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October 7, 2023: Israel begins bombarding Gaza in retaliation to Hamas attacks
Israel resumes massive attacks on March 18, killing over 400 in a day — two months after ceasefire ending 15 months of relentless attacks began
Future governance of Gaza remains unclear as Trump suggests US takeover but Arab countries propose alternative plan, which UK, others back
Hamas and Israel exchange 25 hostages, bodies and 1,700 detainees in seven swaps
Over 57,000 Palestinians, 400 Israeli soldiers dead; nearly all of Gaza displaced
Multi-billion dollar challenges ahead to reconstruct decimated enclave
Hamas has welcomed measures taken by the Hague Group coalition of “Global South” countries in the Colombian capital of Bogota earlier this week to pursue accountability for Israeli abuses in Gaza, including by stopping arms transfers, Al Jazeera reports.
The group said in a statement that the move represents a clear “expression of the free global conscience, rejecting war crimes and brutal violations” committed in the enclave, where a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding.
“We call on all countries of the world to take urgent action to form the widest international front to isolate the occupation, expose its crimes, and impose further punitive measures on it that will lead to the cessation of its aggression and crimes against innocent civilians, and enduring the ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas also asked demonstrators around the world to hold protests and form another “international solidarity movement” on Sunday.
A Palestinian infant, only weeks old, has died of malnutrition in Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports.
“We’ve heard from the director of al-Shifa Hospital, Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, who just announced that in the past few minutes, two more cases of [patients with] malnutrition were pronounced dead inside the hospital,” the reporter said.
One of them was a 35-day-old newborn baby who died of malnutrition.
Many of the [patients] are picked up from the streets; people are fainting in the streets.
Meanwhile, inside the hospitals, there isn’t much that can be done to help people. Resources are not available. The hospital is under resourced, it doesn’t have enough capacity because it has been dealing with the huge influx of injuries for the past months.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has visited Taybeh, a Palestinian Christian town near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, following a recent attack by Israeli settlers that damaged an ancient church site.
“What has happened here is an absolute travesty, and it’s my desire to do everything possible to let the people of this peaceful village know that we will certainly insist that those who carry out acts of terror and violence in Taybeh — or anywhere — be found and be prosecuted,” Huckabee said in a statement that does not contain the word “settler” or “Israel”.
“Not just reprimanded, that’s not enough. People need to pay a price for doing something that destroys that which belongs, not just to other people, but that which belongs to God.”
Five people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City, the Palestinian Red Crescent has told Al Jazeera.
The attack took place in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, in the southwestern part of the city.
Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has again warned that Palestinians in Gaza face “an acute risk of famine”, and the situation is getting worse, Al Jazeera reports.
“Basic food supplies are no longer available in markets or distribution points,” Chapagain said in a post on X.
“The cost of remaining essentials, such as flour, has skyrocketed, with 1 kilogramme now reaching as much as $20, making it impossible for two million people to meet their minimum daily nutritional needs.”
He also reiterated a call “for full and unhindered access for humanitarian assistance” to Gaza, which remains under an Israeli blockade.
Fifty-five people have been arrested at a rally for the banned Palestine Action group outside Britain’s parliament, Reuters reports quoting London’s Metropolitan Police.
The crowd in Parliament Square had been waving placards supporting the group that was banned this month under anti-terrorism legislation, the force said in a post on X.
People from the rally, some wearing black and white Palestinian scarves, were taken away in police vans.
British lawmakers proscribed the group earlier this month after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged planes in protest of Britain’s support for Israel. Membership of Palestine Action now carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years.
The group has called the decision “authoritarian”, and a challenge to the ban will be heard at London’s High Court on Monday.
At least 90 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn, sources in the territory’s hospitals have told Al Jazeera.
Among the victims were 36 people who were seeking aid, they said.
Police in London say they have begun making arrests at a demonstration in support of the banned direct action group Palestine Action in the centre of the British capital, according to Al Jazeera.
Similar to the previous two Saturdays, officers from London’s Metropolitan police detained protesters in Parliament Square who were professing their support for the banned group and calling for its ban to be overturned.
As in previous demonstrations, protesters held placards reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, PA Media reported.
“A group of protesters has gathered in Parliament Square, with placards expressing support for Palestine Action,” the Metropolitan Police posted on X. “Officers have moved in and arrests are taking place.”
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has said it has “enough food for the entire population of Gaza” waiting at the border in Egypt.
“The supplies are available. The systems are in place,” UNRWA said in a post on X.
“Open the gates, lift the siege, allow UNRWA to do its work and help people in need,” it added, noting that among those needing the supplies were 1 million children.
Israel’s military offensive on Gaza has killed at least 58,765 people and wounded 140,485 since October 7, 2023, Al Jazeera reports, citing the latest bulletin by the ministry of health.
The death toll since a ceasefire broke down on March 18 has risen to 7,938 killed and 28,444 injured.
The ministry also said that 98 people have been killed and 511 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 48 hours.
Hundreds of Palestinian students in Gaza are taking a crucial end-of-secondary-school exam, organised by the enclave’s Ministry of Education, in the hope of entering university, Al Jazeera reports.
Earlier this month, the ministry announced the exam, which will be the first since Israel began its military campaign in Gaza after the Hamas attack in southern Israel in October 2023.
Some students are sitting the online exam at home, while others are taking it at venues depending on the region they are in, with safety considerations in mind, given the daily Israeli bombardment.
Read more here.
The Israeli army said its air force launched 90 strikes over the past day across the besieged Gaza Strip, which is just 365 square kilometres in size, Al Jazeera reports.
It claimed that it hit what it called military compounds and underground infrastructure, without providing evidence or details of the locations.
The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn has risen to 70, hospital sources told Al Jazeera, including 36 who were seeking aid.
Demonstrations are scheduled to take place across the UK calling for the ban on Palestine Action to be reversed, amid police warnings that those showing support for the proscribed group face arrest, Al Jazeera reports.
Demonstrations will be held in Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Truro and London today, as part of a campaign coordinated by Defend Our Juries, which has already seen dozens arrested.
The Metropolitan Police said 70 people were arrested at similar demonstrations in Parliament Square over the past two weekends, while Defend Our Juries said a total of 120 had so far been arrested across the UK.
A high court hearing will take place on Monday, in which the co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, will ask for the green light to challenge the home secretary’s decision to ban the group under anti-terror laws.
At least 50 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces across Gaza since dawn, including 32 aid seekers killed near a food aid site of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation north of Rafah, Al Jazeera* reports.
Medical sources have told Al Jazeera that two people were killed in Israeli shelling in Jabalia an-Nazla neighbourhood, in northern Gaza.
Deaths and injuries were also reported from southern Gaza, after an Israeli drone attack on tents set up by displaced Palestinians seeking shelter west of Khan Younis, the report added, citing sources from Nasser Hospital.
Gaza’s health ministry said the Nasser Medical Complex has received 32 bodies since dawn after the latest shooting at a GHF food aid site in Rafah, Al Jazeera reports.
It added that while “massacres” continue to take place at food distribution centres, medical teams observed a significant increase in death rates resulting from starvation and malnutrition.
It warned of an “unprecedented health and humanitarian disaster if this international silence continues” and called on the international community to “take urgent and effective action”.
Medical sources have told Al Jazeera that two people were killed in Israeli shelling in Jabalia al-Nazla neighbourhood, in northern Gaza.
Gaza’s civil defence agency has said Israeli attacks killed 26 Palestinians and wounded more than 100 near two aid centres in the south of the Palestinian territory.
Agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP that 22 were killed near a site southwest of Khan Younis and four near a centre northwest of Rafah, blaming “Israeli gunfire” for both.
“Israel has killed a classroom full of children every single day,” UNRWA’s Sam Rose tells BBC Radio 4.
“Children in Gaza have been killed while sleeping, sheltering in schools, or queuing for water,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on X.
The number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks while waiting to receive food aid in Rafah has risen to 29, Al Jazeera reports.
An estimated 900 people have been reported killed while waiting for food distribution in Gaza since the end of May. Most of those were killed in the vicinity of the GHF sites.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz has voiced a rare criticism of Israel for its actions in Gaza, calling them “no longer acceptable”, Al Jazeera reports.
Merz urged Israel to allow the immediate entry of humanitarian aid to Palestinians and said Berlin was pushing for an immediate ceasefire.
Germany has been a staunch ally of Israel, supporting its war on Gaza as an act of necessary “self-defence”.
Al Jazeera reported earlier that Abu Obeida, spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, published a video on the latest ceasefire talks in Qatar.
He said Israel rejected a ceasefire deal that would release all captives held in Gaza at once.
Abu Obeida blamed Netanyahu and his far-right ministers for rejecting what he described as a “comprehensive deal”.
If Israel withdraws from this round of indirect talks held in Qatar, Abu Obeida said, then Hamas does not guarantee a return to any partial deals, including a 60-day deal currently under discussion that would see 10 captives released.
