Jean Francois Corti, vice president of the aid organization Doctors of the World, warned today that Gaza is dying and called for an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Speaking at an international conference on Lebanon in Paris, Corti welcomed the mobilization of aid for Lebanon but lamented the lack of concrete efforts to pressure the warring parties to stop fighting in Lebanon and Gaza.
"There was no mention of any potential restriction on the parties involved in the conflict, especially the Israeli government," he said.
"I also reminded them that while we are mobilizing for Lebanon, Gaza is dying today. Thousands of people are being eliminated in the north of Gaza and it seems that the international community no longer considers the residents of Gaza as our fellow human beings," added the vice president of the humanitarian organization based in Paris.
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The Israeli army said it killed a Hamas commander who participated in an attack on southern Israel on October 7 last year and who worked for the United Nations (UN) humanitarian agency in the Gaza Strip, reports Reuters.
Israel has accused the UNRWA agency of having many employees who are also members of Hamas and other armed groups. The UN said in August that nine UNRWA staff were likely involved in the October 7 attacks and dismissed them.
UNRWA did not immediately comment on the latest Israeli allegations.
The agency announced yesterday that one of its staff members was killed in an Israeli attack in the central Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said Mohamed Abu Itivi was killed on Wednesday.
It states that he was the commander of Hamas and that he participated in the murders and kidnappings of Israeli civilians.
It is also stated that he has been employed by UNRWA since July 2022 and that his name is on the list of employees of the agency.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said today in Qatar that the US does not want the Israeli army's operations in Lebanon to lead to a protracted military campaign.
Blinken is on his first visit to the region since the assassination of Palestinian Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the main organizer of the attack on Israel, led by that Islamist organization on October 7 last year.
Washington expressed hope that the death of Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli soldiers on October 16 in Gaza, would give impetus to an end to the fighting.
Israel has launched an offensive against Lebanon and announced that the goal is the return of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north of the country due to cross-border rocket fire by the Lebanese Hezbollah, which began a day after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
"As Israel conducts operations to eliminate the threat to itself and its people along the border with Lebanon, we have made it clear that this cannot lead, should not lead, to a protracted campaign," Blinken said.
"Israel must take the necessary steps to avoid civilian casualties and not endanger peacekeepers, or the Lebanese armed forces," the US secretary of state added.
He also said that the US is working intensively on a diplomatic solution that will allow civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes, Israeli media reports a Reuters report.
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A delegation from Moscow reportedly arrived in Israel today to negotiate the release of two Israeli hostages who also have Russian citizenship, and are being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.
Saudi media Al Hadath announced that the delegation brought a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end military campaigns against Palestinian Hamas in Gaza and Lebanese Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouk told the state news agency RIA earlier today that the two hostages Aleksandar (Sasha) Trufanov and Maksim Herkin will be among the first to be released during the eventual release of the hostages, but only within the framework of the agreement on a ceasefire and exchange of detainees for Palestinian security prisoners.
The news comes as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is visiting Qatar as efforts continue to renew talks on a Gaza ceasefire and the release of hostages.
An Israeli delegation is expected to travel to the Qatari capital Doha in the coming days to meet with Qatari and American negotiators.
97 of the 251 hostages abducted are believed to be still in Gaza, including at least 34, who the Israeli military has confirmed are no longer alive.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a week-long truce in late November last year for 240 Palestinian prisoners, and four were released before that.
Eight hostages were freed by the Israeli army, and 37 bodies were found, including three who were mistakenly killed by soldiers, Israeli media remind.
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The Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, said today that he cannot take for granted Israel's accusations that six Al Jazeera journalists are connected to terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military claimed on Telegram that the attack on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp targeted what it described as "Hamas terrorists operating inside a command and control center in the area," accusing Hamas of for "systematic abuse of civil infrastructure in violation of international law".
AFP reports that the death toll from an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp has risen to 17.
Hamas still has not chosen a new leader after the assassination of Yahja Sinvar, the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Musa Abu Marzouk, said on Thursday during a visit to Russia.
When asked if a new leader had been chosen, Marzuk told Russian state media RIA Novosti: "Not yet, we are still discussing it."
He added that Hamas will announce the name of the new leader when he is elected.
Marzuk, who earlier met with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, also said two Russian citizens currently held hostage in Gaza would be the first to be freed in a potential prisoner exchange "as a sign of respect for Moscow."
The two Russian hostages - Alexander Trufanov and Maksim Herkin - are Israeli soldiers, who would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli territory if a deal is reached in the future, Marzuk said.
Reuters reports that 16 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza.
Earlier, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at least nine people were killed, including four children. Al-Shuhada School provided shelter for displaced Palestinians.
The Gaza Civil Defense said it was no longer able to provide first aid services in the north of the territory, accusing Israeli forces of threatening to "bomb and kill" its crews.
AFP reports that agency spokesman Mahmoud Basal said: "We are unable to provide humanitarian services to citizens in the northern part of the Gaza Strip due to threats from the Israeli occupation forces, who have threatened to kill and bomb our teams if they remain inside the Jabalia camp."
He told AFP that Israeli forces had targeted emergency crews on several occasions, leaving "several members injured and others left to bleed in the streets with no one to save them".
Hezbollah claims to have hit two Israeli tanks in fighting in southern Lebanon.
Agence France-Presse reported that Hezbollah said its fighters had engaged in heavy fighting in the village of Aita al-Shaab, adding that they had hit a Merkava tank that had come to help the troops, after earlier saying they had destroyed another tank.
The Israeli army announced that so far today, 95 rockets have been fired from southern Lebanon aimed at Israel.
The health authority in Gaza, run by Hamas, released new figures on casualties from the conflict, claiming that 42.847 Palestinians have been killed and 100.544 wounded in Gaza since Israel launched its military offensive last year.
Four people were injured in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya after Hezbollah fired rockets from Lebanon at the town.
Two people, one in his 40s and the other in his twenties, were taken to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya with shrapnel injuries, Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said.
Two other people were slightly injured, according to the MDA.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that after sirens sounded just before 10 a.m. local time, they identified about 50 missiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Hezbollah said it fired a barrage of rockets at Nahari.
Some of the missiles were intercepted, according to the IDF.
In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the Israeli military claimed that during its operations in southern Lebanon it discovered an underground hideout that it said contained bunk beds, storage cabinets, food supplies, long-term accommodation infrastructure, a large amount of equipment, weapons and launch sites they say were left by Hezbollah and were intended to attack Israel.
Lebanese media reports that two people were killed in an Israeli attack on a vehicle traveling on the main highway from Beirut to the east of the country.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that France will provide aid to Lebanon in the amount of 100 million euros.
He spoke at the International Conference in Support of the People and Sovereignty of Lebanon in Paris.
"The United Nations has launched an appeal for 426 million euros. France will provide 100 million euros during this conference. What is needed is simply to take care of families, feed children, take care of the wounded and continue education for students," Macron said.
The French president also called for a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
"A cease-fire is needed in Lebanon. More damage, more casualties, more strikes will not end terrorism or ensure security for all. I bitterly regret that Iran engaged Hezbollah against Israel, while Lebanon's higher interest demanded that they stay out of the war in Gaza. "I regret that Israel continues its military operations in Lebanon, in the south, in Beirut and elsewhere, and that the number of civilian casualties continues to rise," Macron said.
The conference, which was convened at the initiative of the French president, is held at the ministerial level with the participation of more than 50 countries, as well as the United Nations and the European Union. Israel does not participate.
The Israeli military has forced Palestinians to enter potentially mined houses and tunnels in Gaza to avoid exposing their soldiers to danger, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier said, as well as five former prisoners who said they were victims of the practice. reports CNN.
The soldier, who said his unit held two Palestinian prisoners with the express purpose of using them as human shields to scout dangerous locations, said the practice was common among Israeli units in Gaza.
"We told them to enter the building before us. If there are traps, they will explode, not us," the soldier said.
This practice was so common in the Israeli army that it was called the "mosquito protocol".
The exact scope and scale of this practice by the IDF is unknown. However, testimonies from both soldiers and five civilians show that it was widespread throughout Gaza.
"IDF directives and guidelines strictly prohibit the use of detained Gazan civilians for military operations. Appropriate protocols and instructions are routinely explained to soldiers on the ground during conflicts," the IDF told CNN.
International law prohibits the use of civilians as shields for military activities or the forced involvement of civilians in military operations.
Speaking at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the Middle East is on the brink of total war.
State news agency TASS quoted Putin as saying that the Russian Federation's position is to oppose any acts of terrorism on any side of the conflict.
Israel's military spokesman in Arabic, Avichay Adrae, issued a statement claiming Hezbollah was using ambulances to transport terrorists and weapons, and said Israel would target the vehicles regardless of their type.
Without providing evidence for this claim, Adrae stated that Israel urges medical teams to avoid cooperating with Hezbollah members.
In the message, the Israeli army again orders Lebanese citizens to avoid moving towards the south of the country.
The Israeli army announced that it had identified about 50 missiles that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory. In a message on its official Telegram channel, it was stated: "Some of the missiles have been intercepted, and the fallen missiles have been identified."
In a social media post, Magen David Adom emergency services said two people were wounded in Hezbollah rocket attacks.
"Paramedics are treating two 27-year-old men, who are in moderately serious condition with shrapnel injuries, and are transporting them to the Galilee Medical Center in Naharia," it said.
Israel has launched strikes on the Syrian capital Damascus and a military site near the western city of Homs, Syria's defense ministry said, as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken toured the region seeking an end to the fighting.
Israeli strikes targeted the Kafr Sousa neighborhood in central Damascus and a military site in the village of Homs, killing one soldier and injuring seven others, the ministry said in a statement. The ministry announced that the attacks caused "material damage", but did not give further details, reports Radio Free Europe (RSE).
Earlier in the day, Syrian state media reported that explosions were heard in Damascus after Israel struck a residential building in Kafr Souza.
Israel has been carrying out strikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, but has stepped up attacks since last year's Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which sparked the Gaza war.
In southern Lebanon, Israeli strikes hit Tyre, leaving parts of its center in ruins.
"The whole city shook," said a resident of Rana, who fled to the coast after the Israeli army issued an evacuation warning, RSE reports.
Bilal Kashmar of Tire's disaster management unit said seven buildings were leveled and more than 400 apartments were damaged.
"You could say that the whole city of Tire has been evacuated," he told AFP.
Black smoke was seen rising from several neighborhoods, with some areas only 500 meters away from the ancient ruins of the city.
UNESCO said it was "closely monitoring" the impact of the conflict on the world heritage site of Tyre.
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