More updates on Israel-Hamas War to be posted here.
Kindly share your updates too. This is how things stand now
-Israel’s defence minister has ordered a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip, including a ban on food and water.
-Air raids have targeted the Jabalia camp, one of the most crowded camps in Gaza, killing and wounding dozens.
-Israel’s military has also called up 300,00 reservists as it plans to go “on offensive”.
-The European Commission says it’s putting its full portfolio of development aid to Palestinians, worth 691 million euros ($729m), under review.
-The Lebanon-Israel border has become an “active borderline” following reports from the Israeli military that armed infiltrators had entered the country from Lebanon.
-The death toll surpasses 1,300 as Israel strikes Gaza and fierce battles intensify between Hamas gunmen and Israeli troops.
-Israel’s response to the unprecedented attack will “change the Middle East”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.
‘Hamas does not represent the entire Palestinian population’: EP member slams aid decision
A Swedish politician and member of the European Parliament has criticised a decision to suspend European Union aid to Palestinians, a move announced by Oliver Varhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.
“Hamas does not represent the entire Palestinian population,” Evin Incir told Al Jazeera.
“This is something that Commissioner Varhelyi knows very well, but it seems to be his goal in life to withdraw and hold in the money from the Palestinian Authority and the people of Palestine. I do not understand where these bad feelings from his side come from towards the Palestinian people. But I know one thing: to punish the Palestinian people for the terrorist attacks of Hamas would not serve anyone anything good. It will only fuel the ongoing violence.”
Incir accused Varhelyi of trying to take the EU on a “dangerous path”, saying he knows its funds do not go to Hamas.
“He is trying to lie in the face of the European people and trying to connect the EU financial support to Hamas. It doesn’t go there. It goes through the Palestinian Authority.”Nablus villages feel wrath of Israeli settlers
Settler attacks have been on the rise in the West Bank, especially in the villages near Nablus, paramedics and officials say.
In Duma, south of Nablus, a Palestinian man was shot with live rounds by Israeli soldiers as settlers torched cars and attacked farmers, said Suleiman Dawabsheh, head of the village council.
Two Palestinians, ages 20 and 23, were also shot with live ammunition in Einabus, another village near Nablus, while 12 people were evacuated as a result of tear gas.
Mustafa Shehadeh, 28, a paramedic working in the villages south of Nablus, described the scene there:
“A big group of Israeli settlers attacked the northeastern part of Einabus. They attacked the home of Radar Deif and torched parts of it as well as his car.
“We went there after getting a call about settler attacks. We tried to get into the house, but the Israeli army stopped us and tried to prevent us from getting everyone, including a 6-year-old girl with asthma, out of the house.
“We finally managed to get in. After we left the house, settlers attacked us with stones. Tens of people from the village were tear-gassed, and the Israeli army prevented ambulances from evacuating them immediately.”