Israeli bombardment lights the skyline of Khan Yunis, pictured from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip late on January 7, 2024. Photo by AFP
Doha, Qatar: Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Qatar believes that the Gaza crisis must be contained as soon as possible and a ceasefire must be reached, which would also address the threats to the rest of the countries of the region.
He said this during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State H E Antony Blinken in Doha yesterday.
“During our meeting today, we touched on the most prominent ongoing developments in the region, most notably the war that has been ongoing for three months in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories, with all its political, security and humanitarian dimensions," the Prime Minister stated.
Watch this page for more live updates:
[11:38pm Doha Time] Four injured after shell hits MSF shelter
Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) said four people had been injured by a shell hitting a shelter for MSF staff and their families in Khan Younis.
One of the four injured include the five-year-old daughter of a staff member who is reportedly in a "critical condition."
#Gaza: This morning, a shell broke through the wall of an MSF shelter housing over 100 staff and their families in Khan Yunis.
— MSF International (@MSF) January 8, 2024
The organisation said that the staff, along with their families, have moved to another location.
[7:00pm Doha Time] WHO cancels delivery of medical supplies to northern Gaza
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it was forced to cancel a mission to deliver medical supplies to the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, as it was unable to obtain security guarantees in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip since October 7. Read more.
[6:35pm Doha Time] Knesset member accuses Israel of “legitimising” genocide against Gaza
Member of Israel’s Knesset (parliament) Ahmad Tibi reportedly stated that “this is how the Nazis spoke about the Jews” in reference to statements made by an Israeli minister who had said that there were "two million Nazis in Gaza."
“This is how you legitimise genocide,” he continued.
The Israeli minister made comments about “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza, which were condemned globally, and most recently by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
HE US Secretary of State: We reject statements issued by officials in Israel regarding the resettlement of Gaza citizens.#Qatar #US pic.twitter.com/rSksNk9iwO
— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) January 7, 2024
Another Israeli minister suggested that Israel could "drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza."
[3:55pm Doha Time] In Photos: Market in Rafah refugee camp
Palestinians shop at a market in Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on January 8, 2024 amid continuing Israeli onslaught. (Photo by AFP)
[3:51 pm Doha Time] ‘I had to deal with a child with multiple gunshots in his chest’: Doctor
Dr Tanya Haj Hassan, from Doctors Without Borders, relayed a text message she received from a physician in Gaza who remained at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after NGO workers were forced to flee.
“The situation in the hospital was catastrophic today [Sunday]. So many injuries with no doctors or nurses. I had to deal with a child with multiple gunshots in his chest and one in the abdomen alone.”
The physician and his colleagues tried to save the child but couldn’t get him into the operating room in time.
“I felt so bad because normally this child could have been saved. Finally we heard a lot of gunshots around and we had to leave everyone behind. And I literally cried because I didn’t know what to do wondering what will happen to the people there.”
[3:20pm Doha Time] Israeli air strikes kill families of two Palestinian journalists
Separate Israeli air strikes killed family members of two Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
Ahmad al-Batta, a reporter for Qatar-based Al Araby, lost his mother and several other members of his family in one attack, stated Al Jazeera. It further added that the channel confirmed the news by posting a video of the moment al-Batta hears the news on the phone and is consoled by colleagues.
Sameer Radi, a reporter for a Palestinian television channel, also lost his wife and two children in an air strike. The video shows him holding the wrapped body of his child.
[1:15 pm Doha Time] UNRWA reports 63 direct hits on its facilities since October 7
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says its facilities have been attacked 220 times since the start of the war, and this includes 63 direct hits.
This is while 1.4 million Palestinians are now sheltering in 155 UNRWA facilities across the five governorates of the Gaza Strip, and a further half a million are residing in close vicinity.
Only five out of 22 UNRWA health centres are still operational in the central and southern parts of the enclave, the organisation said in its latest situation report.
As of January 6, a total of 146 UNRWA staff have been killed in Israeli attacks.
[11am Doha Time] Al-Shifa surgeon Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta fights for ‘justice’ after Gaza return
A British-Palestinian doctor who worked in Gazan hospitals during Israel’s onslaught against Gaza hopes that testimony he has given to UK police will lead to prosecutions for war crimes.
Ghassan Abu Sitta, a plastic surgeon specialising in conflict injuries, spent 43 days volunteering in the besieged Palestinian territory, mostly at the al-Ahli and Shifa hospitals in the north.
The 54-year-old has already testified to the Met, the UK's biggest police force, about the injuries he saw and the kinds of weapons used, as part of evidence being gathered for an International Criminal Court probe into alleged war crimes committed by both sides.
He is due to travel to The Hague this week to meet ICC investigators. Read more
[9:30am Doha Time] 73 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in 24 hours
Seventy-three Palestinians were killed and 99 wounded in attacks by Israel on Gaza over the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry says.
Eight people were killed in an Israeli air strike near Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
“I wake up thinking this is a passing nightmare, but it is a reality,” said Gaza resident Nabil Fathi, 51.
“Our home and my son’s home have been destroyed and we have 20 people martyred in our family. I don’t know where we will go even if I survive.”
More than 22,800 Palestinians have been killed and more than 58,000 wounded since the war began.
[8:40am Doha Time] ‘Unfathomable death’: Actor calls for ceasefire at Golden Globes
British actor and activist Khalid Abdalla wore a white armband and a dove pin at the 2024 Golden Globe Awards as he called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“The dove is made in Bethlehem. Today marks three months of unfathomable death and destruction. We need this to end. The first step must be a permanent ceasefire. #CeasefireNow,” he wrote on X.
British actor Khalid Abdalla wears a white arm band and a dove pin as he arrives for the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on January 7, 2024. (Photo by Michael TRAN / AFP)
[8am Doha Time] Gaza crisis a great test for humanity, says Qatar Prime Minister
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs H E Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said Qatar believes that the Gaza crisis must be contained as soon as possible and a ceasefire must be reached, which would also address the threats to the rest of the countries of the region. Read more
