People mourn loved ones killed in Rafah during Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza strip, at Al-Najar hospital on December 29, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
Doha, Qatar: UN Aid Chief Martin Griffiths strongly condemned the "attacks on humanitarian workers are unlawful," calling for the conflict to be stopped. This comes after UNRWA said Israelis opened fire on aid convoy travelling on an authorised route.
Meanwhile Gazans are exhausted after nearly three months of nonstop bombing by the Israeli army, navy and airforce and are desperate for the war to end.
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[4:05pm Doha Time] Death toll rises
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed a total of 21,672 Palestinians, while 56,165 people have been wounded in Gaza since October 7.
In the past 24 hours, 165 Palestinians have been killed and 250 have been injured, according to the ministry.
[2:45 Doha Time] In Photos: Israeli strikes damages Zawayda area of central Gaza Strip
Palestinians inspect damage following Israeli strikes on the Zawayda area of the central Gaza Strip on December 30, 2023 (Photo by AFP)
A Palestinian man carries the body of a child after it was unearthed from the rubble of a building in Zawayda area on December 30, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
A Palestinian man evacuates a wounded girl from the site of an Israeli strikes on the Zawayda area. (Photo by AFP)
[1:20pm Doha Time] Israeli occupation continue strikes on central, southern Gaza
The Israeli occupation forces continued their airstrikes, ground attacks, and naval bombardment across various parts of Gaza on the 85th day of the aggression, amid a worsening humanitarian catastrophe.
Israeli warplanes bombed a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, resulting in several injuries.
Intense Israeli airstrikes targeted Khan Yunis, accompanied by artillery shelling on the town of Khuza'a, where a ground incursion was announced two days ago.
Many Palestinians, mostly children, were injured due to Israeli air raids on a house in the Jeneenah neighborhood east of Rafah. Several casualties were transported to the Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al Balah due to the ongoing Israeli attacks.
The southern area of the Rafah border crossing witnessed intense artillery shelling, while Israeli warships heavily fired shells on the beaches in central and southern Gaza.
Israeli tanks fired several shells in the midst of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, while warplanes carried out a series of intense airstrikes on the city of Khan Yunis in the south.
A Palestinian man evacuates a wounded girl from the site of an Israeli strikes on the Zawayda area of the central Gaza Strip on December 30, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
[12:35pm Doha Time] Red Crescent spreads awareness on how to maintain hygiene despite water scarcity
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has shared a video on X showing the team conducting awareness activities among the displaced children in Khan Younis due to the spread of disease and epidemics.
The team has been teaching the children how to maintain hygiene despite the water scarcity.
????Due to the spread of diseases and epidemics among displaced individuals in shelter centers, especially children, the PRCS Community Work teams have undertaken awareness activities ????with displaced children at the PRCS’s headquarters in #KhanYounis to teach them ways to maintain… pic.twitter.com/MJdjkbjpgi
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 30, 2023
[10:15am Doha Time] Gaza Municipality questions UNICEF on fuel delivery
The Municipality of Gaza has asked UNICEF on X where the is the fuel to operate the water pumps.
“Sorry for any inconvenience, but can we know where is the fuel to operate the water pumps? You promised to deliver it during the last truce, we haven’t received it yet,” it said.
“You may know children are dying in Gaza and you can’t give them a sip of water!”
9:30am Doha Time 'Exhausted' Gazans desperate for war to end as Israel presses offensive
After nearly three months of deadly strikes, incessant displacements and sputtering humanitarian aid, "exhausted" Gazans say they are desperate for an end to the fighting as Israel's war looks set to grind on into the new year.
"Enough with this war! We are totally exhausted. We are constantly displaced from one place to another in cold weather," said 49-year-old Um Louay Abu Khater from a camp in the southern border city.
"The bombs keep falling on us every day and night. We expect missiles (at any moment), while others are preparing for New Year's Eve celebrations." Read more
[8:30am Doha Time] UN chief condemns attack on aid convoy
In an strongly worded post on his social media, UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths condemned the attack on aid convoy by Israel.
He wrote,"I strongly condemn an incident yesterday in which an aid convoy was fired upon while traveling from northern Gaza to Rafah. The convoy was clearly marked and its movements were coordinated with the parties."
He further added that attacks on humanitarian workers are unlawful and that the conflict must stop.
[8am Doha Time] UN Security Council discusses crisis in the Middle East
The UN Security Council on Friday received a briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the situation in Palestine.
Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East at UN DPPA Khaled Khiari informed Council members that the situation in the Middle East is alarming and continues to deteriorate, including "several interconnected theatres conflict".
Reiterating the UN Secretary-General's call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, Khiari warned that the risk of regional spillover of this conflict with potential devastating consequences for the entire region "remains high".
The UN official pointed out that hundreds of Palestinian had been killed in the occupied West Bank in the context of Israeli operations in Area A, stressing that settler violence remains a source of grave concern and continues at high levels. (QNA)
[7:30am Doha Time] UNRWA says Israeli Occupation Forces fired on humanitarian aid convoy in Northern Gaza
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said that one of its aid convoys came under fire by the Israeli occupation's military in Northern Gaza without causing any casualties.
According to UNRWA's director in Gaza, Thomas White, the UN aid convoy was returning from northern Gaza on a route designated for humanitarian aid when it came under fire.
"Our international convoy leader and his team were not injured but one vehicle sustained damage,' White wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"Aid workers should never be a target," he added.
For his part, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, in a statement today, criticized holding the Agency responsible for gaps in aid deliveries in the Gaza Strip, stressing that the delivery of much needed and urgent aid continues to be limited in quantities and riddled with logistical hurdles.
He pointed to the "state of despair" among the communities showing up at UNRWA warehouses to take supplies or interrupt aid trucks picking food to eat on the spot.
Meanwhile, humanitarian workers denounced the situation in Gaza, saying that they consider themselves displaced and being targeted, stressing that they are working on an "shrinking" piece of land, in addition to the fact that trucks are subjected to three levels of inspection before they can enter, in addition to the presence of an increasing list of products prohibited from entering.
Gazan are still waiting for humanitarian and medical aid to enter the Strip, and they are suffering from conditions that everyone described as "catastrophic" and "unprecedented" in the modern era.
