The Guardian | 9 January 2024
Three Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.
The West Bank had already experienced the highest levels of unrest in decades during the 18 months preceding the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel by Hamas gunmen but confrontations have risen sharply as Israeli forces have launched an invasion of Gaza, Reuters reports.
Blinken arrives in Israel
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has arrived in Tel Aviv ahead of talks with Israeli officials on Tuesday.
Blinken landed in Israel after meeting with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as part of his fourth Middle East tour since the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October.
Before leaving Al Ula after meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Blinken said:
We agreed to work together and coordinate our efforts to help Gaza stabilise and recover … and to work toward long term peace and security and stability.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 11pm in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Beirut. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
- At least 23,084 Palestinians have been killed and 58,926 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, according to the latest figures by the Gaza health ministry on Monday. The ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 249 Palestinians were killed and 510 were wounded in the previous 24 hours.
- The UN rights office has said it is “very concerned” by the number of journalists killed in the war in Gaza, a day after two Al Jazeera reporters were killed in an alleged Israeli strike on their car. The killing of journalists “must be thoroughly, independently investigated to ensure strict compliance with international law, and violations prosecuted”, the UN office said on Monday.
- The only hospital remaining in central Gaza is on the verge of shutting down amid intense fighting that has engulfed the area, a UN spokesperson has said. Medics, patients and displaced people have been fleeing from Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, according to witnesses. The Israeli military has dropped leaflets designating areas surrounding Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah as a “red zone”, the International Rescue Committee said.
- Three Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday.
- Joe Biden’s speech at Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, South Carolina, was interrupted by pro-Palestine activists, who called for a ceasefire in Gaza. As the protest dissipated, Biden said: “I have been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza and using all that I can to do that.”
- The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had been compelled to cancel a mission to bring medical supplies to northern Gaza on Sunday after failing to receive security guarantees. It was the fourth time the WHO had had to call off a planned mission to bring urgently needed medical supplies to Al-Awda Hospital and the central drug store in northern Gaza since 26 December, it said.
- Israel has killed a senior military commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, Wissam Hassan al Tawil, in an air strike in southern Lebanon around 6km from the border. It comes amid warnings from Lebanese security sources that the assassination could lead to a further escalation in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Shia armed movement.
- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has killed a Hamas operative who it claimed was responsible for rockets attacks against Israel from Syria. Hassan Hakashah was killed by Israeli forces in Beit Jinn in Syria, the IDF said in a statement on Monday.
- Israel is carrying out an unprecedented wave of deadly strikes in Syria targeting cargo trucks, infrastructure and people involved in Iran’s weapons lifeline to its proxies in the region, sources have told Reuters. The sources said Israel had shifted strategies following the 7 October attack by Hamas fighters into Israeli territory and the ensuing Israeli bombing campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon.
- The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said Palestinians “must not be pressed to leave Gaza” at a press conference in Qatar. Blinken is on his fourth tour of the Middle East since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. He is due to head to Israel on Tuesday, where he said he would tell Israeli officials that it is imperative they do more to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza.
- The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement has released video footage it claimed showed an Israeli hostage taken during the 7 October attacks. The hostage has been named by Israeli media as Elad Katzir, 47, from Nir Oz kibbutz.
- UN experts have demanded accountability for sexual violence allegedly carried out by Hamas militants against Israeli civilians during the 7 October attacks, saying that mounting evidence of rapes and genital mutilation point to possible crimes against humanity. Israeli authorities have opened an investigation into possible sexual crimes during the most deadly attack on Israel in its history.
- Pope Francis has said that “indiscriminately striking” civilians is a war crime because it violates international humanitarian law in his yearly address to diplomats. Commenting on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Francis called for a “ceasefire on every front, including Lebanon”.