Gaza Tension
Live Reporting
US concerned about reports Israel used white phosphorus in Lebanon attack: White House
(Reuters) - The United States is concerned about reports Israel used US-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an October attack in southern Lebanon, White House spokesperson John Kirby has said.
“We’ve seen the reports. Certainly concerned about that. We’ll be asking questions to try to learn a little bit more,” Kirby told reporters on Air Force One.
Germany shifts to slightly more critical stance on ally Israel
Germany expects Israel to adapt its military strategy to better prevent suffering among Palestinian civilians, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday, marking a slight shift in Berlin towards a more critical stance of its ally.
Germany has staunchly defended Israel's right to defend itself since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, underscoring its duty to stand by the country's side in atonement for its perpetration of the Holocaust in which six million Jews died.
Number of children killed in Gaza is unprecedented: Jemima Goldsmith
— Jemima Goldsmith (@Jemima_Khan) December 11, 2023
Neither Iran nor Israel believe in a two-state solution: Iran FM
The only thing Iran and Israel share is that both do not believe in a two-state solution, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said at an international forum in Doha.
During the forum, Amirabdollahian reiterated Iran’s proposal that a referendum be held to determine the fate of Palestine, with only descendants of those who lived there prior to 1948 being permitted to vote.
Gazans say hunger is growing, fuelling fears of exodus into Egypt
(Web Desk) - Fighting between Israel and Hamas intensified across Gaza on Monday, fuelling fears flagged by the United Nations at the weekend of a breakdown in public order and a mass exodus of Palestinians into Egypt.
The narrow coastal strip has been under a full Israeli blockade since the start of the conflict more than two months ago.
Russia demands release of hostages in talks with Hamas
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov demanded the release of hostages held in Gaza in telephone calls on Sunday and Monday with Hamas and other Palestinian groups, the Russian foreign ministry said.
The statement followed a series of meetings and calls between President Vladimir Putin and Middle East leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
German minister urges Israel to adapt strategy to reduce civilian suffering
Germany expects Israel to adapt its military strategy to better prevent suffering among Palestinian civilians, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, adding that too many had already become victims of the conflict.
“We expect Israel … to allow more humanitarian aid, especially in the north, that its military actions are more targeted and cause fewer civilian victims,” the minister said at a news conference in Dubai on the sidelines of the UN climate summit.
“The question of how Israel carries out this battle is central to the perspective of a political solution,” she said.
Israel airdrops equipment to troops in southern Gaza
The Israeli army says it has airdropped seven tonnes of equipment to hundreds of troops operating in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza.
A video published by the army spokesperson Daniel Hagari on X shows a C-130J transport aircraft dropping the equipment.
Hagari said this was the first time that the army has airdropped equipment since the 2006 Lebanon War.
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Dozens flee Awni Al-Harthani School in Beit Lahia
"We’re getting reports that dozens of people at the Awni al-Harthani School in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, have been forced to flee as the Israeli army increases its military operation,", Al Jazeera reported.
With their bare essentials, many fled the area by foot, on bicycles or by a donkey cart.
“The army came yesterday, arrested a number of us and demanded we go to the southern Gaza Strip. We had to sleep on the street,” one person who fled the school said.
“The school is crowded with people. They were forced out, a number of us were shot and the whole school was burned down,” they added.
UN official defends body’s role amid war in Gaza
A senior UN official has said that while the global body is indispensable, it does need improvement.
“There seems to be a widespread consensus that we need multilateralism that is able to handle global crises, and the UN is the only place to do that,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Policy, Guy Ryder, said at the Doha Forum, while acknowledging that the world body needed to strengthen its tools to do so.
His remarks come amid questions over the effectiveness of the UN and the Security Council, which has failed to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza after two months of war.
“If it wasn’t for the UN’s presence, such as in Gaza, the world would fall much further short. We are playing a political leadership role.”
‘No place is safe in Gaza’ as Israel’s attacks intensify
Amid renewed Israeli calls for residents of Gaza to evacuate from across the Strip, the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says no part of the enclave is safe for residents.
“We have lost more than 130 colleagues, half of them were killed in the central and southern areas,” Juliette Touma, director of communications at the UNRWA, told Al Jazeera. “This is just one example that shows that nowhere is safe.”
Touma said UNRWA managed to get some humanitarian aid, including fuel, into Gaza during the recent truce.
“We need to go back to that as a minimum,” she said, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire to take place immediately.
She said UNRWA’s centre in Khan Younis, meant to host 1,000 people, was now home to more than 30,000. Touma visited the centre at the beginning of the month and described what she witnessed as “misery galore” and “desperation”.
The world needs a system that will ‘work for all’
Dr. Huiyao Wang, Founder and President of Center for China and Globalization (CCG), former Counselor to the State Council of People’s Republic of China, commenting on the United States vetoing resolution on ceasefire in Gaza on Friday, said that it is out of sync with the world we live in today and contemporary geopolitics that a UN resolution can be “revoked by one country only” and that the world should want “to start a system which will work for all” and to see common sense prevailing.
We need to talk about what’s happening in Gaza today: Zomlot
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, says there cannot be talks about post-war Gaza without first finding a solution to today’s crisis and what came before that.
“It’s a big mistake to talk about the day after. We need to talk about today, about the need for a permanent ceasefire as every day costs dearly,” Zomlot said at the Doha Forum.
The diplomat added that there needs to be a discussion on what was the political situation in Gaza before the war, namely a suffocating blockade imposed on the Strip, the far-right agenda of Netanyahu’s government and settlers’ violence in the occupied West Bank.
“We need to talk to the US and the UK not to mediate, but to recognise the state of Palestine. That would qualify them to be part of the conversation. The recognition of Palestinians’ right to self-determination is a precondition for any international actor to act.”
Israeli army renews calls for evacuation of northern Gaza
Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee has announced “urgent instructions” for the people of Gaza.
“To the residents of the northern Gaza Strip: We urge you to evacuate your places urgently and head through Salah al-Din Road towards the known shelters in the Deir al-Balah area between ten o’clock in the morning [8:00 GMT] and four o’clock in the evening [14:00 GMT],” the spokesperson said on X.
A “temporary tactical suspension of military activities for humanitarian purposes” would also take place in Rafah camp within the same timeframe.
Adraee warned that Salah al-Din “constitutes a battlefield” and warned against the movement of civilians in the sections north and east of the city of Khan Yunis.
Occupied West Bank comes to a standstill amid solidarity strike
Palestinians are closing down their shops – including pharmacies, bakeries and street vendors – and all aspects of life in various areas of the occupied West Bank in solidarity with those in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Palestinians are hoping that by doing this, the world will take notice and this will translate into increased pressure on Israel.
Their main demand is for a ceasefire in Gaza but they also want the world to pressure Israel to end the occupation.
For Palestinians, strikes have historically been important ways to shed light on their situation. It’s also a sign of unity that they’re all united against the Israeli occupation.
Violence escalates between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah
Cross-fire on the Lebanon-Israel border is continuing.
We’re getting reports that at least eight rockets were fired from Lebanon at the northern Israeli city of Ma’alot-Tarshiha this morning, The Times of Israel said.
Footage published on social media shows rockets fired from southern Banan into northern Israel being intercepted by the Iron Dome air defence system. Some rockets appeared to have landed in open areas. There are no reports of injuries.
In southern Lebanon, an Al Jazeera correspondent said an Israeli artillery bombardment targeted the vicinity of the towns of Naqoura, Zibqin, Yarin, Marwahin, and Al-Jebin.
Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since the war in Gaza erupted two months ago in their worst hostilities since a 2006 conflict. The violence has largely been contained to the border area.
Doha Forum resumes in Qatar
The Doha Forum resumes today in the Qatari capital with the war in Gaza expected to top the agenda again.
Speakers and panellists on the opening day highlighted the need for an urgent ceasefire and halt to Israel’s continued bombing of the besieged enclave that has killed almost 18,000 people.
Our correspondents Virginia Pietromarchi and Alma Milisic are at the event and will bring you all the major developments.
Window on Israel’s war in Gaza closing
Yossi Mekelberg of Chatham House believes there could be a ceasefire in the next few weeks, either before Christmas or by the end of the year, as the US becomes increasingly concerned over the death toll in Gaza.
He said that for the people of Gaza, a few weeks would still be a “very long time”.
Mekelberg, who is an associate fellow of the MENA Programme at Chatham House, said the fighting also needs to stop if Israel wants all the hostages released.
“Everyone needs to go back to the negotiating table… all of this is one big disaster.” he added.
'Living hell' in the ruins of Gaza's largest hospital
GAZA CITY (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Hundreds of makeshift tents stand in a desolate landscape at the foot of Gaza City's ruined Al-Shifa hospital.
At least 30,000 people have taken refuge in its grounds between piles of rubble and waste after Israeli forces raided the medical facility last month, an AFP correspondent reported from the hospital.
Its medical equipment was heavily damaged and is now virtually unusable.
Israeli soldiers wounded in Hezbollah drone attack
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Several Israeli soldiers were wounded when Hezbollah launched a drone attack from Lebanon on Sunday, both the Israeli army and the militant group said.
There have been repeated exchanges of fire across the border since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in October, raising fears of a wider conflict.
The Israeli army said several soldiers were hut when its missile defences shot down a pair of "suspicious aerial targets that crossed from Lebanon" in the Western Galilee region.
Blinken: Israel should do more to protect Gaza civilians
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in its war with Hamas on Sunday, as Israeli tanks fought their way into the main city of the southern Gaza Strip.
Two days after the United States vetoed a proposed United Nations demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, Blinken said Israel needs to put "a premium" on protecting Gaza civilians and making sure humanitarian assistance can reach those who need it.
"The critical thing is to make sure that the military operations are designed around civilian protection," Blinken told CNN's State of the Union program.
Violence escalates between Israel, Lebanon's Hezbollah
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Violence escalated at Lebanon's border with Israel on Sunday as Hezbollah launched explosive drones and powerful missiles at Israeli positions and Israeli air strikes rocked several towns and villages in south Lebanon.
Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since the war in Gaza erupted two months ago, in their worst hostilities since a 2006 conflict. The violence has largely been contained to the border area.
An Israeli air strike on the town of Aitaroun destroyed five homes and damaged many more, Ali Hijazi, a local official, said. "Divine intervention prevented anyone being martyred. Three women and two men were wounded," he told Reuters.
Israel presses ahead in battle against Hamas in southern Gaza
GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli tanks were trying to push further west in their battle against Hamas in and around Khan Younis on Monday, as they met resistance amid intense combat in a war that has now entered its third month and with no end in sight.
The fighting in Khan Younis, the main city in the southern Gaza Strip with a population of around 626,000 including people displaced by Israeli bombing in the north, comes as Israel refocused its war effort to the south.
Amid reports of a "catastrophic" health situation in Gaza from the World Health Organisation, Palestinian activists called for a global strike on Monday as part of a coordinated effort to pressure Israel into a cease-fire.
Qatar: efforts to renew Israel-Hamas truce 'continuing'
DOHA (AFP) – Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire despite ongoing Israeli bombardment that is "narrowing the window" for a successful outcome, Qatar's prime minister said on Sunday.
"Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum more than two months into the Israel-Hamas war.
Qatar was a key mediator in negotiations that resulted in a seven-day truce, which saw scores of Israeli hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and humanitarian aid, until it ended at the start of the month.
UN agency chief says Israel trying to force Gazans into Egypt
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has accused Israel of laying the groundwork for the mass expulsion of Gazans into Egypt, an accusation Israel said was "simply not true".
More than two months of deadly war between Israel and Hamas, sparked by the militant group's October 7 attacks, have displaced most of Gaza's population, but Palestinians are largely barred from leaving the narrow besieged territory.
In an opinion piece published on Saturday in the Los Angeles Times, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini pointed to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the increasing concentration near the border of displaced civilians who fled the fighting, first in the north and then further south.
Gaza's 'catastrophic' health situation almost impossible to improve, says WHO
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization chief said on Sunday it will be all but impossible to improve the "catastrophic" health situation in Gaza even as the board passed an emergency WHO motion by consensus to secure more medical access.
Palestinian officials have also described a disastrous health situation in Gaza, where Israel's assault has left most of the population homeless, with little electricity, food or clean water, and a medical system facing collapse.
The emergency action, proposed by Afghanistan, Qatar, Yemen and Morocco, seeks passage into Gaza for medical personnel and supplies, requires the WHO to document violence against healthcare workers and patients and to secure funding to rebuild hospitals.
