Residents warned against returning home in Gaza
The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate,’ Guterres added, calling for ‘maximum restraint’
The Israeli military renewed warnings on Monday for Palestinians not to return to northern Gaza, a day ater witnesses and medical officials said Israeli troops opened fire and killed five people among throngs of displaced residents trying to walk back to their homes in the devastated area.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were driven from the north ater Israeli forces first launched their offensive there soon ater Oct.7 atack. Still, many Palestinians have wanted to go back, saying they are sick of the conditions of their lives in displacement. For months, families have been crammed into tent camps, schools-turned-shelters and homes of relatives throughout the south. Some also fear remaining in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town, as Israel says it plans to atack it eventually to root out Hamas.
Also during the day, US President Joe Biden said he wants to prevent the conflict in the Middle East, where Israel is waging war in Gaza and fending off Iranian atacks, from spreading more widely.
“Iran launched an unprecedented aerial atack against Israel, and we launched an unprecedented military effort to defend it. Together with our partners, we defended that atack,” Biden said as he met Iraq’s visiting prime minister. The US president said he was “also commited to the security of our personnel and partners in the region, including Iraq.”
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager and wounded three other people during a military raid in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The killing of 17-year-old
Yazan Ishtayeh brought to six the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or armed setlers since Friday.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote on X, formerly Twiter, that Palestinians should stay in southern Gaza because the north is a “dangerous combat zone.” People appeared to be heeding the new warning, especially ater Sunday’s shootings.
On Sunday, thousands of Palestinians tried going up Gaza’s coastal road back to the north, most on foot and some on the backs of donkey carts. Some said they had heard rumours that Israeli troops were allowing people to enter the north.
“We want our homes. We want our lives. We want to return, whether with a truce or without a truce,” said Um Nidhal Khatab, who was among those trying to return home.
Several witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire as the crowds neared checkpoints at Wadi Gaza, the line that the military has drawn separating northern Gaza from the rest of the territory. Five people were killed and 54 wounded, according to officials at nearby Awda Hospital in central Gaza, where the casualties were brought.
Farida Al Ghoul, 27, said that as she and her family neared the checkpoint, she saw a woman rushing back with blood on her telling them not to continue. Ignoring her, they kept going ahead, but soon there was heavy gunfire and shelling around them. She said she saw Israeli troops shooting. She and another witness said the troops were leting some women and children through to go north but opened fire when some young men tried to pass.
Karam Abu Jasser said he, his wife and four children, were among the crowd and they heard gunshots and shelling from up ahead at the checkpoint. “People were panicked, especially women and children. There were many women and children. We ran away,” Abu Jasser said, speaking from a shelter in central Gaza.
Also during the day, the Gaza’s Crossings Authority said Israel released dozens of Palestinian detainees into the territory, alleging mistreatment which the Israeli military denied.
“Since the early hours of the morning, 150 prisoners from various parts of the Gaza Strip who were detained by the Israeli occupation have been released,” via the Kerem Shalom border crossing, according to Crossings Authority spokesman Hisham Adwan.
“It is very noticeable that there is severe mistreatment of these prisoners, as a number of them were sent to Abu Yousef Al Najjar Hospital for treatment” in Rafah, a city in Gaza’s far south, he added. One of those released on Monday told AFP he and a friend were beaten and tortured in Israeli detention. AFP is not publishing his name for his safety.
Israeli troops kill 5 displaced people; Biden wants to prevent Middle East conflict from spreading; 150 detainees freed by Israel.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned the international community against deeper descent into conflict, addressing the Security Council during a meeting over Iran’s weekend atack on Israel.
“Neither the region nor the world can afford more war,” Guterres said.
“The Middle East is on the brink,” he told the Security Council.
“The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate,” he added, calling for “maximum restraint.”
Late on Saturday, Iran launched a direct attack on its long-time arch foe Israel for the first time, firing a wave of more than 300 missiles and drones.
Nearly all of them were intercepted by Israel and others, including the United States, Jordan and Britain.
According to the Israeli army, 12 people were injured.
The United States said on Sunday it will not join any Israeli counteratack on Iran, with President
Joe Biden warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “think carefully” about any escalation.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,729 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Since the start of the conflict, Iran-backed groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen have carried out a flurry of atacks on Israeli and Western targets.
Sunday’s Security Council session on the simmering crisis came at Israel’s request, with its Ambassador Gilad Erdan urging the council to “take action (and) condemn Iran for their terror.”
The body must “impose all possible sanctions on Iran before it’s too late,” he said.
Iran’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani meanwhile insisted the Islamic republic was exercising its “inherent right to self-defence.”
“The Security Council... failed in its duty to maintain international peace and security,” Iravani said.
Therefore, Tehran “had no choice” but to respond, he said, adding that his country does
“not seek escalation or war,” but will respond to any “threat or aggression.”
During his speech, Guterres repeated his condemnation of Iran’s strikes on Israel, and the Israeli atack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
“It’s time to step back from the brink. It is vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East,” Guterres said.
He also repeated his call for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, which experts warn is on the verge of famine.
Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, called on the 15-member body to unequivocally condemn Iran’s atack, as he said the Security Council has an obligation to not let Iran’s actions go unanswered.
“In the coming days, and in consultation with other member states, the United States will explore additional measures to hold Iran accountable here at the United Nations,” he said, without providing specifics.
“Let me be clear: If Iran or its proxies take actions against the United States or further action against Israel, Iran will be held responsible,” he said.
Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, said his country’s action was necessary and proportionate, and he said that while Tehran does not seek an escalation or war in the region and has no intention of engaging in conflict with the US, it reaffirms its right to defend itself.
“If the US initiates military operations against Iran, its citizens, or its security and interests, Iran will use its inherent right to respond proportionately,” he said.
Humanitarian aid geting into the Gaza Strip has increased by a large amount in the last few days, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said on Monday, adding the United States needs to see that aid sustained.
“The aid has increased and quite dramatically in just the last few days,” Kirby said in an interview with MSNBC. “That’s important but it has to be sustained.”
More than 2,000 trucks have been able to get in, about 100 in the last 24 hours alone, Kirby said in an interview with MSNBC.