Israel-Hamas war updates: WHO urges fuel, healthcare deliveries to Gaza
World Health Organization says thousands of vulnerable patients at risk as Gaza health facilities face power shortages.
This live page is now closed. For the latest live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, follow along here.
This live page is now closed. For the latest live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, follow along here.
- The World Health Organization warns that without “vital fuel and additional health supplies”, thousands of vulnerable patients in Gaza will be at risk.
- Palestinian top diplomat deplores inaction by the UN Security Council to stop “massacres”, as Gaza health ministry says 704 people killed in Israeli air raids in last 24 hours.
- France’s President Macron, in Tel Aviv, suggested the Western coalition fighting ISIL could turn its guns on Hamas. He also called for “decisive relaunch” of the Palestinian peace process.
- Iran says Palestinian groups in Gaza are acting without any direction from Tehran.
- At least 5,791 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza, while more than 1,400 people killed in Israel since October 7.
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For the latest live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, follow along here.
You can read a personal essay about the situation in Gaza here and an on-the-ground report about a 10-day-old baby at Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital who has been described as a symbol of “victory against ugly Israeli aggression” here.
Here’s a look back at today’s events
We are going to bring our live coverage to an end soon. Here’s a summary of today’s main events:
- Israel has bombed in the vicinity of the Palestine Red Crescent headquarters and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, the Palestinian health society says.
- The Palestine Red Crescent says eight trucks of humanitarian aid have entered Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
- About 50 people have been killed across the Gaza Strip in the past few hours, says Ashraf al-Qedra, the Palestinian health ministry spokesperson.
- The World Health Organization has called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” to allow for the passage of fuel and healthcare supplies to Gaza, warning that thousands of vulnerable patients will be at risk otherwise.
- More than 700 Palestinians have been killed in overnight Israeli air raids on Gaza – the highest 24-hour death toll since Israel began bombarding the besieged enclave this month.
- The Israeli military says it repelled a sea attack north of Gaza, adding that its navy attacked fighters as they “tried to penetrate into Israeli territory in the Zikim area”.
- World leaders have spoken during a meeting at the United Nations Security Council, where several countries – including Jordan and Egypt – called for a humanitarian pause.
- The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it is important to recognise that Hamas’s October 7 attack “did not happen in a vacuum”.
- Speaking in Tel Aviv, French President Emmanuel Macron suggested that the Western coalition fighting ISIL (ISIS) could be widened to fight Hamas in Gaza.
Israeli forces raid Jenin
Israeli military forces are conducting a raid on Jenin, where they have fought with armed Palestinians in the northern occupied West Bank city.
Jenin, and particularly its refugee camp, is a base for Palestinian armed resistance to the Israeli occupation, who regularly battle Israeli forces during the latter’s raids.
We’ll have more on this as we get it.
Iranian ambassador to the UN: ‘US has exacerbated the conflict’
Speaking at the UN Security Council debate, Iran’s ambassador says the US has sought to “wrongly place the blame on Iran” for the region’s surging insecurity.
“The United States’s unwavering support for the [Israeli] occupation and aggression has rendered it an active part of the problem,” Saeed Iravani said.
“The US has further exacerbated the conflict by … aligning itself with the aggressor at the expense of the innocent Palestinian population,” he said, referring to Israel.
“The rapid provision of military and logistical support to the oppressive occupying regime has made the US complicit in the brutal massacre of innocent Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”
Blinken had earlier told the council that Iran and its proxies were destabilising the region, with the US secretary of state adding that Washington would respond if its personnel were harmed.
Two dozen US military personnel wounded in Syria, Iraq attacks: Report
NBC News has reported that more US military personnel were wounded in attacks on bases in Iraq and Syria than previously disclosed.
Citing US Central Command (CENTCOM), the news outlet said that 20 US military personnel sustained injuries during an attack on the al-Tanf base in Syria on October 18.
That same day, four others were wounded in an attack on Ain al-Asad in Iraq, NBC reported, adding that all the injuries were minor.
The report comes after a Pentagon spokesman said earlier today that there had been 10 attacks on bases housing US personnel in Iraq and three attacks in Syria between October 17 and 24.
Blinken, the top US diplomat, also said today that Washington would respond if its personnel in the region were harmed.
Al Jazeera has reached out to CENTCOM for confirmation. We’ll bring you more information when we get it.
Qatar ‘believes in mediation, dialogue’: UN envoy
Qatar’s UN representative has said the Gulf country will “increase” its diplomatic efforts after it helped secure the release of several captives held in Gaza in recent days.
“We will continue to increase our efforts with our friendly states and international partners,” said Sheikha Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani.
“The State of Qatar really believes in mediation and dialogue for a peaceful resolution of conflicts,” she also told the Security Council earlier.
Qatar’s UN representative renews call for ceasefire in Gaza
Qatar’s UN representative has called for a “complete ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, the release of all captives held in the territory and the delivery of critical humanitarian supplies to Palestinians.
Sheikha Alya Ahmed Saif Al Thani told the UN Security Council that Qatar has been following the developments in Gaza with “extreme concern”.
“We reaffirm our condemnation of all forms of attacks against civilians, particularly against children and women,” she said.
She added that Qatar also “categorically rejects” the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which has deprived millions of Palestinians of basic needs.
Watch: What’s the extent of US military aid to Israel in its war on Gaza?
Washington has been sending military assets to the region for “deterrence purposes”.
Refugee camps, hospitals, apartment blocks – nowhere in Gaza is safe during Israel’s bombardment.
The humanitarian needs are dire and growing by the minute. Yet, Israel’s biggest ally – the US – is still not calling for a ceasefire.
Instead, it is sending more military assets to the region. Washington says the aircraft carriers and naval support vessels will serve as a deterrence.
But could American troops join the war? And what would this mean for the Middle East?
Palestine Red Crescent says delivered more than 16,300 food parcels in last 24 hours
The food parcels were distributed in Central Gaza as well as Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, the Red Crescent said in a social media post.
The post included photos showing people in PRCS vests taking boxes off flatbed trucks.
The Palestine Red Crescent teams distributed 16,301 food parcels to displaced families in Al-Wusta (Central), Khan Younis, and Rafah governorates over the past 24 hours.#HumanitarianAid #Gaza pic.twitter.com/hXHLMGgG0E
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) October 24, 2023
Gaza health ministry calls for unimpeded flow of medical aid, fuel
Ashraf al-Qedra, the Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson, has called for the “immediate flow” of much-needed medical supplies and fuel into the Gaza Strip.
“After the complete collapse of the healthcare system, we need an immediate flow of medical aid and fuel to restore work in our life-saving departments,” he wrote on X.
His remarks come as the WHO warned that without “vital fuel and additional health supplies”, thousands of vulnerable patients in Gaza will be at risk.
Hamas sea attack shows new approach but likely reduced capacity: Former US official
A sea attack by Hamas shows that the group is exploring “another way to accomplish their objectives”, according to Lawrence Korb, a former US assistant defence secretary.
“I think it does show how clever they are,” Korb told Al Jazeera.
But it is also likely a reflection that Hamas is straining under the Israeli bombardment, he added.
“A lot of their ground forces have been decimated by the Israeli air strikes that have been getting more and more intense every day since October 7,” Korb said.
“I don’t know if they planned on this going on so long or if they thought the Israelis wouldn’t respond, but it seems to me there was only so much that they could stockpile that will enable them to keep fighting at the pace Israel is, because Israel is not only a top class military, but they’re getting a lot of military aid from the United States.”
Academics, experts sign open letter calling for ceasefire
A group of Middle East and North Africa experts have signed an open letter to several Western governments, including the US and UK, calling on them to push for a de-escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict and arguing that war crimes have been committed by both parties.
The letter called into question the policies pushed forward by the Western governments it addresses, saying they had not emphasised the “moral and strategic obligation to ensure that Israel’s self-defence is characterised by international humanitarian law and leads to an end to the occupation”.
The signatories, who are associated with institutions such as the International Crisis Group, Chatham House and Cambridge University, say they are advocating “for an immediate ceasefire, the provision of humanitarian aid to all in need, and the return to political processes that can facilitate just and fair resolutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.
Photos: Hundreds rally in Tel Aviv to demand release of captives
Hundreds of people have taken to the streets in Tel Aviv to demand that the Israeli government secure the release of captives seized by Hamas in its October 7 attack on southern Israel.
The demonstrators in Tel Aviv sang songs and held placards with pictures of those missing and feared kidnapped with the words “Bring them home now”.
See photos from the rally here.
Israeli military says no further threat after sea attack
The Israeli military has given more details on coastal fighting near the boundary between southern Israel and the northern Gaza Strip.
The military earlier said it had propelled an attack. It now says that Hamas fighters had come out “through a tunnel shaft” and that at least 10 were killed.
“Fighter jets and naval forces attacked … the shaft from which the terrorists came out and the warehouse of weapons used by the terrorists,” the military said.
Hamas’s armed wing earlier said its fighters had managed to “infiltrate” the Zikim area by sea.
How much fuel does Gaza need for healthcare, basic necessities?
International calls are growing louder for Israel to allow fuel into the Gaza Strip as healthcare facilities in the besieged enclave are collapsing.
In recent days, top UN agencies and officials have outlined just how much fuel is needed across the Gaza Strip:
- The World Health Organization says 34,000 litres of fuel delivered to four major hospitals is only enough to keep ambulances and critical hospital functions running for a little more than 24 hours.
- A UN official tells the Security Council that 400,000 litres would meet overall fuel needs in the Palestinian territory for approximately 2.5 days.
More from AJ senior analyst Marwan Bishara on Netanyahu’s Gaza strategy
Bishara says the Israeli prime minister “is trying to prove something” with his country’s offensive in Gaza “because he has demonstrated to be a major failure”.
Here’s more from Al Jazeera’s senior analyst:
“The fact that this [October 7 attack by Hamas] happened under his watch … [Netanyahu is] trying to move [away] from political failure and liability, to be a wartime leader.
“I think the more bloody the war, the more prolonged the war, the more the possibility he wishes that he could come out of it as some sort of a ‘war hero’ at the expense of Palestinian bloodshed.
“I think he would, because he’s proven to be quite the opportunist, you know, quite the political animal that would sacrifice anything for its own legacy.”
Israeli bombs near Red Crescent HQ, al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis
Israel has bombed in the vicinity of the Palestine Red Crescent headquarters and al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, the Palestinian health society says.
The Red Crescent said the air raid in Khan Younis caused injuries and extensive damage.
More than 4,000 displaced Palestinians are seeking shelter at the hospital, it added.
🚨An #Israeli airstrike has caused injuries and extensive damage near Palestine Red Crescent headquarter and Al-Amal Hospital in #KhanYounis, where over 4,000 displaced people seek refuge. #Gaza_Genocide #WarCrimesinGaza#NotATarget pic.twitter.com/xICIElpJYy
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) October 24, 2023
Israeli war cabinet, government trade blame over delay of land invasion: AJ analyst
Al Jazeera’s senior analyst Marwan Bishara speaks about the purported rift in Israeli politics:
“There is some fire going on in the war cabinet and in the government in general, and they’ve been blaming each other as to why the land invasion has been delayed.
“Now, of course, for the military, it could be because they are preparing for the various war scenarios that are very complicated … and [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu has his own issues, of course with various political pressures, especially from [US] President Biden, who wants to hear more details about the end game here, and what is the strategy of Israel in Gaza and beyond.
“My sense is that the vision will probably happen as the bombardment of Gaza achieves its goals of crippling the Palestinian society, economy, and even livelihood within the Strip, making it easier for an invading army to be able to fight the ground war.”
US Muslim group says ‘unacceptable’ for Biden not to support ceasefire
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said, “If President Biden wanted to force the Israeli government to allow Americans trapped in Gaza to evacuate, he could do so today”.
It added, “Our nation is instead actively enabling the Israeli government’s mass bombing of men, women and children in Gaza, including both American citizens who cannot evacuate because of the blockade and American citizens reportedly held hostage.”
The statement comes just hours after Kirby, a White House spokesman, told reporters that a ceasefire “only benefits Hamas” but that humanitarian pauses “ought to be considered”.
Eight aid trucks enter Gaza via Rafah: Palestine Red Crescent
The Palestine Red Crescent says five of the trucks are carrying water, two are transporting food, and one is bringing medicine into the enclave.
The Palestine Red Crescent receives the fourth batch of humanitarian aid from its Egyptian counterpart at the Rafah crossing, consisting of 8 trucks:
5 trucks of water
2 trucks of food
1 truck of medicine.#Gaza #humantarianaid pic.twitter.com/y5bZUOGCPe— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) October 24, 2023
‘Silence tantamount to giving blessing’: Egypt’s top diplomat
Speaking during the UN Security Council debate, Egypt’s foreign minister accused some governments of not taking a stand against Israel’s actions in Gaza.
“Not naming things by their names and merely calling for respecting international humanitarian law, without describing what is happening as an actual violation of international humanitarian law and human rights,” Sameh Shoukry said.
“All this is tantamount to participating in the crimes, reducing the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
Reporting from New York, Al Jazeera’s Kristen Saloomey said Shoukry’s words were a variation on a theme expressed by several Arab leaders addressing the council today.
However, the hours of speeches today showed little sign the Security Council was approaching any unity on next steps. “It seems if anything, there’s more division,” she said.
No one is left to mourn in Gaza, as Israel’s bombs deliver daily death
Welcome to Gaza, a place where every phone call bears the news of somebody being killed, every message conveys the destruction of a friend’s home, and each air strike sends tremors of fear through your heart.
In this land, “home” is no longer a sanctuary for living and relaxation; it’s a precarious existence, subject to sudden devastation without warning.
The biggest hope one clings to is simply staying alive with their family, avoiding the heart-wrenching loss of a loved one or facing a collective demise.
Consider the families erased from the civil registry, obliterated together. At first glance, it seems like a catastrophe, but on closer examination, it resembles a tragic yet merciful conclusion under the relentless bombings.
Read more here.
‘We need fuel, and we need it urgently,’ UNRWA says
Juliette Touma, director of communications at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), tells Al Jazeera the organisation faces the prospect of having to suspend its humanitarian assistance in Gaza amid a lack of fuel.
Here is more of what she had to say:
“If we do not get an urgent shipment of fuel in the coming 24 hours, we might be forced to hold our humanitarian operations – one of the largest in the history of this UN agency.
“We are hosting 600,000 people in over 160 underground facilities, including schools, medical facilities, and other buildings like warehouses … We’re so stretched that we have to open warehouses to receive the displaced.
“Supplies are also running out, so we will not be able to give any supplies to [Palestinians in Gaza]. We will not be able to do very simple things like start our fleet of cars or turn on the trucks and go pick up those supplies that are coming in from the borders.
“We have been supporting, for example, bakeries in the Gaza Strip with wheat flour that needs cars to deliver that wheat flour. And just the very basics of our humanitarian operations, we won’t be able to continue to do [that] … We need fuel, and we need it urgently.”
If you’re just joining us, here are the latest updates
It’s nearly 20:00 GMT (11pm in the Palestinian territories and Israel). Here’s all you need to know about the latest developments:
- At least 50 people have been killed in various areas across the Gaza Strip in the past hour, says Ashraf al-Qedra, the Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson.
- More than 700 Palestinians have been killed in overnight Israeli air raids on Gaza, according to Palestinian officials, creating the highest 24-hour death toll since Israel’s offensive on Gaza began.
- Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari says Israel is still staunchly opposed to allowing fuel into the Gaza Strip.
- The WHO has called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” to allow for the passage of fuel and healthcare supplies into Gaza, warning that thousands of vulnerable patients will be at risk otherwise.
- The UN says 20 trucks that were due to deliver aid to Gaza via the Rafah crossing with Egypt have not yet entered the enclave, marking a day without any aid delivery.
Jordan FM says will ‘confront’ any forced displacement
Speaking at the UN Security Council debate, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has warned that the cycle of violence would continue if the council does not intervene.
He called on the UN body to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Violence is born out of the death of hope,” he said. “We will not allow for fury, for anger, for pain to determine our future. That will only beget more fury, more pain.
“Only a just peace will assure Israel or Palestine’s security … The crisis has become deeper because there’s no prospects for ending occupation,” Safadi said.
He added Amman would “confront” any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza during the fighting.