Israel-Hamas war: UN official warns of ‘hellish’ aid scenario as IDF pushes into southern Gaza
The UN has issued a terrifying warning for the people of Gaza as Israel ramps up its attacks in the south of the strip. Follow the updates. Warning: Graphic
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A UN official has warned that “an even more hellish scenario” looms in Gaza as Israel begins its invasion in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories Lynn Hastings said since the end of a seven-day truce, Israeli forces have pushed into southern Gaza, “forcing tens of thousands … into increasingly compressed spaces, desperate to find food, water, shelter and safety.”
“The conditions required to deliver aid to the people of Gaza do not exist,” Ms Hastings said.
“Nowhere is safe in Gaza and there is nowhere left to go. If possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to unfold, one in which humanitarian operations may not be able to respond.”
Ms Hastings, a Canadian, rejected the idea of “safe zones” that has been urged upon by Israel as people are still unable to move about freely.
“These zones cannot be safe nor humanitarian when unilaterally declared,” she said.
“What we see today are shelters with no capacity, a health system on its knees, a lack of clean drinking water, no proper sanitation and poor nutrition for people already mentally and physically exhausted: a textbook formula for epidemics and a public health disaster.”
Further complicating aid deliveries, two major roads in Gaza have been declared off-limits to UN teams and trucks.
Ms Hastings has her base in Jerusalem but Israel last week informed the UN that it would not renew her visa, accusing her of not being “impartial.”
It comes as Israeli troops have ramped up attacks across the Gaza Strip, including around hospitals and in the south of besieged enclave.
Dozens of Israeli tanks entered southern Gaza, near the territory’s second-largest city of Khan Yunis, after days of air strikes.
Armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers were also seen as Israel expanded its operations.
The Israeli army said that it was taking “aggressive” action against “Hamas and other terrorist organisations” in the southern city.
The advance of Israeli forces meant that in the north and east of the city, civilians could no longer travel along the Salah al-Din road that runs through the Palestinian territory, it said. The road “constitutes a battlefield, so it is extremely dangerous to go there”, it warned.
All day we receive harrowing reports from our aid workers in southern Gaza. The indiscriminate Israeli bombardment of the densely packed civilian population has reached new depths
— Jan Egeland (@NRC_Egeland) December 4, 2023
Each week we tell ourselves that things in Gaza cannot get any worse: but they keep getting worse
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BERNIE SANDERS OPPOSES $10BN PACKAGE FOR ‘EXTREMIST NETANYAHU’
US senator Bernie Sanders has signalled his opposition to the Biden administration’s proposal to send $10.1bn (A$15.2bn) to Israel to resupply the country’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling defence systems as well as replenish military stocks.
“I believe that it would be absolutely irresponsible to provide an additional $10.1bn in unconditional military aid that will allow the Netanyahu government to continue its current offensive military approach,” Sanders said on the Senate floor on Monday.
“What the Netanyahu government is doing is immoral, it is in violation of international law, and the United States should not be complicit in those actions.”
Sanders continues to face pressure from US progressives to call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.
‘MUST STAND AGAINST SUSTAINED, UNPRECEDENTED BRUTALITY’ IN GAZA
Dozens of religious and civil society groups in Canada are calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to “realign” his government’s foreign policy to reflect values of human rights and peace.
In an open letter, the groups – including the Canadian Council of Imams, Independent Jewish Voices Canada and the United Church of Canada – raised concerns over Canada’s “unquestioning and uncritical support for the Israeli government’s actions”.
“This stance has raised serious concerns among us about the impartiality of our nation’s foreign policy. We can no longer remain silent in the face of Canada’s biased approach that contradicts the values of justice and fairness,” they said.
“This approach has proven to be a failure on all fronts. It has neither promoted justice nor positioned Canada to help broker peace.”
AIR STRIKES INTENSIFY IN THE SOUTH
Air strikes have intensified in Gaza’s south, said James Elder, a spokesman for the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF.
“Despite what has been assured, attacks in the south of Gaza are every bit as vicious as what the north endured,” he posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“Somehow, it’s getting worse for children and mothers.”
Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters clashed with Israel Defence Force (IDF) soldiers about 2km from Khan Yunis prompting new orders for civilians to evacuate.
The widened evacuation orders include five areas in and around the city with leaflets being dropped from the air now declaring Khan Yunis “a dangerous combat zone”.
All civilians have been ordered to flee to the Egypt border city of Rafah or designated safe zones in the southwest or risk death.
However, thousands of Palestinians have said they can’t leave saying they had already fled their homes in the north and moved multiple times since and cannot keep going. Bombs have also been hitting the places where they being told would be “safe”.
The World Health Organisation issued a statement expressing its “grave concern” about the bombardment of southern Gaza, and warns that “nowhere is safe” for civilians.
“We have seen what happened in northern Gaza. This cannot be the blueprint for the south. Gaza cannot afford to lose another hospital as health needs continue to soar,” WHO said.
“As more civilians in southern Gaza receive immediate evacuation orders and are forced to move, more people are being concentrated into smaller areas, while the remaining hospitals in those areas run without sufficient fuel, medicines, food, water, or protection of health workers.”
GAZA DEATHS NUDGE 16,000
The Hamas-run health ministry in the Gaza Strip said 15,899 people had died in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel, with 42,000 wounded.
Among the victims, 70 per cent were women and children, it added.
Israel has been targeting Gaza with an air and ground campaign in response to the attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel on October 7 in which around 1200 were killed and 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
‘UNFOUNDED LIES’ ABOUT RAPE CLAIMS
Hamas said on Monday that claims of rape and sexual violence by Palestinian militants during the October 7 attacks on Israel were “unfounded lies”.
Hamas, in its statement released Monday, said the allegations were part of “Zionist campaigns which promote unfounded lies and allegations to demonise the Palestinian resistance”.
Meanwhile, the chair of Israel’s investigative committee into the alleged rapes by Hamas, Cochav Elkayam, has been found using old images of dead female Kurdish fighters to claim they were Israeli women sexually assaulted at the Nova music festival on October 7.
During a talk for Harvard’s Maimonides Society, Ms Elkayam showed the graphic images and referred to them “an image of a woman stripped from the waist down... photographed on the side of the Nova music festival”.
However, the images were later removed without acknowledgment from a website after people were quick to point out the graphic images were first published in 2022 and showed dead female Kurdish fighters.
US ASKS ISRAEL TO LET MORE FUEL INTO GAZA
The United States said Monday it was asking Israel to let more fuel into the battered Gaza Strip after the end of a pause in its war with Hamas.
“The Israeli government was not early on Friday allowing fuel to go in,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
“We had some very frank conversations with them about the need for fuel to come in and saw some fuel going in Friday.
“We saw additional fuel go in Saturday, but it’s at the level of fuel that we were at before the pause began.
“We’ve made clear we want to see it backup not just to the level of fuel that went in during the pause, but actually higher.”
‘CATASTROPHIC COMBINATION OF ESCALATING HUMANITARIAN AND MEDICAL NEEDS’
Executive director of Doctors Without Borders Avril Benoit has written to the US President Joe Biden urging him to push for an immediate Gaza ceasefire, warning “no one in Gaza can go on like this.”
“MSF has delivered medical aid in many high-intensity conflicts over more than 50 years, yet rarely have we encountered such a catastrophic combination of escalating humanitarian and medical needs, ravaged infrastructure, and intentionally limited humanitarian access,” she wrote.
“We urge you to use your influence to secure an end to the widespread and indiscriminate attacks against civilians, forced displacement, and siege of Gaza.
“Vital humanitarian aid must be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip at scale.”
GLOBAL LEADERS GROUP URGE REVIEW ISRAEL MILITARY AID
A group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela called on governments providing military assistance to Israel amid its war with Hamas in Gaza to rethink their approach.
The Elders, which include former UN chief Ban Ki-moon, accused Israel of conducting a “disproportionate” response to Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says nearly 15,900 people have since been killed in the Palestinian territory, about 70 percent of them women and children — a toll that has sparked global alarm and mass demonstrations.
The Elders said Israel’s retaliation “has reached a level of inhumanity towards Palestinians in Gaza that is intolerable”.
“More killing is not the answer. Negotiation is the way to end this conflict,” they said in a statement.
The group said that governments “which provide military assistance in the knowledge that atrocities are being committed, or may be imminent, risk being complicit”.
It added that world leaders “must act now to deter atrocities and end impunity” including by “urgently reviewing military assistance to Israel, and putting in place conditions for any future provision”.
The group also called on governments to enable the International Criminal Court “to accelerate its investigation into atrocity crimes by all parties”.
It urged leaders with influence over the Israeli government and Hamas to push for a permanent ceasefire as well.
The Elders were founded in 2007 and advocate for peace, justice, human rights and environmental sustainability.
Current members include former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and ex-Ireland president Mary Robinson.
COMMUNICATIONS CUT ACROSS GAZA STRIP
The main telecom company in the Gaza Strip said that mobile telephone services and internet connections had been cut across the Palestinian territory.
“We regret to announce that all telecom services in Gaza Strip have been lost due to the cut off of main fibre routes from the Israeli side,” PalTel said in a message on social media.
“Gaza is blacked out again.”
IDF WARNS WHO TO REMOVE MEDICAL SUPPLIES
The World Health Organization is alleging Israel notified it to remove its supplies from its medical warehouse in southern Gaza, according to WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Mr Ghebreyesus said Israel told his organisation that “ground operations will put it beyond use,” adding the WHO appeals to Israel to withdraw the order, and take every possible measure to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and humanitarian facilities.”
Today, @WHO received notification from the Israel Defense Forces that we should remove our supplies from our medical warehouse in southern Gaza within 24 hours, as ground operations will put it beyond use.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 4, 2023
We appeal to #Israel to withdraw the order, and take every possible…
GAZA SUFFERING ‘INTOLERABLE’: RED CROSS CHIEF
The Red Cross president arrived in war-torn Gaza and called for the protection of civilians in the Palestinian territory, where she warned that human suffering was “intolerable”.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric’s travel to the region would happen in several stages with “a visit to Israel expected over the coming weeks”.
“I have arrived in Gaza, where people’s suffering is intolerable,” Ms Spoljaric said on X, formerly Twitter.
“It is unacceptable that civilians have no safe place to go in Gaza, and with a military siege in place there is also no adequate humanitarian response currently possible,” she added in an ICRC statement.
The Red Cross has faced criticism from both sides in the conflict for not providing adequate help to Israeli hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, insisted that “all those deprived of liberty must be treated humanely”.
“The hostages must be released, and the ICRC must be allowed to safely visit them,” she said.
“The last week provided a small degree of humanitarian respite, a positive glimpse of humanity that raised hopes around the world that a path to reduced suffering could now be found,” Ms Spoljaric said in the statement.
“We have urgently appealed for civilian life to be protected and respected on all sides, in line with international humanitarian law, and I reiterate that appeal today,” Ms Spoljaric said, insisting that “an unimpeded and regular flow of aid must be allowed to enter Gaza”.
ISRAEL RAISES AUSTRALIA TRAVEL WARNING
Israel has warned its citizens against travelling to Australia and about 80 other countries over fears they could face anti-Semitism.
The Israeli National Security Council (NSC) raised its travel warning levels over increased anti-Semitic incidents and attempted attacks against Jews and Israelis around the world.
The level 2 warning indicates heightened vigilance for several countries in Western Europe, including the UK, France, Germany and Russia; in South America, Brazil and Argentina; as well as Australia.
However, Australia’s deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the country remains a peaceful place.
“It’s really important that all of us, in what is a very difficult time globally, are looking after each other,” he told ABC.
“It is very important that as people legitimately express their views about what’s happening in the world, this is done in a peaceful manner.”
ISRAELI SOLDIERS INJURED IN LEBANON
Three Israeli soldiers were injured by mortar shells fired from Lebanon, the IDF said.
“Overnight, a number of mortar shell launches from Lebanon toward IDF posts in the area of Shtula were identified. As a result, three IDF soldiers were lightly injured and evacuated to receive medical treatment,” the IDF said.
“Later, more shells were fired toward an IDF post in the area of Yiftah, a kibbutz in northern Israel, the IDF said. “In response, IDF artillery struck the sources of the fire.”
200 HAMAS TARGETS HIT: ISRAEL CLAIMS
Israel Defence Force has claimed it attacked about 200 Hamas targets in a statement shared on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
The post said the IDF was continuing to fight on the ground and in the air, revealing it destroyed terrorist infrastructure that was found inside schools in the northern Gaza Strip.
“The Negev Brigade destroyed a terrorist infrastructure set up in a school in Beit Hanon, from where an attack was launched against our forces. In the school complex, two tunnel shafts were also found, one of which was trapped, an area for cargo and weapons,” the statement read.
“ Among the targets attacked, an observation post of the Hamas naval force and terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza harbour. In addition, the forces attacked military buildings of the terrorist organisation Hamas using precision weaponry.”
צה"ל תקף במהלך הלילה ×›-200 מטרות של ×רגון הטרור חמ×ס; כוחות ×§×¨×§×¢×™× ×ž×ž×©×™×›×™× ×‘×œ×—×™×ž×” הושמדו תשתיות טרור שמוקמו בתוך בתי ספר בצפון הרצועה
— ×¦×‘× ×”×”×’× ×” לישר×ל (@idfonline) December 4, 2023
כוחות ×§×¨×§×¢×™×™× ×©×œ צה"ל ×ž×ž×©×™×›×™× ×œ×¤×¢×•×œ בשטח הרצועה לצד תקיפות × ×¨×—×‘×•×ª של חיל ×”×וויר>> pic.twitter.com/M6VoCpcOyD
1.8M DISPLACED IN GAZA: UN
The United Nations estimates that 1.8 million Gazans have been displaced with 958,000 people now housed in 99 UN facilities in the south.
Outside a morgue in Khan Yunis, resident Samy al-Najeila carried the body of a child and said his sons had been preparing to evacuate their home.
“But the occupation didn’t give us any time. The three-floor building was destroyed completely, the whole block was totally destroyed.”
The IDF said it only targeted Hamas operatives and blamed civilian casualties on the militants, accusing them of operating in residential neighbourhoods.
Israeli government adviser Mark Regev also rejected allegations that the Israeli military is doing too little to safeguard the civilian population.
“We will in parallel make the maximum effort to do two things – one to differentiate between the terrorists who are our bitter enemy and the civilian population. We will do everything to safeguard that population,” Mr Regev said.
The United States repeated its appeal that the massive loss of life and displacement of northern Gaza must not be repeated in the south.
Meanwhile, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar vowed to hunt Hamas chiefs “in Lebanon, in Turkey, In Qatar”
“The cabinet set a goal for us, to take out Hamas and we are determined to do it, this is our Munich … It will take a few years, but we will be there in order to do it,” he said, appearing to reference the Israeli operation to assassinate the terrorists responsible for the 1972 Munich Olympic attacks, which went on for a number of years.
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