[ad_1] The father of a festival goer who it was thought may have been taken hostage by Hamas but has since been confirmed was murdered has spoken ab
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The father of a festival goer who it was thought may have been taken hostage by Hamas but has since been confirmed was murdered has spoken about his daughter’s death.
She was one of the 1400 killed by Hamas on October 7.
Nissim Louk said he daughter Shani was “killed on the spot”. He also lashed out at Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and blamed his government for a momumenta; “failure” in not knowing the Hamas attack was imminent.
Israeli continues to step up its offensive in Gaza with the country’s army on the outskirts of Gaza City.
On Tuesday, local time, Israeli confirmed that its fighter jets had struck the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
The Israel Defence Forece said several senior Hamas leaders had been killed in the attack. But Hamas authorities shave said around 50 people, including civilians, died in the blasts which flattened buildings.
The camp is in the middle of the war zone as Israel has reiterated its call for people to move south.
Meanwhile, US officials have expressed concern at repeated attacks on US troops scattered across the Middle East, fearing further escalation in other parts of the region.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said that at least 8525 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war.
The ministry said at least 3542 children and 2187 women were among the dead.
Follow along for the latest live updates.
Father of murdered tattoo artist speaks
The father of Shani Louk, the 23-year-old tattoo artist killed by Hamas militants ta a music festival in Israel, has spoken about his daughter’s death.
It was thought Ms Louk had been taken hostage into Gaza after the devastating terrorist attack on October 7 which killed 1400 and led to the Israel-Hamas War. Its estimated around 8000 Palestinians have died since the current clashes began.
Imagery appeared soon after the festival massacre showing Ms Louk in the back of a flatbed truck being paraded through Gaza.
However, hopes Ms Louk might still be alive were dashed earlier this week when it was confirmed a skull fragment found at the festival site were hers.
“Until about 6.45, Shani was still dancing, cheering, and going wild at the party and was surrounded by all her best friends — and they had fun all night,” father Nissim Louk, told Israeli news outlet, N12.
“She enjoyed herself until the last moment.
“She was killed on the spot and not only did she not suffer, 10 minutes earlier she was still enjoying herself,” he said.
Ms Louk added that there was “some comfort” in knowing that his daughter wasn’t “tossed in some Gaza tunnel”.
“Shani was a beautiful girl who loved to dance. Everyone loved her. She was very smart and witty. That’s how I want her to be remembered.”
Mr Louk said the Hamas attack was a failure of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
“The government ministries all failed. They underestimated everyone, they don’t work, they don’t answer, they’re not normal.
“If the prime minister were to show up at my house, I’d tell him to leave, since he bears much responsibility for what happened”.
Ms Louk’s body has yet to be found.
‘Imminent catastrophe’: Grim new Gaza warning
The World Health Organisation has warned that a “public health catastrophe” in the Gaza Strip is “imminent”.
While the mass displacement of civilians is obviously of concern, the greater threat is reportedly the degradation of water infrastructure, which has left Gaza with just 5 per cent of its regular water supply.
That increases the risk of children dying due to dehydration.
“It’s an imminent public health catastrophe that looms with the mass displacement, the overcrowding, the damage to water and sanitation infrastructure,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said at a briefing.
“Child deaths from dehydration, particularly infant deaths due to dehydration, are a growing threat,” added James Elder, a spokesman for the UN children’s agency.
Israel targets home of Hamas second-in-command
The Israeli army has demolished the West Bank home of exiled Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri.
The Israeli military said forces entered the village of Arura, near Ramallah, and shot at people who were “hurling” rocks towards them during the demolition.
Aruri is accused by Israel of masterminding numerous attacks.
He was elected deputy to Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in 2017, before being officially named the group’s number two.
Iran-backed rebels claim responsibility for drones over Israel
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired drones towards Israel on Tuesday in retaliation for its war against Hamas, a senior official from the group told AFP.
“These drones belong to the state of Yemen,” Abdelaziz bin Habtour, prime minister of the Houthi government, said when asked about drones launched towards Eliat in southern Israel.
It came as US security officials warned that repeated attacks on American troops in the Middle East risk drawing the United States into a conflict with Iran.
The United States has blamed the spike in rocket and drone attacks — at least 14 in Iraq and nine in Syria since October 17 — on Iran-backed forces, and carried out strikes last week in Syria on sites the Pentagon said were linked to Tehran.
“We are concerned about all elements of Iran’s threat network increasing their attacks in a way that risks miscalculation, or tipping the region into war,” a senior US defence official said Monday.
“Everybody loses in a regional war, which is why we’re working through partners, with allies, working the phone lines, increasing posture to make clear our desire to prevent regional conflict,” the official said.
Hospital workers collapsing under ‘physical and psychological stress’
Healthcare workers at Al Quds Hospital in Gaza have claimed “the whole building was shaking” overnight during another Israel’s continued assault on the city.
According to Marwan Jilani, director general of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, staff “didn‘t know whether they were going to hit the hospital”.
Two nearby buildings, an emergency medical centre and main warehouse, were “severely damaged and are now out of service”.
Workers are now “collapsing due to the … physical and psychological stress” as they reportedly continue to await aid from humanitarian groups.
“Imagine the stress on the people staying there, taking care of the patients, sheltering there – it is just immense,” Jilani told the BBC.
Israel launches controversial online campaign
Israel has launched a hard-hitting online campaign featuring shocking images and testimonies from the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7.
Dozens of clips of burnt bodies, bereaved families, fast-cuts of screams and sirens, rescue workers and pathologists are featured on the Israeli foreign ministry’s official social media channels and in paid advertising campaigns.
The online campaign comes as Israel continues its bombing and movements into Gaza, which has killed more than 8,300 people, including over 3,000 children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Some of the videos are graphic: in one clip, a pathologist describes photos of a child’s burnt body.
But experts say the campaign risks alienating some audiences.
There has already been some pushback, with Google limiting access to one graphic clip and a gaming firm demanding the ads be removed.
“Subjecting people to images that are literally unbearable is a risky strategy,” communications expert Arnaud Mercier said via AFP.
“It could be counter-productive with an audience who didn’t ask to be exposed to it.”
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