Israeli airstrikes hit a refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip early Sunday, killing at least 33 people, health officials said. The strikes came a day after the US urged Israel to take a humanitarian pause from its bombardment of Gaza, where Palestinians reported multiple fatalities on Saturday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made another push Saturday to help civilians and met with Arab foreign ministers in Jordan. That was after his talks in Israel with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who insisted there could be no temporary cease-fire until all hostages held by Hamas are released. President Joe Biden suggested Saturday that progress was being made on the humanitarian pause.
The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war reached 9,448, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza. In the occupied West Bank, more than 140 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, most of them in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that started the fighting, and 242 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by the militant group. Roughly 1,100 people have left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing since Wednesday under an apparent agreement among the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas. Currently:
1. Blinken tries to cajole Arab leaders on support for post-conflict Gaza.
2. Protest marches from U.S. to Berlin call for immediate halt to bombing.
3. These numbers show the staggering toll of the Israel-Hamas war.
4. Israel deports thousands of Palestinian workers back to Gaza’s war zone.
5. A U.N. official says the average Palestinian in Gaza is living on two pieces of bread a day.
Thousands of people have joined a demonstration in Tel Aviv organized by families of some 240 hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.“Now!” the crowd chanted repeatedly, calling for hostages to be freed without delay after nearly a month in captivity. Many held pictures of the hostages, who include children and older people.Hadas Kalderon of Kibbutz Nir Oz whose two children were kidnapped, ages 16 and 12, called for a cease-fire in exchange for the return of the hostages.Hamas militants abducted the hostages in an Oct. 7 cross-border raid that triggered the latest Israel-Hamas war. The plight of the hostages and their families has captured the nation’s attention.
RESCUERS DIG THROUGH DESTROYED HOMES TO FIND AIRSTRIKE SURVIVORS
Gaza City: Firefighters sprayed jets of water across twisted metal and jumbled concrete as flames roared from homes destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the Jabaliya refugee camp. The escalating bombardment comes as Israel’s military said it had encircled Gaza City, the initial target of its offensive to crush Hamas. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were killed or wounded in the strike late Saturday in the northern Gaza Strip. Rescuers shouted to each other as they tried to pull people from the wreckage. Associated Press video showed a man, barefoot and with blood soaking through his clothes, being carried on a stretcher through the concrete skeleton of a damaged building. “Careful, careful!” someone called out as they staggered across the rubble. Others used a bed sheet to haul a dead body from the scene. Inside a bouncing ambulance driving away, a rescuer wearing black latex gloves patted the head of a young boy cradled in his lap. A man screamed off-camera.
GAZA CRISIS
RESCUERS DIG THROUGH DESTROYED HOMES TO FIND AIRSTRIKE SURVIVORS
Gaza City: Firefighters sprayed jets of water across twisted metal and jumbled concrete as flames roared from homes destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the Jabaliya refugee camp. The escalating bombardment comes as Israel’s military said it had encircled Gaza City, the initial target of its offensive to crush Hamas. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were killed or wounded in the strike late Saturday in the northern Gaza Strip. Rescuers shouted to each other as they tried to pull people from the wreckage. Associated Press video showed a man, barefoot and with blood soaking through his clothes, being carried on a stretcher through the concrete skeleton of a damaged building. “Careful, careful!” someone called out as they staggered across the rubble. Others used a bed sheet to haul a dead body from the scene. Inside a bouncing ambulance driving away, a rescuer wearing black latex gloves patted the head of a young boy cradled in his lap. A man screamed off-camera.
PRESIDENT BIDEN HINTS AT PROGRESS ON PERSUADING ISRAEL TO PAUSE ATTACKS
Rehoboth Beach: President Joe Biden suggested Saturday there have been some advances in US attempts to persuade Israel to pause military strikes on Gaza for humanitarian reasons. In a brief exchange with reporters as he left St. Edmond Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, Biden was asked if there was progress, and he responded, “Yes,” but did not share specifics.This comes after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his Arab counterparts Saturday. He disagreed with them on the need for an immediate cease-fire and made clear the furthest he would go was backing a pause for aid to reach civilians in Gaza. Blinken said a cease-fire would leave Hamas in place. Thousands of people have joined a demonstration in Tel Aviv organized by families of some 240 hostages being held in the Gaza Strip.“Now!” the crowd chanted repeatedly, calling for hostages to be freed without delay after nearly a month in captivity. Many held pictures of the hostages, who include children and older people.