CHICAGO: The scale of humanitarian suffering in the Gaza Strip has reached unprecedented levels as Israeli airstrikes continue to lay waste to large swaths of the territory, according to Juliette Touma, director of communications for the UN Relief and Works Agency.

During an appearance on the Ray Hanania Radio Show, she painted a grim picture of the situation on the ground, saying: “UNRWA is overwhelmed at the moment in Gaza. The needs are growing by the hour. We do not have supplies. We do not have enough fuel to continue delivering assistance.”

GAZA: Israel is preparing a ground invasion of Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday while Israeli shelling killed more Palestinian civilians and international pressure grew to deliver aid and to safeguard hostages held by Hamas.
US President Joe Biden, in remarks looking beyond the war that broke out with an Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Hamas militants, said the future should include a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel should be integrated among its Arab neighbors, he said.

GAZA STRIP: With so many bodies, Palestinians in Gaza are burying the unidentified dead in mass graves, with a number instead of a name, residents say. Now some families are using bracelets in the hope of finding their loved ones should they be killed.

The El-Daba family has tried to reduce the risk of being struck down during the heaviest-ever Israeli bombardment of Gaza. 

Ali El-Daba, 40, said he had seen bodies ripped apart by the bombing and were unrecognizable.

He said he decided to divide his family to prevent them from all dying in a single strike. 

GAZA STRIP: Palestinian bride Suwar Safi was looking forward to wearing her white dress and sharing her life with Ahmed after their wedding, but instead she is living in a refugee camp after Israel launched airstrikes on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

“Everyone was telling me, it’s ok and to have faith, this is our destiny and we have to accept it,” she said, adding: “We did not get the chance to experience that joy.”

BEIRUT: Lebanon risks “plunging into the abyss” amid fears of a wider war over the Israel-Hamas conflict, a senior Lebanese business leader has warned.

Mohammed Choucair, head of the Federation of Chambers of Commerce, said that stockpiling of food is threatening supplies, while industrial activity in the country has been cut by more than a third because of a fall in domestic and international orders.