“Now the focus is on dismantling Hamas in the centre of the Gaza Strip and in the south of the Gaza Strip,” he said, while acknowledging that the task will take time.

About military efforts to dismantle Hamas in the central and southern Gaza Strip, Hagari said “we will do it in a different way” without elaborating.

According to him, the refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip are crowded and full of terrorists, while in the south, the large urban landscape of Khan Yunis has an elaborate underground network of tunnels. “It takes time,” he was quoted as saying.

Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government had directed the army to “eliminate Hamas”, return all the hostages and ensure that Gaza will “never again be a threat to Israel”. The war must not be stopped until we achieve all of the goals,” he said in a statement.

So much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) has sent out an SOS for the world.

Al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest hospital, has stopped functioning and hundreds of patients remain trapped, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated.

Out of 36 hospitals in the blockaded Palestinian territory, 20 are no longer functioning, added WHO.

“The WHO has managed to get in touch with health professionals at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza… the hospital is not functioning as a hospital anymore… The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair,” said Tedros.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an all-out operation on Gaza after Palestine militant organisation Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

Even as there are ceasefire calls from different quarters on humanitarian grounds, Israel has remained defiant and continue to blockade hospitals, thereby denying care and treatment to those inside.

At least two newborns died in hospitals and more are at risk due to power outages, Reuters reported citing medical staff.

Israel has alleged that hospitals in Gaza are being used by Hamas for their operations.

According to a Voice of America (VOA) news report, Israel’s construction sector confirmed it had asked its government to allow companies to hire up to one lakh workers from India to replace about 90,000 Palestinians.

Israel has reportedly cancelled work permits for Palestinians who used to work in Israel before the surprise attack by Hamas, according to the report.

An Israeli Builders Association member told VOA News that they were in negotiations with India in this regard and currently waiting for a decision from the Israeli authorities for further approval. “We hope to engage some 50,000 to 100,000 workers from India to work across the sector and bring it to normalcy,” VOA News quoted the member as saying.

As per reports, the removal of the Palestinian workforce has adversely affected Israel’s construction industry. Earlier this year, there were reports that Israel and India were considering an agreement to send 10,000 Indian workers to Tel Aviv. According to the agreement, about 2,500 workers were enrolled in the construction industry in Israel while another 2,500 were for nursing in the health sector, the report added.

She batted for Israel’s right to defend itself while calling for the protection of civilians. “By most estimates, at least 1,400 Israelis are dead. Israel, without any question, has a right to defend itself,” Harris was quoted as saying.

The US Vice President, however, pointed out that there should be no “conflation between Hamas and the Palestinians”. “The Palestinians deserve equal measures of safety and security, self-determination and dignity, and we have been very clear that the rules of war must be adhered to and that there be humanitarian aid that flows,” she further added.

The former California attorney general repeated warnings US President Joe Biden gave to Iran. She said the conflict will become wider if Iran gets involved. “Don’t. One word. Pretty straightforward,” Ha

Biden will make clear that “Israel has the right and indeed the duty to defend its people from Hamas and other terrorists and to prevent future attacks,” Blinken told reporters after hours of talks with Israel’s war cabinet in Tel Aviv.

Israel is preparing for a possible ground attack in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to root out the militants responsible for the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust. Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, on the other hand, has warned of “preemptive action” by the resistance axis in the coming hours if Israel advances closer to launching the ground offensive.

Blinken, who reached Tel Aviv on Monday after a whirlwind Middle East tour, further said that the United States and Israel “have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from donor nations and multilateral organisations to reach civilians in Gaza.” “President will continue to coordinate closely with our Israeli partners to secure the release of hostages taken by Hamas…,” he added.

According to Gaza authorities, over 2,800 people have been killed there, around a quarter of them children, and more than 10,000 wounded are in hospitals desperately short of supplies.

The US president will also travel to Jordan, where he will meet with King Abdullah II, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Meanwhile, Israel launched strikes overnight on Hezbollah “terrorist” targets in Lebanon, the Israeli army said in a statement early on Tuesday.

Localised raids in Gaza

The Israeli army said that ground forces made “localised” raids into Gaza in the last 24 hours. “Over the past 24 hours, IDF (Israeli military) forces carried out localised raids inside the territory of the Gaza Strip to complete the effort to cleanse the area of terrorists and weaponry,” an Israeli army statement said.

Middle East tense

Tension has spilled over to other nations in the Middle East and beyond amid escalation in violence. Protests erupted in major cities in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israeli airstrikes. Thousands protested in Beirut, Iraq, Iran, Jordan and Bahrain in support of the Palestinians.

Reuters journalist killed

A Reuters video journalist was killed in south Lebanon in an Israeli strike, while two other Reuters reporters, two from AFP, and two from Al Jazeera were injured.

Arab states say Palestinians must stay on their land

Egypt shares a border with Gaza and Jordan, which is next to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Both have warned against Palestinians being forced off their land.

Iran-Backed Hezbollah Ready To Support Hamas
Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said Friday it would be “fully prepared” to join its Palestinian ally Hamas in the war against Israel when the time is right.
India’s Second Statement
India said it had “always advocated… direct negotiations towards establishing… a sovereign, independent, and viable state of Palestine”. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi also said India is aware of a universal obligation to observe international humanitarian law.
Putin Says Israel Has “Right To Defend Itself”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the negotiations’ goal should be the implementation of the United Nations’ two-state formula.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US President Joe Biden will meet virtually. The summit is being held during Biden’s travel to Israel from July 13-16, with stopovers in West Bank and Saudi Arabia.

In the Thursday’s summit, the ministry said the leaders will discuss the “possible joint projects within the framework of I2U2 as well as the other common areas of mutual interest to strengthen the economic partnership in trade and investment in our respective regions and beyond. These projects can serve as a model for economic cooperation and offer opportunities for our businesspersons and workers.”

Each country also has Sherpa-level interactions regularly to discuss the possible areas of cooperation.

The I2U2 group is “aimed to encourage joint investments in six mutually identified areas such as water, energy, transportation, space, health, and food security,” the external affairs ministry said. It intends to mobilise “private sector capital and expertise to help modernise the infrastructure, low carbon development pathways for our industries, improve public health, and promote the development of critical emerging and green technologies.”,

Sharing details of the visit, a senior US administration official had earlier said: “The summit called I2U2 will discuss the food security crisis and other areas of cooperation across hemispheres where the UAE and Israel serve as important innovation hubs.”

The US administration has maintained that Biden’s visit will focus on “Israel’s increasing integration into the region, both through the Abraham Accords with UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain; through deepening ties between Israel, Jordan and Egypt; and also an entirely new grouping of partners, including Israel, India, UAE, and the United States — what we call I2U2”, the official had said.

Though this will be the first summit-level meeting of I2U2, earlier, foreign ministers of four countries had met in October 2021. The meeting took place during external affairs minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Israel last year. He was joined by UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken virtually, while then Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid was present in person during the meeting. The ministers had discussed issues around trade, climate, and maritime security.

It was during this meet that the I2U2 group, also termed as ‘Western Quad’, was conceptualised .

By Nilanchal Naik