Live: Palestinian death toll in Gaza nears 26,000

A Palestinian victory in Gaza would be if a ceasefire is called while fighters are still armed, a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a sobering assessment on the 100th day of war.

Mohammed al-Hindi, the group's deputy secretary and chief negotiator, told a pro-Palestine conference in Istanbul that neither massive, worldwide protests, such as those held on Saturday, nor a finding in favour of South Africa at the International Court of Justice could stop the war.

"This is so much larger than that," Hindi told a crowd of about 300 at the Freedom for Palestine gathering on Sunday.

He said the war in Gaza reflects a shift from the United States being the world's sole superpower to multipolar forces, causing the US to deprioritise the Middle East to focus on China and Europe.

Consequently, he said, the US has withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, encouraged Syria's return to the Arab League and promoted the Abraham Accords, which mark improved relations between Israel and other countries in the region, in an effort to place Israel in the regional leadership gap it is leaving.

"Gaza, the weakest link in the chain, rebelled against that scheme. That's the real background of this war," he said.

"This is not a fight between resistance and an army, but a war to deter and repress any rebellion in the region, not just in Palestine... Arab public opinion is oppressed and has no weight because regimes themselves are wanting to see what happens."

Only Israeli losses on the ground and American fears that the conflict will spill over into a regional war will halt the assault on Gaza, Hindi said.

"Ultimately, if we reach a ceasefire while we keep our arms, we are victorious," he said. "This will be a strategic victory for Palestinians and the whole region."

Reporting by Dania Akkad in Istanbul, Turkey

Ronen Bar, the head of the Israeli internal security agency Shin Bet, will resign after the war on Gaza, according to reports by Israel's N12 news website. 

N12 said Yaakov Peri, the former head of Shin Bet and ex-member of the Knesset, was told that Bar announced the decision to his staff. 

Peri claimed that Bar took responsibility for Shin Bet missing the warning signs that led to the 7 October attack and will resign in acknowledgement of that intelligence blunder. 

Namibia condemned Germany's decision to reject South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. 

Namibia, a southern African country where the first genocide of the 20th century took place under German colonial rule, took to Twitter to release a statement condemning Berlin's actions late on Saturday. 

"Germany cannot morally express commitment to the United Nations Convention against genocide, including atonement for the genocide in Namibia, whilst supporting the equivalent of a holocaust and genocide in Gaza," Namibia said in a statement. 

“No peace-loving human being can ignore the carnage waged against Palestinians in Gaza.”

Germany was responsible for the massacres of more than 70,000 Indigenous Herero and Nama people in Namibia between 1904 and 1908, which historians widely consider the first genocide of the 20th century.

Israeli troops on Sunday killed four gunmen who crossed into a disputed border area from Lebanon on the 100th day of the war between Israel and Hamas. 

The Israeli military said that troops patrolling a contested border area "identified a terrorist cell who crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory and fired at the forces". 

"The soldiers engaged and responded with live fire, four terrorists were killed," the army said in a statement.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

It's just after 11am in Palestine and Israel as the war on Gaza enters its 100th day. Here are some key developments from the last few hours:

• Israeli forces arrested two sisters of assassinated Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri from their homes in the occupied West Bank. 

• The Israeli army announced the death of an officer during fighting in Gaza, bringing the death toll of Israeli security forces since 7 October to nearly 600.  

• The army also said four people attempting to enter Israeli territory from Lebanon were killed overnight. 

Middle East Eye's live coverage of Israel's war in Gaza will shortly be closing for the evening.

Today's key developments included:

Health officials in Gaza said Israeli strikes on Saturday killed at least 60 people in the besieged enclave. Witnesses told AFP that early morning strikes rocked the south of Gaza. 

At least 23,843 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October, with 60,317 wounded and more than 7,000 missing who are believed to be dead and buried under rubble. 

Overall, four percent of Gaza's population has been killed, wounded or gone missing in three months of bombardment. The majority of victims are children and women, according to health officials.

The government media office in Gaza warned on Saturday that Israeli forces were imposing a policy of starvation in the northern Gaza Strip that could soon lead to famine. It said aid convoys intended for the war-ravaged areas continue to be blocked by the Israeli army, alleging this was part of a deliberate policy. 

Meanwhile, the Al Jazeera Media Network dismissed Israeli justifications for the killing of one of its Palestinian journalists as "false and misleading". 

The Qatar-based network said on Friday that Hamza Wael al-Dahdouh, killed on 7 January 2024 along with another journalist, Mustafa Thuria, was targeted "simply for doing his job". 

At least 121 ambulances have been destroyed by Israeli forces since the bombing started, leaving only six ambulances left functioning in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian health ministry said on Saturday. 

Palestinian officials said the attacks are part of what they describe as Israel's deliberate targeting of health facilities and civil services. 

Protesters have gathered all over the world to denounce Israel's actions in Gaza and call for an immediate ceasefire. In London, organisers estimated that 500,000 people had marched through the streets. Major protests were also reported in Washington, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, France and Germany among others.

Other key developments included:

• Israel has informed Cairo it plans to launch a military operation to retake control of the crossing area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, according to sources who spoke to the Wall Street Journal.  

• US President Joe Biden said he delivered a private message to Iran about the Houthi movement. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Saturday, Biden said: "We delivered it privately, and we're confident we're well prepared."

• A new strike hit the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Saturday following rocket fire by the Houthi movement, security sources told AFP.

• A Hamas official thanked Qatar on Saturday for sending medicine to the Gaza Strip "in light of the many risks that threaten the lives of Palestinians".

  "Some medicine will be used to treat Israeli prisoners," Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based Hamas leader, told a news conference in Beirut.

The Namibian presidency has attacked Germany's support for Israel's bombardment of Gaza, citing Germany's actions in Namibia between 1904-1908 as "the first genocide of the 20th century… in which tens of thousands of innocent Namibians died in the most inhumane and brutal conditions" and saying that Germany had failed "to draw lessons from its horrific history".

A statement from the presidency posted on X (formerly Twitter), continued: "President @hagegeingob expresses deep concern with the shocking decision communicated by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany yesterday, 12 January 2024, in which it rejected the morally upright indictment brought forward by South Africa before the #InternationalCourtofJustice that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in #Gaza."

The statement from the Namibian presidency refers to the announcement by Germany on 12 January that it would reject South Africa's genocide allegations against Israel and was set to intervene on Israel's behalf at the ICJ.

The US capital, Washington, on Saturday saw a huge protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza, with demonstrators denouncing US support for Israel's actions and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Here are some images of the protest from AFP.

Israel accused Hamas on Saturday of planning to attack its embassy in Sweden as part of an expansion by the Palestinian Islamist militant group into Europe, where authorities announced the arrests of several suspects last month.

In a statement following up on the arrests announced by Danish, German and Swedish authorities, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency named an alleged Hamas network member in Sweden, without specifying whether he was also in custody.

There was no immediate response from Hamas, which in the past has said its policy was to limit attacks to Israel, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, all territories where it seeks a Palestinian state, Reuters reported.

The Foreign Ministry in Stockholm declined to comment on the specific security of Israel's embassy, but said: "Sweden takes its commitments under the Vienna Convention to protect foreign missions very seriously."

The Mossad statement said a multi-national investigation received information that the Hamas network took orders from a group command post in Lebanon and had "intent to attack the Israeli embassy in Sweden, to procure paragliders and to activate members of criminal groups in Europe".

A Hamas official thanked Qatar on Saturday for sending medicine to the Gaza Strip "in light of the many risks that threaten the lives of Palestinians".

"Some medicine will be used to treat Israeli prisoners," Osama Hamdan, a Lebanon-based Hamas leader, told a news conference in Beirut.

Israel had announced on Friday that it had made an arrangement with Qatar that would allow the delivery of medicines to hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.

Hamdan said the priority was the citizens of Gaza.

"First, we believe our people are more deserving and in need of medicine, and secondly, there are security issues this presents."

A top UN official said on Saturday that the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was staining humanity, as the conflict in the besieged territory moves into its 100th day.

"The massive death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss and grief of the last 100 days are staining our shared humanity," the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a statement as he visited the Gaza Strip, according to AFP.

"It's been 100 days since the devastating war started, killing and displacing people in Gaza, following the horrific attacks that Hamas and other groups carried out against people in Israel. It's been 100 days of ordeal and anxiety for hostages and their families." 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that a decision had yet to be made about a potential military takeover of the "Philadelphi Corridor" along the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt, Reuters reported.

Telling reporters that sealing off the zone to isolate Hamas was an aim of the Gaza war, Netanyahu said "there are a number of options", including moving forces into Philadelphi.

"We have looked into these and have yet to make a decision," he said.

Israel will not be deterred by the International Court of Justice from pursuing its Gaza war until total victory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday, after South Africa lodged a lawsuit alleging genocide against the Palestinians.

"No one will stop us - not The Hague, not the axis of evil, no one," Netanyahu said in a televised address.

A new strike hit the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Hodeidah on Saturday following rocket fire by the Houthi movement, security sources told AFP.

A military source allied with the Yemeni group said "the site from which a Houthi rocket was launched on the outskirts of Hodeidah was hit", adding that it was not clear whether the strike came from the sea or the air. A police source confirmed the new strike.

Reporting by AFP

Hamas on Saturday said it has lost contact with members who have been guarding four Israelis held in the Gaza Strip since 2014 and 2015. 

Middle East Eye could not independently verify the authenticity of the claim. 

During the 2014 war on Gaza, the Palestinian group captured two soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul. Israel says both are presumed dead, while Hamas refused to comment on whether they are alive or dead.

Two other Israelis, Hisham al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, entered the strip in 2014 and 2015 respectively in unclear circumstances. Both men have been believed to be alive up to today.