As aid supplies are facing difficulties in being delivered by truck convoys and other means, it was decided that they would be transported by sea. The humanitarian group said in a March 23 statement that its operations in Gaza “are consistently and arbitrarily denied, restricted and obstructed by the Israeli authorities.” Israel says it is doing everything it can to facilitate aid in the enclave and disputes a report this month warning of impending famine in northern Gaza.
Medical care is also sparse. There are only 10 functioning hospitals in Gaza, which are functioning “marginally”, said World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Said Saturday.
“Thousands of patients continue to be deprived of medical care,” he said, adding that about 9,000 patients “need to be evacuated urgently” from Gaza to receive treatment for bomb injuries, cancer and other illnesses. There is,” he added. More than 3,400 people have already been sent overseas, but “many more people need to be evacuated,” he said. He called on Israel to act more quickly on approving such evacuations.
More than 12,800 patients have sought treatment abroad, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health, which said in a report Saturday that 32 hospitals and 53 clinics have been closed since the start of the war. announced. According to the Ministry of Health, hospital occupancy has reached 318 percent.
The Ministry of Health said 28 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration in the Gaza Strip since February. The majority were less than a year old.
Also on Saturday, four members of a UN peacekeeping team were injured in an explosion. In southern Lebanon, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement, adding: “Targeting peacekeepers is unacceptable.”
UNIFIL said three military observers and an interpreter from the UN ceasefire monitoring agency were conducting a “foot patrol along the Blue Line” near the Lebanese town of Rumeish when “an explosion near their location. An accident occurred,'' the statement added, adding that all four people were evacuated for treatment.The Blue Line is a controversial border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel and is monitored by the United Nations
It was not immediately clear who or what was behind the explosion. UNIFIL said it was “investigating the cause of the explosion.”
Lebanon's state news agency said the military observers were from Australia, Chile and Norway and had been “targeted by Israeli drones.” Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV also quoted a correspondent as saying it had “preliminary information” that Israeli drones were behind the attack. Neither provided evidence for that claim, and the IDF denied any involvement in a statement on Saturday, saying, “Contrary to reports, the IDF did not attack any UNIFIL vehicles in the Rumeish area this morning.”
Earlier this week, UNIFIL said in a post on X that it was “deeply concerned by the current surge in violence occurring across the Blue Line.” This escalation resulted in the deaths of numerous civilians and the destruction of their homes and livelihoods. ”
Since the October 7 Hamas attack, hostilities have escalated along the Lebanese border with near-daily firefights between Israel and Hezbollah, raising fears of an all-out war.
November, UNIFIL Said One of its patrols in southern Israel came under Israeli gunfire in a “very disturbing” attack. No peacekeepers were injured, but their vehicles were damaged.
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Protesters clashed with police in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Saturday night. Photos and videos showed crowds of demonstrators calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to do more to free Israeli hostages still held by Hamas, some of them calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Some called for his resignation and new elections. The Israeli National Police said 16 demonstrators were arrested in Tel Aviv after “hundreds of demonstrators violated public order, lit bonfires, shook police cars, blocked roads and confronted police.” Announced.
The released hostages still called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to reach a deal to release them at talks in Doha. At a rally Saturday night, freed hostage Aviva Siegel, whose husband remains a prisoner in Gaza, said Netanyahu was acting “as if negotiations were child's play.” She added that Prime Minister Netanyahu “doesn't have the courage to take the delegation back from Qatar without an agreement!”
The Israeli military announced on Saturday that Israeli raids on al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip were continuing. The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement about operations at the hospital this week that they raided a building within the hospital complex and discovered Hamas militants. A “number” of them were killed outside the hospital, and Israeli forces killed two Hamas militants in a separate “encounter” in a maternity ward, the IDF said. It added that the military killed the militants in “close combat” and found weapons and “intelligence material” at the complex. The Washington Post could not independently verify this claim. The World Health Organization expressed concern over the attack, which comes at a time when there is a shortage of medical centers for the injured in the Gaza Strip.
Biden administration's approval to transfer billions of dollars of bombs and fighter jets to Israel has drawn criticism. And accusations of hypocrisy from some members of Congress. The transfers included more than 1,800 2,000-pound bombs, which experts say are linked to a sharp rise in the death toll during Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) called While the move is “despicable,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) called The transfer is “wrong on every level”. “We continue to support Israel's right to defend itself,” a White House official told The Washington Post. “Coordination assistance is not our policy.”
Palestine Red Crescent Society Said Twenty-six members of the team have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza. It said 15 workers were targeted because they were wearing the insignia of an aid organization, which is protected by international law.
At least 32,705 people have been killed and 75,190 injured in Gaza since the war began. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, the ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates Hamas's Oct. 7 attack killed about 1,200 people and says 254 soldiers have been killed since the start of military operations in Gaza.
Lior Soroka and Alon Rom in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.
