Summary
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Israel has instructed all 1.1 million Palestinians in north Gaza to leave, including those in hospitals. That figure is around half the strip’s population
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No decision on a ground offensive has yet been announced – although Israel has been massing troops along the Gaza border
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The UN warns Israel’s evacuation plan would have “devastating humanitarian consequences”
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The war has claimed at least 3,200 lives since Hamas launched an incursion on 7 October
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Gaza hospitals are reportedly overwhelmed – and say 60% of casualties women and children
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Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using white phosphorus munitions in its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns this is ‘just the beginning’
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People are scrambling to evacuate northern Gaza even as Hamas told Palestinians to stay home
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An Israeli shell landed in a gathering of international journalists covering clashes on the border in southern Lebanon on Friday, killing one and wounding six
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United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has assured Israel: “We have your back”
The EU announces tripling of its humanitarian aid to Gaza – to €75m
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced a tripling of EU humanitarian aid, €75 million euros, for the population of the Gaza Strip, where Israel is carrying out intense bombing in response to the Hamas attack.
“The Commission will immediately increase the current humanitarian aid package for Gaza by 50 million euros. This will bring the total to more than 75 million euros,” the German official said after speaking with the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres.
“We will continue our close cooperation with the United Nations and its agencies to ensure that this aid reaches those who need it in the Gaza Strip,” she added.
“The Commission supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas terrorists, in full compliance with international humanitarian law. We are working hard to ensure that innocent civilians in Gaza are supported in this context”, Von der Leyen said.
European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic also stressed that it was “essential to ensure safe and unrestricted access to humanitarian aid.”
US to send a second carrier strike group to support Israel
The Biden administration is sending the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, two defence officials told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss the move ahead of its announcement.
The Eisenhower will join the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group, which is already sailing near Israel, to bolster US presence there with a host of destroyers, fighter aircraft and cruisers.
Having two carriers in the region can provide a host of options.
They can disperse and serve as primary command and control operations centers, to cover a wide swath of area. They can conduct information warfare. They can launch and recover E2-Hawkeye surveillance planes that provide early warnings on missile launches, conduct surveillance and manage the airspace.
Both ships carry F-18 fighter jets that could fly intercepts or strike targets. They also have significant capabilities for humanitarian work, including an onboard hospital with medics, surgeons and doctors, and they sail with helicopters that can be used to airlift critical supplies in or victims out.
(AP)
