Palestinian women mourn during the funeral ceremony of Palestinian people who were killed by the Israeli army on 7 January Photograph: Wahaj Bani Moufleh/Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images
Palestinian women mourn during the funeral ceremony of Palestinian people who were killed by the Israeli army on 7 January Photograph: Wahaj Bani Moufleh/Middle East Images / AFP via Getty ImagesShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Live feedThree Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in West Bank, says health ministryThree Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.
The West Bank had already experienced the highest levels of unrest in decades during the 18 months preceding the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel by Hamas gunmen but confrontations have risen sharply as Israeli forces have launched an invasion of Gaza, Reuters reports.
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Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected a request from international media organisations to allow journalists to report in Gaza.
The Foreign Press Association, which represents dozens of media organisations operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition last month to order Israeli authorities to allow journalists to enter.
Prior to 7 October, reporters with an Israeli-issued press card could enter Gaza and apply for an additional reporting permit from Hamas, which governs the territory.
In its ruling, the Israeli court said that while it recognises the right of freedom of the press, the current wartime circumstances justify the restrictions.
It said journalists inside Gaza could endanger soldiers by reporting about troop positions, AP reported. It said journalists could continue to enter Gaza under Israeli military escort.
Blinken arrives in IsraelThe US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Tel Aviv ahead of talks with Israeli officials on Tuesday.
Blinken landed in Israel after meeting with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as part of his fourth Middle East tour since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October.
Before leaving Al Ula after meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Blinken said:
We agreed to work together and coordinate our efforts to help Gaza stabilise and recover … and to work toward long term peace and security and stability.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, gestures as he arrives in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/APSummary of the day so farIt’s 11pm in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Beirut. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
At least 23,084 Palestinians have been killed and 58,926 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures by the Gaza health ministry on Monday. The ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 249 Palestinians were killed and 510 were wounded in the previous 24 hours.
The UN rights office has said it is “very concerned” by the number of journalists killed in the war in Gaza, a day after two Al Jazeera reporters were killed in an alleged Israeli strike on their car. The killing of journalists “must be thoroughly, independently investigated to ensure strict compliance with international law, and violations prosecuted”, the UN office said on Monday.
The only hospital remaining in central Gaza is on the verge of shutting down amid intense fighting that has engulfed the area, a UN spokesperson has said. Medics, patients and displaced people have been fleeing from Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, according to witnesses. The Israeli military has dropped leaflets designating areas surrounding Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah as a “red zone”, the International Rescue Committee said.
Three Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.
Joe Biden’s speech at Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, South Carolina, was interrupted by pro-Palestine activists, who called for a ceasefire in Gaza. As the protest dissipated, Biden said: “I have been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza and using all that I can to do that.”
‘Ceasefire now’: pro-Palestine protesters interrupt Joe Biden’s speech in Charleston – video The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had been compelled to cancel a mission to bring medical supplies to northern Gaza on Sunday after failing to receive security guarantees. It was the fourth time the WHO had had to call off a planned mission to bring urgently needed medical supplies to Al-Awda Hospital and the central drug store in northern Gaza since 26 December, it said.
Israel has killed a senior military commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, Wissam Hassan al Tawil, in an air strike in southern Lebanon around 6km from the border. It comes amid warnings from Lebanese security sources that the assassination could lead to a further escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Shia armed movement.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has killed a Hamas operative who it claimed was responsible for rockets attacks against Israel from Syria. Hassan Hakashah was killed by Israeli forces in Beit Jinn in Syria, the IDF said in a statement on Monday.
Israel is carrying out an unprecedented wave of deadly strikes in Syria targeting cargo trucks, infrastructure and people involved in Iran’s weapons lifeline to its proxies in the region, sources have told Reuters. The sources said Israel had shifted strategies following the 7 October attack by Hamas fighters into Israeli territory and the ensuing Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Palestinians “must not be pressed to leave Gaza” at a press conference in Qatar. Blinken is on his fourth tour of the Middle East since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. He is due to head to Israel on Tuesday, where he said he would tell Israeli officials that it is imperative they do more to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has released video footage it claimed showed an Israeli hostage taken during the 7 October attacks. The hostage has been named by Israeli media as Elad Katzir, 47, from Nir Oz kibbutz.
UN experts have demanded accountability for sexual violence allegedly carried out by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians during the 7 October attacks, saying that mounting evidence of rapes and genital mutilation point to possible crimes against humanity. Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into possible sexual crimes during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history.
Pope Francis has said that “indiscriminately striking” civilians is a war crime because it violates international humanitarian law in his yearly address to diplomats. Commenting on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Francis called for a “ceasefire on every front, including Lebanon”.
More than 325 people were arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest that disrupted the Monday morning rush hour in New York City, police said.
Demonstrators gathered at the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge and the Holland Tunnel, locking themselves together using zip ties and cement-filled tyres, AP reported.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators block a Brooklyn Bridge roadway during a ‘Shut it Down for Palestine’ protest in New York City. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/ReutersPro-Palestinian demonstrators block a Brooklyn Bridge roadway during a ‘Shut it Down for Palestine’ protest in New York City. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/ReutersA Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves the Palestinian flag as it blocks a Brooklyn Bridge roadway during a ‘Shut it Down for Palestine’ protest in New York City. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Joanna Walters
Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, has told his French counterpart that it is “unacceptable” to allow the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to push the area to a wider regional war, Reuters is reporting.
This is a breaking news snap and we’ll bring you more details as they emerge.
Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi (right) with US secretary of state Antony Blinken in Amman yesterday. Photograph: Petra News Agency/EPASafadi told France’s Catherine Colonna that the threat of the war in Gaza spreading is increasing “by the day”.
Three Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in West Bank, says health ministryThree Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.
The West Bank had already experienced the highest levels of unrest in decades during the 18 months preceding the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel by Hamas gunmen but confrontations have risen sharply as Israeli forces have launched an invasion of Gaza, Reuters reports.
The only hospital remaining in central Gaza is on the verge of shutting down amid intense fighting that has engulfed the area, a UN spokesperson has said.
As we reported earlier, aid groups have been forced to withdraw from Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in recent days, spreading panic among people sheltering there. The Israeli military has dropped leaflets designating areas surrounding the hospital as a “red zone”, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said.
Al-Aqsa is “the single remaining hospital in the middle area of Gaza”, where a “major offensive is under way”, Gemma Connell, a spokesperson for the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) told the BBC.
The situation in the hospital is dire. We have just a single doctor who is working in the emergency room. You have only two surgeons left responding to hundreds of needs in that hospital. You have so many casualties coming in every single hour who are in desperate need of life-saving support.
World Health Organization (WHO) staff who visited the medical facility on Sunday saw “sickening scenes of people of all ages being treated on blood-streaked floors and in chaotic corridors”, the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a statement.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant, have released a joint statement saying that the war will continue “for many more months”, according to Netanyahu’s office.
A statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office, reported by the Times of Israel, says:
The war is not close to ending, neither in Gaza nor in the north. It will continue for many more months.
UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, during Blinken’s Middle East tour, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Photograph: Abdulla Al Bedwawi/UAE Presidential Court/ReutersThe Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has killed a Hamas operative who it claimed was responsible for rockets attacks against Israel from Syria.
Hassan Hakashah was killed by Israeli forces in Beit Jinn in Syria, the IDF said in a statement.
It said he was a “central figure responsible for rockets fired by Hamas from Syrian territory toward Israel in recent weeks”, adding:
We will not allow terrorism from Syrian territory and hold Syria responsible for all activity emanating from its territory.
Biden speech interrupted by pro-Palestinian protestersJoe Biden has been interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters while delivering remarks at the Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Protesters demanded the US president call for a halt to Israel’s invasion of Gaza, shouting “ceasefire now”. The crowd attempted to drown out their calls by chanting “four more years”.
“I understand their passion,” Biden said, as security removed the protesters from the church, adding:
I‘ve been quietly working, quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce significantly and get out of Gaza.
‘Ceasefire now’: pro-Palestine protesters interrupt Joe Biden’s speech in Charleston – video The UK’s Labour party has reiterated calls for the government “to do everything it can to work for a sustained ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip.
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, said there had been no “let-up to the intolerable suffering” of Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli hostages still being held.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Lammy accused Israel of using “devastating tactics that have seen far too many innocent civilians killed, with unacceptable blocks on essential aid”. He added:
Nowhere safe for civilians, a growing humanitarian catastrophe and now warnings of a deadly famine.
He said the “dire” situation in Gaza must not continue, adding that the need for a sustained ceasefire is clear:
We need a humanitarian truce now and not a short pause, but as the first step to what will stop the killing of innocents, provide urgent humanitarian relief, ward off famine, free hostages and provide the space for a sustainable ceasefire, so fighting does not restart.
Labour calls for ‘sustained ceasefire’ in Gaza during UQ in Commons – videoGermany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, visited a village in the occupied West Bank on Monday along with a team from the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.
In a social media post, the group said Baerbock saw the impact of “state-backed settler violence on Palestinians” in the West Bank.
The German minister also spoke to Palestinian land owners who described “the harm they have endured for decades as settlements were built on their land and, most recently, being removed from their homes and land by the Israeli army, under the guise of the Gaza war”, the group said.
> pic.twitter.com/6d8lpnILsp
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) January 8, 2024nn”,”url”:”https://twitter.com/btselem/status/1744375181236203817″,”id”:”1744375181236203817″,”hasMedia”:false,”role”:”inline”,”isThirdPartyTracking”:false,”source”:”Twitter”,”elementId”:”4d5f7649-5ec5-48a1-bf4a-685c301561df”}}”>B’Tselem’s team accompanied @baerbockpress, the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, on a visit of the village al-Mazra’ah al-Qibliyah, to demonstrate the impact of state-backed settler violence on Palestinians in the West Bank >> pic.twitter.com/6d8lpnILsp
— B’Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) January 8, 2024 UN says it is ‘very concerned by high death toll’ of journalists in GazaThe UN rights office has said it is “very concerned” by the number of journalists killed in the war in Gaza, a day after two Al Jazeera reporters were killed in an alleged Israeli strike on their car.
Hamza Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria were killed while on assignment for Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based media network said in a statement. A third freelancer, Hazem Rajab, was wounded.
Dahdouh was the eldest son of Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, whose wife, two other children and a grandson were killed by an Israeli strike in October.
“Very concerned by high death toll of media workers in Gaza,” the UN rights office posted to social media, adding:
Killings of all journalists, including Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Abu Thuria in reported IDF strike on car must be thoroughly, independently investigated to ensure strict compliance with international law, and violations prosecuted.
At least 79 journalists and media workers have been killed since the war began, according to figures by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Very concerned by high death toll of media workers in #Gaza. Killings of all journalists, incl Hamza Al-Dahdouh & Mustafa Abu Thurayya in reported IDF strike on car, must be thoroughly, independently investigated to ensure strict compliance w/ intl law, & violations prosecuted
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) January 8, 2024Palestinian Islamic Jihad releases video of Israeli hostage held in GazaThe Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has released video footage it claimed showed an Israeli hostage taken during the 7 October attacks.
The hostage has been named by Israeli media as Elad Katzir, 47, from Nir Oz kibbutz.
Katzir is one of around 75 people kidnapped from Nir Oz by Palestinian militants during the attacks, according to the kibbutz near border with the Gaza Strip.
Here are some of the latest images we have received over the newswires from Gaza and Israel.
Palestinians inspect a car hit by an Israeli strike on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Fadi Shana/ReutersSmoke rises following Israeli air strikes on Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPADisplaced Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, sit on a horse-drawn carriage in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/ReutersA border security guard inspects a truck carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip at the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza, southern Israel. Photograph: Léo Corrêa/APSirens have sounded in Tel Aviv and other cities in central Israel today, sending residents running for shelter.
There were no immediate reports of injuries, Reuters reported.
Summary of the day so farIt’s 6pm in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Beirut. Here’s a recap of today’s developments:
At least 23,084 Palestinians have been killed and 58,926 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures by the Gaza health ministry on Monday. The ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 249 Palestinians were killed and 510 were wounded in the previous 24 hours.
Medics, patients and displaced people are fleeing from the main hospital in central Gaza, as the fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants draws closer, according to witnesses. The Israeli military has dropped leaflets designating areas surrounding Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah as a “red zone”, the International Rescue Committee said. An employee at Al-Aqsa hospital said the facility has been struck multiple times in recent days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had been compelled to cancel a mission to bring medical supplies to northern Gaza on Sunday after failing to receive security guarantees. It was the fourth time the WHO had had to call off a planned mission to bring urgently needed medical supplies to Al-Awda Hospital and the central drug store in northern Gaza since 26 December, it said.
Israel has killed a senior military commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, Wissam Hassan al Tawil, in an air strike in southern Lebanon around six kilometres from the border. It comes amid warnings from Lebanese security sources that the assassination could lead to a further escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Shia armed movement.
Israel is carrying out an unprecedented wave of deadly strikes in Syria targeting cargo trucks, infrastructure and people involved in Iran’s weapons lifeline to its proxies in the region, sources have told Reuters. The sources said Israel had shifted strategies following the 7 October attack by Hamas fighters into Israeli territory and the ensuing Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Palestinians “must not be pressed to leave Gaza” at a press conference in Qatar. Blinken is on his fourth tour of the Middle East since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. He is due to head to Israel on Tuesday, where he said he would tell Israeli officials that it is imperative they do more to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza.
Al Jazeera has accused Israel of a “targeted killing” after two of its Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip were killed in an Israeli strike on their car. Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria were killed while they were “on their way to carry out their duty” for the channel in the Gaza Strip, the network said. The health ministry in Gaza also confirmed the deaths and blamed an Israeli strike.
UN experts have demanded accountability for sexual violence allegedly carried out by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians during the 7 October attacks, saying that mounting evidence of rapes and genital mutilation point to possible crimes against humanity. Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into possible sexual crimes during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history.
Pope Francis has said that “indiscriminately striking” civilians is a war crime because it violates international humanitarian law in his yearly address to diplomats. Commenting on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Francis called for a “ceasefire on every front, including Lebanon”.
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