Deaths and attacks in Gaza, news and more

IDF spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari stated that Israeli forces will advance wherever Hamas is present, including southern Gaza.

In recent days, there has been increasing evidence that a ground attack in the southern part of the Strip may be imminent.

Israeli leaders announced that the northern part of Gaza, including Gaza City, was now under Israeli control. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provided little information about his plan for Gaza after the military operation.

On the other hand, more fuel was allowed into Gaza on Friday, as the water and sewage networks are on the verge of collapse, Israeli National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi said. The fuel shortage also contributed to worsening the dire situation in hospitals, where, according to doctors, patients died in the intensive care unit and operations were halted due to the lack of electricity.

Elsewhere, negotiators are working to reach an agreement to free hostages in Gaza. According to the Israeli army, at least two hostages were found dead in the Strip during the past two days.

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Latest developments in Gaza hospitals: Of the 35 hospitals in Gaza, 26 were closed due to damage from bombing or fuel shortages, according to the Palestinian government’s Health Ministry in Ramallah, citing medical sources in the Hamas-controlled enclave. A doctor at the hospital told Al Jazeera that most of the patients in Al-Shifa Hospital’s intensive care unit, who were on ventilators due to lack of fuel and oxygen, had died. Dr. Ahmed Mufid Al-Makhalati said that the hospital, which is the largest in Gaza, faces a serious shortage of basic necessities, including a lack of water and electricity in the main buildings of the complex.

Fuel enters Gaza: An Israeli government agency reported that two fuel tankers entered the Gaza Strip on Friday through the Rafah border crossing. The news comes shortly after the Israeli Defense Cabinet approved a measure allowing regular shipments to be delivered to the besieged Strip, after weeks of pressure from US officials and other world leaders. According to a US State Department official, most of the fuel will be dumped in a tank in Rafah, where it will be used by UN relief agency trucks and to support water and sanitation systems, waste disposal, bakeries and hospitals in southern Gaza. A smaller portion will be used to power cell phone and Internet generators. Some members of the Israeli government have already criticized this decision.

Reduce drinking water: A UN human rights official called on Israel to stop using water as a “weapon of war” in Gaza. Pedro Araujo Agudo, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, said drought and waterborne diseases are on the rise in the enclave. For days, humanitarian organizations, including the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, have stressed the need for fuel to operate Gaza’s desalination plants and water pumps. According to the organization, nearly 70% of Gaza’s population now drinks “salted and contaminated” water.

They found the bodies of the hostages: The Israeli army announced on Friday that it had recovered the body of a second Israeli hostage from a building near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Before that, the Israeli army announced on Thursday that it had found the body of Yehudit Weiss, a 65-year-old Israeli woman, who was also found near the hospital. Meanwhile, a new video has surfaced online that appears to show an Israeli hostage being held in Gaza. It appeared on the Telegram channel of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement.
Call to action: The Israeli military estimates there are 237 hostages being held in Gaza. Some families of those missing and kidnapped by Hamas organized a march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Friday, demanding the government to ensure the safe return of the hostages. The Vatican press office said on Friday that Pope Francis intends to meet with relatives of Israeli and Palestinian hostages. The Pope will speak to these groups separately, and the Vatican said the meetings are “of a purely humanitarian nature.”

Latest developments in hostage negotiations: Israel, Hamas, and the United States are working, with Qatari mediation, to reach an agreement on a series of sticking points for the release of the hostages. Hamas demanded that Israel stop flying reconnaissance drones over Gaza as part of its request that Israel stop its military operations, according to Israeli officials and a third source familiar with the ongoing negotiations. The sources indicated that Israel is unlikely to agree to this request, because that would mean losing track of the movements of Hamas activists, including any efforts to transfer hostages inside Gaza.

Search requests: South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti have petitioned the International Criminal Court to investigate whether crimes were committed in the Palestinian territories, according to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan. A group of independent UN human rights experts said on Thursday that Israel’s actions in Gaza “suggest genocide has occurred.” The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected this accusation, saying in a statement that it was Hamas that put the residents of Gaza “at risk.”