US President Joe Biden tells Netanyahu ‘much more assistance urgently required’ in Gaza
US President Joe Biden has issued a warning to Israel as its war with Hamas heads into its it third month. Warning: Graphic
The UN Security Council will meet in Gaza on Friday to vote on urging an immediate ceasefire after weeks of ruinous war, as Israel continues its intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
In a letter to the council on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres took the extraordinary step of invoking the UN charter’s Article 99, which states that the secretary-general may bring to the attention of the council “any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.” No one in his job had done this in decades.
Guterres wrote: “Amid constant bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces, and without shelter or the essentials to survive, I expect public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible.”
He called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” to prevent “a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians” and the entire Middle East.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric expressed hope that the council will heed Mr Guterres’ urgent appeal.
Mr Dujarric said that since Wednesday the UN chief has spoken with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and their counterparts from several other countries.
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Meanwhile, The United Nations aid chief has said that the organisation’s operation in southern Gaza is no longer able to function properly.
“Our humanitarian program is no longer a functioning one. It is one of response to opportunity,” UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said.
“Trucks entering Gaza must navigate demolished roads, and if they manage to do so, they can then perhaps disseminate some food or water to some people.
“It’s erratic. It’s undependable. And frankly, it’s not sustainable.”
It comes as the pace of the Israeli military operation is a direct “repeat of the assault in northern Gaza,” Mr Griffiths said.
Since Tuesday, the Israel Defence Forces has been operating in the southern city of Khan Younis, engaged in “intense battles” with Hamas fighters.
Footage shows a slew of injured Palestinians rushing into the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis following a barrage of Israeli strikes.
At least 17,177 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the official death toll stands at about 1150.
“None of us can see where this will end. None of us can see where the people crammed into that southern pocket of Gaza will go — those 2 million people,” Mr Griffiths said.
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BIDEN ISSUES ‘URGENT’ GAZA WARNING
The White House said US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in their latest phone call that “much more assistance was urgently required” in Gaza.
That came shortly after the UN’s aid chief said a comprehensive humanitarian operation in the enclave was non-exist due to the heavy Israeli offensive.
Mr Biden also “emphasised the critical need to protect civilians and to separate the civilian population from Hamas”, the White House said, while reiterating “concern about extremist violence” against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
DOZENS OF MEN INCLUDING JOURNALIST CAPTURED
Footage from Gaza shows dozens of Palestinian men stripped and detained by Israeli troops after they were taken from UN-affiliated schools.
The footage circulated widely on social media shows the mostly naked men blindfolded and bound with their arms behind their backs.
Video and images showed several groups of men piled into the back of a military vehicle, grouped on a sidewalk, or kneeling in the sand.
An eyewitness said at least seven men were shot dead by troops for not complying with the soldiers’ orders fast enough, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.
At least some of the men are civilians with no known affiliation to militant groups, according to a conversation CNN had with one of their relatives and a statement by one of their employers, a news network.
Among those detained is journalist Diaa Kahlout, who works for London-based The New Arab. His sister told Euro-Med Monitor that Mr Kahlout was forced to leave his disabled seven-year-old child “on her own” and was taken at gunpoint before he was stripped and “beaten severely”.
The news outlet also confirmed Mr Kahout’s brothers and relatives were arrested, forced to disrobe and subjected to humiliating searches. They were then taken to an undisclosed location.
It called on “the international community, journalists’ rights defenders and watchdogs, and human rights bodies to denounce this ongoing assault”.
×ª×ž×•× ×•×ª ×ž×©× ×•×ª תודעה: עשרות ×¢×¦×•×¨×™× ×¢×–×ª×™×, ייתכן מחבלי חמ×ס, × ×ª×¤×¡×• ×ו × ×›× ×¢×•, למרות ההתחייבות "×œ× × ×¨×™× ×“×’×œ לבן, ×œ× × ×™×›× ×¢".
— Baruch Yedid, ברוך ידיד, باروخ يديد (@BaruchYedid) December 7, 2023
לצד ×¦×™×œ×•× ×ž×¤×§×“×ª צפון של חמ×ס ×‘×ž× ×”×¨×•×ª, חשיפת הקבלות ×¢"ש ×‘× ×• של ×”× ×™×”, כיבוש כיכר פלסטין בעזה, כל ×לו ×ž×©× ×™× ×ª×•×“×¢×”. pic.twitter.com/gWADK72o9P
JEWISH AMERICAN ACTIVISTS HOLD ‘CHANUKAH FOR CEASEFIRE’
Rabbi Miriam Grossman says the demonstrators who gathered in New York City are “horrified by Israel’s brutal siege, denying children food and water, and by decades of occupation and dispossession done in our name”.
Rabbi Grossman said activists are mourning the killings and kidnappings in Israel on October 7, as well as the “horrifying mass murder” of more than 17,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
“We fight the war, and fight to end the occupation and fight to end apartheid together,” he said.
NEW YORK: Hundreds of Jews & neighbors are lighting a NINE-FOOT TALL MENORAH decorated with the word “Ceasefire.â€
— IfNotNow🔥 (@IfNotNowOrg) December 8, 2023
On the first night of Chanukah, we’re making it clear:
End the siege on Gaza. Release all hostages. We are #JewsForCeasefire. pic.twitter.com/tV34aluTLW
18 fAMILY MEMBERS OF GAZA HEALTH MINISTRY DIRECTOR-GENERAL KILLED
An overnight Israeli airstrike has killed 18 family members of Dr Munir Al-Bursh, director-general of the Health Ministry in Gaza.
Several of the bodies arrived at the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza as Dr Al-Bursh, including the body of his one week old granddaughter who was killed.
Video from the hospital shows Dr Al-Bursh kneeling on the ground before bodies wrapped in sheets. At least five covered bodies can be seen in the video.
Dr Al-Bursh uncovers the face of one of the deceased, an adult male, and touches his face, the video shows.
He said the man is his nephew, a university professor with a law degree, days shy of obtaining a doctorate in international law, who “everyone knows for his kindness.”
“The Israeli occupation wants to kill hope in us. It wants to diminish our youth, children and women. It targets academics and learners, as well as children. He demolishes houses on the heads of their residents, not distinguishing between old and young,” Dr Al-Bursh said in the video.
REUTERS JOURNALIST KILLED ‘DELIBERATE’
Two Israeli strikes in Lebanon on October 13 that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists was a “deliberate attack on civilians”, according to the Human Rights Watch.
Witness accounts and video and photo evidence that Human Rights Watch verified indicate that the journalists were well removed from ongoing hostilities, clearly identifiable as members of the media, and had been stationary for at least 75 minutes before they were hit by two consecutive strikes.
Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a military target near the journalists’ location.
“This is not the first time that Israeli forces have apparently deliberately attacked journalists, with deadly and devastating results,” researcher from Human Rights Watch Ramzi Kaiss said.
“Those responsible need to be held to account, and it needs to be made clear that journalists and other civilians are not lawful targets.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed seven witnesses, including three of the injured journalists, and analyzed 49 videos and dozens of photos, in addition to satellite images.
Israeli military spokesperson Richard Hecht said that they were “very sorry for the journalist’s death.”
JORDAN’S KING URGES CEASEFIRE IN GAZA DURING CALL WITH BIDEN
King Abdullah II of Jordan called for an “immediate ceasefire” and emphasised the need to protect civilians in Gaza in a phone call with US President Joe Biden, the Royal Hashemite Court said in a statement.
King Abdullah II also expressed deep concern that the humanitarian situation could worsen significantly if military operations persist, the statement said.
The conversation also delved into ensuring the swift delivery of humanitarian and relief aid to Gaza.
The leaders discussed the importance of coordination to bring an end to the ongoing war and establish lasting peace, according to the statement.
The king also reaffirmed Jordan’s rejection of any attempts to forcibly displaced Palestinians within or outside Gaza, and opposed any endeavors to reoccupy parts of the strip.
HEAVY FIGHTING RAGES
Israeli troops are battling Hamas militants in the heart of southern Gaza’s main city in a bid to reach a suspected mastermind of the October 7 attacks is believed to be hiding.
The IDF attempted to break through Hamas’ defences with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and bulldozers in Khan Yunis on Thursday to reach the home of Yahya Sinwar.
Hamas said its fighters were engaged in fierce battles against Israeli troops “on all axes of the incursion into the Gaza Strip”, as it claimed they destroyed two dozen military vehicles in Khan Yunis and Beit Lahia in the north of the territory.
IDF SURROUND HAMAS CHIEF
It comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces had surrounded the home of the Hamas leader, with a spokesman saying it is “underground” in the Khan Yunis area.
“His house may not be his fortress and he can escape but it’s only a matter of time before we get him,” Mr Netanyahu said in a video statement.
A senior Netanyahu adviser also described the operation as a “symbolic victory”.
The IDF said he was surrounded in the city of Khan Younis, which ground forces were moving through, and would be flushed out from his suspected underground bunker.
“Our job is to get to Sinwar and kill him,” IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said, declining to go into specifics of the Sinwar operation.
Earlier, the Israeli army said it had pierced defensive lines and carried out “targeted raids in the heart of the city”, where they found and destroyed 30 tunnel shafts.
Mr Sinwar stands accused of being one of the masterminds of the October 7 attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities, and saw around 240 hostages taken.
He has not been seen in public during the war, and Israel has named him and the leader of Hamas’ armed wing, Mohammed Deif, as its top military targets.
But humanitarian organisations have warned the spread of the war into the south of the Gaza Strip will leave civilians who fled the north, much of which is now destroyed, with nowhere to go.
“We are devastated, mentally overwhelmed,” said Khan Yunis resident Amal Mahdi.
“We need someone to find us a solution so we can get out of this situation.”
The latest toll from the Hamas government said the war has killed more than 16,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children.
UNITED NATIONS INVOKES RARELY USED ARTICLE 99 CLAUSE
The United Nations have invoked the rarely used Article 99 clause of the UN Charter warning the two-month-old war threatened global peace and security.
But the use of the Article 99 questioned the IDF’s continued tactics in Gaza and the Palestinian dead being two thirds civilians and mostly women and children.
Under the clause, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres can prompt the UN Security Council to take action on a crisis that threatens to engulf further nations.
It has only been used three times in history, the last more than 30 years ago in 1989 during Lebanon’s 14-year civil war.
It is only invoked if in the opinion of the secretary-general a crisis “may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security”.
The Portuguese-born Mr Guterres wrote in the letter invoking the clause the situation in Gaza was deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians and the security of the region with mass displacement into other countries likely.
“Facing a severe risk of collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, I urge the Council to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe (and) appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared,” he wrote.
ISRAEL’S HARSH WORDS FOR UN SECRETARY GENERAL
Israel immediately hit back with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen claiming Mr Guterres was a supporter of Hamas and endorsed the murder of the elderly, kidnapping of babies and raping of women.
Mr Netanyahu maintained regardless of international condemnation Israel had a right to defend itself against a Hamas threat and the war would continue.
As he spoke the IDF confirmed it had struck 250 targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours including on a building in Rafah, the furthest point south on the Egyptian border. Seventeen people were confirmed killed in the strike although it was not clear whether they were fighters or civilians.
A large cache of Hamas weapons including RPG missiles and launchers, antitank missiles, and dozens of explosive devices were also found overnight in Gaza’s north.
ISRAEL TO BUILD 1700 NEW HOMES IN OCCUPIED EAST JERUSALEM
Meanwhile, an Israeli non-government organisation warned Israel authorities had quietly approved the construction of more than 1700 new homes in occupied east Jerusalem.
“If it weren’t for the war (between Israel and Hamas), there would be a lot of noise. It’s a highly problematic project for the continuity of a Palestinian state between the southern West Bank and east Jerusalem,” the Israeli NGO Peace Now stated.
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Originally published as US President Joe Biden tells Netanyahu ‘much more assistance urgently required’ in Gaza
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