This blog is now closing. You can read our full report on the latest developments in the Middle East here and all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here.
Summary
Here is where the day stands:
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has released a statement on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by Israel’s attacks across the strip. In his statement, Lazzarini said: “The crisis in Gaza is a man-made disaster compounded by dehumanizing language and the use of food, water and fuel as instruments of war.”
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Washington DC on Saturday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed nearly 24,000 Palestinians since 7 October. Pictures posted online showed demonstrators holding various signs including some saying “Stop funding apartheid now” and “Free Palestine”. Guest speakers who condemned Israel’s attacks on Gaza and urged for a ceasefire in Gaza included Cornel West, Imam Omar Suleiman and Wael al-Dahdouh (who spoke via a video feed).
Palestinian journalist Wael al-Dahdouh, who works for Al Jazeera and whose family members were killed by Israeli strikes while he also was recently wounded by an Israeli strike himself, addressed the protest in Washington DC via a video feed from Gaza. He spoke up about the dire conditions in which Palestinians are struggling to exist in Gaza while under Israeli bombardment. “The people are paying an exorbitant price, and are living a disastrous life,” he told the crowds in Washington DC.
A Hamas official thanked Qatar on Saturday for sending medicine to Gaza “in light of the many risks that threaten the lives of Palestinians”, Reuters reports. Speaking at a news conference in Beirut, the Lebanon-based Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said: “Some medicine will be used to treat Israeli prisoners.”
The first lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos, has spoken out against Germany’s defense of Israel in South Africa’s case against Israeli genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice. In a statement on X, Geingos cited the Herero-Nama genocide, which was waged by German forces from 1904 to 1908 and killed between 24,000 and 100,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama in Namibia (then known colonially as German South West Africa). Geingos said: “The absurdity of Germany, on 12 January 2024, rejecting genocide charges against Israel and warning about the ‘political instrumentalisation of the charge’ is not lost on us.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists has renewed its calls for the protection of journalists in Gaza and urged for “the killings of journalists by the Israeli army” to stop. CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, Sherif Mansour, said: “After 100 days of fighting, Israel’s longstanding record of impunity in journalist killings must face public scrutiny by allowing international media and international investigators uncensored access to Gaza. The killings of journalists by the Israeli army must stop now.”
Updated
