Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas after forming a wartime cabinet in response to the violent conflict that has killed more than 2,300 people on both sides — including at least three Canadians.
Gaza’s only power plant has run out of fuel, and Israeli airstrikes smashed entire city blocks to rubble in the tiny coastal enclave and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath mounds of debris.
Israeli retaliations for a surprise attack by Hamas militants over the weekend shook the Middle East, and Israel’s military has indicated plans for a ground offensive to root out Hamas militants.
Here is what you need to know this Wednesday.
3rd Canadian victim identified
Adi Vital-Kaploun was identified by her family as the third Canadian killed in Israel during the weekend attack.
Vital-Kaploun, who is Israeli-Canadian, was “murdered by terrorists in her home, just for being Jewish,” the family’s written statement said.
Andrea Freedman, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, shared the statement at a press conference Wednesday on the family’s behalf. Vital-Kaploun lived in Israel but had extended family in Ottawa and held dual citizenship, Freedman said.
Global News has previously confirmed the deaths of Ben Mizrachi, from British Columbia, and Montreal-born Alexandre Look.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told reporters Wednesday morning in Ottawa that three other Canadians are still missing in Israel. She would not speculate on whether those Canadians are believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas.
Global Affairs Canada said later on Wednesday that roughly 4,700 Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank had registered with the government. The agency has responded to nearly 2,000 inquiries since the conflict began, mostly related to travel advice for the region and families seeking information on the whereabouts of their loved ones.
Joly said military flights will begin to help Canadians depart Tel Aviv, Israel, by the end of this week.
Government officials who spoke with reporters on background Wednesday afternoon said approximately 1,000 Canadian citizens and permanent residents in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank have asked for consular help and about 700 of them want to get on a flight out.
The officials said about 250 people in the two Palestinian territories have asked for consular help, including 70 in Gaza. But without the creation of a humanitarian corridor, which would likely require intervention by the United Nations, they said there is nothing the Canadian government can do for those people as long as Gaza remains cut off.
Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israeli territory, and that hundreds of the dead inside Gaza are Hamas members.
The White House said Wednesday the number of Americans killed in the conflict has risen to 22, with 17 others still unaccounted for. An unknown number of U.S. citizens are believed to have been taken by Hamas as hostages.
Militants in Gaza are holding an estimated 150 people taken hostage from Israel. That is believed to include soldiers, men, women, children and older adults.
Power plant out in Gaza
Gaza’s only power plant ran out of fuel Wednesday, forcing it to shut down after Israel cut off supplies, the Energy Ministry said.
With it gone, only generators will be able to power the territory.
The update came after Israel vowed to block fuel shipments into Gaza as part of what the Israeli government has called a “complete siege” on the territory run by Hamas.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk told reporters Tuesday that Israel’s “imposition of sieges that endanger the lives of civilians by depriving them of goods essential for their survival is prohibited under international humanitarian law.”
The UN commission of inquiry for the region also warned it has been collecting and preserving evidence of “war crimes” allegedly committed by both Hamas and Israeli forces since Saturday’s attack by Hamas.
“There is already clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed” in the days since the assault, the office said in a statement.
Israel forms wartime cabinet, troops build up
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a leading opposition figure on Wednesday created a wartime cabinet to oversee the fight against Hamas.
In a late-night televised address, Netanyahu said Israel would “crush and destroy” the group, adding every member of Hamas was “a dead man.”
The new wartime cabinet will consist of Netanyahu, Benny Gantz – a senior opposition figure and former defence minister – and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a statement released by Gantz said.
It will focus only on issues of the war declared by Israel. It appeared that the rest of Netanyahu’s existing government partners, a collection of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties, would remain in place to handle other issues.
Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists and appears increasingly likely to launch a ground offensive into Gaza, with its government under intense public pressure to topple Hamas, which has ruled the territory since 2007 and remained firmly in control through four previous wars.
During the televised address, Gallant, the defense minister, said Israel “will wipe this thing called Hamas, ISIS-Gaza, off the face of the earth. It will cease to exist.”
A ground offensive carries risks, notably to the hostages held in the narrow, densely populated territory of Gaza. Hamas has threatened to execute a captive for each airstrike on a civilian target without warning.
NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday that while Israel has the right to defend itself, he expects its response to Hamas to be proportionate.
“It is important as this conflict continues to do whatever is possible to prevent the loss of innocent civilian lives,” he said.
Israel is warning civilians to evacuate whole neighbourhoods – rather than just individual buildings – in what could be a prelude to a ground offensive.
In Gaza, more than 250,000 people have fled their homes, the UN said, the most since a 2014 air and ground offensive by Israel uprooted about 400,000.
The vast majority are sheltering in schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Damage to three water and sanitation sites has cut off services to 400,000 people, the UN said.
— with files from Global’s Saba Aziz, Sean Previl and Mackenzie Gray, The Associated Press and Reuters