Armenia said it would recognize a Palestinian state on Friday, prompting Israel to summon its ambassador for what the Foreign Ministry described as a “severe reprimand.”
Dozens of countries have recognized a Palestinian state, although none of the major Western powers have done so. Palestinians believe that the recognitions confer international legitimacy to their struggle, especially because Israel’s war against Hamasnow in its ninth month, faces growing international criticism for the campaign systematic destruction in Gaza and a huge cost in civilian lives.
Also on Friday, the director of a major hospital in northern Gaza said his staff had treated about 250 children suffering from malnutrition, with the numbers rising daily due to severe food shortages.
Palestinians face widespread hunger since the war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and basic goods to Gaza, which is now totally dependent on aid.
Meanwhile, Israel’s promise to secure a new aid route to southern Gaza has failed, as the UN and international aid organizations say. a breakdown of law and order has made that route unusable.
The Israeli military said two soldiers were killed in combat in central Gaza, while three were seriously wounded.
Israeli ground offensives and shelling have killed more than 37,100 people, according to the Gaza Office. Ministry of Healthwhich does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
Israel launched the war after Hamas attack on October 7in which militants swept into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250.
At the moment:
—The fate of The latest ceasefire proposal depends on Netanyahu and Hamas. leader in Gaza.
—Israel’s promise to protect an aid route to Gaza fails when Anarchy blocks distribution..
– A rare A public rift appears between Israel’s political and military leadership about how the war in Gaza is being carried out.
— The leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. warns archenemy Israel against wider war.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here’s the latest:
JERUSALEM – The Israeli military said Friday that two Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in central Gaza.
No information was provided about the circumstances of the deaths of the two, both men in their 20s. Three other soldiers were seriously injured, the military said.
The news comes as public anger grows in Israel over the trajectory of the eight-month conflict and exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox youth.
Last week, an explosion in southern Gaza killed eight Israeli soldiers. In January, 21 Israeli soldiers were killed in a single attack by Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war, more than 660 Israeli soldiers have been killed, about half in the Israeli ground operation in Gaza, according to the latest army figures.
More than 37,000 Palestinians in the enclave have been killed by Israeli fire during that same period, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures
DEIR Al-BALAH, Gaza Strip – The director of one of the largest hospitals in northern Gaza says his staff has recently recorded that some 250 children are suffering from malnutrition and that the numbers are increasing daily due to severe food shortages.
Dr. Husam Abu Safyia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, urged the international community to pressure Israel to allow a greater flow of food and other goods into the Gaza Strip, warning that conditions are dire in the coastal territory.
Abu Safyia told The Associated Press on Friday that medical authorities sent teams from his hospital to centers housing displaced people in northern Gaza to assess their malnutrition.
He said flour is the most available food in northern Gaza and people need more protein and fat to stay healthy.
Northern Gaza was severely affected by fighting during the first months of the war between Israel and Hamas and continues to suffer from food shortages.
Abu Safyia added that diseases are spreading in Gaza as piles of garbage grow, because authorities lack the resources to remove garbage and sewage from the streets.
“We are facing a real disaster,” he said, adding that more people could die in the coming days if food does not reach the Gaza Strip.
JERUSALEM – Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that the former Soviet republic would recognize a Palestinian state, prompting Israel to summon its ambassador for a “severe reprimand.”
A brief statement from Israel’s Foreign Ministry did not provide further details.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it joined United Nations resolutions calling for an immediate ceasefire and said “the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and the ongoing military conflict” was one of the most important on the international agenda.
“We support the ‘two-state’ solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the statement said. “We are convinced that this is the only way to ensure that both Palestinians and Israelis can fulfill their legitimate aspirations.”
Dozens of countries have recognized a Palestinian state, although none of the major Western powers have done so. Palestinians believe the recognitions lend international legitimacy to their struggle, especially amid international outrage over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Last month, Spain, Ireland and Norway said they had decided recognize a Palestinian stateand Slovenia and the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda have since done the same.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip – Palestinian Civil Defense authorities say an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City hit a municipal garage and killed five people.
The attack on the garage in central Gaza City occurred on Friday, killing four municipal workers and a passerby, while leaving an unknown number of people buried under the rubble of the damaged building, the Civil Defense said.
Gaza municipality confirmed that the strike affected its employees but did not provide a breakdown of the victims.
Israel launched the war after Hamas’ surprise attack on October 7, in which militants swept into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and kidnapping about 250.
Since then, the Gaza Strip’s infrastructure has been severely damaged and the war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians facing widespread hunger.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 37,400 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.
JERUSALEM – The breakdown of law and order in southern Gaza has made a new route for delivering aid unusable, according to the United Nations and international humanitarian organizations, just days after Israel declared the corridor safe.
With thousands of trucks full of aid piled up, groups of armed men periodically block convoys, point guns at drivers and search their cargo, according to a U.N. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media about the situation. affair.
Lawlessness is a major obstacle to aid distribution to southern and central Gaza. In these areas, an estimated 1.3 million Palestinians displaced from Rafah – more than half of Gaza’s entire population – are now sheltering in tent camps and overcrowded apartments without adequate food, water or medical supplies.
Israel announced on Sunday that it would observe daily pauses in fighting along a route stretching from Kerem Shalom, the strip’s only operational aid crossing in the south, to the nearby town of Khan Younis.
The head of the U.N. World Food Program said Thursday that the pause has “made no difference” to aid distribution efforts. “We haven’t been able to get in,” Cindy McCain said in an interview with Al-Monitor. “We have had to divert some of our trucks. They have been looted. “As you know, we have been shot at and shot at.”
The Israeli military body tasked with coordinating humanitarian aid efforts, COGAT, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The U.N. official familiar with the aid said there have been no signs of Israeli activity along the route. The UN attempted to send a convoy of 60 trucks on Tuesday down the road to pick up aid in Kerem Shalom. But 35 of the trucks were intercepted by armed men, the official said.
In recent days, groups have approached the crossing and set up barricades to stop trucks loaded with supplies, the U.N. official said. They have searched the pallets for contraband cigarettes, a rare luxury in a territory where a single cigarette can cost $25.
The UN official said 25 flour trucks used the route on Tuesday. Some private commercial trucks also managed to pass, many of which used armed security to deter groups trying to seize their cargo. An AP reporter parked along the highway on Monday saw at least eight trucks pass by, with armed security guards on top.
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AP writer Julia Frankel contributed.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
