Sunday, December 17, 2023
20:20 GMT – 30 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in northern Gaza
Thirty Palestinians have been killed by Israeli airstrikes targeting houses in Jabalia in northern Gaza.
Palestinian media said that the incessant bombardment of the northern part of the enclave continued on Sunday, leaving scores of people dead and many more injured.
Israeli troops have killed at least 18,800 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7.
18:20 GMT – UN reports 'disturbing' mass detentions of Palestinians in Gaza
The UN human rights office said it had received "disturbing reports" from northern Gaza of mass detentions and ill-treatment of Palestinians by Israeli forces.
"Most were rounded up as they were attempting to move south or were taken during operations conducted on their homes, hospitals, schools and other places of refuge," the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement on Sunday.
According to reports obtained by the UN office, "children as young as 12 and persons as old as 70 are among those detained" by the Israeli army.
15:50 GMT – Israel plans to build anti-tunnel wall on Egypt-Gaza border: Report
Israel is planning to build an underground anti-tunnel wall near the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, according to local media on Sunday.
The wall is planned to be built on the Philadelphia Axis following the end of the current war on Gaza, Army Radio reported.
According to the broadcaster, an Israeli delegation had travelled to Egypt for talks on the construction of the wall.
12:35 GMT – Israeli army arrests 20 more Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli forces rounded up 20 more Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, raising the total number of Palestinian detainees to 4,540 since October 7, according to prisoners' affairs groups.
A joint statement issued by the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Society said the majority of the arrests took place in Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Nablus, and Tulkarm in the West Bank.
"The Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out massive incursions into several areas, accompanied by field executions, widespread arrest and torture campaigns," according to the two institutions.
10:10 GMT – At least 92 journalists killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7
At least 92 journalists have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, Gaza's government media office said on Sunday.
Anadolu and Al Jazeera journalists were among those killed by Israeli troops.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on Friday condemned the "violent and aggressive" attacks on journalists by Israeli soldiers.
8:50 GMT – WHO calls Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital a 'bloodbath'
The emergency department at the Al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza, devastated by Israeli bombardments, is "a blood bath" and is "in need of resuscitation", the WHO said on Sunday.
A team from the World Health Organisation and other United Nations agencies was able to deliver medical supplies on Saturday to the hospital, the largest in the Palestinian territory.
In a statement the WHO said that "tens of thousands of displaced people are using the hospital building and grounds for shelter", and that there is "a severe shortage" of drinking water and food.
07:35 - Israel carries out fresh airstrikes on Gaza
Israel carried out fresh strikes on Gaza as its leaders came under growing pressure to secure the release of hostages still held in the Hamas-run territory more than two months after the October 7 attacks.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced protests on Saturday by relatives of hostages who called for an urgent deal to secure their freedom after the army admitted mistakenly killing three captives in Gaza.
The trio were among an estimated 250 people taken hostage during Hamas's October 7 raids into Israel.
07:00 GMT - Palestine demands probe into Israel burying Gaza victims alive
Palestine has demanded an investigation into reports of the Israeli army burying civilians alive in the courtyard of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
“Information and testimonies from citizens, medical crews, and media indicate that the occupation buried living civilians in the Kamal Adwan Hospital courtyard, and that some of them were seen alive before being besieged by the occupation,” according to Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al Kaila.
“The world should take serious action to uncover the details of this file and not tolerate or remain silent about the information coming from the Gaza Strip,” said Al Kaila as she urged an international inquiry into the reports.
06:40 - Dozen killed in Israeli strikes on the central city of Deir al Balah
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, at least 12 people were killed in Israeli strikes on the central city of Deir al Balah.
Witnesses also reported Israeli air and artillery strikes on the southern municipality of Bani Suhaila east of Khan Yunis, Gaza's second city.
06:20 GMT - Three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank
Two Palestinians from Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank were shot dead by Israeli forces on Sunday, and a third from Jenin died from injuries sustained a few days ago, the Palestinian health ministry said.
05:40 GMT - Israeli military chief takes responsibility for killing 3 hostages in Gaza
Israeli Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi took responsibility for 'mistakenly' killing three Israeli hostages by Israeli soldiers.
"The IDF (Israeli army) and I, as its commander, are responsible for what happened," Halevi said in a video statement, referring to the three hostages who were raising a white flag in the besieged Gaza Strip when they were killed.
He pointed out that during intense clashes in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza, Palestinian militants were able to approach Israeli soldiers in civilian clothes for days.
"A split-second decision could be a life-or-death decision,” he said.
05:00 GMT - UK lawmaker submits complaint to ICC for Israeli war crimes in Gaza
British Independent lawmaker Claudia Webbe submitted a complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) that urged an investigation and trial for Israel’s war crimes committed in Gaza.
Webbe announced during a parliamentary session that she lodged the complaint that includes genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.
04:13 GMT - Israeli air strike killed a USAID contractor in Gaza, his colleagues say
An Israeli air strike killed a US Agency for International Development contractor in Gaza last month, his colleagues said in a statement. The US development agency noted the death and urged greater protection for humanitarian workers in the fighting there.
Hani Jnena, 33, was killed November 5 along with his wife, their 2-year-old and 4-year-old daughters, and her family, the US-based humanitarian group Global Communities said.
An internet-technology worker, Jnena had fled his neighborhood in Gaza City with his family to escape the airstrikes, only to be killed while sheltering with his in-laws, the group said. His employer was an on-the-ground partner for USAID, the US agency said.
03:30 GMT - Israel says Gaza hospital military 'activity' over
The Israeli army claimed it had discovered weapons and arrested around 80 Hamas members in military "activity" at a hospital in Gaza, which Hamas described as a "horrific massacre".
The Gaza-based health ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli forces had "fired at patient rooms" and arrested staff at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza City during a "siege" that lasted several days.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said the same day that the hospital director and about 70 other medical staff were "detained in an unknown location outside of the hospital".
For our live updates from Saturday, December 16, click here.
