A child cries as people mourn loved ones killed during Israeli bombardment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on December 27, 2023. Photo by AFP
Doha, Qatar: Israeli forces continue to carry out devastating attacks across the Gaza Strip, resulting in more deaths and injuries over the last 24 hours.
In Gaza, the number of Palestinians killed has reached 21, 110 while 55,243 are injured, and over 7,000 people are declared missing.
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[6:10 pm Doha Time] India contributes $2.5 million to UNRWA
India has released the second tranche of a $2.5 million contribution to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, according to a statement released by the Representative Office of India in Palestine.
The contribution will fulfil India’s annual donation of $5 million for the 2023-24 year period. The tranche, handed over by Charge d’Affaires in Palestine Elizabeth Rodrigues, will aim to support the core programmes and services of UNRWA, including education, healthcare, relief and social services to Palestinian refugees, reported Al Jazeera.
[5:35 pm Doha Time] 2023 deadliest year on record for children in West Bank, East Jerusalem: UNICEF
UNICEF’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, said 124 Palestinian and six Israeli children were killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the start of this year.
“At least 83 children have been killed in the past 12 weeks – more than double the number of children killed in all of 2022, amid increased military and law enforcement operations,” she said in a statement. “More than 576 have been injured, and others have reportedly been detained.”
[2:35 pm Doha Time] ‘Gaza grappling with catastrophic hunger’: UNRWA
The UNRWA has reiterated its call for a humanitarian ceasefire, noting that “Gaza is grappling with catastrophic hunger”.
“Every day is a struggle for survival, finding food and finding water,” Thomas White, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza was quoted as saying on X.
UNRWA said on X that “40 percent of the population are now at risk of famine”.
“The reality is, we need more aid. The only remaining hope is a humanitarian ceasefire.”
[2:05 pm Doha Time] Israeli bombing kills two more journalists in northern Gaza
Two more journalists have been killed in Israeli bombings, raising the total death toll of journalists in the enclave to 105, the Government Media Office has said.
More than 30 people were killed in the Israeli army attack on a residential square in Beit Lahiya, including photojournalist Ahmed Khair al-Din and journalist Mohammad Khair al-Din, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
[10:16 am Doha Time] Latest casualty figures
[9:47am Doha Time] On foot and by donkey cart, thousands flee widening Israeli assault in central Gaza
Thousands of Palestinian families fled Wednesday from the brunt of Israel’s expanding ground offensive into Gaza’s few remaining, overcrowded refuges, as the military launched heavy strikes across the center and south of the territory, killing dozens, Palestinian health officials said.
On foot or riding donkey carts loaded with belongings, a stream of people flowed into Deir al-Balah - a town that normally has a population of around 75,000. It has been overwhelmed by several hundred thousand people driven from northern Gaza as the region was pounded to rubble.
Because UN shelters are packed many times over capacity, the new arrivals set up tents on sidewalks for the cold winter night. Most crowded onto streets around the town’s main hospital, Al-Aqsa Martyrs, hoping it would be safer from Israeli strikes.
Still, no place is safe in Gaza. Israeli offensives are crowding most of the population into Deir al-Balah and Rafah at the territory’s southern edge as well as a tiny rural area by the southern coastline. Those areas continue to be hit by Israeli strikes that regularly crush homes full of people. Read more
[9:19 am Doha Time] IN PHOTOS: Palestinians mourn loved ones killed during Israeli bombardment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on December 27, 2023. Photos by AFP
[8:56 am Doha Time] Scores martyred, injured in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Strip
Scores of Palestinians were martyred and injured Thursday after the Israeli occupation warplanes launched a series of airstrikes targeting different parts of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli bombardment targeted Deir Al-Balah and the Maghazi Camp in the central Gaza Strip, leaving a number of martyred and wounded. The occupation also shelled a civil car carrying several injured from Deir Al-Balah, killing all on board.
[8 am Doha Time] Head of WHO says Security Council Gaza resolution needs to be turned ‘into reality’
Tedros Ghebreyesus was referring to the recent resolution on Gaza adopted by the UN Security Council.
“UN Security Council members must urgently turn their recent resolution – to create pauses in hostilities, and humanitarian corridors – into reality in Gaza,” the head of the World Health Organization said in a social media post.
WHO says that its teams have carried out high-risk missions to deliver supplies to hospitals in northern and southern Gaza.
