A victim of an Israeli army strike gestures as she receive treatment at Kuwait hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 28, 2023. Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP
Doha, Qatar: The death toll in Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps has risen to 35 due to Israeli bombing in central Gaza. Most of the victims are women and children, according to Al Jazeera.
Since October 7, at least 21,320 people have been killed and 55,603 injured due to Israeli attacks while more than 7,000 are still missing.
UN agencies also warned of the imminent risk of famine facing 40 percent of Gaza's population as displaced Palestinians are forced to queue for hours for food assistance due to shortages in aid shipments.
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[11 pm Doha Time] South Africa launched a case on Friday at the United Nations' top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and asking the court to order Israel to halt its attacks. Israel swiftly rejected the filing "with disgust.” Read more.
[9:40 pm Doha Time] WHO chief 'very concerned' by rising threat of infectious diseases in Gaza
In a post on X, Director-General of the World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyesus, warned people living in shelters have continued to fall sick. He said the UN health agency remains very concerned about the increasing threat of infectious diseases, as it has recorded:
• Close to 180,000 people suffering upper respiratory infections
• 136,400 cases of diarrhoea, half of these among children under five
• 55,400 cases of lice and scabies
• 5,330 cases of chickenpox
• 42,700 cases of skin rash, including 4722 cases of impetigo
• 4,683 cases of Acute Jaundice Syndrome
• 126 cases of meningitis
“As people continue to be massively displaced across the south of Gaza, with some families forced to move multiple times and many sheltering in overcrowded health facilities, my WHO colleagues and I remain very concerned about the increasing threat of infectious diseases,” he said.
A Palestinian boy eats amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli bombardment in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
[7:08 pm Doha Time] Pakistan bans New Year's Eve celebrations in solidarity with Gaza
In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said because of the situation in the Gaza Strip, the government had "completely banned all kinds of events regarding the New Year celebrations". Read more.
[4:25 pm Doha Time] 2023 the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank: UNRWA
With a total of 504 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank so far this year, 2023 has been the deadliest year for Palestinians since the UN began recording casualties in 2005, UNRWA has said on X.
[3:50pm Doha Time] At least 308 people killed in UNRWA shelters
Since the war began, at least 308 people sheltering in UNRWA shelters have been killed, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said on X. Another 1,095 people have been injured.
“Initial reports indicate on 25 December, 2 people sheltering in UNRWA Maghazi Prep School were killed & 1 injured, result of a direct strike,” it said.
“Nowhere in Gaza is safe.”
[2:50 pm Doha Time] Death toll rises
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 21,507 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since October 7, while 55,915 people have been injured.
In the past 24 hours, 187 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, the ministry said.
Children inspect the damage following Israeli bombardment in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2023. Photo by AFP
[2:21 pm Doha Time] Detainee recounts ‘barbaric’ arrests in Deir Abu Mesha’al
From the village of Deir Abu Mesha’al near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces detained more than 30 Palestinians overnight, Mohammed Wajeeh, 21, recounts his experience to Al Jazeera.
“They were very barbaric in their intervention. [After forcing open the door to the house,] they searched everything. They destroyed the kitchen. They went upstairs and downstairs, [searched] all the closets. They did not leave anything,” Wajeeh said.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said Israeli forces went door to door arresting Palestinians. They blindfolded them, tied their hands and took them to an open building on the street where they were detained for hours.
Wajeeh said they interrogated him about the number of people at his home and seized all their phones.
“They said some provoking words, and then they just threw me in the middle of nowhere, and it was very cold, and they asked me to stay there,” he said.
Ibrahim said that according to Palestinians, the “main goal of these arrests is to instill fear” in the younger generation.
“[It’s] to tell them that if anyone wants to oppose Israel’s occupation, then the result will be arrests and intimidation,” she said.
[11:31 am Doha Time] ‘We were all beaten in sensitive areas’: Red Crescent member recounts arrest
Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has shared the testimony of Mohammed Saleh, a paramedic at the PRCS ambulance centre in Jabalia about the beating and humiliation he and his colleagues endured when Israeli forces invaded the centre and arrested them a week ago.
“We were all humiliated, we were all beaten in sensitive areas and on our heads and backs,” Saleh said.
“The Israeli forces assaulted our colleague Mohammad Abu Rukbeh. He is wounded due to the aggression and has sustained burns in his legs; he will likely need a skin transplant as one of the occupation’s soldiers threw rocks at his legs.”
[10:45 am Doha Time] Israeli forces fire at aid convoy: UNRWA
Israeli soldiers have fired at an aid convoy as it returned from northern Gaza along a route designated by the Israeli army, according to Thomas White, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza.
“Our international convoy leader and his team were not injured but one vehicle sustained damage – aid workers should never be a target,” White said on X.
[9 am Doha Time] Humanitarian crisis in Gaza: Displaced Palestinians queue for hours for food amid famine warning
Displaced and famished Palestinians are forced to queue for hours for food assistance in Rafah as acute shortages due to the Israeli military blockade of the Palestinian territory and restrictions on aid shipments imperil the health of hundreds of thousands.
Aid groups say the situation is desperate, and UN agencies have warned that 40 percent of Gaza’s population is facing the imminent risk of famine.
According to the latest report issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, more than 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population is also facing high levels of acute food insecurity.
[8 am Doha Time] Hospital directors say Gaza ‘must be saved’ before times runs out
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Doctor Marwan al-Hams said the hospital has already run out of beds to accommodate incoming patients and warned of the spread of disease due to uncollected garbage and lack of clean drinking water in the southern Gaza Strip.
Aside from those injured in Israeli attacks, the hospital was also flooded with cases of stomach ailments, smallpox, meningitis, and scabies, al-Hams said.
With the onset of winter, he said he expects more cases of seasonal flu and pneumonia.
“The Gaza Strip must be saved before it is too late,” he added.
