Gaza: Nearly 300 Palestinians killed in 24hrs, death toll rises to 18,000

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Israeli forces have stormed into the Sateh Marhaba neighbourhood of the city of al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank, as local Palestinian media have reported forces firing live ammunition and tear gas.

According to news agency Wafa, Israeli forces were reported to have entered multiple buildings in the area.

However, there have been no immediate reports on arrests or casualties.

Israeli forces have also raided the village of Shuqba, to the west of Ramallah, which was first reported and verified by news publication Al Jazeera. 

عاجل| قوات الاحتلال تقتحم بلدة دير أبو مشعل شمال غرب رام الله. pic.twitter.com/HEEIRQOq9H

— وكالة سند للأنباء - Snd News Agency (@Snd_pal) December 10, 2023

The official X account of Israel’s Prime Minister has released images illustrating the wife of Benjamin Netanyahu, Sara Netanyahu, meeting with released Israeli soldier Ori Megidish.

Megidish was rescued by an Israeli army operation in October.

Palestinian organisations, activists and influencers have called on others to join a global strike on Monday in order to press on their governments in demanding for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The strike was set up by the National and Islamic Forces, a coalition of Palestinian factions and Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

The group says that it aims to gather global support by participating in a strike that would halt “all aspects of public life” for a day as Israeli attacks on the besieged Palestinian territory ensue.

“We expect the entire globe to join the strike, which comes in the context of a broad international movement involving influential figures. This movement stands against the open genocide in Gaza, the ethnic cleansing and the colonial settlement in the West Bank,” said a statement released by the coalition.

“The strike also opposes attempts to undermine the just national cause of the Palestinian people."

We are joining the call for a global strike to put an end to Israel’s genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza.

Tomorrow, join this global call to strike: no work, no school, no shopping.#StrikeForGaza #CeasfireNow #StopTheGenocide pic.twitter.com/nP6351AmFJ

— Visualizing Palestine (@visualizingpal) December 10, 2023

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has announced that 133 of its employees have been killed in the Israel's ferocious and indiscriminate attack on the Gaza Strip.

UNRWA added that most of its employees who lost their lives in Israel's attacks were killed alongside their families.

The agency said that "Our employees in Gaza take their children to work to ensure their safety, or they might die together," in a statement  on X.

To read the full story, please click here.

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly is likely to vote Tuesday on a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, diplomats told news agency Reuters on Sunday.

The move comes after the US vetoed on Friday a UN Security Council demand for immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

The General Assembly in October adopted a resolution - 121 votes in favor, 14 against and 44 abstentions - calling for "an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities."

US senator Bernie Sanders has said that the US should not have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Hamas-held hostages.

In a post on X, the senator from the state of Vermont wrote, "The children in Gaza need food, water, and medical supplies. We must do everything possible to make that happen NOW."

At a time when Palestinians in Gaza are facing horrific conditions, the U.S. should not be vetoing a UN resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages. The children in Gaza need food, water, and medical supplies. We must do everything possible to… https://t.co/hGTKbN1X43

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 10, 2023

Palestinian media outlets have reported an update on an Israeli attack at Al-Maghazi camp, located in central Gaza, following a building had been targeted.

According to local media, the Palestinian death toll has risen to 22.

#BREAKING:---Just in---
The IOF targeted displaced Gazans at a UNRWA school in Jabalia refugee camp in northern #Gaza.

In Al-Maghazi camp in central #Gaza, an IOF airstrike on the Al-Madfa' home led to 22 martyrs, and a strike in Nusseirat camp led to five martyrs.… pic.twitter.com/5O2IU6lObz

— EUROPE CENTRAL (@Ddhirajk) December 10, 2023

 Syria's air defence intercepted Israeli rockets fired at the surroundings of the capital Damascus, Syrian state media said on Sunday.

The Biden administration has filed a motion in federal court to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges that his adminstration have failed to stop the war on Gaza- which called the atrocity against Gazans a 'genocide'.

On Friday, day prior to the 75th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations' Genocide Convention, the Biden administration's filing was submitted.

The motion stated that the suit should be dismissed due to the administration's stance that the it would override the government's foreign policy decisions of the US government- adding that such would be "in violation of the constitutional separation of powers".

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians, as Israeli tanks fought their way into the main city of the southern Gaza Strip.

Two days after the United States vetoed a proposed United Nations demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, Blinken said Israel needs to put "a premium" on protecting Gaza civilians and making sure humanitarian assistance can reach those who need it.

"The critical thing is to make sure that the military operations are designed around civilian protection," Blinken told CNN's State of the Union programme.

"I think the intent is there. But the results are not always manifesting themselves," he said.

Among the steps that Blinken said the United States is "not seeing sufficiently" are "deconfliction times, places and routes" that would allow humanitarian operations to deliver aid and help civilians to get out of harm's way.

In northern Gaza, local Palestinian media outlets have reported that a Jabalia refugee camp UN school that currently holds displaced people have been targeted by Israeli forces.

BREAKING | The IOF target displaced people inside a UNRWA school in Jabalia camp, north of the Gaza Strip. #GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/kS95uj9fFK

— Daniella Modos - Cutter -SEN (@DmodosCutter) December 10, 2023

The Commission for Prisoners' and Ex-Prisoners' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club have said that 142 Gazan women and girls from Gaza are under detention in Israeli prisons.

The two groups say that the female detainees include infant girls and elderly women, who were arrested during when Israel first began conducting a ground invasion of Gaza.

The female prisoners are being held in several prisons such as Damon and Hasharon prisons, according a new statement issued.

The groups added the Israeli authorities are not disclosing any figures- nor have they verified the state, location or medical state of women and children being held.

Pro-Palestinian protesters have held a march in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. 

Demonstrators were seen in various video clips and photos across social media carrying Palestinian flags and donning Palestinian kuffiyehs in solidarity with Gaza.

People took to the streets of central Copenhagen, where in additional footage, participants had also been rallying in front of the Danish parliament.

Massive protest in Copenhagen, Denmark, in support of Gaza and Palestine. Credit: The European Palestinian Media Center pic.twitter.com/WtRf5dvDUD

— Muslim Lives Matter (@MuslimLivesMtrs) December 10, 2023

Lebanese news outlet LBCI has announced that the state will hold a general strike of all public offices, primary and secondary schools- as well as public and private higher education institutes.

From December 11 on Monday, Lebanon will show its support of "the global call for Gaza".

اقفال الإدارات والمؤسسات العامة والبلديات والمدارس والثانويات والمعاهد الفنية الرسمية والخاصة ومؤسسات التعليم العالي الرسمية والخاصة يوم غد الاثنين 11-12-2023 تجاوباً مع الدعوة العالمية من أجل غزة

— LBCI Lebanon News (@LBCI_NEWS) December 10, 2023

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday called on Hamas to "surrender now," saying the Palestinian group's end was near, as more than two months of war in the besieged Gaza Strip continued.

"The war is still ongoing but it is the beginning of the end of Hamas. I say to [Hamas]: It's over. Don't die for (Yahya) Sinwar. Surrender now," Netanyahu said in a statement, referring to the chief of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Lynn Hastings, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, has issued a statement condemning Israel's relentless attacks in Gaza- as Sunday marks International Human Rights Day.

Hastings emphasised that the event "could have been a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

Amid ongoing hostilities, she added that instead "human rights are assaulted in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory."

Hastings denounced allegations of sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas members and other armed groups, and calling for the release of hostages.

The UN coordinator highlighted that across the besieged Gaza Strip "the response from Israel has been disproportionate"- while Hastings pointed out the continued "Israeli state and settler violence" additionally impacting occupied West Bank.

"A ceasefire- the terms of which must be consulted with humanitarians and human rights defenders- is needed," she said.

"In 2023, I should not have to issue such a statement. It is as if we have learned nothing in the past 75 years."

The Red Crescent says that the area is in the heart of Jabalia camp, where its emergency teams and medics are operating a medical post.

“The team consists of nine doctors, nurses, and volunteers. The surrounding area is currently under bombardment, posing a constant threat to the lives of medical teams and the wounded,” the Red Crescent said.

🚨IOF has invaded the area near the UNRWA clinic in the midest of the Jabalia camp, where the PRCS EMS teams 🚑operate an advanced medical post. The team consists of 9 doctors, nurses, and volunteers. The surrounding area is currently under bombardment, posing a constant threat… pic.twitter.com/JcFpL1IRRS

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 10, 2023

The World Health Organization's executive board on Sunday adopted a resolution by consensus for combatting the worsening health situation in the Gaza Strip.

After the UN Security Council declined to demand a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group, the 34 countries on the WHO's executive board adopted by consensus a resolution calling for the "immediate, sustained and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief" into Gaza.

Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman says about 18,000 Palestinians have been killed and 49,500 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7.

Ashraf al-Qudra told Al Jazeera in a telephone interview that the death toll included 297 people killed and more than 550 wounded in the past 24 hours.

In the opening ceremony of the Doha Forum, the Qatari prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman says that this can be done “when there is good will and wise political leadership”.

“This is the basis of Qatar’s belief in the importance of mediation in resolving conflicts and its efforts to achieve this, including ongoing efforts to with our regional and international partners for a ceasefire in Gaza."

HE @MBA_AlThani_ Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Opening Ceremony of the Twenty-First Edition of the Doha Forum: One might say that this is not the right time to talk about a shared future for the entire world, in light of the vast difference of attitudes… pic.twitter.com/iIOtOJKeG7

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) December 10, 2023

In a pre-recorded message, the spokesman for Hamas’s Al Qassam Brigades has said that Israeli captives will not be released by military force.

“We tell Israelis that Netanyahu, Gallant and others in the war cabinet cannot bring back their captives without negotiations. The latest killing of a captive that they tried to take back by force proves that.”

The spokesman for the group’s armed wing was referring to an Israeli man held captive, whom Israeli special forces in the Gaza Strip tried to rescue. Al Qassam, Abu Obaida said, repelled their attempt, inflicting several military casualties, and that the captive also died in the incident.

You can read more about Israel's failed attempt here:

UNRWA’s commissioner general writes in Gaza, “humanitarian aid has been made conditional. Humanitarian assistance is withheld or delivered according to political and military agendas to which the United Nations is not privy”.

Philippe Lazzarini, who heads the UN agency providing relief to Palestinian refugees, wrote in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times, “food, water and fuel are being systematically used as weapons of war in Gaza, as is disinformation.

“Attacking and trying to discredit humanitarian organisations such as [UNRWA] is yet another means of waging war and compromising the humanitarian response, further weakening the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he said.

Lazzarini added “humanitarian aid is a strategic dimension of foreign policy and diplomatic competition – an instrument of power and war.  In Gaza, humanitarian assistance is being manipulated to serve political and military objectives, another breach among many in this war."

"Food, water and fuel are being systematically used as weapons of war in📍#Gaza, as is disinformation."@UNLazzarini @latimes: Humanitarian assistance is being manipulated to serve political and military objectives - another breach among many in this war.https://t.co/YQZpgYcwNB

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 10, 2023

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Sunday it is "imperative" that Israeli military operations in Gaza protect Palestinian civilians, adding that the fighting should be followed by a durable peace leading to a Palestinian state. 

President Vladimir Putin says Russia is ready to give all possible assistance to alleviate the suffering of Gaza’s civilians and help de-escalate the conflict.

Moscow says an international monitoring mission should go to Gaza to monitor the humanitarian situation.

“Vladimir Putin reaffirmed the principle position of rejecting and condemning terrorism in all its forms,” the Kremlin said in a statement. “At the same time, it is extremely important that countering terrorist threats does not lead to such grave consequences for the civilian population.”

Russia backed a UN Security Council resolution for a Gaza ceasefire that was vetoed by the United States on Friday.

Israel has been accused of staging a video purporting to show the surrender of Hamas fighters.

The footage shows dozens of men, deemed to be Hamas fighters by Israeli media, stripped to their underwear after their arrest in the Jabalia refugee camp. One man is seen walking towards a soldier and handing over a rifle and a handgun. The man holds a rifle with his left hand.

However, Al Jazeera’s has identified a second take of the same video with the man now holding the rifle with his right hand.

The moment the Palestinian arrives at the place where the weapon was dropped, the first video, from Channel 12, shows the Palestinian putting his weapon on the ground without looking left or right and returning to the place of detention.

In the second video, published by Yedioth Ahronoth, the Palestinian arrives at the same place where the weapons were handed over and he looks where the soldiers are and talks to them.

תיעוד מרצועת עזה: עשרות מחבלי חמאס נכנעים בג'באליה pic.twitter.com/p7vnr0SV1C

— החדשות - N12 (@N12News) December 9, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday and voiced displeasure with "anti-Israel positions" taken by Moscow's envoys at the United Nations, an Israeli statement said.

Russia backed a U.N. Security Council resolution for a Gaza truce, which was vetoed by the United States on Friday. Speaking to Putin, Netanyahu also voiced "robust disapproval" of Russia's "dangerous" cooperation with Iran, the Israeli statement said.

Lebanon's Hezbollah said it had launched explosive drones at an Israeli command position on Sunday and Israeli air strikes hit south Lebanon, as violence prompted by the war in Gaza rumbled on across the Israeli-Lebanese frontier.

The Israeli army said "suspicious aerial targets" had crossed from Lebanon and two were intercepted. Two Israeli soldiers were moderately wounded and a number of others lightly injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation, it said.

Israeli fighter jets carried out "an extensive series of strikes on Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanese territory", it said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in Lebanon.

Hezbollah said it had used the explosive drones to attack an Israeli command position near Ya'ara in Israel at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT).

Sirens had sounded in Israel at several locations at the border.

In Beirut, residents saw what appeared to be two warplanes streaking across a clear blue sky, leaving vapour trails behind them.

Declaring its actions were in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has been carrying out frequent attacks. It announced 10 on Saturday.

In an attack at a different location at the border at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) on Sunday, Hezbollah said its fighters had achieved a direct hit on an Israeli position using "appropriate weapons".

Israeli air strikes pounded the outskirts of the village of Yaroun in Lebanon - not far from the location of that attack -according to the Lebanese National News Agency and a witness in the area.

The air strikes broke windows of houses, shops and a school in the nearby village of Rmeich, Toni Elias, a priest in Rmeich, told Reuters by phone.

An Israeli government spokesperson rejected as "outrageous and false" on Sunday an allegation by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi that Israel was implementing a systematic policy of pushing Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip during the war there

Israeli PM Netanyahu has thanked the US president for providing Israel with “important ammunition” for the continuation of the war in Gaza at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu thanked Biden for the military aid and the US veto for the UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.

The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has accused Israel of laying the groundwork for the mass expulsion of Gazans across the territory's border into Egypt.

More than two months of Israel's war on Gaza has displaced most of Gaza's population, but Palestinians are largely barred from leaving the narrow besieged territory.

In an opinion piece published on Saturday in the Los Angeles Times, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini pointed to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the increasing concentration near the border of displaced civilians who fled the fighting, first in the north and then further south.

"The United Nations and several member states, including the US, have firmly rejected forcibly displacing Gazans out of the Gaza Strip," Lazzarini said.

"But the developments we are witnessing point to attempts to move Palestinians into Egypt, regardless of whether they stay there o rare resettled elsewhere."

Read the full report here.

There is a growing sense of frustration prevailing among the leadership of the Israeli army towards Benjamin Netanyahu, due to the Israeli prime minister's failure to define the objectives of the war Israel is waging on the Gaza Strip, an analysis in Haaretz said on Friday.

The article claims that Herzi Halevi, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army, demanded Netanyahu’s emergency cabinet clearly define the objectives of the war on Gaza before the ground invasion. However, Halevi did not receive a response at the time.

With the Israeli army just over a month into the ground invasion, Halevi is still waiting for the objectives of the war to be clearly defined, according to the article, which added that Israeli forces are operating in Gaza without concrete aims and goals.

The article, written by the newspaper’s military and defence analyst Amos Harel, suggests that the lack of war aims is due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only caring about trying to secure his political future and preparing for the upcoming elections.

Read the full article here.

Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, on Sunday said that Israel was implementing a policy of pushing Palestinians out of Gaza through a war that he said meets the "legal definition of genocide".

Safadi, whose country borders the West Bank and absorbed the bulk of Palestinians after the creation of Israel in 1948, also said that Israel had created hatred that would haunt the region and define generations to come.

"What we are seeing in Gaza is not just simply the killing of innocent people and the destruction of their livelihoods (by Israel) but a systematic effort to empty Gaza of its people," Safadi said at a conference in Doha.

"We have not seen the world yet come to the place we should come to ... an unequivocal demand for ending this war; a war that is within the legal definition of genocide."

The extent of destruction and indiscriminate bombing of thousands of civilians belies Israel's avowed goal of seeking to wipe out Hamas, Safadi added.

Safadi also said that major differences had surfaced in talks between a delegation of Arab ministers and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington last Friday over the U.S. administration's military support for Israel and its refusal to call for a ceasefire.

The Palestinian FM says the rights enshrined in the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights, which today marks its 75th anniversary, have never been extended to the Palestinians.

“The rights of the Palestinian people have been violated for 75 years, foremost among them the right to life,” said a post by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, attributed to FM Riyad al-Maliki, on X.

The UN’s Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on December 10, 1948, sets out basic rights and freedoms, including the right to life and freedom of movement, of all individuals, regardless of “nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status”.

Marking the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dr.Malki: The rights of the Palestinian people have been violated for 75 years, foremost among them the right to life.#Gaza_Under_Attack#CeaseFireNow#Palestine#IsraeliWarCrimes pic.twitter.com/W3blK8TJkB

— State of Palestine - MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) December 10, 2023

Israeli jets have targeted areas around towns in southern Lebanon, including near Yaroun, Rmeish and Aita al-Shaab.

The attacks on Sunday morning come after Lebanese group Hezbollah said it had carried out 10 operations against Israeli sites close to Lebanon’s southern border yesterday.

الغارات في يارون pic.twitter.com/aoYalOpMPn

— ﮼محَمَّد،فَرحَاتْ (@mhamadfarhat) December 10, 2023

Isralei Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed on Sunday international calls to end the Gaza war, describing them as inconsistent with supporting the war-aim of "eliminating Hamas".

Briefing his cabinet, Netanyahu said he had told the leaders of France, Germany and other countries: "You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas and on other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas".

Israel war on Gaza is having a catastrophic impact on health in the Palestinian enclave, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday.

"The impact of the conflict on health is catastrophic" and health workers are doing an impossible job in unimaginable conditions, the UN health agency's director-general told the opening of a WHO executive board special session called to discuss the health conditions in the Palestinian territories.

Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire and free more hostages held by Hamas despite ongoing Israeli bombardment that is "narrowing the window" for a successful outcome, Qatar's prime minister said Sunday.

"Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum, adding that "the continuation of the bombardment is just narrowing this window for us".

Qatar was a key mediator in negotiations that resulted in a seven-day truce, which saw scores of Israeli hostages exchanged for Palestinians prisoners and humanitarian aid, until it ended at the start of the month.

"We are going to continue, we are committed to have hostages released, but we are also committed to stop the war," Qatar's prime minister said.

But, he added, "we are not seeing the same willingness from both parties".

Speaking at the Doha Forum, Qatar’s PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said the situation in Gaza was making people around the world ask “some legitimate questions about the nature of the international systems and the efficiency of the legal instruments and its principles”.

“These questions become more important and more pressing as we continue to see the horrifying scenes that we might sometimes have to look away from,” he said.

He added that it was important to stand up to those “who want to reformulate the conflict in the form of a religious war”.

“This conflict was and still is an issue of the occupation and its demands. Over the decades, the option of peace was on the table, but it was the victim of procrastination and formation."

The latest images from the Gaza Strip show thick smoke in the sky from different parts of the besieged enclave.

Overnight Israeli attacks killed dozens in central Gaza, according to reports by Wafa.

An Israeli air strike hit a house earlier today, killing at least 10 Palestinians and injuring dozens more, Wafa news agency reported quoting medical sources.

An unconfirmed number of people remain missing under the rubble in the west of Khan Younis.

The city, now hosting tens of thousands of Palestinians displaced by fighting in northern Gaza, has endured relentless shelling from the Israeli military.