Gaza on trial
Live Reporting
Right groups, UN face obstruction in efforts to provide relief to Gaza
The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Muhannad Hadi has said the United Nations and humanitarian organisations face “continuous obstruction and insecurity in their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the devastated population in Gaza”, Al Jazeera reports.
Hadi cited an incident yesterday in which a team of twelve UN staff members, whose movement was coordinated with the Israeli military, was stopped on its way to North Gaza to support the third phase of the Gaza Strip-wide polio vaccination campaign.
Jordan, Turkey discuss efforts to stop Gaza bombardment
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan held talks on the sidelines of the 162nd regular session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the ministerial level in Cairo, a statement by the Jordanian foreign ministry has said.
According to Al Jazeera, a readout from the ministry said talks focused on the bombardment in Gaza and developments in the occupied West Bank, specifically “efforts aimed at stopping the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, ensuring the protection of civilians, and delivering sufficient and sustainable aid to all parts of the Strip”.
Israeli defence minister: close to completing Gaza missions, focus on north
Israeli forces are near to completing their mission in Gaza and their focus would be turning to the country’s northern border, with Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said, Reuters reports.
“The centre of gravity is moving northward, we are near to completing our tasks in the south, but our mission here is not yet done” Gallant told troops on Israel’s northern border, in a video sent by his office.
Israeli defence minister: close to completing Gaza missions, focus on north
Israeli forces are near to completing their mission in Gaza and their focus would be turning to the country’s northern border, with Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said, Reuters reports.
“The centre of gravity is moving northward, we are near to completing our tasks in the south, but our mission here is not yet done” Gallant told troops on Israel’s northern border, in a video sent by his office.
ICC prosecutor seeks to confirm death of Hamas leader Deif
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court are looking into the reported death of Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif and will withdraw their case against him if they can confirm it, legal filings made public showed, Reuters reports.
Deif, 58, was believed to be one of the masterminds of the Oct 7 assault on southern Israel which triggered the Gaza conflict, and since then had directed Hamas military operations against Israeli forces in the Palestinian enclave.
Israel said he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis on July 13. Hamas has neither neither confirmed nor denied that.
UK foreign secretary says ‘shocking’ strike in Gaza shows need for truce
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy voiced shock about a missile strike in a humanitarian zone in the Gaza Strip, saying it showed the urgent need for a ceasefire, AFP reports.
“We’re meeting at a critical moment — a critical moment for securing a ceasefire in Gaza, with the shocking deaths in Khan Yunis this morning only reinforcing how desperately needed that ceasefire is,” Lammy told a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
UN Middle East envoy condemns ‘deadly’ Israeli strike in Khan Younis
A United Nations envoy condemned an Israeli air strike on a humanitarian zone in besieged Gaza that the territory’s civil defence agency said killed 40 people, AFP reports.
“I strongly condemn today’s deadly air strikes by Israel on a densely populated area in an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in Khan Yunis where displaced people were sheltering,” the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, said in a statement.
Israel said it targeted a Hamas command centre, but Wennesland said international humanitarian law “must be upheld at all times”, while stressing that “civilians must never be used as human shields”.
HRW slams Israel's 'digital warfare'
Human Rights Watch has condemned the Israeli army’s extensive use of digital tools in its war in Gaza, saying it uses “faulty data and inexact approximations to inform military actions”.
The New York-based watchdog said surveillance technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and other digital tools help determine who or what to attack in Gaza and when, but rely on data collected through systematic Israeli surveillance of Gaza residents “in a manner that is incompatible with international human rights law”.
“The Israeli military’s use of these tools, instead of helping to provide more accurate targeting and minimise civilian loss of life and property, may be exacerbating the risk to civilians and raises grave ethical, legal, and humanitarian concerns,” it said.
Israel strikes vehicle in Lebanon’s Western Bekaa district
Two people have been wounded in an Israeli strike targeting a vehicle in Lebanon’s Western Bekaa district, according to local media.
Lebanon’s national news agency NNA reported that the aerial raid occurred close to the village of Saghbine.
Israel’s strikes have been largely confined to Lebanon’s southern border territories, but Hezbollah targets deep inside Lebanese territory have also been hit.
Heart goes out to survivors left in the wake of tragedy
Vascular surgeon Bara Zuhaili, who recently returned to the United States from Gaza, has described the effect that attacks such as the one on al-Mawasi have on civilians.
“When I hear of attacks such as this one, my heart goes out to those who survived,” Zuhaili told Al Jazeera.
The surgeon witnessed a similar strike on a tented encampment in Khan Younis which the Israelis claimed had been precise. At Nasser Hospital, he noticed a woman restlessly pacing in the emergency room and discovered she was moving between her six-year old daughter, who was dying of severe shrapnel wounds to her face, and her nine-year-old, who had both legs amputated.
“This young mother was torn both physically and mentally as she said goodbye to her daughter while trying to [be with] the other who was actively bleeding,” the doctor said.
“These are the kinds of stories we get in such attacks, while the media focus on the number of dead.”
Tragedy strikes as people 'buried in the sand' after al-Mawasi attack
Witnesses at the Khan Younis area have described chaotic scenes after the Israeli attack killed at least 40 people and wounded many more.
Attaf al-Shaar, who was displaced from the southern city of Rafah and present at the site of the attack, said the strike happened just after midnight and caused a fire.
“The people were buried in the sand. They were retrieved as body parts,” she told an Associated Press reporter.
Al-Mawasi has been crowded with Palestinians sleeping in tents since the Israeli army designated the coastal area a “safe zone” during its ground invasions of Khan Younis and nearby Rafah.
Border crossing reopens but commercial ties hang by a thread
The border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank – the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge – has reopened to travellers but remains closed to commercial activity, the Israel Airports Authority said.
The closure came after a shooting on Sunday when a Jordanian truck driver killed three Israeli guards at the cargo area of the crossing operated by Israel.
Israeli media said the authority’s move followed orders by security officials.
Gaza civil defence says 40 dead, dozens injured in Israeli strike on humanitarian zone
(AFP) – Gaza's civil defence agency said on Tuesday that an Israeli strike on a humanitarian zone in the south of the Palestinian territory killed 40 people and wounded 60 others, with the Israeli army saying it had targeted a Hamas command centre in the area.
The strike hit Al-Mawasi ?– ?in Gaza's main southern city of Khan Yunis ?– ?which was designated a safe zone by the Israeli military early in the war, with tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians seeking refuge there.
Polio vaccination in limbo as Israeli soldiers detain UN staff
The polio vaccination was supposed to start in north Gaza today, however, its status remains unclear as Israeli soldiers detained UN staff at gunpoint.
Besides, Israeli bulldozers damaged UN vehicles, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said.
Attack on tented encampment kills 40
An attack on a tented encampment by Israel forces in southern Gaza, near Khan Younis, led to the deaths of at least 40 people and wounded 60 others.
Israel’s military claimed that the attack was carried out to target a Hamas command centre.
UN convoy in Gaza released after being detained by Israel
UNITED NATIONS/ JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A convoy of United Nations vehicles and staff detained for more than eight hours by Israel in northern Gaza on Monday has been released, the head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said.
The Israeli military said on Monday it detained the convoy after receiving intelligence indicating that a number of "Palestinian suspects" were aboard and that it wanted to question them.
UN rights chief calls on states to challenge Israel over occupation
GENEVA (Reuters) - The UN human rights chief said on Monday (Sep 9) that ending the nearly year-long war in Gaza is a priority and he asked countries to act on what he called Israel's "blatant disregard" for international law in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Nearly 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza health officials, since Israel unleashed a military campaign in response to cross-border attacks by Hamas militants on Oct 7, 2023 in which 1,200 people were killed and a further 250 taken hostage.
The UN chief calls the death and destruction in Gaza the worst he's seen
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The UN chief said Monday (Sep 9) that the United Nations has offered to monitor any ceasefire in Gaza and demanded an end to the worst death and destruction he has seen in his more than seven-year tenure.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an interview with The Associated Press that it’s “unrealistic” to think the UN could play a role in Gaza’s future, either by administering the territory or providing a peacekeeping force, because Israel is unlikely to accept a UN role.
