Israel war on Gaza live: Gaza gov’t says 3,500 children at risk of dying
- Lack of aid, including food, nutritional supplements and vaccines, has put 3,500 children at risk of dying from malnourishment, Gaza’s Government Media Office warns.
- Lebanese armed group Hezbollah has released drone footage showing surveillance of the Israeli port city of Haifa, as US envoy Amos Hochstein wraps up a visit to Beirut aimed at easing tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border.
One killed in occupied West Bank: Ministry of Health
The Palestine Ministry of Health says 39-year-old Bilal Adel Abdel Fattah Bello was shot by Israel forces south of Bethlehem.
Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank have intensified since the war in Gaza began, with more than 500 people killed and over 9,100 people detained.
Report: Israel nearing end of assault on Rafah
US newspaper The Washington Post reports, citing Isralei officials, reports that Israel is “close to achieving” its goals in southern Gaza City, weeks after it began its military operation there against the wishes of its major allies.
According to the paper’s report, this signals “the possibility that months of major military operations might soon give way to a new, less-intense phase” of Israel’s war on the Palestinian enclave. This could include a scaling down of the relentless air strikes and ground assaults that, as of today, have killed at least 37,372 people and injured 85,452.
However, this does not mean an end to the war.
“The guerrilla fighting never ends,” The Washington Post quoted an anonymous “senior Israeli military official familiar with ground operations” as saying. “Our aim now is to defeat the Rafah brigade, and we are doing that.”
Ship manager urges Yemen’s Houthis to free Galaxy Leader crew
The rebels used helicopters to attack the Bahamas-flagged ship on November 19.
They captured the Bulgarian ship master and chief officer, along with 17 Filipinos and other sailors from Ukraine, Mexico and Romania, the ship managers said.
“There is nothing to be gained by the Houthis in keeping the 25 crew members,” said the ship managers, who requested that they be released to their families without further delay.
The Houthis have been launching scores of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November in support of the Palestinians under Israeli attack in Gaza. They have sunk one ship, seized another vessel, and killed three seafarers in several attacks.
The International Chamber of Shipping, which represents ship owners, has called the Houthi attacks “unacceptable acts of aggression which threaten the lives of innocent seafarers and the safety of merchant shipping”.
Israeli military approves operational plans for Lebanon offensive
The Israeli military announced that operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon were “approved and validated”.
“As part of the assessment of the situation, operational plans for the attack in Lebanon were approved and implemented and decisions were made to continue accelerating the readiness of the forces in the field,” the military said in a statement.
The US, in response, said it does not want to see a wider regional war in the Middle East, according to the Pentagon.
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals and speculate on what might happen other than to say no one wants to see a wider regional war,” Major General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters when asked about Israel’s move, Reuters news agency reported.
Israel’s approval comes as US special envoy Amos Hochstein was in Lebanon today day after meeting with Israeli leaders, to seek “urgent” de-escalation on the Israel-Lebanon border.
Qatari PM meets with senior Hamas officials
Sources tell Al Jazeera that Qatar’s prime minister, who also serves as its foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, has met with the officials in Doha.
The sources added that the meeting comes within the context of Qatar’s efforts as a mediator between the Palestinian group and Israel, as it pushes to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would see an end to the fighting in the Strip and the return of Israeli captives held there.
Pentagon says Gaza pier to be operational ‘again this week’
The US army’ Central Command (CENTCOM) said last week it would “temporarily” remove the pier from its anchored position in Gaza and tow it to Ashdod, Israel, because of expected high seas.
“In terms of the JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore), we expect it will go operational again this week, and I don’t have a specific date to give you right now,” spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters.
“First of all, that the pier is a temporary measure. I don’t have any dates to announce in terms of when it will cease operations.”
Aid groups have argued that the US dock is not an adequate substitute for delivering humanitarian assistance via land routes.
Hezbollah’s latest ploy: Has the major front of war moved from Gaza to southern Lebanon?
Hezbollah’s release today of drone footage showing surveillance of the Israeli port city of Haifa is a signal to some within the Israeli security establishment that the major front of the war has moved from Gaza to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, according to an analyst.
The war on that front is perceived by some in Israel as one where Hezbollah is holding “50,000 hostages”, Israeli residents of the north who cannot return to their homes there, Menachem Klein, an Israeli professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, told Al Jazeera.
Hezbollah’s alliance with Iran is also a major strategic threat that Israel will one day have to confront, if not now, he added.
However, Klein believes the Israeli administration’s tactic of using more and more force must change.
“Israel must change its strategic thinking to think all on political solutions rather than using force,” he said.
One dead, several injured recovered from southern Gaza
Civil defense groups and medical workers have recovered the body of one person killed in the Tas al-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, footage share by a Palestinian activist on Instagram showed.
In the video verified by Al Jazeera, several people who had been wounded were also attended to by the medical personnel.
Tal as-Sultan has seen several skirmishes in recent weeks between Israeli soldiers and Hamas fighters.
Ship hit by Houthis last week ‘believed to have sunk’
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) says that an incident involving a vessel that was struck on June 12 by Yemen’s Houthis, 66 nautical miles (about 122km) southwest of the port city of Hodeidah, “is believed to have sunk” in the Red Sea.
The ship was identified by a Houthis spokesman as the Tutor.
Prominent Gaza doctor dies in Israeli custody: Report
A prominent Palestinian doctor died while in Israeli police custody just six days after he was detained, Israeli outlet Haaretz reported. This report comes hours after the Gaza Health Ministry announced his death.
Dr Iyad al-Rantisi, 53, the head of a women’s hospital section of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza’s city of Beit Lahiya, was detained by the Israeli army last November, according to the outlet. He died at the Shikma prison, an interrogation facility of Shin Bet, Isreal’s domestic intelligence agency, in southern Israel’s Ashkelon, Haaretz said.
Shin Bet said they arrested the doctor because he was suspected of being involved in hiding Israeli captives, according to the paper.
According to Dr Husam Abu Safia, the manager of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, al-Rantisi was detained at an army checkpoint while attempting to make the journey from north to south Gaza, following the Israeli military’s orders for evacuation purposes at the start of the war, Safia told Haaretz.
The Israeli Justice Ministry has ordered an investigation into Rantisi’s death.
Palestine solidarity makes an appearance at European football competition
Footage shared online shows Turkish fans expressing their support for Palestine during a football match against Georgia at the ongoing UEFA Euro 2024.
Fans can be seen in the videos donning the Palestinian scarf called keffiyeh, and carrying Palestinian flags inside Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund, Germany.
UN estimates nearly 40 million tons of debris generated in Gaza
The UN Environment Program (UNEP) has released a report that highlights the “profound impact” of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
According to the UN’s findings, an estimated 39 million tonnes of debris since October 7.
“The escalation of the conflict since 7 October, 2023 has clearly had a profound impact on people and the environment in Gaza,” it noted, emphasising that “intensive bombardment by Israel has led to unprecedented intensity of destruction in terms of infrastructure, productive assets and service delivery”.
It highlights that the Gaza community has been exposed to risks of soil, water and air pollution, causing irreversible damage to natural ecosystems.
The report that was prepared based on information obtained remotely and from UN’s activities on the field due to security conditions and access restrictions, noted that fieldwork will be conducted when security conditions permit.
It urged an immediate ceasefire to protect lives and to mitigate long-term environmental effects.
Israeli army hits village of al-Barghalia in southern Lebanon
Israeli forces launched a raid in the southern Lebanese town of al-Barghalia, targeting a motorcycle and inflicting injuries, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
Israeli army claims attacks against Hezbollah targets
The army says it carried out a series of precise strikes against a group belonging to the Lebanese armed group’s air unit.
“The unit led dozens of operations using explosive and collection drones against Israel and [Israeli] forces. The [Israeli military] will continue to thwart the unit’s operations in the area,” it posted on X.
Several injured in Israeli settler attack near Jericho
Local Palestinian sources report to Wafa that a group of Israeli settlers threw stones towards a vehicle while it was travelling along the al-Marajat road, northwest of the occupied West Bank city of Jericho.
Several of the occupants of the vehicle were injured, Wafa reports.
Armed settlers and the Israeli army have killed more than 460 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 7, while uprooting hundreds of people from their lands.
‘I prayed for Gaza’
The 2024 Hajj pilgrimage has come against the backdrop of Israel’s devastating war on Gaza, which has pushed the Middle East to the brink of a regional conflict.
“I prayed first for Gaza, then Yemen,” Mejahed al-Mehrabi, a Yemeni pilgrim, told The AP.
At least 37,372 people have been killed and 85,452 injured in the war since October 7.
Israeli police forcibly disperse sit-in demanding dismissal of government
Israeli activists and media have published videos of Israeli police dispersing a sit-in demanding the replacement of the government of Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu.
The footage posted on X shows Israeli police attempting to forcibly disperse the demonstrators at the entrance to Jerusalem.
According to Israeli media, police arrested four people for blocking a road in Jerusalem.
Gaza officials demand release of hundreds of medical workers in Israeli detention
The Government Media Office in Gaza has put out a statement about the situation concerning the treatment of Palestinian medical personnel by Israeli forces.
Here is a summary of what it said:
- “We call for an international investigation into the crimes of arrest and execution of Palestinian medical personnel by the occupation.”
- “The occupation’s execution of doctor Iyad al-Rantisi inside prisons is a horrific crime.” (The Gaza Health Ministry earlier today announced al-Rantisi’s death in Israeli custody.)
- “We demand the occupation’s release of 310 medical personnel who are being subjected to torture.”
- “We hold the occupation and the American administration responsible for the lives and safety of medical personnel.”
Doctors in main central Gaza hospital ‘exhausted’
At least two residential homes were targeted by the Israeli forces [in central Gaza], and all of those people who were killed and injured were transferred to Al-Aqsa Hospital here.
Most of the injuries were in serious conditions. This is a health facility that’s trying to treat at least one million Palestinians across the middle area [of the Strip].
This hospital is working with only one generator due to a lack of fuel. They have not received any medical supplies since Rafah was invaded because there has been no aid going into the Gaza Strip.
The doctors say they are very overwhelmed. They are exhausted, working with very few resources to save the lives of hundreds of Palestinians.
