Israel vs Hamas war: Fuel running out in Gaza, says UN
Israel would react more fiercely than it did during its short 2006 war with Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon, said the prime minister.
Protesters hold banners with hostages' pictures and Israel flags during a gathering next to the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Sunday, October 22. Photo: AP/PTI
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cautioned Hezbollah to stay out of war, stating that if they don’t heed his warning they will make the “mistake of their life”.
Netanyahu visited troops stationed near the border with Lebanon, where the Israeli army and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have also traded fire during the Hamas-Israel war. A top official with Iran Hezbollah vowed on Saturday that Israel would pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and said his militant group based in Lebanon is already “in the heart of the battle”.
Speaking to troops in the north on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would react more fiercely than it did during its short 2006 war with Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon. “If Hezbollah decides to enter the war, it will miss the Second Lebanon War. It will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state are devastating,” the Israeli leader said.
As conditions rapidly worsen, Gaza's Hamas-run Health Ministry appealed on Monday for blood donations for hospitals in the besieged territory that are suffering from dire shortages of blood and medical supplies.
The ministry urged residents to rush to hospitals and blood banks across Gaza for blood donations and called for the International Committee of the Red Cross to bring blood to the territory.
The death toll in Gaza has climbed to at least 5,087 Palestinians since the war between Israel and Palestinian militant groups broke out on October 7, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Monday.
Ashraf al-Qidra, a spokesperson for the ministry in Gaza, said the fatalities included 2,055 children and 1,119 women.
More than 15,270 others were wounded, he said.
The tally includes the disputed toll from a hospital explosion last week, which the two sides have traded blame for.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed — mostly civilians slain during the initial Hamas attack. At least 222 people were captured and dragged back to Gaza, including foreigners.
Israeli warplanes are striking targets across Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive in the besieged Hamas-ruled territory. Fears of a widening war have grown as Israel struck targets in the occupied West Bank, Syria and Lebanon and traded fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group.
Two aid convoys arrived in the Gaza Strip over the weekend through the Rafah crossing from Egypt.
Israel said the trucks carried food, water and medical supplies. Israel has not allowed in fuel, which is critically needed for water and sanitation systems and hospitals.
The war in its 17th day on Monday is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Health Ministry said on Monday that at least 5,087 Palestinians have been killed and 15,270 wounded.
In the occupied West Bank, 96 Palestinians have been killed and 1,650 wounded in violence and Israeli raids since October 7.
More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians who died in the initial Hamas rampage into southern Israel. In addition, 222 people including foreigners were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, Israel's military has said. Two of those have been released.
India has brought back 143 people including two Nepalese nationals from Israel. India lunched 'Operation Ajay' 11 days back to facilitate the return from Israel of those Indians who wish to come back home in view of the Hamas-Israel conflict.
The passengers were received at the airport by Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste. More than 1,200 people returned from Israel in the previous five chartered flights.
6th #OperationAjay flight lands in New Delhi.
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 22, 2023
143 passengers including 2 Nepalese citizens arrived onboard the flight.
Welcomed by MoS @SteelMinIndia & @MoRD_GoI @fskulaste at the airport. pic.twitter.com/x5Ejj8mDqa
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has said that the United States expects the Israel-Hamas war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran, and they asserted that the Biden administration is prepared to respond if American personnel or armed forces become the target of any such hostilities.
“This is not what we want, not what we're looking for. We don't want escalation,” Blinken said. "We don't want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we're ready for it.” Austin, echoing Blinken, said “what we're seeing is a prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region.” He said the US has the right to self-defence “and we won't hesitate to take the appropriate action.” The warning from the high-ranking US officials came as Israel's military response to a deadly October 7 attack by Hamas on civilians in communities in southern Israel entered its third week.
UN says no second aid entered Gaza
Egypt's state-run media reported that 17 aid trucks were crossing into Gaza on Sunday, but the United Nations said no trucks had crossed. “Until now, there is no convoy,” said Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for UN agency for Palestinian refugees. On Saturday, 20 trucks entered in the first shipment into the territory since Israel imposed a complete siege two weeks ago.
Associated Press journalists saw seven fuel trucks head into Gaza, but Touma and the Israeli military said those trucks were taking fuel that had been stored on the Gaza side of the crossng deeper into the territory, and that no fuel had entered from Egypt.