Edem Wosornu, Director of Operations and Advocacy, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,briefs the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East (Yemen).
On Friday, Hamas released 24 hostages in total, including 13 Israeli nationals, as part of the first round of a coordinated swap between Israel and Hamas. VOA’s Esther Githui-Ewart spoke to reporter Ricki Rosen in Tel Aviv for more on the status of care they are expected to receive from the Israeli government now that they are freed.
A Gaza-based journalist told VOA of his “overwhelming experience” covering the Israeli-Hamas war on the besieged territory when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked on October 7. Living in the southern part of Gaza,Fuad Abu Khamash says he is embedded with an emergency team covering the war within an ambulance.
As per a new report, there might be a deal between Israel and Hamas to free dozens of hostages held in Palestinian territory. Such a deal would bring much-needed aid across the border and at least a temporary pause to the bloodshed in Gaza. Such an agreement, according to American and Israeli sources, is not yet finalized.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported an increase in Jewish settler attacks against Palestinians since the war started between Israel and Hamas. In the southern part of the West Bank, over a thousand people have been displaced, over a dozen villages have been destroyed, and farmers have been evicted from their land.
Brothers in Arms, an Israeli volunteer network, was prepared to take on a fresh challenge when the war with Hamas broke out: helping evacuated citizens and saving the agricultural sector.
In an effort to eliminate Hamas targets, the Israeli Defence Forces, or IDF, continued to push further into Gaza, surrounding Shifa Hospital in the city’s northern part. The IDF believes an access to Gaza’s extensive tunnel network may be located near the hospital, where many Palestinians have taken refuge.
Since Israel began allowing relief to be delivered to Palestinians displaced by the Hamas-Israel war on October 21, aid convoys have been entering Gaza on a regular basis. But Israel insists on inspecting the loads before they arrive at the besieged enclave, so the trucks must take a serious detour.
After Hamas’ October 7 attack, which killed some 1,400 people, thousands of Israelis living in the communities around Gaza were evacuated. After a month, Israeli authorities are considering plans for rehabilitation. For many in the affected communities, the pain is too fresh to decide returning.
The month-long war between Israel and Hamas is becoming more intense in Gaza. U.S. and international leaders are urging a temporary cease-fire in Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to reach the region as the number of civilian casualties there rises. Israel, meanwhile, maintains that the 240 hostages’ humanitarian problem must be resolved first.