November 8, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

All bakeries in northern Gaza have been forced to close due to shortages of vital supplies, a United Nations agency said Wednesday, with desperate civilians struggling to access the daily staple of bread under Israel's ongoing military offensive.

In a daily update, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said "no bakeries were active in the north, due to the lack of fuel, water and wheat flour, as well as the damage sustained by many."

Wheat flour is reportedly no longer available in northern Gaza, according to OCHA, which said some people had resorted to desperate measures.

Access to bread also remains a challenge in southern Gaza, with the only operative mill in the enclave unable to grind wheat due to a lack of electricity and fuel.

Gaza has been suffering electricity blackouts since October 11 after Israel cut power and fuel supplies, which in turn resulted in the closure of the coastal strip's only power plant, according to OCHA.

The entry of fuel remains banned by Israeli authorities, who argue that Hamas — the militant Islamist movement that runs Gaza — would steal any fuel entering the strip and use it for military purposes.

According to OCHA, 11 bakeries have been hit and destroyed since October 7 with only one bakery contracted by the World Food Programme and eight other bakeries in southern Gaza intermittently providing bread to shelters. 

When bread is available, people queue for long hours where they are exposed to potential Israeli airstrikes, OCHA said.

Around 9,000 tons of wheat grain is stored in mills in Gaza but a significant portion is inaccessible due to destruction and security concerns, coupled with fuel and electricity shortages, it added.

Israeli troops are now operating inside Gaza City, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also said they have killed "thousands of terrorists, from above and under the ground."

Meantime, dozens of civilians evacuated to the southern part of the enclave during a four-hour window allotted by the Israel Defense Forces. Some people carried white flags, signaling their hope for a safe passage, video shows.

Israel is under mounting international pressure to consider a humanitarian pause in its campaign against Hamas in Gaza but the Israeli army insists there will be no ceasefire and it is prepared to strike the militant group "wherever necessary," including civilian infrastructure if Hamas is using it. 

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Some doctors in Gaza have been performing operations, including amputations, without anesthesia, a World Health Organization spokesperson said Tuesday.

Lindmeier reiterated the United Nations' calls for "unhindered, safe and secure access" for some 500 trucks of aid a day — not only across the border but also “all the way through to the patients in the hospitals,” where surgeries including amputations were being performed without anesthesia.

The level of death and suffering is “hard to fathom,” he added.

Lindmeier also said that at least 16 health care workers have been killed while on duty, stressing that any attacks on health care are forbidden by international humanitarian law. 

Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, said Tuesday that one of its colleagues and several of his family members were killed in a blast at the Al Shati refugee camp.

Mohammed Al Ahel, an MSF laboratory technician and several members of his family died in the blast Monday, the organization said.

MSF said in a statement that it is “gravely concerned for all of our colleagues in Gaza, many of whom are still working in hospitals across the Strip providing lifesaving care.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also said Tuesday that its humanitarian convoy came under fire when it was delivering essential medical supplies to health facilities in Gaza City.

According to ICRC, two trucks were damaged in the attack, and a driver sustained minor injuries.

Israel's post-war plan is not an "ongoing occupation" of Gaza, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.

Asked about Netanyahu’s comments on ABC News on Monday that Israel will have the "overall security responsibility" in Gaza for an "indefinite period" after the war ends, Regev said: "We have to distinguish between a security presence and political control."

Scores of Palestinians evacuated northern Gaza and headed south during a four-hour window allotted by the Israel Defense Forces for safe passage on Tuesday, as seen in video from the scene, including one published by the IDF.

Children, women and elderly people held up their identification cards, while some carried white flags, the video showed.  

Salah Eddin Street serves as one of the two primary highways in Gaza, linking the north to the south. The IDF has repeatedly called on civilians to move south of Wadi Gaza as it intensifies its assault on Hamas in Gaza City and northern Gaza.

Speaking to CNN before crossing an IDF checkpoint set up on Salah Eddin Street, evacuees said they had been walking for hours. Some people carried nothing but water bottles, while others held white flags, signaling their hope for safe passage.

Wedad Al-Ghoul, traveling with her young son, said she had walked 8 to 9 kilometers so far (roughly 5 miles) from her home on Gaza's coast. 

"I am carrying my ID because I was told it (the passage) will be safe, I don’t know if I am going to be allowed to enter or arrive to the south," she said.

Um Zaher, a mother of four traveling in a horse-drawn carriage, recounted her harrowing experience to CNN.

Avichay Adraee, the IDF spokesperson for Arabic media, said via X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday that safe passage was allowed on Salah Eddin Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. Accompanying the announcement, he posted a video showing displaced persons walking past an Israeli tank on the same street. 

About 5,000 people fled to southern Gaza by foot during a four-hour window on Monday, according to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said 89 staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began a month ago.

UNRWA also said on Tuesday that at least 26 staff had been injured.

"We are beyond devastated. Our colleagues will be greatly missed, and they will not be forgotten. We share this grief with each other and with the families," the agency said on X.

The White House maintained Tuesday that it doesn’t believe Israeli forces should reoccupy Gaza following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comments that the country will have the “overall security responsibility” in Gaza for an “indefinite period” after the war ends.

“One of the conversations that Secretary (Antony) Blinken has been having in the region is what does post-conflict Gaza look like? What does governance look like in Gaza? Because whatever it is it can’t be what it was on October 6. It can’t be Hamas,” he added.

The latest warning from the White House comes after Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday that Gaza should be governed by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas” before adding, “I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it.”

It was one of the first hints Netanyahu has given about his vision for a post-war Gaza and suggests a divergent view than that of the US, including President Joe Biden’s own statements about what the future of the strip would look like.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said "Gaza City is encircled" and the Israel Defense Forces are "operating in it" and "advancing the pressure applied on Hamas every hour and every day."

It's unclear based on comments from Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — who said that troops are at the "heart of Gaza City" — exactly where the IDF is operating inside Gaza.

"On the diplomatic front, we’re operating around the clock to allow the IDF the leeway for the remaining military operation," Netanyahu added. "We will not stop until the victory."

Netanyahu also warned Hezbollah against entering the war on Israel's northern front.

"We will not comply with a reality in which Hezbollah or Hamas in Lebanon will hurt our communities and civilians. We’ll continue responding with fierce fire against any attack," Netanyahu said. "If Hezbollah chooses to enter the war, this will be the biggest mistake in its life." 

Netanyahu added that he is in "constant touch" with US President Joe Biden, saying, "We highly appreciate his support and of the American administration and people."