Israeli officials have asserted that their objective is the total elimination of Hamas, and they have expressed their opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza.
The ongoing conflict has claimed about 11,400 Israel and Palestine lives. With the majority, 85%, being Palestinians. Many of them being women and children.
In Summary
- The Israeli Defence Forces have cut the Gaza Strip into two parts, the North and South, as phone and internet services were once again disrupted.
- Israel’s Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu faced international criticism when he suggested during a radio interview that deploying a nuclear weapon on Gaza is a possibility.
- Israeli army said it has carried our 450 air strikes on Gaza since last night including a strike along the border with Lebanon that claimed the lives of four people.
- 88 United Nations (UN) Relief and Works Agency members have been killed since October 7.
- Jordanian Airforce drops medical supplies into Gaza.
- United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Turkey on a diplomatic mission amid calls for an immediate ceasefire.
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director William Burns is in Israel urging greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties.
- Biden’s support among Arab Nations dwindling ahead of the US 2024 Presidential polls.
Even as Jordan sent containers of relief supplies to Gaza by plane, for many in the Gaza Strip, each day brings more suffering and instability in the besieged region.
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Ruto Stands with Israel in the Israel-Palestine Conflict
The escalating violence and civilian casualties in the region are deeply concerning and call for urgent efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Lebanese state media has reported that 3 children and their grandmother have been killed on the border with an Israeli military strike.
The recent Israeli airstrikes; including in hospitals and refugee camps, have been some of the most intense since the conflict began, resulting in a tragic loss of life, with the majority of the victims being women and children.
All major UN Agencies have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists there will be no ceasefire without the release of hostages taken by Hamas.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 9,700 people have been killed in the Strip since 7 October. The targeted areas included neighborhoods in Rafah, central Gaza, and the Jabalia refugee camp.
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Over the weekend, seven water facilities in the Gaza Strip were “directly targeted and suffered significant destruction,” as reported by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The region is already grappling with a water shortage, and Gaza’s municipal authorities have cautioned about the imminent danger of sewage overflow.
Since October 7, a sum of 175 healthcare professionals and 34 civil defence workers have lost their lives in the Gaza Strip, as reported by Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila.
Diplomatic Efforts
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unexpected trip to Iraq on Sunday, during which he engaged in discussions with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani regarding the potential escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Later in the day, Blinken travelled to Ankara for meetings with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Turkey’s stance on this issue is very clear. They have expressed that the release of prisoners should be a two-way process, with both Hamas releasing captives and Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners.
The UN Security Council is set to convene a closed-door session on Monday to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict, following a request from the United Arab Emirates and China.
Simultaneously, CIA Director William Burns is on a visit to Israel and other Middle Eastern countries this week.
Additionally, on Sunday, a joint statement from eighteen heads of humanitarian organizations was issued, urging for a ceasefire in Gaza, as conveyed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
Since the war broke out on October 7 between Hamas and Israel, Washington has sent significant military assets to the region, including two aircraft carriers, fighter aircraft, approximately 1,000 American soldiers, and unspecified special operations commandos who are “advising” the Israeli military in their Gaza operations.
The recent dispatch of a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East marks the most recent significant increase in US military presence in response to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
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Assaults and Arrests in Occupied West Bank
Israeli forces carried out attacks throughout the occupied West Bank, leading to confrontations between Palestinian fighters and Israeli troops in Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Tubas, and Jenin.
In addition to these operations, prominent Palestinian figures were apprehended during raids in Anata, West Bank, within the past day.
Notable among those detained were Marouf al-Rifai, the advisor to the Palestinian Authority governor of Jerusalem, and Fatah leader Rafat Alayan, who was taken into custody by Israeli forces while he was engaged in a television interview.
Nuclear Remarks
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took action on Sunday against a junior member of his cabinet who seemed to express a willingness to consider the possibility of Israel conducting a nuclear strike on Gaza. This occurred amidst the ongoing conflict with Hamas, which is causing a growing number of civilian casualties among Palestinians.
During a radio interview, when asked about a hypothetical nuclear option, Eliyahu responded by saying, “That’s certainly a possibility.”
Netanyahu’s office released a statement announcing the suspension of Heritage Minister Amihay Eliyahu, a member of a far-right party within the coalition government, from attending cabinet meetings indefinitely.
The League of Arab States said in a statement: “The racist statements of Israeli Minister Eliyahu are revealing. Not only does he admit that they possess a nuclear weapon, but he also confirms the reality of the Israelis’ abhorrent racist view towards the Palestinian people.”
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Protests
Approximately 300,000 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Washington, D.C.’s Freedom Plaza on Saturday to call for a cease-fire and an end to the siege on the Gaza Strip.
The protest, organized by nine groups and joined by over 500 groups from around the US, aimed to address the ongoing situation sparked by a Hamas attack on Israel in October. After a peaceful rally, the demonstrators marched to the White House.
The protestors are of the view that Israel, with the full backing of the U.S. government, is carrying out an unprecedented massacre in Gaza and that thousands of Palestinians are being killed with bombs, bullets and missiles paid for by U.S. tax dollars.
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U.S. officials have avoided requesting a general cease-fire but have pushed for humanitarian “breaks” to enable civilians to leave Gaza and for aid to be delivered.
But the question still remains: Will the attacks on the hospitals and refugee camps be a turning point for the Global North, particularly the US and European Union (EU) to urge Israel to stop committing war crimes as clearly stated and observed by the UN and the whole World?
The clock is ticking.
