Israel claims to have surrounded the Hamas leader’s house in Khan Yunis. UN chief Guterres warns of a catastrophe. All information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
Hamas terrorists crossed the border into Israel on October 7 and carried out massacres. Since then, Israel has been attacking targets in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. This news blog informs you about the current developments:
Freed hostage: “Were bombed by our own army”
7:01 a.m.: Some of the hostages freed from the violence of the terrorist organization Hamas have expressed massive criticism of Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu. This is reported by the US broadcaster CNN, citing leaked audio recordings of a meeting between Netanyahu and freed hostages. One freed woman told Netanyahu that during her captivity she had the feeling that no one was doing anything to save her.
“We were in a hideout that was bombed. We had to be smuggled out and were wounded. And on the way to Gaza a helicopter shot at us,” the woman said, according to CNN. Other freed hostages confirmed the woman’s statements that they were bombed. The information cannot be independently verified.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz writes that at a meeting with relatives of hostages, Netanyahu defended himself against criticism: “At the moment there is no way to bring everyone back. Can anyone imagine that we would reject it if that were an option? “
UN: 25 percent of Khan Yunis evacuated
3:12 a.m.: According to the UN in Palestine, the Israeli military has declared another area in the city of Khan Yunis, approximately one square kilometer in size, for immediate evacuation. Along with similar expulsions in previous days, about 25 percent of the urban area, home to about 178,000 original residents (73 percent of the population) and an estimated 170,000 internally displaced people, received evacuation orders. The Israeli military ordered residents to move to two areas in Rafah and Al Fakhouri in the eastern Khan Yunis governorate.
Israelis take up arms
UN chief Guterres warns of collapse of public order
11:27 p.m.: UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of a breakdown in public order in the Gaza Strip in a letter to the UN Security Council. Guterres said in the letter that he expects “that public order will soon completely collapse due to the desperate situation, so that even limited humanitarian aid will become impossible.” Humanitarian conditions amid the war between Israel and Hamas could “quickly deteriorate into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible consequences for the Palestinians as a whole.”
In a letter to the Security Council on Wednesday, the UN chief invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since taking office in 2017. This allows the Secretary General to bring to the attention of the Security Council “any matter which, in his opinion, may jeopardize the guarantee of international peace and security” and, according to the UN, has not been used for decades.
More fuel allowed for Gaza Strip
11:14 p.m.: The Israeli security cabinet allows a “minimal addition” of fuel to enter the Gaza Strip. This is intended to prevent “a humanitarian collapse and outbreak of disease” in the south of the coastal area, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. The amount of fuel will be determined by the Cabinet and adjusted based on the local humanitarian situation.
