LIVE | Israel-Hamas War Day 44: 31 babies evacuated from Shifa, says WHO
First planeload of wounded Palestinian children arrives in UAE
The first planeload of Palestinian children wounded in the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip reached the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, part of a pledged relief effort by the country to aid 1,000 children.
The group of 15 people, including children and their family members, made it across the Gaza Strip's Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Friday. They then took a flight to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates. Young children lay asleep on their moms' laps as the plane finally landed at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Some of the seats of the plane were removed to make room for the most critically wounded children, who needed to lie on stretchers.
Some of the young had bandaged arms and legs. Others sat quietly next to their parents or relatives. Some traveled alone. The mood was somber and quiet inside the plane. Many of the mothers said they were exhausted.
No deal with Hamas on release of hostages: Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed reports saying that he has struck a deal with the Hamas on the release of hostages.
His statement on Saturday came a day after The Washington Post reported that Israel, US and the Hamas are in the process of reaching an agreement to release over 50 hostages in exchange for a five-day hiatus in fighting.
“There was no deal on the table,” Netanyahu told reporters when asked a question on the same.
“We want to get back all the hostages. We’re doing the utmost to bring back the most possible, including in stages, and we are united on this,” The Times of Israel quoted him as saying.
Hamas took over 240 people hostages when it launched a surprise offensive on Israel on October 7.
32 babies in critical condition among patients left at Shifa hospital: UN
A United Nations team on Sunday said that 291 patients were left at Gaza's largest hospital after Israeli troops had others evacuate. Those left included 32 babies in extremely critical condition, trauma patients with severely infected wounds and others with spinal injuries who are unable to move.
The team was able to tour Shifa Hospital for an hour after about 2,500 displaced people, mobile patients and medical staff left the sprawling compound Saturday morning, said the World Health Organization (WHO), which led the mission.
“Patients and health staff with whom they spoke were terrified for their safety and health, and pleaded for evacuation,” the agency said, describing Shifa as a death zone.
It said more teams will attempt to reach Shifa in coming days to try to evacuate the patients to southern Gaza, where hospitals are also overwhelmed.
Israeli troops are staying in the hospital. Israel's military has been searching Gaza City's Shifa Hospital for a Hamas command center that it alleges is located under the facility – a claim Hamas and hospital staff deny.
Saturday's mass departure was portrayed by Israel as voluntary but described by some of those leaving as a forced exodus.
Families of hostages march to Jerusalem, demand their immediate release
Thousands of family members and supporters of some 240 hostages held in Gaza streamed into Jerusalem on Saturday, castigating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war with Hamas and pleading with the government to do more to bring their loved ones home.
The march capped a five-day trek from Tel Aviv and represented the largest protest on behalf of the hostages since they were dragged into Gaza by Hamas on October 7 as part of the militants' deadly attack in southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in Israel on the day of the surprise Hamas assault. Israel declared war in response, and more than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed in the past six weeks as the Israeli military conducts a punishing air and ground offensive in Gaza, where Hamas militants have ruled for the past 16 years.
Israeli leaders have set two objectives — to crush Hamas and to bring the hostages home. Some of the hostage families have said they fear that the military offensive endangers their loved ones. Israeli leaders, in turn, have argued that only military pressure on Hamas will lead to some hostage releases in a possible deal involving a temporary cease-fire.
Earlier on Saturday scores of patients, staff and displaced people left Gaza's largest hospital. The exodus from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City came the same day internet and phone service was restored to the Gaza Strip, ending a telecommunications blackout that forced the United Nations to shut down critical humanitarian aid deliveries because it was unable to coordinate its convoys.
Israel continued to expand its offensive in Gaza City, with the military warning in a social media post in Arabic that residents of two neighbourhoods in the east and north and the urban refugee camp of Jabaliya must evacuate for their safety. It said military activities would be paused briefly to allow them to leave. Earlier in the week, the Israeli defence minister had said troops had completed operations in the west of Gaza City. Attacks also continued in the south of the Gaza Strip, with an Israeli airstrike hitting a residential building on the outskirts of the town of Khan Younis, killing at least 26 Palestinians, according to a doctor at the hospital where the bodies were taken.
Canadian security forum honours 'the people of Israel'
A Canadian security forum on Saturday presented an award to the people of Israel for 75 years of democracy, following the Hamas incursion into the country that left some 1,200 people dead and 240 abducted.
The Halifax International Security Forum presents the award annually in honour of US Senator John McCain, who died in 2018, to “individuals from any country who have demonstrated uncommon leadership in the pursuit of human justice.” The forum attracts military officials, United States senators, diplomats and scholars.
“On the 75th anniversary of Israel's creation, and in the aftermath of the October 7 attack that resulted in the greatest loss of life to the Jewish people since the Holocaust, it is fitting to present an award that bears Senator McCain's name to: The People of Israel,” the statement read.
McCain was a regular at the forum and his wife, Cindy, was present this year and sat in the front row. Peter Van Praagh, president of the Halifax International Security Forum, presented the award to Lital Leshem, a representative of Brothers in Arms. The group started as a protest movement of military veterans who opposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial overhaul, but transformed itself into the largest nongovernmental aid agency in Israel to help those affected by the latest Israel-Hamas war. It now organizes volunteer activities to assist victims and families who were evacuated from border communities. It provides counseling and transportation and arranges volunteers to work on farms where the former workers either fled or were killed or kidnapped.
Leshem said she was honoured to accept the award on behalf of the people of Israel.