Israel-Hamas war: US conducts new strike against Houthis

The UN on Saturday decried the humanitarian situation in Gaza as fighting there has now continued for almost 100 days.

The war first broke out on October 7, when Hamas carried out terror attacks on Israel, killing about 1,140 people, mostly civilians.

The militant outfit also took around 250 hostages, 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza, including at least 25 believed to have been killed.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist group by the US, Germany and several other countries. 

In response to the October 7 attacks, Israel launched a military operation targeting Hamas in Gaza. 

The chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said during a trip to Gaza that the "massive death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss and grief of the last 100 days are staining our shared humanity." 

While decrying the "horrific attacks that Hamas and other groups carried out against people in Israel," Lazzarini also noted the "largest displacement of the Palestinian people since 1948."

He said due to the war, many Palestinians "will carry lifelong scars, both physical and psychological. The vast majority, including children, are deeply traumatized.  

"People live inhuman conditions, where diseases are spreading, including among children," Lazzarini said. "They live thorough the unlivable, with the clock ticking fast towards famine."  

Lazzarini said a "humanitarian cease-fire is still not in place to stop the killing of people in Gaza and enable the safe delivery of food, medicine, water and shelter."

"It is time we restore the value of human life," he concluded.   

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, whose portfolio includes responsibility for sports, has called on the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) to readmit Israel after the country was barred from participating in the world championships. 

"The IIHF must completely revoke Israel's exclusion," Faeser said in an interview with mass-selling German newspaper Bild. "The world federation must create transparency as to how this wrong decision could have come about." 

The federation said on Thursday that, for the time being, Israel would be excluded from competition. The decision would apply until the safety and wellbeing of all participants, including Israelis, could be guaranteed, it said. 

The wording of the statement differed markedly from the IIHF's language when announcing the exclusion of Russia and Belarus from competition soon after Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That statement had included an explicit appeal for Russia to halt military operations in Ukraine rely on "diplomatic means to solve the conflict," whereas Thursday's press release made no mention of the conflict in Gaza. 

Faeser however argued that the step taken was not the solution. 

"Excluding the Israeli team, ... which is the target of threats, is nothing other than a capitulation to hatred," she said. "We need exactly the opposite: Sport must show that it stands by the side of Jewish athletes."

The most famous instance of the safety of Israeli athletes not being upheld at a major international sporting competition came in Germany during the 1972 Munich Olympics. Palestinian militants infiltrated the Olympic Village, and ultimately killed six Israeli coaches, five athletes, and a German police officer.

During a press conference on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's military operation against Hamas in Gaza would press on, amid South Africa's genocide case lodged with the International Court of Justice.

"No one will stop us — not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else. It is possible and necessary to continue until victory and we will do it," Netanyahu said, referring to South Africa's case calling on Israel to stop its military actions in Gaza.

Netanyahu has frequently used the term "Axis of Evil" to refer to Iran and allied groups, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.  

The Israeli prime minister claimed that the Israeli military operation had already "eliminated most of the Hamas battalions" in Gaza.

Netanyahu has also said that residents of northern Gaza would be unable to return to their homes for now. 

"There is an international law and it says a simple thing: You remove a population and you don't allow it to return as long as the danger exists," Netanyahu said. "And the danger exists. There is fighting there."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during a recent visit to Israel, said Gaza Palestinians must return to their homes "as soon as conditions allow." Blinken said the US and Israel had agreed to a UN "assessment mission" in northern Gaza aiming to allow Palestinians to return home.

Thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets of central London, calling for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign posted a video on social media saying that "hundreds of thousands" were participating.

The protests are part of a global day of action in more than 30 countries timed for the eve of the 100th day since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, and Israel's subsequent military action in Gaza.

British MP Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the opposition Labour Party and a prominent advocate of the Palestinian cause, took part. He has since been thrown out of the party, primarily because of his handling of alleged anti-Semitism from several party members under his watch.

Thousands of police officials were deployed, as protesters carried banners and marched with Little Amal, a giant puppet that was originally meant to highlight the suffering of Syrian refugees.

Artists created the puppet, whose name means hope in Arabic, to raise awareness about refugee children.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip since October 7 has reached 23,843 according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.

According to the figures provided, more than 130 people were killed in the past 24 hours.

Some 60,317 people were also reported injured.

The ministry does not provide a breakdown as to how many of its figures are combatants or civilians. However, it is considered by several UN agencies as a largely reliable source on casualties in Gaza.

A large number of the dead are believed to be children, with about half of Gaza's population under the age of 18.

Hamas is listed as a terrorist group in several countries, including the US, Germany and Israel. 

The war has been raging since October 7 when Hamas carried out a deadly terror attack in Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mainly civilians.

Sunday will mark the 100th day of the war , which has been dominated by Israeli airstrikes and its ground offensive in Gaza following the Hamas attack.

Israeli forces killed three Palestinian militants attempting to infiltrate a West Bank settlement overnight on Saturday, Israeli military said.

The intruders were armed with knives, axes and a rifle. An Israeli soldier was wounded during the incident, according to the military.

Two of those killed were 16 and one was 19 years old, said Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.

The incident occurred at the Adora settlement, near the Palestinian city Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

Violence in the West Bank has been on the rise since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths called for a cease-fire on Friday saying the situation in Gaza is "horrific" as it witnesses a war "with almost no regard for the impact on civilians."

In a briefing at the UN Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Griffiths said in the almost 100 days of war since October 7, 23,000 people have been killed and 58,000 injured, he told the Council, citing the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Of those killed 70% were women and children.

The senior UN humanitarian affairs official said that 1.9 million people, 85% of the total population had to face forced displacement, driven by the "relentless attack" on the civilian population by Israel.

He pointed out that the health system is collapsing and that the humanitarian services are severely hindered with 148 UN and NGO staff killed and 134 UNRWA facilities hit. Griffiths said this happened "despite their identification and notification to the Israeli Defense Forces."

"Providing humanitarian assistance across Gaza is almost impossible," he said.

The United States conducted a new airstrike against the Houthis in Yemen early Saturday, targeting a location deemed a threat to commercial vessels in the Red Sea, two US officials said.

The officials, who requested anonymity, did not disclose any further details.

This follows a series of nearly 30 attacks the previous day aimed at hindering the Houthis' capacity to threaten the shipping route on the Red Sea. These strikes targeted logistical hubs, air defense systems and weapons storage locations, according to US officials. US President Joe Biden called the strikes a "united and resolute" response to Houthi attacks on international ships after having vowed to protect shipping in the Red Sea.

Recently, Houthi rebels have launched numerous missile and drone attacks on ships in the Red Sea in reaction to the Israeli military operation in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas, deemed a terrorist organization by the US, EU and others.

The Iran-backed Houthis control large swathes of western Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa.

ss/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP, DPA)