Gaza:

More foreigners prepared to leave the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday as Palestinian officials said at least 195 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks on the Jabaliya refugee camp, in attacks that Israel claimed killed Hamas commanders. .

The Gaza Health Ministry said at least 8,796 Palestinians have been killed in the narrow coastal enclave, including 3,648 children, in Israeli attacks since October 7.

At least 320 foreign nationals from an initial list of 500, as well as dozens of seriously injured Gazans, entered Egypt on Wednesday under a deal between Israel, Egypt and Hamas.

Passport holders of Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Jordan, the United Kingdom and the United States were evacuated.

Gaza authorities said the Rafah border crossing would reopen on Thursday to allow more foreigners to leave. A diplomatic source said about 7,500 foreign passport holders would leave Gaza in about two weeks.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said explosions were heard early Thursday near al-Quds hospital in densely populated Gaza City. Israeli officials had earlier warned of an immediate evacuation of the hospital, which UN officials said was impossible without endangering the patients.

Gaza’s media office said Thursday that at least 195 Palestinians were killed and 120 missing in two Israeli attacks on Jabaliya. At least 777 people were injured, a statement said.

Palestinians began searching for victims trapped under the debris on Wednesday. One witness said, “This is a massacre.”

UN human rights officials said the attack on the camp could constitute a war crime.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote on social media, “Given the large number of civilian casualties and the scale of destruction following Israeli air strikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp, we are deeply concerned that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes.” Are.” Site X.

The Israeli military announced the death of another soldier in fighting in Gaza, bringing the number of soldiers killed since ground operations expanded to 17 on Friday.

Amid growing international appeals for a humanitarian pause in hostilities, conditions in the coastal area are becoming increasingly desperate under Israel’s brutal and sustained attacks and tight blockade. There is shortage of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine.

Dr. Fathi Abu al-Hassan, a US passport holder waiting to enter Egypt on Wednesday, described hellish conditions in Gaza, without water, food or shelter.

“We open our eyes to the dead and close our eyes to the dead,” he said.

Hospitals, including Gaza’s only cancer hospital, have struggled as they were forced to close due to fuel shortages. Israel has refused to allow humanitarian convoys to bring fuel, claiming that Hamas fighters would convert it for military use.

Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the main power generator at the Indonesian hospital was no longer working due to a lack of fuel.

The hospital was switching to a back-up generator, but would no longer be able to power the morgue refrigerators and oxygen generators. “If we don’t get fuel in the next few days we will inevitably be in disaster,” he said.

More than 20,000 people still injured in Gaza: MSF

Despite the initial evacuation of foreign passport holders and badly injured Palestinians across the border into Egypt, more than 20,000 injured people are still stranded in the Gaza Strip, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

MSF noted the evacuation of “several seriously injured” people in a statement on Wednesday, adding that 22 of its international staff members in Gaza were also among those who left the area at the Rafah border crossing.

“However, there are still more than 20,000 injured people in Gaza and access to health services is limited due to the siege,” it added.

It said MSF’s Palestinian staff were still offering care in the area, and another international team was waiting to enter the area to replace those who left “as soon as the situation allows”. Will leave.

The organization called for the evacuation of large numbers of people, as well as a ceasefire and permission to allow more critical aid.

“Those who wish to leave Gaza must be allowed to do so without delay. They must also be granted the right to return,” the statement said.

AFP journalists on Gaza’s southern border on Wednesday saw ambulances carrying injured people to regional hospitals in Egypt Egyptian officials said the Rafah crossing had taken in 335 foreign or dual nationals and 76 seriously injured and sick people. Was admitted.

The head of the UN agency working to help Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, managed to reach the area via the Rafah crossing on Wednesday, telling journalists there that he had “never seen” anything like it.

“I was shocked by the fact that everyone there was asking for food, asking for water,” said Lazzarini, the most senior UN official allowed into the besieged area since the war began.

Blinken leaves for Israel again

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to depart for his second visit on Thursday trip to israel In less than a month. His spokesman said he planned to meet with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Friday in a show of solidarity but also stressed the need to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties.

Blinken will also stop in Jordan, one of a handful of Arab states that have normal relations with Israel. jordan on wednesday withdrew its ambassador From Tel Aviv until Israel ends its attack on Gaza. Israel said it regretted Jordan’s decision.

The spokesperson said that in Jordan, Blinken would underline the importance of protecting civilian life and reiterate the US commitment to ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced from Gaza, a growing concern in the Arab country.

Blinken will also lead talks with Egypt and Qatar to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

Apart from this, on Thursday the US House of Representatives can pass a bill with Republican support. $14.3 billion aid to Israel,

But it is unlikely to become law as it faces stiff opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House has threatened a veto. President Joe Biden wants a $106 billion bill that would provide funding for Ukraine, border security and humanitarian aid, as well as Israel.