Emergency Manager's Weekly Report

Dec 12, 20235 min read

Hamas attack on Israel Situation Report #22

Military and Diplomatic Highlights:

· The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that Hezbollah has continued to launch rockets at civilian targets in Northern Israel.

· On December 10th, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that a watchtower inside a UNIFIL position in the proximity of Ibel Qameh in southern Lebanon was hit by shelling causing damages to the structure. The origin of the fire is under investigation.

· The Israeli Prime Minister has stated that his government will not repeat the mistake of the Oslo Accords and that the Gaza Strip will not be controlled by either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.

Civil Protection and Humanitarian Assistance Highlights:

Israel:

· Magen David Adom (MDA) following the red alert sirens sounding in the Holon region treated a patient with shrapnel injuries and transported them to the nearest hospital.

· United Hatzalah volunteers are assisting in hospitals throughout the country in patient intake and triage.

Gaza Strip:

· The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) Emergency Medical Teams are still responding to emergency calls throughout Gaza.

· There remains 1.9 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) through Gaza. Some have been displaced multiple times:

o As of December 11th, 1.3 million IDPS are sheltering in 155 UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) facilities.

o IDPs have continued to arrive in Rafah since December 3rd. However, shelters in the area are extremely overcrowded:

ü These IDPs are waiting for hours around aid distribution centers.

ü In the absence of an adequate number of latrines, open-air defecation is widespread, increasing concerns of the spread of disease.

o The IDF on December 11th, has again been ordering Palestinian residents who have remained north of Wadi Gaza to leave southwards through a “corridor” along the Salah Ad Deen Road. However, movement through the Salah Ad Deen areas located north and east of Khan Younis city, has reportedly experienced intense battles on the road.

· The Israeli government has stated that it has increased the speed at which humanitarian aid is inspected and sent into Gaza:

o On December 11th, 100 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies, 120,600 liters of fuel and 45 tons of commercial cooking gas entered Gaza from Egypt.

o The fuel allowed into Gaza is an increase from a daily average of 67,000 liters. However, the increased amounts are the bare minimum needed to prevent the collapse of critical services, including hospitals and ambulances, water, and sanitation infrastructures, and IDP shelters.

o The commercial cooking gas was the first shipment since the resumption of hostilities on December 1st.

o The European Union (EU) humanitarian air bridge has completed 25 flights which delivered 1,072 tons of humanitarian supplies.

o Israel will only allow aid to enter Gaza through the Rafah Border Crossing in Egypt.

· Limited aid distribution is still occurring in Rafah but has been halted in other parts of Gaza due to the intensity of hostilities and restrictions of movement along the main roads.

· Healthcare and Public Health Updates:

o On December 9th a joint mission by the World Health Organization, the PRCS, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), completed a mission to Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City to deliver medical supplies, assess the situation in the hospital, and transfer critically injured patients to a hospital in the south:

ü Trauma and surgical supplies (enough to treat 1,500 patients) were delivered.

ü 19 critical patients with 14 companions were evacuated to the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza.

ü As the convoy entered Gaza City, the aid truck carrying the medical supplies and one of the ambulances were hit by bullets.

o A total of 30 hospitals through Egypt have been prepared to receive injured patients from Gaza. This includes the Cairo Administrative Capital Hospital which has been providing medical care to infants that have already been evacuated.

· On December 11th, 33 injured people and 461 dual nationals were evacuated from Gaza to Egypt.

Violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL):

· On December 12th, the IDF recovered the bodies of two hostages that were taken by Hamas on October 7th, they were:

o Eden Zakaria (27 years old) taken hostage at the Re’im music festival.

o Ziv Dado (36 years old) who was a logistics supervisor in the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion.

· As of December 11th, 134 UNRWA personnel have been killed.

· Between December 10-11, heavy Israeli bombardments from air, land, and sea across Gaza continued, especially in the central part, including Al Maghazi and An Nuseirat Refugee Camps, as well as in parts of northern Gaza.

· Intense ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas continued, especially in Khan Younis, Jabalya, and the northern parts of Gaza Strip.

· Additionally, air strikes have reportedly targeted residential homes in the western and central parts of Rafah, areas designated as safe for displaced Palestinians by the IDF.

· On December 11th, the maternity department at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahiya (Gaza) was hit and two mothers were reportedly killed, and several people were injured:

o The hospital is currently accommodating 65 patients, including 12 children in the intensive care unit and six newborns in incubators.

o About 3,000 IDPs remain trapped in the facility and are awaiting evacuation.

o This hospital remains surrounded by Israeli troops and tanks, and fighting with Hamas has been reported in its vicinity for three consecutive days.

· PRCS, WHO, and OCHA mission to Al-Ahli Hospital on December 9th:

o IDF forces detained and interrogated several PRCS personnel and patients.

o One PRCS staff member reported that he was harassed, beaten, threatened, stripped of his clothes, and blindfolded. He was later released but was forced to walk towards the south with his hands still tied behind his back, and without clothes or shoes.

o PRCS reported that one patient died on the way to Southern Gaza.

· On December 12th, Save the Children reported that one of the staff members and his whole family (four children) were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

Dis-Information Highlights:

· A video has been circulating online of a woman in Gaza holding her deceased infant son. Social media users have falsely claimed the infant is a doll. The baby has been identified as 5-month-old Muhammad Hani Al-Zahar.

Sources:

· Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #66

· UNRWA Situation Report #50 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem Information is valid as of 11 December 2023 at 22:30 (local time)

· UCPM and EU humanitarian aid response to the situation in the Middle East - DG ECHO Daily Map | 07/12/2023

· Prime Minister of Israel Twitter Page

· Israeli Defense Forces Twitter Page

· Magen David Adom Twitter Page

· United Hatzalah Twitter Page

· Palestine Red Crescent Society Twitter Page

· UNIFIL Twitter Page

· OCHA Occupied Territories (Palestine) Twitter Page

· UN Agency for Palestine Refugees Twitter Page

· WHO Occupied Palestinian Territory Twitter Page

· PolitiFact Twitter Page

· Soufan Center Twitter Page