Israel - Palestinian militants launch massive attack, 7 Oct 2023 #3

[Brightchaser47]

BBM. Leaders have made it clear they will not address how or when anything is going to happen. They don't want to alert the terrorists of their plans.

JMO

Exactly. If we're in the know, terrorists are, too...

 

[Momoffourboys]

‘It’s hell, but we are doing holy work’: Volunteers examine Israeli victims' bodies

https://x.com/Jerusalem_Post/status/1713256615955104112?s=20

 

[SouthAussie]

Tel Aviv under rocket attack.

Large rocket barrage at central Israel

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I am guessing this is why Australia has had to cancel its further repatriation flights. One plane load of people got out, now they are saying that the situation on the ground has deteriorated - is highly challenging and rapidly changing - and the other flights have been cancelled for the moment.

They are still working on ways to bring home the rest of the Aussies who want to leave, and are currently in discussions with other ports in the Middle East.

Australia cancels emergency flights out of Israel due to safety concerns

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live updates: Gaza hit with more shelling as Israel defends evacuation order (nbcnews.com)
13m ago / 1:58 PM PDT

Mother of son assumed kidnapped by Hamas: ‘He’s my universe’​

Rachel Goldberg, whose 23-year-old son is assumed to have been kidnapped by Hamas after attending a music festival, told NBC News, “we feel like we’re in a parallel universe.”

Goldberg said she last saw her son last Friday. He then left with his best friend to go to the Supernova music festival near the Gaza border, where some 260 people were killed.

Goldberg said that the next morning when she heard sirens and knew something was going on, she checked her phone and saw two texts from her son, reading, “I love you” and another saying “I’m sorry.”

“I immediately knew something horrible was in the process of happening or about to happen,” she said.

Goldberg said she did receive confirmation that her son is assumed to be kidnapped and that the last signal from his cell phone was picked up on the border of Gaza. She said there were also eyewitnesses who said her son and others ended up in a bomb shelter and it appeared her son may have had his arm blown off with a tourniquet around it and that he was taken away with a few other young men.

“He’s my universe. He’s my whole life. He’s the most important thing to me,” she said, adding that she was also aware that her family’s suffering is “one small part” of a much larger, terrible event.

 

[Momoffourboys]

Israeli rescue workers save traumatised dogs left stranded after missile attacks​

Across social media, the video has hundreds of thousands of views. Many TikTokers expressed gratitude that someone was rescuing the animals amidst the violence.​

Israeli rescue workers save traumatised dogs left stranded after missile attacks

Across social media, the video has hundreds of thousands of views. Many TikTokers expressed gratitude that someone was rescuing the animals amidst the violence.

www.express.co.uk

 

[PommyMommy]

Israel-Hamas war live updates: Gaza hit with more shelling as Israel defends evacuation order (nbcnews.com)
12m ago / 2:01 PM PDT

29 Americans killed in Israel-Hamas conflict, State Department says​

Twenty-nine U.S. citizens were confirmed dead in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, a State Department spokesperson said Saturday afternoon.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the victims and to the families of all those affected,” the spokesperson said, adding the department would not comment further on the identities of those killed or the circumstances of their deaths.

The spokesperson said the department was also aware of 15 U.S. citizens who are unaccounted for, as well as one lawful permanent resident.

“The U.S. government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts and is working with the Israeli government on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to advise the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts.”

 

[PommyMommy]

10min ago

Reports: Israel bombing Syrian airport in Aleppo​

A Syrian pro-government media outlet says Israel’s military has attacked the international airport of the northern city of Aleppo, putting it out of service.

Al-Watan daily says the strike hit the runway of Aleppo airport — putting it out of service just hours after it was fixed following a similar Israeli strike on Thursday.

The attack on Aleppo airport came shortly after two rockets were fired from Syria into the Golan Heights.

ETA: I don't see anything about this on Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) / X (twitter.com)

 

[PommyMommy]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war rages as Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises (cnn.com)​

Key crossing from Gaza into Egypt is open — but the roads are "inoperable," foreign minister says​

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is open, but aerial bombardment has rendered the roads on the Gaza side "inoperable," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told CNN's Wolf Blitzer Saturday.

"The Rafah crossing officially is open on the Egyptian side, it has been open all along," Shoukry said.

The Egyptian official said that if foreign nationals in Gaza are able to get through the Rafah crossing, the Egyptian government will help facilitate flights to return them to their home countries.

"If all of the procedures have been duly taken and they have verified their documents on the Gaza side to cross, we will provide them all of the facilities in cooperation with their embassies to get them to a departure point," Shoukry said.

Shoukry said Egypt has tried to work with the United Nations to ship humanitarian aid to Gaza, but has not received the proper authorization to do so.

Shoukry also urged for the protection of civilians' lives in the conflict.

"We are advocating for the need to respect international humanitarian law, the need to address the concerns and the very difficult circumstances that the Palestinian civilians are under. We need greater protection for civilians not to come under fire," Shoukry said. "We have been very clear that we do not accept any form of targeting of innocent civilians."

Some background: The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt has been left as the only viable outlet to get people out of the besieged enclave — and to get supplies into it. But it’s unclear if the crossing is operational.

The US State Department had earlier indicated that the Egyptian entry point "may be open" to Americans trying to get out of Gaza, but local media reported that US citizens and other foreign nationals who reached the crossing were unable to leave Gaza Saturday.

Read more about the Rafah crossing here.

 

[Momoffourboys]

The Star of David has been graffitied on the doors of several homes in Berlin, in a chilling reminder of the persecution Jews suffered under the Nazis

https://x.com/Telegraph/status/1713272709071659021?s=20

 

[JennieM]

Evacuation orders to hospitals are a death sentence - WHO​

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it strongly condemns Israel's orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 patients in northern Gaza.

WHO said that the lives of those in intensive care or who rely on life support; newborns in incubators, and many others hang in the balance, in a statement.

"Forcing more than 2,000 patients to relocate to southern Gaza... could be tantamount to a death sentence," the statement says.

The WHO says that health workers have overwhelmingly chosen to stay behind, rather than risk moving their critically ill patients, a choice it calls "impossible".

It also warns that many civilians are seeking refuge around hospitals, saying that their lives, too, are at risk "when health facilities are bombed".

The WHO ends its statement by calling for Israel "to immediately reverse evacuation orders to hospitals in northern Gaza," and calls for "the protection of health facilities, health workers, patients, and civilians".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67108364

 

[JennieM]

US confirms 29 citizens killed, 16 still missing​

The US State Department has confirmed 29 American citizens have been killed in Hamas attacks in Israel.

In a statement, the State Department added it was aware of 15 more citizens and one permanent resident of the US that are still unaccounted for.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67108364

 

[JennieM]

WATCH: 'Water, medicine running out here in Khan Younis'​

[Video at link.]

Khan Younis in south Gaza has to accommodate an additional half a million people after they were forced to evacuate the north by Israeli authorities.

The BBC's Rushdi Abu Alouf, who has had to move to the city with his family, described the situation as "tragic".

"Water is running out. In the hospital here, medicine is running out. Very little fuel, doctors told me, is left to run the generators," he said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67108364

 

[JennieM]

'We are not animals, we are human beings'​

Muhammad, his wife and their three young children reached the Maghazi camp in southern Gaza on Friday after fleeing the north, but they still don't feel safe.

"We are suffering from having nothing, no relief," he told the BBC. "The situation is so bad, even moving is not safe."

Muhammad, aged 31, said the last three days had been "unspeakable".
"We are hostages here for both sides, for Israel and for Hamas," he said.

"If Israel are not able to find Hamas, they must not bomb the civilians and the infrastructure.

"We are not animals, we are not in a zoo, we are human beings."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67108364

 

[margarita25]

Do you guys think Israel will be able to get any of the hostages out of Gaza alive?

I’m assuming they’ve kept at least some alive for bargaining/propaganda purposes.

I honestly don’t know what to expect as far as the hostages go.

 

[Inthedetails]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war rages as Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises (cnn.com)​

Key crossing from Gaza into Egypt is open — but the roads are "inoperable," foreign minister says​

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is open, but aerial bombardment has rendered the roads on the Gaza side "inoperable," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told CNN's Wolf Blitzer Saturday.



The Egyptian official said that if foreign nationals in Gaza are able to get through the Rafah crossing, the Egyptian government will help facilitate flights to return them to their home countries.

"If all of the procedures have been duly taken and they have verified their documents on the Gaza side to cross, we will provide them all of the facilities in cooperation with their embassies to get them to a departure point," Shoukry said.

Shoukry said Egypt has tried to work with the United Nations to ship humanitarian aid to Gaza, but has not received the proper authorization to do so.

Shoukry also urged for the protection of civilians' lives in the conflict.



Some background: The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt has been left as the only viable outlet to get people out of the besieged enclave — and to get supplies into it. But it’s unclear if the crossing is operational.

The US State Department had earlier indicated that the Egyptian entry point "may be open" to Americans trying to get out of Gaza, but local media reported that US citizens and other foreign nationals who reached the crossing were unable to leave Gaza Saturday.

Read more about the Rafah crossing here.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think the crossing into Egypt is going to be confusion and chaos, with desperate people turned away after having hope they could cross. The good thing is they will be out of the bombing area, but....nowhere to go.



jmopinion

 

[Inthedetails]

Do you guys think Israel will be able to get any of the hostages out of Gaza alive?

I’m assuming they’ve kept at least some alive for bargaining/propaganda purposes.

I honestly don’t know what to expect as far as the hostages go.

Honestly? No.

I am hopeful and ready for good news, though.

jmo

 

[margarita25]

Evacuation orders to hospitals are a death sentence - WHO​

The World Health Organization (WHO) says it strongly condemns Israel's orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating more than 2,000 patients in northern Gaza.

WHO said that the lives of those in intensive care or who rely on life support; newborns in incubators, and many others hang in the balance, in a statement.

"Forcing more than 2,000 patients to relocate to southern Gaza... could be tantamount to a death sentence," the statement says.

The WHO says that health workers have overwhelmingly chosen to stay behind, rather than risk moving their critically ill patients, a choice it calls "impossible".

It also warns that many civilians are seeking refuge around hospitals, saying that their lives, too, are at risk "when health facilities are bombed".

The WHO ends its statement by calling for Israel "to immediately reverse evacuation orders to hospitals in northern Gaza," and calls for "the protection of health facilities, health workers, patients, and civilians".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67108364

I bet my hero whom I got to know and love during Covid, the Irish Dr. Mike Ryan, WHO Director of Emergency Operations, is on the ground @Mo Thuairim & @SouthAussie.

We know he has been on the ground in many a violent, dangerous war situation, wearing a helmet and bullet proof vest in the middle of bombs to deliver humanitarian relief.

If anyone sees anything about Tedros or Mike Ryan on the ground, please tag me, thank you.

 

[JennieM]

The Independent

Experts say Hamas and Israel are committing war crimes in their fight​

The deadly attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians and the devastating Israeli airstrikes and blockade of Gaza have raised accusations among international legal experts that both sides were violating international law.

A United Nations Commission of Inquiry said it has been “collecting and preserving evidence of war crimes committed by all sides” since the violence started last week. That evidence could be added to an investigation by the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in past conflicts.

“International targeting of civilians and civilian objects without a military necessary reason to do so is a war crime, period,” said David Crane, an American international law expert and the founding chief prosecutor of the United Nations’ Special Court for Sierra Leone. “And that’s a standard that both sides are held to under international law.”

[…]

DID HAMAS COMMIT WAR CRIMES?

[…]

Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director of Human Rights Watch, pointed to Hamas “shooting civilians en masse, taking hostages, including women and children — undeniably grave abuses of international law, for which there’s no justification.”

In an analysis published on the international law website Opinio Juris, Cornell Law School professor Jens David Ohlin wrote that the Hamas attacks amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under the International Criminal Court’s founding Rome Statute.

Rights group Amnesty International called for accountability.

“Massacring civilians is a war crime and there can be no justification for these reprehensible attacks,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general.

“These crimes must be investigated as part of the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigation into crimes committed by all parties in the current conflict,” Callamard said.

IS ISRAEL’S MILITARY RESPONSE LEGAL?

The Israeli military has pulverized large parts of the Hamas -ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes and blocked deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity ahead of a possible ground invasion. The bombardment already has killed about 1,800 people in Gaza, including U.N. workers, paramedics and journalists.

Experts say the blockade, which is hitting the territory's more than 2 million residents, violates international law. "Collective punishment is a war crime. Israel is doing that by cutting electricity, water, food, blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip,” Shakir said.

[…]

Many in Israel’s defense establishment have pledged to fight until every trace of militancy is gone from the territory — even if it means wreaking mass havoc on the besieged strip’s civilian population.

But Israel's relentless airstrikes could come under scrutiny, both because of the heavy civilian death toll and heavy damage to civilian infrastructure.

We’re seeing reports of entire neighborhoods, blocks that are reduced to rubble. Certainly that would appear to be, you know, war crimes as well,” Shakir said. “We’ve seen attacks that have affected hospitals and other areas that are entitled to protection.”

[…]

Frankel reported from Jerusalem.

MSN

 

[justtrish]

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war rages as Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises (cnn.com)​

Key crossing from Gaza into Egypt is open — but the roads are "inoperable," foreign minister says​

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt is open, but aerial bombardment has rendered the roads on the Gaza side "inoperable," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told CNN's Wolf Blitzer Saturday.



The Egyptian official said that if foreign nationals in Gaza are able to get through the Rafah crossing, the Egyptian government will help facilitate flights to return them to their home countries.

"If all of the procedures have been duly taken and they have verified their documents on the Gaza side to cross, we will provide them all of the facilities in cooperation with their embassies to get them to a departure point," Shoukry said.

Shoukry said Egypt has tried to work with the United Nations to ship humanitarian aid to Gaza, but has not received the proper authorization to do so.

Shoukry also urged for the protection of civilians' lives in the conflict.



Some background: The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt has been left as the only viable outlet to get people out of the besieged enclave — and to get supplies into it. But it’s unclear if the crossing is operational.

The US State Department had earlier indicated that the Egyptian entry point "may be open" to Americans trying to get out of Gaza, but local media reported that US citizens and other foreign nationals who reached the crossing were unable to leave Gaza Saturday.

Read more about the Rafah crossing here.

But who would be operating the Gaza side? Hamas? IDF soldiers? a Neutral party? Surely if this gate isn't "operational" someone can find a way to get people from inside to the outside of Gaza in that general area to facilitate them leaving through Egypt. If anyone that in a citizens of another country and wishes to leave and can leave, then that's less to deal with inside Gaza. I understand logistics can be tricky, but there is a problem and after 7 days going into the 8th, how is there zero progress...

 

[Inthedetails]

But who would be operating the Gaza side? Hamas? IDF soldiers? a Neutral party? Surely if this gate isn't "operational" someone can find a way to get people from inside to the outside of Gaza in that general area to facilitate them leaving through Egypt. If anyone that in a citizens of another country and wishes to leave and can leave, then that's less to deal with inside Gaza. I understand logistics can be tricky, but there is a problem and after 7 days going into the 8th, how is there zero progress...

I think there is little progress at the crossing because Egypt doesn't want the influx of people (and perhaps terrorists hidden among them).

jmo