Closing summary
The United Nations voiced grave concerns on Wednesday about food and other supplies running out in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people were already experiencing famine, after Israel closed the only crossing there last week. Israel began its long-expected ground assault on Gaza City in the north on Tuesday and is stepping up efforts to empty the city of civilians by opening an additional route southwards.
At least 50 people were killed by Israeli strikes and gunfire across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, including 39 in Gaza City, local health authorities said. They said the latest fatalities took the Palestinian death toll from the two-year war between Israel and Hamas past 65,000.
The Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has described the Gaza Strip as a “real estate bonanza” and said he is in talks with the US about dividing it up after the war, The Times of Israel reports. Speaking at a real estate conference in Tel Aviv, Smotrich said the destruction in Gaza is “the first stage in the city’s renewal”.
The Gaza health ministry said an Israeli drone had dropped grenades on one floor of the Rantissi children’s hospital on Wednesday. No casualties were reported but the ministry said 40 families took their children away, reports Reuters.
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemned “in the strongest terms” the Israeli ground operation in Gaza City, a day after Israel unleashed a long-threatened ground assault on the territory. The kingdom also urged members of the UN security council to act to halt what it described as Israel’s killing, starvation and forced displacement of Palestinians, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been in touch to share an update on the situation from Gaza via a Palestinian staff member in the territory. Writing on Wednesday, Ahmed Al Waheidi said those fleeing the north for the south face “congested, damaged and dangerous” roads, with journeys taking “hours”.
A Catholic priest in Gaza city has vowed to stay in his church compound to help look after 450 people who have taken refugee there in the face of the ground assault launched by Israel. Carlos Ferrero told RTÉ they were “scared” and many of them felt that even if they did follow Israeli instructions and evacuate to the south of the City they were in peril.
The European Commission has proposed suspending some of the trade parts of the EU-Israel association agreement, 18 months after Ireland and Spain asked the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to review the agreement in light of the war in Gaza. Following her state of the union speech last week indicating a shift at the top of the EU, the commission’s presented a proposal today.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that it had supported the medical evacuations of 10 “critical” children from Gaza to the UK. These children were evacuated with 50 companions, the WHO said. The PA news agency reports that the UK government said that it is working to make sure families receive “appropriate support” during their stay. More children are expected to arrive in the coming weeks.
The Israeli army said it has struck more than 150 targets in Gaza City since launching a major ground offensive on the Gaza Strip’s main urban hub early on Tuesday. “Over the past two days, the [Israeli air force] and artillery corps troops struck over 150 terror targets throughout Gaza City in support of the manoeuvring troops in the area,” the military said in a statement issued on Wednesday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
China said on Wednesday it “firmly opposes” the escalation of military operations in Gaza after Israel launched a major ground assault on Gaza City. “China firmly opposes Israel’s escalation of military operations in Gaza and condemns all acts that harm civilians and violate international law,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said of the massive bombardment of Gaza City, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Pope Leo XVI expressed solidarity with the population of Gaza on Wednesday, saying that civilians had been “once again” forced from their land and were living in “unacceptable conditions”, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). “I express my deep solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza who continue to live in fear and survive in unacceptable conditions, being forcibly displaced once again from their lands,” said the 70-year-old pope after his general audience.
Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, southern Israel, earlier today.
