Live blog: Gaza death toll surges as Israeli forces attack crowded areas

Saturday, January 20, 2024

0931 GMT — Deadly Israeli air attacks continue to rain down on Gaza as fighting continues in Khan Younis with death toll nearing 25,000.

At least 165 Palestinians have been killed and 280 injured in the last 24 hours, and people are still trapped under rubble as Israeli forces continue their assault on besieged Gaza, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the territory said.

"The Israeli occupation committed 14 massacres against families in Gaza, leaving 165 martyrs and 280 injured during the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a statement.

"Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them," the statement added.

Israeli forces blew up multiple homes in the town of Al Qarara, northeast of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing several people and injuring others, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

A Palestinian was also killed after being directly targeted by a reconnaissance plane in Khan Younis, the news agency said, citing medical sources.

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1702 GMT — Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards stage nationwide anti-Israel rally

Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards protested across the country against ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, blaming the US and EU for sponsoring the onslaught and urging Madrid to stop supporting Israel.

On the call of the Solidarity Network against the Occupation of Palestine (RESCOP), a conglomerate of over 100 civil society organisations in Spain, a massive number of people staged anti-Israel rallies in more than 90 provinces and districts, with the largest one in the capital Madrid, where over 50,000 people are estimated to have participated in solidarity with Palestine.

The leaders urged the Spanish government to "sever all political, economic, cultural, and sporting relations with Israel and take concrete steps for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to stop the genocide".

1642 GMT — Israelis opposing war receiving 'death threats:' Knesset member

Israeli lawmaker Ofer Cassif, who has been criticised for backing South Africa's genocide case against Israel, says "there is an assault going on" against those who are opposing Tel Aviv's military campaign in Gaza.

“People are arrested for tweets and posts, not in support of Hamas, of course, but in supporting ending the war, or before even cease-fire. Students are suspended from the universities and colleges. People are fired from their workplaces . The police are brutally violent towards the demonstrators,” Cassif said.

Cassif said everyone will pay a "huge price" and the entire "region is going to explode" if Israel does not get rid of the "terrible government" headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

1349 GMT — UN General Assembly president turns calls for ceasefire in Gaza

President of UN General Assembly Dennis Francis renewed his call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Addressing the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, he acknowledged that inability to resolve global issues has rendered the relevancy of UN questionable.

“I must tell you that I am deeply concerned and indeed dismayed about the ongoing calamity in the Gaza Strip; and so, I call upon this movement to exert its influence in bringing a halt to the carnage that we are all haplessly witnessing. That situation behoves that we ask: how much is enough? I renew the demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and for the release of all hostages,” he said.

1259 GMT — Hostage families ramp up for truce-for-hostages deal

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza protested outside the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing frustration over his far-right government’s lack of progress in getting the more than 100 captives released as the war in Gaza drags on.

A group representing families of the hostages said they had "begged for 105 days" and now demanded the government show leadership and take bold steps to free the hostages.

A member of Israel’s War Cabinet has called a ceasefire the only way to secure their release, a comment that implied criticism of Israel's current strategy.

1226 GMT — Hamas dismisses Biden comments on Palestinian state

A senior Hamas official dismissed comments by US President Joe Biden about the possibility of Israel agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"The illusion that Biden is preaching about a state of Palestine and its characteristics does not fool our people," Izzat al Rishq, member of Hamas's political bureau, said in a statement.

"Biden is a full partner in the genocidal war and our people do not expect any good from him."

Biden said Friday it was still possible that Netanyahu could agree to some form of Palestinian state after the two leaders spoke by phone for the first time in nearly a month, while Israel's war in Gaza grinds on.

1201 GMT — 2 people killed as Israeli drone hits car in Lebanon

An Israeli drone targeted a vehicle near Tyre City on a road between Bazouriye and Borj el Shamali towns, resulting in two deaths, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.

Another attack targeted a house in the Marwahin area on the border with Israel, the agency added.

Earlier Saturday, Lebanon’s Hezbollah announced in a statement that its members targeted Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of Hunin Castle and Al Dhahirah site with “appropriate weapons.”

1148 GMT — Palestinians mourn teenager killed in West Bank

Palestinians gathered to mourn the death of a teenager killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli aggression has surged since the war erupted in Gaza.

In a case that has drawn concern from the White House, seventeen-year-old Tawfiq Ajaq was shot dead on Friday in the town of Al Mazraa Al Sharqiya, east of Ramallah, the Palestinian news agency Wafa and relatives of the young man said.

Ajaq was a US citizen, according to his father and a local official in the area, Hassan Zeben.

1101 GMT — Israel army detains 22 more Palestinians in West Bank

The Israeli army continued incursions into several cities in the occupied West Bank, detaining 22 more Palestinians and destroying several homes, as well as taking people's money and vehicles, according to prisoners' affairs groups.

Israeli soldiers conducted incursions in several areas of the occupied territory, including Hebron, Bethlehem, Tubas, Nablus, Jenin, and Jerusalem, the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

With the latest arrests, the Israeli army has detained 6,115 Palestinians in its incursions into the occupied West Bank since October 7.

0856 GMT — Gaza death toll reaches 24,927: Health Ministry

At least 24,927 people have been killed in Gaza since the breaking out of Israel's war on the besieged Palestinian territory on October 7, the enclave's health ministry said.

A ministry statement said at least 165 people were killed over the past 24 hours alone, while another 62,388 have been wounded since Israel's war on Gaza began.

0526 GMT — Israel intensifies attacks on Khan Younis in southern Gaza

Israel ratcheted up its attacks in the south of Gaza after Netanyahu and Biden discussed differences over a post-war future for Palestinians that have suggested a rift between the two allies.

Witnesses said the Israeli bombardment was again focused overnight on Khan Younis, the largest city in Gaza's south, Palestinian media also reporting intense fire around Jabalia in the north.

A child with a bloodied face cried on a gurney at Al Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, while ambulances carrying the wounded and the dead arrived to the sound of automatic weapons in the distance.

0254 GMT — EU's Borrell accuses Israel of 'creating' and 'financing' Hamas

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell accused Israel of having "created" and "financed" the Palestinian group Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in recent days reaffirmed his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, drawing criticism from his US ally, which is still advocating a "two-state solution."

"We believe that a two-state solution must be imposed from outside to bring peace. Although, I insist, Israel is reaffirming its refusal (of this solution), and to prevent it they have gone so far as to create Hamas themselves," Borrell said.

"Hamas has been financed by the Israeli government to try to weaken the Palestinian Authority of Fatah."

0012 GMT — Gaza's toll rises as hostage families lash out at Netanyahu

Israel has murdered at least seven civilians in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central besieged Gaza and Al Amal neighbourhood in Khan Younis, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported.

Israeli warplanes bombarded a house belonging to the Darwish family in the camp, which led to the murdering of five civilians and the wounding of several others, WAFA reported.

The Israeli jets also launched multiple strikes on the Al Amal neighbourhood, murdering at least two people and wounding several others, it said. Israeli gunboats also bombed, with several missiles, al Shati refugee camp in southern besieged Gaza.

2339 GMT — Families of Israeli captives say they have lost trust in Netanyahu

Families of Israeli captives who are being held in besieged Gaza have said that they have lost trust in the government of Netanyahu in seeking the return of the captives.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN cited the families who stressed they would carry out their own initiatives. They, however, did not specify what that would that would look like.

KAN quoted one family who said: "Any delay in the negotiations will put their lives [Israeli captives in Gaza] in danger."

Meanwhile, KAN reported that dozens of families headed late on Friday to Netanyahu's home in Caesarea in northern Israel, to pressure him for the release of the captives.

2331 GMT — US Navy fighter jets strike Houthi missile launchers in Yemen: officials

US fighter jets struck Houthi sites for the sixth time, taking out three anti-ship missiles in Yemen that were prepared to fire, according to US officials.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations, said the strikes were carried out by F/A-18 aircraft off the USS Dwight D Eisenhower aircraft carrier.

The strikes resembled similar US attacks on Houthi launchers that have been occurring almost daily this week.

2320 GMT — Egypt urges NAM summit to condemn Israel's carnage

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has urged the 19th Non-Aligned Movement summit in the Ugandan capital of Kampala to condemn Israel's carnage in besieged Gaza.

He made the statement on behalf of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi and stressed that "the Middle East region is witnessing a widespread crisis as a result of Israel's continued brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip."

Shoukry urged the Movement "to adhere to its historical positions in condemning the Israeli illegal practices and to reject the Israeli attempts to expel the Palestinian people and to obliterate their cause."

The 19th Non-Aligned Movement summit in Kampala kicked off on Friday and is scheduled to run until January 24.

For our live updates from Thursday, January 19, click here.