Palestinian grievances relate to 56 years of occupation: UN chief.
NEW YORK/GAZA/TEL AVIV – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres Sunday responded to claims made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with CNN. The Israeli chief mentioned Guterres laid blame on Israel and will as an alternative be demanding that Hamas obey international legislation. However Guterres insisted later Sunday that he has condemned Hamas “for the reason that very starting.”
“However there’s a fundamental precept for me, and that’s that Hamas isn’t the Palestinian folks,” he continued. “And also you want to have the ability to distinguish Hamas from the Palestinian folks. And so you can not use the horrific issues that the Hamas did as a purpose for collective punishment of the Palestinian folks.”
He went on to say that there have been Palestinian grievances which “associated to 56 years of occupation,” though “none of those grievances justify the barbaric assault of Hamas.”
Well being officers and other people trapped inside Gaza’s largest hospital rejected Israel’s claims that it was serving to infants and others evacuate Sunday, saying preventing continued simply exterior the power the place incubators lay idle with no electrical energy and critical provides had been operating out.
Talking in regards to the UN’s potential position in mediation as soon as the battle is over, Guterres mentioned that the worldwide community wants to come back collectively, and the UN can “play an element” in that.
There’ll should be a transition “that’s acceptable to Israel from the standpoint of the assure of the safety of Israel,” he mentioned, including that it ought to “on the identical time enable for the switch to an efficient Palestinian Authority.” The precise make-up of this “isn’t apparent at this second,” he mentioned. Guterres mentioned it was important to “take profit” of the scenario and “lastly question the potential for a two-state answer.” “The 2-state answer is, in my view, the one approach out,” he added.
Intense preventing raged round Gaza’s largest hospital Sunday the place docs mentioned 1000’s of Palestinians had been trapped in dire circumstances, as Israel pledged to assist evacuate babies from the crippled facility.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) mentioned it’s “deeply distressed” by reports that shelling has outcomeed in important casualties at a UN compound in Gaza Metropolis. In an announcement Sunday, the UNDP mentioned the compound had been managed by its Programme of Help to the Palestinian Individuals till October 13, when UN workers vacated the premises.
Gaza Metropolis’s Al-Shifa hospital is caught in Israel’s floor offensive geared toward destroying Hamas, and the compound has been repeatedly hit by strikes, one in every of which Hamas well being officers mentioned destroyed the cardiac ward on Sunday. The Israeli army has denied intentionally goaling the hospital and has accused the Hamas of utilizing medical facilities or tunnels underneath them as hideouts — a cost Hamas denies. Fears have intensified for sufferers and other people taking refuge in Al-Shifa and different well beingcare amenities in Gaza, and medical assist group Medical doctors With out Borders warned that with out a ceasefire or evacuation the hospital “will grow to be a morgue”.
Different buildings serving as shelters have additionally been hit, including a strike on a UN compound in Gaza Metropolis that the United Nations Growth Programme mentioned late Saturday triggered “a major variety of deaths and accidents.” The bloodiest ever Gaza battle broke out after Hamas fighters smashed by way of the militarised border with Israel on October 7, killing round 1,200 folks, largely civilians, and taking about 240 folks hostage, in response to the latest Israeli figures.
Israel’s relentless marketing campaign in response has killed greater than 11,000 folks, additionally largely civilians and together with 1000’s of youngsters, in response to the most recent figures from the well being ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The minisattempt has not up to date tolls for 2 days citing the collapse of hospital providers. Witnesses contained in the Al-Shifa hospital informed AFP by cellphone on Sunday that “violent preventing” had raged across the hospital the entire night time.
ISRAEL STRIKE DESTROYS AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL CARDIAC WARD
A Hamas well being official mentioned Solarday that an Israeli air strike destroyed the cardiac ward of Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, as preventing raged across the facility. “The occupier (Israel) fullly destroyed the cardiac department of Al-Shifa hospital… The 2-storey constructing has been utterly destroyed in an air strike,” Youssef Abu Rish, deputy well being minister within the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, informed AFP. Witnesses confirmed a strike on the hospital, which AFP was unable to independently confirm. The Israeli army didn’t instantly respond to a request for remark.
But it surely has beforehand denied intentionally concentrating on the hospital and has repeatedly accused Hamas of utilizing medical amenities or tunnels beneath them as command centres and hideouts — a cost Hamas denies. An Israeli army statement on Sunday mentioned troopers “opened and secured a passage which permits the civilian population to evacuate, on foot and by ambulances, from the Shifa, Rantisi and Nasser hospitals.”
Not less than six civilians had been wounded, one critically, in an anti-tank guided missile assault by the Hezbollah terror group from Lebanon on Sunday, the army and medics mentioned. The IDF mentioned it struck the Hezbollah cell behind the assault and several other Hezbollah websites in southern Lebanon. Two extra cells that launched mortars from Lebanon at areas close to the communities of Menara and Yir’on had been additionally struck, the IDF mentioned. 13 Palestinians had been killed by an airstrike within the metropolis of Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Sunday, in response to the pinnacle of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.
The airstrike hit a residential constructing within the metropolis, which is near the Egyptian border, Dr. Eyad Abu Zahr informed CNN.
When requested about Israel’s post-war plans for Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Internetanyahu appeared to rule out handing management to the Palestinian Authority (PA), saying the organization had didn’t “demilitarize” and “de-radicalize” Gaza previously. He informed CNN’s Dana Bash that Israel’s first priority was to destroy Hamas. Internetanyahu continued that when that’s achieved, then there needs to be “an overriding Israeli army envelope,” to keep away from a resurgence of terrorism. “A civilian authority has to cooperate in two objectives; one is to demilitarize Gaza and the second is to de-radicalize Gaza,” he mentioned. “And I’ve to say that the Palestinian Authority has sadly failed on each counts.” He as an alternative described setting up a “reconstructed civilian authority,” to keep away from falling into “the identical rabbit gap.” He described aiming for a way forward for “peace” and “cooperation.” “We have now to offer Gaza a greater future, let’s not deliver it to a failed previous,” he mentioned, including, “Let’s create a special actuality there.”