[Jimbuna]

Israel allows five UN aid lorries into Gaza after 11-week blockade

An Israeli military body says it has allowed five UN lorries carrying humanitarian aid, including baby food, into the Gaza Strip after 11 weeks of blockade.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his decision to let in a "minimal" amount of food for the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory followed pressure from allies in the US Senate.

"We must not reach a situation of famine, both from a practical and a diplomatic standpoint," he stressed in a video in response to criticism of the move in Israel.

Netanyahu said food deliveries would continue only until the Israeli military and private companies had set up hubs to distribute aid under a US-backed plan that the UN has rejected.

He also declared Israeli forces would "take control of all areas" of Gaza as part of the expanded ground offensive against Hamas the Israeli military began on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Israeli air strikes killed at least 40 people across the territory on Monday, according to first responders and hospitals.

One strike reportedly killed five people at a school being used as a shelter for displaced families in Nuseirat refugee camp, in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said it struck "Hamas terrorists" who were operating inside a command-and-control centre in the area.

It also ordered the evacuation of the southern city of Khan Younis and its eastern suburbs, warning residents that it was about to launch an "unprecedented attack" there.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3d4kz8p00eo

[Jimbuna]

Gazans fear shutdown of water plants as Israel widens offensive

Chronic shortages of water in Gaza are worsening as Israel's expanding military offensive causes new waves of displacement - and desalination and hygiene plants are running out of fuel.

The UN's humanitarian office has said its partners are warning that, without immediate fuel deliveries, a full shutdown of water and sanitation facilities is possible by the end of the week.

Days after Israel imposed its blockade on aid in early March - which is only now being eased - it also cut off power lines to the main desalination plants - a vital source of water for Gazans.

It said these steps were to put pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages it is holding.

Although Israel has said it will now permit the entry of basic supplies into Gaza, so far this has not included fuel. However, some drinking water was loaded on the dozens of UN lorries that have entered the strip - with supplies not yet distributed.

Parents have told the BBC that during 19 months of war, their children have grown used to drinking salty water - with doctors saying they have seen a rise in serious kidney complaints as a result.

"Often the water turns out to be half sweet [fresh], half salty," said Raed al-Zaharneh, a father-of-four in Khan Younis who, like most Gazans, now relies on water delivered on lorries.

"We know it is undrinkable water, and we still drink it," he went on. "We've had stomach pain and diarrhoea, but we put up with it. What do we do? We need to drink. There's no alternative."

Earlier this month, there was still a loud whirring sound at a desalination plant in southern Gaza as Jonathan Crickx of Unicef visited.

He said that production at the site had been reduced by 80% after electricity was recently cut off. However, it was still producing thousands of litres per day.

"The problem is that to produce water we now need fuel," Mr Crickx said. "And afterwards we need to truck the water to the different communities."

"This is a difficult process as we have less and less fuel, not only to produce the water but to run the trucks."

While some lorries as well as donkey carts have continued to distribute water in recent days, the ramping up of Israel's military offensive and new waves of displacement - affecting some 140,000 people in the north and south of the strip - have made this even more challenging.

The UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) says that water and sanitation services have already been severely disrupted by ongoing fuel shortages.

In northern Gaza, no fuel is currently available and only half the needed supply was received last week, Ocha says. This has meant the operating hours for water wells have been further reduced with complete shutdowns expected.

In southern Gaza, Ocha says that UN water utilities have not received any fuel, although 140,000 litres of fuel per week are needed to keep them going. This has led to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities reducing their operating hours by more than one fifth.

UN workers have said they try daily to retrieve fuel from reserves in areas where they are required to co-ordinate with the Israeli authorities, such as Rafah - which has been a main focus of military operations. However, these continue to be denied.

No new fuel has been allowed into Gaza since Israel imposed its full blockade on 2 March.

A kidney specialist at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Dr Ghazi al-Yazji, told the BBC he was seeing more patients with new infections and conditions caused by contaminated water and drinking water with high salinity.

"We don't have precise figures, but the cases are noticeably higher among children," he said.

Even before the war, shortages of water and the poor quality of supplies in Gaza contributed to relatively high numbers of patients with serious kidney complaints.

Dr al-Yazji says his department has 220 patients requiring kidney dialysis and that they have been disproportionately affected by the worsening water problems. Several, he said, had recently died.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ced227p84n4o

[Jimbuna]

Two Israeli embassy staff have been shot dead leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington DC, officials say

Sarah Lynn Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky were a couple and "in the prime of their lives" before they were killed, Israel's embassy in the US says

The suspect has been detained and identified by police as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez from Chicago

Police say he shouted "free Palestine" after being taken into custody, and officers will "look into ties to potential terrorism"

US President Trump says the attack is "so sad" and "based obviously on antisemitism"

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says security will be increased at Israeli embassies worldwide, while Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said the shooting was a "direct result of toxic, antisemitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world"