Israel’s war on Gaza updates: Israeli attacks on shelters a ‘pattern’: UN
UNRWA says Israeli assurances of protecting civilians “not followed up”, as death toll from shelter attack rises to 13.
- Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 200 Palestinians in the last 24 hours and injured 370, as Israeli forces surround Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals in Khan Younis.
- At least 20 killed and 150 wounded as Israeli tanks fire shells and live rounds at people in northern Gaza City who lined up to receive much-needed humanitarian supplies, health officials say.
- Gaza Health Ministry says Israeli attacks have killed 200 Palestinians in the last 24 hours and injured 370, as Israeli forces surround Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals in Khan Younis.
- At least 20 killed and 150 wounded as Israeli tanks fire shells and live rounds at people in northern Gaza City who lined up to receive much-needed humanitarian supplies, health officials say.
- The Israeli military demolished hundreds of buildings near its fence with Gaza as it seeks to create “a buffer zone” in clear defiance of US demands.
- Death toll from yesterday’s Israeli attack on UNRWA facility in Khan Younis rises to 13, as UN says Israel’s assurances of protecting civilians not being followed.
- At least 25,900 people have been killed and 64,110 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.
US officially confirms retaliatory strikes against Iran-allied militias
The US army’s Central Command has issued a statement via X, confirming reports of air strikes in Iraq and Syria.
The US struck 85 targets belonging to “Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps [IRGC] Quds Force and affiliated militia groups”, CENTCOM said.
“The facilities that were struck included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against US and Coalition forces,” the statement added.
CENTCOM Statement on U.S. Stikes in Iraq and Syria
At 4:00 p.m. (EST) Feb. 02, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups. U.S. military forces… pic.twitter.com/q9gFDxppmo
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 2, 2024
Here’s what happened today
We will be closing the live blog soon. Here is a quick recap of the day’s main events:
- An Israeli attack has killed at least 20 people waiting for humanitarian assistance in Gaza City, sparking outrage and calls for international interventions to protect Palestinian civilians.
- Heavy fighting continues in Khan Younis, where the Health Ministry says Israeli tanks are shelling the area surrounding Nasser Hospital.
- The Israeli military demolishes hundreds of buildings near Israel’s fence with Gaza as it seeks to create “a buffer zone”, despite US opposition to diminishing the size of the Palestinian territory.
- UNRWA says Israel’s assurances of protecting civilians are not being followed after an attack on a UN training centre killed at least 13 people on Thursday.
- CIA chief William Burns will travel to the Middle East to secure another captive deal, according to US media reports.
Is Israel’s war on Gaza a watershed moment in history?
Israel is driving ahead with its war on Gaza, but while it is killing Palestinians, it is failing to destroy Hamas.
As the world watches, Israel is carrying out its slaughter with Western-supplied weapons without restraint.
So, are we at a pivotal point in history for both the Palestinian people and Israel?
Watch Al Jazeera’s Inside Story to hear the debate:
WHO decries ‘inhumane’ displacement of Palestinians in Gaza
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the forced displacement of Gaza’s population is “inhumane”. Earlier in the day, Ghebreyesus said that conditions in Gaza brought back personal memories of living through war as a child.
Ghebreyesus shared a video posted by UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini showing a “sea of people forced to flee Khan Younis” due to Israel’s assault.
“Heartbreaking. Unacceptable. Inhumane,” Ghebreyesus said. “Ceasefire. Protect civilians.”
Heartbreaking. Unacceptable. Inhumane.
Ceasefire. Protect civilians. https://t.co/5kutF6dEFy
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) January 25, 2024
Report: Israel asks foreign embassies if they’re ready for ‘escalation’ of Gaza war
UK newspaper outlet The Financial Times reports that the Israeli government has written to diplomatic missions in the country to inquire if they are equipped with backup generators and satellite phones in case of a ‘security escalation’.
The FT says it saw the letter sent to the embassies by Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which “asked whether the diplomatic missions possessed generators, and how long they would run on a full tank of fuel”.
The report comes as fears that Israel’s war on Gaza could spiral into a regional conflict. Israeli leaders, most notably PM Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gantz, have repeatedly threatened broader conflict with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in recent weeks.
WATCH: Israeli forces open fire during aid distribution
At least 20 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded earlier today when the Israeli army attacked a long line of people waiting for food aid in northern Gaza City.
The wounded and terrified survivors fled to al-Shifa Hospital, where were treated on the floor due to overcrowding.
“We were going to bring flour. We were waiting for the trucks,” Mohammad al-Reafi said from al-Shifa Hospital. “The [Israeli tanks] hit us with four shells.”
Watch our video for more scenes from the ground in Gaza City:
US city of Minneapolis passes ceasefire resolution
The Minnesota city’s council approved the measure in a 9-3 vote. The resolution also urged ending military aid to Israel, releasing Israeli captives in Gaza and freeing Palestinians from Israel’s military prisons.
Several large cities across the country – including Oakland, Detroit and San Francisco – have adopted ceasefire resolutions.
While municipalities have little power over foreign policy, Palestinian rights advocates say the resolutions are important.
“Local government has the ability to amplify these voices, has the ability to be on the right side of history, has the ability to put on the record that there were citizens against this,” Deema Totah, who helped push a ceasefire resolution in Iowa City, told Al Jazeera earlier this month.
“We want future history books to say that this was a unilateral decision by a government whose people did not agree with them.”
We extend heartfelt gratitude to the Minneapolis City Council for passing the veto-proof resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire. Your commitment to peace and justice is commendable and greatly appreciated.
More: https://t.co/zCMPkxWGrz#Ceasefire pic.twitter.com/DWtKP9mgdZ
— CAIR MN (@CAIRMN) January 25, 2024
What will the ICJ announce on Israel’s Gaza war? The possible scenarios
On Friday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will announce its decision on emergency or provisional measures against Israel in an interim verdict after South Africa filed a case against Israel accusing it of committing genocide in Gaza.
The court’s decision could have a significant impact on the war, with high stakes for Palestinians, Israel, and other parties, such as the United States.
What are the possible outcomes of tomorrow’s decision, what could these provisional measures look like, and what might that mean for the people continuing to suffer amid brutal fighting and a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza?
To learn more, you can read our story here.
PRCS doctors remove 1kg piece of shrapnel from Palestinian man
Doctors at al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, operated by the Palestine Red Crescent, have shared photos on social media of a massive piece of shrapnel from a 60-year-old patient’s shoulder. They said the hunk of metal weighs approximately one kilogramme (2.2 pounds).
“The success of the operation is notable given the limited resources and challenging conditions imposed by the Israeli siege on the hospital,” the PRCS wrote on Instagram.
Khan Younis, along with al-Amal Hospital, remains surrounded by Israeli forces and is experiencing heavy fighting, as the Israeli army continues its ground operations in south Gaza.
Hamas rebukes US for calling South Africa’s ICJ claims unfounded
Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq accuses the Biden administration of trying to preempt the UN court’s ruling on South Africa’s petition accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention.
“The American administration still rejects ending the aggression against Gaza by stopping the UN Security Council from passing a resolution to end the aggression and by continuing to supply the occupation forces with weapons and ammo to bomb women and children,” al-Risheq said in a statement.
“This makes the US a biased side and a partner in the crimes of murder. It does not have a right to talk about values and morals and international laws, which it violates in broad daylight.”
Scale of death and destruction in Gaza ‘horrifying’: US congresswoman
Summer Lee, a progressive Democrat who is gearing up for re-election against an expected onslaught of campaign spending by the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC, has renewed her call for a ceasefire.
“We saw a ceasefire work: aid was trickling in [and] Israeli hostages [and] Palestinians were coming home,” she wrote in a social media post. “100 days in, I’m still standing with a majority of Dem voters, humanitarian orgs, [and] families of hostages for a #CeasefireNOW.”
The scale of death & destruction in Gaza is horrifying. We saw a ceasefire work: aid was trickling in & Israeli hostages & Palestinians were coming home.
100 days in, I’m still standing with a majority of Dem voters, humanitarian orgs, & families of hostages for a #CeasefireNOW.
— Congresswoman Summer Lee (@RepSummerLee) January 25, 2024
Al-Quds Brigades claims it hit Israeli forces with mortar fire
The armed wing of the Islamic Jihad says in a statement that it fired on a group of soldiers and vehicles near the Abu Safiya military site east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Obstetrician says pregnant women in Gaza dying from complications in greater numbers
Dr Haya Hijazi, a gynaecologist and obstetrician in Gaza, has spoken to Al Jazeera’s The Stream about the dire situation of pregnant women in the besieged Strip.
“The cases that undergo hysterectomy due to postpartum haemorrhages are increasing, because there is no medical aid to treat them and to deal with them,” she said.
“Postpartum depression is also increasing,” she added, noting that in one case a 23-year-old woman was forced to travel to numerous hospitals only to be turned down as the facilities were strained by bombardment. Hijazi said the girl died from sepsis.
Report: Israeli army detaining Palestinian men fleeing Khan Younis fighting
The Associated Press has reported that Palestinians are fleeing Khan Younis “by the thousands” as fighting in the area intensifies. Palestinians also told the outlet that Israeli forces told them to evacuate the Faisal school where many were sheltering, and detained many young men with little explanation.
“Suddenly, they [the Israeli military] started calling from the microphones to evacuate the site within half an hour,” Amal, a Palestinian mother who gave birth three days ago and fled the school with her newborn, told AP.
“They allowed us to leave, and they made us walk a certain distance, and they took the young men and searched them on the side,” said Israa Khashan, who was also sheltering at the school.
“They took some young men with them and left others, and now we are here, not knowing where to go,” she added.
Why is Canada asking Palestinians to list scars on Gaza visa applications?
Abdallah Alhamadni knows the clock is ticking.
Every day, the 51-year-old Palestinian father of three checks to see whether his efforts to bring his relatives in Gaza to safety have advanced.
But Alhamadni, a Canadian permanent resident who lives in Milton, Ontario, says he is stuck in a dangerous waiting game, as Israel continues to wage war on the Gaza Strip. “We feel paralysed, depressed, frustrated, crying,” he told Al Jazeera.
Read more here about Canada’s programme to that allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents to apply to bring extended family members from Gaza to the country.
Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims attack against US base
The Iran-linked coalition of Iraqi groups has said it targeted a base near the Erbil airport with drones as part of its fight against the “occupying US forces in Iraq and the region” and as a response to the Israeli massacres in Gaza.
Iraqi groups allied with Tehran have stepped up their attacks against US forces since the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza. But the Biden administration has been trying to dismiss the link between regional unrest and the Israeli offensive.
Report: Three Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on central Gaza
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that a young girl is among the three dead from the attack, which hit az-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip. The agency cited local sources.
Wafa also reports that Israeli bombs hit a residential home in the al-Hassayna neighbourhood in the west of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Health ministry in Gaza reports bombing around Nasser Hospital
Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra says tanks are shelling the vicinity of the hospital in Khan Younis, and drones are firing heavily towards the medical centre’s yards and buildings, endangering everyone inside.
We will bring you more information as we get it.
Former US official: Negotiations could ‘lead someplace’ despite Netanyahu intransigence
Speaking with Al Jazeera on Thursday, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb said that CIA director William Burns’s upcoming trip to meet with Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials suggests that negotiations between Hamas and Israel could be nearing something more concrete.
“He [Burns] is not a political appointee. He’s a career foreign service officer; he’s been ambassador to Russia. I think it sends a signal that this is probably going to lead someplace,” Korb said, noting that both US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are under growing pressure to bring the war to an end.
“If you can do this [secure a ceasefire] for two months, that will set the stage for more meaningful negotiations, and empower those people in Israel who see no end to this war and know that Netanyahu, a lot of the reason he’s doing this, is because when this war ends he’ll probably be voted out of office,” Korb added.
Families of Israeli captives block road in Tel Aviv
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reports that a group of protesters containing family members of those held captive in Gaza is blocking a highway in Israel’s capital, demanding the Israeli government work harder to secure their release.
Channel 12 says that members of the Metzger, Monder, Or, Calderon-Dan and Horn families are present in the crowd.
משפחות החטופים יחד עם מוחים נוספים חוסמים בשעה זו את נתיבי איילון. בין המפגינים: בני המשפחות מצגר, מונדר, אור, קלדרון-דן והורן@michalpeylan
צילום: דנור אהרון pic.twitter.com/Ch10Hwplrb
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) January 25, 2024
Serious disagreements remain over prospective Israel-Hamas deal
According to leaks in Israeli media, there is talk about a two-month ceasefire. During that period, you would have a staggered release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli captives held in Gaza. The ratio would be one Israeli captive in exchange for 100 Palestinian detainees, detainees who have been taken from the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
But this is only what we’re hearing from Israel. The Israeli public is not given the full picture, because there are still many sticking points. Hamas has said over and over that it won’t agree to any deal unless it leads to a permanent ceasefire and an end to the war.
Egypt and Qatar are also talking about what happens next. Saudi Arabia has said that there is no normalisation without substantial talk about a two-state solution.
[Israeli PM] Netanyahu has ruled out, over and over again, any kind of political settlement that would lead to the formation of a Palestinian state. He has also ruled out ending the war. He says that Israel has to achieve its military goals. So there are some very serious sticking points, and it’s hard to see how they would reach a compromise on them. It will take some time still.
Doctors treat wounded Palestinians by flashlight in Khan Younis
A doctor at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city has shared video that we verified on his Instagram account showing him intubating an injured patient, working only by the light of mobile phone flashlights.
“Today, in the intensive care unit of the emergency department, I was trying to resuscitate this patient without electricity, without tools, and without anesthesia, only flashlights, and God’s grace,” his post reads.
The two main hospitals in Khan Younis, Nasser and al-Amal, have been completely surrounded by Israeli forces and come under repeated attack in recent days, as Israel has concentrated its ground operations on the city.
US won’t say if Israel should abide by ICJ ruling
US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel was elusive when asked whether Israel should follow the UN court’s verdict on South Africa’s request for provisional measures to stop suspected violations of the genocide convention in Gaza.
While Patel said Israel should abide by international humanitarian law, he declined to commit to accepting the International Court of Justice’s decision tomorrow. The court could order Israel to halt its offensive in Gaza.
“This is a legal process, and I’m not gonna hypothesise or speculate on any kind of outcome,” Patel told reporters, reiterating the position of the administration of US President Joe Biden that the genocide allegations against Israel are unfounded.
Pressed by reporters – with one journalist noting that Hamas has said it would honour an ICJ-ordered ceasefire – Patel pivoted to rebuking the Palestinian group.
“That suggests you’re waiting to see what the verdict will be, and then you’ll decide whether you agree with the verdict or not,” another reporter said.
WHO: Displaced Palestinians unable to access medical services
Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), has told Al Jazeera that “relentless bombardment” has pushed Palestinian civilians further south, while medical assistance remains out of reach amid Israeli restrictions and fighting.
“Many hospitals are not working, there is no specialised staff, there is no medicine, and in many instances it is simply impossible to reach hospitals because roads are damaged, because there is insecurity,” said Jasarevic.
“Only 14 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are functioning at a minimal level. But it was really difficult to get there. Many times our missions have not been granted security clearances to go there. There were delays at the checkpoints, and it was impossible to reach hospitals.”