Israel's Evacuation Orders Have Displaced 90% of Gazans: UN

Global Conflicts

By Associated Press

Published 3 weeks ago on

August 23, 2024

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Successive Israeli evacuation orders have displaced 90% of Gaza’s 2.1 million residents, reports the U.N. humanitarian official.
Vice President Harris says the U.S. is working on ending the Gaza war, where polio has resurfaced due to infrastructure destruction.
Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon killed at least eight people, including a child, amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah.

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Successive Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza, including 12 just in August, have displaced 90% of its 2.1 million residents since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the top U.N. humanitarian official for the Palestinian territory says.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris says she and President Joe Biden are working to end the war in Gaza, where the International Rescue Committee says the polio virus has been circulating for the first time in a quarter-century because of the destruction of hospitals and water infrastructure, along with overcrowded living conditions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office says a delegation from the country has arrived in Cairo to resume efforts to salvage a cease-fire deal. The talks are being mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. A crucial sticking point involves Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza.

The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas and other militants stormed Israel, killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted around 250. About 110 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead. The Israeli offensive launched in response has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how many were militants or civilians.

Families of Hostages Meet With Netanyahu

The families of the Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday and vented their anger at his failure to seal a cease-fire deal that would lead to their loved ones’ release from Hamas captivity.

The Hostages Family Forum, a group representing relatives of hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, said Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to do everything in his power to bring their family members back alive.

“The word ‘alive’ limits this to a certain time frame,” said Yizhar Lifshitz, son of hostage Oded Lifshitz, whose mother was kidnapped and freed by Hamas last October.

More than 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, including dozens who are presumed dead.

Israeli troops recently recovered the bodies of six captives from an underground tunnel in southern Gaza. The revelation Thursday that the bodies were riddled with bullet wounds has further escalated domestic pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire.

Netanyahu has resisted growing pressure from the international community to agree to a deal as negotiations stall over Israeli demands to retain control of strategic corridors in Gaza. Netanyahu blames Hamas for the deadlocked negotiations.

Israeli Airstrikes in Lebanon Kill at Least 7, Including a Child, State Media Report

Five Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday killed at least eight people, including a child and several Hezbollah militants, state media reported.

A drone strike in the town of Aita al-Jabal killed a 7-year-old child along with one other person, the Lebanese health ministry said. The Israeli military said the strike killed Mohammad Mahmoud Najem, an operative in Hezbollah’s drone and rocket unit.

Hezbollah later confirmed Najem’s death and also announced the deaths of four other members Friday.

Photographs from the scene showed a burned-out small pickup truck.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been clashing nearly daily with Israeli forces in the border region for more than 10 months. The clashes have killed more than 500 people in Lebanon — most of them militants but including more than 100 civilians and noncombatants — and 23 soldiers and 26 civilians in Israel.

Lufthansa Extends Flight Suspensions to Some Mideast Destinations

BERLIN — German airline Lufthansa said Friday that it has extended its suspension of flights to some destinations in the Middle East, but will resume service to Amman and Irbil on Aug. 27.

The company said that the Lufthansa Group — which also includes Austrian Airlines and Swiss — is suspending flights to and from Tel Aviv and Tehran up to and including Sept. 2. Flights to and from Beirut will remain suspended up to and including Sept. 30. It said that “a northern corridor in Iraqi airspace will be used” for flights to Irbil.

Previously, flights to all these destinations were suspended up to and including Aug. 26.