Gaza: Dozens killed in Israeli airstrike in Deir al-Balah, including journalist

Our live coverage of Israel's war on Gaza has come to an end today and will be back tomorrow at 09:00 GMT.

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths labelled the deaths of four Palestinian Red Crescent Society members as "devastating".

In a statement on X, Griffiths stated that "The rules of war are clear: Parties must protect civilians, including humanitarian workers."

"These rules must be upheld. The fighting must end," he added.

Such devastating news. We mourn the loss of these brave colleagues.

The rules of war are clear: Parties must protect civilians, including humanitarian workers.

These rules must be upheld.

The fighting must end. https://t.co/MLtZSFHJBb

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) January 11, 2024

Columbia has expressed support for South Africa's ICJ case alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

In a press release the Colombian Foreign Ministry called the case "a brave step in the right direction". 

It added that "it is very clear that the actions and measures adopted by the government of Israel constitute acts of genocide".

Israeli forces are conducting raids across the occupied West Bank according to Al Jazeera, with raids reported in Jericho, Qalqilya and el-Bireh.

In addition, numerous other towns and villages are also the site of Israeli raids.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clarified that "Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its population" as pressure mounts from an International Court of Justice case against Israel over a genocide case filed by South Africa.

His statement also comes following continue calls by far-right members of his party including Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir to displace Palestinians from Gaza, reoccupy the territory and rebuild settlements.

The Houthi spokesman in Yemen, Mohammed Abdul Salam said on Thursday the UN resolution on navigation on the Red Sea is a "political game."

The spokesman said the US is the one violating international law.

(Reuters)

The Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has condemned the killing of four PRCS members and two injured persons by the Israeli military, saying he was "appalled" at the incident.

"Violence and attacks on health and civilians must end" he added. 

Appalled by @PalestineRCS reports of the killing of four staff members and two patients in an attack on an ambulance in #Gaza.

Violence and attacks on health and civilians must end. #CeasefireNow https://t.co/Z5SWGLqimZ

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 10, 2024

The United Nations Security Council demanded on Wednesday an immediate end to attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.

The resolution passed "demands that the Houthis immediately cease all such attacks, which impede global commerce and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security."

It passed after Russia, as well as China, Mozambique and Algeria abstained.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the Biden administration to "act immediately and decisively to promote the conditions for safe and unrestricted reporting on the hostilities in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon". 

CPJ noted in its statement how "more journalists have been killed in the first 10 weeks of the hostilities than have ever been killed in a single country over an entire year," adding that "we believe your administration can and must do more to effectively pursue accountability for journalists killed in the hostilities."

The statement, which was posted on X, formerly Twitter, was signed by a number of organisations alongside the CPJ including Human Rights Watch, Freedom House and Reporters without Borders. 

Today, CPJ, @freedomhouse, @freedomofpress, @hrw, @knightcolumbia, and @RSF_en call on U.S. President @JoeBiden to act immediately and decisively to promote the conditions for safe and unrestricted reporting on the hostilities in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon.

The Israel-Gaza… pic.twitter.com/3QOVIg9Zv5

— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) January 10, 2024

Israel's army chief said Wednesday that his troops could destroy any village inside Lebanon, ramping up rhetoric Hezbollah as clashes, which have been ongoing since 8 October, between the two continue.

Israel's chief of staff Herzi Halevi told a gathering of soldiers in Gaza that their actions in the besieged Palestinian territory had convinced him that they could take the fight into Lebanese territory if needed.

"We've fought in Gaza, so we know how to do it in Lebanon if we have to," he said, according to a statement from the Israeli army.

"After what you did [in Gaza] there is not a village in Lebanon that you cannot enter and destroy."

Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly discussed developments in the Red Sea with officials from shipping group Maersk in a video conference and ways to enhance cooperation, a statement from the Egyptian cabinet said on Wednesday.

Madbouly stressed the centrality of the security and safety of maritime navigation in the Red Sea to Egypt's national security in light of its close connection to the Suez Canal, which is used by roughly one-third of global container ship cargo, the statement added.

The meeting touched on the threat the Houthis pose to the security of maritime navigation in the Red Sea and Maersk's aspirations to resume its sea voyages there, the statement said.

Maersk is diverting all container vessels from Red Sea routes around Africa's Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future due to the instability in the Red Sea, warning customers to prepare for significant disruption.

(Reuters)

Defence systems shot down an armed drone on Wednesday over Erbil airport in northern Iraq where US and other international forces are stationed, two security sources said.

It was not clear if there were casualties or damage to infrastructure as a result to the attack, said the sources.

(Reuters)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was committed to reforming the Palestinian Authority in a way that could "reunite" Gaza and the occupied West Bank under its leadership.

Blinken was speaking to reporters in Bahrain after meeting with Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah during a tour of the Middle East aimed at preventing a regional escalation of the war in Gaza.

"We talked... about the importance of reforming the Palestinian Authority, policy and governance so that it can effectively take responsibility for Gaza... so that Gaza and the West Bank can be reunited under a Palestinian leadership," he said.

"It's very clear to me for president Abbas that he's prepared to move forward and engage in all of these efforts."

Blinken said Abbas was committed to reforming the Palestinian Authority.

"What I take away from this meeting is that he is committed to that and is very much prepared to move forward," Blinken told AFP in response to a question about Abbas's commitment to reforming the PA

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accused Israel targeting Palestinian civilians in a bid to "expand cycles of violence and fuel conflict".

"Israel is systematically carrying out acts of terrorism against civilians by carrying out raids, detentions, extrajudicial assassinations." the ministry said, adding that "there has been an increase in the severity of these acts in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem." 

The World Health Organization pleaded with Israel on Wednesday to allow the WHO and other UN agencies access to deliver aid within the Gaza Strip, branding the humanitarian situation "indescribable".

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said its teams have had to cancel six planned missions to northern Gaza since December 26 "because our requests were rejected and assurances of safe passage were not provided," while a mission planned for Wednesday was also called off.

"Delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza continues to face nearly insurmountable challenges," he told a press conference.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Wednesday that providing more aid to Palestinians in Gaza requires a "decisive stance" from the international community to push for a ceasefire, according to an Egyptian presidency statement.

Sisi met with Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian Red Sea city of Aqaba where the three leaders rejected what they said were any efforts or proposals aimed at "liquidating the Palestinian cause".

The killing of journalist Ahmad Bdeir on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike raises the total number of journalists killed since October 7 to 115, the Gaza government's media office has said.

Red Sea attacks have been aided and abetted by Iran, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

The US has "made clear to Iran that support they are providing Houthis needs to stop," he added.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Wednesday one its ambulances was hit by the Israeli army along the main Salah al-Din Road in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of four of its members.

🚨Four members of the Palestine Red Crescent ambulance crews 🚑martyred due to the targeting by the occupation of an ambulance vehicle on Salah al-Din Street at the entrance of Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip.#NotATarget ❌#IHl#Gaza

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) January 10, 2024

The World Health Organization said that a mission led by it to deliver medical aid to Gaza planned for Wednesday was cancelled over security concerns.

Israeli lawmaker and minister in the war cabinet Benny Gantz warned that Israel would take action in southern Lebanon just as it is in northern Gaza if Hezbollah's attacks continue.

Hezbollah responded to airstrikes on Wednesday, firing several missiles into northern Israel.

Dozens of people have been reported killed and wounded in the Israeli airstrike near a hospital in the central Gaza Strip, including journalist Ahmad Bdeir, Alaraby TV reported.

The strike targeted a building outside the Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah.

ارتقاء الصحفي أحمد بدير في قصـ،ـف الاحتلال الصهيـ.وني مبنى أمام مشفى الأقصى بدير البلح وسط القطاع. pic.twitter.com/uLHc2V4dhd

— ق.ض (@Jales_tinian2) January 10, 2024

Ami Ayalon, the former chief of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency, has demanded the release of Israeli captives in exchange for all Palestinian prisoners.

Ayalon was quoted by Israeli news publication Haaretz who said that Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah leader currently facing imprisonment, is the only political figure who is able to lead the Palestinians postwar. 

The Red Crescent has issued a report that said 12 Palestinians have been wounded following Israeli forces raiding Nablus in the occupied West Bank, as well as besieging The Old City.

At least 10 people have been reportedly wounded that included two 16 year old teens who were shot in their lower extremities- while an elderly woman also suffered a panic attack and received treatment.

Five people were also arrested by Israeli forces amid their raid.

Scenes of the large scale Israeli military operation in Nablus city. 10.1.24

قوات الاحتلال تواصل اقتحام مدينة نابلس pic.twitter.com/vSVz3sRdN2

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) January 10, 2024

Germany strongly condemns the latest attacks on vessels by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in the Red Sea, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The attacks "show that the Houthis are clearly focussing on escalation against international merchant shipping and the ships of our partners and allies in the region," added the spokesperson. 

 British defence minister Grant Shapps said on Wednesday the Royal Navy warship HMS Diamond was potentially targeted in an attack by Yemen-based Houthi militants in the Red Sea, which was repelled by US and British forces on Tuesday.

"My understanding is that both the ship itself potentially was targeted ... but also that there's a generalised attack on all shipping (in the region)," Shapps told reporters.

US State of State Antony Blinken and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed US efforts to address extremist violence in the West Bank and minimize civilian harm in Gaza in their meeting on Wednesday, the State Department said.

The two officials also discussed "administrative reforms, which, if implemented, would benefit the Palestinian people," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement. 

Yemen's Houthis attacked a U.S. ship "providing support" to Israel with a large number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech on Wednesday.

He did not say what damage, if any, the vessel had suffered.

The operation was a "preliminary response" to a previous U.S. attack that killed 10 Houthi militants, he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday that Gaza is integral to Palestinian statehood hopes and should not be cut off as a result of "Israel's war with Hamas," an official statement said.

The statement, published by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, further quoted Abbas as saying that Palestinians must not be displaced from Gaza or the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where he wields limited governance.

Abbas further called for the "convening an international peace conference to end the Israeli occupation of the land of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, which achieves peace and security for all," according to WAFA.

Gaza's health ministry said Wednesday that a total of 300 medical staff had been killed in the enclave by Israel's bombardment since October 7.

A Palestinian child was killed in Israeli bombardment on the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip, Alaraby TV reported.

Casualties were reported in an Israeli airstrike on a building facing the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, Alaraby TV reported.

It was not immediately clear how many dead and wounded there were.

Israel conducted a number of airstrikes around the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh on Wednesday.

Videos of the strikes were shared on social media. The attacks were reportedly felt miles away.

It was not clear if there were any casualties.

غارات جويّة على اللّبونة ارتجّت لها مدينة صور.. pic.twitter.com/RlxLTcN95L

— حسن الدّر (@HasanDorr) January 10, 2024

In talks with  Abbas in the occupied West Bank, Blinken mentioned "increased volatility" in the territory, where hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in raids by the Israeli military or attacks by extremist Jewish settlers in recent months.

As part of efforts to stabilise the territory, Blinken called on Israel to hand over revenues owed to the Palestinians in full.

Blinken "underscored the United States' position that all Palestinian tax revenues collected by Israel should be consistently conveyed to the Palestinian Authority in accordance with prior agreements," Miller said.

Israel has for years withheld part of the funds, over issues including payments to Palestinian prisoners and more recently the Gaza war.

US top diplomat Antony Blinken told Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday that Washington supports "tangible steps" towards the creation of a Palestinian state.

Blinken reiterated Washington's longstanding position that a Palestinian state must stand alongside Israel, "with both living in peace and security," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

The Israeli military said 17 officers and soldiers from its ranks had been wounded in battle in 'the past few hours' in Gaza.

A total of 23,357 Palestinians have been killed and 59,410 have been injured in Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

Some 147 Palestinians were killed and 243 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

Yemen's Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping must be stopped without triggering a new war, the Italian defence minister said on Wednesday, as the Iranian-backed group steps up attacks on commercial vessels.

"It is a huge problem, it is a consequence of other (war) outbreaks. I would not like to open a third front of war at this time," Guido Crosetto told Reuters, in a reference to current conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

Crosetto said parliament would need to approve Italian naval involvement in Operation Prosperity Guardian, complicating any eventual adherence.

"There is a thing called Constitution, and there are laws for which a new international mission needs parliamentary approval, needs separate funding," Crosetto said.

"If we decide to do so (join Prosperity Guardian), it will be a decision that goes through a cabinet meeting, reaches parliament and is voted on by the (two) chambers."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make a surprise visit to Bahrain as part of a Middle East tour, AFP reported on Wednesday, citing a US official.

Palestinians protested in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah - seat of the Palestinian Authority - ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit.

Blinken met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

تغطية صحفية: هتافات المشاركين في تظاهرة برام الله؛ رفضاً لزيارة وزير الخارجية الأمريكي: "يا بلينكن برا برا". pic.twitter.com/GQMEYLwHhr

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) January 10, 2024

Hamas on Wednesday expressed its complete rejection of statements made by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken regarding Palestinian fighters hiding among civilians in Gaza, calling it "misleading."

"We consider that Blinken’s attempts to justify the genocide committed by the [Israeli] terrorist occupation army against civilians are miserable attempts to wash the hands of the criminal occupation of the blood of children, women and elders of Gaza," Hamas said in a statement.

It added that Blinken’s statements reflected the extent of US involvement in Israel’s war crimes and violations.

The Israeli military said it targeted sites in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, including Hezbollah infrastructure in the border town of Kfarshuba.

Hezbollah on Wednesday announced the death of another one of its fighters.

23,210 people have been killed and more than 59,000 injured in Gaza from Israel's bombardment since October 7 last year, Gaza's health ministry has announced.

Further deaths were reported on Wednesday, as Israeli strikes and artillery killed dozens in Rafah.