We are concerned about the well-being of NCF member Wael Dahdouh, and other journalists in Gaza, who continue to report from high buildings as the bombing intensifies and high buildings are being targeted.
Yesterday, Wael reported, “Today Friday, Gaza did not see many attacks or air raids by Israeli forces, nor did Hamas launch many attacks on Israel. We understand now that the de-escalation in the attacks today, Friday, for the first time in two weeks, was related to the decision which led to the release of the two American hostages by Hamas, and their handover to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza.” Wael added: “Tonight, we may witness violent air strikes after the hostages arrived in Israel a short while ago.” He was of course correct. After a comparatively quiet day, last night (Friday night) was a terrible night for Gaza with some 350 dead on this one night alone.
This was his Wael’s report today, Saturday: Click on the image below or click here to view in full on Instagram. It seems unnecessary to provide a translation as the first few seconds of the video are self-explanatory. The girl’s voice in the background is saying, “ARE YOU OKAY?”
We are deeply concerned at the potential for a wider war. We draw your particular attention to Israel’s three-phase plan in response to the Hamas terror attack on Israel. If you are not aware of it, it is detailed below.
Ahmed Yousef, a friend of the Next Century Foundation who works with a Gazan think tank, tells us, “Keep us in your prayers. Things are something I can’t describe, yani. It’s a catastrophe on all levels and no place is safe in Gaza.”
Fathi Sabbah, a close friend of senior NCF UK boss, Jaafar El Ahmar, speaking from Gaza today said: “When there is a sound of air raid or bombing, no matter how close or far from us, we think it will be ours soon, but also reminds that we are still alive, and didn’t die yet. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the war say: Every one of us is waiting for his turn in the death queue, but no one knows when his turn will come soon!”
Meanwhile, independent “forensic” analysis seems to undermine US President Biden’s claim that the source of the Al Ahli Hospital blast was an Islamic Jihad rocket travelling West to East. President Biden may have been misled by poor intelligence, which seems to be the norm these days.
Our full report follows:
Aid trucks allowed in
We thank God that some 28 truckloads of humanitarian aid, mostly medical supplies, have at last been driven in across the Rafah border between Egypt and Israel, with the consent of the Government of the State of Israel. This will of course not meet Gaza’s needs but to see at least some of the aid travel is a relief to the people of Gaza and to the world.
Hostages Released
Hamas has freed an American woman and her teenage daughter it had held hostage, the second such release from 203 people abducted during the October 7 rampage through southern Israel.
Judith Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter Natalie are out of the Gaza Strip. Judith and Natalie Ranaan had been on a trip from their home in suburban Chicago to Israel to celebrate the Jewish holidays.
They were in kibbutz Nahal Oz, on October 7.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades, released the two American citizens, the mother and her daughter “for humanitarian reasons” after Qatari mediation efforts, its spokesman Abu Ubaida said on Friday.
Israel’s “three-phase” Plan of Attack
Speaking at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant unveiled his plan of action for Israel’s “three-phase” assault on Hamas in Gaza, following Hamas’ attack on October 7th. He spoke of Israel’s objective for the Gaza Strip, which includes the elimination of Hamas by destroying its military and governmental capabilities. Setting out the plan, Gallant described how Israel is currently:
- In the first phase of this attack, is the military campaign which “is taking place with airstrikes and later with a ground manoeuvre, with the purpose of destroying operatives and damaging infrastructure” within the Gaza Strip.
- The second phase, he said, would be continued fighting but at a lower intensity, with Israel’s troops aiming to isolate and eliminate Hamas pockets of resistance.
- The third and final stage of Israel’s defence plan is “the creation of a new security regime in the Gaza Strip, the removal of Israel’s responsibility for day-to-day life in the Gaza Strip, and the creation of a new security reality for the citizens of Israel and the residents of the area surrounding Gaza”.
In recent days, the government has been under pressure to come up with a clear plan of action for its war against Hamas, primarily as a means to ensure it is not embroiled in a prolonged occupation of the strip, whilst ensuring that Hamas is both no longer a threat to Israel’s security and that it does not remain in control of the enclave.
The War
This comes as Israel has claimed to have struck “over a hundred targets” in the Gaza Strip overnight, including Hamas headquarters, munitions warehouses and transportation tunnels. Footage posted by the Israel Air Force showed the destruction of a building in Gaza by a fighter jet missile, and the bombing of the historic Grand Al-Omari Mosque in the north of Gaza that it claims has been associated with Hamas gatherings.
Meanwhile, the ancient Church of St. Porphyries in Gaza was attacked in the small hours of Thursday night / Friday morning while providing refuge to hundreds of Palestinians who had been uprooted by the conflict. The church was struck on Thursday (19th October 2023), and rescuers were still searching among the debris early on Friday (20th October 2023). The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem attributed the attack to Israel, an attribution that Israel did not deny claiming there was a Hamas control centre close to the church.
Air raids also targeted the Al-Zahra towers in southern Gaza and other sites near Al-Baidar.
Gazan Red Crescent say they have been warned by Israel’s forces to evacuate the Al Quds Hospital ‘immediately’. The Al Quds hospital currently has more than 400 patients and 12,000 displaced Gazans are sheltering there. The claims have neither been confirmed nor denied by Israel’s military.
Israel’s evacuation of border towns near Lebanon
Friday heralded calls from Israel’s Defence Ministry and IDF for some 22,000 residents to evacuate from the northern city of Kiryat Schmona near the Lebanese border, amid fears the Israel-Hamas war could spill over into a regional conflict given the growing tit-for-tat violence between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. This comes as Canada, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the US and the UK have all called on their nationals to urgently leave Lebanon due to fears of further escalation of the conflict.
Renewed skirmishes on the Israel-Lebanese border have increased significantly over recent days, with Israel’s military reporting that it had stopped multiple attempts by Hezbollah fighters to cross the border. Residents of towns near the border were told this morning to evacuate to bomb shelters as the northern town of Margaliot on the Lebanese border came under fire by Hezbollah. In addition to this, the IDF said it had struck four terror cells in southern Lebanon on Friday, and had intercepted a number of the more than twenty rockets that had been launched from Lebanon towards the Mount Dov area. There have been renewed threats by Iran on the possibility of the war further escalating, as Israel prepares for a ground offensive, and Hezbollah is saying that it will be “fully prepared” to join Hamas in the war against Israel.
Turning our eyes to the West Bank
Whilst most international attention remains on Gaza, there are worrying developments on the West Bank.
Palestinians living in the West Bank village of Wadi-al-Siq were last week forcibly evicted from the village following its storming by heavily armed Israeli soldiers and citizens alike. Heavily armed Israelis from settlements in the West Bank have been carrying out concentrated attacks on small Palestinian settlements since October 7th. One of Israel’s peace activists Guy Hirschfeld has described how settlers are “taking advantage of the situation and doing whatever they want” in areas “all over the West Bank”, which comes as a 20-kilometre stretch east of Ramallah has been cleared of nearly all Palestinians in recent weeks.
Humanitarian actors and Palestinian witnesses have said the result of the forcible displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank is the widespread dismantling of Palestinian villages and the movement of Palestinians into Area B, in an attempt to safeguard themselves from settler violence. Palestinians living within these villages are calling for the creation of humanitarian corridors to allow them to travel safely.
Further updates from the ground to be posted daily
For yesterday’s report follow this link.
The image used first above is from Hosny Saleh
