Israel kills 5 journalists in 24 hours in Gaza; toll mounts to 158

The Palestinian Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip says at least 30 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the northern Gaza Strip city of Jabalia and its refugee camp Friday.

The agency’s spokesman Mahmud Bassal said the Israeli regime targeted Jabalia before 9:40 p.m. local time (1840 GMT) and left “12 dead, including women and children” in the city.

Bassal added that 14 people were still missing and likely trapped under the rubble.

Before that incident, Ahmad al-Kahlut, the director of the agency in northern Gaza, said 18 people had been killed by several Israeli strikes, including hits on “eight schools” in the camp that were serving as shelters for displaced Palestinian people.

The day’s aggression left at least 110 injured, according to figures provided by Bassal and Kahlut.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly warned against Israel’s fresh round of aggression on the Gaza Strip’s northern areas, home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians having sought refuge from the regime’s year-long genocide in the south.

The Israeli regime announced earlier in the week that one of its largest forced displacement orders since October last year, calling for the expulsion of 37 neighborhoods across northern Gaza, which targets over 400,000 Palestinians in the entirety of the blockaded area.

In a statement, the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, said the Israeli regime’s forced expulsion orders in the northern Gaza Strip were turning the war-ravaged besieged area into a “lifeless desert.”

The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor also warned earlier that the Israeli regime was subjecting the northern part of the Gaza Strip to “one of the most violent campaigns of genocide.”

The aggression comes as part of the regime’s October 7, 2023-present war on the coastal sliver, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 42,000 people and wounded over 97,500 others, most of them women and children.

Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have since been displaced and humanitarian conditions have deteriorated sharply.

Israel’s expulsion plan ‘could last several months’

An Israeli report based on conversations with military officials said the regime is enacting a plan that will effectively ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population in northern Gaza after a siege that could last months.

Conceived by retired Major-General Giora Eiland, the plan aims to empty northern Gaza of its 400,000 residents to make way for a “closed military zone.”

“The general’s plan,” which was launched in an Israeli TV campaign in September, called for the ethnic cleansing of northern Gaza, warning that those that remain will face starvation.

“The right thing to do is to inform the approximately 300,000 residents who remained in the northern Gaza Strip… we are ordering you to leave,” Eiland said last month.

“In a week, the entire territory of the northern Gaza Strip will become military territory.”

According to a report published on Friday in the Israeli daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the occupation is now implementing a “scaled-down” version of the plan in the Jabalia refugee camp.

Even though the “general’s plan” aims to create conditions to force the population in Jabalia and nearby Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahia to flee south, most people have refused to leave their homes so far, the report added.

Hamas ‘remains steadfast’ in face of Jabalia aggression

Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishq said on Friday that the Gaza-based resistance movement “remains steadfast” in the face of the Israeli aggression on the Jabalia refugee camp, which has continued for the past six days.

“Our people’s choice will always remain … steadfastness on the ground, resilience, and resistance against the occupation’s aggression,” Rishq said in a statement.

He characterized the Israeli actions as akin to “Nazi terrorism,” highlighting that “since Oct. 7 of last year, the Israeli army has engaged in various forms of aggression against Palestinians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and [al-Quds] without achieving any of its violent objectives.”

“Those who hold firmly to their land and defend their rights will have the final word, while this fascist enemy will only reap further disappointment, failure, and defeat, despite international silence and complicity,” he added.

The international charity Save the Children has described the conditions in Gaza as akin to the “depths of hell,” saying the aggression on the besieged territory is in fact a “war on children” as nowhere is safe.

The Middle East regional director for Save the Children, Jeremy Stoner, in a statement on Monday said, “What we’re seeing now in Gaza looks like the depths of hell with reports day after day of attacks on children and families. Nowhere is safe.”

The British NGO issued a grave warning about the escalating crisis in Gaza, stating that “evacuation orders” could soon turn into “execution orders” as children face severe deprivation of essential resources for survival.

Stoner made the remarks while explaining about the dire humanitarian situation across Gaza. He noted that in the north of Gaza Strip, a desperate population has been deprived of food for two weeks, trapped in a perilous kill zone while trying to escape relentless bombings and gunfire.

Meanwhile, in the south, where families from the north sought refuge, Israeli airstrikes have ignited a devastating fire that is engulfing Al-Aqsa Hospital and surrounding tents, with reports of rescuers discovering the remains of burned victims.

“Never has it been clearer that this is a war on children, their protection only upheld if they’re deemed a risk to those beyond their borders,” the statement said.

It added that Save the Children begun a second round of polio vaccines for children in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza , as "children face bombs and fire just 500 meter away."

Elsewhere in his remarks, Stoner underlined the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and said that the absence of a ceasefire means that vaccinations for children merely delay their suffering instead of eliminating it.

“Without immediate international action, children and families across the Gaza Strip face a death sentence – today, tomorrow, in a week, in a month, by bombs, bullets, fire, disease or starvation. Anywhere, any time,” he said.

Stoner further raised concerns about humanity's moral compass, arguing those with the power and legal responsibility to intervene in this violence opt to remain passive, regretting that some member states have only responded by supplying weapons used to kill children and burn patients and families in hospitals and tents.

“Gaza is what can happen without the rules of war. Except there are rules – for parties to the conflict, and for the international community – which are not being respected,” the NGO said.

The Israeli aggression against Gaza which began in October last year has so far 42,289 people. Over 98,689 Gazans have also been injured since then.

Mumbai: The final rites of Ratan Naval Tata - the industrialist with a heart of gold - were performed with full State honours at a Mumbai crematorium this afternoon.

Home Minister Amit Shah was among the many high-profile dignitaries on hand to pay their final respects to Mr Tata; he stands in for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is en route to Laos to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits. Mr Modi last night hailed Mr Tata as a "an extraordinary human being".

Mr Shah was accompanied by Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

Earlier today  Ratan Tata lay in state, wrapped in the national flag, at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Nariman Point, before his body was transported to the crematorium in Worli, a distance of 12 km.

Thousands lined the streets to bid goodbye to one of their own, an unassuming Mumbai-born and bred 'chhotu' who transformed the Tata brand into a global powerhouse.

And the country's most powerful politicians were joined by its most influential celebrities - actors and sportspersons - and the country's richest, including the Ambanis and the Adanis, in paying their respects.

Maharashtra has announced a day of mourning as a mark of respect for a business leader and philanthropist admired in India and abroad for his simplicity, sincerity, and humanity.

Ratan Tata's contributions to the industrial and development sectors, to the economy and to the lives of tens of thousands of men and women, are too many to count.

Some, perhaps, deserve mention, such as the 'revenge' purchase of luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, which heralded India's arrival on the global automotive stage, and his commitment to the welfare of dogs, exemplified by the ₹ 165 crore hospital in Mumbai.

But his death unquestionably marks the end of an era; he was, perhaps, the last of his kind, someone who, despite fabulous privilege, never appeared to flaunt his wealth.

Indeed, Mr Tata could never be found on a list of billionaires simply because he donated the vast majority - 60 to 65 per cent, if some sources are to be believed - of his income.

Ratan Tata died at Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital late last night at the age of 86.

He was admitted Monday but, as was his nature, played down any fuss, declaring he was undergoing routine age-related medical check-ups. "There is no cause for concern. Thank you for thinking of me..."

Hours later, just as discreetly and quietly, the Tata family broke the news.

"It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation," the group's Chairperson, N Chandrasekaran, said.

As the news spread the outpouring of grief underlined Mr Tata's stature, but it was a fellow industrial titan, Anand Mahindra, who best captured the emotions of 145 crore Indians.

"I am unable to accept..." he said.