Israeli defence minister promises move into Gaza coming, as airstrikes continue

The latest:

• Airstrikes in southern Gaza level buildings in Khan Younis, leavingat least 12 dead, medical staff say.
• At least 30 children among the 200 people abducted by Hamas, says Israeli military.
• Israeli general promises "commandwill come" for ground offensive into Gaza.
• Trucks carryingfood, watercouldenter Gaza from Egypt as soon as Friday.

Israeli airstrikes pounded locations across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, heightening fears among more than twomillion Palestinians trapped in the territory that nowhere was safe.

Homes were hit in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Thursday, where hundreds of thousands are seeking shelter. Medical staff at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said they received at least 12 dead and 80 wounded.

Sirens wailed as emergency crews rushed to rescue survivors from one building, where many were believed trapped. Nearby buildings had balconies and facades blown off.

• Are you in the Middle East and affected by the war between Israel and Hamas? We want to hear about your experience. Send an email to ask@cbc.ca.

In addition to the bombardments, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told ground troops on Thursday to be ready to enter the Gaza Strip, though he didn't say when the invasion will start.

In a meeting with Israeli infantry soldiers on the border, Gallant urged the forces to "get organized, be ready" for an order to move in.

"Whoever sees Gaza from afar now, will see it from the inside," he said. "The command will come."

Gallantsaid the battle wouldbe long and hard.

Troops were not expected to enter while foreign leaders were visiting. U.S. President Joe Biden returned home from Israel on Wednesday, while British Prime Minister Rishi Sunakvisited on Thursdayto demonstrate Western support for the war against Hamas militants.

At least 3,785 Palestinians have been killed and about 12,500 wounded in Israeli strikes since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry in Gaza said on Thursday. Ministry spokespersonAshraf Al-Qudra told a newsconference that 44 health workers had been killed in Gaza since then, while four hospitals were out of service and 14 basic health-care services had stopped functioning.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces have killed 10 Palestinians in clashes in the past two days, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas's deadly incursion on Oct. 7, including several Canadians. Roughly 200 others were abducted.

Nearly 30 of those being held by Hamasare children, the Israeli military said Thursday, and more than 10 are over the age of 60. Authorities have no information about the location of more than 100 missing Israelis, the statement said.

WATCH | Red Cross concerned about well-being of hostages, families:

Red Cross trying to gain access to Hamas hostages

1 year ago

Duration 1:49

Sarah Davies, with the International Committee of the Red Cross, says her organization is in contact with Hamas and is 'relentlessly' seeking access to the hostages held by the militant group. The Red Cross wants to 'create a lifeline of communication' for families desperate for news.

Fate of people who want to leave unclear

The bombardments came after Israel agreed Wednesday to allow Egypt to deliver limited humanitarian aid to Gaza. Many among Gaza's 2.3 million residents have cut down to one meal a day and been left to drink dirty water amid dwindling supplies.

The deal to get aid into Gaza remained fragile, as hospitals in the sealed territory say they are on the verge of collapse. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the decision was approved after a request from Biden.

WATCH | Why isn't the border crossing open?

Why Egypt hasn't opened the Rafah crossing with Gaza

1 year ago

Duration 7:56

As the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorates, theres growing pressure on Egypt to open the Rafah border crossing to let vital aid in and people out. The National breaks down why Egypt hasnt budged and how the situation could unfold over the coming days.

Netanyahu's office said Israel "will not thwart" deliveries of food, water or medicine from Egypt, as long as they are limited to civilians in southern Gaza and don't go to Hamas militants.

Egypt and Israel were still negotiating for the entry of fuel for hospitals. An Israeli military spokespersonsaid Hamas has stolen fuel from United Nationsfacilities. Israel wanted assurances this won't happen.

Egypt must still repair the road across the border at Rafah, which was cratered by Israeli airstrikes. More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tonnes of aid are positioned at or near the crossing, said the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed.

It was not expected that aid would enter before Friday, Egyptian security sources and White House officials said. More aid is being held in the Egyptian city of Al Arish, about 45 kilometres from Rafah.

Supplies will go in under supervision of the UN, Egyptian Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry told Al-Arabiya TV.

Under an arrangement reached between the United Nations, Israel and Egypt, UN observers will inspect the trucks before they enterGaza.A UN flag will be raised on both sides of the crossing as a sign of protection against airstrikes, they said.

Eri Kaneko, a spokespersonfor the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the UN has "ample experience" ensuring that assistance will go to the people who need it. Oneexample, she said,is the ongoing cross-border operation to monitor the delivery of aid from Turkeyto those in need in northwest Syria.

"There is monitoring at the border, in warehouses inside Syria, at distribution points, and post-distribution," she said in an email to CBC News. "The UN delivers aid to people in need in extremely complex contexts around the globe."

Ivan Karakashian, advocacy manager of the Norwegian Relief Council which is helping with aid assistance in Gaza, agreed that agencies like the UN and other NGOs have had yearsof experience to "avoid and mitigate any aid diversion."

"I think withour stringent systems in place, that we wouldbe able to get that humanitarian assistanceto those in need," he said.

But unless there are a humanitarian pause and safety guarantees, it doesn't matter if aidcrossesover from Rafah into Gaza.

"We won't be able to distribute it because we can't guarantee the safety of our personnel, nor the safety of the people in need," he said.

The World Health Organization'semergencies chief, Mike Ryan, said the aid is "a drop in the ocean" of what is needed in Gaza.

"But hopefully this trickle will turn into a river of aid that will flow in the coming days," he said.

Foreign passport holders have headed to the Rafah border hoping to be allowed out under any deal, although Cairo has said aid must be delivered first.

WATCH | Warning: This video contains distressingimages:

Chaos and devastation after strike in Gaza's south

1 year ago

Duration 0:33

People in Khan Younis, a major city in southern Gaza that has seen a surge of Palestinians coming from the north in search of safety, scrambled through rubble on Thursday after a deadly Israeli airstrike.

Hospitals under stress

The announcement of a plan to bring water, food and other supplies into Gaza came as fury over a Tuesday explosion at Gaza City's al-AhliArab Hospital spread across the Middle East.

There were conflicting claims of who was behind the deadly hospital explosion. Hamas officials in Gaza blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying 471 people were killed.

An unclassified U.S. intelligence assessment delivered to Congress on Thursday estimates the explosion killed on the "low end" of 100 to 300 people. That death toll "still reflects a staggering loss of life," U.S. intelligence officials said in the findings, which were seen by The Associated Press.

WATCH l Blast radius, heat damage can determine explosion cause: expert:

What experts would look for to determine cause of Gaza hospital blast

1 year ago

Duration 4:09

Andres Gannon, an assistant professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, discusses what evidence experts would use to determine what caused a deadly explosion at a Gaza City hospital. He warns that the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas would make it more difficult to identify the cause.

Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.

The White House said an analysis of "overhead imagery, intercepts and open-source information" showed Israel was not behind the attack, but the U.S. said it continues to collect evidence.

The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence.

Video from the scene showed the hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children.

Hundreds of wounded were rushed to Gaza City's main hospital, where doctors, already facing critical supply shortages, were sometimes forced to perform surgery on the floors, often without anesthesia.

A spokesperson for Sunak said the U.K.government was still waiting for a report on the hospital explosion from the security services before offering anopinion.

Following his visit to Israel, Sunakflew to Saudi Arabia to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who stressed that the kingdom considered targeting civilians in Gaza "a heinous crime," the Saudi state news agency reported.

Sunak encouraged the crown prince to use Saudi's leadership in the region to support both current and long-term stability, and the pair underscored the need to prevent any escalation in the conflict, the British prime minister's office said.

WATCH | People rallyaround the world:

Rallies are held across the globe for Israelis and Palestinians

1 year ago

Duration 0:58

Demonstrators continue to gather in countries like Norway, Brazil and Greece in support of Israel following Hamas's deadly attacks on Oct. 7, while in places like France, the United States and here in Canada, crowds are standing in solidarity with Palestinians and criticizing Israel's military response.

The Gaza Health Ministry issued an urgent request for diesel on Thursday after a fifth major hospital Yemen al-Saeed Hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip closed due to a lack of fuel.

Beit Hanoun Hospital, Dora Children's Hospital, Karama Hospital and the International Eye Hospital in Gaza have already closed due to fuel shortages and airstrike damage, the ministry said. Services have also halted at 14 smaller primary health centres.

Elsewhere on Thursday, the Israeli military said it killed a top Palestinian militant in Rafahand hit hundreds of targets across Gaza, including tunnel shafts, intelligence infrastructure and command centres. It said it struckdozens of mortar launching posts, most of them immediately after they launched shells at Israel.

In northern areas that Israel warned to evacuate, airstrikes also hit three residential towers in al-Zahra, the Hamas-led Interior Ministry in Gaza said, as well as homes along the border with Israel.