The Israeli army announced that it had intensified its strikes “in a very significant way” this Friday evening, October 27, on the Gaza Strip, on the 21st day of its war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. “We will continue to strike in Gaza City and its surroundings,” army spokesman Daniel Hagari added in a televised statement. The north of the Gaza Strip has been under intense bombardment since around 4 p.m. GMT (7 p.m. in France). The Israeli army also announced that it would “expand its ground operations” on Friday evening in Gaza.
At the same time, communications and the internet were cut in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas government. The bombings “by air, sea and land” are “the most violent since the start of the war” on October 7, said the press service of the Hamas government in power in Gaza, accusing Israel of “preparing massacres”.
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Hamas called on the world on Friday evening to “act immediately” to stop these bombings. In response, the military wing of Hamas announced that it had fired “salvos of rockets” towards Israel. “Salvos of rockets towards the occupied lands (Israel, Editor’s note) in response to the massacres against civilians” Palestinians, indicated the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades on the Telegram messaging service. According to Israeli media, rockets were fired towards Tel Aviv, central Israel and the northern West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel.
Israeli army accuses Hamas of ‘waging war from hospitals’ in Gaza
The Israeli army accused the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas this Friday of “waging war from hospitals” in the Gaza Strip.
“There is fuel in hospitals and Hamas uses it for its terrorist infrastructure,” army spokesperson Daniel Hagari further accused. “Terrorists move freely in the al-Shifa hospital” in Gaza City, the largest in the Palestinian territory, and other hospitals, he added, repeating the Israeli accusation that Hamas was using the population of Gaza as a “human shield”. According to the spokesperson, the Islamist movement uses hospitals “as command centers and hideouts”, with access to its network of underground tunnels.
“The allegations made by the spokesperson for the enemy army are completely unfounded,” said a Hamas leader, Ezzat al-Risheq, in a statement, denying in particular that “Hamas leaders are in the -floor of al-Shifa hospital”, the largest in the Gaza Strip.
Macron calls for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza
Emmanuel Macron called this Friday for a “humanitarian truce” in the war between Israel and Hamas to “organize the protection” of civilian populations in the Gaza Strip, following a European summit in Brussels.
“We fully recognize the right and the legitimate desire to fight against terrorism. We are ready to provide our assistance. But we consider that the complete blockade, the indiscriminate bombing and even more the prospect of a massive land operation are not likely to adequately protect civilian populations […] A humanitarian truce is useful today to be able to protect those who are on the ground, who have suffered bombings,” declared the Head of State during a press conference.
It went beyond the joint declaration of the leaders of the twenty-seven countries of the European Union on Thursday, who after tough semantic negotiations had requested “breaks” to facilitate humanitarian aid.
Israel’s land offensive: “A humanitarian truce would make it possible to organize the protection of the most vulnerable and to better target useful action against terrorists” says Emmanuel Macron pic.twitter.com/Q1PlgtVKS7
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) October 27, 2023
France also wants to evacuate its nationals located in the Gaza Strip. “We want to evacuate them as soon as possible. This is what we are organizing with both the Palestinian authorities and Egypt. And this is what several other European countries wish to do in coordination with us,” declared Emmanuel Macron.
The UN sounds a cry of alarm for Gaza
The UN expressed concern this Friday about the fact that “war crimes” have been and are still being committed in the conflict between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas. “We are concerned that war crimes are being committed. We are concerned about the collective punishment inflicted on Gazans in response to the atrocious attacks by Hamas, which also constitute war crimes,” said Ravina Shamdasani. words of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, during the regular UN briefing in Geneva.
“Collective punishment is a war crime. The collective punishment inflicted by Israel on the entire population of Gaza must stop immediately,” added the spokesperson, also denouncing the use of explosives with a wide radius. action in densely populated areas.
“Many more” people “will soon die” in the Gaza Strip, the director of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, warned in Jerusalem, due to the siege imposed by Israel. Gaza is in urgent need of “significant and continuous” humanitarian aid, added Philippe Lazzarini, confirming the deaths of 57 agency employees since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas.
Israeli army ground incursion into Gaza Strip
The IDF ground military operation appears imminent. The Israeli army announced on Friday morning that its infantry had carried out a “targeted raid in the central sector of the Gaza Strip”, supported by “hunters and drones”, targeting Hamas objectives.
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The soldiers then left the Palestinian territory without reporting any injuries, the army said in a statement. In addition to this incursion, it said it had bombed Hamas sites “across the entire Gaza Strip.” Rocket launch pads and Hamas command centers were destroyed, and men from the Palestinian Islamist movement were neutralized.
Strikes in Syria
The United States carried out strikes Thursday against two facilities used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and “affiliated groups” in eastern Syria, US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin announced.
The Pentagon announced the two operations after President Joe Biden sent a message to Iran’s top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warning against any attack on US troops that threatens to widen the war. ongoing between Israel and Hamas. “A direct message has been sent. I will not go any further,” confirmed White House spokesperson John Kirby.
“These self-defense and precision strikes are a response to a series of ongoing, and mostly failed, attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militias” since October 17 , Lloyd Austin said in a statement. According to the Pentagon, a US citizen died of a heart attack while taking cover during one of the attacks, and 21 others were lightly injured but have since returned to work.
Humanitarian “breaks”
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European Union leaders called on Thursday for “pauses” in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in order to facilitate access to humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza. The head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) warned on Friday that “many (people) will soon die” in the Gaza Strip due to the siege imposed by Israel.
“We are concerned about the fact that war crimes are being committed. We are concerned about the collective punishment inflicted on Gazans in response to the atrocious attacks by Hamas, which also constitute war crimes,” said Ravina Shamdasani the spokesperson. words of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, during the regular UN briefing in Geneva.
Rocket injures six in Egyptian border town
Six people were injured when a rocket fell overnight from Thursday to Friday on Taba, an Egyptian town bordering Israel, media and witnesses report. Witnesses told AFP that this rocket fell on an annex of a hospital in this town on the Red Sea, located at the northeastern tip of Sinai and where there is a border post to Israel. Images broadcast on local media or social networks show a damaged building and several vehicles blown up in the surrounding area.
Families of hostages raise their voices against the government
The families of hostages held in the Gaza Strip warned Thursday evening in Tel Aviv that they had reached “the end of their patience” and demanded to be received by the government in the evening. According to the Israeli army, the families of 224 hostages were contacted to be informed that their loved ones were being held by Hamas.
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“For twenty days the government has been silent, we do everything ourselves,” lamented Eyal Sheni, the father of Roni Sheni, a 19-year-old soldier who has been held hostage or disappeared. Hamas’ military wing “estimated” Thursday that “nearly 50” Israeli hostages have been killed by Israeli strikes since the start of the war, figures which cannot be confirmed by AFP.
France: 54 tonnes of humanitarian aid intended for Gaza will leave on Saturday
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A special flight will leave on Saturday October 28 for Egypt to transport 54 tonnes of emergency humanitarian aid for the benefit of civilian populations in the Gaza Strip, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Thursday. This shipment, which will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent, includes emergency medical kits, medicines, hospital equipment, emergency ventilators, solar lamps, generators and tents.
Nearly 30 tonnes of food supplements and drinking water tablets will also be delivered. “France reiterates its call for a humanitarian truce, so that aid can respond in a lasting manner to the needs of the civilian populations in Gaza,” states the press release from the Quai d’Orsay.
