More than 2K dead, Gaza loses power plant amid Israel-Hamas conflict. What to know – National | Globalnews.ca
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More than 2,000 are dead on both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict, including Canadians, as the situation shows no signs of easing Wednesday and Israel forms a wartime cabinet.
Gaza’s only power plant has run out of fuel, and Israeli airstrikes smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris.
Israeli retaliations for a surprise attack by Hamas militants over the weekend shook the Middle East, and Israel’s military has indicated plans for a ground offensive to root out Hamas militants.
Here is what you need to know this Wednesday.
Canadians dead in the conflict
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told reporters Wednesday morning in Ottawa that “three Canadians are dead” and three others are missing, but the assistant deputy minister for consular, security and emergency management clarified shortly after that two deaths are confirmed, while a third is presumed at this point.
Global News has confirmed the deaths of Ben Mizrachi, from British Columbia, and Montrealer Alexandre Look.
Joly added that more than 4,700 Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank had registered with the government. She did not immediately say how many wanted to be evacuated.
Five hundred Canadians are in Gaza and the West Bank combined, but Joly said she did not know how many might be in Gaza specifically.
The Israeli military said more than 1,200 people, including 155 soldiers, have been killed in Israel.
In Gaza, 1,055 people have been killed, according to authorities there; Israel says hundreds of Hamas fighters are among them. Thousands have been wounded on both sides.
The bodies of roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were found on Israeli territory, the military said.
It wasn’t clear whether those numbers overlapped with deaths reported by Palestinian authorities.
Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday, forcing it to shut down after Israel cut off supplies, the Energy Ministry said.
With it gone, only generators will be able to power the territory.
The blackouts come as Israel has decided to block fuel shipments into Gaza as part of what the Israeli government has called a “complete siege” on the territory run by Hamas.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk told reporters Tuesday that Israel’s “imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
The UN commission of inquiry for the region also warned it has been collecting and preserving evidence of “war crimes” allegedly committed by both Hamas and Israeli forces since Saturday’s attack by Hamas.
“There is already clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed” in the days since the assault, the office said in a statement.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told soldiers Tuesday that, “We started the offensive from the air, later on, we will also come from the ground.”
Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists and appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza, with its government under intense public pressure to topple Hamas, which has ruled the territory since 2007 and remained firmly in control through four previous wars.
“I have removed every restriction — we will eliminate anyone who fights us, and use every measure at our disposal,” Gallant said Tuesday.
A ground offensive carries risks, notably to the hostages held in the narrow, densely populated territory of Gaza. Hamas has threatened to execute a captive for each airstrike on a civilian target without warning.
Israel is warning civilians to evacuate whole neighbourhoods – rather than just individual buildings – in what could be a prelude to a ground offensive.
In Gaza, more than 250,000 people have fled their homes, the UN said, the most since a 2014 air and ground offensive by Israel uprooted about 400,000.
The vast majority are sheltering in schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Damage to three water and sanitation sites has cut off services to 400,000 people, the UN said.
— with files from The Associated Press and Reuters
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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