Israel Has Agreed To A Daily 'humanitarian Corridor.' What Does This Mean?
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel, Friday, November 10, 2023 . Leo Correa/AP Hide caption
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel has agreed to allow civilians trapped in the northern Gaza Strip to travel safely to southern areas for a few hours a day, the White House said.
It would also allow more aid to be provided to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
Going forward, the announcement will be made three hours before each break, Kirby said.
Israel calls it a humanitarian corridor.
“Israel is committed to fully respecting international law and we believe these pauses are a step in the right direction, particularly to ensure that civilians can reach safer areas away from the fighting,” Thursday.
On Friday, Israel gave Palestinians six hours to reach a designated safe route through the Gaza Strip, but civilians in the north reported dozens of deaths in airstrikes around several hospitals.
Children sit under the rubble of a building after the Israeli attack on Friday in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Hide caption Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images
The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights described the safe zones as “worrying.”
The time periods that allow for safe evacuation are based on recent discussions between U.S. and Israeli officials.
However, the agreement, whose framework is not new, should not be confused with a long-term ceasefire or humanitarian pause. There have already been several four to five hour power outages in Israel over the past week. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were able to travel south to the Gaza Strip.
More than 50,000 civilians used the "humanitarian corridor" in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said at a news conference on Thursday.
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Furthermore, Israel has not committed to stopping the airstrikes; Rather, you have agreed to avoid certain places during this break.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk criticized the measure.
“Calls to move civilians to a “safe zone” designated by the Israel Defense Forces are also very worrying. Unilaterally creating a “safe zone” can increase risks to civilians and raise real questions. When asked whether security was guaranteed in practice, the Turk said at a press conference in the Jordanian capital Amman: “Nowhere in Gaza is currently safe, everywhere in the strip is under fire. “It must also be absolutely clear that civilians will be protected under international law wherever they are.”
He reiterated his call for a ceasefire, as many humanitarian groups have done in recent weeks.
Imposing a lengthy humanitarian pause or even a ceasefire is the subject of several ongoing negotiations between U.S. officials and Middle Eastern leaders over the release of the hostages.
According to Reuters, CIA Director William Burns and heads of Israel's Mossad spy agency discussed an agreement with the Qatari prime minister to release about 240 hostages kidnapped a month ago in Doha on Thursday.
Meanwhile, in Egypt, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi received the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, at Cairo International Airport on Friday morning.
Qatar continues to play an important role in the hostage negotiations as it is best positioned to influence Hamas on the issue.
On October 7, Hamas kidnapped around 240 people.
More than a month ago, a Hamas attack in Israel killed nearly 1,400 people. More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began. This is according to new data released on Friday by health authorities in Hamas-controlled areas.
An Israeli warplane flies over the Gaza Strip, seen from southern Israel, Friday, November 10, 2023 . Hide caption Leo Correa/AP
Hospitals continue to suffer from the effects of Israeli airstrikes
According to hospitals, aid organizations and witnesses on the ground, several hospitals were hit and damaged by Israeli airstrikes overnight.
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In a video posted on social media by an eyewitness, Al-Rantisi Hospital was surrounded by Israeli tanks and people were ordered to leave the hospital without help from humanitarian groups such as the Red Cross to ensure safety.
According to the Community and Health Association, ten staff members at Al-Auda Hospital in northern Gaza were injured overnight and some areas of the hospital were heavily damaged by airstrikes near the medical center.
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A video provided by the hospital showed workers clearing debris from streets and highways near the hospital after airstrikes took place in the area overnight. The video also shows heavily damaged ambulances. Health and community association Al-Awda said at least two ambulances and at least nine other vehicles were damaged or completely destroyed in the attacks.
Several videos released overnight show injured people at the facility, which is part of Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital. It is the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip and has served as a refuge for displaced and wounded people since the Israeli offensive began.
Just a week ago, more than ten people were killed in an Israeli airstrike outside this hospital. Israel claimed to have attacked Hamas members.
The Israeli army said it did not directly attack the hospital, but health officials in Gaza said the al-Shifa medical complex in the north was hit five times by Israeli airstrikes.
“The attacks on hospitals in and around Gaza City were particularly severe around two of the region's largest hospitals: the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya and Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Meanwhile, attacks in surrounding areas have made access to hospitals difficult. , including the destruction of roads,” said Turkey’s UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“Some hospitals, including Al-Quds and Al-Shifa hospitals, have received special evacuation orders in addition to the general evacuation orders for all residents of the northern Gaza Strip,” he said in a speech in Jordan. "However, as the World Health Organization has warned, such an evacuation is a 'death sentence' in a context in which the entire health system has collapsed and hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip can no longer accept patients."
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