LIVE UPDATES: Israel bombs south Gaza as death toll nears 18,000

Doha, Qatar: Civilians in Gaza are being killed at historic pace as overnight bombardment continued across the Strip. Violent airstrikes launched by the Israeli occupation on homes in Deir al-Balah, and the Nuseirat, Bureij and Maghazi camps in the central Gaza led to a rise in death toll as the offensive continued for 65th day. 

Media reports stated that Israeli strikes on Monday hit the main southern city of Khan Yunis. The city has been under intense bombing since early hours.

Videos on social media reported several casualties following the assault.  The latest casualty figures by Palestinian Health Ministry stated that at least 17,997 people killed, mostly women and children, while 49,229 are wounded in Gaza. 

Watch this page for more live updates: 

[11:55pm Doha Time] The Al Jazeera Media Network has released a statement condemning Israeli army strike on its correspondent’s home resulting in his father’s death.

Anas Al-Sharif told Al Jazeera that his 65-year-old father, Jamal, was killed on Monday, December 11, after his home in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza was struck.

Al Jazeera in a statement said:

“The Network expresses its deepest condolences to our colleague Anas and his family. Al Jazeera urges the international community and humanitarian organisations to urgently intervene and halt the Israeli occupation forces’ brutal targeting of both journalists and civilians in the Gaza Strip.” Read more.

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[8:58pm Doha Time] We fear for the lives of hundreds of thousands of displaced people due to the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases in shelters: Gaza Health Ministry

A wounded Palestinian boy cries while receiving care at Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir Balah in the central Gaza Strip on December 11, 2023, following Israeli strikes on al-Maghazi refugee camp. (Photo by AFP)

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[7:50pm Doha Time] ‘No escape’: Gaza hospital surrounded by Israeli tanks

“We have been under siege for more than four days now,” Ahmed al-Kahlout, head of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza told Al Jazeera. 

Israeli army tanks are surrounding the hospital and the bombardment is “very, very intense. No one can leave because of the threat of gunfire and snipers all around,” said al-Kahlout.

There is no water, no fuel, and no food in the hospital, where there are currently 65 patients, 12 children in the ICU, and six newborn babies in incubators, along with 3,000 internally displaced people.

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[6:24pm Doha Time]  4th Al Jazeera staff member lost family in attacks

• Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera Arabic’s bureau chief in Gaza, lost his wife, son, daughter and grandson in an Israeli air raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp on October 25.
• Mohamed Abu al-Qumsan, a broadcast engineer with Al Jazeera’s bureau in Gaza, lost 19 family members, including his father and two sisters, in Israeli air raids on the Jabalia refugee camp on October 31.
• Moamen al-Sharafi, a correspondent for Al Jazeera Arabic, lost 22 members of his family in an Israeli air strike on the Jabalia refugee camp on December 6.
• Anas al-Sharif lost his father in Israeli air strike targeting his family’s house in Jabalia today, December 11.

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[5pm Doha Time] Palestine Red Crescent Society said that it started assembling Qatari field hospital in Rafah. The hospital has a capacity of 50 beds and will contain an operating room, intensive care unit, and radiology services.

????PRCS volunteers have begun initial preparations for establishing the #Qatari field hospital ????????in the #Rafah governorate, in collaboration with the @QRCS in response to the repercussions of the Israeli aggression on the #Gaza Strip for the past 66 days.

????The hospital's… pic.twitter.com/2u7WcgSljq

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 11, 2023

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[3pm Doha Time] Antique stoves in Gaza the only way to cook during war

In a workshop in the war-torn and besieged Gaza Strip, Ibrahim Shouman is bringing old brass stoves back to life, giving hope to displaced people deprived of gas for cooking.

With a squeeze of pliers, a new wick, and a refill of homemade fuel, a flash of fire miraculously begins to crackle.

"People have gone back to the old times and are bringing their brass camping stoves for repair because there is no gas or fuel available," Shouman told an AFP journalist in Rafah in the south of Gaza, near the border with Egypt. Read more 

[2:49 pm Doha Time] ‘Words not enough’ to describe situation in Gaza

Alia Kassan and her family of nine fled their home in northern Gaza and moved south on October 13.

Since then, the 22-year-old university student says, her family has barely had any access to fuel, food and other basic necessities.

“We’re about 40 people at my uncle’s small home [near Deir el-Balah],” Kassan said. “We don’t have fuel. We cook using wood which is very unhealthy.”

The last time she ate meat was more than a month ago.

“Food is really expensive, and even when they send aid, people steal it and sell it at a very high price. Words are not enough to describe what we have been through.”

Access to electricity is also scarce, Kassan pointed out. “I recharge my phone every day with the help of our neighbours. To access the internet, I have to walk 30 minutes and pay to get connected.”

[12:07 pm Doha Time] ‘No place is safe in Gaza’ as Israel’s attacks intensify

Amid renewed Israeli calls for residents of Gaza to evacuate from across the Strip, the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says no part of the enclave is safe for residents.

“We have lost more than 130 colleagues, half of them were killed in the central and southern areas,” Juliette Touma, director of communications at the UNRWA, told Al Jazeera. “This is just one example that shows that nowhere is safe.”

Touma said UNRWA managed to get some humanitarian aid, including fuel, into Gaza during the recent truce.

Palestinians flee Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip further south toward Rafah, along the Salah Al-Din road, on December 10, 2023. Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP

“We need to go back to that as a minimum,” she said, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire to take place immediately.

She said UNRWA’s centre in Khan Younis, meant to host 1,000 people, was now home to more than 30,000. Touma visited the centre at the beginning of the month and described what she witnessed as “misery galore” and “desperation”.

[10:39 am Doha Time] About 50,000 people injured in northern Gaza

The Director of the Health Ministry in Gaza, Muneer al-Barsh, says there are 50,000 people injured in northern Gaza.

Of those injured, only 422 have been transferred out of Gaza and 8,000 of them need immediate medical intervention.

So far, they have not received any medical or fuel supplies.

[11 am Doha Time] UN needs $46.4 billion for aid in 'bleak' 2024

The United Nations said Monday that it needed $46.4 billion next year to bring life-saving help to around 180 million people in desperate circumstances around the world.

The UN said the global humanitarian outlook for 2024 was "bleak", with conflicts, climate emergencies and collapsing economies "wreaking havoc" on the most vulnerable.

While global attention focuses on the conflict raging in the Gaza Strip, the UN said the wider Middle East, Sudan and Afghanistan were among the hotspots that also needed major international aid operations. Read more

[10:40am Doha Time] Solidarity strike in Occupied West Bank, Palestinians hope for a ceasefire 

Palestinians are closing down their shops – including pharmacies, bakeries and street vendors – and all aspects of life in various areas of the occupied West Bank in solidarity with those in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Empty streets during a general strike in the West bank city of Ramallah on December 11, 2023. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh / AFP)

Palestinians are hoping that by doing this, the world will take notice and this will translate into increased pressure on Israel.

Their main demand is for a ceasefire in Gaza but they also want the world to pressure Israel to end the occupation.

Relatives mourn next to the shrouded body of a person killed during Israeli bombardment, at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah on December 11, 2023.(Photo by Mahmud Hams / AFP)

For Palestinians, strikes have historically been important ways to shed light on their situation. It’s also a sign of unity that they’re all united against the Israeli occupation.

[10:15am Doha Time] 142 female prisoners from Gaza detained by Israel
Palestine’s Commission for Detainees’ Affairs says Israel is currently holding 142 female Palestinian prisoners, including children and elderly, who were arrested during the ground invasion in Gaza.

It added that they were being detained in several prisons, including Damon and Hasharon.

[10:00am Doha Time] Three Qatari aircraft carrying aid for Palestinians in Gaza arrive in Egypt's El Arish

The aircraft carrying 116 tonnes of aid, including food and medical supplies, was provided by the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD), and Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) in preparation for transferring it to Gaza. Read more