Summary of the day so far
It’s 5:07am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and this blog is now closing.
But first – here is a summary of the day so far:
Hamas has warned that no hostages will leave Gaza alive unless its demands for prisoner releases are met. In a televised statement on Sunday, a Hamas spokesperson said Israel will not receive “their prisoners alive without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance.” Israel says there are still 137 hostages in Gaza, while activists say about 7,000 Palestinians are in Israeli jails.
Israel has indicated it was prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat Hamas in Gaza. According to Associated Press, Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told the country’s Channel 12 TV that the US has set no deadline for Israel to achieve its goals. “The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months”
The UN general assembly, which comprises 193 member states, is likely to vote on a draft resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war on Tuesday, Reuters reports diplomats saying on Sunday. The potential vote will follow the US’s veto of a UAE-led UN security council resolution that called for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken has urged Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in its war with Hamas. Two days after the United States vetoed a proposed United Nations demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, Blinken told CNN Israel needs to put “a premium” on protecting Gaza civilians and making sure humanitarian assistance can reach those who need it.
In his interview with CNN on Sunday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken also said: “We’re not going to have durable security for Israel unless and until Palestinian political aspirations are met.” Blinken added: “When the major military operation is over … we have to make sure that we’re on a path to a durable and sustainable peace. From our perspective, I think from the perspective of many around the world, that has to lead to a Palestinian state.”
Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire and free more hostages held by Hamas despite the ongoing Israeli bombardment that is “narrowing the window” for a successful outcome, Qatar’s prime minister said 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, adding that “the continuation of the bombardment is just narrowing this window for us”.
European Union foreign ministers on Monday are considering a crackdown on Hamas’s finances and travel bans for Israeli settlers responsible for violence in the West Bank, Reuters is reporting. Ministers will be considering a discussion paper from the EU’s diplomatic service that outlines a broad range of possible next steps. Hamas is already listed by the European Union as a terrorist organisation, meaning any funds or assets that it has in the EU should be frozen.
“Gaza’s health system is on its knees and collapsing,” said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, with only 14 of 36 hospitals functioning at any capacity. Ghebreyesus also said that the WHO and its partners in Gaza managed to deliver essential trauma and surgical supplies to Gaza’s al-Ahli hospital to cover the needs of 1,500 people, as well as transfer 19 critical patients.
The World Health Organization’s executive board on Sunday adopted a resolution on tackling the worsening health situation in the Gaza Strip, calling for immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access. The 34 countries on the WHO’s executive board adopted by consensus a resolution calling for the ‘immediate, sustained and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief’ into Gaza, Agence France-Presse reports.
Benjamin Netanyahu called on Hamas to lay down their arms and “surrender now.” In an address on Sunday reported by Agence France-Presse, the Israeli prime minister said: “The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It’s over. Don’t die for [Yahya] Sinwar. Surrender now,” referring to the chief of Hamas in Gaza.
Hezbollah launched explosive drones and powerful missiles at Israeli positions and Israeli airstrikes rocked several towns and villages in south Lebanon, Reuters reports. An Israeli airstrike on the town of Aitaroun destroyed five homes and damaged many more, Ali Hijazi, a local official, said. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the Israeli army earlier said “suspicious aerial targets” had crossed from Lebanon and two were intercepted. Israeli fighter jets carried out “an extensive series of strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanese territory”, it said. Sirens sounded in Israel at several locations at the border.
Israel has carried out airstrikes near Syria’s capital Damascus late on Sunday, Syrian state news agency SANA said. The Israeli army declined to comment on the incident, but said separately that shots had been fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel on Sunday evening.
There have also been demonstrations against antisemitism, including in Brussels where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen helped light a huge Hanukkah menorah candelabrum on Sunday.
The fighting in Gaza has sparked pro-Palestinian protests in many countries, including large gatherings in Morocco, Denmark and Turkey on Sunday.
Here are some images from Toronto in Canada of a demonstration on Sunday to show support for Palestinians. The Toronto Star reports that the protest was initially two separate pro-Palestinian groups who then merged, and that one person was arrested.
Over the weekend, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) voiced alarm over what he feared would be a mass expulsion of Palestinians into Egypt.
In an opinion piece Saturday in the Los Angeles Times, Philippe Lazzarini said “the developments we are witnessing point to attempts to move Palestinians into Egypt”.
An Israeli spokesperson responded: “There is not, never was, and never will be an Israeli plan to move the residents of Gaza to Egypt.”
Let’s get more on Hamas’ comments about the remaining hostages in Gaza.
Hamas has warned on Sunday that no hostages would leave Gaza alive unless its demands for prisoner releases are met, according to Agence France-Presse.
In a televised statement, a Hamas spokesperson said Israel will not receive “their prisoners alive without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance.”
It’s after senior Hamas official Bassem Neim said in late November the movement was “ready to release all soldiers in exchange for all our prisoners”.
Israel says there are still 137 hostages in Gaza, while activists say about 7,000 Palestinians are in Israeli jails.
But Qatari prime minister sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani says Israel’s relentless bombardment was “narrowing the window” for success. He says mediation efforts seeking to stop the war and have all hostages released will continue, but that “unfortunately, we are not seeing the same willingness that we had seen in the weeks before.”
Meanwhile, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on Hamas to give up.
“It is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It’s over. Don’t die for (Yahya) Sinwar. Surrender now,” he said, referring to the Hamas chief in Gaza.
Updated
European Union foreign ministers on Monday are considering the possible next steps in response to the Middle East crisis, including a crackdown on Hamas’s finances and travel bans for Israeli settlers responsible for violence in the West Bank, Reuters is reporting.
Ministers will be considering a discussion paper from the EU’s diplomatic service that outlines a broad range of possible next steps. Hamas is already listed by the European Union as a terrorist organisation, meaning any funds or assets that it has in the EU should be frozen.
The EU said on Friday it had added Mohammed Deif, Commander General of the military wing of Hamas, and his deputy, Marwan Issa, to its list terrorists under sanction.
The discussion paper which has been seen by Reuters suggests the EU could go further by targeting Hamas finances and disinformation. EU countries including France and Germany have said they are already working together to advance such proposals.
Senior EU officials such as foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, have also expressed alarm at rising violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The paper suggests an EU response could include bans on travel to the EU for those responsible and other sanctions for violation of human rights.
France said last month the EU should consider such measures. And Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo said last week that “extremist settlers in the West Bank” would be banned from entering the country.
Israel has carried out airstrikes near Syria’s capital Damascus late on Sunday, Syrian state news agency SANA said.
“At around 23:05 [2105 GMT] the Israeli enemy carried out an air assault … targeting various points on the outskirts of Damascus,” a security source told the agency.
“Our anti-aircraft defences shot down some missiles while others caused limited material damage.”
An Agence France-Presse correspondent reported strong explosions in the suburbs of Damascus, which have been previously targeted by strikes that Syrian authorities have blamed on Israel.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said the strikes had targeted “Hezbollah sites” in the Sayeda Zeinab district and near Damascus airport.
The Israeli army declined to comment on the incident, but said separately that shots had been fired from Lebanon towards northern Israel on Sunday evening.
Israel rarely comments on individual strikes targeting Syria, but it has repeatedly said it will not allow Iran, which backs Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to expand its presence there.
Let’s get a bit more on what Israel has had to say about how long they think the war will last.
Israel has indicated it was prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat Hamas in Gaza, and a key mediator said willingness to discuss a ceasefire was fading.
According to Associated Press, Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told the country’s Channel 12 TV that the US has set no deadline for Israel to achieve its goals:
The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months
US secretary of state Antony Blinken told CNN that as far as the duration and the conduct of the fighting, “these are decisions for Israel to make.”
But Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi says this is a war that cannot be won, “Israel has created an amount of hatred that will haunt this region that will define generations to come.”
The United Nations Office for the Coordinatrion of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have released their latest update on conflict. They say:
Between the afternoons of 9 and 10 December, 297 Palestinians were killed, according to the [Hamas run] Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza. Heavy Israeli bombardments from air, land, and sea across Gaza continued, along with intense ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups, especially in the eastern parts of Gaza city. The firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups to Israel also continued.
On aid the update says:
The Rafah governorate remained the main area in Gaza where limited aid distributions are taking place. Aid distribution in the rest of the Gaza Strip has largely stopped over the past few days due to the intensity of hostilities and restrictions of movement along the main roads, except for limited fuel deliveries to key service providers, and the above-mentioned convoy to al Ahli hospital.
We’re going to pull together more of the details of the violence at Lebanon’s border with Israel.
Hezbollah launched explosive drones and powerful missiles at Israeli positions and Israeli airstrikes rocked several towns and villages in south Lebanon. Reuters reports on these developments more fully:
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 airstrike 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.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Senior Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah, in a statement to Reuters, said Israeli airstrikes were a “new escalation” to which the group was responding with new types of attacks, be it “in the nature of the weapons (used) or the targeted sites”.
The Israeli army earlier said “suspicious aerial targets” had crossed from Lebanon and two were intercepted. Two Israeli soldiers were moderately wounded and a number of others lightly injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation, it said.
Israeli fighter jets carried out “an extensive series of strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanese territory”, it said. Sirens sounded in Israel at several locations at the border. In Beirut, residents saw what appeared to be two warplanes streaking across a clear blue sky, leaving vapour trails behind them.
Hezbollah statements say its attacks aim to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Beirut would be turned “into Gaza” if Hezbollah started an all-out war.
Let’s just take a closer look at what Antony Blinken has been saying
The US secretary of state has 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, Reuters reports. Blinken has told CNN’s State of the Union program:
The critical thing is to make sure that the military operations are designed around civilian protection …
I think the intent is there. But the results are not always manifesting themselves,” he said.
Among the steps that Blinken said the United States is “not seeing sufficiently” are “deconfliction times, places and routes” that would allow humanitarian operations to deliver aid and help civilians to get out of harm’s way.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Sunday again rejected a ceasefire, telling ABC News:
With Hamas still alive, still intact and... with the stated intent of repeating October 7 again and again and again, that would simply perpetuate the problem
Hamas has warned that no hostages will leave Gaza alive unless its demands for prisoner releases are met.
In a televised statement on Sunday, a Hamas spokesperson said Israel will not receive “their prisoners alive without an exchange and negotiation and meeting the demands of the resistance.”
Senior Hamas official Bassem Neim said in late November the movement was “ready to release all soldiers in exchange for all our prisoners”.
Israel says there are still 137 hostages in Gaza, while activists say about 7,000 Palestinians are in Israeli jails.
Meanwhile, Israel has indicated it is prepared to fight for months or longer to defeat the territory’s Hamas rulers.
Israel’s national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Israel’s Channel 12 TV that the US has set no deadline for Israel to achieve its goals. “The evaluation that this can’t be measured in weeks is correct, and I’m not sure it can be measured in months,” he said.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken told CNN that as far as the duration and the conduct of the fighting, “these are decisions for Israel to make.”
It’s as the World Health Organization has warned the territory’s health system is collapsing after more than two months of war.
“Gaza’s health system is on its knees and collapsing,” said World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, with only 14 of 36 hospitals functioning at any capacity.
Reged Ahmad here, picking up the blog from Maya Yang
Updated
Summary
Here is where the day stands:
The UN general assembly, which comprises 193 member states, is likely to vote on a draft resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war on Tuesday, Reuters reports diplomats saying on Sunday. The potential vote will follow the US’s veto of a UAE-led UN security council resolution that called for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Ghebreyesus announced that the WHO and its partners in Gaza managed to deliver essential trauma and surgical supplies to Gaza’s al-Ahli hospital to cover the needs of 1,500 people, as well as transfer 19 critical patients. “This was another very high-risk mission in the vicinity of active shelling and artillery fire. The hospital itself has been substantially damaged, and in acute need of oxygen and essential medical supplies, water, food and fuel. Critically, the hospital needs additional health personnel,” he said.
Most Americans disapprove of Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war, CBS reports. According to a new poll published by the US news outlet, 46% of Americans believe that the Biden administration is making “no impact” on a peaceful resolution in the war. Only 20% believe that the Biden administration is “more likely” to be making a peaceful resolution. 34% believe the US president is “less likely” to be making a peaceful resolution.
Benjamin Netanyahu called on Hamas to lay down their arms and “surrender now.” In an address on Sunday reported by Agence France-Presse, the Israeli prime minister said: “The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It’s over. Don’t die for [Yahya] Sinwar. Surrender now,” referring to the chief of Hamas in Gaza.
Bernie Sanders, the US’s independent senator of Vermont, said that it would be “irresponsible for the United States to give [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu another $10bn to continue to wage this awful war.” In a new interview with CBS, Sanders added: “Israel is losing the war in terms of how the world is looking at this situation.”
The World Health Organization’s executive board on Sunday adopted a resolution on tackling the worsening health situation in the Gaza Strip, calling for immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access. The 34 countries on the WHO’s executive board adopted by consensus a resolution calling for the ‘immediate, sustained and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief’ into Gaza, Agence France-Presse reports.
In his interview with CNN on Sunday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said: “We’re not going to have durable security for Israel unless and until Palestinian political aspirations are met.” Blinken added: “When the major military operation is over … we have to make sure that we’re on a path to a durable and sustainable peace. From our perspective, I think from the perspective of many around the world, that has to lead to a Palestinian state.”
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires from Gaza where Israeli strikes have killed over 17,900 Palestinians, including over 7,100 children, while survivors grapple with significant shortages in food, water, fuel and medical supplies:
Updated
UN general assembly to likely vote on Gaza ceasefire demand on Tuesday: reports
The UN general assembly, which comprises 193 member states, is likely to vote on a draft resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war on Tuesday, Reuters reports diplomats saying on Sunday.
The potential vote will follow the US’s veto of a UAE-led UN security council resolution that called for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday. All 13 other members of the security council, including permanent members Russia, China and France, voted in favor of the resolution while the UK abstained.
In an earlier tweet on Sunday, UN chief Antonio Guterres said that the security council “regrettably” failed to pass the security council resolution and vowed to “not give up” on averting a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
This week, I urged the Security Council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza & I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) December 10, 2023
Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it.
But that does not make it less necessary.
I promise: I will not give up.
Updated
“Every other patient in the clinic has a respiratory tract infection due to prolonged exposure to cold and rain,” said Gaza’s Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) emergency coordinator Nicholas Papachrysostomou, referring to al-Shaboura clinic in Gaza.
“Every other patient in the clinic has a respiratory tract infection due to prolonged exposure to cold and rain”, says Nicholas Papachrysostomou, MSF Emergency Coordinator in Gaza.
— MSF International (@MSF) December 10, 2023
MSF added that in the southernmost area of the Gaza Strip where thousands of Palestinians have been forced to evacuate to due to deadly Israeli strikes, “health services are extremely limited.”
In #Rafah, the southernmost area of the strip and where people from Khan Yunis and Middle Area have been pushed to, health services are extremely limited.
— MSF International (@MSF) December 10, 2023
“People are living in extremely poor hygiene conditions. In some shelters, 600 people share a single toilet. We are already seeing many cases of diarrhea. Often children are the worst affected,” the humanitarian organization added.
“People are living in extremely poor hygiene conditions. In some shelters, 600 people share a single toilet. We are already seeing many cases of diarrhea. Often children are the worst affected.” pic.twitter.com/sLrLwUj4Wi
— MSF International (@MSF) December 10, 2023
Updated
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Ghebreyesus announced that the WHO and its partners in Gaza managed to deliver essential trauma and surgical supplies to Gaza’s al-Ahli hospital to cover the needs of 1,500 people, as well as transfer 19 critical patients.
“This was another very high-risk mission in the vicinity of active shelling and artillery fire. The hospital itself has been substantially damaged, and in acute need of oxygen and essential medical supplies, water, food and fuel. Critically, the hospital needs additional health personnel,” he said.
Yesterday, @WHO and partners in #Gaza managed to deliver essential trauma and surgical supplies to Al-Ahli hospital to cover the needs of 1500 people, and to transfer 19 critical patients.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 10, 2023
This was another very high-risk mission in the vicinity of active shelling and artillery… pic.twitter.com/NBihupJMMS
Updated
With winter arriving in Gaza, Palestinians are fearing the spread of diseases amid an already deteriorating humanitarian crisis as a result of Israel’s strikes that have killed over 17,900 Palestinians in the last two months.
The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont reports:
Winter is fast coming to Gaza. Rain storms and powerful winds have already swept through the coastal strip, scattering tents and soaking those with little shelter in a crisis in which about 1.8 million Palestinians have been displaced by Israel’s offensive.
And with the advent of winter, an already catastrophic situation in which almost all of Gaza’s healthcare has collapsed is quickly worsening.
Women are giving birth in tents in unsterile conditions. Smoke from the wood fires is exacerbating respiratory ailments. Those in need of medicine have been forced to go sometimes to up to 10 pharmacies in an often fruitless search.
“It’s so cold, and the tent is so small. All I have is the clothes I wear, I still don’t know what the next step will be,” said Mahmud Abu Rayan, displaced from the northern town of Beit Lahia to Rafah.
“We didn’t see anything good here at all. We are living here in a tough cold. There are no bathrooms. We are sleeping on the sand,” added Soad Qarmoot, a Palestinian woman who was also forced to leave Beit Lahia.
“I am a cancer patient,” Qarmoot said as children circled a wood fire for warmth. “There is no mattress for me to sleep on. I am sleeping on the sand. It’s freezing.”
Displaced Palestinians who spoke in Rafah in recent days, tell a similar story: a perfect storm of colder weather, hugely overcrowded and insanitary conditions and a lack of food and proper shelter.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Most American disapprove of Joe Biden's handling of Israel-Gaza war: CBS poll
Most Americans disapprove of Joe Biden’s handling of the Israel-Gaza war, CBS reports.
According to a new poll published by the US news outlet, 46% of Americans believe that the Biden administration is making “no impact” on a peaceful resolution in the war. Only 20% believe that the Biden administration is “more likely” to be making a peaceful resolution. 34% believe the US president is “less likely” to be making a peaceful resolution.
Meanwhile, among Democrats, 38% believe that Biden is showing “too much support” for Israel, a 10% jump from a poll conducted in October. Only 8% of Democrats believe that the Biden administration is not showing enough support, a 2% decrease from October. Fifty-four percent of Democrats believe that Biden is showing the “right amount of support”, an 8% decrease from October.
Updated
Benjamin Netanyahu called on Hamas to lay down their arms and “surrender now”.
In an address on Sunday reported by Agence France-Presse, the Israeli prime minister said:
“The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to the Hamas terrorists: It’s over. Don’t die for [Yahya] Sinwar. Surrender now,” Netanyahu said, referring to the chief of Hamas in Gaza.
“In the past few days, dozens of Hamas terrorists have surrendered to our forces,” Netanyahu added.
The military has, however, not released proof of surrendering, and Hamas has rejected such claims, Agence France-Presse reports.
“While they’re displaced in our UNRWA shelters, many continue to offer assistance,” UNRWA spokesperson Tamara Alrifai told Channel 4 News about the surviving employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza.
Alrifai said:
We have 13,000 staff members in Gaza. These are doctors, paramedics, engineers, teachers, social workers and sanitation workers. They are all Palestinians. They are part of the civilian population that should be protected. Those who were killed, were killed alongside the thousands and thousands of Palestinians who were killed.
But those who were not killed, believe it or not, are displaced themselves but while they’re displaced in our own shelters, the UNRWA shelters, many of them continue to do the rounds, to offer assistance, to check on the wounded, to check on the sick people, to distribute food …
"While they're displaced in our own @UNRWA shelters, many continue to offer assistance"@TamaraAlrifai tells @Channel4News how our UNRWA colleagues in #Gaza are going above & beyond to continue to serve their community, despite themselves having lost everything & living in fear. pic.twitter.com/pIGkUT4uzb
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 10, 2023
Updated
The Joe Biden administration is under scrutiny after it circumvented Congress in its sale of nearly 14,400 tank rounds to Israel.
The Guardian’s Julian Borger reports:
The Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza has come under intensified scrutiny after it revealed it had bypassed Congress to supply tank shells, and was reported not to be carrying out continual assessments of whether Israel was committing possible war crimes.
Israeli tanks were reported to have reached the centre of Khan Younis on Sunday, after battling through stiff resistance in the southern city which is overcrowded by civilians who have fled fighting in the north. Israeli airstrikes pounded the city blocks west of the frontline.
Heavy fighting was also reported in the Jabaliya refugee camp and the Shejaiya area of Gaza City, in northern Gaza, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said they were dealing with remaining pockets of resistance, but residents described some of the most intense combat of the war.
A spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed that it had partially or full destroyed 180 Israel tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers in battles.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Bernie Sanders, the US’s independent senator of Vermont, said that it would be “irresponsible for the United States to give [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu another $10bn to continue to wage this awful war”.
In a new interview with CBS, Sanders added:
Israel is losing the war in terms of how the world is looking at this situation.
In reference to the UN security council resolution on a humanitarian ceasefire which the US vetoed on Friday, Sanders said:
I strongly support and wish and hope that the United States will support the United Nations resolution.
However, Sanders also said the he does not know “how you could have permanent ceasefire with Hamas who have said before October 7, and after October 7, that they want to destroy Israel. They want a permanent war. I don’t know how you have a permanent ceasefire with an attitude like that.”
Updated
The World Health Organization’s executive board on Sunday adopted a resolution on tackling the worsening health situation in the Gaza Strip, calling for immediate and unimpeded humanitarian access.
Agence France-Presse reports:
After the UN security council declined Friday to demand a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group, the 34 countries on the WHO’s executive board adopted by consensus a resolution calling for the ‘immediate, sustained and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief’ into Gaza.
The resolution, proposed by Afghanistan, Morocco, Qatar and Yemen, called for the granting of exit permits for patients.
It seeks the supply and replenishment of medicine and medical equipment to the civilian population and for all persons deprived of their liberty to be given access to medical treatment.
It also expressed ‘grave concern’ for the humanitarian situation and the ‘widespread destruction,’ and urged protection for all civilians.
Despite agreeing to the resolution, some countries expressed reservations about the resolution.
The United States’ representative said Washington agreed not to oppose the consensus on the text but had ‘significant reservations,’ saying it ‘regrets the lack of balance in the resolution.’
Canada said it considered the text a ‘compromise resolution’ that could have gone further with additional language acknowledging role of Hamas in the conflict, such as its taking of hostages and ‘use of human shields.’
Australia said it took issue with the fact that the resolution did not make specific reference to the October 7 attacks, which were ‘the catalyst for the current devastating situation.’
Updated
Médecins Sans Frontières has criticized the US following its veto of a UN security council resolution on Friday that called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.
In a statement released on Sunday, MSF said:
“The US veto stands in contrast to the values it professes to uphold. By continuing to provide diplomatic cover for the atrocities in #Gaza, the US is signaling that international humanitarian law can be applied selectively - that the lives of some people matter less than others.”
The US veto stands in contrast to the values it professes to uphold. By continuing to provide diplomatic cover for the atrocities in #Gaza, the US is signaling that international humanitarian law can be applied selectively - that the lives of some people matter less than others.
— MSF International (@MSF) December 10, 2023
Israeli forces have invaded the area near the UNRWA clinic in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, where a group of emergency medical service staff are operating a medical post, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
According to the PRCS, the emergency team consists of nine doctors, nurses and volunteers.
🚨IOF has invaded the area near the UNRWA clinic in the midest of the Jabalia camp, where the PRCS EMS teams 🚑operate an advanced medical post. The team consists of 9 doctors, nurses, and volunteers. The surrounding area is currently under bombardment, posing a constant threat… pic.twitter.com/JcFpL1IRRS
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 10, 2023
Updated
US Republican senator Lindsey Graham urged Israel to understand that no Gulf state can help Israel if the Palestinians are left hanging with no promise of a two-state solution, adding the best way to help the Palestinians is to create a world where they are not dependent on terrorist organisations.
Graham has been involved in the stalled behind-the-scenes normalisation talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel, and said he believed it is still possible for Saudi Arabia to strike a deal with Israel by no later than May next year.
He said he was going to Israel soon, adding:
This is what I am going to tell my Israeli friends: ‘Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE – none of these Arab countries – can help you unless you make a commitment to a two-state solution. They just cannot do it. Whether you can do it, I leave that up to you whether that is a good idea for Israel, I leave it up to you. To my Arab friends, I know you cannot leave the Palestinians hanging. To my friends in Israel, the best thing you can do to beat Iran is to give the Palestinians a life where they are not dependent on terrorist organisations.
Praising Joe Biden for imposing the US veto on a ceasefire in Gaza, he said Hamas had never struck a ceasefire deal that it had honored. He promised to help secure the votes in the Senate for Saudi Arabia to have a defense agreement with the US, adding a peace reconciliation between the Arabs and the Jews is the ultimate solution to “stop Iranian efforts to keep the region in constant chaos”.
Graham insisted that Iran was behind Hamas, and said he would do everything possible to help the US president hit Iranian proxy forces militarily in Iraq and Yemen. Graham is an unusual figure since he is a supporter of Donald Trump, but also of the Gulf states, including Qatar.
Describing Iran as “the root cause of all the problems in the region”, he added: “Iranians need to pay a price for what they have done to the people in the region.” He also called for a new Palestinian Authority, saying: “I would not give 15 cents to this crew. The PA needs new people to offer new governance that is less corrupt.”
He said Hamas was just a terrorist organisation. “If you do not do what Hamas says, they throw you off the roof,” he said. Hamas is “a group of people who are nuts and for some reason want to kill all the Jews”, he added.
Graham admitted he did not think that the supplemental budget that the Biden administration is seeking will be passed until early next year.
He said:
2024 is going to be a test of the world, the world that you want. I do believe with the right type of leadership, a Republican Senator helping a Democrat President over the Arab-Israeli conflict and leaders in the Arab world standing up to the street in a reasonable way 2024 could be one of the most consequential years in the history of the world. One way or the other 2024 is going to shape the world for decades to come.
Updated
Qatar’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said that Qatar is “not going to give up” on peace efforts with Gaza.
Speaking at the Doha Forum, al-Thani said that Qatar knows that “there are a lot of complications and … what happened in the fallout of this pause, actually we feel disappointment that the parties didn’t give a chance for further efforts to be taking place”.
He went on to add:
For the way forward, we are going to continue, we are committed to have all the hostages being released but also we are committed to stop this war, to stop the bombardment of innocent Palestinians.
It always takes two parties to be willing to [agree to] such an engagement. Unfortunately we are not seeing the same willingness that we have seen in the weeks before in … both parties.
HE Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs @MBA_AlThani_ during a discussion panel at @DohaForum :
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) December 10, 2023
Our efforts as the state of Qatar, along with our partners, are continuing in Gaza, we are not going to give up.
After fallout of the pause, we feel deeply disappointed that… pic.twitter.com/NSqpZFispo
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In his interview with CNN on Sunday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken also said: “We’re not going to have durable security for Israel unless and until Palestinian political aspirations are met.”
Blinken added:
When the major military operation is over … we have to make sure that we’re on a path to a durable and sustainable peace. From our perspective, I think from the perspective of many around the world, that has to lead to a Palestinian state …
What happens the day after in Gaza itself once military operations, major military operations, are over, that’s also hugely important and urgent to make sure that governance, security, reconstruction, all of that is in place, so that there’s no vacuum.
Updated
US secretary of state: 'Imperative that civilians be protected' in Israel-Gaza war
In a new interview with CNN, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said that it is “imperative that civilians be protected” in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
Speaking to CNN host Jake Tapper, Blinken said:
We think there needs to be a premium put on protecting civilians and making sure that humanitarian assistance can get to everyone who needs it. And, as I said, I think the intent is there, but the results are not always manifesting themselves …
Israel needs to be able to deal with this to protect itself, to prevent October 7 from happening again. But, as it does that, it’s imperative that civilians be protected.
In the last two months, Israel has killed over 17,700 Palestinians including over 7,100 children.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 5pm in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here are the latest headlines …
Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire and free more hostages held by Hamas despite the ongoing Israeli bombardment that is “narrowing the window” for a successful outcome, Qatar’s prime minister said Sunday. “We are going to continue, we are committed to have hostages released, but we are also committed to stop the war,” sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said. But, he added, “we are not seeing the same willingness from both parties”.
Israeli forces continues to push on Sunday into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled in search of shelter from bombardments and intense fighting. Residents report that Israeli tanks have reached the main north-south road through the middle of Khan Younis after intense combat through the night that had slowed the Israeli advance from the east.
The IDF has claimed to have struck “over 250 terror targets” in the last 24 hours. According to local authorities in Gaza, at least 17,700 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 48,780 wounded, by Israeli military actions since 7 October. An additional 7,780 people are believed to be missing. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
A World Health Organization database shows there have been 449 attacks on healthcare facilities in Palestinian territories since 7 October, without assigning blame. WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “Resupplying health facilities has become extremely difficult and is deeply compromised by the security situation on the ground”. He added that the impact of the Israel-Gaza conflict on the territory’s healthcare sector has been “catastrophic”
UN secretary general António Guterres has vowed he will not give up seeking a ceasefire in Gaza after the US wielded its veto to block the move at the security council on Friday, leaving the UN without a clear route map to stop the conflict lasting many months. Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Guterres did not directly criticise the US in his address but said the security council is “paralysed by geostrategic divisions”. He added world institutions “are weak and outdated, caught in a time warp reflecting a reality of 80 years ago”.
Israel has said that it has intercepted suspicious aerial targets that crossed into the northern part of the country from Lebanon, but that some soldiers were “lightly injured”.
Russia and Israel have both given readouts of the call today between Netanyahu and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin. In its statement, Israel said Netanyahu voiced displeasure with “anti-Israel positions” taken by Moscow’s envoys at the UN, and offered “robust disapproval” of Russia’s “dangerous” cooperation with Iran. For the Russian side, Putin said Russia was “ready to provide all possible assistance in order to alleviate the suffering of civilians and de-escalate the conflict,” and cautioned Israel that “it is extremely important that countering terrorist threats does not led to such dire consequences for the civilian population.”
Netanyahu has said that western leaders calling for a ceasefire in Gaza are being inconsistent with their support for Israel’s stated war aim of destroying Hamas. Briefing his cabinet, he said he had told the leaders of France, Germany and other countries: “You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas, and on the other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas.”
Israeli intelligence service the Mossad helped Cyprus foil an Iranian-ordered attack against Israelis and Jews on the island, prime minister Netanyahu’s office alleged on Sunday, saying such plots were on the rise since the Gaza war erupted.
Residents in Gaza have told Associated Press there is still heavy fighting under way in the Gaza City neighbourhood of Shijaiyah and the Jabaliya refugee camp, a dense urban area housing Palestinian families who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its creation.
“They are attacking anything that moves,” said Hamza Abu Fatouh, a Shijaiyah resident. He said the dead and wounded were left in the streets as ambulances could no longer reach the area, where Israeli snipers and tanks positioned themselves among the abandoned buildings.
“The resistance also fights back,” he added.
In central Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians waited for flour outside an UN distribution centre. The price of food has soared as much of the territory faces severe shortages. Abdulsalam al-Majdalawi said he has come every day for nearly two weeks, hoping to get food for his family of seven.
“Every day, we spend five or six hours here and return home (empty handed),” he told AP. “Thank God, today they drew our name.”
Here are some of the latest images sent to us from Gaza and Israel over the news wires.
CNN reports that the IDF has told the network that Israel believes Hamas had about 30,000 fighters in Gaza before the war began on 7 October.
The IDF believed the fighters were divided into five brigades, 24 battalions and approximately 140 companies.
On Saturday national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said that Israel had killed at least 7,000 combatants.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
In today’s episode of Full Story from our Australian team, Guardian Australia reporters Mostafa Rachwani and Laura Murphy-Oates go behind the scenes of the growing pro-Palestine protests there, speaking to organisers, participants and academics to find out what is driving this movement.
Listen to it here: Behind Australia’s pro-Palestine protests – Full Story podcast
Russia and Israel have both given readouts of the call today between Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin.
In its statement, Reuters reports that Netanyahu voiced displeasure with “anti-Israel positions” taken by Moscow’s envoys at the UN.
Russia backed a UN security council resolution for a Gaza truce, which was vetoed by the US on Friday. Speaking to Putin, Netanyahu also voiced “robust disapproval” of Russia’s “dangerous” cooperation with Iran, the Israeli statement said.
Tass reports that for the Russian said, Putin said his nation was “ready to provide all possible assistance in order to alleviate the suffering of civilians and de-escalate the conflict.”
The Kremlin also said that “mutual interest has been expressed in continuing to cooperate on issues of evacuation of Russian citizens and members of their families, as well as the release of Israelis held in Gaza.”
In comments likely to be perceived in some quarters as hypocrisy, given the high level of civilian casualties caused by Russia’s military action in Ukraine, Putin told Netanyahu “it is extremely important that countering terrorist threats does not led to such dire consequences for the civilian population.”
The Israeli intelligence service the Mossad helped Cyprus foil an Iranian-ordered attack against Israelis and Jews on the island, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office alleged on Sunday, saying such plots were on the rise since the Gaza war erupted.
Israel is “troubled” by what it sees as Iranian use of Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus “both for terrorism objectives and as an operational and transit area,” Reuters reports the statement added.
Earlier on Sunday a Cypriot newspaper reported that two Iranians had been detained on the island for questioning over suspected planning of attacks on Israeli citizens living in Cyprus.
The two individuals were believed to be in the early stages of gathering intelligence on potential Israeli targets, the Kathimerini Cyprus newspaper said without citing its sources.
Reuters reported that a senior Cyprus official declined to comment, citing policy on issues concerning national security.
Kathimerini Cyprus had alleged that the Iranians were political refugees in contact with a person linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
A Swedish national employed by the European Union faces charges in Iran of spying for Israel and “corruption on earth”, which can carry the death penalty, Iranian news agency ISNA said on Sunday, Reuters reports.
On Friday the Guardian reported that Johan Floderus had been detained for 600 days in Tehran’s Evin prison with no routine consular visits or phone calls. His father, Matts Floderus, said he had been on hunger strike at least five times.
Reuters cites Sweden’s foreign minister, who said on Saturday that Floderus’ trial had begun.
Resupplying Gaza is 'extremely difficult': WHO chief
A WHO database shows there have been 449 attacks on healthcare facilities in Palestinian territories since 7 October, without assigning blame.
The WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that it would be hard to meet the board’s requests given the security situation on the ground and said he deeply regretted that the United Nations security council could not agree on a ceasefire following a US veto.
“Resupplying health facilities has become extremely difficult and is deeply compromised by the security situation on the ground and inadequate resupply from outside Gaza,” he said.
The Palestinian health minister, Mai al-Kaila, deplored the critical shortages of medicines. “The urgency of the situation cannot be overstated,” she told a WHO meeting by video link.
Updated
An acclaimed nonfiction graphic novel about Gaza, which pioneered the medium of “comics journalism”, has been rushed back into print after surging demand since the fresh outbreak of the conflict two months ago.
Read David Barnett’s full report here:
Updated
Israel’s army on Sunday dismissed outcry over footage showing scores of stripped Palestinians in Gaza, as reported on Friday, saying it was part of routine searches, while Hamas insisted the men were “unarmed civilians”.
Hamas on Sunday countered reported Israeli claims, saying the men were not militants of its armed wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
“The (Israeli) occupation’s claims that they are from al-Qassam Brigades are unfounded lies,” said Izzat al-Rishq, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau.
“The Zionist occupation published images and scenes of unarmed civilians in Gaza, after they were detained and weapons were placed next to them, which is nothing but a chapter out of the occupation’s ridiculous and obvious ploy to manufacture an alleged victory over the men of the resistance.”
The Israeli army said it often strips people it deems could pose a threat to ensure they do not carry arms or explosives.
Troops in Gaza detain and question individuals suspected of involvement in “terrorist activity”, the army said in a statement.
“Individuals who are found not to be taking part in terrorist activities are released,” it added, saying that the detainees are treated in accordance with international law.
“It is often necessary for terror suspects to hand over their clothes such that their clothes can be searched and to ensure that they are not concealing explosive vests or other weaponry,” it said.
Israeli media is reporting that after the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem this morning, Benjamin Netanyahu spent 50 minutes on the phone with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Updated
Residents report that Israeli tanks have reached the main north-south road through the middle of Khan Younis after intense combat through the night that had slowed the Israeli advance from the east.
“It was one of the most dreadful nights, the resistance was very strong, we could hear gunshots and explosions that didn’t stop for hours,” a father of four displaced from Gaza City and sheltering in Khan Younis told Reuters. He declined to be identified for fear of reprisals.
“In Khan Younis tanks reached Jamal Abdel-Nasser Street, which is at the centre of the city. Snipers took positions on buildings in the area,” he said.
At the site of one Khan Younis home that had been destroyed by bombing overnight, relatives of the dead were combing the rubble in a daze. They dragged the body of a middle-aged man in a yellow T-shirt from under the masonry.
“We prayed the night-time prayer and went to sleep, then woke up to find the house on top of us. ‘Who’s alive?!’” said Ahmed Abdel Wahab.
“The civil defence forces came and rescued who they could, and this is what’s left. Three floors above collapsed down and the people are under it. God is our saviour and the disposer of our affairs. My mother and father, my sister and brother, all of my cousins.”
We reported earlier that at the briefing at the start of cabinet today, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu said he had told the leaders of France and Germany that their calls for a ceasefire were not compatible with their stated support of Israel’s war aim to dismantle Hamas. [See 10.22 GMT]
During the briefing Netanyahu also said:
We are in the midst of Hanukkah, and we remember that 2,200 years ago, three of the five Maccabees fell in battle, but the goal of achieving the independence of Israel and ensuring the thread of life for the Jewish people was achieved. We will also continue until we achieve our goals. The war is continuing, intensively, in both northern and southern Gaza, in order to achieve all of our goals: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will never go back to being a threat to Israel.
Netanyahu also addressed rising antisemitism in the US, saying:
An additional item that I would like to comment on is the antisemitism in the US. There is a major wave of antisemitism there, from both the left and the right. It has flared up on campuses and universities there, and is breaking forth. I think that it had deep roots that are now finding expression. The important thing that is now happening is that friends and leaders in the Jewish community are finally standing up. They are standing up against this antisemitism. This is the only way to fight it: With pride and honour, not with bowed heads, but to take the fight back to them. On behalf of all of you, I commend them.
Updated
Husam Zomlot, who yesterday wrote for the Guardian, has spoken to Al Jazeera on the fringes of the summit taking place in Doha today. He told the news network:
Today, we are faced with the very serious reality that the US is simply enabling Israel to commit the most heinous crimes against humanity. It is genocide of an entire people, killing more than 17,000 of them – 70% of them are women and children. Israel is destroying the majority of our homes, hospitals, schools and infrastructure. It is turning Gaza as per the plan to become unlivable.
The latest estimate by the UN was that over 60% of housing in Gaza has been reportedly destroyed or damaged during the Israeli bombardment since 7 October.
On Saturday, Zomlot, who is the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, said in his Guardian opinion pice:
Israel is not engaged in a ‘war’ on Hamas. It is engaged in a war on the Palestinian people. This is amply evidenced by its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, the genocidal language deployed by Israeli leaders from the very top, and the ethnic cleansing we hear promised and see implemented. This must end.
Updated
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor:
UN secretary general António Guterres has vowed he will not give up seeking a ceasefire in Gaza after the US wielded its veto to block the move at the security council on Friday, leaving the UN without a clear route map to stop the conflict lasting many months.
Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Guterres did not directly criticise the US in his address but said the security council is “paralysed by geostrategic divisions”. He added world institutions “are weak and outdated, caught in a time warp reflecting a reality of 80 years ago”.
Guterres spelled out why he had employed Article 99 of the UN Charter to use his extraordinary powers to force the security council to address the crisis in Gaza. “I urged the security council to press to avert a humanitarian catastrophe and I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared.
“Regrettably, the security council failed to do it, but that does not make it less necessary,” he said. “I will not give up.”
Read more of Patrick Wintour’s report here: UN chief vows to go on seeking ceasefire in Gaza despite US veto
Israel has said that it has intercepted suspicious aerial targets that crossed into the northern part of the country from Lebanon, but that some soldiers were “lightly injured”.
In a statement, the IDF said:
Following the sirens that sounded in the western Galilee area in northern Israel, suspicious aerial targets that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory were identified and two targets were successfully intercepted by the IDF aerial defence array. Two IDF soldiers were moderately injured, and a number of additional soldiers were lightly injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation.
The statement continues to say that Israel is now attacking Hezbollah targets inside Lebanon.
Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 1pm in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here are the latest headlines …
Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire and free more hostages held by Hamas despite the ongoing Israeli bombardment that is “narrowing the window” for a successful outcome, Qatar’s prime minister said Sunday. “We are going to continue, we are committed to have hostages released, but we are also committed to stop the war,” sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said. But, he added, “we are not seeing the same willingness from both parties”.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said that western leaders calling for a ceasefire in Gaza are being inconsistent with their support for Israel’s stated war aim of destroying Hamas. Briefing his cabinet, Israel’s prime minister said he had told the leaders of France, Germany and other countries: “You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas, and on the other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas.”
Israeli forces continues to push on Sunday into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled in search of shelter from bombardments and intense fighting.
The IDF has claimed to have struck “over 250 terror targets” in the last 24 hours. According to local authorities in Gaza, at least 17,700 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 48,780 wounded, by Israeli military actions since 7 October. An additional 7,780 people are believed to be missing. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Israel’s military has forbidden travel down the main north-south Salah al-Din road near the city of Khan Younis, describing it as “a battlefield”. Instead, it advises residents to detour via a coastal road if they are heading south. In its latest update, the UN said that 1.93 million people – 78% of Gaza’s population – are already internally displaced.
The impact of the Israel-Gaza conflict on the territory’s healthcare sector has been “catastrophic”, the World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Sunday. He was spekaing at an emergency board meeting, and said conditions in the territory were ideal for the spread of deadly diseases.
Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for rockets fired from Lebanon and an airspace incursion in northern Israel on Sunday morning.
Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi has said Israel is implementing a systematic policy of pushing Palestinians out of Gaza, created an “amount of hatred” that would “haunt the region” and “define generations to come”.
A French frigate shot down two drones in the Red Sea that were heading towards it from the coast of Yemen, the France’s military said on Sunday.
In Israel, Haaretz reports that Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for rockets fired from Lebanon and an airspace incursion this morning in northern Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu has said that western leaders calling for a ceasefire in Gaza are being inconsistent with their support for Israel’s stated war aim of destroying Hamas.
Reuters reports that briefing his cabinet, Israel’s prime minister said he had told the leaders of France, Germany and other countries: “You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas, and on the other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas.”
Israel launched its military campaign after the 7 October Hamas attack inside Israel which killed at least 1,200 people and during which an estimated 240 people were seized and abducted back to Gaza as hostages.
Authorities in the Gaza Strip say that more than 17,000 Palestinians have been killed there by Israel’s military action since 7 October. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty counts being issued during the conflict.
There are reports that Israeli jets have this morning targeted areas around towns in southern Lebanon.
More details soon …
WHO chief Tedros: Israel's assault on Gaza has had 'catastrophic' effect on healthcare
The impact of the Israel-Gaza conflict on the territory’s healthcare sector has been “catastrophic”, the World Health Organization chief said on Sunday at an emergency board meeting, saying conditions were ideal for the spread of deadly diseases.
“It’s stating the obvious to say that the impact of the conflict on health is catastrophic,” WHO director-deneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the 34-member board, Reuters reports.
“In summary, health needs have increased dramatically, and the capacity of the health system has been reduced to one-third of what it was,” he said.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of basing itself inside civilian healthcare facilities within the Gaza Strip, which the organisation has denied.
Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi has said Israel is implementing a systematic policy of pushing Palestinians out of Gaza with a war that has killed thousands of civilians.
In remarks at a conference in Doha, Safadi, whose country borders the West Bank and which had absorbed the bulk of Palestinians after Israel’s creation in 1948, also said Israel had created an “amount of hatred” that would “haunt the region” and “define generations to come”.
In a similar warning, Reuters reports Qatar’s prime minister sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Sunday that an entire generation in the Middle East is at risk of becoming radicalised because of the war in Gaza.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza and Israel.
Qatar PM: Israel's bombardment of Gaza 'narrowing the window' for renewed hostage deal
Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire and free more hostages held by Hamas despite the ongoing Israeli bombardment that is “narrowing the window” for a successful outcome, Qatar’s prime minister said 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, adding that “the continuation of the bombardment is just narrowing this window for us”.
“We are going to continue, we are committed to have hostages released, but we are also committed to stop the war,” Qatar’s prime minister said.
But, AFP reports he added, “we are not seeing the same willingness from both parties”.
Here are a few more of the words of the Palestinian Authority’s prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh in Doha.
Al Jazeera quotes him saying:
If Israel is above international law, sanctions should be put on it. Israel should not be allowed to continue violating international humanitarian law and international law.
Our main concern is not the day after. It is today. We want the stop of atrocities and genocide that is happening today.
It has always been that indigenous people and people who struggle win in the end, and Palestinians will win in the end. This 75 years of struggle will continue
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor:
The US has found itself under sustained attack across the Islamic world for its use of the veto on Friday preventing the UN security council call for a humanitarian ceasefire.
Most Arab ministers gathering at the Doha forum in Qatar admit they now had no plan B. Many of the key diplomats were gathering in Doha for an annual conference staged by Qatar, one of the key players in the efforts to secure the release of Hamas hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
In one of the toughest responses to Friday’s vote, the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the UN security council has become “a council for the protection and defence of Israel”
Detailed talks are still under way to ensure that Israeli assurances to allow more aid into Gaza are met.
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said the US veto on Friday made Washington complicit in what he described as war crimes against Palestinians.
In a statement released by the presidency, Abbas also said he held the US responsible for the bloodshed of Palestinian children, women and the elderly in Gaza.
The Palestinian prime minister Mohammea Shtayyeh said the US veto was “a disgrace and a blank cheque given to the occupying state to massace destory and displace”.
In its latest update, the UN said that 1.93 million people – 78% of Gaza’s population – are already internally displaced. Israel’s military on Sunday morning issued another set of instructions for people to evacuate inside the Gaza Strip.
The IDF has forbidden travel down the main north-south Salah al-Din road near the city of Khan Younis, describing it as “a battlefield”. Instead, it advises residents to detour via a coastal road if they are heading south.
#عاجل سكان قطاع غزة، جيش الدفاع يعمل بقوة ضد حماس والمنظمات الإرهابية في قطاع غزة وبشكل خاص في منطقة خان يونس. فيما يلي عدة تعليمات عاجلة:
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) December 10, 2023
⭕️سيتم تعليق تكتيكي محلي ومؤقت للنشاطات العسكرية لأغراض إنسانية في الحي الإداري في رفح اعتبارًا من 10:00 صباحًا ولغاية 14:00 ظهرًا، لغرض… pic.twitter.com/rSIovTNhaj
Israel’s military also announced “a local and temporary tactical suspension of military activities for humanitarian purposes” in the Rafah administrative district from 10am local time (8am GMT) to 2pm (noon GMT). Yesterday the World Food Program said that nine out of 10 Palestinian families in some areas of Gaza are spending “a full day and night without any food at all.”
Israel claims to have struck 'over 250 terror targets' in Gaza in last 24 hours
Israel’s military has issued an operational update for Sunday morning in which it has claimed to have struck “over 250 terror targets” in the last 24 hours.
In the message posted to Telegram, it claimed:
IDF troops located and destroyed weapons stocks, carried out targeted raids on military sites, destroyed underground terror tunnel shafts and thwarted armed terrorist cells planning to attack IDF troops.
Overnight, an IDF fighter jet directed by ground troops struck a Hamas military communications site located adjacent to a mosque in the southern Gaza Strip. Following the strike, the troops conducted a targeted raid on the site.
Over the past day, IDF troops fired with precise munitions and struck underground tunnel shafts in Khan Younis. In addition, a drone assisted IDF troops in identifying an armed terrorist cell that planned to attack additional IDF troops forces in the area. The terrorist cell was eliminated.
It also claimed to have carried out “a raid on a Hamas military command centre” in Shejaiya. The claims have not been independently verified.
According to local authorities in Gaza, at least 17,700 Palestinians have been killed, and more than 48,780 wounded, by Israeli military actions since 7 October. An additional 7,780 people are believed to be missing. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
For Almaza Owda, in Gaza’s besieged second city of Khan Younis, thoughts have turned to how she might die.
On Thursday night, four days into the Israel Defense Forces’ assault on the southern city, Owda – who is living in a tent in the grounds of a UN school turned shelter – described her feelings, posting on social media:
I keep asking myself how will I die? … The bombardment is very, very violent and intense nearby. The clashes never stop. [We’re] cold, hungry, scared, stressed, tired. They bombarded around us with tank shells and all the shrapnel fell on us.
The Israeli military has launched a relentless bombardment of Khan Younis, which it claims is the Hamas command centre. For this full story from Peter Beaumont and Kaamil Ahmed on the Palestinians trapped inside the city, see here:
Updated
French ship downs two drones amid warning from Huthi rebels
A French frigate shot down two drones in the Red Sea that were heading towards it from the coast of Yemen, the French military said on Sunday.
“The interception and destruction of these two identified threats” were carried out late on Saturday by the frigate Languedoc, which operates in the Red Sea, the general staff said in a press release.
The interceptions happened at 2030GMT and 2230GMT, it added, and were 110km (68 miles) from the Yemeni coast.
Agence France-Presse also reports that Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels threatened on Saturday to attack any vessels heading to Israeli ports unless food and medicine were allowed into the besieged Gaza Strip.
The latest warning comes amid heightened tensions in the Red Sea and surrounding waters following a series of maritime attacks by Huthi rebels since the start of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October.
In a statement posted on social media, the Huthis said they “will prevent the passage of ships heading to the Zionist entity” if humanitarian aid is not allowed into Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The Huthis have recently attacked ships they claim have direct links to Israel, but their latest threat expands the scope of their targets.
An American destroyer shot down three drones last week while providing assistance to commercial ships in the Red Sea targeted by attacks from Yemen, according to Washington, which denounced “a direct threat” to maritime security.
In Gaza City in the Strip’s north, an Agence France-Presse journalist said thousands were sheltering in the al-Shifa hospital, which is no longer functioning and partly destroyed following an Israeli raid last month.
Hundreds of makeshift tents fashioned from scraps of fabric and plastic filled the hospital’s courtyards and garden amid collapsed walls.
Suheil Abu Dalfa, 56, from the city’s Shejaiya district, said he had fled heavy bombardment by Israeli planes and tanks.
He told AFP:
It was madness. A shell hit the house and wounded my 20-year-old son.
We fled to the Old City, everything was just strikes and destruction... we didn’t know where to go.
We don’t know if they will storm the hospital again.
In central Gaza, Hamas health authorities said on Saturday that 71 dead bodies had arrived at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah over 24 hours.
And in the south of the territory, 62 dead bodies had arrived at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, the health authorities said.
An AFP correspondent at the hospital saw a child on a makeshift stretcher and others waiting for care on the floor, while firefighters outside tried to douse a burning building hit by an Israeli strike.
The situation “is not just a catastrophe, it’s apocalyptic”, said Bushra Khalidi of Oxfam.
Israeli troops continue drive into southern Gaza amid 'apocalyptic' humanitarian crisis
Israeli forces continues to push on Sunday into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled in search of shelter from bombardments and intense fighting with Hamas militants.
Agence France-Presse reports that aid groups have sounded the alarm on the “apocalyptic” humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, warning it is on the brink of being overwhelmed by disease and starvation.
Hamas, which runs Gaza, said on Sunday that Israel had launched a series of “very violent raids” targeting the southern city of Khan Younis and the road from there to Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
A source close to Hamas and Palestinian militants Islamic Jihad told AFP both groups were involved in “fierce clashes” with Israeli forces on Sunday near Khan Younis. An AFP journalist reported strikes in the area.
At least 17,700 people, mostly women and children, have died in two months of fighting in the narrow strip of territory, according to the latest figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Opening summary
Welcome to our rolling live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war – this is Adam Fulton and I’ll be with you for the next while.
Leading the headlines, Israeli forces are continuing their push into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled in search of shelter from Israeli bombardments and fighting with Hamas militants.
Aid groups spoke of an “apocalyptic” humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, warning it is on the brink of being overwhelmed by disease and starvation.
Hamas, which runs Gaza, said on Sunday that Israel had launched a series of “very violent raids” targeting Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Younis and the road from there to Rafah, near the border with Egypt.
On Saturday, Israel ordered residents out of the centre of Khan Younis, including parts of the city centre that had not been subject to such orders before, as it pounded the length of the territory.
More on that story shortly. In other news as it nears 7.45am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv:
The Biden administration has used an emergency authority to sell about 14,000 tank shells to Israel without congressional review. The state department on Friday used an Arms Export Control Act emergency declaration for the tank rounds, worth $106.5m, for immediate delivery to Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said it had only been able to distribute aid in a very small part of southern Gaza “because of the intensity of the fighting and the bombardment since the humanitarian pause stopped”. UNRWA’s deputy executive director, Carl Skau, said earlier: “About half the population in Gaza are starving … The humanitarian operation is collapsing. With the chaos with this active fighting it’s not possible to do the work that is needed.
The Israeli military says five of its soldiers have died in the war. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) named the five in a post on X and said four of them died in battle in southern Gaza and one succumbed to his wounds after fighting on 7 October.
A UN peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon was hit without causing casualties, the UN force said, adding it was seeking to verify the source of the fire. Lebanon’s national news agency reported that an “Israeli Merkava tank” targeted the UN interim force in Lebanon (Unifil) position near the border across from Metula in northern Israel on Saturday. An Israeli army spokeswoman said it : “did not aim at Unifil, we did not hit a Unifil position.”
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the US for vetoing a UN security council resolution which called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, where more than 17,700 Palestinians have been killed. Netanyahu said on Saturday: “I greatly appreciate the correct stance that the US has taken in the UN security council. Other countries need to understand that.” US secretary of state Antony Blinken has continued to speak with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and elsewhere amid open criticism of the US opposition to an open-ended truce.
Israeli fighter jets “completed an attack on Lebanese territory during which targets of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah was attacked”, the Israeli Defense Forces’ spokesperson tweeted on Saturday. Daniel Hagari added: “Among the targets that were attacked, a number of military positions from which launches were made into the territory of the country, military sites where the organisation’s terrorists operated and other terrorist infrastructures.”
The Gulf Cooperation Council is holding Israel legally responsible for killing thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. The GCC countries said on Saturday that they had renewed their condemnation of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza strip and were holding Israel legally responsible for ongoing attacks that resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians in Gaza.
Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy in the West Bank town of Azzun, in Qalqilya, on Saturday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The boy has been identified as Mahmoud Abu Haniya by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Local reports say Haniya was caught up in gunfire by an Israeli military unit and was fatally shot in the back.
Scotland’s first minister has criticised the UK government for its abstention in the United Arab Emirates-led UN security council resolution on Friday which called for an humanitarian ceasefire. Humza Yousaf tweeted on Saturday: “How can you choose to be complicit in the killing of thousands of children? Shame on the UK Government & Keir Starmer’s Labour Party who refuse to back a #CeasefireNow.”
More than 130 Palestinian families have been forcibly displaced from Bedouin communities by Israeli forces and extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank since 7 October, the Palestinian foreign ministry has said. At least 260 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by extremist Israeli settlers since then, Palestinian health minister Mai al-Kaila said.
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