Live blog: Gaza infants freezing to death is tragic, unacceptable — UNICEF

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

1715 GMT — An official from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has described seven newborns and infants freezing to death in Gaza in late December as tragic.

"It’s tragic and unacceptable that since 23 December, 7 newborns and infants have reportedly died from the cold and a lack of adequate shelter in Gaza.

These preventable deaths lay bare the desperate and deteriorating conditions facing families and children across Gaza for over 14 months," Ricardo Pires, communication manager of UNICEF, told Anadolu, highlighting the worsening humanitarian conditions in the region.

Pires warned of further fatalities as temperatures continue to plummet.

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1735 GMT — South Africa's president demands end to hostilities in Gaza in his New Year's message

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his New Year message, has called for the cessation of hostilities in Gaza and the release of hostages.

"As the conflict in the Middle East continues, as genocide is perpetrated against the people of Gaza, and as Israeli hostages remain in captivity, we continue to call for the cessation of hostilities and the release of hostages," Ramaphosa said in a statement.

He said his country has stood firm in support of the Palestinian people's struggle.

1651 GMT — Palestinian seriously wounded by Israeli gunfire in occupied West Bank

A 26-year-old Palestinian man sustained critical injuries after he was shot by Israeli forces during an incursion into Halhul, a town north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that the victim was severely wounded by Israeli army gunfire.

Israeli forces raided Halhul, firing live bullets and tear gas during clashes with youngsters who had thrown stones at military vehicles, witnesses told Anadolu.​​​​​​​

1602 GMT — US has spent $22B supporting Israel’s military since October 2023

Since October 7, 2023, the US has spent more than $22 billion supporting Israel’s military offensives, including in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the US supplied 69% of Israel's arms from 2019 to 2023, which increased to 78 percent.

By December 2023, the US had delivered over 10,000 tons of weapons worth $2.4 billion.

This number grew to 50,000 tonnes by August 2024, transported via hundreds of planes and ships.

As Israel’s biggest ally, the country has supplied a wide range of advanced military equipment, including missiles for the Iron Dome defence system, precision-guided bombs, CH-53 heavy lift helicopters, AH-64 Apache helicopters, and 155mm artillery shells, along with bunker-busting munitions and armoured vehicles.

1601 GMT — Houthis report 12 US-British air strikes on capital Sanaa

US and British warplanes launched 12 air strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the Houthi group said.

The Al-Masirah TV said the attacks targeted the al-Ardi Complex, which houses the Defence Ministry headquarters, and the 22nd May Complex, which houses the Information Ministry premises in central Sanaa.

1506 GMT — Yemen's Houthis report six US-British air strikes on capital Sanaa

US and British warplanes launched six air strikes on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the Houthi group said.

The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said the attacks targeted the al-Ardi Complex, which houses the Defence Ministry headquarters, and the 22nd May Complex, which houses the Defence Ministry premises in central Sanaa.

No information was provided about casualties or damage from the strikes.

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1453 GMT — Doctors back from Gaza share horrors inflicted on Palestinians

Doctors, who volunteered in Gaza amid ongoing Israeli attacks, described their experience of treating sick and wounded people under dire and horrific conditions.

The brutal Israeli war on Gaza has killed more than 45,000 people, mostly women and children. One of the children who succumbed to her injuries after getting injured in an Israeli attack was a nine-year-old girl whose last moments were witnessed by a Palestinian doctor, Mohamed Ashraf.

Among countless, Mohamed Ashraf recounted a heartbreaking story of treating a Palestinian girl whose family had been killed in an Israeli missile strike.

In an interview with Anadolu, Ashraf who has volunteered at al-Shifa Hospital and Kuwaiti Hospital, said that when the girl was brought to hospital with shrapnel all over her face, she could not open her eyes.

"When I was treating her, she asked me to come in closer to her. I came in closer to her, and she asked me, 'Doctor, am I in heaven," said Ashraf who is also a lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza.

1435 GMT — Dozens of patients, wounded evacuated from Gaza for treatment

Dozens of patients and the wounded have been evacuated for treatment outside the war-ravaged Gaza, where the United Nations says Israel's attacks on and around hospitals have pushed health care to the brink.

The 45 patients left the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis and travelled through the Karem Abu Salem Crossing into Israel, Palestinian health officials said. They will receive treatment in the United Arab Emirates.

The Health Ministry says several thousand Palestinians in Gaza need medical treatment abroad. Israel has controlled all entry and exit points since capturing the southern city of Rafah in May.

Dozens of patients and the wounded have been evacuated for treatment outside the war-ravaged Gaza, where the United Nations says Israel's attacks on and around hospitals have pushed health care to the brink.

The 45 patients left the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis and travelled through the Karem Abu Salem Crossing into Israel, Palestinian health officials said. They will receive treatment in the United Arab Emirates.

The Health Ministry says several thousand Palestinians in Gaza need medical treatment abroad. Israel has controlled all entry and exit points since capturing the southern city of Rafah in May.

1230 GMT — Israeli army claims to intercept rocket from southern Gaza

The Israeli army has claimed to have intercepted a rocket fired from southern Gaza amid its brutal war on the Palestinian enclave.

A military statement said in-coming rocket sirens were activated in several settlements adjacent to Gaza border. The army said the results of the interception was under review, with no injuries reported.

There was no Palestinian comment on the Israeli claim.

1217 GMT — Heavy rains sweep away tents for displaced across war-torn Gaza

Torrential rains have washed away hundreds of tents sheltering displaced civilians in the war-torn Gaza, witnesses said.

According to witnesses, the rainwater caused the erosion of dirt roads surrounding displacement camps west of the central city of Deir al-Balah and the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.

The heavy rains and stormy winds have caused the collapse of hundreds of worn-out tents, leaving displaced families without any shelter amid harsh weather conditions, they added.

Many families were forced to spend their night in the open as their tents, personal belongings and possessions were swept away by the heavy rains, the witnesses said.

1154 GMT — Türkiye emphasises importance of ceasefire in Gaza

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has emphasised the importance of a lasting ceasefire in Gaza during a phone conversation with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, according to diplomatic sources.

Fidan, in conversation with Mustafa, who is the foreign minister as well, also received updates on the situation in the occupied West Bank.

He emphasised Türkiye's continued political and economic support for Palestine.

1105 GMT — Gaza population declines by 6 percent amid Israel’s genocidal war

Gaza’s population has declined by 6 percent as a result of Israel’s genocidal war, official figures showed.

Ola Awad, head of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), said the territory’s population dropped to 2.1 million, down by 160,000 people since 2023.

Awad said nearly 45,500 people have been killed in Israeli attacks and 100,000 others fled the enclave since Oct. 7, 2023. She said the victims included 17,581 children and 12,048 women, while nearly 107,000 have been injured and around 11,000 others missing.

The PCBS estimated the Palestinian population at around 15 million, including 5.5 living in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, 1.8 million inside Israel and the rest in the diaspora worldwide.

1015 GMT — Hospitals in Gaza have become 'death trap': UN rights chief

Hospitals in Gaza have become a "death trap", UN rights chief Volker Turk said, insisting that such facilities must instead be protected during conflict.

"As if the relentless bombing and the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza were not enough, the one sanctuary where Palestinians should have felt safe in fact became a death trap," the UN high commissioner for human rights said.

"The protection of hospitals during warfare is paramount and must be respected by all sides, at all times."

1009 GMT — Gaza healthcare on 'brink of total collapse' due to Israeli strikes: UN

A United Nations report published Tuesday found that Israeli strikes on and near hospitals in Gaza has left healthcare in the Palestinian territory on the verge of collapse.

"Israel's pattern of deadly attacks on and near hospitals in Gaza, and associated combat, pushed the healthcare system to the brink of total collapse, with catastrophic effect on Palestinians' access to health and medical care," the UN human rights office said in a statement accompanying the report.

0957 GMT — 45 patients and wounded people evacuated from Gaza for treatment: officials

Palestinian health authorities said 45 patients and wounded people have been evacuated for treatment outside war-ravaged Gaza.

They left the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis early Tuesday and travelled through the Karem Abu Salem Crossing into Israel.

They will receive treatment in the United Arab Emirates. The patients are accompanied by over 100 of their relatives, according to the hospital.

0914 GMT — Health system in northern Gaza deliberately destroyed by Israel: WHO

World Health Organiation said the health care system in northern Gaza has been deliberately destroyed by Israel amid intense attacks and siege.

"We've seen the systematic dismantling of the health system in northern Gaza. It's been under siege, really, for 80 days, and this is putting the lives of, we estimate, 75,000 Palestinians who remain in the area at great risk," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told Anadolu.

Emphasising the alarming conditions, she noted that the last major medical facility in northern Gaza, the Kamal Adwan Hospital, was also now out of service.

0908 GMT — Israeli army continues home demolitions, artillery shelling across Gaza

The Israeli army continued to demolish homes and shell several areas across Gaza amid its genocidal war on the Palestinian enclave.

Witnesses said Israeli forces blew up several homes and residential buildings in the northern city of Beit Hanoon. Israeli artillery also shelled the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood in southwestern Gaza City, but no information was yet available about casualties.

Israeli forces opened gunfire on the neighbourhoods of Al-Sabra and Zeitoun in the city's southern and southeastern areas, according to witnesses.

In central Gaza, helicopter gunships opened fire toward the northeastern areas of the Nuseirat refugee camp as military vehicles advanced on the camp's northwestern areas.

According to witnesses, loud explosions were heard in Rafah, in southern Gaza, amid blowing-up operations of homes and buildings by the Israeli army.

0848 GMT — Pro-Palestinian protesters slam Israeli tennis player over military ties

Pro-Palestinian protesters in New Zealand chanted slogans against Israeli tennis player Lina Glushko over her ties with the Israeli military, which continues its brutal assault on Gaza.

During the game against Naomi Osaka in ASB Classic, the demonstrators chanted such as "Free Palestine", "Israel is a terror state" and "Israel out", which were clearly heard on court and during broadcasts. The chants caused brief pauses during the first set.

The protest, organised by the Palestine Support Network Aotearoa, drew attention to Glushko's military background.

"Politics and sport are always strongly linked, and Glushko's presence is part of Israel's strategy to normalise its racism and apartheid against Palestinians," the group said in a statement.

0725 GMT — Houthis target Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport with missiles

Yemen's Houthis said that they have fired two missiles at Israel, hours after the Israeli military said it intercepted a projectile launched from the country.

"The first (attack) targeted Ben Gurion Airport" in Tel Aviv, and the second was fired at a power station south of Jerusalem, a Houthi military statement said.

The group also said they attacked the American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.

There was no immediate comment from the US military.

0716 GMT — Body recovered in southern Lebanon as Israel continues ceasefire violations

Lebanese authorities recovered a body from the rubble of a home in the Khiyam town of southern Lebanon, as they continue to accuse Israel of violating a ceasefire reached last month.

The Lebanese Civil Defence said in a statement that its rescue teams removed "body of a martyr".

The statement, however, did not specify whether the recovered victim was killed before the ceasefire or after.

0134 GMT — Israel says it intercepted missile fired from Yemen

Israel's military said it intercepted a missile fired toward the country by Yemen's Houthis, setting off sirens in central areas, including Tel Aviv.

2119 GMT — Israeli demolition of Gaza hospitals 'ethnic cleansing': report

Israel's destruction of hospitals in northern Gaza is part of a campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against Palestinians, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said in a recent editorial.

The editorial criticised the Israeli army's atrocities in northern Gaza, saying they are aimed at preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes and effectively depopulating the region.

The newspaper said the destruction, particularly the demolition of hospitals, is also forcing residents to relocate to the south for essential medical care.

It emphasised that such a large region cannot be left without hospitals, especially during wartime, recalling that the Fourth Geneva Convention grants hospitals special protection during wars.

2023 GMT — Ford's X account reportedly hacked, pro-Palestine messages posted

Ford Motor Company's official X account was reportedly hacked, with the compromised account posting pro-Palestine messages.

The posts included phrases such as "Free Palestine", "Israel is a terrorist state," and "ALL EYES ON GAZA."

2011 GMT — US 'gathering information' on detention of Gaza hospital director: State Department

The US is "aware of reports and still gathering information" about the Israeli detention of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, said the State Department.

"We are aware of reports and still gathering information," a State Department spokesperson, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency when asked about Abu Safiya's detention.

"As we have said before, we do not want to see firefights in hospitals where innocent people and patients receiving medical care are caught in the crossfire, and we have had active consultations with the IDF [Israeli army] on this," said the spokesperson.

For our live updates from Monday, December 30, 2024, click here.