The Next Century Foundation is glad to report that two of its three members in Gaza have been in touch today, and they are safe and well, though sadly of course Wael Daadouh has, as reported earlier, had his wife and children killed.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has reached a critical juncture, marked by heightened hostilities. A Gazan who is the Head of Initiatives of Change International (a group with which the NCF often closely cooperates), Mr Imad Al Karam, whilst being strongly critical of Hamas’ action on October 7th, told the Next Century Foundation, “We are all prisoners of our own cultures. Some lucky ones can escape that prison and see beyond. But as to most of us, in the name of self-defence, we can dehumanise a population. What the West (sic) has just done in the Middle East has re-set the relationship with the Muslim World back to the 9/11 days.”
Other Palestinians remind us that Gaza is 1% of British Mandate Palestine; the West Bank including East Jerusalem is 21%; and Israel is 78%. A common Palestinian refrain currently is that “Israel only understands the language of power”. By and large, Palestinian support for Hamas seemingly has increased in reaction to current events.
Our report follows but first we attach a video below. This doctor is Dr Mads Gilbert who is a Norwegian emergency department physician specialising in anaesthetics. He has been travelling to Gaza for many years to operate there. Yesterday about this time he was interviewed on a South African mainstream radio station. He was in Cairo. Mads is a close associate of the Next Century Foundation. We know him to be trustworthy. Indeed his first book, Eyes in Gaza, was first released in 2013 at a book launch in London hosted by the Next Century Foundation, so we know him well.
Today’s report follows below
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) has claimed to have killed an undisclosed number of Hamas fighters overnight. With IDF ground forces advancing more than two miles into Gaza, the region continues to endure heavy bombardment.
IDF armoured vehicles have blocked the north-south main road near Gaza City, closing this crucial transportation route. Israel’s military has conducted numerous strikes, including near the Al-Azhar University and the Al Quds Hospital in Gaza City. As a result, the hospital, along with others, is grappling with the challenge of evacuating patients, leading to a situation described by aid workers as “out of control.” The recent Israel air strike at Jabalia refugee camp resulted in the loss of more than 50 civilian lives (latest figures suggest 195 were killed), with an additional 150 individuals sustaining injuries. Israel claims members of Hamas’s Central Jabalia Battalion were also killed. There was another air strike on Jabalia last night.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, the death toll in Gaza since the start of the IDF operation has risen to more than 9,000. Gaza’s health ministry has updated its death toll since the conflict broke out on October 7, to 9,061, including 3,760 children and 2,326 women. Of those, the independently verified figure for those killed in the occupied Palestinian territories since October 7th climbed to 6,540 this morning whilst the independently verified figure for injuries is way higher and stands at 155,694 this morning. It should be stressed that independently verified figures are always considerably lower than the actual death toll because verification takes time.
Meanwhile, reports of intense clashes within Gaza indicate the continuation of what has been termed the ‘second phase’ of Israel’s military’s campaign against Hamas. The number of Israeli soldiers killed in ground battles has risen to 15 according to Israel. The Israel Army’s spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, described the military losses as “painful”. 13 IDF soldiers were killed yesterday and two today during Israel’s ground operation in Gaza. An undisclosed number were injured. The IDF has announced that at least 317 of Israel’s soldiers have been killed (including those killed on 7th October), making this the deadliest conflict for the IDF since the First Lebanon War (1982-1985) where almost a thousand of Israel’s servicemen were killed.
Israel claims over 8,500 rockets have been fired towards Israel from Gaza since 7th October with a large barrage of rockets this morning towards Ashdod and Ashkelon. 1,500 rockets have been fired in the last 10 days.
Egypt has opened the Gaza border crossing to evacuate injured Palestinians and foreigners. Egyptian security forces have said that 320 foreign passport holders had entered Egypt from Gaza today. The list of those allowed to cross was agreed between Egypt and Israel, with embassies from the relevant countries being informed in advance.
This is also the first time since the war between Israel and Hamas began that seriously injured Palestinians have crossed from Gaza into Egypt. 80 injured Gazan civilians are being treated in the Egyptian field hospital next to the crossing. Most of the wounded who crossed were taken to a field hospital built by Egypt in Sheikh Zuweid, 15km (9 miles) from Rafah.
Humanitarian Crisis
Despite Israel’s commitment to increasing aid flows to Gaza and pledged plans for the introduction of up to 100 additional aid support trucks per day in the first phase, the delivery of the pledged substantial consignments of aid has not yet begun. It should be noted that prior to the Gaza War, an average some 500 truckloads of aid entered Gaza each day.
The most pressing needs in Gaza right now are fuel, medical supplies, and clean water. Fuel is not just a commodity; it’s a lifeline. It powers trucks for transportation, and generators for electricity in hospitals, bakeries, and water desalination plants. Without fuel, it’s impossible to get clean drinking water or power hospitals and lifesaving machines.
Food assistance is another critical need. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services are also urgently needed. 95 percent of the population can no longer access clean water. Desperate parents are distributing salty water to their children.
Hospitals are crammed with causalities but with minimal medical supplies, surgical kits and sanitisers. Surgery without anaesthesia is the grim reality that patients in Gaza are currently facing.
Health services, including mental health and psychosocial support, are desperately needed. The toll of the conflict on the population’s mental well-being is immense.
Craig Mokhiber, Director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, resigned yesterday over the Gaza issue, stating, “The demands on our organization for principled and effective action are greater than
ever. But we have not met the challenge.”
The BBC
The Next Century Foundation has been disappointed to hear news reports on BBC Radio Four that state that Egypt does not take additional numbers of Palestinian Refugees cross border from Gaza because Egypt fears “an uncontrolled surge in refugees”. This is disingenuous at best. The BBC knows full well that President Sisi of Egypt has made it clear that he is not opening Gaza’s borders, (despite the US President’s shameless appeals to Egypt that Sinai take half a million Gazan refugees) because President Sisi does not want to be complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. A position in which he has been publicly supported by both the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (who have recalled their ambassador to Israel) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
On the plus side, the BBC Arabic Service will launch a special radio channel on Friday just to serve Gaza and give residents information about where and how to access aid and other matters crucial to their survival.
Hostages
On 1st November, Hamas announced that it would release some “foreign hostages” from Gaza in the coming days. The decision was announced by Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida in a video address. More than 230 people, including some dual nationals, were taken captive by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups on October 7. Five hostages have been released and one freed by the IDF thus far.
Conflict Intensification on the West Bank
The synchronised joint operations launched by the IDF are intensifying and now include the West Bank. In the West Bank, the IDF entered the Jenin refugee camp and 4 Palestinians were killed with nine others wounded.
Israel’s Northern Border
At Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Hezbollah fired rockets deeper into Israel. Israel remains cautious in its response in an attempt to avoid escalation. In response, the Israel Airforce (IAF) is careful to attack the source of the attack. However, Hezbollah has a policy of launching rockets from scrubland and immediately moving on so the counterattack rarely hurts anyone. That said, Israel has recklessly and repeatedly attacked Allepo and Damascus airports, which does not help reduce the risk of a wider conflict.
The image used above is from Hosny Saleh
