Gaza Crisis
Live Reporting
UN Security Council needs to be reformed: Erdogan
Turkey’s President Erdogan has called for the UN Security Council to be reformed, decrying the fact that the US could veto a ceasefire proposal for Gaza despite huge support from other countries, Al Jazeera reports.
“The United Nations Security Council demand for a ceasefire is rejected only by US veto. Is this justice?” Erdogan said at a human rights conference in Istanbul. “The UN Security Council needs to be reformed.”
Turkey’s Erdogan denounces UN ‘Israel protection council’
(AFP ) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has denounced the UN Security Council after the United States vetoed a ceasefire resolution for Gaza, describing the international body as the “Israel protection council.
“Since October 7, the security council has become an Israel protection and defence council,” Erdogan said.
US is left alone on Gaza issue after veto at UN: Turkey’s FM
(Reuters) - The United States’ veto of a proposed United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was a “complete disappointment,” Turkey’s ministry of foreign affairs has said.
“Our friends once again expressed that America is now alone on this issue, especially in the voting held at the United Nations today,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in an interview with state broadcaster TRT on Friday.
Intensified fighting across Gaza as U.S. vetoes ceasefire
GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel pounded the Gaza Strip from north to south on Saturday in an expanded phase of its two-month-old war against Hamas, after the United States wielded its U.N. Security Council veto to shield its ally from a global demand for a ceasefire.
Thirteen of the Security Council's 15 members voted for the resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that was blocked by Washington. Britain abstained.
Biden administration needs to ‘shift language’ on Gaza
The Biden administration faces a dilemma as domestic pressure, particularly from a majority of Americans advocating for a Gaza ceasefire, increases, analyst Dalia Fahmy has said.
“He (Biden) needs the votes of young people in order to counter the increasing promise that former President Donald Trump is offering to a large part of the electorate,” the professor from Long Island University told Al Jazeera.
“The president does have to shift his language. We’ve seen a slight shift, but yesterday’s (US veto of UNSC resolution) was a glaring reality check that it’s not necessarily the real change people are looking for.”
Fahmy noted that while the Arab and Muslim American communities helped Biden secure several swing states in the 2020 election, today many were not willing to support him in his 2024 bid amid the US’ backing of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Terror in Gaza amid Israeli communications blackouts
A few days after Israel declared war on Gaza, an air strike on Rimal took out the telecommunications company Etisalat’s network in central Gaza, causing a significant internet outage across the city and leaving many of the Strip’s inhabitants with only what data remained on their phones.
As the war raged on, the communications blackout became a source of intense anxiety for the hundreds and thousands of people like her across the strip as well as their families, friends and colleagues scattered across the globe.
The Israeli army has called on civilians in the north of the Strip to evacuate to “known shelters” west of Gaza City. It also said that fighting in the south continues, but that civilians can pass through a road west of Khan Younis.
There is also going to be a four-hour “tactical suspension of military activities” in certain areas of the southern city of Rafah, it added in a message on X.
Instructions from the Israeli army have generated chaos and fear among civilians who have repeatedly said that no place is safe as Israeli air strikes continue to pound the entire strip, from north to south.
Areas and routes that have been indicated as safe in previous weeks, have then been struck multiple times.
Palestinian killed near Hebron in occupied West Bank
Sari Yousef Amr, a 25-year-old Palestinian, who was shot by Israeli forces earlier today has died, WAFA news agency is reporting.
Amr was wounded during a raid in Dura, south of Hebron, with WAFA citing his father saying that Israeli forces fired live bullets into his home before detaining Amr and his brother Suhaib.
Arab-Islamic committee calls on US to pressure Israel on ceasefire
A meeting between the Arab-Islamic Summit Ministerial Committee and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has taken place in Washington DC, Qatar’s ministry of foreign affairs has said.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani was also in attendance.
“During the session … members of the ministerial committee stressed their call for the United States to play a broader role in pressuring the Israeli occupation for an immediate ceasefire,” the ministry said in a statement on X.
Members also expressed “their disappointment at the failure of the UN Security Council, for the second time, to vote on a resolution for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip for humanitarian reasons, after the United States used its veto power,” the statement said.
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Participates in Talks Session Between Arab-Islamic Summit Ministerial Committee with US State Secretary#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/WCCiSPEGZB
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) December 9, 2023
Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank continue
Israel has not re-arrested any of the more than 200 Palestinians who were released as part of its temporary truce deal with Israel, but that could soon change with the ongoing raids in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera.
“Palestinians say it could be a matter of minutes, that [Israeli forces] would arrest those prisoners,” she said, noting that the number of Palestinian arrests mount every day.
In the first four days of a weeklong truce between Israel and Hamas, Israel released 150 Palestinian prisoners. Over the same four days, Israel arrested at least 133 Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the West Bank, according to Palestinian prisoner associations.
“There is barely a day where a Palestinian city or town is not raided which adds to the tensions,” Ibrahim said.
In the early hours of this morning, raids were reported in:
Ramallah, where two people were arrested;
Hebron and Qalqilya;
Nablus, where armed vehicle were seen driving through the city;
Bethlehem, where a video showed soldiers on foot smashing cars on their way.
‘Catastrophic’ scenes at southern Gaza hospital
The director of the European Hospital in Khan Younis has spoken to Al Jazeera about the situation at the facility.
Here are his translated comments:
The situation at the hospital is catastrophic
Two paramedics were injured in an Israeli bombing
Dozens of injured and sick in the hospital are lying on the ground waiting for treatment
There are injured people on the streets who are unable to reach the hospital
Israeli families continue protests calling for gov’t to bring captives home
Pressure continues to mount on the Israeli government as hundreds of families, friends and supporters of Israeli captives call for the release of the 138 still held inside Gaza.
Captives’ relatives have repeatedly called on the government to prioritise the release of their family members over its stated goal of eradicating Hamas.
On Tuesday, a group of recently released captives, along with family members of those still held in Gaza, met PM Netanyahu in a tense meeting. Citing people present at the meeting, Israeli media described scenes of chaos with some family members yelling at Netanyahu while calling for his resignation.
Veto of UN resolution calling for ceasefire ‘regrettable’: China
“It’s extremely disappointing and regrettable … Although the resolution was vetoed, the overwhelming view of the international community is clear: an immediate humanitarian ceasefire is the overriding priority,” China’s UN envoy Zhang Jun said in a post on X.
The US was the only country that vetoed the resolution, drawing widespread criticism from rights groups and aid agencies.
The vote came after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare move on Wednesday to formally warn the 15-member council of a global threat from the two-month-long war.
People wounded in Israeli attack in central Gaza
We’re getting reports that a number of people have been injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted a home in the city of Deir el-Balah.
“We do not have a humanitarian operation in southern Gaza that can be called by that name anymore,” the U.N.’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, said.
The pace of Israel’s military assault has left no place safe in the south, where the U.N. had planned to aid civilians. “That plan is in tatters,” he said.
Bombing in Khan Younis increased in last few hours
More death and destruction overnight and in the early hours of this morning.
In Rafah, a city designated by the Israeli military as safe, two residential homes were targeted and more than 10 people were killed.
In Khan Younis, there has been non-stop artillery shelling and aerial bombardment on the eastern and central sides. The Israeli military vehicles kept pushing to the centre of the city, very close to the vicinity of Nasser hospital.
A home was targeted where an entire family, 13 people, were killed this morning.
The bombardment in Khan Younis seems to have increased in the past few hours.
Top Israeli diplomat slams UN chief for invoking Article 99
Top Israeli diplomat Eli Cohen has accused the UN chief of lacking impartiality after invoking article 99 for a humanitarian ceasefire.
“Guterres’ appeal to stand on the side of Hamas and request a ceasefire disgraces his position and constitutes a mark of Cain on the UN,” Cohen said, referring to a passage in the Bible that some interpret as a way to describe a badge of shame.
“The invocation of Article 99, after it was not used for the war in Ukraine or for the civil war in Syria, is another example of Guterres’ biased and one-sided stance,” Cohen said, adding that a ceasefire now would “prevent the collapse” of Hamas.
By invoking Article 99 on Thursday, Guterres aimed at formally warning the UN Security Council of the global threat from Israel’s war on Gaza that has killed more than 17,400 Palestinians in Gaza.
Guterres' appeal to stand on the side of Hamas and request a ceasefire disgraces his position and constitutes a mark of Cain on the UN.
— ??? ??? | Eli Cohen (@elicoh1) December 8, 2023
The invocation of Article 99, after it was not used for the war in Ukraine or for the civil war in Syria, is another example of Guterres'…
Aid agencies denounce UNSC failure to call for ceasefire
UK-based Save the Children and seven other aid organisations say they were “appalled” at the failure of the UN Security Council on Friday to pass a resolution demanding a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
“If implemented, this would have provided much-needed respite for civilians in Gaza who are under constant bombardment. This was a missed opportunity to stop the violence,” they said in a joint statement.
“We are two months into the crisis and complete siege of Gaza. Gaza is now the deadliest place for civilians in the world.”
STATEMENT: “We are appalled at the failure of the UN Security Council to authorise a resolution demanding a humanitarian ceasefire and unconditional release of hostages held in #Gaza," said @save_children and aid agencies #CeasefireNOWhttps://t.co/fN6d5nV5Lq pic.twitter.com/xowm41m9Gv
— Save the Children Global Media (@Save_GlobalNews) December 8, 2023
Israeli images showing Palestinian detainees in underwear spark outrage
CAIRO (Reuters) - Palestinian, Arab and Muslim officials condemned Israel on Friday after images of detained Palestinian men stripped to their underwear in Gaza circulated on social media.
Senior official of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas group, Izzat El-Reshiq, accused Israel of "carrying a "heinous crime against innocent civilians."
Reshiq, who is in exile abroad, urged international human rights organisations to intervene to show what happened to the men and help secure their release.
Palestinian president says Gaza war must end, conference needed to reach settlement
GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza and an international peace conference to work out a lasting political solution leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In an interview with Reuters at his office in Ramallah, Abbas, 87, said the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in general had reached an alarming stage that requires an international conference and guarantees by world powers.
Besides Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, he said Israeli forces have intensified their attacks everywhere in the occupied West Bank over the past year with settlers escalating violence against Palestinian towns.
Pro-Palestinian rally connects Picasso’s Guernica with Gaza
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters in Spain’s Basque Country formed a human mosaic representing the Palestinian flag alongside a reproduction on a giant banner of Pablo Picasso’s iconic anti-war painting, Guernica, Reuters news agency reports.
The protest on Friday took place in Guernica’s former market square which was aerial bombed in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War by Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe.
Addressing the crowd, Fatima Elhousari said the world could not accept a “new Guernica” in Gaza.
“The world and history cannot accept what is happening in Palestine. The world and history cannot accept a new Guernica,” she said.
Hamas brutality doesn't justify 'punishment' of Palestinians: UN chief
UNITED NATIONS (United States) (AFP) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that Hamas brutality could never justify "collective punishment" of Palestinians as Israel presses its campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Guterres convened an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council after weeks of fighting left more than 17,487 people dead in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
He and a group of Arab countries are seeking a vote on an immediate ceasefire, but the veto-wielding United States said it was opposed to such a move, making it highly unlikely that such a motion would succeed.
Palestinian Olympic Committee says Israel’s military has killed 47 athletes during war
The Palestinian Olympic Committee has accused Israel of killing 64 athletes and other sports-related employees in Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Wafa has reported.
The committee said in a statement that the “Israeli destruction machine” has killed 47 athletes and 17 technicians and administrators during the war, Wafa said on Friday.
Those killed include Yasmine Sharaf, a six-year-old karate player, who had dreamed of representing Palestine in international competitions, Wafa cited the committee as saying.
The committee said that Israeli bombardment has struck numerous sports facilities, including the United Nations Development Programme “UNDP” stadium, Beit Hanoon Stadium, three equestrian clubs, a baseball field, and several martial arts centres.
Israel increases Gaza strikes, UN decries 'humanitarian nightmare'
GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel sharply increased strikes on the Gaza Strip, pounding the length of the Palestinian enclave and killing hundreds in a new, expanded phase of the war, as the U.S. on Friday again signalled that Israel could do more to protect civilians in the enclave.
The Israeli military said it had struck more than 450 targets in Gaza from land, sea and air over the past 24 hours - the most since a truce with Hamas collapsed last week and about double the daily figures typically reported since.
Decrying a "spiralling humanitarian nightmare", U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres declared that nowhere in Gaza was safe for civilians, hours before the U.S. vetoed a Security Council demand for a humanitarian ceasefire. The vote, including 13 members in favor and one abstaining, diplomatically isolated Washington as it shielded ally Israel.
US vetoes UN Security Council resolution demanding humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Friday vetoed a proposed United Nations Security Council demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, diplomatically isolating Washington as it shields its ally.
Thirteen other members voted in favor of a brief draft resolution, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, while Britain abstained. The vote came after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare move on Wednesday to formally warn the 15-member council of a global threat from the two-month long war.
"What is the message we are sending Palestinians if we cannot unite behind a call to halt the relentless bombardment of Gaza?" Deputy UAE U.N. Ambassador Mohamed Abushahab asked the council. "Indeed, what is the message we are sending civilians across the world who may find themselves in similar situations?"
