Israel needs to evacuate Gaza Town – DW – 07/10/2024

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said on Wednesday that sixty percent of Hamas militants were “eliminated or injured” during the nine-month battle.

Speaking in parliament, Gallant said Israel had “destroyed” several of the Palestinian militant group’s 24 battalions.

He said Israel was “determined” to meet its war goals of removing Hamas from ruling the Gaza Strip as well as repatriating all hostages held in Gaza.

“We have returned half of the hostages and we are committed to returning the rest,” Gallant said. “The security establishment, and the one I lead, are committed to achieving and meeting the goals of the war.”

Gallant praised Israeli infantrymen for “doing their job with dedication, sacrifice and success” and said “the accomplishments are many.”

Hamas’s October 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel sparked war in the Gaza Strip.

Local and global media reported that Israeli airplanes dropped leaflets on Gaza Town on Wednesday. The leaflets advised citizens to avoid the city as containment had intensified there.

Thousands of leaflets addressed as “a call to action to everyone in Gaza City” were distributed on routes leading south out of the city and warned that it “may remain a dangerous war zone.”

The United Nations and alternative global organizations have described Israeli evacuation orders as complex and dangerous. Thousands of Gazans have been displaced more than once since October 2023.

The German government said Tuesday’s Israeli airstrike, which killed civilians sheltering in a college, was “unacceptable.”

The International Ministry will have to come up with social media platforms soon.”

Israeli airstrikes killed 20 Palestinians, including six children, in central Gaza, some of whom were inside a so-called “safe zone” declared by the Israeli military, a medical institution executive told The Associated Press.

The same day, shootings took place on three properties in the Nusseirat refugee camp, killing 12 people, including five children.

This second consecutive night of unfortunate incidents in Deir al-Balah city and refugee camps came as mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar were meeting in Doha with Israeli officials to offer a ceasefire and hostages. Holiday.

Israeli forces continued attacks in Gaza City on Wednesday, targeting a building owned by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).

UNRWA has not used the construction since the last generation. In a post on social media platform X before Twitter, the IDF said that a tunnel built by Hamas was beneath the building.

Multiple US officials have confirmed that a floating dock constructed off the coast of the Gaza Strip could be used to bring in some backup in the coming days before it is damaged, the Associated Press reports.

Efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza were at times hampered by poor climate and air strikes, even though the United Nations was required to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

Rough weather and sea conditions have caused America to run aground on the dock several times since it was constructed two months ago.

The UN has warned that without unused deliveries, some of the most overcrowded bakeries in Gaza only have enough fuel for one or two more deliveries. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said backup workers managed to deliver 500,000 liters (132,000 gallons) of gas into Gaza on the first of July, and about 2 million liters of gas in June.

“In both cases, this was less than a fifth of the estimated 400,000 liters required each day to sustain humanitarian, medical and related operations,” he said.

UN trials have shown that Israeli shelling, due to a lack of backup being brought into Gaza, has led to “catastrophic” levels of starvation, especially among children.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Israeli evacuation orders were “dangerously chaotic”, as the public was told to move through areas where fighting was ongoing.

“Civilians in Gaza must be protected and their basic needs met, wherever they travel or remain,” the UN spokesperson said. “People who leave must have adequate time to do so, as well as a safe route and a safe place to go.”

Palestinian military officials said Israeli moves in Khan Yunis forced thousands of people to flee and killed at least 25 people sheltering at a college on Tuesday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a comment: “A warplane, using precision weapons, struck a terrorist from the military wing of Hamas who took part in the terrible massacre on October 7.”

The Israeli military has blamed Hamas for the civilian deaths in the city’s fields. The Israeli military said it was reviewing reports of school-related airstrikes and civilian casualties, and claimed the clash targeted a Hamas militant who had taken part in an October 7 attack on Israel. In which about 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel.

State ministry officials in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip said more than 38,200 people had been killed since October 7. The number of dead does not distinguish between opponents and civilians.

Israel, Germany, the US and many other alternative nations designate Hamas as a May 15 organization.

es/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters)