Israel rejects US push for pause in fighting; another Gaza refugee camp hit

Israeli minister says nuking Gaza 'an option', gets suspended; tel aviv Brings Reporters to Combat Zone

Israeli warplanes struck a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip early Sunday, killing at least 40 people and wounding dozens, health officials said. The strike came as Israel said it would press on with its offensive to crush the territory’s Hamas rulers, despite US appeals for a pause to get aid to desperate civilians.

The soaring death toll in Gaza has sparked growing international anger, with tens of thousands from Washington to Berlin taking to the streets  on Saturday to demand an immediate ceasefire.

Israel has rejected the idea of halting its offensive, even for brief humanitarian pauses proposed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his current tour of the region. Instead, it said that Hamas was “encountering the full force” of its troops.

“Anyone in Gaza City is risking their life,” Israel’s Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant said.

Nuke bomb is “an option”

An Israeli minister from the far-right Otzma Yehudit party on Sunday said that dropping an atomic bomb on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip was “an option”, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to suspend him from government meetings indefinitely.

In a radio interview, Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said that “there are no non-combatants in Gaza” and providing humanitarian aid to the Strip would constitute “a failure”. When asked if there are no non-combatants in Gaza in his view then if a nuclear attack on the Gaza Strip is “an option”, Eliyahu responded, “That’s one way.” His remarks infuriated members of both the ruling coalition and the Opposition, evoking calls to fire him from the government.

Following the uproar, Eliyahu backtracked from his statement, calling it a “metaphorical” remark.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Netanyahu suspended Eliyahu from government meetings indefinitely, the PMO said.

Reporters in combat zone

Israeli military leaders brought a small group of foreign journalists into northern Gaza on Saturday for four hours to witness the extent of the advance. A reporter for The New York Times was among them. 

In a footage aired on Sunday evening, Israeli military reporters are seen accompanying IDF troops into Gaza for the first time, providing some of the most up-close coverage of the ground operation to date.

The reporters entered Gaza from the north on Saturday afternoon in the Namer APC of Brigadier General Itzik Cohen, commander of the IDF’s 162nd Division. They linked up with the Nahal Brigade, which is operating in the Al-Atatra neighbourhood of Beit Lahiya, more than 4 kilometers inside the Gaza Strip.

Cost of war

Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip will cost as much as 200 billion shekels ($51 billion), the Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Sunday, citing preliminary Finance Ministry figures.

The daily said the estimate, equal to 10 per cent of gross domestic product, was premised on the war lasting between eight to 12 months; on it being limited to Gaza, without full participation by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iran or Yemen; and on some 350,000 Israelis drafted as military reservists returning to work soon.

Calcalist described the ministry as deeming 200 billion shekels an “optimistic’ estimate. But the ministry said it does not stand by Calcalist's data. Calcalist said half of the cost would be in defence expenses that amount to some 1 billion shekels a day. Another 40-60 billion shekels would come from a loss of revenue, 17-20 billion for compensation for businesses and 10-20 billion shekels for rehabilitation.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has previously said Israel’s government was preparing an economic aid package for those impacted by Palestinian attacks that will be “bigger and broader” than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the state was committed to helping everyone affected.

29 arrested, 4  police officers injured

Four police officers were injured after pro-Palestinian protesters set off fireworks into crowds in central London, with 29 arrests made on suspicion of racially motivated crimes. The Metropolitan Police said more than 1,300 officers were on duty on Saturday as tens of thousands of people demonstrated against the Israel-Gaza conflict, adding that it had adopted a more “sharpened and proactive” intervention approach to the protests. 

The protest came as both British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman called for tougher action against extremist acts during these protests, especially one planned next weekend to coincide with Armistice Day when Britain’s war martyrs are commemorated.