Today’s report is about developments on the ground. Another report will be issued with regard to international developments. Currently, we have a humanitarian pause in the fighting that most Gazans view with dread because they know the war will resume. They would rather have a cease-fire or nothing. But Hamas has been under great pressure to agree to this from Qatar, the only state that actually bankrolls Gaza:

Israel

Israel’s free speech crackdown on Israel’s Arab citizens is accelerating. In this ‘War inside of a war’, Israeli Arabs are being arrested for doing as little as posting a WhatsApp profile picture with a fist and a Palestinian flag. This sort of action is being identified as an alleged crime of “identifying with a terrorist organization” and “incitement to terrorism” with a potential gaol sentence of five years.

The recent rocket firings towards Tel Aviv, claimed by Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, have intensified tensions.

Gaza

Israel’s tanks are in close proximity to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, where an Israeli air strike claimed the lives of at least 10 individuals, according to the hospital’s director.

Constructed in 2016 with 110 beds and situated near the Jabalia refugee camp, the hospital had been mired in controversy regarding its operational status. Conflicting reports emerged, initially stating its closure by the hospital director, leaving 45 patients in dire need of surgery stranded, followed by the World Health Organization’s update, highlighting its overwhelming importance as an essential medical facility in Gaza, especially with al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, unable to admit patients.

Allegations surfaced from Israel’s military, suggesting the Indonesian Hospital was concealing a Hamas underground command centre, built atop existing “terror infrastructures”.  These claims were vehemently refuted by both the hospital’s management and the Indonesian foreign ministry, asserting the hospital’s sole humanitarian purpose.

In an embarrassing development, Israel’s IDF had to erase a Twitter post (above left) made by one of their officers inside Al-Shifa Hospital claiming weapons had been found there. The report went viral but was later exposed by the BBC as a contrived example of disinformation:

Israel’s Health Ministry wrote a letter to the World Health Organisation (WHO), after a director of the organistion, Dr. Michael Ryan, reportedly “misled the international community” in casting doubt that terror activities were carried out at Shifa Hospital. “WHO must demand an immediate halt to the use of human shields and health facilities for terror purposes”, the letter said.

In the midst of the conflict 28 premature babies were evacuated from al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, now occupied by Israel’s forces. These infants were transported to Egypt, some requiring treatment in al-Arish, while others, in critical condition, were airlifted to Cairo. [4]

Efforts to establish field hospitals in Gaza have been initiated, with Jordan sending aid to set up a temporary hospital in Khan Younis to aid the wounded and sick, highlighting the dire need for medical assistance amidst the escalating violence.

On a more positive note, the Head of the Next Century Foundation in Gaza, AFP journalist Adel Zaanoun, remains alive and is still in Gaza City. He is the voice behind the camera in this video:

The toll of the conflict has been staggering, with the Gaza government’s media office reporting that the number of Palestinians killed since October 7 has risen to 14,532, including about 6,000 children. In Israel, the tragic toll of lives lost on and since October 7 has reached more than 1,200 confirmed dead —a devastating reality.

Moreover, reports emerged regarding a new wave of strikes, including on a UNRWA school in Bureij refugee camp, leading to the deaths of at least 20 individuals, mostly women and children seeking refuge. This strike has raised concerns among the residents, as the area has been targeted, contradicting promised security.

In a distressing development, the Palestinian Ministry of Interior reported casualties from an air attack on apartments in Hamad, west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Mahmoud, reporting from the area, highlighted the targeting of residential zones despite being designated safe for evacuees.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed grave concern over the disproportionate civilian casualties in Israel’s offensive against Gaza, labelling it as “unparalleled and unprecedented” during his tenure since 2017. UN Special envoy, Martin Griffiths, reports that almost 1.7 million have been displaced in Gaza. The Gaza Strip is the “most dangerous place in the world to be a child,” the head of the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF  Executive Director Catherine Russell said.

Additionally, we have not a genuine ceasefire but a pause in the war, negotiations were contingent on the release of hostages.  The release of hostages was delayed until today, Friday. Fifty women and children will be released by Hamas in batches. Israel will release three Palestinian security prisoners for every civilian hostage until 150 prisoners have been released over four days.

Israel’s Justice Ministry has listed 300 Palestinian security prisoners, mostly teenagers and women arrested for terrorism-related offences, who will be eligible for the exchange. Thirty children, eight mothers, and 12 other women, including the elderly in poor health, are expected to be released first. Israel’s Welfare Ministry has released instructions for soldiers initially meeting the released child hostages. Most of the Palestinian prisoners to be released are residents of East Jerusalem and have been reportedly tried in military and civilian courts for terror-related offences.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which has also abducted a number of hostages, has stated that, “No Israeli civilian prisoner in our hands will be released until the last of our prisoners is released from the Israeli prison”.

President Joe Biden says that achieving a ceasefire amid Israel’s war with Hamas “is not peace” and that an important key to lasting stability is a reunited Gaza Strip and West Bank that can be governed under “a revitalised Palestinian Authority.”

The Northern Border

Israel has struck the outskirts of Lebanon’s southern Nabatieh region for the first time since the July 2006 war. Two missiles launched from an Israeli drone hit an aluminium factory between the towns of Kfour and Toul, to the west of Nabatieh. The attack was one of the latest developments in the intensifying border conflict that has raged since October 8th between Israel and armed groups in Lebanon led by Hezbollah.

The image used first above is from Hosny Saleh