- Health ministry says more than 260 people died in 24 hours; 1,873 kids killed in past fortnight
- Second convoy of 19 trucks carrying medical, food supplies enter Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing
GAZA/JERUSALEM: Scores of people rushed to Deir el-Balah hospital to identify bodies of their dear ones after Israel stepped up its air strikes on Gaza which the enclave’s health ministry described as one of the deadliest night with 266 Palestinians killed mostly in the southern part of the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours.
Israel’s military has warned Gaza residents that they risk being identified as accomplices “in a terrorist organisation” if they do not move south, Palestinians there said, amid growing humanitarian fears with little aid being allowed in.
Authorities said Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, has suffered most from one of the most intense nights of shelling since Israel started its bombardment on October 7.
More than 260 people died in 24 hours, according to the health ministry toll, which said 1,873 of those killed in the past fortnight were children.
At the hospital morgue in Deir el-Balah, bodies were everywhere. In the southern town of Khan Yunis, one strike on the Rio cafe killed 13 people.
The health ministry confirmed that at least 266 Palestinians killed in Gaza in past 24 hours. The officials Israeli forces have killed 266 Palestinians mostly in the southern part of the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, Al Jazeera quoted a health ministry spokesman as saying.
Dr Ashraf al-Qudra added that 117 of the victims were children.
10 hospitals non-operational in Gaza due to fuel shortages: health ministry
Ten hospitals in Gaza have become non-operational due to fuel shortage as Israeli continues its bombardment in the Palestinian enclave, Anadolu Agency quoted the enclave’s health ministry as saying.
It added that 23 ambulances were destroyed in bombardment.
12 displaced people at UN schools in Gaza killed since Oct 7
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has said 12 displaced people at its schools in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s bombardment of the besieged enclave since Oct 7. Nearly 180 people have been injured.
Palestinian death toll in occupied West Bank surges to 91
The total number of Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank since Oct 7 has risen to 91, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a statement shared by Anadolu Agency, the ministry said that the General Authority for Civil Affairs, the Palestinian Authority’s contact point with the Israeli side, informed it of the death of a citizen — the sixth — whose identity is yet to be confirmed.
The deaths came after “Israeli forces’ gunfire near Al-Arroub camp,” the ministry stated, adding that Israeli army “fired at the Palestinian at the entrance of the Al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron”.
Palestinian PM urges world to help stop attacks on Gaza
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has called on the international community to create a “united front” to stop Israel’s attacks in the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reports
“We place at the top of our priorities stopping the Israeli aggression … and bringing in medical and relief aid to prevent a major humanitarian catastrophe,” Shtayyeh said during a meeting with 25 ambassadors, representatives and consuls.
More than a million people lived in the north of the Gaza Strip, and hundreds of thousands have gone southwards to cram into temporary refuges despite unremitting air and artillery strikes also hitting the southern areas they have fled to.
The first limited supplies of aid arrived on Saturday after two weeks of a total Israeli siege, but relief agencies still warn of a humanitarian catastrophe, with hospitals nearly out of fuel to power incubators and other critical equipment.
Israeli forces readying a ground assault have pummelled the 45-km (28-mile) strip since Hamas militants rampaged through Israeli towns on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,400 people and seizing more than 200 hostages.
The Palestinian Red Crescent logistics head in Gaza, Mahmoud Abu al-Atta, said truckloads of aid had been handed to specific agencies including UNICEF and the Qatari Red Crescent.
Second convoy of aid trucks entered Rafah border crossing
On the other hand, a second convoy of aid trucks entered the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on Sunday, heading towards the Gaza Strip, according to Egyptian security and humanitarian sources at Rafah.
A total of around 19 trucks carrying medical and food supplies had been inspected by UNRWA, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, the sources said.
The first convoy of 20 trucks of badly needed supplies entered Gaza on Saturday.
Israel imposed a total blockade and launched air strikes on Gaza in response to a deadly attack on Israeli soil by Hamas on Oct. 7. The Rafah crossing had been out of operation since shortly afterwards, and bombardments on the Gaza side had damaged roads and buildings.
UN officials say a higher continuous pace of at least 100 trucks a day would be required in Gaza to cover urgent needs. Before the outbreak of the most recent conflict, several hundred trucks had been arriving in the enclave daily.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths told Reuters on Saturday that work was underway to develop a “light” inspection system, whereby Israel could check the shipments but ensure a sustained flow.
Hamas says destroyed Israeli tank, 2 bulldozers in Gaza
Hamas’ armed wing has said that it had destroyed an Israeli tank and two bulldozers in an ambush east of the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a brief statement shared by Anadolu Agency, the Palestinian resistance group’s Al-Qassam Brigades said its “fighters engaged an armoured Israeli force in a well-prepared ambush to the east of Khan Yunis, just moments after it crossed the border by a few meters”.
“The fighters bravely engaged with the infiltrating force, destroyed two bulldozers and a tank, compelling the force to withdraw, and they returned to their bases safely,” the statement further noted.
Israel defence minister says war could last months
Israel’s defence minister has said the war against Hamas could take “months” but insisted it would be the last against the group.
“It will take one month, two months, three months, and at the end there will be no more Hamas,” Yoav Gallant said at an air force base whose location was not given by the defence ministry.
“Before Hamas makes contact with our tanks and our infantry, they will know the shells from our air force,” he said, adding that Israel’s fighter jets “know how to make this precise, qualitative and mortal”.
“This should be the last war in Gaza, for the simple reason that there will be no more Hamas,” Gallant said.
‘Israeli soldier killed during raid in Gaza’
An Israeli soldier has been killed by an anti-tank missile during a raid into the Gaza Strip, the military said.
Israeli troops have been conducting raids across the border, which the military says are meant to clear the area and gather intelligence about missing people and captives being held by Hamas in the enclave.
“An IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldier was killed, one was moderately injured, and two were lightly injured as a result of an anti-tank missile launched toward an IDF tank and an engineering vehicle,” the military said.
Netanyahu says French, Dutch leaders to visit Israel this week
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will visit Israel this week, Reuters reports.
Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the two leaders “will arrive on Monday and Tuesday” and meet with him.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a meeting with US President Joe Biden. — Reuters
More WHO aid arrives in Gaza via Egypt
The World Health Organisation has confirmed that more supplies for Palestinians have entered the Gaza Strip through Rafah crossing. The aid includes surgical interventions for 1,300 people, basic health services for 100,000 people for three months and treatment for 150,000 chronic disease patients.
The WHO chief reiterated that ceasefire plea to end ‘unbearable suffering’ in Gaza.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated the plea for ceasefire in Gaza “to end the unbearable suffering endured by all those living and serving” in the besieged enclave.
Fuel ‘critically low’ in Gaza, says UNRWA director
“No fuel is coming into Gaza. Fuel is really critical now, we need it coming in to keep aid operations going,” Thomas White, of UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees, has said.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, he said visuals of aid trucks on television which appear to look like fuel trucks do contain fuel that UNRWA is moving internally between depots.
Israeli military says mistakenly hit Egyptian position near Gaza border
Israeli military has said that one of its tanks accidentally hit an Egyptian position near the border with the Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.
“The incident is being investigated and the details are under review. The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) expresses sorrow regarding the incident,” it said in a statement, giving no further details.
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes at the border with Egypt, as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, as seen from Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. — Reuters
Egypt army reports ‘minor injuries’ in accidental Israeli shelling
Egypt’s military spokesman has said an unspecified number of border guards sustained “minor injuries” from “fragments of a shell accidentally fired from an Israeli tank”.
The Egyptian army said Israel “immediately expressed its regret over the unintentional incident and an investigation is underway”.
Must make sure Israel have what they need to protect their people, says Biden
US President Joe Biden, in a post on X, has said that the US government must make sure Israel’s military “have what they need” to protect themselves.
“Israel has the right to defend itself. We must make sure they have what they need to protect their people today and always,” he said, adding that Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu must operate by the laws of war.
“We can’t ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians who only want to live in peace. That’s why I secured an agreement for the first shipment of humanitarian assistance for Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” he added.
Meanwhile, The US State Department has warned its citizens against travelling to Iraq after recent attacks on American troops and personnel in the region.
The travel advisory says, “Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest, and Mission Iraq’s limited capacity to provide support to US citizens.”
The advisory followed the ordered departure of eligible family members and non-emergency US government personnel from US Embassy Baghdad and US Consulate General Erbil “due to increased security threats against US personnel and interests,” the State Department said in a statement.
The statement added that anti-U.S. militias “threaten US citizens and international companies” throughout Iraq.
‘We just work with bare minimum’
Moen, an ambulance driver in Gaza, describes how it is work with the “bare minimum” and doing the best with what is available.
“The general situation is very very difficult here. Most or the majority of casualties are civilians especially children, women, elderly and sick,” he says, adding that there is no electricity or water in the besieged enclave.
Palestinian writer Mariam Barghouti has said Israeli military invasion and “uncontrolled settler violence” is escalating in the occupied West Bank.
She lamented the world’s denial and “dehumanisation of Palestinians”, saying: “What is happening to us is genocidal. It is ethnic cleansing.”
‘Fuel missing from humanitarian aid’
The most important commodity fuel is missing from the second convoy of 17 trucks entering Gaza, UN’s Palestine refugee agency Director Thomas White has said.
“The key commodity for us right now is fuel. The commodities that are coming in are important – food and medicine — but they don’t include fuel,” he told Al Jazeera.
“This fuel runs desalination plants to provide drinkable water, provides food [by powering] bakeries, allows hospitals to keep running and for our big logistics operations here, it fuels our cars and generators,” White added.
Pope Francis calls for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza
Pope Francis has pleaded for an end to the Palestine-Israeli conflict amid fears it could widen and called for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into to the Gaza Strip, AFP reports.
“War is always a defeat, it is a destruction of human fraternity. Brothers, stop! Stop!” Francis said after his traditional Angelus prayer in Rome’s Saint Peter’s Square.
“I renew my call for spaces to be opened, for humanitarian aid to continue to arrive and for hostages to be freed,” the 86-year-old pontiff said.
US ‘won’t hesitate’ to act in case of Middle East conflict escalation: Austin
The United States will take “appropriate action” in response to any escalation in the Middle East of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said, AFP reports.
“If any group or any country is looking to widen this conflict and take advantage of this very unfortunate situation that we see, our advice is: don’t,” he told ABC News, hours after the Pentagon announced it was increasing its military presence in the region.
“We maintain the right to defend ourselves and we won’t hesitate to take the appropriate action,” Austin added.
China says force ‘not way’ to resolve Israeli-Palestinian conflict
China believes “force is not a way to resolve” the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is once again calling for a ceasefire, its envoy for the Middle East pleaded in Egypt, according to the foreign ministry.
Beijing’s envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, met Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit on the sidelines of the summit.
The Chinese diplomat called for an “immediate ceasefire and an end to the fighting as quickly as possible”, his ministry said in a statement.
“China believes that force is not a way to resolve the problem and that responding to violence with violence will only lead to a vicious circle of revenge,” Zhai said.
17 trucks carrying aid enter war-torn Gaza from Egypt
For the second day in a row, trucks carrying aid crossed the Rafah border passage from Egypt into the besieged and heavily bombarded Gaza Strip, AFP correspondents report.
Today’s humanitarian consignment comes a day after 20 trucks carried medical aid, food and water into the Palestinian enclave.
The United Nations has estimated about 100 trucks per day are needed to meet the needs of Gaza, where over 4,600 people have been killed under Israeli air strikes and over a million people have been displaced.
UN agency in Gaza says will run out of fuel in 3 days
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said it would run out of fuel in Gaza within three days.
“No fuel will further strangle the children, women and people of Gaza,” it said in a statement. UNRWA urged all parties and those with influence to immediately allow fuel supplies into the Palestinian enclave and ensure that fuel is strictly used to prevent a collapse of humanitarian response.
Situation is ‘catastrophic, catastrophic, catastrophic’, says UNRWA official
The director of Gaza Training College in Khan Younis, Rawya Halas, has said in the situation in the Palestinian enclave is “catastrophic, catastrophic, catastrophic”.
“The situation we are in now is unprecedented and cannot be described with words. No words in the world can describe the situation we are in,” she said in a post on X.
“I beg you, save Gaza. It’s dying, it’s dying, it’s dying. There are children, elderly and adults for whom I cannot provide. I am the UNRWA. I am the head of this shelter, and I can’t offer them anything. Neither food nor water. There is nothing, nothing,” she said.
29 UNRWA officials killed in Gaza since Oct 7
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has said 29 of its officials have been killed in the Israeli bombardment in Gaza since October 7.
“We are in shock and mourning,” it said, adding that half of the slain workers were teachers. “As an Agency, we are devastated. We are grieving with each other and with the families,” UNRWA added.
Iran warns Israel, US region risks getting ‘out of control’
Iran’s foreign minster has warned Israel and its ally the United States that the Middle East risks spiralling out of control as a result of Israel’s war on Hamas, AFP reports.
“I warn the US and its proxy (Israel)… that if they do not immediately stop the crime against humanity and genocide in Gaza, anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at a joint news conference in Tehran with his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor.
Death toll in Gaza rises to 4,651: health ministry
The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza since Oct 7 has increased to 4,651, which includes 1,873 women and 1,023 women, the healthy ministry has said.
It added that the 14,245 people have been injured in the attacks.
120 incubator babies at risk after Israel cuts Gaza fuel: UN
The lives of at least 120 newborn babies in incubators in war-torn Gaza’s hospitals are at risk as fuel runs out in the besieged enclave, the UN children’s agency has said.
“We have currently 120 neonates who are in incubators, out of which we have 70 neonates with mechanical ventilation, and of course, this is where we are extremely concerned,” Unicef spokesman Jonathan Crickx told AFP.
“If they (babies) are put in mechanical ventilation incubators, by definition, if you cut the electricity, we are worried about their lives,” he said.
Gaza’s health ministry said a day earlier that 130 premature babies were in danger of dying due to the lack of fuel. Around 160 women give birth each day in Gaza, according to the UN Population Fund, which estimates there are 50,000 pregnant women across the territory of 2.4 million people.
Israel expands evacuations as Lebanon border clashes escalate
Israel has expanded planned evacuations of communities on its northern front with Lebanon on Sunday as cross-border clashes with fighters from Lebanese group Hezbollah have intensified, Reuters reports.
After enacting a plan last week to move residents out of 28 border-area villages, and the nearby town of Kiryat Shmona, with state-funded temporary accommodation, the Defence Ministry said it was adding 14 communities to the evacuation list.
Hezbollah and Israel have been trading fire at the frontier with increasing frequency.
Israeli air strikes kill two workers at Syria’s Damascus airport: official
At least two workers have been killed “as a result of Israeli bombardment targeting Syria’s Damascus airport at dawn,” Syria’s general directorate of meteorology said in a statement.
According to Reuters, the two workers who were killed were from the meteorology service and based at the airport, the agency said.
Cathay Pacific cancels flights
Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific said that it was cancelling all flights between the city and Tel Aviv until the end of the year over the Israel-Hamas conflict, AFP reports.
“In view of the ongoing situation in Israel, all Cathay Pacific flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv from today up to and including December 31, 2023 will be cancelled,” the airline said in a statement on its website.
It also urged its customers to continue to check its flight information and announcements for updates on departures beyond December 31.
Turkey sends humanitarian aid plane to Egypt for Gaza
Turkey sent a plane with a medical team and supplies to Egypt carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, Reuters reports.
“Our plane took off to help Gaza. The presidential plane filled with medicine and medical supplies, carrying 20 specialist doctors, departed from Ankara to Egypt,” Koca said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The footage shared by the minister showed boxes marked with their contents being loaded onto a Turkish presidential plane.
Qatar sends two aid planes for Gaza Strip
Two planes carrying 87 tonnes of food and medical aid to the Gaza Strip from Qatar have headed to Egyptian city of al-Arish, Qatar’s foreign ministry has said.
“This aid is part of Qatar’s support for the Palestinian people amid the difficult humanitarian conditions due to the Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip,” it stated.
Israel says it has confirmed 212 people held hostage in Gaza
Israel has confirmed that 212 people are being held hostage in Gaza, the military spokesperson said, adding that Israeli strikes overnight killed dozens of Palestinian fighters, including the deputy chief of Hamas rocket forces, Reuters reports.
On the northern front, Israel has been attacking fighters trying to fire missiles in across the Lebanese border and struck a site in Lebanon from where a missile was fired at an Israeli aircraft, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a briefing.
