TRANSCRIPT
A graveyard for children.
That's how James Elder from the United Nation's Children's Fund [[UNICEF] describes Gaza.
“Reportedly now more than 3,450 children have been killed. Staggeringly, this number rises significantly every single day. Gaza has become a graveyard for children. It's a living hell for everyone else. On average, 420 children in Gaza have been reportedly killed or injured every day - 420. Obviously, a ceasefire, if we had a ceasefire for some 72 hours that would mean 1,000 children don't have to bear the brunt of mortars or shelling. That would mean 1,000 children in 72 hours would be safe again.”
The Israeli army has released footage of air strikes targeting the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
It says the strikes killed a senior Hamas commander and damaged the sprawling underground tunnel network.
The Israel military accuses Hamas, which rules the narrow coastal territory, of using civilian buildings as cover for fighters, commanders and weaponry - accusations Hamas denies.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Richard Hecht told CNN the Hamas commander was responsible for murdering many Israelis.
"Sadly, he was hiding again, as they do behind within civilians. You'll get more data who this man was killed many, many Israelis Were doing everything we can. This is a very complicated battlespace. There could be infrastructure there, there could be tunnels there. We're still looking into and we'll give you more data as the hour moves ahead. This is the tragedy of war. I mean we've been saying for days move South. Civilians who are not involved with Hamas please move south."
The air strikes caused chaos at Gaza's Indonesia Hospital which says 50 people were killed and 150 injured in the attack on the Jabalia camp.
Doctor Abou Sitta, who is working at al Shifa hospital in Gaza, told SBS News that there are not enough supplies to treat casualties.
"The situation now is just catastrophic. We've run out of almost everything that you can imagine is needed for treating over 20,000 wounded. There is no space in the hospital. We have over 2000 wounded patients in hospital that had a bed capacity of around 600. And even the most basic of supplies We've run out we've run out of dressings we've run out of intravenous fluids, we've run out of blades, sutures, anything that we require is either finished or in the last few boxes left."
The Israeli National Security Council head, Tzachi Hanegbi, says the ground incursion so far in northern Gaza is just the beginning.
Mr Hanegbi says Palestinian hospitals are being used as Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control centres.
He is urging civilians in northern Gaza, including those in hospitals to move south.
Mr Hanegbi says medical care could be provided in Egypt and in floating hospitals on ships sent by other countries or in field hospitals.
“We are not opposed, it’s not coming from us and not from the Israel taxpayer. We are not opposed to the entry of humanitarian aid of food, medicine and water through Egypt. But we are not allowing for even a single truck to get through without being checked because we learned what happens at the Rafah border crossing over the years. That was essentially the life pipeline that allowed Hamas to grow stronger and eventually we saw those weapons come through.”
The comments come as an Israeli government ministry drafted a wartime proposal to transfer the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula - a proposal that has drawn condemnation from Palestinians and worsened tensions with Cairo.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office downplayed the report compiled by the Intelligence Ministry as a hypothetical exercise — calling it a "concept paper".
Diaa Rashwan, the chairman of the Egypt's State Information Service, criticised any proposal by Israel to send Palestinians to Egypt.
"Egypt emphasises in a clear, honest and stern way that it will never accept the deportation or the displacement of any Palestinian brother into the Egyptian land, especially what was announced and published about plans that were proposed from the Israeli side to various international parties to forcefully displace our Palestinian brothers to Egypt."
Filippo Grandi, U-N High Commissioner for Refugees, insists on a ceasefire.
"The past three weeks have provided devastating proof that disregarding the basic rules of war, international humanitarian law, is increasingly becoming the norm and not the exception. With innocent civilians killed in unprecedented numbers in the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians and in the killing of Palestinian civilians and massive destruction of infrastructure caused by the ongoing Israeli military operation."
Hamas militants have declared their intention to release some non-Israeli hostages in coming days.
Abu Obeida, a spokesman of the al-Qassam Brigades confirms that the release had been arranged through mediation by countries he did not disclose.
Israel has been bombing Gaza since the October 7 attacks when Hamas militants killed 1400 people and took at least 239 people hostage.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,500 people have been killed in those Israeli attacks.
It estimates 3,500 of those deaths are children.
