Al Jazeera says Israeli airstrike killed the family of its Gaza correspondent

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Written by northsouth

Category: MENA

Published: 26 October 2023

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GAZA - An Al Jazeera correspondent is mourning the loss of his entire immediate family after they were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, the Qatar-based network said in a statement.

Wael al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza, had fled with his family to the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza after Israel warned those in the northern half of the territory to leave immediately.

Al-Dahdouh’s wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in the airstrike late on Tuesday, which came amid an overnight surge of Israeli attacks reported to have killed hundreds of people.

In a statement, al-Dahdouh’s employer, Al Jazeera, said: “Their home was targeted in the Nuseirat camp in the centre of Gaza, where they had sought refuge after being displaced by the initial bombardment in their neighborhood, following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s call for all civilians to move south.

“The network strongly condemns the indiscriminate targeting and killing of innocent civilians in Gaza, which has led to the loss of Wael Al-Dahdouh’s family and countless others.”

Twenty-one other people were killed in the same airstrike, according to Palestinian health officials.

Other members of al-Dahdouh’s family were buried under the rubble, according to the news outlet. Footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed al-Dahdouh crying as he saw his family’s bodies in the morgue of Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on his way out of the hospital, al-Dahdouh said: “What happened is clear. This is a series of targeted attacks on children, women and civilians. I was just reporting from Yarmouk about such an attack, and the Israeli raids have targeted many areas, including Nuseirat.

“We had our doubts that the Israeli occupation would not let these people go without punishing them. And sadly, that is what happened. This is the ‘safe’ area that the occupation army spoke of.”

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike, according to Reuters.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 6,500 people in Gaza, since Hamas killed some 1,400 people in its 7 October raid into Israel. Nearly 600,000 people have been displaced from their homes by Israeli bombardments.

The Gaza victims include more than 22 journalists, according to the Palestinian journalists’ union.

Israel and its allies have so far rejected calls for a ceasefire, which the White House has argued would only benefit Hamas.

The US last week vetoed a draft UN security council resolution calling for a “humanitarian pause”, since it did not explicitly allow for Israel’s self-defense.

On Wednesday, the UN’s main agency in Gaza warned that relief efforts would be forced to stop unless fuel supplies could reach the besieged territory, as the UK organization Oxfam accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war against Gaza civilians, saying the territory was receiving just 2% of its usual supply of food.

Israel-Gaza conflict: 5 key developments on Sunday 22 October

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Written by northsouth

Category: MENA

Published: 22 October 2023

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LONDON - The UK is working intensively to allow Britons trapped in Gaza to leave, but the border crossing remains closed because of Egypt’s legitimate concerns, ministers said.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said opening the Rafah crossing to allow aid into Gaza and foreign nationals to escape is a priority, but said Egypt has "legitimate concerns" about the situation.

He also revealed that terror arrests have been made in the UK since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, and said the chanting of jihad on the streets during Saturday's protests London was "completely reprehensible".

Elsewhere, Benjamin Netanyahu faced called to resign as some ex-leaders blamed the situation on a "dysfunctional" government in Israel, while German leaders denounced a rise in antisemitism as thousands of people gathered at a demonstration called to show opposition to antisemitism and support for Israel.

Here are the main stories from today:

1. UK working to free Britons

- Immigration minister Robert Jenrick said the UK is working intensively to allow Britons trapped in Gaza to leave but the border crossing remains closed because of Egypt’s legitimate concerns.

- A small convoy of 20 lorries was allowed to cross into Gaza on Saturday, with a further 17 reported to have made the trip on Sunday, but the UK and relief agencies are pushing for greater access.

2. Israel vows to ramp up strikes

- Israel vowed to ramp up strikes on Gaza to increase pressure on Hamas ahead of an expected ground invasion, urging Gaza City residents to continue moving south "for their safety".

- Speaking after several people were reportedly killed after Israel attacked a “terrorist compound” in Jenin in the West Bank overnight, military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari told a press conference: "We have to enter the next phase of the war in the best conditions, not according to what anyone tells us. From today, we are increasing strikes and minimising danger."

3. Minister: Chanting jihad 'completely reprehensible'

- Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said on Sunday that terror arrests have been made in the UK since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, but it is up to the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service whether to press charges.

- Speaking to Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News, Jenrick said the chanting of jihad on the streets during Saturday's protests in London was 'completely reprehensible'.

4. Netanyahu told 'quit now'

- Former Israeli military, political and intelligence officials expressed doubts over the leadership of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a former chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces saying that he should "resign now", while a former intelligence official described the government as "dysfunctional".

- Their comments come amid growing concern in Israel at the government’s attempts to free some of the 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, with some families begging the government to negotiate before invading Gaza.

5. Concerns in Germany over antisemitism

- Germany's chancellor and president have denounced a rise in antisemitism in their country in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, with both stressing in separate appearances that it is unacceptable for such hatred to flourish in the nation that perpetrated the Holocaust.

- In Berlin, thousands of people gathered at a demonstration called to show opposition to antisemitism and support for Israel. People carried Israeli flags or posters with photos of some of the people reported to be missing or held by Hamas as hostages.

Where is Gaza?

Gaza, also known as the Gaza Strip, is a densely-populated Palestinian enclave on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, north-east of the Sinai Peninsula.

Bound by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the north and east and Egypt to the south, it is just 25 miles long and six miles wide.

Gaza is one of two Palestinian territories. The other is the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Aid trucks enter Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza

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Written by northsouth

Category: MENA

Published: 21 October 2023

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By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Aidan Lewis

GAZA/CAIRO - The first humanitarian aid convoy to be sent to the besieged Gaza Strip since war broke out began moving through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt on Saturday after days of diplomatic wrangling over conditions for delivering the relief.

The United Nations said the 20-truck convoy included life-saving supplies that would be received by the Palestinian Red Crescent. Palestinian group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the delivery included medicine and limited amounts of food.

Rafah is the main route in and out of the Gaza Strip that is not controlled by Israel, and the focus of efforts to deliver aid to Gaza's 2.3 million residents.

U.N. officials say at least 100 trucks a day are needed in Gaza to cover urgent needs, and that any delivery of aid needs to be sustained and at scale. Before the outbreak of conflict, an average of about 450 aid trucks were arriving there daily.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza – already precarious – has reached catastrophic levels," U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement.

"I am confident that this delivery will be the start of a sustainable effort to provide essential supplies – including food, water, medicine and fuel," he said.

Israel imposed a total blockade and launched air strikes on Gaza in response to a deadly attack on Israeli soil by Hamas on Oct. 7. The Rafah crossing has been out of operation since shortly afterwards, and bombardments on the Gaza side damaged roads and buildings that needed repairs.

SUPPLIES RUNNING OUT

The U.N. has warned that food has been running out in Gaza and supplies of fuel needed to keep hospital back-up generators running have reached dangerously low levels.

Israel has said it will allow no aid to enter from its territory until Hamas releases the hostages it took during its attack, and that aid can enter through Egypt as long as it does not end up in the hands of Hamas.

The Israeli military said on Saturday that aid entering Gaza did not include fuel and would only go to southern areas of the enclave, where Israel has urged civilians to congregate.

Many of Gaza's residents have crammed into southern areas to avoid air strikes in the north, though they also say that nowhere in the territory is safe.

"We have upped the logistical and operational abilities of the Red Crescent by adding more volunteers and cars. We have rented storages in Khan Younis and Rafah," said Mahmoud Abu Atta, of the Palestinian Red Crescent, as he entered the Rafah Crossing to receive aid.

Western states have been pushing to evacuate foreign passport holders from Gaza and the U.S. Embassy in Israel said any border opening on Saturday could enable foreigners to leave the territory.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the border on Friday in a push to get the aid in, saying a mechanism for inspection of the aid demanded by Israel was still being worked out and that delivery of relief should not be tied to the release of hostages or evacuation of foreigners.