Live blog: Israeli army bulldozes Gaza cemeteries, religious sites — report

Sunday, 21 January, 2024

2102 GMT — The Israeli military has destroyed at least 16 cemeteries in Gaza, US news agency CNN reported over the weekend, citing satellite imagery and social media footage.

The army demolished the graveyards during its ground operation using bulldozers and even extracted some bodies from graves, it said.

Legal experts quoted in the report emphasised that deliberately destroying religious sites like cemeteries and turning them into military targets violates international law, suggesting that Israel's actions could be considered war crimes.

Based on its analysis of the satellite images and videos, CNN said that in other cases, the army appears to have used cemeteries as military outposts, with bulldozers turning several graveyards into staging grounds.

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2056 GMT -- Israeli strike on south Lebanon kills Hezbollah fighter: sources

An Israeli strike Sunday on south Lebanon killed a Hezbollah fighter, a source close to the group told AFP, with a security official saying the target was a high-level commander who survived.

Since October 7, the Lebanese-Israeli border has seen near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel's army and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group, an ally of Hamas.

The strike on a car in south Lebanon "killed a member of Hezbollah's protection team", a Lebanese security official told AFP, adding that the senior commander he was protecting "escaped death".

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed a Hezbollah fighter had been killed, but denied that a high-level official had been the target of the strike.

1903 GMT — Israeli commanders want army to stay in northern Gaza until hostages released

Scores of Israeli army commanders demanded the military not to withdraw from the northern Gaza until the release of hostages held by Hamas.

A letter signed by 130 army commanders and officers called on the war cabinet and army chief Herzi Halevi to continue to prevent the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza “as long as the Israeli hostages are not released,” Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

Last week, the Israeli army withdrew its 36th Division from northern Gaza for rest and training, while three other divisions remained in the Palestinian territory.

1813 GMT — Israeli army announces death of soldier held captive by Hamas in Gaza

The Israeli army on Sunday announced the death of a soldier held captive by Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza.

A military statement said Staff Sgt. Shay Levinson, 19, from the 7th Armored Brigade’s 77th Battalion, was taken hostage from the Nahal Oz area during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

His body remains in Gaza.

According to military figures released by the Israeli army, at least 532 soldiers have been killed since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct.

1740 GMT — Netanyahu rejects conditions for hostage release, after Hamas report

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had rejected conditions demanded by Hamas for the release of hostages, hours after the group released a report justifying its October 7 attack on Israel.

"In exchange for the release of our hostages, Hamas demands an end to the war, the withdrawal of our forces from Gaza, the release of all murderers.... If we accept this, our soldiers have fallen in vain. If we accept this, we won't be able to guarantee the safety of our citizens," Netanyahu said.

1700 GMT — Hamas: October attacks were a 'necessary step'

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has said its October 7 attacks in southern Israel were a "necessary step" against Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

It was "a normal response to confront all Israeli conspiracies against the Palestinian people," the group said in the report.

The 16-page report document was the group's first public report released in English and Arabic on Sunday explaining the background to the attack, when the group broke through Gaza's militarised border.

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1516 GMT — Saudi FM says no normalisation with Israel

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said there can be no normalisation of ties with Israel without resolving the Palestinian issue, he told CNN in an interview.

Asked if there could be no normal ties without a path to a credible and irreversible Palestinian state, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud told CNN: "That's the only way we're going to get the benefit. So, yes, because we need stability and stability will come only through resolving the Palestinian issue."

0837 GMT — Gaza death toll reaches 25,000

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said the death toll in the war-torn Palestinian territory breached 25,000 as Israel pushed its southward offensive and renewed bombardment in the north.

In early January, Israel's military said the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza had been dismantled, leaving only isolated fighters.

But witnesses say Israeli strikes and bombardment in Gaza and other areas in the north has killed hundreds of civilians, including women and children. Hamas officials has also reported heavy combat in the north.

1359 GMT — 1,000 mosques destroyed in Israeli onslaught on Gaza: local authorities

Israeli attacks on Gaza have destroyed 1,000 mosques since October 7, according to local authorities.

“The reconstruction of these mosques will cost around $500M,” Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs said in a statement.

There are an estimated 1,200 mosques in Gaza.

According to the ministry, more than 100 Muslim preachers have also been killed in the deadly Israeli offensive on the enclave.

“The Israeli occupation continues to destroy dozens of cemeteries and dig up graves, violating their sanctity…and stealing the corpses inside, in a clear challenge to international charters and human rights,” the statement said.

1315 GMT — Palestinian Authority’s rule in Gaza ‘suicidal step’: Israeli minister

Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli said that the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza will be a “suicidal step.”

“Gaza must be ruled by Israel or by an international force for a year or two,” Chikli told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

Allowing the Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza “will be a suicidal step,” he said.

There was no comment from the Palestinian Authority on the Israeli minister's statements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Tel Aviv will not relinquish security control of Gaza after the war.

1253 GMT — Israel arrests 15 more Palestinians in West Bank, tally nears 6,200

The Israeli army rounded up 15 more Palestinians in the West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

The arrests took place in the cities of Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Hebron, the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank to 6,170 since October 7.

“The figure includes those who were arrested from homes, at military checkpoints, those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, and those who were held hostage,” the statement said.

1215 GMT — Two Hezbollah members killed in Israeli drone strike: security sources

At least two Hezbollah members killed and several others injured in a suspected Israeli drone strike that targeted a car in southern Lebanon, security sources said.

Ambulances rushed to the site near a Lebanese army checkpoint, and it was not clear who was targeted in the strike, residents and security sources said.

1204 GMT — Israeli soldier killed, 3 others injured in Gaza fighting: Israeli army

The Israeli army said that another soldier had been killed in fighting in southern Gaza.

A military statement said that three other soldiers had been injured in the Palestinian enclave.

Figures released by the army showed that 531 soldiers have been killed since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on October 7.

1039 GMT — UN's Guterres condemns Israel for 'heartbreaking' killings in Gaza

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denounced Israel for the "heartbreaking" deaths of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and called it unacceptable to resist statehood for the Palestinian people.

"Israel's military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on a scale unprecedented during my time as secretary-general," Guterres said at the opening of a summit of the G77+China in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

"This is heartbreaking and utterly unacceptable. The Middle East is a tinder box, we must do all we can to prevent conflict from igniting across the region."

1038 GMT — Israel approves plan for Palestinian tax funds to be held by third-party country

Israel's cabinet has approved a plan for frozen Palestinian tax funds to be held by a third-party country and reserved the right to decide when the money will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Currently, Israel's finance ministry collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA, which has limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, but there have been constant wrangles over the arrangement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cabinet decision was supported by Norway and the United States, which will be a guarantor that the framework holds.

0904 GMT — UK calls Netanyahu remarks on Palestinian statehood 'disappointing'

The UK has said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opposition to Palestinian sovereignty is "disappointing".

"I think it's disappointing actually, to hear that from the Israeli prime minister," said Defence Secretary Grant Shapps on the Sky News channel.

Earlier, Netanyahu firmly stated his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state after Israel concludes its "offensive" in Gaza.

0800 GMT — Gaza situation 'beyond catastrophic': Red Cross

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is reaching catastrophic levels, intensifying each day, according to Tommaso Della Longa, the spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

“What we are seeing is what we predicted, and not because we are magicians, but because we know by experience,” he told Anadolu Agency, adding that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are in shelters without access to running water, proper food and adequate sanitation.

UN authorities have described the enclave as “a place of death and despair” in the past three months of the conflict.

Nearly 25,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, by Israeli attacks and almost 62,500 injured, according to the Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave.

More than 1.9 million have been forced to leave their homes, some multiple times.

0739 GMT — Hamas chief holds talks with Turkish FM: sources

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has held a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, diplomatic sources say, in the first official contact between the two for more than three months.

Fidan met with Haniyeh on Saturday in Türkiye, the sources told AFP news agency.

The release of hostages and establishment of "a ceasefire as quickly as possible", were the main topics of discussion, according to one of the sources.

The source said that during the meeting, the two sides also discussed "increasing humanitarian aid... and a two-state solution for a permanent peace".

0731 GMT — Israeli soldiers killed 15 Palestinians in north Gaza: military

Israel's military has said that its soldiers killed 15 Palestinians during fighting in northern Gaza.

In the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, where Israel has been increasing pressure on Hamas in recent weeks, the military said that snipers, backed by air support, had "eliminated a number of terrorists."

0631 GMT — Gaza death toll climbs as Israel's brutal attacks continue

Fighting has raged across Gaza and Israeli units raided the occupied West Bank after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced growing domestic criticism, rejected calls for post-war "Palestinian sovereignty".

The Health Ministry in Gaza has reported at least 165 people killed over the previous 24 hours — more than double Friday's toll.

An AFP correspondent reported gunfire, air strikes and tank shelling that was especially heavy in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza's main city.

Witnesses also said that Israeli boats were bombarding Gaza City and other areas in the north early on Sunday.

In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, at least five people were killed in a strike that hit what the Gaza Health Ministry said was a civilian car.

2320 GMT — French foreign minister affirms right of Palestinians to have sovereign state

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne has affirmed the right of the Palestinians to have a sovereign state.

"The Palestinians have the right to sovereignty and a statehood," Sejourne wrote on X.

He emphasised the commitment of France to stay faithful to the pledge of supporting Palestinians in achieving that goal.

2305 GMT — Israeli soldier shoots, kills friend after recently returning home from Gaza: Israeli media

An Israeli soldier who recently returned from Gaza, reportedly has killed a friend in Tel Aviv, Israeli media said.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that “an Israeli soldier recently returned from fighting in Gaza killed his friend inside an apartment.”

It said the shooting has criminal implications and the perpetrator and victim were 25 years old.

“The perpetrator was carrying a licensed weapon,” it said, without providing further details about the incident and its circumstances.

Israeli media outlets have reported in recent months that thousands of soldiers who have been discharged after the war in Gaza are experiencing post-war trauma.

2300 GMT — US confirms killing of American in occupied West Bank

The US State Department has confirmed the death of an American civilian in the occupied West Bank and said it has asked the Israeli government for more information.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the family," a State Department spokesperson told Anadolu Agency. "We are working to understand the circumstances of the incident and have asked the Government of Israel for further information."

The spokesperson refused to provide further information "out of respect to the family during this difficult time."

2200 GMT — Non-Aligned Movement condemns Israel's war on Palestinians

Heads of state of the Non-Aligned Movement have called Israel's war in Gaza "illegal" and strongly condemned indiscriminate attacks against Palestinian civilians, civilian infrastructure and the forced displacement of the Palestinian population.

While calling for a ceasefire desperately needed for humanitarian aid to access Gaza, the movement in a joint statement called for a two-state solution, on the basis of the borders before 1967, when Israel seized Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a brief war with neighbouring Arab states.

The group also reiterated support for a Palestinian state to be admitted as a member of the United Nations to take its rightful place among the community of nations.

The Non-Aligned Movement, formed during the collapse of the colonial systems and at the height of the Cold War, has played a key part in decolonisation processes, according to its website. Member countries aspire not to be formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

Ninety representatives, including 30 heads of state, from the 120 countries that are members of NAM took part in the week-long conference in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. It culminated in a summit of heads of state on Friday and Saturday.

For our live updates from Saturday, January 20, click here.