Gaza war: Israel strikes kill over 175 Palestinians as onslaught resumes

Mediator Qatar's foreign ministry said negotiations were still ongoing with Israelis and Palestinians to restore the truce in the Gaza war, which collapsed overnight.
20 min read
01 December, 2023

Gaza truce negotiations continue despite fighting resuming on Friday morning after a weeklong pause in hostilities.

Mediator Qatar's foreign ministry said discussions were still ongoing with Israelis and Palestinians to restore the truce, which collapsed overnight.

In a statement, the ministry said that Israeli bombardment of Gaza was complicating its mediation efforts.

Palestinian sources told The New Arab's Arabic sister service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that there had been serious negotiations sponsored by Qatar and Egypt before the renewed hostilities. However, the source said, Israel wanted its demands met without giving anything in exchange, disrupting the extension of the truce for a further day.

Israel has announced a resumption of combat in Gaza, carrying out a series of airstrikes across the Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli military accused Hamas of violating the "operational pause", and "in addition, firing toward Israeli territory".

A spokesperson for Gaza's health ministry said over 150 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in the hours since the temporary truce expired.

A source close to Hamas told AFP that the group's armed wing had received "the order to resume combat" and to "defend the Gaza Strip," with heavy fighting reported in parts of Gaza City.

The fighting restarted shortly after Israel's military alleged it had intercepted a rocket fired from Gaza.

Sirens warning of potential missile fire sounded around several communities near Gaza in the hour after the hostilities resumed, and Israeli authorities said they were restarting security measures in the area including closing schools.

(AFPReuters, The New Arab)

Featured images: Getty

US: Protester draped in Palestinian flag sets self on fire
11:37 PM
The New Arab Staff

A protester was in critical condition after setting themselves on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Atlanta, authorities said. A security guard who tried to intervene was also injured.

Palestinian flag found at the scene was part of the protest, according to police. Investigators did not believe there was any connection to terrorism and none of the consular staff was ever in danger.

"We do not see any threat here," Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said. "We believe it was an act of extreme political protest that occurred."

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Israel launches air attack on vicinity of Damascus
11:19 PM
The New Arab Staff

The attack is the latest on Syria by Israel, which has targeted airports, warehouses and other facilities it believes to be linked to Iran, Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups.

 

UN's Griffiths renews call for ceasefire
10:52 PM
The New Arab Staff

 

UN's under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator on Gaza, Martin Griffiths, has called for an immediate end to the war on Gaza in a statement late on Friday.

"Almost two months into the fighting, the children, women and men of Gaza are all terrified. They have nowhere safe to go and very little to survive on. They live surrounded by disease, destruction and death," Griffiths said.

"This is unacceptable. We need to maintain – and build on – the progress in aid delivery. We need civilians and the life-sustaining infrastructure they rely on to be protected. We need the remaining hostages to be released immediately and unconditionally," he said.

"We need a humanitarian ceasefire. We need the fighting to stop."

Martin Griffiths -- AFP
Martin Griffiths [Getty]

 

Israel says five Gaza captives confirmed dead
8:39 PM
The New Arab Staff

The Israeli army has confirmed the deaths of five captives held in Gaza, saying their families had been informed, and the body of one of them returned to Israel.

"In recent days, the [Israeli forces] and Israel police notified the families of the hostages Eliyahu Margalit, Maya Goren, Ronen Engel and Arye Zalmanovitz about their deaths," army spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

He also alleged that Israeli forces had brought back the body of a fifth person whom he identified as Ofir Tsarfati.

Separately the army alleged that Tsarfati's body was "located in recent days" in Gaza by Israeli forces and the Shin Bet internal security service and brought to Israel for burial, with the family informed of his death on Wednesday.

White House says it believes Israel will let aid into Gaza
8:30 PM
The New Arab Staff

The White House says it believes Israel will allow humanitarian aid trucks to enter Gaza.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, citing reports from Israel, said Israel had agreed to resume letting truck deliveries through at the urging of the United States.

But he said truck deliveries would likely be reduced to dozens a day rather than the hundreds of trucks that were getting into Gaza daily during a week-long pause in fighting that ended on Thursday.

Kirby said Gaza needs much more aid, but that the decision to resume aid deliveries, after stringent inspections, "looks like a good sign going forward".

Israel stops entry of aid from Rafah border crossing
8:03 PM
The New Arab Staff

Israeli forces have informed all organisations and entities operating at the Rafah border crossing that the entry of aid trucks from Egypt into Gaza was "prohibited, until further notice".

"This decision exacerbates the suffering of citizens and increases the challenges facing humanitarian and relief organizations in alleviating the hardships of citizens and displaced persons due to the ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip," the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on X.

Israel to expel UN aid coordinator for Palestine
6:55 PM
The New Arab Staff

Israel has formally requested the replacement of the United Nations' top humanitarian official for the Palestinian territories, marking an escalation in its relationship with the global body as the UN grapples with what is proving to be the deadliest humanitarian crisis in its history, three sources told Devex news site.

The Israeli government informed the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland earlier this month that it will not renew the visa for Lynn Hastings, the UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory when it expires this month.

Hastings has criticised Israel for its withholding of water, fuel, and food into Gaza, and the displacement of more than one million Palestinians in northern Gaza.

Palestinian health ministry urges protection of hospitals
6:40 PM
The New Arab Staff

The Palestinian health ministry has condemned Israel's targeting of the office of Dr. Ahmed Muhanna, the director of Al-Awda Hospital.

"We call on international institutions to immediately work on protecting hospitals and medical teams before further massacres are committed against them," Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, said.

Israel's renewed bombing has killed 178 Palestinians in Gaza
6:13 PM
The New Arab Staff

The death toll from Israel's renewed onslaught on Gaza has risen to 178, most of whom are women and children, the Palestinian health ministry confirmed in a statement on Telegram at 18:00 GMT.

At least 589 were wounded, the statement added.

Hamas 'only understands force': Yoav Gallant
5:31 PM
The New Arab Staff

The Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said that Hamas "only understands" force, and therefore Israel will continue to "act until all goals of the war in Gaza are achieved".

In a statement on X, Gallant said Israel's goals are "to dismantle Hamas, quash he group's military capabilities and return all hostages home."

Al-Qassam Brigades strike Tel Aviv: report
5:01 PM
The New Arab Staff

Hamas' armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, have claimed an attack on Israel’s biggest city of Tel Aviv, where air raid sirens have sounded today, Al-Jazeera reported.

UN concerned over Israel's increased arrest of Palestinians
4:35 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

A United Nations office said on Friday it was "seriously concerned" about a dramatic rise in Israel's arrest of Palestinians and called for an investigation into allegations of torture in Israeli custody.

Israel has arrested more than 3,000 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the start of the Gaza war in early October and a record high number were being held without charge or trial, said a statement by the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Within the span of two months, six Palestinian men have died in Israeli custody, the highest number of cases in such a short period in decades, it said.

"The massive rise in number of Palestinians arrested and detained, the number of reports of ill-treatment and humiliation suffered by those in custody, and the reported failure to adhere to basic due process raise serious questions about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law," the UN Human Rights Office said.

"All cases of deaths in custody and allegations of torture and other ill-treatment must be investigated and accountability ensured."

Israel President speaks with Qatar Emir at COP28
4:06 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke with and shook hands with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during the COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai, Herzog's office said on Friday.

Qatar, which helped mediate a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas that ended on Friday, does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

Herzog's office released a photograph of the two men shaking hands and said they had spoke.

Two killed in southern Lebanon by Israeli strikes
4:04 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Israeli bombardment killed two civilians in southern Lebanon Friday, official media said, just hours after a truce between Israel and Hamas that largely halted cross-border fire along the Lebanon-Israel frontier expired.

Lebanon's official National News Agency said that "two civilians" were killed in the town of Hula "after their house was targeted by enemy bombing", identifying them as Nasifa Mazraani and her son Mohammed. A local official and rescuers also confirmed the deaths to AFP.

Iran warns of 'consequences' as war in Gaza resumes
4:00 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Iran warned of "severe consequences" as the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas resumed on Friday after a seven-day truce expired.

"The continuation of the Washington and Tel Aviv war means a new genocide in Gaza and the West Bank," Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Friday in post on X, formerly Twitter.

"It appears that they do not think about the severe consequences of returning to war," he added.

Israel strikes target, kill journalists in Gaza
3:31 PM
The New Arab Staff

Israel's military campaign has gone on to kill several journalists since the truce between Hamas and Israel expired early on Friday.

Montaser al-Sawaf, a cameraperson for the Turkish Anadolu agency in Gaza, was killed in an Israeli air raid, the news agency reported.

Earlier on Friday, it was reported that Palestinian journalist Abdullah Darweesh was also killed in an Israeli air strike

Additionally, photojournalist Ala'a Sarraj was reportedly kidnapped from Salahiddin Street in the south of the territory, according to the Quds News Network.

The Gaza government media office said his killing brought the total number of journalists killed by Israeli attacks since October to at least 72.

In its most recent update, the Committee to Protect Journalists has put the number of journalists and media workers confirmed dead to 57.

Smotrich calls on Netanyahu to 'cut off' truce negotiations
3:24 PM
The New Arab Staff

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he met PM Netanyahu and and called him to "cut off" all talks with Hamas and truce negotiators.

In a series of tweets on X, the controversial politician who has a track record of making anti-Palestinian remarks in his career, welcomed “the return of the released hostages" but said "the idea of a truce has run its course".

"Agreeing to further halt [in fighting] would be a terrible mistake that only conveys weakness. We must sever all ties and negotiations with Hamas and the mediators and look at the enemy only through the sight of a gun," Smotrich added.

Hezbollah says it has targeted Israeli troops with weapons
2:59 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Lebanon's Hezbollah on Friday said in a statement that it had targeted Israeli soldiers "with appropriate weapons" at the Lebanon-Israeli border.

Israel 'knew about Hamas attack' for over a year: NYT report
2:37 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Israel's military was aware of Hamas' plan to launch an attack on Israel over a year before the devastating October 7, The New York Times reported on Friday.

It was the latest in a series of signs that top Israeli commanders either ignored or played down warnings that Hamas was plotting the attack, which was followed by a brutal military campaign by Israel which has killed close to 15,000 Palestinians.

The document, which was reviewed by the newspaper, did not specify when the attack might happen, but provided a blueprint that Hamas appears to have followed: an initial rocket barrage, efforts to knock out surveillance, and waves of gunmen crossing into Israel by land and air.

It was unclear how the document was obtained by Israel, but the article said that it had been translated — indicating it may have been in Arabic and directly intercepted from Hamas.

The document was seen by many Israeli military and intelligence officials, the report said, though it was unclear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or other top leaders had seen it.

Israel strikes 'over 200 targets' since truce expiry
2:14 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The Israeli army said that it has struck over 200 targets, after the end of a truce pausing fighting between it and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which expired at 7am local time (05:00 GMT).

The strikes have killed at least 109 people and wounded hundreds.

In a statement, the army said that its ground, air and naval forces struck targets in both the north and south of the Gaza Strip, including in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.

 

US to press for truce in Gaza, White House says
1:57 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The United States will continue to press for extending a truce in Gaza, the White House said Friday, as intense fighting erupted once again in the Israel-Hamas war.

"We continue to work with Israel, Egypt, and Qatar on efforts to extend the humanitarian pause in Gaza," a National Security Council spokesperson said.

King Abdullah says Gaza war worsens climate change threats
1:24 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Jordan's king said on Friday that war was making the threats from climate change even worse in the Gaza Strip, as Israel began its bombardment of the territory following the expiry of the truce.

King Abdullah II told the UN's COP28 climate talks in Dubai that "we cannot talk about climate change in isolation from the humanitarian tragedies unfolding around us".

"In Gaza, over 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes. Tens of thousands have been injured or killed in a region already on the front lines of climate change," he told a gathering of world leaders.

"The massive destruction of war makes the environmental threats of water scarcity and food insecurity even more severe.

"In Gaza our people are living with little clean water and the bare minimum of food supplies, as climate threats magnify the devastation of war."

The Jordan king linked the war in Gaza with worsening climate change in his speech [Getty]
Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals receive new wave of wounded
1:09 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Within hours of the lapse of a week-old truce between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas which runs Gaza, the enclave's health ministry reported that over 60 people had already been killed in Israeli air strikes.

Reuters footage from Nasser Hospital, the second largest in the Gaza strip, showed a steady stream of wounded being brought in as other people wept outside beside bodies of loved ones killed in strikes.

A man could be seen cradling a boy with a bloodied scalp, and cried for help.

Another boy with a gash on his cheek and tears in his eyes lay under a blanket. A third, his face covered in blood, waited for treatment.

Hospitals in Gaza are becoming once again overwhelmed with the dead and wounded [Getty]
US embassy in Lebanon 'concerned' over Gaza war spillover
12:50 PM
The New Arab Staff

The US embassy in Lebanon has expressed concern about the "possibility of a further spillover" in the country, in reference to Israel's war in Gaza.

In a statement posted on X, the embassy said "it does not want to see conflict in Lebanon, where escalation would have great implications for regional peace and security for the well-being of the Lebanese people."

The embassy also emphasise that "restoring calm along the Lebanon-Israel border is of utmost importance, and fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution  1701 is a key component of this effort."

Israel army published map dividing Gaza into zones
12:19 PM
The New Arab Staff

The Israeli army has published an interactive map that divides the Gaza Strip into hundreds of small zones and called on residents of Gaza to follow instructions according to the area they are in, Haaretz reported.

The announcement claimed that the map divides "the territory of the Gaza Strip into regions and neighbourhoods as you know them, with the aim of helping you in the next stages of the war to find your way around and understand the instructions, and to evacuate from a specific place if required, for the purpose of maintaining your safety."

The announcement further claimed that the army is "conducting a controlled and precise evacuation of the Gaza population with the aim of moving them as much as possible from the war zone," and maintained that the residents of Gaza "are not our enemy," despite the indiscriminate bombing that has killed close to 15,000 Palestinians since the war began on October 7.

Israel says Hamas will 'take the mother of all thumpings'
12:10 PM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

An Israeli government spokesman said on Friday that the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas "will now take the mother of all thumpings" after a truce in the Gaza Strip expired and hostilities resumed.

"Unfortunately, Hamas decided to terminate the pause by failing to release all the kidnapped women," government spokesman Eylon Levy told a briefing.

"Having chosen to hold onto our women, Hamas will now take the mother of all thumpings."

Levy claimed the week-long deal could have been extended further, with the Israeli government already approving a list of Palestinian prisoners for release in order "to proceed with an exchange for at least another two days".

Hamas said the blame for failure to agree a truce extension lies with Israel which had "persistently" rejected offers of hostage releases.

Aid truck entry for Gaza stopped amid Israel strikes
11:57 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The entry of aid and fuel trucks for the Gaza Strip at Egypt's Rafah crossing halted on Friday, Egyptian security and aid sources said, as Israel resumed its military campaign in the territory following a week-long truce.

The quantity of aid delivered through the Rafah crossing had increased during the truce, though aid officials said it was still far less than what was needed.

Rafah has been the only entry point for humanitarian relief destined for Gaza, with deliveries beginning on October 21, two weeks after the start of the war.

Over 60 dead in Gaza as death toll rises amid truce expiry
11:49 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The Palestinian official radio reported that 60 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since a seven-day truce expired on Friday at 5:00 GMT (7:00AM local time).

 

Qatar MOFA: Truce negotiations are 'ongoing'
11:41 AM
The New Arab Staff

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qatar has confirmed that negotiations between Hamas and Israel are ongoing, with the aim of "returning to a pause," according to an official statement posted on X, on Friday.

It stressed that the State of Qatar is "committed, along with its mediation partners, to continuing the efforts that led to the humanitarian pause, and will not hesitate to do everything necessary to return to calm.

Additionally, the MOFA stressed that Israel's bombing of Gaza exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe in the territory, and reiterated its condemnation of the targeting of civilians.

France calls for truce resumption between Israel-Hamas
11:29 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

France on Friday said it regrets the end of a truce between Israel and Hamas militants, and called for its restoration.

"Rupture of the truce is very bad news, regrettable, because it brings no solution and complicates the resolution of all questions that arise," Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on the sidelines of the UN's COP28 climate talks in Dubai.

She called a truce resumption "essential".

France on Friday said it regrets the end of a truce between Israel and Hamas militants, and called for its restoration.

"We ask that the truce be resumed. It's necessary," Colonna said. "It's essential at the same to continue to free hostages who have now been for 55 days in extremely difficult conditions, to enable more humanitarian aid to arrive, and to be able to distribute it inside the Gaza Strip where the civilian population is suffering."

Catherine Colonna said the expiry of the Hamas-Israel truce was 'regrettable' [Getty]
Iran delegates walk out of COP28 summit over Israel presence
11:17 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Iranian delegates walked out of UN climate talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday in protest over the presence of Israeli representatives, state media reported.

The Iranian side considered Israel's presence at COP28 "as contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference and, in protest, it left the conference venue", said Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, who headed the Iranian delegation, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.

The move came only hours after a seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas expired and Israeli attacks hostilities resumed in Gaza, killing at least 54 Palestinians.

IRNA had said late Thursday that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi would not take part in the talks and Mehrabian would instead attend the summit.

Gaza: UN decries that 'killing of children would recommence'
10:05 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The UN decried on Friday the resumption of fighting in Gaza, saying "those in power have decided that the killing of children would recommence."

"Inaction, at is core, is an approval of the killing of children," James Elder, a spokesman for the United Nations children's agency UNICEF told reporters in Geneva via video-link from Gaza, adding "it is reckless to think more attacks on the people of Gaza will lead to anything other than carnage."

Kremlin says would have 'preferred' truce extension in Gaza
9:42 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday said that an extension of a week-long ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would have been more appropriate than Friday's resumption of fighting, given the scale of suffering in the territory, where at least 32 Palestinians have been killed.

The Kremlin also said that it was continuing efforts to free Russian nationals being held hostage by Hamas, in the Gaza Strip.

 

Palestine condemns resumption of Israeli war on Gaza
9:23 AM
The New Arab Staff

Palestine's foreign ministry says it "condemns the resumption of the #Israeli occupation's war on the Gaza Strip".

The ministry adds in a post on X that it "calls for urgent international intervention to immediately stop it".

Israel army publishes map it claims shows Gazans safe areas
9:19 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

The Israeli army says that with the resumption of fighting it has published a map to advise Gazans of safe areas for their evacuation.

Its statement links to an Israeli army website in Arabic showing an Evacuation Zone Map. It says an Arabic-language video has been released on social networks and the map was being distributed by the army in Gaza.

"This divides the territory of the Gaza Strip into areas according to recognisable areas to enable the residents of Gaza to orient themselves and understand the instructions, and to evacuate from specific places for their safety if required," the statement says.

Israel previously told Palestinians to evacuate north Gaza before the fighting in the enclave was temporarily paused. Despite the order, the army continued to bomb the south of the strip.

Gazans flee homes, dig through rubble as strikes resume
9:15 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Gazans were fleeing their homes and rushing their dead and wounded to hospitals after fresh Israeli strikes on Friday, as combat resumed between Israel and Hamas.

Smoke billowed over the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis following Israeli strikes, with deaths recorded in both places, according to hospital officials and AFP journalists at the scene.

In Khan Younis, a group of men chanted "God is greatest" as they rushed through the streets carrying a body wrapped in a white shroud.

Sitting on a bed at the city's Nasser Hospital, Amal Abu Dagga wept, her beige veil covered in blood.

"I don't even know what happened to my children," she said.

A relative, Jamil Abu Dagga, told AFP the family had been at home when the bombs started falling.

"My house was destroyed, so was my neighbour's," he said from the Nasser hospital, his head bandaged.

Another member of the family, Anas Abu Dagga, 22, said the "war has returned, even more fierce".

In Rafah, a young man rushed a badly wounded child out of a refugee camp hit by an explosion, while others could be seen pulling a motionless person from the rubble.

Marwan al-Hams, the director of Al-Najar hospital in Rafah, where many Palestinians fled after being told by Israel to leave the north of the territory, said strikes had killed at least nine people in the city, including four children.

In the north of the Gaza Strip, the fireball from a large explosion could be seen from across the border in the Israeli city of Sderot, and an AFPTV livecam broadcast rolling clouds of grey smoke and the sounds of automatic gunfire within the first 90 minutes of the truce expiring.

Speaking from an unnamed hospital in Gaza, UNICEF spokesman James Elder said in a video posted to social media platform X on Friday that a bomb had landed "literally 50 metres away".

"I cannot overstate how much the capacity of hospitals has been reduced," he said. "We cannot see more children with the wounds of war, with the burns, with the shrapnel littering their body, with the broken bones."

"This is a war on children," he added.

Qatar urges rapid international action to stop Gaza violence
9:14 AM
The New Arab Staff & Agencies

Qatar urges swift international action to stop violence in the Gaza Strip after renewed Israeli bombardment of the territory at the end of a truce which Doha mediated.

The Qatari foreign ministry, in a statement, said it stresses that continued bombing at the end of the pause "complicates mediation efforts and exacerbates the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, and… calls on the international community to move quickly to stop the violence."