Live blog: Palestine's Abbas urges UN to halt Israeli attacks on Gaza

Sunday, February 4, 2024

1558 GMT — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called on the UN to double its efforts to halt Israel’s deadly offensive on Gaza.

Abbas met with Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah for talks on the situation in the Palestinian territories.

He also called for a complete Israeli withdrawal from entire Gaza and ensuring no land is annexed by Israel in the enclave.

Abbas also demanded increasing humanitarian and relief aid into Gaza “amid the current harsh weather conditions there,” the official news agency Wafa reported.

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1809 GMT — Hamas claims to kill 15 Israeli soldiers in Gaza

The group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, has said 15 soldiers were killed at point-blank range.

According to the group’s spokesman Abu Obeida, several Israeli soldiers were killed and injured in the detonation of a tunnel opening in Gaza.

He said Hamas fighters had also destroyed 43 Israeli military vehicles and seized four drones in recent days.

1702 GMT — Canada to sanction West Bank settlers and Hamas leaders

Canada will impose sanctions on Israeli settlers who incite violence in the occupied West Bank and introduce new sanctions on Hamas leaders, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said after the United States took a similar action last week.

"We're working actively on it," Joly said, speaking from Ukraine. "I'm making sure that while I'm in Ukraine, the work is being done in Ottawa and I look forward to doing an announcement soon."

1622 GMT — Hundreds rally in New Zealand for people of Gaza

Demonstrators have gathered at the square in front of the Britomart train station in Auckland in protest against Israel's attacks on Gaza, according to the New Zealand Herald.

Protestors chanted slogans such as "Free Gaza and carried Palestinian flags and banners. Several were also seen lying on the ground in body bags to symbolise the tens of thousands killed in the conflict.

1601 GMT — French FM rejects 'forced displacement' of Palestinians to Egypt

France's top diplomat Stephane Sejourne has said he rejects the "forced displacement" of Palestinians into Egypt from Gaza, where Israeli bombardment has pushed hundreds of thousands against the border.

Sejourne addressed his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in a joint press conference, acknowledging Cairo's concern "over forced displacement into your territory".

"We perfectly understand these concerns, and on this point, France's position remains the same: we condemn and will reject any action taken in this direction," he continued.

1505 GMT — Yemen's Houthis: More US-British aggression will achieve nothing

Continued US-British aggression in Yemen will not achieve any goal for the aggressors and will not affect Yemen’s decision to show its support for Gaza, Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam has said.

Abdulsalam added that it will not be easy to destroy Yemeni military capabilities, which have been rebuilt during years of tough conflict.

1429 GMT — Egypt calls for cease-fire in Gaza, timeframe for Palestinian state

Egypt has called for a cease-fire in Gaza and reiterated its rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians from the enclave.

The Egyptian call came following talks in Cairo between Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his French counterpart Stephane Sejourne.

“Egypt reiterates its rejection of the forced displacement of Pa lestinians from Gaza,” Shoukry said during a press conference.

"The Palestinian issue must be dealt with through a comprehensive political framework,” he said, calling for setting a timeframe for establishing a Palestinian state.

1421 GMT — Gaza humanitarian issues will be a top Blinken priority, White House's Sullivan says

Humanitarian issues in Gaza will be a top priority for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on his current trip to the region, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said.

"The needs of the Palestinian people are something that are going to be front and centre," Sullivan told the CBS program "Face the Nation."

1416 GMT — Very limited clean water in Gaza amid Israeli onslaught: UN

Palestinians have very limited access to clean water amid a deadly Israeli offensive on Gaza, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said.

“Water is life and Gaza is out of water,” UNRWA said in a statement on X. “There is very limited access to clean water & sanitation amid relentless bombardment.”

The UN agency warned that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, antagonised by limited aid deliveries and destruction of infrastructure, “puts thousands of vulnerable people at risk of disease.”

1308 GMT — Israel demolishes 58 Palestinian structures in West Bank in January

The Israeli army has demolished 58 Palestinian structures in the occupied West Bank in January, according to a local organisation.

“The demolished structures included 22 inhabited houses and 16 agricultural facilities,” the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a statement.

It said most of the demolitions occurred in the cities of Hebron, Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Qalqilya.

1214 GMT — Two Hezbollah fighters killed in border clashes with Israel

Lebanese group Hezbollah has said that two of its fighters were killed in clashes with Israeli forces near the border with southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah did not provide any details about the circumstances leading to their death, saying they were killed on the road to Jerusalem, a phrase used by the group for its fighters killed by Israel.

Tension has escalated along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah since early October, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006.

At least 179 Hezbollah members have since been killed, according to figures released by the group.

1203 GMT — Israel’s Ben-Gvir attacks Biden administration over Gaza war

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has attacked the administration of US President Joe Biden, accusing it of "harming the war effort" in Gaza.

“Instead of giving us his full backing, Biden is busy with giving humanitarian aid and fuel [to Gaza], which goes to Hamas,” Ben-Gvir told The Wall Street Journal.

“If Trump were in power, the US conduct would be completely different,” he added.

1136 GMT — Hamas says US, UK strikes on Yemen to cause more 'turmoil'

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has condemned a wave of US and British strikes on Yemen, warning the attacks would bring "further turmoil" to the Middle East.

Hamas in a statement called the bombing of Houthi targets "a blatant assault on the sovereignty of a sister Arab country, and an escalation that will drag the region into further turmoil".

The United States and Britain struck dozens of targets in Yemen late on Saturday, their third joint operation in response to attacks on Red Sea shipping by the Iran-linked Houthis to protest Israel's attacks on Gaza.

1116 GMT — Four Palestinians injured by Israeli army gunfire in occupied West Bank

Four Palestinians, including a child, have been injured by Israeli army gunfire in the city of Nablus and the Shuafat refugee camp, east of Jerusalem, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that its ambulance crews treated an 18-year-old youth for a bullet injury in the foot caused as Israeli troops stormed Nablus.

Bullet fragments were removed from the foot of another 22 year-old man, the society said. He was injured during confrontations in Balata camp east of Nablus.

0913 GMT — Death toll in Gaza hits 27,365 from Israeli attacks

At least 27,365 people in Palestine's Gaza have been killed, mostly women and children, since October 7 as Israel launched its brutal war on Gaza , according to the enclave's Health Ministry.

The latest toll includes 127 deaths over the past 24 hours, as mentioned in a ministry statement, while a total of 66,630 people have been wounded in Gaza.

0738 GMT — Yemen's Houthis vow retaliation against US-UK strikes

Yemen's Houthis have said US and British air strikes "will not deter us" and vowed a response after dozens of targets were hit in retaliation for the Iran-backed group's repeated Red Sea attacks.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Sunday that the capital Sanaa and other group-held areas were targeted.

The joint air raids in Yemen late Saturday followed a separate wave of unilateral American strikes against Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.

It is the third time that British and American forces have jointly targeted the Houthis, whose attacks in solidarity with Palestinians in war-battered Gaza have disrupted global trade.

0547 GMT — Israel's blanket strikes kill near 100 Palestinians overnight

The health ministry in Gaza reported early Sunday that at least 92 people had been killed overnight, including in what the group's media office said was an Israeli bombardment of a kindergarten in Rafah where displaced people were sheltering

Concerns over a potential Israeli ground incursion into the southern border city have mounted in recent days, with hundreds of thousands of displaced seeking refuge from the fighting there in makeshift shelters and encampments.

"The children were just sleeping and suddenly the bombardment happened. The bedroom fell on my children. God took one of my children and three escaped death," Ahmad Bassam al Jamal told AFP, his voice breaking. "My child now is a martyr in heaven."

The city that had been home to 200,000 people now hosts more than half of Gaza's population, the United Nations said.

0524 GMT — Israel targets kindergarten, killing two children in Gaza

Two children were killed when Israeli warplanes bombed a kindergarten where displaced people were sheltering east of Rafah, Wafa reports.

One person was killed and shrapnel damaged the nearby European Hospital, when an Israeli attack damaged a fuel station in Khan Younis, Wafa reports.

The US and UK "with support from allies including Australia, Bahrain and Canada" have hit dozens of locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

"These attacks will not deter us" from supporting "Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," says Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree.

Russia has called a UN Security Council meeting for Monday following US strikes on Iraq and Syria, the AFP reports.

2346 GMT — Israeli attacks kill several in besieged Gaza

At least 18 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks that targeted parts of Gaza according to sources.

The army continued its attacks against Rafah, where Palestinians from parts of Gaza took refuge, as well as Khan Younis and northern cities.

At least 10 victims were killed in an air strike on a house in easter Rafah, according to witnesses. Also, many were killed and injured in another attack on the house in the area.

2237 GMT — US, UK carry out fresh strikes in Yemen: Houthis

Houthis in Yemen has said that US and UK carried out fresh attacks on the capital, Sanaa, and the western coastal province of Hudaida

The Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah television reported that the strikes targeted the districts of Al-Luhayyah and Al-Durayhimi, without providing further details.

The strikes hit "36 Houthi 'targets' across 13 locations in Yemen in response to the Houthis' continued attacks against international and commercial shipping as well as naval vessels transiting the Red Sea," the United States, Britain and other countries that provided support for the operation said in a statement


2231 GMT — Hezbollah targets Israeli military site near Lebanese border

Hezbollah has announced that it targeted an Israeli military site and base near the southern Lebanese border, while Israeli air strikes continued in areas in the south.

The Lebanese group said in two separate statements that fighters targeted the Khirbet Maar military base with appropriate weapons and the Ramtha site with rocket weapons, achieving direct hits.

The official Lebanese news agency reported that “an Israeli drone carried out an aerial attack, launching a strike on the town of Yaron in the Bint Jbeil district, firing a guided missile towards residential neighborhoods.”

2218 GMT — House Republicans announce bill that provides more military aid to Israel

House Republicans will move forward with a $17.6B package next week that provides military aid to Israel and replenish US weapons, but leaves out more help for Ukraine, underscoring the challenges facing supporters of a comprehensive national security package that would also include billions of dollars for immigration enforcement.

The move gives Speaker Mike Johnson and House Republicans the chance to show support for Israel even though there is little chance the Senate will go along. Meanwhile, text of a broader Senate compromise is expected to be released this weekend and a key test vote on that package will be held during the week.

Johnson said that Senate leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation.

2206 GMT — French opposition delegation demands ceasefire in Gaza during visit to Egypt

A delegation of 16 French opposition lawmakers demanded an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza during a visit to Egypt.

The delegation, including members from the far-left La France Insoumise LFI, or France Unbowed party is visiting Egypt and the Rafah border crossing.

It included members of the France Unbowed party, such as Eric Coquerel and Thomas Portes, who held discussions with France's Ambassador to Cairo, Eric Chevalier, during the visit as part of a mission to advocate for an immediate and lasting ceasefire.

2159 GMT — Hamas official says no deal yet on Gaza truce

A senior Hamas official has said that a final agreement had not yet been reached over a tentative truce deal to pause the nearly four-month Israeli war on Gaza.

Hamas leaders were reviewing a proposed framework thrashed out by top officials from Israel, Qatar, Egypt and the United States, said Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official in Lebanon.

But more time was needed to "announce our position". He told a news conference that his movement "has repeatedly said" it was "open to discussing any initiative, putting an end to this barbaric aggression against our Palestinian people".

2010 GMT — Hundreds of protesters in Israel demand early elections, release of hostages

Hundreds of Israelis took to the streets of Haifa and Rehovot against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding early elections and the release of hostages held in Gaza, local media has reported.

The protesters, gathered at Horev junction in the city of Haifa, were carrying banners with slogans such as “Elections Now” and “Save the Hostages,” according to Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth

For our live updates from Saturday, February 3, click here.