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An Israeli airstrike has killed 76 members of an extended family in Gaza, Associated Press reported rescue officials as saying on Saturday.
Friday’s strike on a building in Gaza City was among the deadliest of the Israel-Gaza war, Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence department said.
Continue reading...Demonstrators in and around Oxford Street campaign against retailers including Puma, Hewlett-Packard and Axa
Hundreds of people have marched along Oxford Street in London calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a boycott of “Israel-linked” brands, as traffic in the busy shopping district was brought to a standstill days before Christmas.
“There can be no Christmas as usual while a genocide is happening,” the organisers and activist group Sisters Uncut wrote on social media on Saturday, calling for the boycott of brands including Puma, HP and Axa.
Continue reading...People vent their frustration on social media as many given just beans and biscuits to eat, and donated food is found for sale in markets
A couple of biscuits and a can of beans is all that many Palestinians in Gaza say is being given to families to live on, if they receive aid at all, and that they are finding donated items for sale in the markets.
The risk of famine is increasing every day, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which said this week that Gaza’s entire population is suffering “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity”, the highest proportion of a population with acute food insecurity the monitor has ever recorded.
Continue reading...Call to protect civilians and humanitarian staff after UNDP’s Issam al-Mughrabi, his wife, children and scores of relatives killed
An Israeli military airstrike killed more than 70 members of an extended family, including a veteran UN aid worker, as the UN secretary general warned that the scale of death and destruction inside Gaza is blocking delivery of desperately needed aid.
Issam al-Mughrabi, 56, was killed with his wife, five children and dozens of other relatives in a bombing near Gaza City, said the head of the UN development programme (UNDP) in a statement that also called for an urgent ceasefire.
Continue reading...Crowdfunding site IsraelGives allows US residents to donate millions to paramilitary groups, IDF units and settlers
An Israeli crowdfunding platform, IsraelGives, has allowed US residents to donate millions of dollars since 7 October to causes including illegal West Bank settlements, paramilitary groups, and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units currently operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Legal experts say that some of these campaigns may be illegal under US tax law, but that this is rarely enforced on donors to Israeli causes.
This article was amended on 23 December 2023 to correct the year given in which IsraelGives was founded. It was 2009, not 2019. It also was amended to correct the spelling of Joseph Gitler’s name.
Continue reading...Senior hydrologist warns Israeli plan would constitute one element of the crime of genocide
A potential plan by Israel to flood the Hamas tunnel network with seawater risks “ruining the basic conditions for life in Gaza”, one of the elements of the crime of genocide, a senior hydrologist has told the Guardian.
Environmental experts have warned the strategy – which Israel has yet to commit to – risks causing an ecological catastrophe that will leave Gaza with no drinkable water and devastate what little agriculture is possible in the 141 sq mile territory.
Continue reading...Many young voters disapprove of how the US president is handling the conflict in Gaza, a new poll suggests
It was a messy compromise. On Friday, after a week of wrangling, the United Nations security council (UNSC) staggered across the finish line, approving a watered-down bid to boost aid to Gaza and calling for urgent steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”.
The US, a staunch ally of Israel, abstained to allow the 15-member council to adopt the resolution. Joe Biden’s allies will claim that it represents progress of sorts. But it will have little impact on the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe as Israel’s bombardment continues.
Continue reading...US opposes making demand for suspension of hostilities, lack of which International Rescue Committee calls ‘unjustifiable’
The UN security council has voted for a resolution calling for large-scale delivery of aid to Gaza in an effort to contain the imminent threat of famine and deadly epidemics.
The resolution did not however demand a suspension of hostilities, which was opposed by the US, which also insisted on removing a clause giving the UN exclusive control of humanitarian deliveries.
Continue reading...More evacuations ordered in west of strip, 11 weeks into war that has now killed nearly 1% of people in Gaza
Israel is expanding its ground offensive in Gaza, ordering new evacuations in the west of the strip, as UN security council negotiations over a resolution intended to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies stretched into another day.
Israel’s military told people to leave their homes in al-Bureij, an urban refugee camp. It also said extra ground troops would head to fight in southern Khan Younis. Both areas were originally declared safe for civilians fleeing from the north.
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The World Health Organization said on Thursday that northern Gaza had been left without a functional hospital due to a lack of fuel, staff and supplies.
“There are actually no functional hospitals left in the north,” Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in Gaza, told reporters via video link from Jerusalem.
Continue reading...Committee to Protect Journalists says at least 68 journalists and media workers killed since 7 October
The Committee to Protect Journalists has accused the Israeli military of targeting journalists and their families in Gaza amid the highest death toll of media workers in any recent conflict.
The New York-based CPJ said at least 68 journalists and other media workers had been killed in Gaza, Israel and southern Lebanon since the Hamas cross-border attack on 7 October and subsequent Israeli assault.
Continue reading...Rights group says Facebook and Instagram routinely engage in ‘six key patterns of undue censorship’ of content supporting Palestine
Meta has engaged in a “systemic and global” censorship of pro-Palestinian content since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In a scathing 51-page report, the organization documented and reviewed more than a thousand reported instances of Meta removing content and suspending or permanently banning accounts on Facebook and Instagram. The company exhibited “six key patterns of undue censorship” of content in support of Palestine and Palestinians, including the taking down of posts, stories and comments; disabling accounts; restricting users’ ability to interact with others’ posts; and “shadow banning”, where the visibility and reach of a person’s material is significantly reduced, according to HRW.
Continue reading...Firm says it is weighing up options to secure product availability amid Yemeni rebel attacks on shipping
Ikea has warned that the disruption to global trade caused by Yemeni rebel attacks in the Red Sea could delay its deliveries and affect availability of some products.
The world’s largest furniture company said it was “evaluating other supply options to secure the availability of our products” after many big shipping companies stopped sending vessels through the Suez canal in response to the attacks by Houthi militants’ protests against the Israel-Gaza war.
Continue reading...Hamas says no talks without halt to Israeli onslaught, after Netanyahu appeared to dismiss prospect of another truce
Gaza is facing a “catastrophic” hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions, according to the UN, with everyone in the besieged coastal strip liable to face acute food insecurity in the coming weeks.
At the same time, hopes of a temporary pause in fighting to allow a new prisoner exchange receded as Hamas rejected talks until Israel halted its military onslaught on Gaza. And a UN resolution aimed at increasing aid flows into Gaza remained mired in disagreement at the security council, with the US demanding changes, arguing that the current text could hurt humanitarian deliveries more than help them.
Continue reading...Reporting what is being directly witnessed by MSF healthcare workers does not indicate loss of neutrality, Natalie Thurtle stresses
An Australian doctor who coordinated medical aid to Gaza has expressed horror at the “huge proportion of children being killed or maimed for life” as the UN security council again delayed a vote on a ceasefire resolution.
Dr Natalie Thurtle, who helped oversee the response by Médecins Sans Frontières until last week, said it was “very confronting for colleagues trying to provide healthcare when it’s possible to be shot through the window of the hospital”.
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Intensive Qatari and Egyptian-mediated talks are under way for a possible second Gaza truce under which Hamas would return some hostages in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
While the number of people slated to go free was still being discussed, Israel is insisting that women and infirm male hostages be included, said the source, adding that Palestinians jailed for serious offences could also be on the roster.
Continue reading...UK and Germany demand ‘sustainable ceasefire’ as Israel’s military campaign enters 11th week
Israeli forces killed 25 people in bombings in southern Gaza, hit a refugee camp in the north and raided one of the area’s last operating hospitals, as Palestinian casualties in the territory climbed towards 20,000.
The death toll from airstrikes and grim conditions for nearly 2 million people displaced from their homes with little access to food, clean water or sanitation is fuelling growing international anger, even among Israel’s close allies.
Continue reading...Lib Dem MP Layla Moran describes desperate plight of relatives in Gaza after she was granted urgent question on situation
The Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has made an impassioned plea in the House of Commons for the government to back an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as she told of the desperate plight of relatives who had taken refuge in a church there.
Those inside the Holy Family parish in Gaza City were down to their last can of corn, she told the development minister, Andrew Mitchell, who will meet her on Wednesday. Two women were allegedly killed by an Israeli military sniper in the church on Saturday.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: The fallout in Israel after the IDF killed Alon Shamriz, Samer Al-Talalka and Yotam Haim on Friday
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Good morning. On Friday morning, in broad daylight, three young Israeli men who had been taken hostage by Hamas emerged near an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) position in Gaza, waving a white flag. They were unarmed, and shirtless, to show that they were not carrying explosives. An IDF sniper shot two of them dead, and wounded the third.
The survivor fled to a nearby building. He was heard shouting for help in Hebrew. When he reemerged from cover, he too was shot dead. A search of the building was carried out, revealing banners bearing the messages “Help, 3 hostages” and “SOS”.
PPE Medpro | A furious row has broken out between the disgraced Conservative peer Michelle Mone and the government over how much they knew about her links to a company that won lucrative deals during the pandemic. On Monday, as Rishi Sunak said he was taking the case “incredibly seriously”, Mone claimed the government “knew about my involvement from the very beginning”.
China | At least 118 people have been killed and more than 500 injured in an earthquake in China’s north-west Gansu and Qinghai provinces, state media has reported. The strong shallow earthquake struck shortly before midnight on Monday, with the toll rising on Tuesday as rescuers reached affected areas.
Technology | TikTok has given special status to certain high-profile accounts, with moderators in Europe encouraged to be more lenient with content posted by people including Russell Brand, according to internal messages seen by the Guardian. TikTok said it was inaccurate to say that staff had been asked to be less stringent with certain accounts and its guidelines are applied to everyone who uses the app.
Iceland | A volcano in southwest Iceland has erupted after weeks of intense earthquake activity. Fearing a significant outbreak on the Reykjanes peninsula, authorities had evacuated the nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the fishing town of Grindavik and closed the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.
Assisted dying | The ChildLine founder and broadcaster Esther Rantzen has said she has considered the option of assisted dying if her ongoing lung cancer treatment does not improve her condition. She told the BBC that there should be a free vote on the subject so that family members of people in her position do not face prosecution if they provide support.
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