The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its 36th day on Saturday, was sparked by the Palestinian Islamist movement’s bloody October 7 attack on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip it controls.
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In retaliation, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas, relentlessly bombing the besieged territory where 2.4 million Palestinians are crammed. The Israeli army launched a ground operation on October 27 in the Gaza Strip.
Here are the latest news:
The Israeli NGO Physician for Human Rights-Israel reported on Saturday that “two premature babies (were) dead” after the forced shutdown of neonatal intensive care due to a lack of electricity at al-Chifa hospital, the most large of the besieged Gaza Strip.
There is also “a real risk to the lives of the other 37 premature babies” at this service, the NGO warns, while fighting is intense between Israeli troops and members of Hamas near this establishment in the city of Gaza, including the operation is severely disrupted.
Violent fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas fighters continued overnight around al-Chifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip.
Mohammed Abou Salmiya, director of the hospital, told AFP on Saturday morning that “al-Chifa was targeted throughout the night by intense artillery fire, like other hospitals in Gaza City.”
The NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) wrote about catastrophic” inside the establishment.
Arab leaders and Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi are meeting in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a joint summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
AFP
The participation of the Iranian president marks his first visit to Saudi Arabia since the surprise announcement in March of the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern heavyweights, after a seven-year break.
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In his speech at the opening of the summit, Mr. Raïssi called on Muslim countries to label the Israeli army a “terrorist organization” because of its armed operation in the Gaza Strip. He also called on Muslim countries to “arm the Palestinians” if “attacks continue” in Gaza.
The Palestinian movement Hamas is considered “terrorist” by Israel, the European Union and the United States.
AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron “urges Israel to stop” the bombings that are killing civilians in Gaza, in an interview with the BBC broadcast on Friday evening.
“There is no solution other than a humanitarian pause first” to move towards a “ceasefire, which will protect all civilians who have nothing to do with the terrorists.”
Tens of thousands of people are expected on the streets of London on Saturday for a pro-Palestinian march that will be held under heavy police surveillance this World War I armistice weekend.
Hamas’ health ministry announced that 11,078 people, including 4,506 children, had been killed in Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.
AFP
On the Israeli side, 1,200 people, according to a new official figure revised downwards on Friday, have died since the start of the war, most of them civilians killed on the day of the Hamas attack.
The Israeli army has reported the death of 37 soldiers since the start of the ground offensive.
