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Israel-Hamas war: Majority of Gaza under evacuation orders
Published 6 hours agoPublished 6 hours agolast updated 2 hours agolast updated 2 hours ago
More than half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people is now crammed into the town of Rafah, according to OCHA. Meanwhile, Antony Blinken will hold talks in Egypt, Qatar and Israel. Follow DW for more.
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Displaced Palestinians cook a meal outside a makeshift tents they set up in Rafah, Gaza
More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have sought refuge in Rafah and are now living in increasingly miserable conditionsImage: Abed Zagout/Anadolu/picture alliance
Skip next section What you need to know
What you need to know
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi discuss Israel-Hamas war
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis say they attacked two ships in the Red Sea
Israel’s evacuation order now covers two-thirds of the Gaza Strip
Skip next section Argentina’s Milei visits Israel amid mooted embassy move to Jerusalem
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Argentina’s Milei visits Israel amid mooted embassy move to Jerusalem
Argentina’s President Javier Milei arrived in Israel for his first official trip abroad, aside from a whirlwind stop at the Davos economic forum in Switzerland last month.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed him at Ben Gurion Airport and commended Argentina’s new government for its apparent willingness to move Argentina’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Israel made Jerusalem its capital in 1980, but most countries have so far retained embassies in Tel Aviv.
Palestinians also claim East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state.
The international consensus remains that the status of Jerusalem should be part of final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Milei has expressed an intention to convert to Judaism and is scheduled to meet with rabbis during his trip to Israel. He will also visit significant Jewish sites in Jerusalem and participate in events commemorating the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold meetings with the Argentinian leader on Wednesday.
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Skip next section Report into Israeli allegations of UNRWA staff involvement during Oct. 7 due March
3 hours ago3 hours ago
Report into Israeli allegations of UNRWA staff involvement during Oct. 7 due March
The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) expects a preliminary report into claims that its staff was involved in the October 7 attacks on Israel to be ready early next month.
Nineteen major donors to UNRWA, including the United States and Germany, froze funding after Israeli allegations that a dozen of its Palestinian employees were suspected of playing a role in the militant attacks.
“We expect a preliminary investigation report in early March, based on which we assume donors would look into their decisions of having suspended funding to UNRWA,” the agency’s representative in Lebanon, Dorothee Klaus, said.
UNRWA had fired 12 employees over the matter and launched an investigation immediately after Israel made the claims.
The UN’s oversight office, which functions independently from UNRWA, is carrying out the investigation.
UNRWA, which provides food and runs schools, clinics and other essential services in Gaza, employs some 13,000 people there, most of them Palestinians.
But the agency also works in other areas in the Middle East.
Klaus warned that the agency would not be able to pay its employees in Lebanon in March, which would result in 40,000 children being left without schooling and many more without medical services in camps.
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Skip next section Gaza ministry puts death toll at 27,585
6 hours ago6 hours ago
Gaza ministry puts death toll at 27,585
The Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said Tuesday at least 27,585 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel began its offensive there.
The ministry said the toll included 107 deaths in the past 24 hours and that another 66,978 people had been wounded since the start of the war.
The ministry’s figures are deemed largely accurate by the UN but do not differentiate between militants and civilians.
Israel says 226 of its soldiers have been killed in its offensive, launched after Hamas militants from Gaza carried out a terror attack on southern Israel, killing over 1,100 people and taking 250 hostages.
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Skip next section Ship targeted in Houthi rebel attacks in Red Sea
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Ship targeted in Houthi rebel attacks in Red Sea
A British-owned cargo ship suffered minor damage in a drone attack off Yemen in the Red Sea, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and security firm Ambrey on Tuesday.
The attack occurred 57 nautical miles west of Hodeida, Yemen, with the Barbados-flagged ship incurring slight damage to the bridge windows from a projectile, the UKMTO said.
A spokesperson of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the militants attacked two separate vessels — one American and one British — in the Red Sea. He provided no evidence to support the claim.
One of the ships, the Morning Tide, matched the details provided by Ambrey.
The Houthis have targeted vessels in the Red Sea over Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas.
In response, a US-led coalition has carried out strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The latest was on Monday when it targeted “explosive uncrewed surface vehicles or USVs,” or explosive-laden drone boats.
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Skip next section Blinken in Cairo for talks with el-Sisi
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Blinken in Cairo for talks with el-Sisi
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Cairo for a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
It is the second stop in a broader tour of the Middle East to discuss boosting aid to Gaza, a possible cease-fire and a hostage deal.
His talks with el-Sisi come amid growing concerns in Egypt about Israel’s plans to expand the combat in Gaza to areas on the Egyptian border that are crammed with displaced Palestinians.
Blinken spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday about “the urgent need to reduce regional tensions,” according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The top US diplomat also travels to Qatar before flying to Israel on Tuesday.
Antony Blinken in Middle East for cease-fire talks
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Skip next section Israel’s evacuation orders cover 2/3 of the Gaza Strip
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Israel’s evacuation orders cover 2/3 of the Gaza Strip
A woman and a child sit outside makeshift tents they set up in Rafah, GazaA woman and a child sit outside makeshift tents they set up in Rafah, Gaza
Palestinians who fled the Israeli military advance took refuge in Rafah in the southern Gaza StripImage: Abed Zagout/Anadolu/picture alliance
Israel’s evacuation orders in the Gaza Strip now cover two-thirds of the territory according to UN humanitarian monitors.
The area affected had been home to 1.78 million Palestinians, or 77% of the population.
Early on in the war, Israel’s military ordered Palestinians in northern Gaza to leave, ostensibly to get out of the way of a ground offensive.
Evacuation orders eventually expanded to parts of the south, including the city of Khan Younis and surrounding areas.
Now, over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are squeezed into the town of Rafah, near the Egyptian border, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
People are crammed into makeshift tented camps and face acute shortages of food, water, shelter and medicine, OCHA said.
UNICEF said Tuesday that most of the displaced people only have 1.5 to 2 liters (0.4 to 0.53 gallons) of water per day to drink, cook and wash.
The UN Children’s Agency said there was also an increase in cases of chronic diarrhea among children.
lo/kb (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)
