A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on January 3, 2024. Photo by AFP
Doha, Qatar: The number of casualties and injured continues to mount due to Israel's unrelenting bombardment across the Gaza Strip for over 90 days. At least 32 people have been killed in the latest occupation forces' attacks on Khan Younis, while five people have died in attacks on Rafah.
To date, at least 22, 438 Palestinians have been killed and 57,614 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7.
According to the World Health Organization, only 13 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional as of January 3, 2024.
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[4:09 pm Doha Time] Qatari aircraft carrying aid for Palestinians in Gaza arrives in Egypt's Arish
A Qatari Armed Forces plane carrying 37 tons of aid arrived Friday in Arish City of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Read more
Qatari aircraft carrying aid for Palestinians in Gaza arrives in Egypt's Arish#Qatar #Egypt #Gaza https://t.co/zNnu5ZjcD3
— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) January 5, 2024
[2:24 pm Doha Time] Food prices spike in Gaza even as global costs sink
The scarce food that is available in Gaza is becoming virtually unaffordable, as prices soar in the war-time economy.
Right now, a 25km (55-pound) bag of flour in Gaza costs between $40 and $100, compared to $10 before October 7, according to an Associated Press report.
Some 40% of Palestinians in Gaza are at risk of famine.
Elsewhere in the world, food costs less than it has in three years, thanks to declining prices of sugar, vegetable oils and meat, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Displaced Palestinians who fled Khan Yunis line for food in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on January 4, 2024. Photo by AFP
[12:24pm Doha Time] Risk of deadly hypothermia growing in Gaza: Physician
Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian physician who previously worked in Gaza, tells Al Jazeera that winter will bring “an unbearable avalanche of human suffering” to the enclave.
“The combination of winter cold, wind, and precipitation will make the risk of hypothermia overwhelmingly dangerous,” says Gilbert, who specialises in treating hypothermia. “This is particularly true for those who are small and those who are already starving or sick — which a large portion of the people.”
“A small child will very quickly become cold and when your body temperature drops below 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) it reaches hypothermia. This weakens the body, weakens the immune system, and if there is a bleeding injury, causes bleeding to occur more quickly. Hypothermia is a death trap,” he said.
[10:44 am Doha Time] Displaced Palestinians ‘totally unprepared’ for Gaza winter
As colder weather sets in in Gaza, displaced Palestinians who fled their homes with few belongings are facing a new form of suffering.
“They are totally unprepared for the cold weather — no blankets, no heating, and no suitable clothing,” reports Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud from Rafah in southern Gaza. “We’re expecting heavy rainfall in the coming days and it’s getting increasingly difficult.”
In addition to the lack of heating, the shortage of medical supplies and sanitation means people are extremely vulnerable to winter illnesses. “We’re looking at many children who are getting sick” and there is no medication to treat even common colds or flus, says Mahmoud.
A child holds a plate while sitting between rubble in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 2, 2024. Photo by AFP
[9:00 am Doha Time] Scores of Palestinians killed; humanitarian groups unable to deliver life-saving assistance: UN
The UN reports that 125 Palestinians were killed and 318 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza in the 24-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, citing the Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry. They add to the 22,438 Palestinians killed and 57,614 injured between October 7 and January 3.
The latest UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) situation report also notes:
Humanitarian groups have been unable to deliver life-saving assistance, including food and medicine, north of Wadi Gaza for four days due to heavy fighting and access delays and denials.
The area surrounding the El Amal Hospital and Palestine Red Crescent Society in Khan Younis was struck for the third consecutive day on January 4. Seven Palestinians, including a five-year-old, have already been killed in three days of Israeli bombardments in the area.
On January 4, 177 trucks carrying food and medicine entered Gaza through the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossings, but food insecurity remains acute across the besieged enclave.
Only 13 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional as of January 3 – nine in the south and four in the north – according to the World Health Organization.
[8:00 am Doha Time] Pro-Palestinian protesters at Chicago’s Union Station call for Gaza ceasefire
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian supporters held a protest in Chicago’s Union Station – a key intercity and commuter rail station in the US’s Midwest – to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Organised by the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), the protesters waved Palestinian flags and said in a statement that they “will continue to disrupt business as usual until the genocide ends”.
Local media reported that police were at the scene of the peaceful protest, which had not disrupted rail commuters on Thursday afternoon.
