ShareGAZA: Zionist air strikes on a Gaza hospital compound Tuesday killed more than 500 people, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said. “More than 500 displaced people killed in occupation strikes on the yard” of the Ahli Arab hospital in central Gaza, the ministry said. “Hundreds of victims are still under the rubble,” it added. Photos showed fire engulfing the hospital halls, shattered glass and body parts scattered across the area.
Jordanian King Abdullah II on Tuesday warned of a dire situation in the Middle East if the conflict between the Zionist entity and Hamas is allowed to spread to other countries. “The whole region is on the brink of falling into the abyss,” Abdullah said after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. “All our efforts are needed to make sure we don’t get there,” he said. Scholz also warned against an escalation. “We have a common goal to prevent a conflagration in the region,” said Scholz. “I once again expressly warn Hezbollah and Iran not to intervene in this conflict,” he said.
The Jordanian king on Tuesday also dampened hopes his country would accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza. “On the issue of refugees coming to Jordan — and I think I can quite strongly speak on behalf not only of Jordan as a nation but of our friends in Egypt — that is a red line,” he said. The escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza “has to be dealt with inside Gaza and the West Bank”, he said. Meanwhile, the US military on Tuesday ordered 2,000 personnel to prepare for deployment to the Middle East as a show of force amid the escalating conflict between the Zionist entity and Hamas in Gaza. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the deployment would allow the United States “to respond more quickly” to the crisis, while the White House stressed it did not intend to put US combat forces on the ground.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said preparing the troops for deployment “is really about sending a signal of deterrence”. “We don’t want to see this conflict escalate and widen,” Kirby said on CNN. “There are no plans or intentions to put US boots on the ground in combat in (the Zionist entity).”
The move comes as President Joe Biden heads to the Zionist entity on Wednesday to underscore Washington’s support for its close ally. But Biden also hopes to prevent the escalating war in Gaza from spilling over into a wider Middle East conflict. The trip will come 12 days after Palestinian fighters burst through the Zionist entity’s heavily fortified Gaza border, killing more than 1,400 people. The Zionist entity has responded with withering air strikes that have killed more than 3,500 people, mainly civilians.
It has also imposed a crippling siege on Gaza and deployed tens of thousands of troops to the border in preparation for a full-scale ground offensive. So far, the White House has seen no signs of a deepening engagement by Iran in the conflict, according to Kirby. “Outside of the rhetoric..., no we haven’t,” Kirby said. The United States has already deployed two aircraft carriers to the region “to deter hostile actions against (the Zionist entity),” Austin said last week. US media reported the troops being readied for deployment would cover support roles, such as medical assistance and handling explosives.
The Zionist entity has vowed to destroy Hamas while also seeking to rescue the at least 199 hostages taken into Gaza by the Islamist Hamas, which has released a video of one of the captives, French-Zionist woman Mia Shem. The video includes footage of the woman receiving treatment for an arm injury. Diplomatic bids to free the hostages have gathered pace. Turkey said it was in talks with Hamas to secure their release. But there were mixed views about how effective Biden could be, with some Palestinians blaming the United States for backing the Zionist entity, and even Zionists skeptical.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, back in the Zionist entity after a whistlestop regional tour, said Biden’s visit would be a statement of “solidarity with (the Zionist entity)” and an “ironclad commitment to its security”. The Zionist entity’s arch foe Iran has repeatedly warned against a Gaza invasion and Monday raised the specter of a possible “pre-emptive action” against the Zionist entity. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that “no one can stop resistance forces” if the Zionist entity keeps up its bombardment of Gaza.
Deadly flare-ups have rocked the Zionist entity’s northern border with Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant movement is based. Hezbollah said Tuesday that four of its fighters had been killed in south Lebanon, bringing to nine the number of the group’s members killed in intensifying border skirmishes with the Zionist entity. In statements, Hezbollah said four of its fighters had been killed “performing jihad”, just hours after the Zionist entity said it killed four militants who attempted to infiltrate the border from Lebanon. While signaling support, Biden will also try to quietly steer the Zionist entity’s military response, as international alarm has grown about the devastating impact of the war on Palestinian civilians.
At least 3,000 Palestinians — mostly civilians — have been killed, entire neighborhoods have been razed and survivors are left with dwindling supplies of food, water and fuel. “The situation is catastrophic beyond what I could have imagined,” said Jamil Abdullah, a Palestinian-Swede, hoping to flee the blockaded enclave. “There are corpses in the streets. Buildings are crashing down on their inhabitants. Blood is everywhere. The smell of the dead is everywhere.” AFP reporters in Gaza said mortuaries were overflowing, and corpses wrapped in white body bags were even being stored in an ice cream truck.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says more than one million Palestinians — almost half of Gaza’s population of 2.4 million — have fled their homes. World Health Organization regional director Ahmed Al-Mandhari told AFP that Gaza was barreling towards “real catastrophe”. “There are 24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left,” he said. The Zionist entity has demanded that residents of north Gaza leave for the south, hoping to clear the area of civilians in preparation for a perilous ground assault that would involve grueling urban combat. Since the Zionist entity’s evacuation order in north Gaza, entire families, young children and the elderly have gathered belongings and fled to southern Gaza, bedding down in any available space, indoors and out.
In the city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza the normal population of 400,000 has roughly doubled. Egypt has so far kept closed Gaza’s only border crossing not controlled by the Zionist entity, Rafah. The Zionist entity has repeatedly struck the area on the Palestinian side and Monday denied reports of any temporary ceasefire deal to open it. — Agencies Rafah’s closure has so far prevented the escape of thousands of Palestinian-Americans and others hoping to flee Gaza, or the entry of relief goods now loaded on truck convoys waiting in Egypt.
For now Gazans remain trapped, with neighboring Arab nations also fearful that if Palestinians leave the territory they could be permanently exiled. Blinken, after talks with Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, signaled there was no firm agreement yet on humanitarian relief, but that there was a “commitment” to work on a plan ahead of and during Biden’s visit. He also said the two sides were discussing the “possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way”.
Blinken said the US president hopes to “hear from (the Zionist entity) how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.” – AgenciesRafah’s closure has so far prevented the escape of thousands of Palestinian-Americans and others hoping to flee Gaza, or the entry of relief goods now loaded on truck convoys waiting in Egypt. For now Gazans remain trapped, with neighboring Arab nations also fearful that if Palestinians leave the territory they could be permanently exiled.
Blinken, after talks with Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, signaled there was no firm agreement yet on humanitarian relief, but that there was a “commitment” to work on a plan ahead of and during Biden’s visit. — AFP He also said the two sides were discussing the “possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way”. Blinken said the US president hopes to “hear from (the Zionist entity) how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas.” – Agencies
