Three hospitals in Gaza were taken out of operation on Monday as Israeli forces advanced, further weakening the health system and depriving residents of medical care, local authorities said. Gaza’s health ministry has warned that fuel shortages could shut down the Gaza Strip’s remaining functioning hospitals by the end of the week (see post here).
IDF forces have continued to push deeper towards the most populated areas of Gaza City on Tuesday but many there say they are too exhausted to flee. One mother of two in Gaza City told the Reuters news agency that she would not leave.
“We are not steadfast, we are helpless. We don’t have money to leave to the south and we don’t have guarantees if we do the Israelis will not bomb us, so we are staying,” she said. “The children tremble all the time from the sounds of explosions, we do too, they are wiping out a city that is thousands of years old and the world is celebrating a symbolic recognition of a state that won’t stop our killing.“
Gaza’s health ministry said yesterday that at least 65,344 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023.
The UN finds the ministry’s figures to generally be reliable and the actual death toll will likely be much higher as many people’s bodies are buried under rubble.
We are expecting an update on how many Palestinian people were killed by Israeli forces in the last 24 hours later today.
Israeli forces have attacked 38 hospitals since October 2023, killing at least 1,723 healthcare workers, Munir al-Bursh, the director general of the territory’s health ministry has told Al Jazeera Arabic.
We have not yet been able to independently verify these figures.
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The UN investigators cited examples of the scale of the Israeli killings, aid blockages, forced displacement and the destruction of a fertility clinic to back up its genocide finding.
The 1948 UN Genocide Convention defines genocide as crimes committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such”. To count as genocide, at least one of five acts must have occurred.
The UN commission found that Israel had committed four of them: killing; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part; and imposing measures intended to prevent births.
It cited as evidence interviews with victims, witnesses, doctors, verified open-source documents and satellite imagery analysis compiled since the war began two years ago.
Israel is fighting allegations at the world’s top court, the international court of justice, of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel has denied the claims.
As a reminder, UN investigators said last week they had determined that Israel has committed “genocide” in Gaza since October 2023, with the “intent to destroy the Palestinians” in the territory.
The United Nations independent international commission of inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the UN, found that “genocide is occurring in Gaza and is continuing to occur”, said its head, Navi Pillay.
“When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity,” she added. “All states are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
The report concluded that Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as its president, Isaac Herzog, and the former defence minister Yoav Gallant, had “incited the commission of genocide” and that Israeli authorities had “failed to take action against them to punish” this incitement.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Daniel Meron, called the report a scandalous and fake “libellous rant” that had been authored by “Hamas proxies”.
IDF may launch new offensives after Gaza City, says ex-general
Jason Burke is our international security correspondent:
Israeli military forces are likely to mount new attacks into parts of Gaza now crowded with hundreds of thousands of displaced people once they have concluded their current offensive into Gaza City, a former Israeli national security adviser and general has said.
Yaakov Amidror, who served as national security adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu from 2011 to 2013 after decades in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said that the “hardcore” of Hamas was in Gaza City but that “another chapter” could follow after the offensive there: an attack into the “central camps” area farther south.
“The campaign in Gaza City will be three months of intensive [fighting] then six months to clear it [of Hamas fighters] so there is no threat from there and then we decide about the central camps,” Amidror said.
The “central camps” refers to the heavily built-up Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza.
Both are packed with displaced Palestinians from elsewhere in Gaza, and have been repeatedly subjected to airstrikes.
Aid officials working in Gaza told the Guardian that they had been “warned off” investing substantial resources in new facilities in the central camps area during recent discussions with Israeli military officials.
“Our clear understanding from those conversations was that the IDF would be going in there, though it wasn’t clear if that meant now or after they’re done in Gaza City,” one said.
You can read the full story here:
Fuel shortage could shut down Gaza's remaining hospitals, health ministry says
Gaza’s health ministry has warned that fuel shortages could shut down the Gaza Strip’s remaining functioning hospitals by the end of the week.
In a post to Telegram this morning, the ministry wrote:
Only a few days separate us from hospital shutdowns due to fuel depletion in hospitals.
The fuel shortage crisis in the remaining operational hospitals in the Gaza Strip has reached a critically dangerous stage.
A few days may bring scenes of vital departments ceasing operations, which means worsening the health crisis and exposing the lives of patients and the wounded to certain death.
Technical and engineering measures to schedule operating periods have become ineffective with the halt of fuel supplies.
The ministry of health renews its urgent appeal to all concerned parties to intervene to ensure the reinforcement of fuel stocks in hospitals to avoid a disaster with unpredictable consequences.
The health ministry said yesterday that the al-Rantisi children’s hospital and the eye hospital in Gaza City were “out of service” due to the Israeli bombing of their surrounding areas.
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What does state recognition entail practically?
My colleagues Patrick Wintour and Archie Bland have this on what the recognition of a Palestinian state actually means in practice:
Recognition of the existence of a state rests on four criteria set out in the 1933 Montevideo convention: a permanent population, a defined territory, an ability to hold diplomatic relations with other nations, and a government.
Even if some of those features are threatened or disputed – as in Palestine, where large parts are occupied and the government recognised by countries such as the UK has no real authority in Gaza – the state can still be recognised: in the end, doing so is a political choice.
In the case of Palestine, recognition is largely symbolic. As the then UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said when the UK’s position was announced earlier this year: “It will not change the position on the ground.”
Nevertheless, it allows nations to enter treaties with Palestine and would mean that Palestinian heads of mission become fully recognised ambassadors.
Some argue that a greater onus is placed on countries that recognise Palestine to boycott goods imported into them by Israel that come from the occupied territories.
But overall, recognition is seen more as a statement on Palestine’s future, and disapproval of Israel’s refusal to negotiate a Palestinian state.
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The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, said in July he would recognise Palestinian statehood before the UN general assembly in New York this week if Israel did not meet a series of conditions to improve the devastating humanitarian situation in Gaza, including agreeing to a ceasefire and committing to a long-term peace process leading to a Palestinian state coexisting alongside Israel.
But Israel’s continued restrictions on aid into the territory, causing starvation and famine in parts of the Strip, the IDF’s relentless bombardments, killing a high number of civilians and destroying much of Gaza’s infrastructure, and Israel’s expanded assault on Gaza City made the government feel like taking stronger action – no matter how symbolic – was necessary.
Starmer was also under internal pressure from MPs to take stronger action as, although he has toughened up his rhetoric against Israel’s military conduct over recent months, the prime minister has been accused of not doing enough to pressure the Netanyahu government to stop its assault, mindful of maintaining a good relationship with the Trump administration.
The UK government is said to be alarmed at plans to accelerate Israeli settlements in the West Bank which ministers fear will end any hope of a two-state solution.
Announcing the UK’s recognition of Palestinian statehood on Sunday (just after Australia and Canada), Starmer said in a video address posted to X:
We call again on the Israeli government to lift the unacceptable restrictions at the border, stop these cruel tactics, and let the aid surge in. With the actions of Hamas, the Israeli government escalating the conflict and settlement building being accelerated in the West Bank, the hope of a two- state solution is fading. But we cannot let that light go out…
As part of this effort I set out in July the terms upon which we would act in line with our manifesto to recognise Palestinian statehood. That moment has now arrived. So today, to revive the hope of peace and a two-state solution, I state clearly, as prime minister of this great country, that the United Kingdom formally recognises the state of Palestine.
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My colleagues Andrew Roth and Patrick Wintour have this analysis on Donald Trump’s views on the Palestinian Authority (PA) and what his meeting today with the leaders from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia could entail in relation to the postwar governance of Gaza. Here is a snippet from their story:
The US president is also expected to meet leaders from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Nothing the president has done so far suggests that he shares the view held by the Gulf states that the PA is a viable alternative to Hamas, or should be considered a partner for peace.
He has imposed sanctions on PA officials and banned Mahmoud Abbas, its 89-year-old leader, from coming to New York to speak to the UN. Abbas, addressing the summit virtually, commended the 149 nations that had already recognised a Palestinian state, and called on Hamas to surrender its weapons to the PA, adding: “We also condemn the killing and detention of civilians, including Hamas actions on October 7 2023.”
Arab leaders see the meeting as a chance to pin down Trump on whether he supports the Arab League’s proposals for Gaza’s future, or even a variation put to him by a working group led by Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister, and Jared Kushner, who is the president’s son-in-law.
Neither of the reconstruction plans proposes the mass expulsion of Palestinians, a proposal that Trump at times has appeared to support. The Blair plan does not clearly endorse the PA as the long-term administrators for Gaza.
The Arab states are likely to insist they will not join any international force unless the reformed PA is given a future role.
They also want a roadmap to a two-state future that excludes further Israeli settlements or annexation of the West Bank.
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On Monday, there was a pre-assembly conference on a two-state solution cohosted by France and Saudi Arabia in New York; it was notably not attended by the US.
The two-state solution would see an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza that would exist alongside Israel. This Palestinian state would broadly be drawn along the lines that existed prior to the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and would have east Jerusalem as its capital.
Western countries that have announced their recognition of Palestinian statehood in recent days, including Australia and the UK, have framed their decisions as part of a joint up effort to build new momentum for a two-state solution, an idea that is rejected by Israel, and Hamas, which is opposed to the existence of Israel.
France, under president Emmanuel Macron, has been leading the recent international push to recognise a Palestinian state.
Officially announcing France’s recognition of Palestine yesterday in New York, Macron set out a plan for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force in postwar Gaza.
“The time has come to end the war in Gaza, the massacres and the death,” Macron said. “The time has come to do justice for the Palestinian people and thus to recognise the State of Palestine in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
Macron described a framework for a “renewed” Palestinian Authority (PA) – which currently administers parts of the occupied West Bank – under which France would open an embassy if certain conditions were met, including a ceasefire and the release of all remaining hostages.
The postwar framework envisages an International Stabilisation Force (ISF) that would help prepare the PA to take over governance in Gaza, which Hamas seized control of in 2007.
France has said the plan for a stabilisation force would marginalise Hamas by disarming the militant group and excluding it from power.
The proposal includes a UN-mandated force to provide security in Gaza as well as oversee the disarmament of Hamas and help train a PA police force.
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Trump views Palestinian statehood recognition as a 'reward' to Hamas, White House spokesperson says
Donald Trump’s address to the UN general assembly later today comes after key western allies, including the UK, France, Canada, Australia and Portugal, all defied Washington to recognise a Palestinian state.
On Monday night Monaco, Belgium, Andorra, Malta and Luxembourg all recognised Palestine, bringing the total number of recognitions to three-quarters of UN membership. The state of Palestine is now recognised by just over 150 of the 193 member states of the UN.
Israel has warned that it might respond to the recognition of Palestine by annexing the West Bank, with the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying recognition gives “a huge reward to terrorism”, adding, without elaboration, that a Palestinian state simply “will not happen”.
The Israeli far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right national security minister, went further, calling for wholesale annexation of the occupied West Bank in response to the declarations.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has been quoted as saying that Trump views the Palestinian statehood recognition moves as a “reward to Hamas”, the Palestinian militant group which the led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
A reported 48 hostages remain in Gaza, being held by Hamas. 20 are thought to still be alive.
“He (Trump) feels this does not do anything to release the hostages, which is the primary goal right now in Gaza, does nothing to end this conflict and bring this war to a close,” Leavitt told reporters.
“Frankly he believes it’s a reward to Hamas. So he believes these decisions are just more talk and not enough action from some of our friends and allies.”
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has warned, meanwhile, that Hamas would “feel more emboldened” by the international drive to recognise Palestine and could provoke Israel into annexing the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war.
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Trump to address UN general assembly in New York as Israeli attacks on Gaza City continue
The US president, Donald Trump, is expected to address the UN general assembly in New York at about 09:50 local time (14:50 BST), where world leaders have gathered for the 80th anniversary of the UN.
Trump is expected to deliver an aggressive speech decrying “globalist institutions”, which he will claim “have significantly decayed the world order”, a White House spokesperson said in a briefing.
After his speech, Trump will hold one-on-one meetings with UN secretary general António Guterres and the leaders of Ukraine, Argentina and the EU.
The US president will also hold a group meeting with officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
During this meeting, Trump is expected to discuss a range of topics, including principles around what postwar governance in Gaza could look like, without Hamas involvement.
According to Axios, Washington wants Arab and Muslim countries to agree to send military forces to Gaza to enable Israel’s withdrawal from the territory and to help fund reconstruction for the devastated Strip to be rebuilt after the war has ended.
Any hope of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was shattered when Israel carried out an airstrike on a Hamas negotiating team in Qatar at the start of the month, which caused a huge diplomatic fallout and made the prospect of an end to the war seem even more distant than before.
The diplomatic scramble playing out in New York today comes as Israel continues its assault on Gaza City, the biggest urban centre in the territory that Israel claims to be the last bastion of Hamas.
There are reports that Israeli tanks have advanced into the city centre from the north and south as deadly Israeli air attacks intensify and ground forces advance.
Despite international opposition, Israel launched a ground offensive in Gaza City last week as the military expanded its assault on the city after weeks of intense bombardments.
A famine – caused by Israeli restrictions on aid – was declared in the city and its surrounding area last month.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled southwards after being ordered by the IDF to do so, but hundreds of thousands, many of whom are too frail to move, remain despite the risks as there is effectively nowhere safe to move to in the Strip.
