Biden says end to war in Gaza hard to achieve as Israel escalates attack on northern area

[Pelican Press 0]

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Biden says end to war in Gaza hard to achieve as ******* escalates ******* on northern area

US President Joe Biden has said there is a “possibility of working towards a ceasefire” in Lebanon, where ******* is fighting the armed group Hezbollah, but added that “it’s going to be ******* in Gaza” despite the ****** of ****** leader Yahya Sinwar earlier this week.

He was speaking as he left Berlin, where he met the *******, French and British leaders.

Sinwar’s ****** had raised hopes in some quarters of an end to the war in Gaza.

But on Friday the deputy leader of ******, Khalil al-Hayya, insisted it would only strengthen the group. He said ******** hostages would not be returned until ******* ended the war and withdrew from Gaza.

Meanwhile ******* escalated its ******** on the Jabalia ******** camp, a densely-populated urban area north of Gaza City which ******** forces have besieged for two weeks, sending another army unit to support troops already operating there.

Sinwar was responsible for the deadly ****** ******* on ******** communities near Gaza on 7 October last year, which ******* about 1,200 people and saw 251 others taken to Gaza as hostages.

*******’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has ******* at least 42,500 people, the ****** run health ministry there says.

The ******** military said earlier that Sinwar was ******* when the building he was hiding in in the southern Gaza city of Rafah was struck with “tank *****”. It also noted its troops traded gunfire with a group of “terrorists” before the building was targeted.

On Friday the pathologist in ******* who conducted his autopsy told US media the cause of ****** had been a “severe traumatic brain injury” from being shot in the head.

Dr Chen Kugel, from the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, says he found wounds “from other sources” on the former ****** leader – including injuries to his right forearm from “missile *****”, a damaged left leg from “fallen masonry” and shrapnel injuries to his body.

“They caused the severe damage, but the cause of ****** is the gunshot wound in the head,” he told CNN.

Late on Friday Reuters quoted ************ medics as saying at least 30 people were ******* and many more wounded in ******** strikes on Jabalia that hit several houses.

The ************ official news agency Wafa said at least 20 women and children were among those *******. There was no immediate ******** comment.

Before the latest strikes the ******-run health ministry in Gaza said at least 39 Palestinians, many in Jabalia, had been ******* by ******** strikes across Gaza on Friday.

Residents told Reuters that ******** tanks had reached the heart of Jabalia under cover of heavy air strikes and artillery *****, and said ******** troops were destroying large numbers of homes every day.

Later on Friday residents reported that communications had been cut in Jabalia and two other towns in northern Gaza.

On Friday the head of the UN’s Office for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA), Georgios Petropoulos told the BBC’s Newshour programme that families in Jabalia were enduring “atrocious conditions”.

“We can’t hit the alarm bell hard enough about how dire and dangerous the situation for civilians there is,” he said, speaking from Rafah in southern Gaza.

“Families that are in north Gaza, especially the ones that are in Jabalia camp surrounded by ******** forces, are trying to survive in what can only be described as atrocious conditions under a very heavy bombardment.”

On Thursday the ******** military said it had ******* numerous fighters in close-quarters combat and dismantled military infrastructure.

Mr Petropoulos added he did not foresee getting aid into the north of Gaza becoming easier as a result of Sinwar’s ******.

Very little aid has entered northern Gaza in October. ******* said it sent in about 30 lorries of supplies into northern Gaza on Friday including food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment. But local health officials told Reuters that aid has not been reaching the worst-affected areas such as Jabalia.

“We don’t see a path to peace from where we are in Gaza,” he said. “I still see children dying on the floors of hospitals for the lack of hospital beds… and dialysis patients dying because there is no fuel allowed to get to hospitals.”

******* has repeatedly denied it is preventing aid from entering Gaza. But the US has told ******* to boost humanitarian aid access in Gaza or risk having some US military assistance cut off.

On Friday an ******** minister told the BBC that ******* had “blockaded” parts of northern Gaza, which include Jabalia.

Amichai Chikli told the BBC’s Newshour programme: “We’ve created a blockade with our forces. We allowed the civilian population to escape into the safe zone, and we prevented supplies to enter the blockade region, which was a very specific region where ****** was trying to recover its administration and its military capabilities.”

He insisted this was “legal according to the international law”.

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#Biden #war #Gaza #hard #achieve #******* #escalates #******* #northern #area

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