UN chief 'dismayed', 'disturbed' by Israel strikes on Gaza
UNITED NATIONS, United States — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "dismayed" by civilian casualties in Gaza and "deeply disturbed" by Israel's strike on a building containing international media outlets, a spokesman said Saturday in response to reporters' questions.
The comments came as Israel pummeled the Gaza Strip with air strikes, killing 10 members of an extended family and demolishing the 13-floor Gaza building housing Qatar-based Al Jazeera and The Associated Press news agency, with Palestinian militants firing back barrages of rockets.
"The Secretary-General is dismayed by the increasing number of civilian casualties, including the death of ten members of the same family, including children, as a result of an Israeli airstrike last night in the al-Shati camp in Gaza, purportedly aimed at a Hamas leader," his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in the written response to questions on the Israeli air strikes in Gaza.
Guterres was "also deeply disturbed by the destruction by an Israeli airstrike today of a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed the offices of several international media organizations as well as residential apartments," Dujarric continued.
"The Secretary-General reminds all sides that any indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs," he said.
Israeli air and artillery strikes on Gaza since Monday have killed 145 people including 41 children, and wounded another 1,100, health officials say, the worst violence in the region since 2014.
Palestinian armed groups have fired at least 2,300 rockets at Israel, killing 10 people, including a child and a soldier, and wounding over 560 Israelis. Israeli air defenses have intercepted many rockets.
US Secretary for Israel-Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr was to hold talks Sunday with Israeli leaders before meeting Palestinian officials to seek a "sustainable calm," the State Department said.
The UN Security Council was to meet Sunday to discuss the violence.
More than 100 rockets were fired Monday from Gaza towards Israel by multiple Palestinian armed groups, Hamas Islamists who control the blockaded enclave said.
The Israeli army had earlier confirmed at least 45 rocket launches, most targeting areas near the Gaza border, but seven were directed towards Jerusalem.
The army later sent an update that the rocket fired had continued through the night. No Israeli fatalities have been reported. — AFP
4th Filipino casualty in Israel: Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo reports that another Filipino died in the ongoing conflict in Israel. Manalo has yet to name the fourth Filipino casualty in the ongoing war.
"I regret to inform the nation that we have received confirmation from the Israeli government of another Filipino casualty in Israel," Manalo says.
"Out of respect for the wishes of the family, we shall be withholding details on the identity of the victim. But we have assured the family of the Government’s full support and assistance," he adds. — Rosette Adel.
The Israeli military says around 500,000 Israelis have been evacuated and displaced in the 10 days since Hamas unleashed the bloodiest attack in the country's history.
"There are about half a million internally displaced Israelis at the time," Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), says in an online briefing. — AFP
Israel denies reports of "ceasefire" in Gaza, according to the prime minister's office. —Agence France-Presse
The US embassy says it has organized a ship to take Americans out of Israel to Cyprus on Monday.
With Israel moving toward an invasion of the Gaza Strip, the ship will leave from the Israeli port of Haifa for Limassol taking "US nationals and their immediate family members with a valid travel document", the US embassy said in a security alert Sunday.
Tens of thousands of US passport holders live in Israel and 29 have been confirmed killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7. Another 15 are missing and believed to be among hostages held by Hamas since the attacks. — AFP
The Department of Foreign Affairs announces that the government has raised Alert Level 4 in Gaza, which means evacuation for Filipinos there is now mandatory.
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