We’ll shut this blog now – it’s nearly 2.15 am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Our live coverage will continue later in the day.
Summary
Here is where things stand:
A shortage in fuel, power, medical supplies and health specialists as a result of Israel’s attacks across Gaza has left al-Ahli hospital’s emergency care and surgical services “paralyzed”, the World Health Organization said. “Al Ahli is a shell of a hospital … There are no operating theaters any more due to the lack of fuel, power, medical supplies and health workers,” Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s Palestine representative, said.
Water and sanitation services in Gaza are at the point of collapse, Unicef said on Saturday. Amid Israel’s deadly attacks across the strip, which have killed more than 20,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 2 million survivors, Unicef said that the deteriorating humanitarian situation is raising the risk of large-scale disease outbreaks.
The US president Joe Biden spoke with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, the White House said. According to Netanyahu’s office, Netanyahu voiced appreciation towards the US for its stance at the UN security council. Netanyahu’s office also added that he “made clear that Israel will pursue the war until all of its objectives are fully met”.
Two Qatari Armed Forces aircraft carrying aid for Palestinians displaced by Israeli strikes in Gaza has headed to El Arish, Egypt. In an announcement on Saturday, Qatar’s foreign ministry said that the two aircraft carrying 33 tons of aid consisting of food and medical supplies are en route to Gaza.
“We are not getting the humanitarian supplies that we need to cater and respond to a humanitarian crisis this size and this scale,” UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma has said. Speaking to CGTN, Touma added: “The more that we have these evacuation orders that the Israeli authorities continue to issue … we will see an exodus of people continue to search for safety, search for shelter.”
The director of UNRWA affairs, Thomas White, reiterated the absence of safety across the Gaza Strip as more than 1.9 million Palestinians remain displaced as a result of Israel’s attacks. In a tweet on Saturday, White wrote: “People in Gaza are people. They are not pieces on a checkerboard - many have already been displaced several times. The Israeli Army just orders people to move into areas where there are ongoing airstrikes. No place is safe, nowhere to go.”
In response to the UN security council’s passage of a resolution on Gaza aid delivery, Médecins Sans Frontières said that it “falls painfully short of what is required to address the crisis in Gaza”. In a series of tweets on Saturday, MSF said: “The watered-down resolution on #Gaza will not ensure the massive scale-up and rapid flow of humanitarian aid needed, as bombs continue to rain down on Palestinian civilians, force mass displacement, and deny access to vital medical care and humanitarian assistance.”
Updated
The White House has released a readout of US president Joe Biden’s call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday:
President Joseph R Biden Jr spoke today with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The leaders discussed Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to include its objectives and phasing. The president emphasized the critical need to protect the civilian population including those supporting the humanitarian aid operation, and the importance of allowing civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting.
The leaders discussed the importance of securing the release of all remaining hostages. They agreed to remain in regular consultation both directly and through their respective national security teams.
Updated
Hundreds of protesters marched in London on Saturday in calls for a boycott of Israeli-linked brands and a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli strikes have killed more than 20,000 Palestinians.
The Guardian’s Geneva Abdul reports:
Hundreds of people have marched along Oxford Street in London calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a boycott of “Israel-linked” brands, as traffic in the busy shopping district was brought to a standstill days before Christmas.
“There can be no Christmas as usual while a genocide is happening,” the organisers and activist group Sisters Uncut wrote on social media on Saturday, calling for the boycott of brands including Puma, HP and Axa.
“When we disrupt the flow of capital we strike at the heart of the brutal occupation. We will continue to shut it down in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” the group said, sharing videos of protesters armed with Palestinian flags and placards beneath Carnaby’s glittering decorations while chanting “shut it down” outside Puma.
Protesters outside two Zara stores chanted “while you’re shopping, bombs are dropping” and “Zara, Zara, you can’t hide, stop supporting genocide” referring to Israel’s retaliatory campaign, which has killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry, most of them women and children.
For the full story, click here:
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires of pro-Palestine rallies held around the world this weekend in which demonstrators demanded a ceasefire in Gaza where Israeli strikes have killed more than 20,000 Palestinians while survivors grapple with shortages in food, water, fuel and medical supplies:
Updated
US residents are funding illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, along with paramilitary groups and Israel Defense Forces units currently operating in Gaza.
The Guardian’s Jason Wilson reports:
An Israeli crowdfunding platform, IsraelGives, has allowed US residents to donate millions of dollars since 7 October to causes including illegal West Bank settlements, paramilitary groups, and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units currently operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Legal experts say that some of these campaigns may be illegal under US tax law, but that this is rarely enforced on donors to Israeli causes.
While contributions from wealthy US nonprofits or individuals to illegal settlements have been previously reported, IsraelGives’s established crowdfunding platform, attached to an international network of linked non-profits, may allow smaller donors in the US and beyond to claim tax deductions on funds sustaining war and settlement in the occupied territories.
The revelations come amid an escalating humanitarian crisis caused by IDF attacks killing civilians in Gaza, and mounting campaigns in the US to enforce laws that should prevent US non-profits from funding illegal settlements.
For the full story, click here:
Fans attending a Celtics football game in Glasgow, Scotland, raised banners in a show of solidarity with Palestine on Saturday.
Pictures posted on social media showed fans carrying banners that read “Many homes they are sad tonight”, “They whisper someone’s name by the candlelight” and “20,000+ killed – 8,000+ children”.
Celtic fans once again showing support for Palestine.
— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) December 23, 2023
“Many homes they are sad tonight.
They whisper someone's name by the candlelight.
20,000+ killed - 8,000+ children.” pic.twitter.com/NKEB7yuvNe
At a Celtic game today in Glasgow:
— sarah (@sahouraxo) December 23, 2023
“Many Homes they are sad tonight
They whisper someone’s name by the candlelight
20,000 + killed, 8000+ children”
🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/WChIIp8AuP
Green Brigade back at Celtic Park after a two month ban and straight back to showing support for the Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/ZPkiEYppDD
— Liam O'Hare (@Liam_O_Hare) December 23, 2023
Updated
WHO: Gaza's al-Ahli hospital is 'paralyzed' and 'shell of a hospital'
A shortage in fuel, power, medical supplies and health specialists as a result of Israel’s attacks across Gaza has left al-Ahli hospital’s emergency care and surgical services “paralyzed,” the World Health Organization said.
“Al Ahli is a shell of a hospital. Until two days ago, it was the only hospital where injured people could get surgery in northern Gaza and it was overwhelmed with patients needing emergency care. There are no operating theaters any more due to the lack of fuel, power, medical supplies and health workers,” Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s Palestine representative, said.
He went on to add that al-Ahli hospital is “only operating as a hospice currently with no or very little care”.
Al-Ahli was the sole hospital offering surgical care for the injured in northern #Gaza. A severe lack of fuel, power, medical supplies, and health specialists has paralysed its emergency care and surgical services. Dr Rik Peeperkorn, @WHOoPt Representative, describes the… pic.twitter.com/rCiMiZMS84
— WHO in occupied Palestinian territory (@WHOoPt) December 23, 2023
Updated
Here are some images coming through the newswires of thousands of protestors in Tel Aviv who took to the streets on Saturday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and in opposition of the Israeli government’s handling of the hostage crisis.
Updated
Jerusalem’s church leaders defended their meeting with Israeli president Isaac Herzog on Sunday after it sparked criticism from Palestinians.
Agence France-Presse reports:
A statement from the president’s office announced the meeting on Thursday, quoting Herzog as saying that he expected the “Christian world to express clear condemnation” of the deadly October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel.
The meeting, attended by patriarchs and heads of churches in the city including the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa, triggered condemnation not just from the militant group Hamas but also the Palestinian community critical of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
In a joint statement defending the meeting, the church leaders said the meeting was “not a mere exchange of holiday season pleasantries”.
It was aimed, they said, at “demanding, on behalf of Christians worldwide, an immediate cessation of the bloodshed in Gaza”.
Hamas had earlier denounced the meeting, saying in a statement that it was “shocked” by the image of Christian leaders in occupied Palestinian territories meeting with Herzog and accused them of not speaking out “about the difficult times our people are facing”.
Updated
Unicef: Water and sanitation services in Gaza on verge of collapse
Water and sanitation services in Gaza are at the point of collapse, Unicef said on Saturday.
Amid Israel’s deadly attacks across the strip, which have killed more than 20,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 2 million survivors, Unicef said that the deteriorating humanitarian situation is raising the risk of large-scale disease outbreaks.
Children are being forced to drink salinated or polluted water, in turn putting them at risk of death and disease, it added.
Water and sanitation services in Gaza are at the point of collapse, putting children at serious risk of illness and death.
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) December 23, 2023
We need rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access to all children and families in need. pic.twitter.com/izOoh8dxyw
Updated
The US president Joe Biden spoke with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, the White House said.
According to Netanyahu’s office, Netanyahu voiced appreciation towards the US for its stance at the UN security council, Reuters reports.
Netanyahu’s office also added that he “made clear that Israel will pursue the war until all of its objectives are fully met”.
A staunch ally of Israel, the US earlier this month vetoed a security council resolution that called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. In its latest round of voting at the security council, the US abstained from a highly watered-down resolution – which ultimately passed – surrounding the delivery of aid into Gaza.
Updated
Two Qatari Armed Forces aircraft carrying aid for Palestinians displaced by Israeli strikes in Gaza has headed to El Arish, Egypt.
In an announcement on Saturday, Qatar’s foreign ministry said that the two aircraft carrying 33 tons of aid consisting of food and medical supplies are en route to Gaza.
Today’s delivery brings the total number of aid planes sent to Gaza by Qatar to 49, with a total of 1,534 tons of aid.
Two Qatar Armed Forces Aircraft Carrying Aid for Palestinians in Gaza Heads to Egypt's El Arish#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/mrnt2xmyc0
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) December 23, 2023
Updated
“We are not getting the humanitarian supplies that we need to cater and respond to a humanitarian crisis this size and this scale,” UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma has said.
Speaking to CGTN, Touma added:
The more that we have these evacuation orders that the Israeli authorities continue to issue … we will see an exodus of people continue to search for safety, search for shelter … The combination of the war and the siege and the lack of availability of basic supplies including food has led to … unprecedented levels of hunger and starvation.
"The more evacuation orders that Israeli authorities continue to issue, we will see an exodus of people continue to search for safety"@JulietteTouma @CGTNOfficial: Combination of war, siege & lack of aid has caused unprecedented levels of hunger & starvation across📍#GazaStrip pic.twitter.com/d4iTmIWtwH
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 23, 2023
Updated
UNRWA: 'People in Gaza are people. They are not pieces on a checkerboard'
The director of UNRWA affairs, Thomas White, reiterated the absence of safety across the Gaza strip as more than 1.9 million Palestinians remain displaced as a result of Israel’s attacks.
In a tweet on Saturday, White wrote:
People in Gaza are people. They are not pieces on a checkerboard - many have already been displaced several times. The Israeli Army just orders people to move into areas where there are ongoing airstrikes. No place is safe, nowhere to go.
People in #Gaza are People. They are not pieces on a checkerboard - many have already been displaced several times. The Israeli Army just orders people to move into areas where there are ongoing airstrikes. No place is safe, nowhere to go. @UNRWA
— Thomas White (@TomWhiteGaza) December 23, 2023
White’s comments come as the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes reach more than 20,200 since October 7. An additional 53,688 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli strikes, Gaza’s health ministry announced.
Updated
Médecins Sans Frontières: UN security council resolution 'falls painfully short'
In response to the UN security council’s passage of a resolution on Gaza aid delivery, Médecins Sans Frontières said that it “falls painfully short of what is required to address the crisis in Gaza”.
In a series of tweets on Saturday, MSF said:
The watered-down resolution on #Gaza will not ensure the massive scale-up and rapid flow of humanitarian aid needed, as bombs continue to rain down on Palestinian civilians, force mass displacement, and deny access to vital medical care and humanitarian assistance.
The watered-down resolution on #Gaza will not ensure the massive scale-up and rapid flow of humanitarian aid needed, as bombs continue to rain down on Palestinian civilians, force mass displacement, and deny access to vital medical care and humanitarian assistance...
— MSF International (@MSF) December 23, 2023
“The way Israel is prosecuting this war, with US support, is causing massive death and suffering among Palestinian civilians and is inconsistent with international norms and laws. Even war has rules,” it added.
The way Israel is prosecuting this war, with US support, is causing massive death and suffering among Palestinian civilians and is inconsistent with international norms and laws. Even war has rules...
— MSF International (@MSF) December 23, 2023
Updated
The Palestine Red Crescent Society remains operating at its medical point in Jabalia in northern Gaza amid Israeli bombardment.
In a video released on Saturday, PRCS workers can be seen treating Palestinians injured by Israeli strikes in a makeshift tent amid a shortage of medical supplies across the strip.
🫶The heroes of the Palestine Red Crescent continue their work at the PRCS medical point in #Jabalia, northern #Gaza👏
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 23, 2023
📷 Fimed by PRCS volunteer, Firas Ajrami#HumantarianHeroes pic.twitter.com/nUDS8Qbk4P
Updated
Food aid is failing to reach Palestinian residents displaced by Israeli strikes in Gaza despite a “catastrophic” hunger crisis.
The Guardian’s Kaamil Ahmed reports:
A couple of biscuits and a can of beans is all that many Palestinians in Gaza say is being given to families to live on, if they receive aid at all, and that they are finding donated items for sale in the markets.
The risk of famine is increasing every day, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which said this week that Gaza’s entire population is suffering “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity”, the highest proportion of a population with acute food insecurity the monitor has ever recorded.
On Friday, the United Nations security council backed a resolution calling for a major boost in humanitarian assistance for Gaza. But the UN secretary general, António Guterres, told reporters: “The real problem is that the way Israel is conducting this offensive is creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza.”
The World Food Programme has also said it is becoming more difficult to reach people because of intensified fighting, with food becoming scarce and expensive, and fuel for cooking hard to find. The WFP’s most recent food security update said the situation is worst in northern Gaza, where 90% of people have gone a full day and night without eating.
For the full story, click here:
Gaza death toll reaches 20,258
The Hamas-controlled Palestinian health ministry has said in a statement that at least 201 Palestinians have been killed and 368 others injured in Gaza over the past 24 hours.
Since 7 October, the total death toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in the strip has reached 20,258 people, with a further 53,688 injured, the statement added.
Updated
Afternoon summary
Gaza death toll reaches 20,258, Hamas-run health ministry says. A statement issued on Saturday said 201 Palestinians had been killed in the past 24 hours.
More than 90 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on two homes, rescuers and hospital officials said. The death toll from airstrikes on Friday included 76 people from one family, according to a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence department.
Hamas says it has lost contact with group holding five Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip. An unverified statement from the Islamist group said it believed the hostages were killed during an Israeli raid.
Biden “heartbroken” over American’s death. The US president, Joe Biden, made the comment after it emerged that an American named Gadi Haggai is believed to have been killed by Hamas on 7 October when it attacked Israel.
UN chief says Israeli military offensive is creating “massive obstacles” to aid distribution in Gaza. The comment from António Guterres comes after the UN security council passed a resolution of Friday urging steps to allow “safe, unhindered and expanded humanitarian access” to Gaza.
Iranian president slams “inefficacy” of international bodies to halt war. Ebrahim Raisi made the comments in Tehran, following the UN security council resolution, describing it as “positive but insufficient”.
Guterres says 136 UN colleagues have died in Gaza. The secretary general added that most of the international organisation’s staff “have been forced from their homes” since the war began.
Updated
Hamas says it has lost contact with group responsible for five Israeli hostages
Hamas has issued an unverified statement, being reported by Reuters, that it has lost contact with the group responsible for five Israeli hostages being held hostage in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli bombardment.
The group believes the hostages were killed during an Israeli raid, Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al Qassam brigades, was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has said troops arrested hundreds of militants in Gaza over the past week and transferred more than 200 of them to Israel for further interrogation.
The army said more than 700 people with alleged ties to the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have so far been sent to Israeli lockups.
The Guardian is also unable to verify these claims.
Updated
The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has slammed the “inefficacy” of international bodies to halt the Israel-Gaza war.
Raisi’s comments during a conference in Tehran in support of Palestinians came a day after the UN security council approved a delayed resolution demanding aid to be allowed into Gaza “at scale”.
The resolution also urged the creation of “conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”, without calling for an immediate end to the fighting.
Iran has called the vote “positive but insufficient”.
“The inability and inefficacy of international organisations has become clear to everyone in the world,” Raisi told the Tehran conference, AFP reports.
“The security council … officially announced its desperation, and said that there is nothing we can do,” he said.
“International organisations have also announced that there is nothing we can do.”
Updated
Pro-Palestine protestors march on London's Oxford Street in calls of Israeli boycott
Pro-Palestinian protesters have marched on London’s Oxford Street urging shoppers to boycott “Israeli-linked” brands.
Several hundred protesters brought traffic to a standstill as part of the demonstration organised by direct action group Sisters Uncut on Saturday afternoon, PA reports.
They gathered in Soho Square chanting “free Palestine” before marching on the busy shopping street.
More than 20,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel’s brutal siege. We say, NO BUSINESS AS USUAL AS PEOPLE ARE TRAPPED UNDER RUBBLE. CHRISTMAS IS CANCELLED. pic.twitter.com/uPCQKIDdDo
— Sisters Uncut (@SistersUncut) December 23, 2023
Security guards blocked the entrance to fashion retailer Zara, while dozens of officers followed the march.
Leaflets distributed by Sisters Uncut said: “No Christmas as usual in a genocide. The UK is complicit. Don’t fund genocide in Palestine. Boycott Israel.”
Updated
The presidents of Egypt and Iran discussed recent developments in Gaza and the prospect of restoring diplomatic ties between their countries in what Iranian state television said on Saturday was their first phone call.
The network said the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, had called his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The two men met in November for the first time on the sidelines of the joint Arab Islamic extraordinary summit in Riyadh.
“Raisi said Iran was ready to provide all its capacities to stop the genocide by the Zionist regime and send aid to the Palestinians,” Iranian state TV reported, adding that it was the first time the two presidents had spoken by phone.
Relations between Egypt and Iran have generally been fraught in recent decades, although the countries have maintained some diplomatic contacts. Their call follows other moves by countries in the region to ease tension in recent months.
Egypt’s Sunni Muslim Arab ally Saudi Arabia and Shia Muslim Iran restored diplomatic relations earlier this year, while Cairo has mended a rift with Qatar and re-established ties with Turkey.
Updated
Here are the latest images from Gaza and Israel:
As we reported earlier, the United Nations security council has backed a resolution calling for a major boost in humanitarian assistance for the Gaza Strip but the UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has said the way Israel is conducting its military operation there is creating “massive obstacles” to aid distribution.
Here’s a clip of his comments.
A worldwide campaign of assassinations of Hamas leaders announced by senior Israel officials is likely to be counterproductive, impractical and ineffective, targets of previous such efforts have suggested.
Benjamin Netanyahu first announced the new strategy two weeks after the 7 October attacks launched by Hamas into southern Israel which killed 1,200 people.
Officials in Israel have briefed journalists that a new operation called Nili, an acronym for a biblical phrase in Hebrew meaning “the eternal one of Israel will not lie”, would target senior leaders of the militant Islamist organisation.
You can read the full story from my colleague Jason Burke here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/23/israeli-campaign-to-kill-hamas-leaders-likely-to-backfire-say-earlier-assassination-targets
Drone strike damages 'Israel-affiliated' merchant ship of coast of India, says maritime agencies
A drone strike damaged an “Israel-affiliated” merchant ship off the coast of India on Saturday, but caused no casualties, according to maritime agencies.
The attack caused a fire on board, according to the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
Ambrey, a maritime security firm, said the “Liberia-flagged chemical/products tanker … was Israel-affiliated” and had been on its way from Saudi Arabia to India.
Both agencies said the attack occurred 200 nautical miles south-west of Veraval, India.
The UKMTO said the “authorities were investigating”, and noted the fire had been extinguished. Ambrey said the Indian navy was responding.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike, which came amid a flurry of drone and missile attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on a vital shipping lane in the Red Sea.
Iran has also been accused of carrying out attacks near its waters.
Last month, an Israeli-owned cargo ship was hit in a suspected drone attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the Indian Ocean, according to a US official.
Updated
Israeli strike kills 76 members of one Gaza family, says Gaza civil defense department
An Israeli airstrike has killed 76 members of an extended family in Gaza, Associated Press reported rescue officials as saying on Saturday.
Friday’s strike on a building in Gaza City was among the deadliest of the Israel-Gaza war, Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence department said.
Bassal provided a partial list of the names of those killed, according to AP – 16 heads of households from the Mughrabi family – and said the dead included women and children.
Among them was Issam al-Mughrabi, a veteran employee of the UN Development Programme, his wife and their five children.
“The loss of Issam and his family has deeply affected us all. The UN and civilians in Gaza are not a target,” said Achim Steiner, the head of the agency. “This war must end.”
Updated
Thomas White, director for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has criticised a decision by Israeli authorities to issue evacuation orders for people in central Gaza to move to Deir al-Balah.
He said on X that 150,000 people would be impacted, while the area was “already overwhelmed with displaced including UNRWA shelters.”
People in #Gaza are People. They are not pieces on a checkerboard - many have already been displaced several times. The Israeli Army just orders people to move into areas where there are ongoing airstrikes. No place is safe, nowhere to go. @UNRWA
— Thomas White (@TomWhiteGaza) December 23, 2023
He added that people in Gaza were “not pieces on a checkerboard”.
Updated
The spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it attacked a number of Hezbollah “terrorist targets” overnight and on Saturday morning “including operational infrastructures, terrorist infrastructures and a military compound”.
Daniel Hagari added that the attacks took place in “Lebanese territory”.
You can read more about fears over the involvement of Hezbollah in the conflict here:
Updated
Israeli strikes on Gaza continued on Saturday, with Hamas authorities reporting heaving shelling in several cities, reports the AFP news agency.
The Hamas-controlled health ministry said 18 people were killed in a house in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
Updated
UN chief says 136 colleagues have been killed in Gaza
António Guterres said on X this morning that 136 United Nations colleagues in Gaza have been killed in 75 days amid Israel’s intense bombardment, something the global organisation had “never seen” in its history.
The UN chief added: “Most of our staff have been forced from their homes.
“I pay tribute to them and the thousands of aid workers risking their lives as they support civilians in Gaza.”
136 of our colleagues in Gaza have been killed in 75 days – something we have never seen in @UN history.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) December 23, 2023
Most of our staff have been forced from their homes.
I pay tribute to them & the thousands of aid workers risking their lives as they support civilians in Gaza.
Updated
Biden 'heartbroken' over American's death
The US president, Joe Biden, has said he is “heartbroken” by the news that an American named Gadi Haggai is believed to have been killed by Hamas on 7 October when it attacked Israel.
Haggai, a 73-year-old Israeli-American man, was previously thought to have been taken hostage in the militants’ attack, along with his wife. A group representing hostages’ families had said earlier on Friday that Haggai died in captivity.
Biden said in a statement released by the White House on Friday:
Jill [Biden, the first lady] and I are heartbroken by the news that American Gadi Haggai is now believed to have been killed by Hamas on October 7. We continue to pray for the wellbeing and safe return of his wife, Judy.
Reuters also reports that Judith Weinstein, the wife of Haggai, is still being held hostage in Gaza, according to the Israeli media outlet Haaretz.
The Biden statement gave no further details about what happened to Haggai.
Updated
Post two of two
An Israeli airstrike on a house in Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed three people including a journalist of Hamas’s Aqsa TV channel and two of their relatives, Palestinian health officials and Hamas media said.
The reporter’s death would bring to at least 69 the number of journalists killed in the conflict, according to a tally by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Reuters also reports that in Gaza’s south, at least four civilians died in an airstrike on a car in Rafah, a Palestinian rescue worker said. A boy, his face covered in blood, and a girl, were carried away, video showed.
There was no immediate Israeli comment. Its military has expressed regret for civilian deaths but blamed the militant Hamas for operating in densely populated areas or using civilians as human shields, an allegation the group denies.
The Hamas-affiliated Shehab news agency reported heavy shelling and airstrikes on Jabaliya al-Balad and Jabaliya refugee camp, in northern Gaza, and said Israeli vehicles were trying to advance from the western side of Jabaliya amid the sound of gunfire.
Wafa reported that Israeli shelling destroyed a water desalination plant in Jabaliya by the al-Amal hospital.
Updated
Israeli strikes reported across Gaza
Airstrikes, artillery bombardments and fighting were reported across Gaza late into Friday night.
Israel’s military ordered residents of al-Bureij, in central Gaza, to move south immediately, Reuters reports. The directive signalled a new focus of the ground assault that has devastated the territory’s north and made a series of incursions in the south.
Some residents packed up donkey carts and left. But there was no immediate sign of large numbers from al-Bureij joining the hundreds of thousands fleeing other areas.
Ziad, a medic and father of six, said:
Where should we go to? There is no place safe. They ask people to head to [the central Gaza city of] Deir al-Balah, where they bomb day and night.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said at least 18 Palestinians were killed and dozens others wounded in an airstrike on a house in Nuseirat, central Gaza, late on Friday night.
Post one of two
Updated
UN chief says Israeli military offensive creating 'massive obstacles' to aid distribution in Gaza
The UN security council has called for boosting humanitarian assistance for Gaza, but the UN chief said the way Israel was conducting its military operation was creating “massive obstacles” to aid distribution inside the battered territory.
After days of wrangling to avert a threatened US veto, the security council passed a resolution on Friday urging steps to allow “safe, unhindered and expanded humanitarian access” to Gaza and “conditions for a sustainable cessation” of fighting.
But Reuters reports UN secretary general António Guterres said after the vote that the way Israel was conducting its operation is “creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian assistance” in Gaza, where the UN says the aid available is just 10% of what is needed.
Israel says 5,405 aid trucks – bearing food, water and medical supplies - have entered Gaza since the war started.
Updated
Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. It’s nearing 9am and Gaza City and Tel Aviv on this 23 December and here’s an overview of the latest to bring you up to speed.
The United Nations security council has backed a resolution calling for a major boost in humanitarian assistance for the Gaza Strip but the UN secretary general has said the way Israel is conducting its military operation there is creating “massive obstacles” to aid distribution.
António Guterres’s comments after the UN vote came as airstrikes, artillery bombardments and fighting were reported across Gaza late into Friday night, with at least 18 people killed, according to Palestinian media.
Israel’s military ordered residents of al-Bureij in central Gaza to move south immediately, in a directive signalling a new focus of the ground assault that has devastated the territory’s north and made incursions in the south.
More on those stories soon as well as below, along with a recap of other key developments.
The UN security council, after days of delay, passed its new resolution on Gaza aid delivery with 13 votes in favour, no votes against and abstentions by the US and Russia. Although abstaining, it was pivotal for Gaza that the US did not veto and therefore block the resolution. A vote had originally been expected on Monday but was delayed day after day as negotiations went on to try to get the pieces in place for the resolution to pass when it did finally come to the vote.
António Guterres said after the vote that he hoped aid delivery would improve “but a humanitarian ceasefire is the only way to begin to meet the desperate needs of people in Gaza and end their ongoing nightmare”. The UN chief added: “As difficult as it might appear today, the two-state solution – in line with UN resolutions, international law and previous agreements – is the only path to sustainable peace.”
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas issued different responses towards the UN vote. The Palestinian foreign ministry, which is part of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, called the resolution “a step in the right direction” and said it would help “end the aggression, ensure the arrival of aid and protect the Palestinian people”. But Hamas, the militants who run Gaza, called the resolution an “insufficient step” for meeting the impoverished territory’s needs.
The International Rescue Committee, the global humanitarian organisation, lamented the lack of a UN security council (UNSC) resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, even as it welcomed the resolution on aid. It also welcomed the call for the unconditional release of remaining hostages held by Hamas after they were snatched from southern Israel during the 7 October attack that triggered the war. “From a humanitarian point of view, the failure of the UNSC to demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire is unjustifiable,” the committee said.
The European Commission said it had adopted a €118m ($130m) aid package to support the Palestinian Authority. The EC said on Friday the aid would help pay salaries and pensions of civil servants in the West Bank, social allowances for vulnerable families and the payment for medical referrals to East Jerusalem hospitals.
Gaza health officials say more than 20,000 people have been killed in the war. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday that it had documented 20,057 deaths in the fighting. It does not differentiate between combatant and civilian deaths. It has previously said that roughly two-thirds of the dead were women or minors.
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