Live blog: Palestinian death toll in Israeli attacks on Gaza nears 26,000

Thursday, January 25, 2024

1843 GMT — The Palestinian death toll from the Israeli offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7 has climbed to 25,900, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the blockaded enclave said.

The ministry, in a statement, said 64,110 others have also been injured.

Israeli forces committed 24 massacres across Gaza in the last 21 hours, killing at least 200 people and wounding 370 others, the ministry said, adding: “Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads, and rescuers can’t reach them."

The ministry also accused Israel of committing "genocidal crimes in the UNRWA-run shelters and in the al Mawasi area" (city of Khan Younis), which it claims to be safe.

More updates 👇

1903 GMT — Families of Israeli hostages obstruct entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza

Families of Israeli prisoners obstructed the entry of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza for a second consecutive day, according to Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The newspaper said the families, along with right-wing activists, blocked the passage of aid trucks to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Protesters closed the road to the crossing and prevented trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from passing.

"We are here today to show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he can stop the trucks, just as we are stopping them now," said Dany Elgart, a brother of Itzik Elgart, who is being held hostage in Gaza.

"I call on all citizens: come to the checkpoint and stop this humanitarian aid with your bodies. It is not humanitarian at all because it only serves one segment of the population there. The hostages there do not receive any humanitarian aid.”

1857 GMT — 'Tragic events' ongoing in Gaza can be viewed as 'genocide': Russia

A Russian envoy said that the “tragic events” in Gaza since Oct. 7 can be viewed as "genocide."

"The tragic events in Gaza have become inhumane. It is truly a crime that so many people, including women and children, died in a short time. This can be viewed as genocide," Russia’s Special Envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, told journalists at a news conference in the Kazakh capital of Astana following the 21st Astana format talks.

Expressing that the talks paid special attention to discussing regional developments, as well as the situation in Syria against the backdrop of what is happening in the region, Lavrentiev said the International Court of Justice must evaluate this definition from a legal perspective.

Lavrentiev further said that Israel’s permissiveness might lead to extremely negative consequences for the entire Middle East, especially with regard to neighbouring countries.

"If the war continues in the Gaza Strip, the conflict will inevitably spill over to Lebanon and Syria. If these countries also get involved in this war, other countries in the Middle East region will also suffer. Nobody wants it to be like this," said Lavrentiev.

"The international community will have to do a lot of serious work and do it as soon as possible to persuade Israel that the clashes in the Gaza Strip should be stopped and the two-state solution should be sat at the negotiating table in consultation with the Palestinians," he said.

Expressing that the world cannot afford the region to become one big conflict zone, the special envoy claimed there are forces that are “fueling the fire" by bombing Yemen.

1848 GMT — ICRC warns Gaza at risk of 'medical shutdown'

Concrete action must be taken to preserve access to lifesaving and emergency medical care in Gaza, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.

"Every hospital in the Gaza Strip is overcrowded and short on medical supplies, fuel, food, and water," William Schomburg, the head of the ICRC's office in Gaza, said in a statement from Geneva.

"Many are housing thousands of displaced families. And now two more facilities risk being lost due to the fighting. The cumulative impact on the health system is devastating, and urgent action must be taken," Schomburg added.

1804 GMT — WHO chief breaks down describing 'hellish' Gaza conditions

The head of the World Health Organisation called for a ceasefire and a "true solution" to Israel's war on Gaza in an emotional plea to the global health body's governing body, where he described conditions in Gaza as "hellish".

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who lived through the war as a child and whose own children hid in a bunker during bombardments in Ethiopia's 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea, became emotional describing conditions in the bombed-out Gaza enclave where more than 25,000 people have been killed.

"I'm a true believer because of my own experience that war doesn't bring solution, except more war, more hatred, more agony, more destruction. So let's choose peace and resolve this issue politically," Tedros told the WHO Executive Board in Geneva during a discussion about the Gaza health emergency.

"I think all of you have said the two-state solution and so on and hope this war will end and move into a true solution," he said before breaking down, describing the current situation as "beyond words".

1737 GMT — Hamas will abide by any ICJ ceasefire order if Israel reciprocates: official

Hamas said that if the International Court of Justice issues a ruling calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Palestinian group will abide by it as long as Israel reciprocates.

Hamas will release all the Israeli hostages in Gaza if Israel releases all Palestinian prisoners, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said at a news conference in Beirut.

1659 GMT — 'The ceasefire in Gaza is too late': WHO

World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the ceasefire in Gaza was too late.

Ghebreyesus shared on the X social media platform about the health situation in Gaza, which is under intense attacks and blockade by Israel.

Emphasising that 26 thousand people, 70 percent of whom were women and children, lost their lives in Gaza, Ghebreyesus said, "8 thousand people were missing, and 64 thousand people were injured in Gaza. 1.7 million people were displaced. Patients cannot receive health care. Epidemics and hunger It's spreading." he said.

Ghebreyesus evaluated that "The ceasefire in Gaza was extremely delayed" and stated that the health system in Gaza was at risk of collapse. Ghebreyesus noted that only "will is needed" to achieve the needed peace in Gaza.

1651 GMT — 38 Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza in last 24 hours: army

Thirty-eight more Israeli soldiers have been injured in the last 24 hours, including eight during fighting in Gaza, the Israeli forces said.

1624 GMT — US CIA chief to meet with officials for Gaza hostage talks -Washington Post

US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns will meet with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Europe in the coming days for talks on a potential Gaza hostage deal, the Washington Post reported, citing officials familiar with the matter.

1500 GMT — Israel army orders Palestinians to leave shelter hit by tank fire: UN

The United Nations said that the Israeli military ordered people taking refuge in their shelter hit with deadly tank fire in southern Khan Younis to leave by the following afternoon.

A spokesperson for UNRWA, the agency for Palestinian refugees, confirmed testimony from displaced people in the shelter who said the army gave them until 1500 GMT on Friday to flee.

1323 GMT — Red Sea attacks to continue till Gaza receives aid — Houthis

The targeting of ships linked to Israel will continue until aid reaches the Palestinian people in Gaza, Yemen's Houthis leader Abdul Malik al Houthi said in a televised speech.

"Our country will continue its operations until food and medicine reach the people of Gaza," he said.

The group's leader added that the results of the latest US and British escalation would be counterproductive and would not affect "our will and determination".

1256 GMT — Hamas affirms leadership role in Palestinian affairs

Following the publication of "Our Narrative... Operation Al Aqsa Flood" in measured, well-written English and later in French as well as Arabic, a senior Hamas official explained that the resistance group, which Israel has vowed to crush, seeks to retain a say.

Bassem Naim, Hamas's director of international relations, said the group's action at a national leadership level and its "resistance to the Zionist project... qualifies it to be in the leadership of the Palestinian people".

"The movement does not demand, through this document or otherwise, the exclusivity of the leadership of the Palestinian people," said Naim, a former health minister in Gaza.

"Hamas calls for the rearrangement of the Palestinian house and the reform of the Palestine Liberation Organisation so that it is representative of all," he told AFP.

"No party that wants to reach a solution to this conflict can ignore Hamas."

1238 GMT — Israel: World court should throw out 'spurious' genocide allegation

Israel voiced confidence that the International Court of Justice would throw out South African allegations that their Gaza war amounts to genocide against Palestinians, which an Israeli government spokesperson described as without basis.

"We expect the ICJ to throw out these spurious and specious charges," the spokesperson, Eylon Levy, said in a briefing ahead of the court's scheduled convening on Friday to announce whether it will grant emergency measures against Israel.

1123 GMT — 20 killed in 'massacre' at Gaza's Kuwait Junction — ministry

The Health Ministry reports that 20 people were killed and 150 others injured in an Israeli "massacre" at Kuwait Junction in Gaza City as hungry Palestinians waited for humanitarian aid.

1103 GMT — Israel mulls decision not to extend water deal with Jordan over criticism of Gaza war

Israel is considering a decision not to extend a water agreement with Jordan due to Amman’s criticism of Israel's relentless war on Gaza, which killed at least 25,700 Palestinians, according to Israeli media.

"The Energy Ministry is looking into a decision not to extend the water agreement with Jordan over anti-Israel statements from senior Jordanian officials," the Israeli public broadcaster KAN said.

Jordan and Israel have an agreement that sees the Arab nation purchasing 50 million cubic meters of water from Tel Aviv under their 1994 peace agreement.

"A final decision has not yet been taken," KAN said. “The issue depends on the development of relations with Jordan and how the Jordanians will express their position on the war in the near future."

There was no comment from Jordan or Israel on the report.

1057 GMT — Death toll rises to 12 in shelling of UN shelter in Gaza: UN

The death toll from a tank fire on a United Nations shelter in Gaza's main southern city of Khan Younis has risen to 12, a top UN aid official has said.

"Twelve people have now been confirmed dead with over 75 injuries, 15 of whom are in critical condition," Thomas White, Gaza director of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), said in a statement.

On Wednesday, two tank shells struck the UN shelter in Khan Yunis where thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken refuge, he said.

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the bombardment was a "blatant disregard of basic rules of war".

0933 GMT — Another Palestinian killed by Israeli fire in West Bank, rising death toll to 373

Another Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, taking the toll to 373 since Oct. 7, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said a 24-year-old man was killed by Israeli fire in the town of Bireh al-Basha near Jenin city.

According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces raided the town early in the morning and besieged a house inside.

Israeli forces detained the brother of the slain young man before withdrawing from the town, witnesses said.

0917 GMT — Netanyahu to meet top legal officials ahead of ICJ genocide ruling

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene a meeting of top legal officials to discuss a looming ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Israel’s deadly offensive on Gaza.

The Hague-based court will give its verdict in South Africa’s genocide lawsuit against Israel on Friday.

According to Israeli Army Radio, Thursday’s meeting will discuss possible scenarios of the ICJ ruling on the Israeli war on Gaza.

The meeting will be attended by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, National Security Council Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi, and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. It is not yet clear if military officials will attend the meeting.

0821 GMT — Israeli strikes kill at least 50 Palestinians in Khan Younis in 24 hours

At least 50 Palestinians were killed in Khan Younis in the past 24 hours, Ashraf Al-Qidra, the spokesman for the Health Ministry in Gaza, told Reuters.

0704 GMT — Hamas suspends talks as Israel rejects Gaza withdrawal: report

Qatar told Israel that the Palestinian resistance group Hamas has suspended talks for a prisoner swap deal, according to Israeli media.

“Hamas told Qatari mediators that it demands a full Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza and an end to the war on the first stage of any prisoner swap deal,” the Israeli public broadcaster KAN said, citing a source familiar with the talks.

There was no immediate comment from Qatar on the report.

Hamas is believed to be holding nearly 136 hostages following its cross-border attack into Israel on October 7.

The resistance group demands an end to Israel’s deadly offensive on Gaza for any deal on a prisoner swap with Israel.

The Israeli government has rejected calls for halting the Gaza war until destroying Hamas and releasing hostages.

0600 GMT — More aid needs to be able to enter Gaza — UK to Israel

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that more aid trucks must be able to enter Gaza and an immediate humanitarian pause is needed to help those trapped in a "desperate situation".

Cameron, who is on a visit to the Middle East and met separately with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, announced Britain and Qatar are working together to get more aid into Gaza, with a first joint consignment containing tents being flown into Egypt on Thursday before travelling by road to Gaza.

"The scale of suffering in Gaza is unimaginable. More must be done, faster, to help people trapped in this desperate situation," Cameron said.

"We have trebled our assistance for Gaza ... But our efforts will only make a difference if aid gets to those who need it most."

Cameron pushed Israeli leaders for the port of Ashdod to be used for the delivery of aid into Gaza, his office said.

0100 GMT — WHO chief slams Israel’s bombardment of Khan Younis

The World Health Organization’s director-general has denounced Israel’s bombardment of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

“The ongoing heavy bombardment, evacuation orders and killing of civilians in Khan Younis, Gaza is just horrendous,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

“WHO team joined an UNRWA mission to help those who were injured in today’s blast at the training centre where civilians were sheltering,” he noted and extended his condolences to the victims’ families.

0357 GMT — Israeli bombardment targets children in Gaza refugee camp

The Israeli army has carried out an air strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza which killed four children.

The children’s bodies were found in the debris of houses, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

It added that the Israeli military continued its attacks from the air and ground on the Khan Younis region in southern Gaza, targeting the surroundings of Nasir Hospital with artillery shells.

Since Oct. 7 last year, the Israeli army has been conducting a war in Gaza, resulting in 25,700 deaths and 63,740 injuries, most of them women and children, say Palestinian authorities.

The war has also caused massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, according to the United Nations.

2308 GMT — Nearly all US Senate Democrats back two-state solution

An overwhelming majority of President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats in the Senate have backed a statement reiterating US support of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict arising from Israel's decades-old occupation of Palestine.

Forty-nine of the 51 members of the Senate Democratic caucus backed an amendment supporting a negotiated solution to the conflict that results in Israeli and Palestinian states living side by side, ensuring Israel's survival and fulfilling the Palestinians' "legitimate aspirations" for an independent country.

Senator Brian Schatz introduced the measure as an amendment to an upcoming bill that would provide national security aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

"What will determine the future of Israel and Palestine is whether or not there's hope. And the two-state solution has to be that hope," Schatz told a news conference.

With Israel's war raging in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a press conference this month that he objected to any Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel's security.

US remains a key ally of Israel, doling out billions of dollars to Tel Aviv in aid every year, shielding it from the UN resolutions and arming it to the teeth against besieged Palestinians.

2300 GMT — Russia says Palestinian unity key toward liberation

Russia's top diplomat has said the first step toward Palestinian sovereignty must be for the divided Palestinians to rebuild unity of all factions. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said without unity "there will be no bedrock foundation for the Palestinian state."

He said the lack of unity will be used as a pretext to keep Gaza "in some kind of special status where somebody will ensure security," separated from the occupied West Bank, parts of which are governed by the Palestinian Authority.

"They themselves need to determine which principles will establish the basis for the restoration of the unity of their people," he said.

Lavrov told UN reporters that Arab nations and the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation he just met with are "very resolute" that an official decision should be made about the creation of a Palestinian state, and negotiations should start and be accompanied "by neutral and effective mediators."

About 72 percent of UN member states already recognise Palestine as a country with besieged Gaza, occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem as its inseparable part.

Unfortunately, he said, the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators — the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia — "exists no longer." He blamed the US for thwarting its efforts and insisting it could handle mediation alone.

Lavrov said regional countries led by the Arab League should take the initiative to establish "a mediation mechanism that would prepare ideally an international conference on the Palestinian issue" to move toward a two-state solution where Israel and the Palestinians live side-by-side in peace.

But he warned repeatedly that without unity among the Palestinians, there cannot be a viable Palestinian state.

2100 GMT — Israeli protesters seek hostage deal and block highway in Tel Aviv

Hundreds of protesters have blocked the main highway in Tel Aviv, calling on the government to secure the immediate release of more than 100 hostages held captive in Gaza.

It was the latest show of displeasure with the far-right Netanyahu government by families of the hostages and their many supporters. They say that the hostages are in grave danger and time is running out to bring them home safely.

Police cleared the protesters off the Ayalon Highway before the crowd gathered outside the nearby building where the Israeli military and Defence Ministry are headquartered.

Hamas resistance fighters captured some 250 hostages in the cross-fence October 7 attack.

Over 100 hostages were freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners during a weeklong ceasefire in late November. But about 110 hostages are believed to remain in captivity.

Last month, Hamas said some hostages were killed due to Israel's relentless bombardment of the besieged Palestinian enclave, and three Israelis who escaped captivity were killed as the consequence of its occupation forces' indiscriminate fire.

For our live updates from Monday, January 24, click here.