PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES, Jan 13 — Health officers in Hamas-ruled Gaza stated at the moment that Israeli strikes in a single day killed not less than 60 individuals in the besieged territory, which was additionally grappling with a telecommunications blackout on the war’ s 99th day.
Fears of the battle widening intensified after US and British forces struck pro-Hamas Huthi rebels in Yemen following assaults on Red Sea delivery, with the US army saying a recent air strike at the moment.
Witnesses in the Gaza Strip reported Israeli bombardment in the early morning. An eNM correspondent stated intense shelling and air strikes hit the Palestinian territory’ s south in a single day.
“I used to be visiting my sister, and once I returned I discovered my home was bombed,” stated 60-year-old Samir Qashta, a resident of Rafah in southern Gaza, the place many individuals have fled.
“Is my home hurting Israel in any means?”
The Israeli military stated its forces had struck dozens of rocket launchers that had been “prepared for use” in central Gaza, and eradicated 4 “terrorists” in air strikes on Khan Yunis, Gaza’ s main southern metropolis, close to Rafah.
Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the well being ministry in the Hamas-run territory, reported “greater than 60 martyrs” in Israeli air strikes and artillery hearth, with dozens extra wounded.
Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza since Hamas’ s October 7 assault has killed not less than 23,843 individuals, principally ladies and kids, in line with an up to date toll at the moment from the territory’s well being ministry.
The war, in which Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, started when the militants launched their unprecedented assault on Israel that resulted in about 1,140 deaths, principally civilians, in line with an eNM tally primarily based on official figures.
At Rafah’s Al-Najjar hospital, mourners gathered and prayed across the our bodies of slain kin. One man held the physique of a baby, wrapped in white material, forward of burial.
Internet and telecommunications providers had been minimize yesterday in consequence of Israeli bombardment, the principle operator Paltel stated, reporting the most recent such disruption.
The Palestinian Red Crescent posted that the outage was rising the challenges in “reaching the wounded and injured promptly”.
Winter rains have exacerbated the dire humanitarian scenario in Gaza, the place the UN estimates 1.9 million — practically 85 % of the inhabitants — have been displaced. Many have sought shelter in Rafah and different southern areas.
“It was a harsh and tough night time,” stated Nabila Abu Zayed, 40, who now lives in a tent at Al-Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis.
“The rain flooded our tent… We spent the night time standing with a whole bunch of displaced individuals like us in the corridors of the maternity ward,” she informed eNM.
“It was very chilly and we had no winter garments or blankets. All of my youngsters are sick.”
“There was bombing by means of the night time,” stated Abu Zayed. “Where will we go?”
A lady walks amid the rubble following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 13, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. — eNM pic
‘Inhumanity…past comprehension’
The United Nations humanitarian workplace, OCHA, informed eNM that Israel was blocking support convoys into northern Gaza.
“They have been very systematic in not permitting us to assist hospitals,” stated OCHA’ s head for the Palestinian territories, Andrea De Domenico, decrying “a stage of inhumanity… past comprehension.”
In central Gaza, an absence of gas compelled the shutdown of the principle generator of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, the well being ministry stated.
Health ministry spokesman Qudra accused Israel of “intentionally focusing on hospitals… to place them out of service”, warning of “devastating repercussions”.
Hospitals, protected below worldwide humanitarian legislation, have repeatedly been hit by Israeli strikes in Gaza for the reason that war erupted.
The Israeli army accuses Hamas of having tunnels below hospitals and utilizing the medical amenities as command centres, a cost denied by the Islamist group.
Fewer than half of Gaza’ s hospitals are partly functioning, the World Health Organization says.
In Israel, concern grew for hostages held in Gaza as they method their a hundredth day in captivity.
Palestinian militants on October 7 seized about 250 hostages, 132 of whom Israel says stay in Gaza, together with not less than 25 believed to have been killed.
Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’ s workplace stated a deal had been negotiated with Qatar to get medication to the captives.
Israeli marketing campaign group Hostages and Missing Families Forum launched a report this week saying the captives had been in poor well being, some with advanced sicknesses, others with accidents.
A diplomat conversant in the negotiations informed eNM that either side had expressed a willingness to permit the supply of medicines, and a supply near Hamas stated talks had been ongoing.
People search for salvageable objects amid the rubble following Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 13, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. — eNM pic
‘We should reside’
Israel criticised the UN human rights workplace for not reiterating its requires the discharge of the hostages in an announcement marking the looming a hundredth day of the battle.
“A name for a ceasefire, with out demanding the discharge of our hostages and the disarming of Hamas, is a name for terrorism to win,” its mission in Geneva stated.
The UN excessive commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, has referred to as repeatedly for the hostages to be freed.
The raging war didn’ t cease Gaza couple Afnan Jibril and Mustafa Shamlakh from getting married in Rafah.
“The home the place the groom was presupposed to reside was destroyed”, Ayman Shamlakh, the groom’ s uncle, informed eNM.
“We are all residing by means of the identical tragedy. However, we should proceed to reside, and life ought to go on.”
In the israeli-occupied West Bank, the place violence has surged throughout the Israel-Hamas war, Israeli troops killed three militants after they attacked a Jewish settlement, the military stated.
It stated there had been a “terrorist infiltration” in the Adora settlement, about 20 kilometres west of Hebron, and troopers had come below hearth.
Palestinian information company Wafa recognized the three killed as a 19-year-old and two 16-year-olds.
The International Court of Justice this week heard arguments in a case launched by South Africa, accusing Israel of breaching the UN Genocide Convention over the Gaza war.
Both Israel and its ally the United States have dismissed the case as groundless, and the court docket is more likely to make an preliminary ruling inside weeks. — eNM
