Israel-Hamas war: IDF widens offensive, orders evacuations

President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric called for a "political solution" to end the fighting in Gaza.

In a video message issued from Gaza on Monday, Spoljaric spoke of conditions beyond description and recounted having seen children "with atrocious injuries" who had also lost parents "with no one looking after them."

"We are facing a situation here that will not be healed by sending in more trucks," Spoljaric pointed out and added: "We need to provide protection to the civilians in Gaza."

The Red Cross president said she had learned that medical facilities in the north had lost their entire surgical capacity.

Spoljaric said that a solution needed to be found and said "we can't turn away from what is evidently a moral failure in the face of the international community."

Spoljaric called on all parties to deescalate and seek solutions other than military ones.

"There's not only a humanitarian solution to this, there must be a political one," Spoljaric said. 

Israel's Office for Coordination in the Palestinian territories, known as COGAT, has denied it has asked the World Health Organization to evacuate a warehouse in southern Gaza.

Earlier, the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the Israeli military asked it to remove medical supplies from a WHO warehouse in southern Gaza because ground operations "will put it beyond use."

"The truth is that we didn't ask you to evacuate the warehouses and we also made it clear (and in writing) to the relevant UN representatives," COGAT said in a post on X.

"From a UN official, we would expect, at least, to be more accurate," it added.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday said Israel's military had given it notice to move supplies out of a medical warehouses in southern Gaza, warning that ground operations would put the facilities out of use.

"Today, WHO received notification from the Israel Defense Forces that we should remove our supplies from our medical warehouse in southern Gaza within 24 hours, as ground operations will put them beyond use," Tedros wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

He asked Israel to withdraw the order and "take every possible measure to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and humanitarian facilities."

Israel expanded military operations in the Palestinian territory after a seven-day pause in fighting during which time hostages and prisoners were exchanged and much needed aid was allowed in.

Much of Israel's actions against the Hamas militant group had been concentrated in the northern part of Gaza but on Sunday announced that ground operations would widen to "all of the Gaza Strip."

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday defended Israel's right to seek the elimination of the Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza.

"Our position is that this means that Israel must also have the right to defeat Hamas and prevent it from continuing to carry out acts of terror," Scholz said during a joint briefing with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Scholz pointed out that Berlin had been pushing for humanitarian pauses in fighting but said government was not insisting on a permanent ceasefire because "Israel must be able to continue to pursue the possibility of defeating Hamas."

Germany, along with the US, the EU and others, has listed Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Earlier, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock reiterated Israel's right to defend itself but highlighted the plight of civilians in Gaza.

"The central question is how this right to self-defense is carried out. There is a responsibility to alleviate civilian suffering, especially in this phase," Baerbock told fellow Green Party lawmakers during a conference on Monday.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US was doing everything possible to secure the release of hostages held by Islamist militant group Hamas.

Under an agreement between Israel and Hamas, 80 Israeli hostages, mostly women and children, were released in exchange for three times as many Palestinian prisoners during a seven-day truce that ended on Friday. Another 25, mostly Thais, were freed separately.

However, he said it was Hamas' refusal to release certain civilian women that caused the breakdown of the truce and a resumption of hostilities.

"Right now Hamas is refusing to release civilian women who should have been part of the agreement, and it is that refusal by Hamas that has caused the end of the hostage agreement and therefore the end of the pause in hostilities," Sullivan said.

The US, along with Israel, Germany and other governments, has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.

In a separate briefing on Monday, US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said Hamas had not released the kidnapped women because the militant group didn't want them recounting what had happened to them while being held hostage.

"It seems one of the reasons they don't want to turn women over that they've been holding hostage and the reason this pause fell apart is they don't want those women to be able to talk about what happened to them during their time in custody," Miller told reporters.

Israeli police have been investigating the possibility of sexual violence during the October 7 terror attack during which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to Israel.

The US has renewed a call for Israel to protect civilians since the expansion of its ground operation to include the entire Gaza Strip.

State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said it was "too early to make a definitive assessment" but noted a difference in Israel's tactics.

"We've seen a much more targeted request for evacuations," Miller told a daily press briefing.

Miller said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was identifying "specific neighborhoods where they plan to conduct military operations," rather than giving instructions to an entire city to leave their homes.

"So that is an improvement on what's happened before," Miller said.

However, Miller added that Washington had "frank conversations" with Israel about the need to let more fuel into Gaza.

Israel changed the threat levels for travel to no less than 80 countries on Monday.

The country's National Security Council (NSC) took the decision to raise threat levels for many in countries in Western Europe, including Britain, France and Germany from level one to level two and a recommendation to "exercise increased precaution."

Threat levels were also changed in various African states including South Africa and Eritrea which were raised to level three, with a recommendation to "reconsider non-essential travel to these countries." 

The NSC said that since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, it had identified increased efforts by Iran and its proxies to harm Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.

"At the same time, there is a constant and significant rise in incitement, attempted attacks and manifestations of antisemitism in many countries," it said.

The NSC advised postponing travel to countries for which warnings had been issued, "particularly Arab and Middle Eastern countries, the North Caucasus, countries bordering Iran and several Muslim countries in Asia."

The NSC cautioned Israeli citizens traveling abroad to avoid "openly displaying your Israeli and Jewish identities."

As Israel has expanded its operations in southern Gaza, the military has told residents, many of whom had already fled the violence in the north of the strip, to go online and see which areas will be targeted by Israeli forces each day.

DW's correspondent in Jerusalem explained that people in Gaza "have been given this kind of map that's broken up into squares."

"Each has a number and they've been told to work out, to locate where they are in that map under that number and each day they'll be given a list of numbers of places that will be targeted and people are expected to move," Rebecca Ritters said.

"The problem being, of course, these people don't really have anywhere to go — they're running out of places to run and hide," she added.

Many people are also likely unable to connect to the internet to keep track of where will be safe that day.

"The dire humanitarian situation in the south is certainly not getting any better and in fact is set to get a lot lot worse."

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA)  said on Monday that close to 1.9 million people across Gaza have been displaced since October 7.

That is equivalent to 80% of the population.

Of those who had been forced to leave their homes, 1.2 million people had sought shelter in just 156 UNRWA facilities.

"The average number of IDPs [internally displaced persons] in UNRWA shelters is 10,326, more than four times their capacity," the agency said in its report.

The UNRWA facilities were also not spared the violence, with 30 installations being directly hit and 55 sustaining damage. It did not say who was responsible for the strikes.

Some 111 UNRWA workers have also been killed in Gaza since the war broke out following Hamas' terror attacks on October 7.

The figures provided by UNRWA were valid as of December 2.

Interventions and attempted attacks on Israeli and international assets by Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea are a sign that Iran is trying to influence the conflict in the region indirectly, according to Middle East expert Daniel Gerlach.

"Tehran is pulling the strings," he told DW, estimating that Iran is ultimately using the Houthi regime as a useful puppet for its own ends.

Gerlach, editor-in-chief at the German Middle East magazine zenith, said that the Iran-backed Houthi rebels are weak and their involvement is more symbolic, but he added it is also a sign Iran is trying to influence the conflict.

"Iran wants to shift the conflict away from the Persian Gulf area where it's about to normalize [relations] with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states," he explained, saying that the Bab-el-Mandeb strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa would be ideal.

The German Foreign Ministry has said that it expects Israel to provide "realistic" protection for civilians in Gaza as it extends its ground offensive to the southern half of the besieged enclave.

"Something we expect from Israel is that they not only urge civilians to leave the danger zone, but that they are in a realistic position to find safe shelter elsewhere," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sebastian Fischer told a regular press briefing.

"Too many civilians have already been killed in this war," he added.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock mirrored the sentiment while also stressing Israel's right to self-defense.

"The central question is how this right to self-defense is carried out. There is a responsibility to alleviate civilian suffering, especially in this phase," she said during a Green party conference in Berlin.

"Because too many Palestinians have already died," she added. 

Just under 16,000 people have been killed in Gaza — according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry — since Israel commenced its response to the Hamas terror attacks of October 7.

The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, arrived in Gaza on Monday.

"I have arrived in Gaza, where people’s suffering is intolerable," she wrote on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

"I repeat our urgent call for civilians to be protected in line with the laws of war and for aid to enter unimpeded."

The ICRC has played a key role in securing the release of hostages held by Islamist militants Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and Israel among others — as well as Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

However, the organization has also faced criticism from both sides for not doing enough to help the hostages and prisoners.

Spoljaric's visit — which will see her also visit Israel — comes shortly after a weeklong truce collapsed and fighting resumed.

"The last week provided a small degree of humanitarian respite, a positive glimpse of humanity that raised hopes around the world that a path to reduced suffering could now be found," Spoljaric said in the statement.

"As a neutral actor, the ICRC stands ready to support further humanitarian agreements that reduce suffering and heartbreak."

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip on Monday said 15,899 people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave since the start of the war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would eventually be tried as a war criminal over Israel's ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Turkey, which supports a two-state solution, has heavily criticized Israel over the war with Islamist militant group Hamas.

Authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza say more than 15,500 Palestinians have been killed in the violence.

In a speech to a meeting of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) committee in Istanbul, Erdogan claimed that Gaza is Palestinian land and will always belong to the Palestinians.

"Beyond being a war criminal, Netanyahu, who is the butcher of Gaza right now, will be tried as the butcher of Gaza," Erdogan said.

"Those who try to skip over the deaths of all those innocent people by using the excuse of Hamas have nothing left to say to humanity," he added.

Unlike most of its Western allies, NATO member Turkey does not view Hamas as a terrorist group.

Six more Thai hostages who were released by militant Islamist group Hamas have returned to Thailand, the Thai Foreign Ministry said.

The released hostages were welcomed with hugs from their families at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport.

"I'm glad to be back," 40-year-old Owat Suriyasri said, expressing gratitude to Israel and Thailand for securing their release.

The arrivals follow the return of 17 other Thai hostages who were released last week. In total, 32 Thai laborers were taken to Gaza by Hamas on October 7. Another 39 were killed.

Nine more Thais are believed to be among the hostages still being held in Gaza.

Before the war, some 30,000 Thai laborers were working in the Israeli agricultural sector.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial resumed on Monday, after a hiatus prompted by the war with Hamas militants in Gaza.

The trial was put on hold following the October 7 terror attack by Hamas, which killed 1,200 people during a rampage in Israel.

Netanyahu is on trial for alleged fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates.

Netanyahu, Israel's first sitting prime minister to stand trial, denies any wrongdoing.