The U.S. is ready to help Israel defend itself against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel’s Iron Dome, and the UNRWA
In Gaza, a quarter of a million people have moved to shelters over the past 24 hours, according to the UNRWA, which says most of those people are seeking refuge in schools where “clean water has actually run out.”
People who live within a mile of the border with Lebanon have been ordered to leave. The Israelis say the residents will be moved into state-funded guesthouses.
In a slow and uncertain process Americans are leaving Israel on planes and boats. The State Department says there are flights departing from Ben Gurion on Monday and Tuesday.
And on Sunday, U.S. nationals and their immediate relatives were told to report to the seaport in Haifa for a chance to board a U.S.-organized evacuation ship leaving Israel, bound for Crete. Some people were asked to come back another time after the large crowd showed up.
The Israeli military says Hamas is responsible for the humanitarian consequences of the chaos and violence after the attack last weekend.
The people left behind included people wounded in the bombardment of Israel, as well as people with disabilities or elderly who were not able to get out of the north.
The people of northern Gaza were told by the Israeli military to leave their homes. Many of the hundreds of thousands who did so traveled by foot, walking for miles. Mother carrying their babies as they headed south, with no guarantee of safety at the other end of their trek
Israeli military forces are continuing to attack Hamas in the south of the country, focusing on the Gaza Strip, while fighting new attacks from Hezbollah along the northern border with Lebanon, Conricus said. Four people were killed by Israel as they attempted to cross into the country from Lebanon.
The US has sent a warship to the eastern Mediterranean as a measure of deterrence. It has also sent to Israel “small diameter bombs” and is sending more ammunition and interceptor missiles for Israel’s Iron Dome, which intercepts most Hamas rockets that are fired at Israel.
The U.S. supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, as per a meeting held on Monday by Secretary of State John Kerry and the President of Israel. He affirmed the U.S. commitment to help Israel protect its citizens.
One reason the U.S. wants the border to open is so that some 500 to 600 Americans, including those of Palestinian origin, and other foreign nationals, can leave Gaza. Egypt requires the crossing to be open for aid to reach Gazans on the Egyptian side.
Even if the crossing does reopen, it’s an open question as to how the aid would be distributed. The roads leading to the crossing have been destroyed, posing a serious challenge to distribute fuel and water.
He said that the UN, Egypt and Israel will work together to get help to people who need it.
Humanitarian supplies are waiting at the southern border of Gaza to be shipped to the besieged area through the Rafah crossing in Egypt.
Hamas vs. Gaza: Health Care, Healthcare and Medications for the Gazans in the Light of the Oct. 7 Attack
Life support systems in hospitals would go out of commission if electricity were cut off, even as more dead and injured are brought in.
Hospitals in Gaza, which have been inundated with roughly 9,000 people wounded in Israeli attacks, only have enough fuel to keep their generators running through Monday night, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said late Sunday.
More than 1,400 Israelis have been killed, the vast majority of that number during the unprecedented Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that included the taking of almost 200 hostages. More than 2,800 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since then and another 9000 have been wounded according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
“It is essential that aid is flowing into Gaza as quickly as possible, so that it can get to the people of Gaza who need it the most,” said the US ambassador to Israel. There are also discussions to possibly establish areas to help keep civilians safe, he said.
As Palestinians struggle to find safe passage, health care and clean, reliable water a spokesman for Hamas, Ghazi Hamad, remained unrepentant for his group’s attack on Israel.
Of that attack, which started this latest conflict, Hamad said: “We want to get the attention of the world. We are under oppression and torture and collective punishment all the time. That’s the message for the world.
Some military personnel, children and a Holocaust survivor are some of the hostages, an Israeli military spokesman said Tuesday.
He said he was more interested in the Palestinian civilians than the hostages. Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are struggling because of Israel’s cutoff of food and power to the Strip’s main electricity grid. Hospitals are struggling to care for patients as the fuel for generators is running out.
U.S. President Biden to Jordan and Tel Aviv to Show Support for Israel in the Coming Days after Mazini’s Death
Israel’s military said Tuesday that it killed Osama Mazini, a Hamas official who Israel says was responsible for prisoners taken by Hamas and who directed terrorist strikes against Israel.
The White House announced today that President Biden would visit Tel Aviv and Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday. Biden will be making a show of US support for Israel. In Amman, Biden will meet King of Jordan, King of Egypt, and President of the Palestinian Authority.
U.S. officials have said they believe at least a few Americans are being held hostage by Hamas, and Biden will seek an update on the hostage situation while he is in the region, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.