Live blog: Palestinians rebury bodies Israel exhumed from Gaza cemetery

Saturday, January 6 2023

2100 GMT — Bereaved Palestinians reburied bodies exhumed from a cemetery in Gaza City, where the Israeli army has been conducting a ground invasion.

The footage from the cemetery in Al Tuffah neighbourhood showed bodies wrapped in bags and laid out on mounds of soil.

Other bodies were strewn around smashed-up graves, as a dozen men clad in masks worked with shovels to rebury them, the video showed.

Palestinian resistance group Hamas accused the Israeli military of "destroying 1,100 graves" at the cemetery and "stealing 150 bodies of recently buried martyrs".

"We were surprised to see the bodies exhumed" said a local man surnamed Aliwa, who was among the people reburying the bodies. He accused the Israeli army of "running over bodies" with a "bulldozer".

Imprinted in the soil near the graves were what looked like track marks.

"We are currently retrieving the corpses present in the cemetery," he said, adding that only a "small number" of bodies had been identified.

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2200 GMT — Thousands rally in Paris in support of Palestine

Thousands expressed support for Palestinians during a demonstration in the heart of the French capital.

Gathered at Place de la Bastille, following the call of the National Collective for a Just and Sustainable Peace between Palestinians and Israelis (CNPJDPI), the procession in support of Gaza and the occupied West Bank called for a total and permanent ceasefire in Palestine, particularly an end to Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza.

"Stop massacres in Gaza and the West Bank," read a banner that was prominently displayed.

Protesters chanted solidarity slogans with Palestinians, notably singing: "We are all Palestinians." They also denounced war crimes committed by Israel.

2100 GMT — Israeli army looted $25 million in money, gold artifacts: Gaza government

The Gaza Media Office said that the Israeli army looted money and gold artifacts from the enclave, amounting to approximately $25 million since October 7.

It said it observed “dozens of testimonies provided by residents of Gaza regarding the theft of money, gold, and artifacts estimated at 90 million shekels ($24.5 million) over the past 92 days by the Israeli occupation army.”

“Theft operations occurred in various ways, the first of which was at the checkpoints, such as Salah al Din Street, where they stole from the displaced people who had moved from northern Gaza to the south, their bags containing their valuable possessions such as money, gold, and artifacts,” said the Office.​​​​​​​

1930 GMT — Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in UK intensify calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire

As Israel's war on Gaza extends into its 92nd day, pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the UK have intensified their calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the besieged enclave.

Despite the passing days, the fervor of the protesters shows no signs of waning. Local communities are once again mobilising, taking to the streets to amplify their collective demand for an end to the conflict and a lasting resolution.

The widespread demonstrations are aimed at urging a ceasefire in Gaza, with participants converging in various cities, including Birmingham, Bristol, Brighton, Canterbury, Oxford, and Hastings.

1830 GMT — MSF evacuates Gaza's Aqsa hospital amid Israel threats of attack

Following late morning evacuation order flyers dropped by Israeli forces for neighborhoods around Al Aqsa Hospital where Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) works, the international medical charity took decided to evacuate its staff and their families from the area.

“It is with heavy conscience that we have to evacuate while patients, hospital staff and many people seeking safety remain in the hospital premises,” says Carolina Lopez, emergency coordinator at Al Aqsa hospital.

On Friday, a bullet heavily penetrated a wall in Al Aqsa hospital’s intensive care unit, MSF said in a tweet.

"Over the last couple of days, drone attacks and snipers fire were just a few hundred meters from the hospital."

“The situation became so dangerous that some staff living in the neighbouring areas were not able to leave their houses because of the constant threats of drones and snipers,” says Lopez.

“Patient care was being affected with reduced staff at the hospital.”

1118 GMT — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken kicked off his latest urgent Middle East diplomatic mission in Türkiye, as fears mount that Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza may explode into a broader conflict.

Blinken’s fourth visit in three months comes amid worrying developments outside of Gaza, including in Lebanon, northern Israel, the Red Sea and Iraq, that have put intense strains on what had been a modestly successful US push to prevent a regional conflagration in the weeks after the war began, and growing international criticism of Israel’s military operation.

Blinken met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to discuss what Türkiye and others can do to exert influence, particularly on Iran and its proxies, to ease soaring tensions, speed up humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza and begin in earnest to plan for reconstruction and governance of postwar Gaza, much of which has been reduced to rubble by three months of intense Israeli bombardments.

11144 GMT — UN warns Gaza 'uninhabitable' as war rages on

Israel is relentlessly bombing southern Gaza as the UN warned the besieged Palestinian territory has been rendered "uninhabitable" by three months of war.

With swathes of the territory already reduced to rubble, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Friday that "Gaza has simply become uninhabitable".

AFP correspondents reported Israeli strikes early Saturday on the southern city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of people have sought shelter from the fighting.

1118 GMT — Hamas chief urges Blinken to focus on ending Israeli 'aggression'

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has called on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to use his current Middle East tour to end Israel's "aggression" as war rages in Gaza.

The top US diplomat arrived in Türkiye on Friday at the start of a trip that includes planned visits to Israel and the occupied West Bank as well as several Gulf states.

US officials have said that Blinken, in his fourth regional tour since fighting erupted with Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel, would focus on getting more aid into the besieged Gaza.

In a vi deo message posted late Friday on Hamas's social media channels, Haniyeh said he hoped Blinken had "learned the lessons of the last three months" during which Israel has relentlessly bombarded Gaza.

US support for Israel's military campaign "has caused unprecedented massacres and war crimes against our people in Gaza", Haniyeh said.

"We... hope that he will be more focused this time on ending the aggression" as well as "the occupation of all Palestinian lands", the Qatar-based Hamas chief added.

Haniyeh also urged regional leaders due to meet Blinken to tell him that stability in the Middle East was "closely linked to our Palestinian cause".

1025 GMT — Gaza death toll reaches 22,722: Health Ministry

At least 22,722 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel besieged the Palestinian territory and began its brutal bombardment, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

In a statement released Saturday, the ministry said it has recorded 122 deaths over the past 24 hours alone.,

The ministry added that a total of 58,166 people have been wounded in Gaza in nearly three months of fighting.

0749 GMT — Hezbollah fires at Israeli army base to 'avenge' Hamas deputy's killing

Lebanon's Hezbollah has fired more than 60 rockets at an Israeli military base, the group said, describing the barrage as a response to the killing of Hamas's deputy leader in Beirut.

"As part of the initial response to the crime of assassinating the great leader Sheikh Saleh Arouri, the Islamic resistance (Hezbollah) targeted the Meron air control base with 62 various types of missiles," the group said in a statement.

Arouri's killing on Tuesday in a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, which a US defence official has told AFP was carried out by Israel, has raised fears of further escalation.

0352 GMT — Israeli army detain Palestinians during raids in occupied West Bank

The houses of Palestinians were damaged and at least three young people were detained in raids by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Israeli forces raided Nablus, Beit Laham, Salfit and Jerusalem in the early hours, said WAFA, adding that the Israeli forces beat and detained the young Palestinians at the entrance to Teqoa in southeast Beit Laham.

A fight broke out between Palestinians and Israeli forces during the raid on the Shufat Refugee Camp in northern occupied Jerusalem. Israeli forces lobbed tear gas and opened fire on Palestinians.

0342 GMT — Israel bombs Gaza after UN warns territory 'uninhabitable'

With much of the territory already reduced to rubble, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths has said "Gaza has simply become uninhabitable."

Israel continued to bomb Gaza on Saturday even as the United Nations warned the Palestinian territory has become "uninhabitable" after three months of fighting that threatens to engulf the wider region.

AFP correspondents reported Israeli strikes on Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of people have sought shelter from the fighting.

0222 GMT — About 4 percent of the population in Gaza are killed

More than 90,000 people, about 4 percent of the population in Gaza, are dead, wounded or missing, a human rights monitor has said.

The Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor made the assessment and said Israel's continuous air, land and sea attacks have destroyed about 70% of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza since October 7.

The group accused Israel of making the Gaza uninhabitable.

Hundreds of bodies that cannot be recovered remain on roads, according to Euro-Med, particularly in areas where the Israeli army has conducted ground incursions.

The group said Israel's attacks are an "apparent attempt" to expand its territory to include the entire Gaza, uprooting the vast majority of the population in violation of international law, which, it added, "likely amounts to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide."0200 GMT — Blinken in Türkiye to discuss Israel's war on Gaza

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Istanbul late Friday for the first leg of a trip that includes visits to Israel and the occupied West Bank, along with five Arab states.

Washington's top diplomat will discuss the ongoing conflict in Gaza with Turkish leadership.

Blinken's fourth crisis tour since the start of the Israel's war on Gaza three months ago comes with fears mounting that the conflict will engulf swathes of the Middle East.

0200 GMT — Israel kills more than a dozen Palestinians in new bombardment

At least 15 Palestinians have been killed and many others wounded, some of them severely, after Israeli occupation aircraft bombed two houses in Al Hakar area in Deir al Balah in central Gaza and in Al Manara neighbourhood east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, WAFA news agency reported.

Citing sources at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, WAFA reported that from Friday morning until midnight, "35 martyrs and more than 60 wounded, most of them children and women, arrived at the hospital."

0159 GMT — France, Jordan drop 7 tonnes of aid in Gaza

President Emmanuel Macron said France and Jordan have dropped seven tonnes of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Macron wrote on X that the humanitarian situation remains critical in the besieged enclave. "In a difficult context, France and Jordan delivered aid by air aid to the population and those who help them," he wrote.

Media reports, citing the Elysee Palace, said the operation was carried out late Thursday with two military transport aircraft -one French, one Jordanian.

0055 GMT — Surge in settlement expansion in occupied West Bank since Oct 7: rights group

Israeli human rights organisation, Peace Now, has said that settlement expansion across the occupied West Bank has increased amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

"The three months of war in Gaza are being exploited by settlers to establish facts on the ground and effectively take control of extensive areas in Area C," it said in a report on Friday.

It added that since the start of the war in Gaza, "settlers have established or re-established at least ten outposts, some of which were evacuated in the past and then reconstructed."

2340 GMT — DRC, Rwanda, Chad deny talks with Israel on Palestinian exile

Rwanda, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC] have denied holding negotiations with Israel regarding the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and their settlement in the three African countries.

The Rwandan Foreign Ministry said "disinformation" published by Israel media alleging talks between Israel and Rwanda on the possibility of exile of Palestinians from Gaza to Rwanda is "completely false." DRC and Chad also denied holding talks with Israel about the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.

The reactions came following recent Israeli media reports indicating that three African countries could accept exiled Palestinians of Gaza, where Israel has waged a largely one-sided war from land, air and sea, killing nearly 23,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, and wounded around 58,000 people, and uprooted almost the entire 2.3 million inhabitants of the tiny besieged enclave.

For our live updates from Friday, January 5, click here.