World
Biden says Israeli occupation of Gaza would be ‘a mistake’ – as foreign nationals at border hope to escape
A crossing between Gaza and Egypt has remained closed despite diplomatic efforts to open it and let in humanitarian aid.
The Rafah border had been expected to open hours ago to allow foreign passport holders to leave and aid to be brought in the besieged Palestinian enclave, where the humanitarian situation is worsening.
But the border, where lorries carrying the aid have been waiting for days, remained closed as Israel kept up its strikes in retaliation for the shock attack launched by the Hamas militant group on 7 October.
Israel-Gaza latest: Hospital power running out ‘within 24 hours’
The Israeli military is expected to launch a ground offensive in the coming days.
On Monday it said 199 hostages were being held in Hamas-ruled Gaza – a higher figure than previously estimated.
In a speech to his cabinet, the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied territory of the West Bank, Mohammad Shtayyeh, said: “We are people of a civilisation, we are not animals like they are painting us and our people will not surrender.
Speaking from his base in Ramallah he added: “We are appealing to the prime minister of Israel to stop the aggression.
“Our people will not migrate and will not leave their land.”
Other key developments include:
• Hamas denies Israel’s claim it has resumed water supplies to Gaza
• Israel evacuates 28 towns on Lebanese border after clashes with Hezbollah fighters appear to have escalated
• US secretary of state Antony Blinken returns to Israel after completing six-country tour
• The UN is warning fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip will only last for another 24 hours
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to “demolish Hamas” during an expanded emergency cabinet meeting
• The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says it has killed a commander of the Hamas militant group in an airstrike
• Sunak urges Netanyahu to ‘minimise impact on civilians’
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Palestinian PM: ‘We are not animals’
The Palestinian prime minister’s comments come after US President Joe Biden said in an interview that Hamas should be eliminated, but warned it would be a mistake for Israel to occupy Gaza, calling instead for a “two-state solution”.
The US president said Israel has “to go after Hamas” but said he would not support Israeli occupation.
“I think it’d be a big mistake,” he said.
A two-state solution would involve the creation of an independent nation next to Israel for five million Palestinians who live in Gaza and the West Bank.
“What happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people,” Mr Biden said in an interview on CBS News’ 60 Minutes programme.
He added: “Going in but taking out the extremists, the Hezbollah is up north but Hamas down south. It is a necessary requirement.”
The president also warned Iran not to escalate the situation after the country’s foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, said “significant damages” would be inflicted upon America if the war expanded.
A building destroyed in Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, Gaza Strip
Pic:AP
Missing people believed to be buried under Gaza rubble
Gaza’s health ministry has said 2,750 Palestinians have been killed and another 9,700 have been wounded in Israeli attacks.
The figure is 80 more than the ministry’s previous update, when it said a quarter of those who died were children.
At least 1,000 people are missing and believed to be under rubble, according to the Palestinian civil defence team.
In Israel, more than 1,400 people have been killed – the vast majority in the series of attacks carried out by Hamas on 7 October.
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Israel and Hamas deny reports of truce
On Saturday, the deadline passed for up to 1.1 million people in the Gaza Strip to be offered safe passage south of the Wadi Gaza river by the IDF.
The Israeli military said some 600,000 Gazans had left the northern half of the territory, ahead of what is expected to be an all-out offensive by land, sea and air.
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt was expected to open today from 9am local time (7am UK time), allowing aid deliveries and the evacuation of foreign national Palestinians, according to Sky News’ US partner NBC.
Kamel Khatib, the Embassy of Palestine representative for the Rafah border, told NBC that foreign nationals were expected to fly to Cairo from Al Arish airport, 30 miles from Rafah, and then on to their final destinations.
Dozens of foreign nationals have massed at the Rafah border after news spread that an agreement was reached to allow foreigners to exit Gaza via the crossing – but they were left stranded as it remained closed.
But after the deadline had expired and the border remained closed, Israel denied a humanitarian truce to allow foreigners out was under way.
Israel has evacuated 28 towns along the Lebanese border
Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq has also said there was no truth to reports the border would open or a truce had been agreed.
It comes after Israel targeted Rafah with strikes on Sunday evening, with explosions seen across the border city during the attacks.
William Schomburg, the head of the sub-delegation for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza, has said civilians in the territory lack the food, electricity and water needed to meet their basic needs.
He added: “Hospitals are rapidly running out of supplies and are facing increasingly difficult conditions under which they need to function.”
Speaking as the Rafah border remains closed, Mr Schomburg said: “The International Committee of the Red Cross, the ICRC, stands ready to meet the needs of Gazan communities. However, in order for us to be able to do this, we need safety, security, and supplies.”
Israel ambassador denies there is a humanitarian crisis
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US was working with Egypt, Israel and the United Nations to get assistance through the border.
Until now, a blockade had prevented fuel, food and water from entering Gaza and hundreds of tonnes of aid has also been stockpiling in Egypt, waiting for confirmation of its safe delivery into the area.
Smoke billows from buildings in Rafah after Israel airstrikes. Pic: AP
But Mr Netanyahu said he had agreed with President Biden to resume water supply to parts of southern Gaza.
When asked by CBS if he wanted to see a humanitarian corridor that allows Gazans out of the area safely, President Biden replied “yes”.
He added that he thought Israel would “act under the rules of war” and he was “confident” innocent people in Gaza would be able to access medicine, food and water.
It comes after the United Nations humanitarian office warned on Monday that reserves of fuel at all hospitals across the Gaza Strip were expected to last only around 24 hours more, placing “the lives of thousands of patients at risk”.
Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to the UK has told Sky News there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Tzipi Hotovely said: “Israel is in charge of the safety of Israelis, Hamas is in charge of the safety of the Palestinians.
“This is the time that Hamas need to pay the price.”
She argued Hamas was now preventing its own people from evacuating, and that Palestinians had been given the chance to leave by Israel.
“When America started this fight against ISIS together with coalition forces, over 100,000 civilians got caught in the crossfire. Israel is trying to prevent that,” she added.
She said Israel was “better than any other army in the world” and had been alerting civilians in advance.