AceBreakingNews – LIVE Israel-Gaza war live updates: UN says latest aid trucks ‘about 3 per cent’ of Gaza’s pre-war daily supplies

Ace Press News From Cutting Room Floor: Published: Oct.23: 2023: TELEGRAM Ace Daily News Link https://t.me/+PuI36tlDsM7GpOJe

The United Nations says the second convoy of 14 aid trucks which have gone into Gaza only accounts for “about 3 per cent of the daily average volume” of supplies the area received before fresh hostilities.

Meanwhile, high-ranking US officials say they expect the Israel-Gaza war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran.

Follow our live blog for the latest updates.

Live updates

Key moments from today’s Israel-Gaza conflict

If you’re just joining today’s blog, here are the key developments:

• A second convoy of 14 aid trucks has entered the Gaza Strip which the UN says is only “about 3 per cent” of pre-war daily supplies
• Egyptian Food Bank Mohsen Sarhan warns the aid is a “drop in the ocean”
• Leaders from six western countries have released a joint statementunderscoring their support for Israel but urging adherence to international law
• Two Hezbollah cells have been struck in Lebanon
• The IDF ‘expresses sorrow’ over an accidental hit of an Egyptian position
• Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 4,651 people have been killed and 14,245 wounded in Gaza since October 7, with over a million people displaced
• 93 Palestinians were also killed in violence and Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank and more than 1,650 others were wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry
• Israeli officials say more than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel
• The numbers have not yet been independently verified

NSW mayor is condemned for Hamas comments in pro-Palestinian speech

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies has condemned a speech made by the mayor of Wollongong after he told a pro-Palestinian rally he “understood why Hamas did what it did”.

Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery made the comments to a crowd of about 500 in Woolongong on Saturday.

The march was one of many across the country protesting the federal government’s support of Israel in the Israel-Gaza war.

You can read more about this here:

IDF says it has struck more than 320 military targets in Gaza in 24 hours

The Israel Defense Force claims it has struck 320 ‘”terror infrastructure and military targets in the Gaza Strip in the past day”.

In a Telegram post, the IDF says following Israel Securities Authority and IDF intelligence the “terror targets struck includes tunnels containing Hamas terrorists”.

“Dozens of operational command centers, some of which concealed Islamic Jihad terrorists, military compounds and observation posts,” it says.

“Furthermore, the IDF struck targets that posed a threat to forces in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip who are preparing for ground operations, including dozens of mortar shell and anti-tank missile launch posts.

“Overnight, an IDF tank thwarted a number of terrorist cells, including an anti-tank missile cell.”

23 journalists have died since the Israel-Gaza conflict began

The Israel-Gaza conflict has taken a major toll on journalists working on either side.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, which investigates all journalists “killed, injured, detained or missing in the war”, says at least 23 journalists have died since October 7.

The committee is reporting that journalist and co-founder of Ain Media a Palestinian company, Roshidi Sarraj, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza strip yesterday.

Colleague and French journalist Alice Froussard posted a tribute on social media saying he was “way too young to die”.

“By bombing his house, Israel killed my friend Roshidi Sarraj, my fixer, the one without whom I was nothing here,” she wrote.

“He was 31, way too young to die.”

 According to the committee as of October 22:

• 23 journalists were confirmed dead: 19 Palestinian, 3 Israeli, and 1 Lebanese.
• 8 journalists were reported injured.
• 3 journalists were reported missing or detained.

“CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” says Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.

“Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heartbreaking conflict.

“All parties must take steps to ensure their safety.”

Hezbollah warned to stay out of war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited troops stationed near the border with Lebanon, where the Israeli army and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have traded fire during the Israel-Gaza war.

Speaking to troops in the north on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would react more fiercely than it did during its short 2006 war with Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon.

“If Hezbollah decides to enter the war, it will miss the Second Lebanon War. It will make the mistake of its life. We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine and the consequences for it and the Lebanese state are devastating,” the Israeli leader says.

Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah are increasing, with as many as 27 Hezbollah fighters having been killed along with one Israeli soldier.

Israel is evacuating 42 towns along the border in case Hezbollah intensifies its rocket attacks.

A top official with Iran-backed Hezbollah vowed on Saturday that Israel would pay a high price whenever it starts a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and says that the militant group already is “in the heart of the battle”.

Dwindling fuel for Gaza hospitals puts premature babies at risk

(AP: Adel Hana)none

Doctors treating premature babies across Gaza say at least 130  are at “grave risk”across six neonatal units.

Unless hospitals can get more fuel for generators, life support machines and incubators could soon lose power.

At least seven of the almost 30 hospitals have been forced to shut due to damage from relentless Israeli strikes and a lack of power, water and other supplies.

Doctors in the remaining hospitals say they are on the brink.

“The world cannot simply look on as these babies are killed by the siege on Gaza … A failure to act is to sentence these babies to death,” says Melanie Ward, chief executive of the Medical Aid for Palestinians aid group.

None of the 20 aid trucks that crossed into Gaza on Saturday, the first since the siege was imposed, contained fuel, amid Israeli fears it will end up in Hamas’ hands.

Tarik Jašarević, a WHO spokesman, says 150,000 litres of fuel is required to offer basic services in Gaza’s five main hospitals.

AP

Two Palestinians killed at West Bank refugee camp

Two Palestinians have been killed at the Jalazone refugee camp near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry has confirmed.

Residents told Reuters that Israeli forces raided the camp and carried out widespread arrests, where they clashed with gunmen and some youths who threw stones.

Israeli forces have currently retreated to the outskirts of the camp, the residents added.

The Israeli army has not issued a statement about the incidents.

Reuters

Mothers speak about caring for their babies in a warzone

 Reporting by Middle East Correspondent Allyson Horn

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The UN says around 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are not able to obtain basic healthcare for themselves or their unborn child.

About 5,500 of them are expected to give birth within a month.

The ABC’s team in Gaza met 24 year-old Lina Raad Hammas and her two-day old newborn twins.

She fled northern Gaza to the south, and is now living on the concrete floor of an educational college building that’s been turned into a refuge.

Her house has since been destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.

“The situation is terrible,’ she said.

“There is no food, no electricity, no water, especially when I’ve just had my baby.

“It is stressful. I even borrowed my mattress from the neighbours.”

Lina said she is yet to name her twins because she’s too stressed and exhausted.

She is worried her babies will die from starvation.

“I just need water for my babies,” she said.

“I wanted to bottle feed them, but I could not clean the bottles.

“I kept breast-feeding them but I don’t have enough milk for both of them.”

Foreigners killed, abducted or missing after Hamas attack

Scores of foreigners have been killed, wounded or taken hostage after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

As Israel responds with a bombardment that has killed over 4,000 people in Gaza, many countries are reporting they have nationals unaccounted for.

According to AFP, around 200 foreigners have been confirmed dead by their national authorities.

Here’s what we know as of today:

• The United Sates has confirmed 31 US citizens have been killed and another 31 nationals are unaccounted for while two were released on Saturday AEST
• Foreign Minister Penny Wong has confirmed one Australian has been killed 
• Thirty Thai people, mostly agricultural workers, have been killed and another 19 are thought to have been abducted
• Thirty French nationals have been killed and seven remain missing, including one hostage
• Russia says 19 dual citizens with Israel have been confirmed dead and two have been held hostage
• Ukraine has reported 18 citizens were killed in Israel and one woman in Gaza
• Ten people from the UK have been confirmed dead and six are missing

Nepal, Argentina, Canada, Austria, China, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Belarus, Brazil, Peru, Belarus, South Africa, Azerbaijan and Cambodia have also lost citizens in Israel or Gaza since October 7.

AFP

Paris rally calls for release of hostages held in Gaza

(AFP)none

Earlier, we told you about the demonstrations that took place around the world in solidarity with Palestinian people.

Around 300 people gathered in Paris on Sunday (local time) to call for the freeing of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the group’s attack in southern Israel earlier this month.

A long table was set and dozens of empty chairs placed around it in the Place de Fontenoy, not far from the Eiffel Tower, AFP journalists witnessed. It is the latest in a series of such demonstrations after similar actions in Rome and Tel Aviv.

The aim was to “pay homage to the victims of terrorism”, says Sarah Ouakil, vice-president of the Union of Jewish Students in France (UEJF), and to call for the freeing of all the hostages.

Some of those taking part carried placards with photos of some of the hostages.

The event was organised by the recently formed October 7 Collective.

Putin benefitting from Middle East crisis says expert

Vladimir Putin had a lot to gain from the crisis taking place in the Middle East, with the world’s attention focused on Israel and Gaza, a Russian and security expert says.

Speaking to News Daily’s Sam Hawley, Matthew Sussex from the ANU’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre says Vladimir Putin is using the crisis to his advantage.

But when it comes to picking sides, it isn’t immediately clear which side Russia is choosing.

“Without wanting to be too cynical, Vladimir Putin sees himself as being on whatever the winning side is,” he says

“Russia has courted Israel for a number of years. It has a large Russian diaspora in Israel, and it has some degree of influence over Israeli politics. But on the other hand, it’s also helped numerous countries within the region that don’t get on well with Israel at all, particularly Iran.”

Not only has Moscow brought Iranian drones in Ukraine but it also has diplomatic interchange with Tehran.

“So Vladimir Putin, I think, sees this as a quite welcome distraction of world attention away from some of the things that his armed forces are doing. And of course, they’ve been absolutely brutal in their conduct in Ukraine.”

Listen to the full podcast episode here: 

China says outlook is ‘very serious’ as conflict spreads to Middle East

China’s Middle East Envoy Zhai Jun is currently visiting Israel and says spillover effects in the region and internationally are widening as conflict along the Israeli-Lebanese and Israeli-Syrian borders spread.

Zhai also says China is willing to do “whatever is conducive” to promote dialogue, achieve ceasefire and restore peace, as well as to promote the two-state solution and a just and lasting resolution to the conflict, China Central Television says.

Last week, Zhai pinned the cause of the Israel-Gaza crisis on the lack of guarantees for Palestinian rights as he met with his Russian counterpart in Qatar, a go-between in the conflict.

Zhai says China will continue maintaining close communication with the international community, including the Arab countries and will next visit the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other countries in the region to further strengthen coordination aimed at ending the crisis.

China has provided and will continue to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Palestinians through the United Nations and via bilateral channels to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis, Zhai says.

High-ranking US officials: US prepared to respond if it becomes a target

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin say the United States expects the Israel-Gaza war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran.

They asserted that the Biden administration is prepared to respond if American personnel or armed forces become the target of any such hostilities.

“This is not what we want, not what we’re looking for. We don’t want escalation,” Mr Blinken said.

“We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we’re ready for it.”

Mr Austin, echoed the sentiment saying “what we’re seeing is a prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region.”

He said the US has the right to self-defense “and we won’t hesitate to take the appropriate action.”

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian discussed the means of stopping the Israeli “brutal crimes” in the besieged Gaza enclave, the group said in a statement late Sunday.

AP/Reuters

43 per cent of Gaza’s homes destroyed as thousands search for shelter

5h ago

By Brianna Morris-Grant

Gaza’s most crowded United Nations relief shelter is currently sheltering around 21,000 people, according to the UN’s latest update.

“The number of [displaced people] per shelter has reached in many shelters 4,400,” the update says, adding the buildings were “designed to host 1,500-2,000”.(United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)none

It also notes “entire neighbourhoods” have been destroyed in the Gaza Strip since October 7.

“The Gaza Ministry of Public Works reported the destruction of 15,749 housing units and the rendering of 10,935 housing units uninhabitable, as of 21 October,” it says.

“Another 142,500 housing units sustained minor to moderate damage.

” The total number of housing units destroyed or damaged accounts for at least 43 per cent of all housing units in the Gaza Strip.”

Contact the ABC if you or someone you know is stuck in Gaza

ABC’s international team is looking to speak with any Australians who are currently stuck in Gaza.

If that’s you or you know someone who they could speak with, click on the form below:

UN says latest trucks ‘about 3 per cent’ of Gaza’s pre-war daily supplies

5h ago

By Brianna Morris-Grant

 The 14 trucks that entered Gaza today account for “about 3 per cent of the daily average volume” of supplies the area received before fresh hostilities flared, according to the United Nations.

The aid marks “another glimmer of hope”,  the organisation said in its latest update, but called for fuel supplies to be allowed in “immediately”.

“Aid deliveries entering Gaza have not included fuel,” the report said.

“UNRWA, by far the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza, will exhaust its fuel reserves within the next three days.”

Law professor says Israel ‘fights within the limits of the law’

A Professor of Law at University of Minnesota Law School says in his view Israel is operating within international laws of armed conflict and was at war with Hamas and not Palestinians.

Professor Oren Gross, who previously served as a senior legal advisory officer in the international law branch of the Israeli Defense Forces’ Judge Advocate General’s Corps, told Radio National’s David Lipson Israel had every right to defend itself against Hamas.

“Hamas is worse than ISIS both in its tactics and in fact in its strategy,” he said, adding the terror group deliberately targeted innocent civilians and health infrastructure.

Israel’s siege of Gaza was designed to hinder Hamas who could use aid trucks to their advantage, he said.

“You have a problem when you have a terrorist organisation controlling Gaza and is quite happy to get trucks, that might not be inspected, in with further munitions,” he said.

“Israel is in war with Hamas, not the Palestinian people. Since it’s in war with Hamas it has the right as part of self-defence to block Hamas from getting more of those military equipment.”

“Israel, unlike Hamas, fights within the limits of the law of armed conflict — a lot of people might not like it — and in fact under the obligations that Israel and other law-abiding countries have you have to play by the rules even if the enemy does not and Hamas clearly does not,” he said.

Israel has been checking the contents of the trucks entering Gaza which only include water, food and medical equipment. A rare delivery of fuel has also been made.

Less than 40 trucks have made it in so far but UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told Reuters on Saturday that work was under way to develop a “light” inspection system, whereby Israel could check the shipments but ensure a sustained flow.

What is Hezbollah?

Earlier, we brought you the news that two Hezbollah cells had been struck in Lebanon.

Hezbollah is a militant Shia Muslim group and a major political party based in Lebanon.

It was formed in 1982 amid the Lebanese civil war when Israel invaded Lebanon, and backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The group remains backed by Iran and has significant sway over the Lebanese state.

Its military power grew after deploying to Syria in 2012 to help President Bashar al-Assad fight mostly Sunni rebels.

In 2021, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the group had 100,000 militants.

Need a more of a refresher on who Hezbollah are and why they are in conflict with Israel?

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PM Anthony Albanese’s US visit comes at a busy time

Anthony Albanese is making his way to the US, for a long-promised visit with Joe Biden this week.

Australia’s ambassador in Washington, Kevin Rudd, says the trip will be complicated by the turmoil in the Middle East.

“The Middle East is a core part of American concerns now, but it’s also a core part of Australian concerns,” Rudd said.

“We’re a middle power with global interests.”

The prime minister is still scheduled to meet President Joe Biden at the White House and to attend a formal state dinner in his honour.

You can read more about this here:

Food bank CEO warns Gaza turning into an ‘open graveyard’ as aid trickles in

Trucks carrying vital aid have arrived in Gaza with more waiting at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

But that aid will be a “drop in the ocean” and won’t help as it should if Israeli bombs continue to pound the Gaza Strip, CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank Mohsen Sarhan has warned.CEO of the Egyptian Food Bank Mohsen Sarhan warns aid is not enough.

Speaking to Radio National’s David Lipson, Mr Sarhan said whatever aid was coming into Gaza now was just “window dressing”.

“We’re having a grave situation in Gaza now — doctors (have) started doing surgeries without anaesthetics and without antibiotics … people are being tortured to have surgeries without anaesthetics — it’s a very bad situation,” he said.

“People there are dying by the hundreds every day and the death has reached a level that they can’t even bring their dead out from the rubble … they don’t have equipment to get the dead out. They don’t even have body bags to bury them, it’s turning into an open graveyard.”

He said aid agencies were angry and frustrated at how long it was taking to help the people of Gaza, with many unable to operate safely.

“The killing has to stop … if the ceasefire happens and the killing stops, aid will have a meaning, but right now it’s a complete mess there. We have the money and we have the supplies but the bombing doesn’t stop.”

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