Israel/Palestine: UN Decries Dire Situation, Death Toll Reaches 2,837

The situation in Gaza is “dire” with food and water running out because of an Israeli siege, according to the United Nations World Food Programme.

The Palestinian enclave is relying on generators after its only power station ran out of fuel, but Israel says its blockade will not end until Israeli hostages are released.

No fewer than 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are unable to access essential health services or even clean water, the UN says.

At least 150 hostages were taken into Gaza during Hamas’s deadly attacks at the weekend that killed 1,300 people.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Thursday that 1,537 Palestinians, including 500 children and 276 women have been killed since Israel launched retaliatory air strikes on Saturday with another 6,612 people have been wounded in the enclave.

This brings the total number of deaths to 2,837.

Meanwhile, the opposition leader Yair Lapid has called the Hamas attack an “unpardonable failure” by the Netanyahu government, adding that he would not be joining the emergency war cabinet.

Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politician Benny Gantz agreed to put aside a bitter political rivalry and formed an emergency government on Wednesday.

Lapid is the founder of the centrist Yesh Atid party, and is currently the leader of the official opposition in the Knesset.

Alongside Netanyahu and Gantz, the new temporary cabinet includes Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Netanyahu and Gantz said in a joint statement that a seat would be reserved for Lapid in the war cabinet.

However, Lapid said Netanyahu and Ben Gvir were “not the people who would restore the shattered trust of the Israeli people in their government.”

Lapid added his party would not oppose the government and would support it during the security crisis.

This is just as the European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola will visit Israel on Friday, the European commission said on Thursday.

Von Der Leyen and Metsola will meet with Israeli leadership and express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas attacks.

Egypt has asked Israel to stop air strikes near the Rafah border crossing – which lies between Gaza and Egypt – after raids prevented normal operations there.

 In a statement published earlier Thursday on Facebook, the foreign ministry said the crossing remained open, but facilities on the Palestinian side had been “destroyed as a result of the repeated Israeli bombing, preventing it from operating normally”.

It said countries and organisations can transport aid to Al-Arish International Airport in northern Sinai – and called for an end to air strikes so it could be repaired and function as a “lifeline” for Palestinians in Gaza.