Israel forms emergency government, Israel formed an emergency government and war cabinet as fighting entered a fifth day on Saturday after Hamas launched a surprise attack that killed at least 1,200 people and wounded thousands more in a fifth day of fighting.
Israel mobilizes its troops and a humanitarian crisis begins in Gaza. The head of Gaza’s electricity authority said the enclave’s only power plant stopped working on Wednesday after running out of fuel.
With the borders blocked on all sides, generators that run critical equipment such as hospital medical supplies are running out of fuel. Here’s the thing.
Latest death toll: At least 1,100 people have been killed in Gaza since Israeli airstrikes began in response to Hamas attacks, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said. Israel has reported at least 1,200 deaths since Saturday. Israel is “preparing for any scenario” as it continues to build up ground forces along its southern border, an IDF spokesman, Maj. Doron Spielman.
Horrifying details: Hamas attacks border communities, more gruesome details revealed. Houses were looted and burned in Israel’s Kfar Azha kibbutz. Overturned mattresses, broken furniture, broken trinkets and unexploded grenades lay on the ground with the corpses. A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said infants and young children were found “with severed heads”.
The situation in Gaza: A humanitarian crisis is developing rapidly in the Palestinian enclave under Israeli bombardment. MSF warned that hospitals were overcrowded and lacked medicine, medical supplies and electricity, adding that some hospitals would only have enough fuel to run generators for four days.
EMERGENCY GOVERNMENT: Former defense minister and GNA leader Benny Gantz will form a “war management cabinet” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and current defense minister Yov Gallant, they said in a statement. The emergency government will not pass any laws or make decisions that have nothing to do with the conduct of the war.
Iran involvement:Intelligence gathered by the US calls into question Tehran’s direct involvement in planning, procuring and authorizing Hamas attacks on Israel, sources say. While the intelligence community is not yet ready to draw any definitive conclusions, administration officials have noted that Iran’s support of Hamas, including arms and funding, would help them, if not directly.
Foreigners killed: The US State Department said the number of Americans killed has risen to 22, with about 20 more missing. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colon said at least 11 French citizens had been killed. Around 17 British or British-Israeli nationals are believed to have been killed or are missing, Netanyahu’s spokesman quoted British officials as saying. In addition, the death of two Canadians, one Austrian and one Colombian citizen has been confirmed, according to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Several aid workers killed: The Palestinian Red Crescent said four of its medics were killed on Wednesday, saying Israeli forces attacked an ambulance. At least 11 United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) workers have been killed in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip since Saturday.
Evacuations being negotiated: Talks are underway to allow American and Palestinian civilians to leave Gaza through Egypt ahead of any ground invasion, a senior Israeli official said. Norway and Sweden are proposing to remove their citizens from Israel, the Norwegian foreign minister announced. The French government said Air France would provide repatriation flights to the “most vulnerable” French citizens on Thursday. The German foreign minister also said that 17 classrooms had been evacuated in Israel.
WORLD LEADERS IN ISRAEL: British Foreign Minister James Cleverley arrived in Israel on Wednesday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. Later in the video, he was seen entering the building as sirens sounded, warning that rockets were about to be fired. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also go to Israel together with Deputy Envoy for Hostage Affairs Steve Gillen.
