She has called for the envoy’s expulsion for as long as Israel ignores demands for a ceasefire | Israeli ambassador Dana Erlich “should no longer enjoy diplomatic status in Ireland," Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald said on Friday. McDonald’s party, which has deep historical ties to the Palestinian cause, has repeatedly condemned Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. 💬 "[The Israel Defence Forces] are engaged in a ferocious military offensive against a civilian population; breaking international law by targeting civilians, destroying civilian infrastructure, forcing mass population displacement and cutting off vital supplies of water, food, medicines and fuel,” McDonald told reporters. Erlich’s presence in Ireland has become “untenable,” McDonald continued, adding that the ambassador should “no longer enjoy diplomatic status in Ireland while Israel refuses the imperative for ceasefires and as the suffering and death toll grow.”

■ Turkey recalls ambassador from Israel for consultations over Gaza operation (TASS)
■ Erdoğan accuses Israel of committing crime against humanity
■ Türkiye crossed out Netanyahu, will bring Israel’s war crimes to ICC, says President Erdoğan
■ Oman calls for international court to investigate 'war crimes' by Israel in Gaza

#Watch | Footage shows sections of Al-Quds Hospital damaged after the Israeli occupation bombed the vicinity of the building in the #Gaza Strip. #GazaUnderAttack #Palestine pic.twitter.com/pzRyJDwCno

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 29, 2023

Secretary-General of the United Nations criticized the Israeli attack on an ambulance convoy in Gaza, stressing the need to stop the war. | Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said in a statement that he was "horrified" by the Israeli occupation's attack on an ambulance convoy in Gaza on Friday and that the war "must stop." The attack, said to have killed 15 people and injured over 60, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, occurred when one of its ambulances was attacked "by a missile fired by the Israeli forces" a short distance from the hospital's Gaza City gate.

■ Israel bombs Gaza medical convoy minutes after Blinken pressed for 'humanitarian pause' (The Cradle)
■ Biden unequivocally supportive of the Israeli occupation since day one (Al Mayadeen)
■ Over 9,488 martyrs; Gaza's health sector on the brink (Al Mayadeen)

On 7 October, the militant Palestinian group Hamas launched an attack on Israel from Gaza, breaching the border and unleashing brutal violence and a barrage of rockets. Israel responded with airstrikes, a blockade of Gaza, and a ground invasion of the enclave, home to more than two million people. | On 27 October, Israel launched a large-scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip to eliminate Hamas fighters and rescue hostages. The escalation of the conflict has resulted in the death of approximately 1,400 people in Israel and more than 9,000 in Gaza. ● On Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had hit the Jabalia camp in the Gaza Strip, adding that the civilian deaths were a result of the "tragedy of war". Gaza's Interior Ministry said at least 400 people had been killed or injured after Israeli airstrikes on the refugee camp. ● Earlier this week, Egypt opened the Rafah checkpoint to allow between 5,000 and 7,000 foreigners to leave the Gaza Strip under a deal announced on Wednesday.

■ 'Israel' deliberately targets journalists, killed 46 so far

West Jerusalem said it would not accept any criticism from Moscow | Israel has accused Russia of denying the country its right to “self-defense” after Moscow’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, criticized the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) over their ongoing military campaign in Gaza. ● West Jerusalem was “outraged” by the Russian diplomat’s statements, the Israeli Ynet news media outlet reported on Thursday, adding that relations between the two nations have been in decline amid the continued IDF operation in Gaza. ● On Wednesday, Nebenzia told an emergency session of the UN General Assembly that Israel could not cite self-defense as a reason for its invasion into Gaza, as it had no jurisdiction to operate in the enclave in the first place and was acting as an “occupying power” there.

■ Israel has no right to self-defense in current conflict — Russian UN envoy (11/02/23)
■ Relations with Russia are ‘normal’ – Israeli envoy (11/02/23)

Dmitry Medvedev | Interethnic peace, respect of different peoples and religious confessions, cohesion and unity in the face of a common enemy. These things have always been at the heart of the Russian state itself. Those wishing to sow evil and hatred, to divide people, and to tear the country apart have always been plentiful. Enemies have been attacking us for centuries, trying to destroy the Russian state from inside and outside. Only the age-old wisdom of our people - Orthodox, Muslims, Jews and Buddhists - did not allow, does not allow and will not allow evil to reign in our land. So let us win! Happy People's Unity Day! (DeepL.com)

■ Anti-Jewish rioters ‘pathetic cowardly animals’ – governor
■ Rioters should be ‘shot in the head’ – Chechen leader
■ Dozens arrested over anti-Jewish riot

Nebenzya also underscored that Russia recognizes Israel’s right to ensure its security, but "it could be fully guaranteed only in case of a fair resolution of the Palestinian problem based on recognized UN Security Council resolutions" | The right for self-defense in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict does not cover Israel, because it is an occupying state, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said, speaking at the UN General Assembly special session on Palestine. 💬 "I also cannot leave unmentioned the hypocrisy of the US and its allies, who in other, completely different situations call for compliance with humanitarian law, establish investigative commissions, impose sanctions against those who use force only as an extreme measure to stop the years-long violence," he noted. "And today, seeing the horrifying destruction in Gaza, which exceeds everything that they criticize in other regional contexts multifold - strikes at civilian facilities, death of thousands of children and horrifying suffering of civilians amid a total blockage, they play mum. All they can do is to keep saying about Israel’s alleged right for self-defense, which, as an occupying state, it does not have, as was confirmed by the [UN] International Court consultative ruling in 2004."