🔴 Live: UN chief denies Israel's claims he kept quiet on Hamas sexual violence report

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference with Egypt's Foreign Minister (not pictured) following their meeting in Cairo on October 19, 2023 as Palestinians in war-torn Gaza await aid trucks promised in a deal struck by the US President with Egypt and Israel. © Khaled Desouki, AFP

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has denied trying to suppress a UN report on sexual violence by Hamas against Israelis during the October 7 attacks.  The report on Monday by the UN envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict said that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape and other sexual crimes during its surprise attack on Israel on October 7. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.

Summary:

• US Vice President Kamala Harris expressed “deep concern” over the situation in Gaza during talks on Monday with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz at the White House, her office said.
• A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday to hold ceasefire talks, a day after a senior US official said Israel would agree to a six-week pause in fighting in return for the release of hostages still held by the Palestinian militant group. 
• US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Beirut on Monday that a limited war across Lebanon’s southern border would not be containable. The US diplomatic effort to end exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel comes as the two sides have engaged in the worst hostilities since a 2006 war.
• At least 30,534 people have been killed and 71,980 wounded in Israeli strikes, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, since the start of the war. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing. 

Yesterday's key developments:

• The US military airdropped food in pallets over Gaza on Saturday in the opening stage of emergency humanitarian assistance ordered after more than 100 Palestinians who had surged to pull goods off an aid convoy were killed during a chaotic encounter with Israeli troops this week.

• Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's popularity has dropped since the war broke out, according to most opinion polls. Many Israelis hold him responsible for failing to stop the Hamas-led October 7 attacks.

• An Italian navy destroyer shot down a drone that was approaching it in the Red Sea where Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels are attacking shipping, the defence ministry said.

About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:

Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.

The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. 

Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.

In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies. 

For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.

(FRANCE 24 with AP) 

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)