The Egyptian foreign ministry has accused “western media” of targeting the country about the Gaza humanitarian crisis.
On the social media site X, formally known as Twitter, the Egyptian foreign minister said the media were “Promoting displacement scenario, holding Egypt responsible for the Crossing closure despite Israeli targeted attacks and refusal of aid entry and recently insinuating Egypt responsibility for obstructing third-country nationals exit.”
It added: “Rafah crossing is open and Egypt is not responsible for obstructing third-country nationals exit.” A subsequent tweet said: “The opportunity is available tomorrow to change course and awaken the conscience.”
Board of Deputies of British Jews meets BBC director general
The Board of Deputies of British Jews has put out a statement after a meeting today with Tim Davie, the BBC director general.
The broadcaster has been criticised in recent days for describing Hamas as militants rather than terrorists, and for its initial coverage of Tuesday’s blast at al-Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza.
The statement reads:
The BBC confirmed it was committed to continued dialogue. It also confirmed it is no longer BBC practice to call Hamas militants. Instead, the BBC describes the group as a proscribed terrorist organisation by the UK government and others, or simply as Hamas.
Marie van der Zyl, the president of the board of deputies, said:
We emphasised our outrage at the refusal of the BBC to describe Hamas’ barbaric actions as terrorism and the damaging, false report of the rocket which killed innocent civilians. We will both continue dialogue as well as pursuing legal avenues.
German interior minister calls for deportation of Hamas supporters
Germany’s interior minister says Hamas supporters should be deported from the country where possible, adding that authorities would keep a close eye on potential Islamist attackers.
“If we are able to deport Hamas supporters, we must do this,” Nancy Faeser told reporters following talks with officials at the Federal Criminal Police Office.
“Our security authorities have currently placed an even stronger focus on the Islamist scene,” Faeser added, pointing to a recent attack in Brussels as an indication of the threat relating to tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has flown to the Sinai peninsula in an effort to open a humanitarian route into Gaza, as Israel’s bombardment continued ahead of a looming ground offensive.
The border crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border was due to open on Friday under an agreement Joe Biden believed he had brokered on his one-day visit to Tel Aviv on Wednesday. But the US state department said on Thursday that the “modalities” of opening the gate were still being negotiated, and the Egyptian government said it needed more time to repair the bomb-damaged road.
Guterres called for significant deliveries of aid to be let through and for security checks to be speeded up. “We are actively engaging with all parties to make sure conditions for delivering aid are lifted,” he said.
Thousands of Jordanians rally in support of Hamas
Chanting slogans urging Islamist Hamas militants to intensify their strikes on Israel, thousands of Jordanians marched in the capital and around the country on Friday to protest against Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza.
More than 6,000 people took part in the protest in downtown Amman arranged by opposition parties and tribal groups in a kingdom where passions are running high since the escalation of violence between Palestinians and Israel.
“Oh Hamas, hit them with al-Qassam rockets ... Bring the suicide bombers to Tel Aviv,” they chanted, referring to the military wing of Hamas.
In Amman on Friday, several thousand people also gathered near the Israeli embassy, a common spot for anti-Israel protests at times of turmoil in the Palestinian territories.
“No Jewish embassy on Arab land!” protesters chanted.
Riot police blocked roads leading to the fortified embassy complex to keep back demonstrators who gathered around the nearby Kaloti mosque in the capital.
Authorities in Jordan earlier this week quelled rioting around the Israeli embassy and said they would not tolerate any attempt by mobs who sought to exploit anger against Israel to create havoc.
On the outskirts of the capital, hundreds of anti-riot police blocked all roads leading to Jordan Valley opposite the West Bank, where activists had called for large protests.
More than 2,000 protesters who were prevented from heading to the border called on the authorities to allow them to join the fight alongside Hamas.
In the southern city of Karak, hundreds of protesters gathered at a checkpoint on a highway leading to the border chanting pro-Hamas slogans.
Many of Jordan’s 10 million citizens are of Palestinian descent. They or their parents were expelled or fled to Jordan in the fighting that accompanied the creation of Israel in 1948.
They have close ties with family on the other side of the Jordan River in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. (Via Reuters)
The Egyptian foreign ministry has accused “western media” of targeting the country about the Gaza humanitarian crisis.
On the social media site X, formally known as Twitter, the Egyptian foreign minister said the media were “Promoting displacement scenario, holding Egypt responsible for the Crossing closure despite Israeli targeted attacks and refusal of aid entry and recently insinuating Egypt responsibility for obstructing third-country nationals exit.”
It added: “Rafah crossing is open and Egypt is not responsible for obstructing third-country nationals exit.” A subsequent tweet said: “The opportunity is available tomorrow to change course and awaken the conscience.”
Russia is urging its citizens to refrain from travelling to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon or Jordan, the foreign ministry said on its website on Friday.
It added in a statement:
We continue to work closely with the Egyptian and Israeli authorities to ensure the exit from the Gaza Strip of Russian citizens who have asked for assistance in evacuating.
(Reuters)
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has spoken by video link-up to families of the French hostages held by Hamas.
He said he, along with every service of the French state, was fully mobilised to obtain their liberation. The Elysée said Macron had told the families of the hostages: “Everything will be done for them to come back safe and sound to France.”
More than 4,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October, according to the latest update from the Gaza health authorities. They said that 4,137 people have lost their lives, while more than 13,000 people have been injured.
Israel doesn’t plan to control ‘life in Gaza’ after destroying Hamas, says defence minister
Israel’s defence minister has said that after the country destroys the Hamas militant group, the military does not plan to control “life in the Gaza Strip”.
Yoav Gallant’s comments to lawmakers were the first time an Israeli leader discussed its long-term plans for Gaza.
Gallant said Israel expected there to be three phases to its war with Hamas. He said the first would be an attack on the group in Gaza with airstrikes and ground operations, then it would defeat pockets of resistance and finally it would cease its “responsibility for life in the Gaza Strip”. (Via AP)
Israel will also “establish a new security regime”, he said.
“October 7 is the day that started the process of destroying Hamas,” Gallant said, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. He added that the war will be divided into three phases, the first of which is “a military campaign by fire and later by tactical manoeuvre, the purpose of which will be to assassinate operatives and damage infrastructure” to destroy Hamas.
After that, Gallant said, the fighting will continue “at a lower intensity.” The final stage of the campaign will include “the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for life in the Strip and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel,” the defense minister said.
Most of the 200 or so people kidnapped in Israel by Hamas and taken to the Gaza Strip are still alive, the Israeli military said on Friday.
“The majority of the hostages are alive. There were also dead bodies that were taken … to the Gaza Strip,” an army statement said.
The military said more than 20 hostages were children, while between 10 and 20 were over the age of 60.
There are also between 100 and 200 people considered missing since the Hamas attacks, the army added.
My colleagues Angelique Chrisafis, Ashifa Kassam, Kate Connolly and Angela Giuffrida have written this piece about the fears of some Jewish communities around Europe in the aftermath of Hamas’s attack on Israel:
In the usually bustling “Little Jerusalem” area of Sarcelles, north of Paris, the popular falafel and grill restaurant was eerily quiet. “People are not going out,” said Jérémy, the 33-year-old restaurant owner.
Lunchtime and evening crowds are common in one of the largest Jewish communities on the Paris outskirts. But many thought it wiser to stay home, fearing a growing number of antisemitic incidents in France and across Europe since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing bombardment of Gaza.
UN chief visits Egypt’s Rafah crossing ahead of Gaza aid delivery
The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza to oversee preparations for the delivery of aid to the war-torn territory.
Cargo planes and trucks have been bringing humanitarian aid to Rafah for days, but so far none has been delivered to the Gaza Strip, which Israel has besieged and bombed for 13 days.
“We are actively engaging with all the parties, with Egypt, Israel, the United States... in order to have these trucks moving as soon as possible,” Guterres told journalists on Friday.
Rafah is the only crossing into the blockaded Palestinian territory that is not controlled by Israel, which agreed to allow aid to enter after a request from the US.
Earlier on Friday, the UN humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, said the first aid delivery via the Rafah crossing should take place “in the next day or so”.
Guterres said there was an “absolute need to have these trucks moving as soon as possible and as many as necessary”, adding that “this must be a sustained effort”.
“We are not looking for one convoy to come but we are looking for convoys to be authorised in a meaningful number to have enough trucks to provide support to Gaza’s people,” the UN chief said.
The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says two more of its staff have been killed in Gaza, bringing the total number to 16 since the war began.
An Israeli air strike on Friday targeted three Hezbollah militants near the Lebanese border, Israel’s military said.
“Three Hezbollah terrorists were identified in the area of the border with Lebanon. Israel Defence Forces aircraft struck the terrorists,” it said.
“In addition, a short while ago, IDF snipers opened fire toward gunmen that were identified operating in the area of the border with Lebanon.”
At least 18 people are reported to have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Greek Orthodox church compound in Gaza.
The Palestinian health ministry says 13 people, including five children, were killed after an Israeli assault on the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank.
The Israeli military says it attacked more than 100 operational targets in the Gaza Strip overnight.
Israel has evacuated its own communities near Gaza and Lebanon and announced plans to evacuate Kiryat Shmona, a town of more than 20,000 residents near the Lebanese border.
The first delivery of aid to the besieged Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt should take place “in the next day or so”, the UN has said.
The UN has also warned that any escalation of military activities in the Gaza Strip would be “catastrophic” for people there.
The Dutch government has joined other countries in advising its citizens against any travel to Lebanon and also urged those still in the country “to leave Lebanon as soon as possible”.
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2023-10-20 09:11:59Z
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