At least 35,800 people have been killed and 80,011 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack is 1,139, with dozens still held captive.

 Biden avoids question on Israel ‘using starvation’ as war tool
During a press briefing in Kenya, US President Joe Biden dodged a question from a reporter about potential International Criminal Court arrest warrants being issued for Israeli leaders over their war on Gaza.

When pressed on the issue, Biden said that the White House believes the ICC doesn’t hold jurisdiction in this case, and Hamas doesn’t have “any equivalence” to Israel’s leaders.

Power generators have been shut down because of the lack of fuel.

The paediatric department for children at the Al-Aqsa Hospital is the first department that is experiencing power outages.

we seeing children outside in the corridors of this department simply because the rooms inside are packed with patients and injuries from the bombing campaign that continues to pound across the central area of Gaza.

With the power outage at this particular department, the risk of losing lives, the risk of aggravating ongoing medical problems, is increasing by the hours.

The paediatric department is not the only one now experiencing power outages.

we are seeing children outside in the corridors of this department simply because the rooms inside are packed with patients and injuries from the bombing campaign that continues to pound across the central area of Gaza.

With the power outage at this particular department, the risk of losing lives, the risk of aggravating ongoing medical problems, is increasing by the hours.

The paediatric department is not the only one now experiencing power outages.

The general surgery department on the upper floor is also experiencing power outages and putting lives inside the department at risk.

Increased risk of Palestinian Authority’s fiscal collapse, says World Bank
The fiscal situation for the Palestinian Authority (PA) has deteriorated over the past three months amid Israel’s war on Gaza, “significantly raising the risk of a fiscal collapse”, the World Bank reports.

“The rapidly widening gap between the amount of revenues coming in, and the amount needed to finance essential public expenditure, is driving a fiscal crisis,” it said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he will no longer transfer tax funds to the PA, which runs the occupied West Bank, after Norway, Spain and Ireland said they will recognise a Palestinian state.

Israeli tanks reach western Rafah where ‘congested mass of people’ live: Aid worker
Reuters news agency reports that Israel’s military is continuing its attacks in three eastern suburbs of Rafah while Israeli tanks are advancing on Rafah’s southeast and have reached the city’s densely-populated western district of Yibna.

“The occupation is trying to move farther to the west. They are on the edge of Yibna, which is densely populated. They didn’t invade it yet,” one Rafah resident told the news agency.

“We hear explosions, and we see black smoke coming up from the areas where the army has invaded. It was another very difficult night,” he said via a chat app.

The Norwegian Refugee Council’s emergency response leader in Gaza, Suze van Meegen, said many civilians were still stuck in the Rafah warzone.

“The city of Rafah is now comprised of three entirely different worlds: the east is an archetypal war zone, the middle is a ghost town, and the west is a congested mass of people living in deplorable conditions,” she said in a statement.

“People have no choice but to put their faith in so-called ‘humanitarian safe zones’ designated by the forces that have killed their family members and destroyed their homes,” she added.

Associated Press reports.

Even before coming on stage, the full crowd of thousands on Thursday night at Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena cheered as DJ Trauma, who accompanied Chappelle on the trip, played the song “My Blood is Palestinian” by the Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf.

About halfway through his set, Chappelle said the Gaza Strip faces a “genocide”. He also said that making Jews safer in America amid rising cases of anti-Semitism would make them realise they do not need Israel as an ultimate protector.

When touching on the upcoming US presidential election, Chappelle’s mention of President Joe Biden – Israel’s staunched supporter in its war on Gaza – drew widespread boos throughout the arena.

Israeli forces push farther into the overcrowded southern city of Rafah
It has been just over two weeks since Israel invaded Rafah, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people.

For months, Rafah had served as the last refuge for 1.5 million Palestinians who had fled from all areas of the Gaza Strip, assured they would be safe there.

 Rafah has become largely a ghost town, offering nothing to the displaced families who remain desperately seeking help.

FUNTUB spoke to some of those who remain in Rafah as Israeli forces close in.

Patients condemned to death’ as power cut at packed Al-Aqsa Hospital

Iyad al-Jabri, medical director at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, said more than 4,000 litres of fuel was required each day to continue operations and care for patients the medical facility which is now in darkness as power generators have shut down.

“We have hundreds of patients including the injured and those that are diagnosed with kidney failure and need electricity for their dialysis treatment,” al-Jabri said in a statement at the hospital.

“This will stop completely without any fuel,” he said.

“We are calling on international organisations to send 50,000 litres of fuel before there is an imminent crisis here. Otherwise, it is the injured that pay the price. All the patients will be condemned to death. Especially those in the ICU, the incubators and those relying on dialysis treatment,” he added.