Israel-Palestine war: First week ends with over 2,500 Palestinians, 1,400 Israelis killed

Jordanian police have started firing tear gas at protesters marching in solidarity with Palestinians, according to Al Araby news. 

Jordanians are responding to Palestinian calls for global solidarity after days of heavy Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip.

Jordan has asked its population to avoid confrontations amidst the growing tensions.  

A spokesperson for the interior ministry in Gaza says that “war crimes have been committed all over Gaza by the Israeli military,” and that “everything has become a target in Gaza.”

“We call on people all over the world to take action and support people in Palestine. The occupation is practising collective punishment and violating all international laws,” he added.

The spokesperson called on all humanitarian organisations to respect and abide by the laws that govern them, citing that all essential supplies have been cut off to the Strip, including medication, aid, food, water, fuel and electricity. 

“The children in Gaza are being killed every hour, every person in Gaza is being targeted. People are being bombed in a random fashion,” he said. 

“The occupation is telling people to go to a certain area to seek shelter then bombing that area. There is no longer any space free of bombing. We will not give up our roles and responsibilities regardless of the challenges and no matter how much we are exposed to Israeli bombing.”

“We will not be broken,” he said. 
 

In a televised press conference in Lebanon's capital Beirut, the Lebanese interior minister said that there “will not be peace or security in the region until Palestinians receive all of their rights.”

He also called on Israel to stop the bombardment of Gaza and inflaming tensions.

“I call on all international leaders to pressure Israel to stop the war on Gaza,” he added. 
 

Thousands of Iraqis have gathered in the capital to voice their support for Palestinians as Israeli bombardment continues. 

Hamas has called on people around the world to voice their support for people in Gaza, as Israel continues its bombardment and has ordered for the forced removal of residents in north Gaza. 

More countries around the Middle East are expected to take part in protests today. 

Hundreds of Jordanians are waving Palestinian flags and are marching towards the border fence with Israel.

The march is in response to Palestinians’ calls for people to rally and support them, as over a million Palestinians in north Gaza have been ordered to leave their homes by the Israeli army.

The director-general of hospitals in Gaza told Al Jazeera Arabic that hospitals in the besieged enclave have collapsed and are no longer able to function properly after Israel cut off all electricity, food and water to the Strip.

The ongoing bombing has also targeted warehouses where medication is being stored. 

“We are under equipped and at full capacity, people can’t get treatment, we have some babies who have now been born into war and cancer patients are dying in their homes,” he added.

"New born children have been killed by Israeli bombing."

Hospital staff and ambulances have also been targeted in Israeli bombardment, with 14 of those killed being medical staff.

"Some of the ambulances were targeted while they were still in the hospital," the hospital manager said. 

Of the 13 hospitals in Gaza, six have totally closed down due to the ongoing bombing. One of them, the Beit Hanoun hospital, is one of the biggest in the Strip.

Hamas issued a statement today saying that Israeli shelling has killed 13 Israelis who were taken hostage, and among them are foreigners. 

Protests are underway around the world in solidarity with Palestinians following seven days of heavy Israeli bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip. 

Earlier this week, a protest took place outside the Israeli embassy in London. 

Protests also took place in Paris, despite a government crackdown and bans on pro-Palestinian protests, with the government stating they are 'likely to generate disturbances to public order.'

In New York, students chanted “Palestine will be free.” 

The Palestine based rights group, Al-Haq, have issued a statement saying that as Israeli air strikes intensify “there  is no longer a safe place to take refuge, not even the coordinated shelters, as many have been bombed.”

The organisation’s field researchers are facing extreme difficulties moving around Gaza to document the violations, due to the high intensity of Israeli shelling resulting in massive destruction to the roads network, they said. 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has also  reported direct and collateral damage to at least 21 of its facilities, including schools sheltering displaced civilians.
 

Lloyd Austin, the US Defence Secretary, arrived in Israel today, and went to Tel Aviv to meet Israeli officials. 

While in Israel, he is going to see the US weapons and security assistance the US delivered to Israel this week. 

He is also planning to meet Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as defence minister Gallant. 

His visit comes just after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken left Israel.
 

Hamas has told Palestinians in north Gaza to “remain steadfast” and to “stay in your homes,” after Israel issued a 24-hour forced removal order for Palestinians. 

The Hamas Authority for Refugee Affairs on Friday called on residents of the north of the besieged enclave to “stand firm in the face of this disgusting psychological war waged by the occupation.”
 

Palestinians have been forced to leave north Gaza after Israel issued a 24-hour order for them to leave, ‘until they say so’

Palestinians on the ground have described it as “the second Nakba.”

Speaking at a press conference in Gaza earlier today, Palestinians said they will not leave their homes, regardless of what Israel does. 

“The only way we will leave our land is up [to the heavens],” one man said at the press conference. 

Others have criticised the international community for their silence.

“Who will cry for us? There are limbs everywhere in the streets, the situation is difficult, everything that’s happened is because of the siege. Where are we supposed to go?” one resident told Al Jazeera Arabic. 

Marc Garlasco, a military adviser at the Dutch organisation PAX for Peace and a former U.N. war crimes investigator in Libya, told the Washington Post that “Israel is dropping in less than a week what the U.S. was dropping in Afghanistan in a year, in a much smaller, much more densely populated area, where mistakes are going to be magnified.”

In a live Gaza government media press conference, Palestinians say they will “not be leaving their homes,” and they “will not have a repeat of 1948,” no matter what happens.

The Palestinians questioned “where the international community and the rights organisations are” as they Palestinians in the north of Gaza have been forcibly ordered to leave.

“We will not be leaving our lands,” they reiterated. 

The press conference comes after the Israeli army demanded that Palestinians in north Gaza leave their homes, 'until we say so.'

Fear and confusion has gripped Gaza following the Israeli army’s demands for Palestinians in north Gaza to be removed ‘until we say so’

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) says it has relocated its central operations to the centre and international staff have also been moved to the south of Gaza. 

MEE reporters on the ground have described the scenes as being “like a second Nakba” as tens of thousands of Palestinians are forced to leave their homes within the next 24 hours.