Israel on Wednesday approved a “minimal” increase in fuel supplies to war-torn Gaza to prevent a “humanitarian collapse”, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office said.The announcement comes as the United Nations warned of a total breakdown of public order in Gaza as fighting intensifies in the south of the Palestinian territory. Follow our live blog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
Summary:
- Israeli forces battled Hamas militants across Gaza on Wednesday, with house-to-house fighting reported in the southern city of Khan Younis, which has emerged as the primary target in Israel’s expanded ground offensive.
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces were encircling the Gaza house of top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, adding: “It’s only a matter of time before we get him.”
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare move to formally warn the Security Council of a global threat from the war in Gaza and press for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
- The Israeli military ordered Palestinians sheltering in Khan Younis to flee westwards towards the Mediterranean coast or further south towards Rafah near the Egyptian border. Gazans are running out of places to flee, warned aid groups, as the number of displaced residents mounted to 1.9 million, according to the UN.
- Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, according to the Israeli government. Since then, at least 16,248 people, including 7,112 children, have been killed in Israel’s ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said. At least 43,616 people have been injured and at least 7,600 people are missing, the Hamas media office said.
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Israel battles Hamas militants inside Gaza’s main southern city
Israeli troops battled Hamas fighters Thursday in the heart of southern Gaza’s main city where a top militant leader is believed to be hiding, while pressing their offensive across the besieged territory.
Breaking through Hamas’s defences of Gaza’s second largest city, Israeli troops, tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers rolled into Khan Younis, forcing already displaced civilians to flee again, witnesses said.
Hamas said late Wednesday on Telegram its fighters were engaged in fierce battles against Israeli troops “on all axes of the incursion into the Gaza Strip”, as it claimed they destroyed two dozen military vehicles in Khan Younis and Beit Lahia in the north of the territory.
Israel approves ‘minimal’ fuel increase to Gaza
Israel on Wednesday approved a “minimal” increase in fuel supplies to war-torn Gaza in order to prevent a “humanitarian collapse”, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office said.
A “minimal supplement of fuel – necessary to prevent a humanitarian collapse and the outbreak of epidemics” had been approved to enter “into the southern Gaza Strip”, Netanyahu’s office wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that the “minimal amount” would be reconsidered “from time to time by the War Cabinet”.
- Antonio Guterres warned that he expects “public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions” in Gaza, where Israeli forces have expanded their offensive to the southern city of Khan Younis.
- The US State Department said that the US would object to any proposed buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip, as it would violate Washington’s position that the size of the Palestinian enclave must not be reduced after the current conflict.
- The UN rights chief voiced deep concern over allegations of sexual violence by Hamas militants during their October 7 attack, calling on Israel to allow his team in to investigate.
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says the Israeli military will have to retain open-ended security control over the Gaza Strip long after its war against Hamas ends.
- An Israeli non-governmental organisation warned that Israeli authorities have approved the construction of more than 1,700 new homes, saying that the new homes would expand settlements in annexed east Jerusalem. Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War and formally annexed the city’s eastern part in 1980 – a move that is not recognised by the United Nations.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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Sources from: FRANCE24.COM
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