Israel-Gaza war live: Emergency department at al-Shifa hospital ‘a blood bath’, says WHO; France calls for immediate truce | Israel-Gaza war

Spread the love


Emergency department at al-Shifa hospital is ‘a bloodbath’, warns WHO

The emergency department at the al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza is “a bloodbath” and the facility is “in need of resuscitation”, the World Health Organization has warned.

The WHO said “tens of thousands of displaced people are using the hospital building and grounds for shelter”, and that there is “a severe shortage” of drinking water and food.

The operating theatres are not functioning due to a lack of fuel, oxygen and other supplies, said the WHO after one of its teams delivered medical supplies to the hospital yesterday, along with other UN agencies.

In a statement, the WHO said:

The team described the emergency department as a “bloodbath”, with hundreds of injured patients inside, and new patients arriving every minute.

Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor, and limited to no pain management is available at the hospital.

The al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s biggest, is seen as a key objective because it dominates a sector of Gaza City where many government buildings are located.

Israel has said there is an Hamas command centre in bunkers underneath, something that Hamas and hospital staff have denied.

Key events

France calls for ‘immediate and durable’ truce in Israel-Gaza war

France’s foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, arrived in Israel where she is due to press for an “immediate and durable” truce in the war with Hamas, AFP reports.

The truce should lead to a lasting ceasefire with the aim of releasing all hostages and delivering aid to Gaza, according to France’s foreign ministry.

Colonna is quoted as saying that Paris is “deeply concerned” over the situation in the territory and that too many civilians have been killed.

She is due to meet her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in Tel Aviv, as well as the families of French hostages still held in Gaza.

Gaza has remained under a communications blackout for a fourth straight day – the longest of several outages over the course of the war.

Aid groups say this hampers rescue efforts after bombings, can impede life-saving operations and makes it even more difficult to monitor the war’s toll on civilians.

France’s foreign ministry says worker killed by an Israeli attack in Rafah

France’s foreign ministry has said one of its workers died as a result of injuries sustained from an Israeli attack in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the ministry said the man had found refuge in a colleague’s house, alongside two other colleagues and a number of their family members.

“The house was hit by an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday evening, which seriously hurt our agent and killed about 10 others,” it said, adding he had later died of his injuries.

“We demand that the Israeli authorities shed full light on the circumstances of this bombing, as soon as possible.”

The World Health Organization said it would “strengthen” the al-Shifa hospital “in the coming weeks” in order for it to resume basic services.

“Up to 20 operating theatres in the hospital, as well as post-operative care services, can be activated if provided with regular supplies of fuel, oxygen, medicines, food, and water,” the WHO said, along with the necessary staff.

Al-Ahli Arab is the only hospital “partially functioning” in the entire north of the Gaza Strip, while three hospitals – al-Shifa, al Awda and al Sahaba medical complex – are functioning at a minimum, according to AFP.

Displaced Palestinians gather outside Gaza's al-Shifa hospital on 10 December 2023.
Displaced Palestinians gather outside Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital on 10 December 2023. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Emergency department at al-Shifa hospital is ‘a bloodbath’, warns WHO

The emergency department at the al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza is “a bloodbath” and the facility is “in need of resuscitation”, the World Health Organization has warned.

The WHO said “tens of thousands of displaced people are using the hospital building and grounds for shelter”, and that there is “a severe shortage” of drinking water and food.

The operating theatres are not functioning due to a lack of fuel, oxygen and other supplies, said the WHO after one of its teams delivered medical supplies to the hospital yesterday, along with other UN agencies.

In a statement, the WHO said:

The team described the emergency department as a “bloodbath”, with hundreds of injured patients inside, and new patients arriving every minute.

Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor, and limited to no pain management is available at the hospital.

The al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s biggest, is seen as a key objective because it dominates a sector of Gaza City where many government buildings are located.

Israel has said there is an Hamas command centre in bunkers underneath, something that Hamas and hospital staff have denied.

The Palestinian health ministry now said at least five Palestinians were killed on Sunday in an Israeli attack on Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank (see this post for what the ministry reported earlier).

Two more Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza, bringing total to 121, says military

Israel’s military said on Sunday that two more Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of soldiers who have died since Israel launched its ground offensive in Gaza to 121.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said Israel would wage war “until absolute victory”. Israeli officials have said it could take months before being complete.

Three Palestinians from Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank were killed in clashes with Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The ministry said two people were fatally shot by Israeli forces on Sunday, and that a fourth Palestinian died on Sunday from injuries after an Israeli attack on the West Bank city of Jenin a few days ago.

Below are some of the latest pics coming in from global news agencies:

A protester during a rally in solidarity with Palestinians outside the US embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.
A protester during a rally in solidarity with Palestinians outside the US embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photograph: Mast Irham/EPA
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip. Photograph: Israel Defense Forces/Reuters
A Palestinian child looks on at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah.
A Palestinian child looks on at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather on the streets of Manhattan.
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather on the streets of Manhattan. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Al Jazeera promises to refer killing of cameraman in Gaza to ICC

Al Jazeera is preparing a legal file to send to the international criminal court (ICC) over what it called “the assassination” of one of its cameramen in Gaza, the Qatari-based network has said.

The cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, was killed by a drone strike on Friday while reporting on the earlier bombing of a school used as a shelter for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Qatar-based broadcaster.

Al Jazeera said Israeli drones fired missiles at the school that left Abu Daqqa with fatal injuries. It was not possible to verify the details of the incident.

“The Network established a joint working group, which comprises of its international legal team and international legal experts who will collaboratively initiate the process of compiling a comprehensive file for submission to the court’s prosecutor,” Al Jazeera said in a statement on Saturday.

Friends and family attend the funeral ceremony of Al Jazeera cameraman Samir Abu Dhaka.
Friends and family attend the funeral ceremony of Al Jazeera cameraman Samir Abu Dhaka. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

You can read our full story below:

More now from that Netanyahu press conference and what he said on any new negotiations to recover hostages held by Hamas.

Reuters reports the head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, as pressure mounts for a possible Gaza truce and a prisoner and hostage deal.

The meeting in Europe was apparently the first between senior officials from Israel and Qatar, which has been acting as a mediator, since the collapse of a seven-day ceasefire in late November.

Netanyahu sidestepped a question about the meeting but confirmed he had given instructions to the negotiating team.

“We have serious criticisms of Qatar,” he said, alluding to the gas-rich Gulf state’s ties to Hamas and Israel’s arch-foe Iran. “But right now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages.”

The admission of the Israeli Defence Forces that its forces accidentally killed three hostages being held in Gaza has added to pressure inside Israel for a hostage deal.
The admission of the Israeli Defence Forces that its forces accidentally killed three hostages being held in Gaza has added to pressure inside Israel for a hostage deal. Photograph: Alexi J Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Hamas said in a statement it “affirms its position not to open any negotiations to exchange prisoners unless the aggression against our people stops once and for all,” adding: “The movement communicated this position to all mediators.”

UK and Germany call for ‘sustainable’ ceasefire in significant tonal shift

UK foreign minister David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock have published a joint article calling for a “sustainable” ceasefire, saying the goal must be peace lasting “generations”.

In a significant shift in tone by the UK government, the article reads: “Our goal cannot simply be an end to fighting today. It must be peace lasting for days, years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable.

“We know many in the region and beyond have been calling for an immediate ceasefire. We recognise what motivates these heartfelt calls.

“It is an understandable reaction to such intense suffering, and we share the view that this conflict cannot drag on and on. That is why we supported the recent humanitarian pauses.”

The article was published in The Sunday Times and Welt am Sonntag in Germany. It further said: “Israel will not win this war if their operations destroy the prospect of peaceful coexistence with Palestinians. They have a right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas. But too many civilians have been killed.”

Following Biden’s comments last week that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing”, US officials have also told Israel that its window for conducting major combat operations in Gaza is fast closing.

You can read Peter Beaumont’s full story on this below:

Netanyahu says government ‘committed as ever’ to war

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed to keep up the military pressure on Hamas, despite anguished appeals from relatives of hostages held in Gaza for a return to negotiations after friendly fire killed three captives.

He told a press conference late Saturday that they were as “committed as ever” to war. He said they were determined to fight to the end and Gaza “will be demilitarised and under Israeli security control following the defeat of Hamas”.

The killing of the three hostages – who were kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October during its assault on southern Israel – has triggered widespread anger and incredulity in Israel amid a mounting sense of anxiety over the safety of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

According to reports of the IDF probe in the Israeli media, the three men Yotam Haim, Samer El-Talalka and Alon Shamriz – all in their 20s – had somehow escaped their captors and were approaching an IDF position in the Shejaiya area of Gaza City where there has been heavy fighting.

One of the men was carrying a stick with a white cloth tied to it and all had removed their shirts. Spotting the three, an Israeli soldier on a rooftop opened fire, shouting “Terrorists!”

You can read our full story here:

Opening summary

Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. My name is Christine Kearney and here’s a rundown of the latest news.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an address that the killings of three Israeli hostages in Gaza “broke the entire nation’s heart,” but he indicated no change in Israel’s intensive military campaign, after it emerged that the three Israeli hostages killed by the Israel Defence Forces were shirtless and carrying a white flag when they were shot, according to an initial military investigation.

“We are as committed as ever to continue until the end, until we dismantle Hamas, until we return all our hostages,” he told a press conference.

Meanwhile, Israel appeared to confirm that new negotiations were under way to recover hostages held by Hamas, after a source said Israel’s intelligence chief met the prime minister of Qatar, a country mediating in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani late on Friday, according to a source with knowledge of the matter, Reuters reports, as attention turned to a possible Gaza truce and a prisoner and hostage deal.

More on those stories soon. In other developments as it turns just past 8.30am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv:

  • The UK and Germany have called for a “sustainable” ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, warning that “too many civilians have been killed” by Israel in spite of its right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas. In a significant shift in tone, the UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, in a joint article with the German foreign affairs minister, Annalena Baerbock, wrote: “Our goal cannot simply be an end to fighting today. It must be peace lasting for days, years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable.

  • “There is a prolonged communications blackout across the Gaza strip that started on Thursday night and has continued over the past 48 hours,” the UNRWA said on Saturday. “Once again, Gazans find themselves completely isolated – cut off from their loved ones and from the rest of the world.”

  • Al Jazeera has instructed its legal team to refer the case of what it called “the assassination” of its journalist Samer Abudaqa to the International Criminal Court. In a statement released on Saturday, the network said: “In addition to the assassination of Abudaqa by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza strip, the legal file will also encompass recurrent attacks on the network’s crews working and operating in the occupied territories through killing or intentionally physical assault constitutes a war crime.”

  • Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue Israel’s war in Gaza while mourning the accidental killing of three Israeli hostages by Israeli forces. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday about Yotam Haim, Samar Al Talalka and Alon Shamriz – the three hostages who were killed by Israeli forces – Netanyahu said that their deaths “broke the hearts of the nation” but vowed to “continue until victory”.

  • Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in Tel Aviv in anger and frustration over the Israeli government’s handling of the hostage crisis. Many chanted “Deal now!” in calls for a deal to be agreed upon as soon as possible to rescue the remaining hostages.

Families of Israeli hostages protest against the government, demanding a hostage deal in Tel Aviv.
Families of Israeli hostages protest against the government, demanding a hostage deal in Tel Aviv. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
  • A contractor working for the US Agency for International Development in Gaza was killed alongside his wife and two daughters in an Israeli airstrike in November, said his employer.“We are deeply saddened to confirm the tragic loss of our colleague, Hani Jnena (33), along with his family in Gaza, including his wife, Abeer (32), and their two young daughters, Mariam and Zayna, aged 4 and 2,” Reuters reports non-profit organization Global Communities as saying in a statement.

  • Two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli forces in separate incidents in the West Bank on Saturday, Reuters reports the Palestinian health ministry as saying. A 20-year-old man who was identified as Aziz Abdulrahim Elkhlail by the Palestinian news agency WAFA was shot in the abdomen by Israeli forces in the town of Beit Ummar. He later died from his injuries. Another 25-year-old man was killed by Israeli forces in the city of Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

  • Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, has condemned the “smear campaigns that target Palestinians and those who provide aid to them”, saying that he is “horrified”. Speaking to reporters at the Global Refugee Forum, Lazzarini said: “This war is also fought on TV screens and on social media. It’s also a media war. I am horrified at the smear campaigns that target Palestinians and those who provide aid to them.”



Source link