Live blog: Situation in Gaza is 'humanitarian catastrophe' — Borrell

Monday, December 4, 2023

2106 GMT — The situation in Gaza is a "man-made humanitarian catastrophe," said the European Union's foreign policy chief.

Speaking at the 25th EU-NGO Forum on Human Rights in Brussels, Josep Borrell pledged to push for the release of all captives in the Middle East, to put an end to this "man-made humanitarian catastrophe," to look for a solution for the day after, and to stop illegal settlements and aggression in the occupied West Bank.

Borrell also said: "One has the right to criticise the government of the state of Israel without being qualified as antisemitic. I can disagree with how a government behaves without being qualified as being anti-something."

More updates 👇

2020 GMT — 2 Israeli soldiers killed, 2 others injured in exchange of fire in northern Gaza

The Israeli army has said two more soldiers were killed and two others injured in clashes with Palestinian fighters in the northern besieged Gaza.

In a statement on X, the army described the clashes with the Palestinian fighters in the last few hours as "fierce battles."

The statement identified the two deceased soldiers as Sergeant First Class Ben Zussman and Sergeant Binyamin Yehoshua Needham from the army's Combat Engineering Corps’ 601st Battalion.

The Israeli army also claimed it had killed the Hamas fighters who opened fire on its troops.

1951 GMT — Global leaders group urges govts to review Israel military aid

A group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela called on governments providing military assistance to Israel amid its attack on besieged Gaza to rethink their approach.

The Elders, which include former UN chief Ban Ki-moon, accused Israel of conducting a "disproportionate" response to Hamas' surprise blitz.

The Elders said Israel's retaliation "has reached a level of inhumanity towards Palestinians in Gaza that is intolerable".

"More killing is not the answer. Negotiation is the way to end this conflict," they said in a statement.

The group said that governments "which provide military assistance in the knowledge that atrocities are being committed, or may be imminent, risk being complicit".

It added that world leaders "must act now to deter atrocities and end impunity," including by "urgently reviewing military assistance to Israel and putting in place conditions for any future provision".

The group also called on governments to enable the International Criminal Court "to accelerate its investigation into atrocity crimes by all parties".

1917 GMT — Israeli captives' families protest for more talks with Hamas

The families of Israeli captives in Gaza threatened to escalate their efforts to pressure Tel Aviv to resume negotiations with Hamas for captive exchanges through mediators.

Families will set up nonstop protests if captive negotiations are not resumed, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

Daniel Lifshitz - the grandson of Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released from Hamas captivity and Oded Lifshitz, who was also kidnapped by Hamas - called on Cabinet members during a press conference to return to negotiations for the release of the captive, the newspaper said.

He stated that the families would escalate their actions if this did not happen.

''We will not beg you. If this does not happen, we will sit from 8 this evening near the Kirya army headquarters and will not move from there,'' the newspaper quoted Lifshitz as saying.

1846 GMT — UN chief urges Israel to avoid worsening Gaza aid crisis

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to Israel to "avoid further action that would exacerbate the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza and to spare civilians from more suffering," a UN spokesperson said.

"The Secretary-General reiterates the need for unimpeded and sustained humanitarian aid flow to meet the needs of the people throughout the Strip. For people ordered to evacuate, there is nowhere safe to go and very little to survive on," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

1827 GMT — Rape allegations of Israel aim to tarnish group’s 'humane treatment of captives': Hamas

Hamas has dismissed Israeli rape accusations against its fighters as a “desperate attempt” to distort the group’s humane treatment of Israeli captives.

“We reject the Israeli lies about raping, which aim to distort the resistance and tarnish our humane and moral treatment of captives,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas called on all media outlets “to remain vigilant not to fall into the trap of Israel’s lies and its tendentious propaganda, and to verify every information, to protect the truth and preserve the sanctity of the media message.”

1817 GMT — UK government urged to act to end humanitarian crisis in Gaza

The British government was urged to act to end the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East, which since Oct. 7 has cost the lives of nearly 15,900 people.

Expressing regret that neither Prime Minister Rishi Sunak nor Foreign Secretary David Cameron was in parliament to make a statement today, opposition Labour MP and shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said the conflict in Gaza “has suddenly reached another phase and many more innocent lives will be lost if we do not act now.”

“We urge the government to continue to push for another cessation of hostilities and for all remaining hostages to be freed,” she said.

She added: “And to be clear, Israel must not proceed or blockade Gaza. It must comply with international law and protect innocent lives and civilian infrastructure and ensure attempts to address the humanitarian catastrophe are ramped up quickly.

In the last few days, partners on the ground have become increasingly concerned about the safe zone.”

1704 GMT — Doctors Without Borders calls for pressuring Israel to stop Gaza attacks

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) called for pressuring Israel to stop attacks on the people of Gaza.

"It #MustStopNow! We are asking governments around the world to pressure Israel to stop the attacks on people in #Gaza and end the siege," the French-based humanitarian organization wrote on X.

The organisation also shared an "open letter" in a video format, showing the aftermath of the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

"We are witnessing the fundamental principle of humanity being openly disgraced," MSF said, adding that Israel’s “all-out assault” is not being waged just on Hamas.

"It is being waged on all of Gaza and its people at any cost," it added.

1658 GMT — Infectious diseases spreading rapidly in Gaza hospitals: doctors

Speaking to British website The Independent, doctors at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza said the lack of essential vaccines for newborns accelerates the spread of diseases in hospitals.

In addition to infectious diseases, they also said they are dealing with casualties and fatalities due to Israel's intense attacks.

Dr Asem Mohammed said the overcrowding creates favourable conditions for the spread of infectious diseases, and the lack of medical equipment and limited access to clean water further worsens the situation.

He said the surroundings of the hospital are overflowing with "infectious diseases such as fungal infections, skin infections, pneumonia, and epidemiological problems."

Dr Yousef Adnan said that due to limited access to clean water, they treat thousands of people suffering from diarrhoea every day, calling the current situation in the hospital a "disaster.”

1650 GMT — Hezbollah targets 10 Israeli sites near Lebanon's border

Hezbollah has said that its fighters had targeted an Israeli infantry unit at five new locations, including the Karam Al Tuffah site east of the Brannit barracks, a gathering of soldiers in Hiraj Shetula, and others in Hiraj Hanita, Birkit Risha, and Jal Al Alam in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah also successfully targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers east of the Misgav area with guided missiles, it said in another statement. Furthermore, it targeted Hiraj Shetula and Al Rahib opposite the town of Ayta Shaab in Lebanon using appropriate weaponry, the statement added.

In another statement, the group also said it targeted the Israeli Baghdadi site opposite the Lebanese town of Meiss Al Jabal.

1616 GMT — Fifty killed as Israeli jets bomb two schools in Gaza

At least 50 people have been killed and hundreds of others injured in Israeli airstrikes on two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza, according to the official news agency Wafa.

Israeli fighter jets and artillery cannons shelled the UN-run Salah Ad-Din school and Martyr Assad Safwati school in Al Darraj neighbourhood, Wafa reported, citing local sources.

1525 GMT — Genocide is often preceded by warning signs and must be prevented: UN rights chief

The UN human rights chief said the world must remember that genocide is often preceded or accompanied by statements from political leaders and other public figures that dehumanize and demonize people from targeted communities.

"Important lessons of the Holocaust, whose indescribable crimes led to the Convention – and the lessons of Cambodia, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and others – made it absolutely clear that preventing genocide, and bringing its perpetrators to account before all humanity, is essential to the work of advancing human rights," Volker Turk said.

He was speaking at a meeting to mark the 75th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Turk said that the prohibition of genocide is not an ordinary rule of international law. "It is an overriding principle for all humanity and all States to follow at all times and without exception," he said.

"The convention calls on all states and people to maintain vigilance, and it demands action to prevent and to punish genocide," said the UN rights chief.

1451 GMT — Almost 1.9M Palestinian displaced across Gaza — UN

Almost 1.9 million people, or over 80 percent of the population, have been displaced across Gaza since October 7, the UN Agency for Palestinian refugees or UNRWA has said in a statement.

As of December 2, 111 UNRWA staffers have been killed since the beginning of Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave, it added.

The Israeli army resumed bombing Gaza early on Friday after declaring an end to a weeklong humanitarian pause.

1444 GMT — Palestinian killed, 22 injured by Israeli fire

One Palestinian was killed and 22 others were injured in an Israeli military raid in the Qalandia refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

Israeli forces raided the Qalandia camp and the Kafr Aqab neighbourhood north of the occupied East Jerusalem early morning, witnesses said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics dealt with 22 injuries in the camp, including 15 by live fire.

1336 GMT — Cost of Gaza war increases to $51B for Israel

Israel's Finance Ministry has said the initial cost of the Gaza war at $51B, up from a previous estimate of $44B.

1333 GMT — Complete outage of communication services in Gaza

Palestinian telecommunications companies said that communication services in Gaza were completely cut off due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment.

1321 GMT — Rising civilian deaths in Gaza absolutely unacceptable: Spanish premier

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reiterated that the soaring civilian deaths in the relentless Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza are absolutely unacceptable, local media reported.

Speaking to Cadena SER radio, he said: "I aspire to have the best relationship with Israel, but I am above all concerned about the death of civilians."

1304 GMT — Thirty Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on northern Gaza

At least 30 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on northern Gaza, a Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported.

Fighter jets struck several inhabited homes in Al Zaytoun and Al Shujaiya neighborhoods east of Gaza, Wafa said.

According to the broadcaster, the majority of the victims were children.

Two people were also killed and 10 others injured in airstrikes targeting civil defense crews in Al Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza

Overall 15,899 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct 7, 70 percent of them women and children, Gaza-based Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson said.

1255 GMT — Suffering in Gaza 'intolerable': Red Cross

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross has said that she had arrived in Israeli-bombarded Gaza, warning that the suffering in the Palestinian territory was "intolerable".

"I repeat our urgent call for civilians to be protected in line with the laws of war and for aid to enter unimpeded," Mirjana Spoljaric said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that "the hostages must be released and ICRC allowed to safely visit them".

1209 GMT — Israel arrests 60 more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank

A joint statement by the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said most of the arrests took place in Hebron and Bethlehem in the southern West Bank.

“The arrests were marked by abuse, brutal beatings, threats against detainees and their families, along with acts of sabotage and destruction in the homes of citizens,” the statement said.

1137 GMT — Berlin urges Israel to guarantee 'realistic' protection to Gaza civilians

Germany urged Israel to guarantee "realistic" protection to civilians in Gaza, as Israel moved ground forces into the south of the territory in its attacks on the Palestinian enclave.

"Something we expect from Israel is that they not only urge civilians to leave the danger zone, but that they are in a realistic position to find safe shelter elsewhere," foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer told a regular press briefing.

"Too many civilians have already been killed in this war," he said.

1132 GMT — Israeli army hits 200 targets in Gaza overnight

The Israeli army announced that it attacked 200 targets in Gaza last night and that a soldier was “seriously wounded” in battles in the northern enclave.

In another statement, the Israeli army announced that a soldier was “seriously wounded” in battles in northern Gaza.

1033 GMT — Operations in Gaza's north almost done: Israeli general

The commander of Israel's armoured corps has said that he and other ground forces were close to achieving their "war mission" in northern Gaza and were operating elsewhere in the Palestinian enclave "against Hamas".

"The goals in the northern section have almost been met," Brigadier-General Hisham Ibrahim told Israel's Army Radio. "We are beginning to expand the ground manoeuvre to other parts of the Strip, with one goal: to topple the Hamas."

0954 GMT — Israeli tanks enter Gaza's south in major ground invasion

Dozens of Israeli tanks have entered the southern part of Gaza near Khan Younis, witnesses told AFP, with the Israeli military widely expected to start ground operations in the area soon.

Armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers were also seen.

Amin Abu Hola, 59, said the Israeli vehicles were "two kilometres inside" the Palestinian territory in the village of al Qarara near Khan Younis, while Moaz Mohammed, 34, said Israeli tanks were on the southern part of Salah al-Din road which runs from the north to the south of the enclave.

0853 GMT — Netanyahu will be tried as war criminal: Türkiye's Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be tried as a war criminal over Israel's ongoing invasion in Gaza.

In a speech to a meeting of an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) committee in Istanbul, Erdogan said that Gaza is Palestinian land and will always belong to the Palestinians.

0749 GMT — Israel orders mass evacuations as it widens ground invasion

The Israeli military has renewed its calls for mass evacuations from the southern town of Khan Younis, where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge in recent weeks, as it widened its ground invasion and bombarded targets across Gaza.

The ground invasion has transformed much of the north, including large parts of Gaza City, into a rubble-filled wasteland. Hundreds of thousands of people have sought refuge in the south under Israel's orders, but the south could meet the same fate as the north, and both Israel and neighbouring Egypt have refused to accept any refugees.

Residents said they heard air strikes and explosions in and around Khan Younis overnight and into Monday after the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning people to leave further south toward the border with Egypt.

In an Arabic language post on social media early Monday, the Israeli military again ordered the evacuation of nearly two dozen neighbourhoods in and around Khan Younis.

0745 GMT — Two more Palestinians killed by Israeli army gunfire in West Bank

Two more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army gunfire in the city of Qalqilya in the northern occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said it was informed by the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs “of the death of two young men killed by Israeli occupation bullets, and that their bodies were held during the aggression against Qalqilya.”

The ministry stated that the death toll in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of the year has risen to 464, including 256 killed since October 7. Some 3,100 others have been injured.

0724 GMT - Death toll of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza rises to 75

The Israeli army has said that the death toll of soldiers killed in Gaza has risen to 75 since it expanded the ground invasion in the enclave on October 27.

Three more soldiers have been killed and another soldier sustained serious injuries in clashes in Gaza, the Israeli army said.

0325 GMT — Israeli army opens fire on 2 ambulances in Gaza

The Israeli army opened fire on two ambulances in blockaded Gaza late Sunday, wounding three people.

The incident occurred in the Faluja area in northern Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent said in a statement.

Two paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent and a third person were wounded.

The Israeli army also bombed a house in Gaza on Sunday belonging to a Jordanian family, according to a statement from the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.

One Jordanian citizen was killed while another one was seriously wounded in the attack, said the ministry. The wounded person was transferred to Al Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, it added.

0219GMT — Israeli settlers wound 2 Palestinian children in West Bank

Israeli settlers shot and wounded at least two Palestinian children on Sunday in the village of Deir Qaddis west of the city of Ramallah in the West Bank.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that settlers stormed the Al-Muhallal area in the village and opened fire on residents, wounding two children aged 12 and 14. It said one was shot in the foot and the other in the thigh, adding they were transferred to a hospital.

“Ambulance crews treated two injured people who were later transferred to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah to complete treatment,” Raed Al-Khatib, head of the West Ramallah Emergency Center, told Anadolu.

“Both were injuries caused major lacerations. However, their conditions are now stable,” he added.

0100 GMT — Israeli army to 'fight hard' in southern Gaza

The Israeli army said that its forces will fight in southern Gaza against Hamas fighters “as they did in the north.”

"We fought hard and thoroughly in the north of Gaza and we will do it now in the south,” said Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

Halevi “toured the Gaza Division and had a conversation with the reservists in the sector,” according to an army statement.

Meanwhile, Israeli Army Radio reported that the army embarked on a ground invasion in southern Gaza.

It said the army began operating in the north of Khan Younis.

0030 GMT — Yemen’s Houthi group says it targeted 2 Israeli ships in Red Sea

Yemen’s Houthi group said that it targeted two Israeli ships in the Bab al Mandab Strait in the Red Sea with a naval missile and a drone.

“The Naval Forces in the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against two Israeli ships in Bab Al Mandab, namely the ship Unity Explorer and the ship Number Nine, where the first ship was targeted with a naval missile and the second with a marine drone,” said spokesman Yahya Saree.

Saree said “the targeting operation came after the two ships ignored the warning messages from the Yemeni Naval Forces.”

“The Yemeni Armed Forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating in the Red and Arabian Seas until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in Gaza stops,” he said.

0019 GMT — At least 4 killed in Israeli attack on hospital in northern Gaza

At least four people were killed and nine others wounded in an Israeli strike late Sunday that targeted the entrance to a hospital in the northern Gaza, local media reported.

An Israeli drone fired a missile targeting the northern gate of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the city of Jabalia, said the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

“Over 10,000 displaced people are seeking shelter at the hospital,” WAFA noted.

2330 GMT — Qatar to continue efforts to resume humanitarian pause in Gaza: Premier

Qatar said that it will continue its efforts with other countries to resume the humanitarian pause in Gaza with the goal of reaching a permanent ceasefire.

“The State of Qatar spared no effort in the mediation process to stop that retaliation war,” Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said in a speech during the 158th Preparatory Ministerial Council meeting of the 44th session of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in Doha, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

Al Thani reiterated “the State of Qatar's condemnation of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation and its calling for an immediate, comprehensive and impartial international investigation into those crimes, especially the attacks that targeted civilian, relief and humanitarian facilities.”

For our live updates from Sunday (December 3), click here.