Displaced Palestinians flee
northern Gaza [Mahmoud Issa/Reuters]
- The Israeli army is mobilising near the heart of Gaza City, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians onto coastal roads in a bid to drive them out of the Strip’s main urban centre.
- People in besieged Gaza City tell Al Jazeera about nonstop attacks including strikes by drones and fighter jets and blasts from remote-controlled robots, with the Israeli military blowing up entire neighbourhoods as it advances.
- The United States vetoes a crucial UN Security Council resolution demanding an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza that was approved by 14 of the 15 member states.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,141 people and wounded 165,925 since October 2023. Thousands more are believed to be buried under the rubble. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7 attacks, and about 200 were taken captive.
A senior Austrian official has denounced cultural boycotts as “dumb and pointless” after several countries said they would shun next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna if Israel participates.
Spain said this week it would boycott the world’s largest live televised music event if Israel took part, and Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have made similar threats.
Austrian singer JJ won the competition’s 2025 edition in May in Switzerland, securing Vienna the right to host next year’s show.
“Cultural boycotts are dumb and pointless, they don’t get us anywhere,” Sepp Schellhorn, a senior foreign ministry official, told Austria’s Kurier daily in an interview published on Thursday.
The foreign ministry confirmed his comments on Friday.
Schellhorn said that he and the foreign minister would send a letter to European counterparts to discourage any such moves.
People fleeing Gaza City day and night with nowhere safe to go, UNRWA says
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said people in Gaza City are being forced to flee day and night as Israel’s assault intensifies, with nowhere safe to go.
The agency warned that most shelters are at full capacity, some families are sleeping outdoors or in unsafe areas, and shelter supplies have been banned from entering Gaza for nearly seven months as a brutal aid blockade persists.
Fuel is scarce, spaces are overcrowded, and after nearly two years of war, many people have no income, UNRWA said.
“Let us bring in our aid,” it said.
Israeli forces kill 36 people across Gaza since dawn
At least 36 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Strip since dawn, including 19 people in Gaza City, medical sources tell Al Jazeera.
Today’s death toll also includes two aid seekers who were killed by the Israeli military in southern Gaza.
Israeli forces raid Palestinian towns in occupied West Bank
Several Palestinians suffered tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces stormed the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.
Witnesses said the raid involved heavy gunfire and tear gas, which led to multiple cases of suffocation.
Soldiers also raided the city of Tubas with several military vehicles, spreading across several neighbourhoods as confrontations broke out.
Israeli forces regularly raid Palestinian towns and villages, often arresting, wounding, or even killing residents, and damaging infrastructure.
Recognising Palestinian statehood has wide support in the UK, survey shows
YouGov, a UK-based public opinion and data company, says its data shows that public support for the recognition of a Palestinian state continues to outweigh opposition.
A survey conducted on 17-18 September among 2,077 adults in the UK found that 44 percent say the British government should recognise a Palestinian state, while only 18 percent oppose it, with 37 percent undecided.
The figures represent a limited swing away from recognition since June last year, when 47 percent of those surveyed backed statehood while 12 percent were opposed, according to YouGov.
Support is especially high among Green (68 percent), Labour (62 percent) and Liberal Democrat (60 percent) voters, it added.
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