Sunday, January 7, 2024
12:10 GMT – Gaza death toll soars to 22,835
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Sunday that at least 22,835 people have been killed in the besieged Palestinian territory since war with Israel broke out on October 7.
The ministry said in a statement that it had recorded 113 deaths in the past 24 hours, while a total of 58,416 people had been wounded in the Gaza Strip during the three months of fighting.
9:40 GMT – Israeli apartheid more brutal than in South Africa: Ex-politician
A former colleague of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has expressed strong support for his country's decision to take Israel to the International Court of Justice, condemning the months-long siege and blockade of Gaza as nothing short of a genocide against Palestinians.
Speaking to Anadolu, Andrew Feinstein, a onetime key figure in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) who now lives in Britain, emphasised his unique perspective as a Jewish son of a Holocaust survivor.
"Because of the intent that has been voiced by Israeli politicians to remove all Palestinians from Gaza and for Israel to effectively take over Gaza completely, Israeli apartheid is far more brutal than anything we saw or experienced in South Africa," Feinstein said.
07:28 GMT - Israeli airstrike kills several people in Jenin
Six people have been killed during an Israeli air strike in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
"An Israeli occupation bombardment on a group of citizens killed six people in Jenin," said the Palestinian Authority-run Ministry of Health, which is based in the occupied West Bank.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported early on Sunday that a major deployment of Israeli forces was underway in Jenin.
06:50 GMT - Israel says part of Hamas 'dismantled' as war enters fourth month
Israel has said it "dismantled" Hamas's military leadership in northern Gaza as its war against the Palestinian group entered its fourth month.
Witnesses said Israel carried out air strikes early on Sunday in Gaza's main southern city of Khan Younis, with the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reporting numerous dead and wounded.
Israel's army said its forces would now "focus" on central and southern areas of Gaza.
06:15 GMT - US protesters call for ceasefire in Gaza, blocking freeway in Seattle for several hours
Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza blocked northbound traffic on Interstate 5 in Seattle for several hours.
Additional demonstrators on a nearby overpass cheered in support of the blockade, which began around 1:15 pm, the Seattle Times reported.
Demonstrators chanted "Free, free Palestine" and "Hey hey, ho ho, the occupation has got to go."
05:30 GMT - Israeli bid for Gaza governance will fail: Palestinian groups
Palestinian groups said that Israeli plans to create structures to govern Gaza will fail in the face of the determination of Palestinians.
"Israel is still trying to liquidate the Palestinian cause and displace our people with its old and new plan, but this plan will fail and fall in vain," the National and Islamic Forces Monitoring Committee, which includes Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said in a statement.
Regarding Israel's plans to create structures to govern Gaza, the statement emphasised: "Israel is allegedly trying to create local civilian or tribal bodies to govern Gaza, but they will not succeed in doing so."
05:00 GMT - The Qassam Brigades share new footage of Israeli prisoner in Gaza
The Qassam Brigades has shared new footage of an Israeli prisoner in Gaza who lost his wife and two children in an Israeli air strike.
The armed wing of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, shared the video on Telegram in which Yarden Bibas refers to his murdered wife and two children, and addresses Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Will I get out of here and mourn them or will I be buried in the ground with them?" he said.
04:21 GMT - At least 16 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza
At least 16 Palestinians, mostly children, were killed and 50 injured in an attack by the Israeli army on a UN-owned school in central Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis, media reports said.
The army targeted a school belonging to the UN Relief and Public Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Al Maghazi Refugee Camp in Gaza from the air and sea, according to the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
At least four Palestinians were killed and others were injured in the attack.
Israeli warplanes separately targeted a house where a large number of displaced people were sheltering in Khan Yunis.
For our live updates from Saturday, January 6, click here.
