Thousands loot UN aid warehouses in Gaza as death toll tops 8,000 and Israel widens ground offensive
Deir Al Balah (Gaza Strip) (AP): The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza says over 8,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out on October 7.
It said on Sunday that the toll has risen to 8,005 Palestinians, including more than 3,300 minors and over 2,000 women.
The Health Ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but includes doctors and veteran civil servants who are not affiliated with the group. Its tolls from previous wars have held up to UN scrutiny, independent investigations and even Israel's tallies.
The ministry released detailed records last week showing the names, ages and ID numbers of most of the deaths it has recorded, saying some bodies have not yet been identified.
More than 1,400 people have been killed on the Israeli side, the vast majority civilians killed by Hamas in its bloody October 7 incursion into Israel.
Thousands of people broke into aid warehouses in Gaza to take flour and basic hygiene products, a UN agency said on Sunday, in a mark of growing desperation and the breakdown of public order three weeks into the war between Israel and Gaza's militant Hamas rulers.
Tanks and infantry pushed into Gaza over the weekend as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a "second stage" in the war, three weeks after Hamas launched a brutal incursion into Israel. The widening ground offensive came as Israel also pounded the territory from air, land and sea.
The bombardment described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday, largely cutting off the besieged enclave's 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to much of Gaza early Sunday.
The Israeli military said on Sunday it had struck over 450 militant targets over the past 24 hours, including Hamas command centres, observation posts and anti-tank missile launching positions. It said more ground forces were sent into Gaza overnight.
Thomas White, Gaza for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said the warehouse break-ins were "a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza. People are scared, frustrated and desperate", he said.
UNRWA provides basic services to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza. Its schools across the territory have been transformed into packed shelters housing Palestinians displaced by the conflict. Israel has allowed only a small trickle of aid to enter from Egypt, some of which was stored in one of the warehouses that was broken into, UNRWA said.
Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the agency, said the crowds broke into four facilities on Saturday. She said the warehouses did not contain any fuel, which has been in critically short supply since Israel cut off all shipments after the start of the war.
Residents living near Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest, meanwhile said Israeli airstrikes overnight hit near the hospital complex and blocked many roads leading to it. Israel accuses Hamas of having a secret command post beneath the hospital, without providing much evidence.
Tens of thousands of civilians are sheltering in Shifa, which is also packed with patients wounded in the strikes.
"Reaching the hospital has become increasingly difficult," Mahmoud al-Sawah, who is sheltering in the hospital, said over the phone. "It seems they want to cut off the area." Another Gaza City resident, Abdallah Sayed, said the Israeli bombing over the past two days was "the most violent and intense" since the war started.
The army recently released computer-generated images showing what it said were Hamas installations in and around Shifa Hospital, as well as interrogations of captured Hamas fighters who might have been speaking under duress. Israel has made similar claims before, but has not substantiated them.
Little is known about Hamas' tunnels and other infrastructure, and the claims could not be independently verified. Hamas' government denied the allegations and said they were aimed at justifying future strikes on the facility.
The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said another Gaza City hospital received two calls from Israeli authorities on Sunday ordering it to evacuate. It said airstrikes have hit as close as 50 metres (yards) from the Al-Quds Hospital, where 12,000 people are sheltering.
Israel had ordered the hospital to evacuate more than a week ago, but it and other medical facilities have refused, saying it would mean death for patients on ventilators.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest evacuation order or the strikes near Shifa.
Israel says most residents have heeded its orders to flee to the southern part of the besieged territory, but hundreds of thousands remain in the north, in part because Israel has also bombarded targets in so-called safe zones.
An Israeli airstrike hit a two-story house in the southern city of Khan Younis on Sunday, killing at least 13 people, including 10 from one family. The bodies were brought to the nearby Nasser Hospital, according to an Associated Press journalist at the scene.
The escalation has meanwhile ratcheted up domestic pressure on Israel's government to secure the release of some 230 hostages seized in the October 7 rampage, when Hamas fighters from Gaza breached Israel's defences and stormed into nearby towns, gunning down civilians and soldiers in a surprise attack.
Desperate family members met with Netanyahu on Saturday and expressed support for an exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
Hamas' top leader in Gaza, Yehia Sinwar, said Palestinian militants "are ready immediately" to release all hostages if Israel releases all of the thousands of Palestinians held in its prisons. Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, dismissed the offer as "psychological terror".
Netanyahu told the nationally televised news conference that Israel is determined to bring back all the hostages, and maintained that the expanding ground operation "will help us in this mission".
He said he couldn't reveal everything that is being done due to the sensitivity and secrecy of the efforts.
"This is the second stage of the war, whose objectives are clear: to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and bring the hostages home," he said in his first time taking questions from journalists since the war began.
Netanyahu also acknowledged that the October 7 "debacle", in which more than 1,400 people were killed, would need a thorough investigation, adding that "everyone will have to answer questions, including me".
The Israeli military said it was gradually expanding its ground operations inside Gaza, while stopping short of calling it an all-out invasion. Casualties on both sides are expected to rise sharply as Israeli forces and Palestinian militants battle in dense residential areas.
Despite the Israeli offensive, Palestinian militants have continued firing rockets into Israel, with the constant sirens in southern Israel a reminder of the threat.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza rose Saturday to just over 7,700 people since the war began, with 377 deaths reported since late Friday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Most of those killed have been women and minors, the ministry said.
An estimated 1,700 people remain trapped beneath the rubble, according to the Health Ministry, which has said it bases its estimates on distress calls it received.
Israel says its strikes target Hamas fighters and infrastructure and that the militants operate among civilians, putting them in danger.
More than 1.4 million people across Gaza have fled their homes, nearly half crowding into UN schools and shelters, following repeated warnings by the Israeli military that they would be in danger if they remained in northern Gaza.
Gaza's sole power plant shut down shortly after the start of the war, and Israel has allowed no fuel to enter, saying Hamas would use it for military purposes.
Hospitals are struggling to keep emergency generators running to operate incubators and other life-saving equipment, and the UN agency for Palestinian refugees is also trying to keep water pumps and bakeries running to meet essential needs.
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NADA suspends Bajrang Punia for four years for violation of anti-doping code
New Delhi, Nov 26: The National Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday suspended Bajrang Punia for four years for his refusal to provide his sample for dope test on March 10 during selection trials for the national team.
NADA had first suspended the Tokyo Games bronze medallist wrestler on April 23 for the offence following which, the World Governing body UWW had also suspended him.
Bajrang had appealed against the provisional suspension and NADA’s Anti-Disciplinary Doping panel (ADDP) had revoked it on May 31 till NADA issues the notice of charge.
NADA, then on June 23 served the notice to the wrestler.
Bajrang, who joined Congress along with fellow wrestler Vinesh Phogat and was given charge of All India Kisan Congress, had challenged the charge on July 11 in a written submission following which hearings were held on September 20 and October 4.
"The Panel holds that the Athlete is liable for sanctions under Article 10.3.1 and liable for ineligibility for a period of 4 years," the ADDP said in its order.
The suspension means that Bajrang will not be able to return to competitive wrestling and apply for a coaching job abroad, if he aspires to.
"In the present case, since the Athlete had been provisionally suspended, the Panel accordingly holds that the Athlete’s period of his ineligibility for the period of 4 years shall commence from the date on which the notification was sent, i.e., 23.04.2024.
"Needless to say that on account of the lifting of the provisional suspension for the period from 31.05.2024 to 21.06.2024 shall not be credited into the total period of ineligibility of four years."
Bajrang has maintained since the beginning that he was given extremely prejudicial and unfair treatment with respect to doping control because of his involvement in the protest against former WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Bajrang also maintained that he never refused to give sample but only demanded to know NADA’s response to his email where he sought answer why expired kits were sent to take his samples in December 2023.
NADA also explained the reason for its action, saying that the Chaperone/DCO had duly approached him and informed that he was required to provide a urine sample for dope analysis purposes.
Bajrang in his written submission said that the conduct of NADA in two previous instances had created mistrust in the athlete's mind, especially with NADA failing to acknowledge or even respond to their callous approach towards the doping control process in both such instances, the failure to take responsibility for their action pertaining to their dispersal of duties meant that the athlete was morally bound to take a stance in resort as a senior athlete who holds a voice in the sporting community.
Bajrang also said "it was not an outright refusal per se. The athlete was always willing to provide his sample provided that he first received a response from NADA concerning the use of expired kits."
However NADA said, "the outright refusal by the athlete to provide urine sample for the dope test was intentional and deliberate" and that "Athlete has demonstrated utter disregard towards his duties and responsibilities as per Articles 20.1 & 20.2 of the Anti Doping Rules, 2021."
