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1 year ago
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IN PICTURES: Smoke rises in northern Gaza strip as Israel's aerial bombardment continues
Ireland's deputy premier to travel to Israel and Palestinian territory
Ireland's deputy premier has announced he is to travel to Israel and the Palestinian territory later this week.
- Micheal Martin, who is also foreign affairs minister, will also travel to Egypt as part of the visit.
- Speaking at the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels this morning, Mr Martin said: 'The situation in the region is at a critical point, with a catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and continued risks of regional escalation.
- 'I have been engaging intensively with regional counterparts since October 7 and will return to the region this week, following my visit in September, to continue that engagement.
- 'In Egypt, I hope to meet with foreign minister Sameh Shoukry and secretary general of the Arab League, Aboul Gheit.
- 'In Israel, I plan to see foreign minister Eli Cohen and hope also to visit the south of Israel and the communities that were devastated by the October 7 attacks.'
- He said he is scheduled to meet foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki in the occupied Palestinian territory, adding he 'hopes' to see Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
- 'I will be engaging in particular on the situation of Emily Hand, the eight-year old Irish-Israeli hostage, whose father Tom I will meet tomorrow in Dublin, as well as the situation of Irish citizens still in Gaza.'
Israel sharpens warning to Lebanon as cross-border hostilities spike
Israel said it was poised to impose quiet on the Lebanese front as hostilities spiked on Sunday, with Hezbollah wounding civilians in a cross-border missile attack and the Israeli Air Force bombing sites linked to the Iranian-backed group.
- The chief Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, described Hezbollah as 'the defender of Hamas-ISIS', in reference to the Islamist Palestinian faction whose cross-border rampage against Israel on Oct. 7 sparked a devastating Gaza war.
- Hezbollah, whose rocket arsenal is widely believed to dwarf that of Hamas, has been carrying out relatively limited attacks in solidarity with the Palestinians. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday described the Israel front as 'active'.
- On Sunday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a guided missile attack that Israel said wounded at least two electrical company workers sent to carry out repairs at a border community.
- A mortar attack wounded seven Israeli soldiers, the military said. A rocket set off sirens near the Israeli port city of Haifa, 17 miles from the Lebanese border, but caused no casualties. A Lebanese wing of Hamas took credit for the launch.
EU calls for 'meaningful' pauses in Gaza fighting
The EU's humanitarian aid chief called Monday for 'meaningful' pauses in the fighting in Gaza and urgent deliveries of fuel to keep hospitals working in the territory.
- 'It is urgent to define and respect humanitarian pauses,' Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Crisis Management, said at a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers in Brussels.
- 'Fuel needs to get in. As you could see, more than half of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip stopped working, primarily because of lack of fuel, and fuel is desperately needed.'
- The appeal went out as battles between Israeli and Hamas forces have raged around Gaza's largest hospital, which has become the focus in the five-week-old war.
- The Hamas-run health ministry said Monday the hospitals in the centre of the heaviest fighting in north Gaza have been forced out of service amid shortages and the fierce combat.
Israel's military said it would observe a 'self-evacuation corridor' today around al-Shifa hospital
Israel's military said it would observe a 'self-evacuation corridor' Monday, allowing people to move from Al-Shifa southward, but admitted the area was still the scene of 'intense battles.'
- The area of fighting 'currently includes the area surrounding the Shifa hospital but not the hospital itself', a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces said.
- Israeli forces and Hamas gunmen have waged heavy battles outside Shifa, and some hospital officials have said Shifa was under siege, with those inside being pinned down by Israeli fire. Israel has said it had offered safe passage to those wanting to leave.
- Many displaced Palestinians, along with some medical patients, have left Gaza's largest hospital, which is surrounded by Israeli forces, a U.N. health official said Monday.
- About 650 patients, 500 healthcare workers and an estimated 2,500 displaced people remain in the sprawling Shifa hospital compound, said Mohammed Zaqout, director of hospitals in Gaza.
- This would signal a significant departure since the weekend when Gaza health officials had said about 1,500 patients, along with 1,500 medical workers and 15,000 displaced people were at Shifa.
- The situation at Shifa deteriorated over the weekend, with doctors reporting that the last generator had run out of fuel, leading to the deaths of several patients, including premature babies.
44 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since start of war: Army
The Israeli army on Monday announced the death of two additional soldiers in northern Gaza, raising to 44 the number killed in the Palestinian territory since October 7.
An army spokesperson told AFP that 44 were killed "inside Gaza during the war" that began when Hamas militants stormed Israel's southern border.
PICTURED: Israel's Defence Forces say they delivered fuel to the al-Shifa hospital - claims Hamas denies
- Israel's military asserted it placed 300 liters of fuel near Shifa overnight for an emergency generator powering incubators for premature babies and coordinated the delivery with hospital officials. But the military said Hamas prevented the hospital from receiving the fuel.
- A Health Ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra, disputed the account and also told Al Jazeera the fuel would not be enough to operate the generator an hour. 'This is a mockery towards the patients and children,' Al-Qidra said.
- Israeli PM Netanyahu asserted that '100 or so' people had been evacuated from Shifa and that Israel had created safe corridors.
- But Health Ministry Undersecretary Munir al-Boursh said Israeli snipers have deployed around Shifa, firing at any movement.
Hamas government says all hospitals in northern Gaza 'out of service'
- None of the hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip are operational, the Hamas-run health ministry has declared
- Youssef Abu Rish, deputy health minister in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said all hospitals in the north of the enclave were 'out of service'.
Pictured: Doctors examine injured patients with a phone torch amid fuel shortages at the Indonesian Hospital in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
Hamas health ministry says toll in Gaza hospital rises to six babies and nine patients
- A premature baby and two patients have died in Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital, the Hamas-run health ministry said Monday.
- Youssef Abu Rish, deputy health minister in the Gaza Strip, said the new deaths brought the toll to six premature babies and nine patients since electric shortages began affecting the hospital.
Thousands remain trapped inside al-Shifa hospital
Thousands of people remained trapped in Gaza's largest hospital Monday, where evacuations have been hampered by fierce fighting between Israeli and Hamas forces.
- On Sunday, witnesses at the hospital said that 'violent fighting' raged throughout the night
- The sounds of small arms fire and aerial bombardments were echoing across the sprawling complex.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) and other UN agencies said as many as 3,000 patients and staff are sheltering inside without adequate fuel, water or food.
Gaza's largest hospital is 'no longer functioning', WHO warns
The largest hospital in Gaza has ceased to function and fatalities among patients are rising, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said, as fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas continued just outside the facility where incubators lay idle with no electricity.
- Conditions are worsening for hundreds of patients and thousands of others sheltering around Al-Shifa hospital - which has become the focus of the five-week-old war.
- The hospital's last generator ran out of fuel Saturday, leading to the deaths of three premature babies and four other patients, according to the Health Ministry. It said another 36 babies are at risk of dying.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that as many as 3,000 patients and staff are sheltering inside without adequate fuel, water or food.
- 'Regrettably, the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore,' said WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, after making contact with on-the-ground staff.
- 'It's been three days without electricity, without water,' he said, describing the situation inside as 'dire and perilous.'
![CORRECTION / Patients and internally displaced people are pictured at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. Heavy fighting was raging near Al-Shifa hospital, with Israel saying it had killed dozens of militants and destroyed tunnels that are key to Hamas's capacity to fight. Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters poured across the heavily militarised border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages. (Photo by Khader Al Zanoun / AFP) / "The erroneous mention appearing in the metadata of this photo by Ismail Zanoun has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [byline is Khader Al Zanoun] instead of [Ismail Zanoun]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it to third parties, please ensure that the same](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/13/07/1699860812364_lc_galleryImage_CORRECTION_Patients_and_i.JPG)
![CORRECTION / TOPSHOT - Patients rest at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on November 10, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. Heavy fighting was raging near Al-Shifa hospital, with Israel saying it had killed dozens of militants and destroyed tunnels that are key to Hamas's capacity to fight. Israel launched an offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters poured across the heavily militarised border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages. (Photo by Khader Al Zanoun / AFP) / "The erroneous mention appearing in the metadata of this photo by Ismail Zanoun has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [byline is Khader Al Zanoun] instead of [Ismail Zanoun]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by th](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/11/13/07/1699860818716_lc_galleryImage_CORRECTION_TOPSHOT_Patien.JPG)
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