Worse than Dresden 1945: Israel’s Gaza rampage leaves 75% of buildings damaged or destroyed

Worse than Dresden 1945: Israel’s Gaza rampage leaves 75% of buildings damaged or destroyed
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Updated 07 May 2024
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Worse than Dresden 1945: Israel’s Gaza rampage leaves 75% of buildings damaged or destroyed

Worse than Dresden 1945: Israel’s Gaza rampage leaves 75% of buildings damaged or destroyed
  • Destruction of Gaza compared to controversial bombing of German city at end of Second World War
  • Israel seizes control of Rafah crossing with Egypt, halting aid

JEDDAH: Israel’s seven-month bombardment of Gaza has caused more destruction than the controversial firebombing of the German city of Dresden near the end of the Second World War, analysts of satellite images said on Tuesday.

Nearly 75 percent of buildings in Gaza City have been damaged or destroyed, five hospitals have been completely destroyed, fewer than one in three hospitals are even partially functioning, 408 schools out of 563 have been damaged and 53 completely destroyed, and more than 60 percent of mosques have been reduced to rubble.

“The fastest rates of destruction were in the first two to three months of the bombardment,” said Corey Scher, a satellite image analyst at the City University of New York in the US. “The rate of damage being registered is unlike anything we have studied before. It is much faster and more extensive than anything we have mapped.”

In comparison, four air raids on Dresden in February 1945 destroyed just under 60 percent of the city’s buildings. US and British bombers dropped more than 3,900 tonnes of high-explosive and incendiary devices that devastated more than 6.5 km2 of the city in one of the most controversial acts of the war.

In Gaza on Tuesday, Israeli forces seized the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the enclave, shutting down a vital aid route. Tanks rolled through the crossing complex and the Israeli flag was raised on the Gaza side.
There was heavy tank shelling on Tuesday evening in eastern Rafah. “They have gone crazy, tanks are firing shells and smoke bombs cover the skies and with smoke over Al-Salam and Jneinah neighborhoods,” said Emad Joudat, 55, a refugee from Gaza City. “I am now seriously thinking of heading north, maybe to the central Gaza area. If they move further into Rafah it will be the mother of massacres.”

The seizure of the crossing came despite weeks of calls from allies and international bodies for Israel to hold off from a major offensive in the city. Israel’s military said it was conducting a limited operation in Rafah to kill Hamas fighters and dismantle its infrastructure.

Meanwhile there was confusion in Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire proposal that Hamas accepted on Monday night. One Israeli official said the plan was almost identical to Israel’s own truce proposal submitted at the end of April, with some minor amendments.

However, Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the ceasefire plan fell “far short” of Israel’s demands. Talks on a truce continue in Cairo.


Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 14, including children, Palestinians say

Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 14, including children, Palestinians say
Updated 9 sec ago
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Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 14, including children, Palestinians say

Israel-Hamas war latest: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill 14, including children, Palestinians say
  • A strike on a home early Tuesday killed five people, including a man, his three children as young as 3 years old and a woman
Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 14 people, half of them children.
The Civil Defense, first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government, said three children and their mother were killed in an airstrike late Monday in the Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City. It said three other people were missing after the strike.
Another strike late Monday hit a building in downtown Gaza City, killing a child, three women and a man, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
In southern Gaza, a strike on a home early Tuesday killed five people, including a man, his three children as young as 3 years old and a woman, according to a casualty list provided by Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where the bodies were taken.
Palestinian health officials do not say whether those killed in Israeli strikes are civilians or fighters.
Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and accuses Hamas of putting them in danger by fighting in residential areas. But the military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s offensive has killed over 40,000 people in Gaza. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people.

Top US general says risk of broader war eases a bit after Israel-Hezbollah exchange

Top US general says risk of broader war eases a bit after Israel-Hezbollah exchange
Updated 27 August 2024
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Top US general says risk of broader war eases a bit after Israel-Hezbollah exchange

Top US general says risk of broader war eases a bit after Israel-Hezbollah exchange
  • Iran has vowed severe response to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s killing which too place last month 
  • Israel’s war on Gaza since last year has killed over 40,000 people, leveled huge swathes of territory

ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT: The near-term risk of a broader war in the Middle East has eased somewhat after Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah exchanged fire without further escalation but Iran still poses a significant danger as it weighs a strike on Israel, America’s top general said on Monday.

Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to Reuters after emerging from a three-day trip to the Middle East that saw him fly into Israel just hours after Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, and Israel’s military struck Lebanon to thwart a larger attack.

It was one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare, but it also ended with limited damage in Israel and without immediate threats of more retaliation from either side.

Brown noted Hezbollah’s strike was just one of two major threatened attacks against Israel that emerged in recent weeks. Iran is also threatening an attack over the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran last month.

Asked if the immediate risk of a regional war had declined, Brown said: “Somewhat, yes.”

“You had two things you knew were going to happen. One’s already happened. Now it depends on how the second is going to play out,” Brown said while flying out of Israel.

“How Iran responds will dictate how Israel responds, which will dictate whether there is going to be a broader conflict or not.”

Brown also cautioned that there was also the risk posed by Iran’s militant allies in places such as Iraq, Syria and Jordan who have attacked US troops as well as Yemen’s Houthis, who have targeted Red Sea shipping and even fired drones at Israel.

“And do these others actually go off and do things on their own because they’re not satisfied — the Houthis in particular,” Brown said, calling the Shia group the “wild card.”

Iran has vowed a severe response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed or denied its involvement.

Brown said the US military was better positioned to aid in the defense of Israel, and its own forces in the Middle East, than it was on April 13, when Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, unleashing hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

Still, Israel, the US and other allies managed to destroy almost all of the weapons before they reached their targets.

“We’re better postured,” Brown said. He noted Sunday’s decision to maintain two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Middle East, as well as extra squadron of F-22 fighter jets.

“We try to improve upon what we did in April.”

Brown said whatever plans Iran’s military might have, it would be up to Iran’s political leaders to make a decision.

“They want to do something that sends a message but they also, I think ... don’t want to do something that’s going to create a broader conflict.”

STRUGGLING WITH GAZA FALLOUT

US President Joe Biden’s administration has been seeking to limit the fallout from the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, now in its 11th month. The conflict has leveled huge swathes of Gaza, triggered border clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and drawn in Yemen’s Houthis.

Brown traveled on Monday to the Israeli military’s Northern Command, where he was briefed on the threats along Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria. In Tel Aviv, he met Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and its Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.

Asked about Lebanese Hezbollah’s military might, particularly after the strikes by Israel, Brown cautioned “they still have capability.”

The current war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, Israel’s military campaign has driven nearly all of the Palestinian enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.


Top US general says risk of broader war eases a bit after Israel-Hezbollah exchange

Top US general says risk of broader war eases a bit after Israel-Hezbollah exchange
Updated 27 August 2024
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Top US general says risk of broader war eases a bit after Israel-Hezbollah exchange

Top US general says risk of broader war eases a bit after Israel-Hezbollah exchange
  • Brown said the US military was better positioned to aid in the defense of Israel, and its own forces in the Middle East, than it was on April 13, when Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel

ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT: The near-term risk of a broader war in the Middle East has eased somewhat after Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah exchanged fire without further escalation but Iran still poses a significant danger as it weighs a strike on Israel, America’s top general said on Monday.
Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke to Reuters after emerging from a three-day trip to the Middle East that saw him fly into Israel just hours after Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel, and Israel’s military struck Lebanon to thwart a larger attack.
It was one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare, but it also ended with limited damage in Israel and without immediate threats of more retaliation from either side.
Brown noted Hezbollah’s strike was just one of two major threatened attacks against Israel that emerged in recent weeks. Iran is also threatening an attack over the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran last month.
Asked if the immediate risk of a regional war had declined, Brown said: “Somewhat, yes.”
“You had two things you knew were going to happen. One’s already happened. Now it depends on how the second is going to play out,” Brown said while flying out of Israel.
“How Iran responds will dictate how Israel responds, which will dictate whether there is going to be a broader conflict or not.”
Brown also cautioned that there was also the risk posed by Iran’s militant allies in places such as Iraq, Syria and Jordan who have attacked US troops as well as Yemen’s Houthis, who have targeted Red Sea shipping and even fired drones at Israel.
“And do these others actually go off and do things on their own because they’re not satisfied — the Houthis in particular,” Brown said, calling the Shia group the “wild card.”
Iran has vowed a severe response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, which took place as he visited Tehran late last month and which it blamed on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed or denied its involvement.
Brown said the US military was better positioned to aid in the defense of Israel, and its own forces in the Middle East, than it was on April 13, when Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, unleashing hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
Still, Israel, the US and other allies managed to destroy almost all of the weapons before they reached their targets.
“We’re better postured,” Brown said. He noted Sunday’s decision to maintain two aircraft carrier strike groups in the Middle East, as well as extra squadron of F-22 fighter jets.
“We try to improve upon what we did in April.”
Brown said whatever plans Iran’s military might have, it would be up to Iran’s political leaders to make a decision.
“They want to do something that sends a message but they also, I think ... don’t want to do something that’s going to create a broader conflict.”

STRUGGLING WITH GAZA FALLOUT
US President Joe Biden’s administration has been seeking to limit the fallout from the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel, now in its 11th month. The conflict has leveled huge swathes of Gaza, triggered border clashes between Israel and Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement and drawn in Yemen’s Houthis.
Brown traveled on Monday to the Israeli military’s Northern Command, where he was briefed on the threats along Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria. In Tel Aviv, he met Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and its Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.
Asked about Lebanese Hezbollah’s military might, particularly after the strikes by Israel, Brown cautioned “they still have capability.”
The current war in the Gaza Strip began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas gunmen stormed into Israeli communities, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, Israel’s military campaign has driven nearly all of the Palestinian enclave’s 2.3 million people from their homes, giving rise to deadly hunger and disease and killing at least 40,000 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

 


UN warns Libya faces economic collapse amid central bank crisis

UN warns Libya faces economic collapse amid central bank crisis
Updated 27 August 2024
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UN warns Libya faces economic collapse amid central bank crisis

UN warns Libya faces economic collapse amid central bank crisis
  • The UN mission has called for the suspension of unilateral decisions, the lifting of force majeure on oil fields, the halting of escalations and use of force, and the protection of Central Bank employees

TRIPOLI: The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) issued a statement late on Monday expressing deep concern “over the deteriorating situation in Libya resulting from unilateral decisions.”
Disputes over control of Libya’s Central Bank have raised alarms about the potential misuse of the country’s financial resources.
“UNSMIL is convening an emergency meeting for all parties involved in the Central Bank of Libya crisis in order to reach a consensus based on political agreements, applicable laws, and the principle of the central bank’s independence,” the statement said.
The UN mission has called for the suspension of unilateral decisions, the lifting of force majeure on oil fields, the halting of escalations and use of force, and the protection of Central Bank employees.
Libya’s economy is heavily reliant on oil revenue, and there have been moves to impose force majeure on oil fields, effectively cutting off the country’s primary source of income.
Earlier on Monday, Libya’s eastern-based administration ordered the closure of oilfields in eastern Libya, which account for almost all the country’s production, halting both production and exports after tensions flared over the Central Bank’s leadership.
There has been no confirmation of these actions from the internationally recognized government in Tripoli or from the National Oil Corp. (NOC), which controls the country’s oil resources.

 


Hospital in central Gaza empties out as Israeli forces draw near

Hospital in central Gaza empties out as Israeli forces draw near
Updated 27 August 2024
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Hospital in central Gaza empties out as Israeli forces draw near

Hospital in central Gaza empties out as Israeli forces draw near
  • Israeli evacuation orders now cover around 84 percent of Gaza’s territory, according to the United Nations

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: One of Gaza’s last functioning hospitals has been emptying out in recent days as Israel has ordered the evacuation of nearby areas and signaled a possible ground operation in a town that has been largely spared throughout the war, officials said Monday.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah is the main hospital serving central Gaza. The Israeli military has not ordered its evacuation, but patients and people sheltering there fear that it may be engulfed in fighting or become the target of a raid.
Also on Monday, Israeli strikes in Gaza City and Khan Younis killed at least 19 people, according to local officials, and fighting between Israel and Hezbollah resumed across the Lebanon border.
Israeli forces have invaded several hospitals in Gaza over the course of the 10-month-old war, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials.
Israeli evacuation orders now cover around 84 percent of Gaza’s territory, according to the United Nations, which estimates that around 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have been forced from their homes. Many have been displaced multiple times.
The evacuation orders have reduced the size of the humanitarian zone declared by Israel at the start of the war while crowding more Palestinians into it. Thousands of Palestinian families have packed into tent camps along the beach where aid groups say food and clean water are scarce and disease spreads quickly.
The most recent satellite images available from PlanetLabs and analyzed by The Associated Press show the increase in tent density along the beachfront since July 19.
AP reporters saw people fleeing the hospital and surrounding areas on Monday, many on foot. Some pushed patients on stretchers or carried sick children, while others held bags of clothes, mattresses and blankets. Four schools in the area were also being evacuated.
“Where will we get medicine?” Adliyeh Al-Najjar said as she rested outside the hospital gate. “Where will patients like me go?”
Fatimah Al-Attar fought back tears as she left the hospital compound heading in the direction of the tent camps. “Our fate is to die,” she said. “There is no place for us to go. There is no safe place.”
The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs known as OCHA said that since Friday the Israeli military has issued three evacuation orders for over 19 neighborhoods in northern Gaza and in Deir al Balah, affecting more than 8,000 people staying in these areas.
The order covers an area including or near UN and other humanitarian centers, the Al Aqsa hospital, two clinics, three wells, one water reservoir and one desalination plant, said Jens Laerke, a spokesman for OCHA.
“This effectively upends a whole lifesaving humanitarian hub,” Laerke said.
Doctors Without Borders, an international charity known by its French acronym MSF, said an explosion around 250 meters (yards) from the hospital on Sunday caused panic, accelerating the exodus.
“As a result, MSF is considering whether to suspend wound care for the time being, while trying to maintain life-saving treatment,” it said on the platform X.
The hospital says it was treating over 600 patients before the evacuation orders, which apply to residential areas about a kilometer (0.6 mile) away. Around 100 patients remain, including seven in intensive care and eight in the children’s ward.
The Israeli military said it was operating against Hamas in Deir Al-Balah and working to dismantle its remaining infrastructure there. It said the evacuation orders were issued to protect civilians, and did not include nearby hospitals or medical facilities. It said it had also informed Palestinian health officials that the facilities did not need to be evacuated.
The army has excluded hospitals from past evacuation orders, but patients and others have still fled, fearing for their safety.
Israel’s military said Monday that its forces were expanding operations on the outskirts of Deir Al-Balah and had discovered weapons in a residential apartment and dismantled an underground Hamas tunnel about 700 meters (765 yards) long.
Local health officials said an Israeli airstrike hit a group of people on the seashore in Gaza City, killing at least seven men while they were fishing.
Another strike hit a vehicle inside the Israeli-declared humanitarian zone near the southern city of Khan Younis, killing at least five people, according to a Kuwaiti field hospital, where the bodies were taken.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on those attacks.
Monday night, a strike hit a house in Maghazi, a refugee camp near Deir Al-Balah, and killed at least seven people, including four children and a woman, according to hospital records and AP journalists who counted the bodies. Ambulances recovered the bodies that were taken to Al Aqsa hospital.
The war began on Oct. 7 when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli army bases and farming communities. The militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and dragged around 250 hostages back to Gaza.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and caused heavy destruction across much of the territory. Hamas is still holding around 110 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were freed in a ceasefire last year.
Israel has continued carrying out strikes across Gaza as the United States, Egypt and Qatar have tried to broker a lasting ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages. Major gaps remain despite several months of high-level negotiations.
Hospitals have repeatedly been turned into battlegrounds, both literally and in the rival narratives surrounding the war.
Israel’s army has raided a number of medical facilities since the start of the war and has provided some evidence that militants were inside some of them. Medical staff deny the allegations and accuse the army of reckless disregard for civilians.
Hospitals can lose their protected status under international law if they are used for military purposes, but any operations against them must be proportional and seek to spare civilians.
Only 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are even partially functioning, according to the World Health Organization, even as they treat casualties from daily Israeli airstrikes across the territory. The difficulty of importing and distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has contributed to widespread hunger and disease outbreaks, further stressing the health sector.