— ‘Israeli lawmakers planning to oust Netanyahu’
GAZA: The Israeli army said Tuesday it had captured parliament and other government insitutions run by Hamas in Gaza City, as its forces deepened their offensive in the Palestinian territory.
Military units “took over the Hamas parliament, the government building, the Hamas police headquarters and an engineering faculty that served as an institute for the production and development of weapons,” the army said in a statement.
With scores of Palestinians killed across the occupied West Bank in recent weeks, rights groups have accused Israel of giving soldiers free rein to shoot on site while war rages in Gaza.
In just over five weeks since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7, at least 190 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry.
The figure is almost as high as the ministry’s toll of 208 dead for the first nine months of the year up to the start of the war.
The surge in violence comes as raids by Israeli forces on Palestinian communities have multiplied in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Gazans dig ‘mass grave’ at Al Shifa hospital as Israeli forces close in on facility
Meanwhile, Gaza´s main hospital has been forced to bury scores of dead patients in a mass grave, its director said Tuesday, while thousands of Palestinians were trapped inside by fierce combat.
“There are bodies littered in the hospital complex and there is no longer electricity at the morgues,” said Al-Shifa hospital director Mohammad Abu Salmiya, adding that 179 bodies had been interred so far.
“We were forced to bury them in a mass grave,” he said, adding that seven babies and 29 intensive care patients were among those who had died after fuel for the hospital´s generator ran out.
As Israeli forces close in on Al Shifa hospital — Gaza’s largest medical facility — the people trapped inside the besieged building have started digging a “mass grave” to bury patients that have died due to Israel’s encirclement, siege, Reuters reported.
Israel has accused the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, of operating its headquarters beneath Al Shifa hospital — a claim vehemently denied by both Hamas and hospital staff.
A witness said the stench of decomposing bodies was everywhere in the Gaza City facility as bombardment and gunfire echoed constantly in the area.
‘Israeli lawmakers planning to oust Netanyahu’
Israeli ministers and lawmakers from the ruling Likud party are discussing a plan to oust current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, TRT world reported citing Israeli media.
Channel 13 News reported on Tuesday that the plan includes recruiting 61 lawmakers to pass a vote of no confidence on Netanyahu’s government, and to form a new government without going to elections.
Channel 13 added that the Likud lawmakers fear that if Netanyahu stays at the party helm and then leads it to a loss in the next elections, most of those lawmakers will not be part of the Israeli political system.
It added that after the end of the military ground operation in Gaza, which so far shows no signs of concluding, the lawmakers will move ahead with their plans to have a parliamentary session to oust Netanyahu.
UN calls for immediate humanitarian ceasefire
“In the name of humanity, the secretary-general calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” Al Jazeera quoted spokesman Stephane Dujarric as saying.
He added Guterres is deeply disturbed by the “dramatic loss of life” in several hospitals in Gaza.
Biden says he believes hostage release will happen
US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he is engaged in daily discussions to secure a release of hostages being held by Hamas and he believes it is going to happen.
“Hang in there, we’re coming,” Biden said at the White House, when asked by reporters what his message to family members of hostages would be.
Biden said he speaks every day with the parties involved in negotiations over a possible hostage release, but did not want to share the details.
