RT News - October 25th 2023

Update on numbers: 5,791 Gazans have died, 16,297 wounded by strikes/raids by Israel since the start of the conflict, October 7 2023. 2,300 of the dead are children. Day 19

40 hospitals report their fuel (for electricity etc) has run out.

Twelve thousand tons of bombs have been dropped on Palestine since the start of the conflict, equivalent to a Hiroshima style nuclear bomb. In Khan Yunis bombing has continued with dozens killed and another residential block of flats levelled.

Khan Yunis is an evacuee receiving city in the south which has been under attack since the refugees set off in their convoys to the south of Gaza, as instructed by Israel.

Hospitals are under severe pressure after the attacks. The hospitals are also being used as shelters. More hospitals have been destroyed. Hamza Chalan gives updates.

Food, water and fuel has run out for many Gazan citizens. Rami Almeghari reports from central Gaza as the communities take in evacuees from the north. Limited humanitarian aid is arriving to Gaza from Egypt.

Clashes continue with Lebanon. At the border with Israel, 120,000 people have evacuated their homes. Maria Finoshina reports.

Yesterday, UN Sec. Gerneral Antonio Guterres pointed out that the Palestinians have been under suffocating occupation for 56 years. The Israeli ambassador to the UN has taken umbrage to having it pointed out.
Rory speaks to Yusef Daher from the Jerusalem Office of Churches World Council.
[[UN chief Antonio Guterres has expressed his astonishment at the "misrepresentations" of his comments about Hamas, which were made during a meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

The secretary-general said: "I have condemned unequivocally the horrifying and unprecedented October 7 acts of terror by Hamas in Israel. Nothing can justify the deliberate killing and kidnapping of civilians or the launching of rockets against civilian targets."

In his speech on Tuesday, Guterres stated that Hamas's attack did not occur "in a vacuum" and emphasized that the Palestinians have endured "56 years of suffocating occupation." His remarks drew a furious response from Israeli officials, who demanded his resignation.]]
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In Iran mass protests took place in solidarity with Palestine. Yusef Jalali was there reporting and says the country and situation is like a powder keg. Protests in support of Palestine continue around the world, RT speaks to some of the protesters.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany and the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain made statements about anti-Semitism. Rachel Marsden reports as protestors clash.
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Stop press:

Israel has temporarily agreed to a US request to set up air defences to protect American troops in the region, in anticipation of a potential ground operation in Gaza, the Wall Street Journal has reported. The Pentagon is working to deploy nearly a dozen air-defence systems to safeguard US troops in various locations, including Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, shielding them from missile and rocket threats. Israeli officials have reportedly agreed to hold off on their preparations until these defence systems can be positioned, possibly later this week. Israel is also said to be factoring in plans for providing humanitarian aid to Gaza’s civilians and diplomatic efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, according to officials who spoke to the WSJ.
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16:02 GMT
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is urging the international community to prevent an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza. He and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the potential for significant civilian casualties from such an incursion, pointing to the 6,600 civilian deaths, including many children, already reported in the last two weeks of Israeli attacks.
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Emmanuel Macron, speaking in Cairo, emphasized that France did not apply double standards and upheld international law and humanitarian values. He emphasized the importance of compassion for all victims and a lasting commitment to a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East. Macron also emphasized the need for unhindered humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.
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Amnesty International is calling on Israel to cancel forced evacuation orders in Gaza and stop spreading fear among civilians.

According to Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s senior crisis response adviser, declaring entire areas as military targets violates international humanitarian laws, and attackers must consistently differentiate between civilians, civilian property, and military targets.

Amnesty also raised concerns about leaflets distributed by the Israeli army with evacuation orders, claiming they lack effective warnings, suggesting potential forced displacement of northern Gaza’s civilians.
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14:46 GMT
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Hamas is not a terrorist group. In response, Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lior Haiat, said that Israel completely rejects Erdogan’s remarks and described Hamas as a reprehensible terrorist organization. He went on to say that Hamas engages in acts of violence, including intentionally harming civilians, using them as shields, and taking hostages. He also drew a comparison between Hamas and ISIS, emphasizing the terrible actions both groups are known for: “Even the Turkish president’s attempt to defend the terrorist organization and his inciting words will not change the horrors that the whole world has seen and the unequivocal fact: Hamas = ISIS.”
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23 Russians have been killed in Palestine with 4 missing, since the 7th October.
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At 11:25 GMT Israeli warplanes have targeted the runway at Aleppo International Airport in Syria, Lebanese broadcaster Al-Mayadeen has reported. The attack caused damaged and led to the shutdown of the airport, but did not result in any deaths or injuries, according to the outlet.

Syrian military sources previously told local media that eight Syrian troops were killed and seven others injured in Israeli strikes near the city of Daraa overnight.
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Short take :
Officials in Gaza say Israel has dropped 12-thousand tonnes of explosives on Palestine, comparing it to the power of the bomb that leveled Hiroshima, as 58-hundred are killed in the area in less than three weeks.

Over 120-thousand people evacuate from northern Israeli border towns as tensions with Lebanon escalate.

Israel says the UN Secretary General must resign - after Antonio Guterres suggests the Hamas attack on Israel was a response to 56 years of Israeli occupation.

As demonstrations in support of Palestine spread across the world, crowds in Kenya take to the streets to express their solidarity with Gaza.