Middle East & North Africa

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel bombed areas of southern Gaza where it had told Palestinians to flee to ahead of an expected ground invasion, killing dozens of people on Tuesday in retaliatory attacks it says are targeted at Hamas militants that rule the besieged territory.

With no water, fuel or food being delivered to Gaza since Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel last week, mediators struggled to break a deadlock over delivering supplies to increasingly desperate civilians, aid groups and hospitals.

16 October 2023; MEMO: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned yesterday on X that fuel reserves at all hospitals in the Gaza Strip are likely to run out within the next 24 hours.

It added in its daily report on the situation in Gaza last night that the shutdown of backup generators threatens the lives of thousands of patients.

16 October 2023; MEMO: The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the besieged Gaza Strip has called for countries around the world to send volunteer medical teams to the Palestinian enclave as a matter of urgency to relieve its exhausted medical staff, Anadolu has reported. The appeal has been made nine days after Israel began its ruthless, non-stop bombardment of the territory.

16 October 2023; MEMO: Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons are being denied medical care, resulting in sick prisoners being left without access to clinics or hospitals.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — For hours and hours, Moen Abu Aish digs through the rubble of demolished homes to find survivors of Israeli airstrikes, toiling in a vast and desperate search complicated by the shortage of critical supplies and the sheer scope of destruction across the Gaza Strip.

16 October 2023; MEMO: Dubai Police has denied claims four Israelis were targeted in a stabbing account in the Emirate.

Reports circulating on Telegram groups claim four Israelis were stabbed in the city earlier in the day, however police denied this, taking to X – formerly Twitter – to say: “@DubaiPoliceHQ  denied reports about stabbing 4 Israelis in Dubai. Safety and security are of paramount importance in the UAE.”

16 October 2023; MEMO: Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has planned to hold separate phone conversations with Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, the President’s Advisor on Foreign Policy issues, Yury Ushakov, said on Monday, Anadolu Agency reports.

16 October 2023; MEMO: Turkiye stands with Egypt in rejecting the exile of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in the face of Israel’s war with the Hamas group, Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, said alongside his counterpart in Cairo on Saturday, Reuters report.

According to the report, Fidan said it is important to act to stop the conflict from spreading and to re-start peace talks centred on achieving a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

17 October 2023; MEMO: The Palestinian resistance has said it has between 200-250 Israelis held as prisoners of war.

The details were released along with a short video of one of the captives. 21-year-old Mia Schem could be seen in the footage being treated after she was wounded in her arm, and later speaking to the camera.

17 October 2023; MEMO: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is set to hold an urgent meeting tomorrow to discuss the rapidly deteriorating situation in Gaza, amid Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Strip and its efforts to ethnically cleanse it.