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

Palestinians in Gaza are in danger of mass ethnic cleansing, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian Territories, has warned on Saturday.

"There is a grave danger that what we are witnessing may be a repeat of the 1948 Nakba, and the 1967 Naksa, yet on a larger scale," Albanese said, referring to two previous forced displacements of Palestinians. "The international community must do everything to stop this from happening again."

"Israel has already carried out mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians under the fog of war," the expert said.

"Again, in the name of self-defence, Israel is seeking to justify what would amount to ethnic cleansing."

She added that Israel's military operation had gone "well beyond the limits of international law", and urged the international community to stop the violations and mediate an immediate ceasefire.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Israel's campaign of retaliatory and indiscriminate bombardments and siege on the Palestinian civilian population of Gaza has entered it's ninth day.

The shelling, combined with Israeli orders of forced displacement of 1.1m people, is pushing Gaza into the brink of humanitarian disaster.

The situation amounts to a "war of extermination", the Palestinian health ministry said.Here’s a recap of the last few hours:

• Israel dropped equivalent to 'a quarter of a nuclear bomb', the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said

• Israel has now killed more Palestinians in eight days than they did in 51 days of war on Gaza in 2014. Netanyahu said this was just the start

• WHO decries Israeli 'death sentence' of 22 hospitals ordered to clear out. Hospitals at risk of shelling at any moment say they are not leaving

• Russia, China seek ceasefire as non-western powers urge peace. US sends second carrier strike group to Eastern Mediterranean to support Israel

• Iran's foreign minister says an Israeli invasion of Gaza would be a 'red line'

We at Middle East Eye are doing our best to continue providing you with up-to-date information around the clock. Internet connectivity in Gaza has dropped by nearly half as of Friday, and we've lost contact with our correspondents there.

You can also find our coverage across Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

The death toll of Palestinians killed since Israel began a bombing campaign in Gaza has risen to 2,329, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. A further 9,714 Palestinians have been injured.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will have a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Sunday, a US official told Reuters, as Israel prepares to launch a ground assault on Gaza.

The meeting was supposed to take place at 7.30 am local time.

At least 14 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli air strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinian media outlets are reporting.

In Central Gaza, an Israeli air strike that targeted a residence killed four Palestinians, including one child, in the vicinity of a hospital. Al Jazeera Arabic has reported that six Palestinians were killed by an Israeli air strike in the town of al-Zawaida in the central region of the enclave.

Sirens have sounded in upper Galilee in Israel, located near the border with Lebanon, several media outlets have reported.

The Israeli military said the alarm sounded because an Iron Dome missile was being fired at a "suspicious target".

Zhai Jun, China's envoy to the Middle East, will travel to the region next week to push for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine war, according to Beijing's state broadcaster CCTV.

Zhai “will visit the Middle East next week to coordinate with various parties for a ceasefire, to protect civilians, ease the situation, and promote peace talks,” the network said in a video published on Sunday.

The US has stated its ironclad backing of Israel's response to last week's Palestinian attacks on southern Israel, as the country imposes a full siege and cuts off electricity and water to Gaza.

However, other countries around the world are pushing for peace. Russia has asked the UN Security Council to vote Monday on a draft resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. Mexico and Ukraine on Saturday separately urged Israel to open a humanitarian corridor to Gaza.

Israeli forces have conducted raids on more than 15 areas in the occupied West Bank amid an ongoing arrest campaign, according to several Palestinian media outlets.

The raids are continuing in the early hours of Sunday.

On Saturday, thousands took to the streets of major European cities to show their solidarity with Palestine, as Israel is preparing a large-scale ground invasion of Gaza.

Check out the different rallies below.

The US is sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the eastern Mediterranean, in order to "deter hostile actions against Israel" or other efforts that could broaden the ongoing war.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier and its affiliated strike group of warships will be the second carrier strike group to be sent to the region since 7 October.

Washington has already deployed the USS Ford to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with Iran's foreign minister on Saturday in Qatar, where the two discussed the Palestinian militant group's deadly attack in Israel "and agreed to continue cooperation" to achieve the group's goals, Hamas said in a statement reported by Reuters.

During their meeting in Doha, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that the Palestinian offensive on Israel was a "historic victory" that had dealt a setback to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory.

Three hundred Palestinians were killed, mostly children and women, while 800 others were injured in Gaza on Saturday, the Palestinian health ministry has said, according to Reuters.

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), a UK-based legal centre, announced intentions on Saturday to seek to prosecute government officials over alleged complicity in Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

Hours later, Keir Starmer, leader of the UK's opposition Labour Party, issued a statement on X in which he reversed his position on Israel's decision to cut off water and electricity to Gaza.

"We call on all parties to act in line with international law, including allowing humanitarian access of food, water, electricity and medicines to Gaza and ensuring safe humanitarian corridors in Gaza for those fleeing violence," he said in the statement.

On Wednesday, when asked about the cutting of water and electricity, Starmer told broadcaster LBC: "I think that Israel does have that right, it is an ongoing situation."

Even with Starmer walking his previous comments back, the ICJP said his new statement was disappointing, given that he "failed to condemn Israel for its continued breaches of international law" and ignored the killing of innocent Palestinians in Gaza, "including 800 children".

Full ICJP statement:

Earlier today, ICJP announced notice of intention to prosecute UK politicians aiding and abetting war crimes.

Mere hours later, @Keir_Starmer retracted his endorsement of Israel's restrictions of food, water and electricity, illegal under international law.

But Keir Starmer's statement is still extraordinarily disappointing. He has failed to condemn Israel for its continued breaches of international law.

He has ignored the killing of innocent Palestinians in Gaza including 800 children.

Starmer has also failed to reach out to British Palestinians to listen to their concerns. Many British Palestinian families lost loved ones and had their family homes destroyed in Gaza as a result of Israel's indiscriminate bombardment.

But worst of all, Starmer has failed the test of a true leader during conflict and failed to urge a ceasefire despite the knowledge that anything short of an immediate ceasefire will result in the worst loss of Palestinian life the region has ever seen.

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