By Spy Uganda Correspondent
At least 174 Palestinians were killed and 310 others injured in the last 24 hours as the Israeli army continues its onslaught on besieged Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry has said.
“The Israeli occupation committed 18 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 174 martyrs and 310 injured during the past 24 hours,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the statement said.
With the latest Palestinian casualties, the death toll from Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza since October 7 has risen to 26,257, with 64,797 others injured, the ministry said.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) secretary-general has said that the decision by some countries to cease support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) entails great political and relief risks.
“We call on countries that announced the cessation of their support for UNRWA to immediately reverse their decision,” Hussein al Sheikh, secretary general of the PLO said on X.
Separately, Palestinian resistance group Hamas has slammed Israeli “threats” against the relief organization.
“We ask the UN and the international organizations to not cave into the threats and blackmail” from Israel, Hamas’s press office said in a post on Telegram.
Both statements came after Israel accused several UNRWA staff of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Italy has decided to suspend financing of the UNRWA, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has said.
“The Italian government has suspended financing of the UNRWA after the atrocious attack on Israel on October 7,” Tajani posted on social media platform X, adding that some of Italy’s allies had already taken the same decision.
Israel will seek to stop the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating in Gaza after the war, its foreign minister has said.
The foreign ministry aims to ensure “that UNRWA will not be a part of the day after,” Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that he would try to gather support from the US, EU and other major donors to the agency.
India and France have expressed concern about the massive loss of civilian lives in the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, urging Tel Aviv to respect international humanitarian law and create conditions, including a humanitarian ceasefire, for aid to flow to the enclave.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed these views in a joint statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi on Friday night.
Australia and Canada have suspended their funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, after Israel accused several employees of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was “deeply concerned” by the allegations against the agency, UNRWA.
“We are speaking with partners and will temporarily pause disbursement of recent funding,” she wrote on social media platform X.
Canada’s International Development Minister Ahmed Hussen on Friday announced that Ottawa had “temporarily paused any additional funding to UNRWA while it undertakes a thorough investigation into these allegations”.
“Canada is taking these reports extremely seriously and is engaging closely with UNRWA and other donors on this issue,” he wrote on X.
Israeli soldiers killed a young man in his 20s with indiscriminate fire during an overnight incursion into a village in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian media has reported.
The official news agency Wafa said that “a twenty-seven-year-old Palestinian was killed overnight after being shot by Israeli forces’ live fire during confrontations in the village of Deir Abu Deif, northeast of Jenin.”
Israeli forces stormed the village and sealed off its entrances, provoking residents and sparking confrontations, the agency said.
During the confrontations, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition at residents, seriously injuring Qassam Ahmad Yasin, who died from his injuries shortly after, the news agency said.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 373 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since October 7.
Two Israeli senior security officials have said that the military informed political leadership that Palestinian resistance group Hamas has started to restore its capabilities and governance in certain areas across Gaza, according to media reports.
Public broadcaster KAN said the two officials, whose names were not mentioned, said Hamas started to restore its presence in areas where the army decreased its presence.
According to the information provided by the army to the political leadership, the municipalities that were under Hamas governance have recently started to provide services to the residents in the central and northern areas.
The UN Security Council will meet next week over the decision by the global body’s top court calling for Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza, the council’s presidency announced.
The Wednesday meeting was called for by Algeria, whose Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would give “binding effect to the pronouncement of the International Court of Justice on the provisional measures imposed on the Israeli occupation.”
