‘You feel that death is closing anytime’: Displaced family flees Gaza
Naim Al-Khatib, a Palestinian from Gaza City, describes how he was forced to flee his home with his family as Israeli airstrikes intensified.
Freed Israeli hostage Mia Leimberg, who took her dog with her when she was seized by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, says Bella was a “huge help” while in captivity.
Leimberg, 17, was released along with her mother a week ago. She says in a video posted Wednesday on social media that she believes her captors didn’t take Bella away because the puppy was quiet and went unnoticed.
“It was quite a journey for both of us,” Leimberg says. “Overall, she was a huge help to me. She kept me be busy. She was moral support.”
Leimberg, who lives in Jerusalem, was kidnapped with several other family members from a safe room in her aunt’s home in Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak. Israeli officials say 1,200 people were killed and at least 240 were taken hostage that day.
While in Gaza, she said she fed Bella, a Shih Tzu, leftovers and tried to keep her from “exploring too much” around the area where they were held.
“I am so happy that I managed to do this journey with her,” Mia said. “I think honestly if it was a louder dog, if they had seen her as a bother, I think they would not have let me keep her.”
Leimberg said she feels fine physically. Mentally she says does not feel traumatized and is able to sleep. But she says it was a difficult experience and that “it will take quite a while to sink in.”
Developments:
∎ The Israeli military said it regretted the incident involving a strike on a Lebanese army base that killed one soldier and wounded several others. Israel has been clashing with Iran-backed Hexbollah militants based in Lebanon, but “Lebanese army forces were not the target of the attack,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
∎ The Gaza Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 16,200, and more than 42,000 people have been wounded. The ministry said 70% of the dead were women and children. Israel has not disputed the counts but says it has killed more than 5,000 militants and accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields.
‘In the heart of Khan Younis’: Israel sweeps into major city in south Gaza
At least 10 men and women among the 110 released hostages were sexually assaulted or abused, a physician who treated some freed captives told the Associated Press. The doctor declined to provide more details and spoke on condition of anonymity to protect the hostages’ identities.
Hamas leaders issued a statement Wednesday dismissing the claims as “echoing baseless accusations of the Zionist propaganda to justify the atrocious killing of children, women and civilians in Gaza.”
Fifteen women are believed to be among the more than 130 people still being held by Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza, the Israeli military says. Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, a military spokesman, said the army is “absolutely” concerned about sexual violence against female hostages. President Joe Biden called the reports of sexual violence “appalling” and urged the world to condemn “horrific accounts of unimaginable cruelty.”
Israel will pay a “heavy price” if it expands its war on Hamas to assassinate militant leaders living in Turkey or elsewhere outside the Gaza Strip, Turkish President Erdogan says.
Hamas leaders have routinely sought safe havens in Qatar, Lebanon, Iran, Russia and Turkey. Israel has generally refrained from pursuing them to avoid diplomatic upheaval. But since the murderous foray into Israel on Oct. 7, Israel has warned that no place will be safe for Hamas leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently said he instructed the Israeli spy agency Mossad to “act against the heads of Hamas wherever they are.”
Erdogan warned that Israel would find Turkish intelligence and security agencies a powerful adversary.
“If they dare to take such a step against Turkey and Turkish people, they will be doomed to pay a price which they cannot recover from,” Erdogan told Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency on Tuesday. “Those who attempt such a thing should not forget that the consequences can be extremely serious.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday discussed recent U.S. diplomatic efforts to bring an end to the war. Blinken reiterated the imperative of all parties working to prevent the conflict from spreading, the State Department said in a statement.
Front and center was a discussion of the recent Houthi attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea. Blinken said the attacks posed unacceptable threat to maritime security and international law “that all nations have an obligation to uphold.”
The two sides are mostly in agreement on Gaza, and both governments support a two-state solution. President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed the need for an immediate cease-fire, ensuring that the humanitarian corridors are safe and unimpeded, and preventing the expansion of the conflict.
Fuel and medical supplies have reached critically low levels at Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gaza Strip because of road closures despite the hundreds of patients needing emergency after the Israeli bombardment, Doctors Without Borders warned. The hospital has been receiving on average 150 to 200 war-wounded patients daily. Without electricity, ventilators would cease to function, blood donations would have to stop, and the sterilization of surgical instruments would be impossible, the group said.
“There are 700 patients admitted in the hospital now, with new patients arriving all the time,” said Marie-Aure Perreaut Revial, the group’s emergency coordinator. “We are running out of essential supplies to treat them.”
Almost 1.9 million people, or 85% of the Gaza Strip population, have been forced from their homes since the war began two months ago, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees says. About 1.2 million of them are living in United Nations-provided shelters, the agency says. The death toll of UNRWA workers has climbed to 130.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk once again urged a cease-fire, citing the “utter, deepening horror” in Gaza.
“As an immediate step, I call for an urgent cessation of hostilities and the release of all hostages,” he said. “The international community needs to insist with one voice on a cease-fire, immediately, on human rights and humanitarian grounds.”
US Navy ship battles in Red Sea against Houthi militants: How it unfolded
Contributing: The Associated Press
Abhinav Thawait is a globe-trotting correspondent with a passion for international affairs. With a background in international relations, he offers a global perspective on the most pressing issues around the world. Abhinav’s curiosity takes his to the far corners of the earth, where he seeks to share untold stories and diverse viewpoints.
