Israel's evacuation orders have displaced 90% of Gaza residents, UN says
World
Israel’s evacuation orders have displaced 90% of Gaza residents, UN says
NEW YORK (AP) - Successive Israeli evacuation orders in Gaza, including 12 just in August, have displaced 90% of its 2.1 million residents since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the top U.N. humanitarian official for the Palestinian territory says.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris says she and President Joe Biden are working to end the war in Gaza, where the International Rescue Committee says the polio virus has been circulating for the first time in a quarter-century because of the destruction of hospitals and water infrastructure, along with overcrowded living conditions.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office says a delegation from the country has arrived in Cairo to resume efforts to salvage a cease-fire deal. The talks are being mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. A crucial sticking point involves Israel’s demand for lasting control over two strategic corridors in Gaza.
The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas and other militants stormed Israel, killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted around 250. About 110 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead. The Israeli offensive launched in response has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the local Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how many were militants or civilians.
Five Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday killed at least eight people, including a child and several Hezbollah militants, state media reported.
A drone strike in the town of Aita al-Jabal killed a 7-year-old child along with one other person, the Lebanese health ministry said. The Israeli military said the strike killed Mohammad Mahmoud Najem, an operative in Hezbollah’s drone and rocket unit.
Hezbollah later confirmed Najem’s death and also announced the deaths of four other members Friday.
Photographs from the scene showed a burned-out small pickup truck.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been clashing nearly daily with Israeli forces in the border region for more than 10 months. The clashes have killed more than 500 people in Lebanon — most of them militants but including more than 100 civilians and noncombatants — and 23 soldiers and 26 civilians in Israel.
