‘Enough is enough’: 18 organizations, UN groups demand ceasefire in joint statement
2.2 million Palestinians in the besieged enclave have been denied access to food, water, medicine, electricity
Israel cut internet and phone lines in the Strip, a third communications blackout since the start of the war on October 7.
Israel says it stopped firing for many hours in northern Gaza to help civilians leave
The US Navy has dispatched a nuclear submarine to the Middle East, the military said in a rare social media announcement.
“On November 5, 2023, an Ohio-class submarine arrived in the US Central Command area of responsibility,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post late on Sunday on X (formerly Twitter).
The unusual public announcement of a nuclear submarine’s position in the Middle East is being viewed by many as a message of deterrence by the administration of US President Joe Biden to regional rivals such as Iran.
The social media post did not specify the sub, but US Navy has four Ohio-class guided missile submarines (SSGNs). SSGNs are former ballistic missile subs converted to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Like nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs), SSGNs can operate undetected near an adversary’s homeland for extended periods, according to the Submarine Industrial Base Council.
They can covertly deploy Special Operations Forces and conduct strike operations with an element of surprise and shock for the enemy from close-in positions.
The US has sent two aircraft carriers to the region since Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. The Ohio-class submarine will join these US military assets in the area.
‘Enough is enough’: 18 organizations, UN groups demand ceasefire.
The heads of 18 UN and non-UN humanitarian organizations have issued a rare joint statement calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Israel and Palestine.
“Enough is enough,” the statement said. “This must stop now.”
The letter was signed by the heads of the 18 organizations, known as the Inter-Agency Standing Committee.
The joint statement denounced the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel where some 1,400 people were killed and more than 200 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
It also said Israel’s killings of civilians in Gaza is an “outrage,” adding that 2.2 million Palestinians in the besieged enclave have been denied access to food, water, medicine, electricity and fuel while being bombed in their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship.
“This is unacceptable,” the statement said.
Hamas on Sunday said the Israeli army carried out “intense bombings” on areas around several hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip, shortly after telecommunications were cut, the AFP reported.
Israel cut internet and phone lines in the Strip, a third communications blackout since the start of the war on October 7.
Israeli air strikes have killed more than 9,500 people in Gaza, including 3,900 children and over 2,400 women, according to the Ministry of Health. More than 23,000 injured people require immediate treatment within “overstretched hospitals,” the humanitarian organizations’ statement said.
Hostage release
The joint statement called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of all civilians hostages.
“We renew our plea for the parties to respect all their obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law,” it said.
Highest UN fatalities
Several aid workers working in the enclave have been killed since the start of the war, including 88 UNRWA members – the highest number of UN fatalities ever recorded in a single conflict.
More than 100 attacks against healthcare facilities have been reported, the statement highlighted, demanding protection of hospitals, shelters and schools.
At least 15 people were killed on Saturday when Israel struck a UNRWA school where thousands of displaced Palestinians were sheltering.
“Yesterday and today, for many hours with prior notice and warning, we facilitated, we stopped firing in certain areas of northern Gaza, which is the main combat area, and we called on Palestinians to move south,” Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said.
Israel launched a massive bombing campaign after the Palestinian militant group Hamas staged the worst attack in the country’s history.
In the October 7 attack, Hamas gunmen killed more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took more than 240 others hostage.
The health ministry in Gaza, which Hamas runs, says more than 9,770 people, many of them women and children, have been killed in Israeli strikes and the intensifying ground campaign since the war began.
Israel has resisted calls for a halt in the fighting, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken touring the region, calling for “pauses” while rejecting Arab countries’ demands for a ceasefire.
Israel pounded Gaza with “significant” strikes Monday as soldiers battled Hamas forces in the besieged territory, ignoring ceasefire calls by UN aid agencies who condemned surging civilian deaths in the month-long conflict.
Israeli troops and Hamas fighters engaged in house-to-house combat in densely populated Gaza, where the war has sent 1.5 million people fleeing to other parts of the territory in a desperate search for cover.
Shortly before the latest strikes, internet and telephone lines were cut, Hagari said, adding that the strikes would continue in the days to come.