Israel-Palestine live: US and Israel air differences over Gaza strategy
Live Updates
Good morning MEE readers.
Israel's bombardment of southern Gaza is the “worst bombardment of the war right now”, Unicef spokesperson James Elder said on Sunday.
“I am seeing massive child casualties," Elder posted on X (Twitter).
On Saturday alone, at least 700 Palestinians were killed by Israel.
While the death toll for Palestinians has been catastrophic, we got a glimpse of the financial devastation.
Gaza's poverty rate is set to soar to more than 90 percent, according to the director of statistics at the Central Bureau of Statistics, Muhammad Qalalwa.
Israel's devastating war on Gaza since 7 October has resulted in at least $700m worth of losses, just in the first month, said Qalalwa on Sunday.
Here's a round-up of the latest updates:
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On Monday, the Netherlands will be confronted with a lawsuit claiming that its involvement in exporting F-35 fighter jet components to Israel implicates it in purported war crimes in Gaza.
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Yemen's Houthi movement targeted two Israeli ships on Sunday with an armed drone and a naval missile, a spokesperson for the group's military said
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Israel will hunt down Hamas in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar even if it takes years, the head of Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet said in a recording aired by Israel's public broadcaster Kan on Sunday
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The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sunday called on Israel to respect the international rules of war and said he was accelerating his investigation into violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank
On Monday, the Netherlands will be confronted with a lawsuit claiming that its involvement in exporting F-35 fighter jet components to Israel implicates it in purported war crimes in Gaza.
The case, filed by three human rights groups including Oxfam's Dutch branch, will be heard in the district court in The Hague. They argue that the export of these aircraft parts facilitates Israel's bombing of the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.
"Israel disregards the fundamental principles of the laws of war, such as distinguishing between civilian and military targets and the principle of proportionality," in the bombing of the Gaza Strip, the organisations said in their court filings.
Several weeks following the October 7 attacks by Hamas, the Dutch government approved the delivery of spare parts for Israeli F-35 jets, as revealed by government records.
The Dutch defence ministry, responsible for overseeing such exports, wrote to the parliament last week saying that current information does not confirm the involvement of F-35 jets in serious breaches of international humanitarian law.
A leading Israeli newspaper has detailed how unverified and inaccurate accounts of the 7 October Hamas attack led to the publication of stories that appear to be false.
Some of the details behind these stories, which described atrocities purportedly committed by Palestinian fighters, were provided by Israeli officials and soldiers as well as search and rescue volunteers.
However, Haaretz cross-referenced some of these allegations in a report published on Sunday and found that they did not add up.
The Israeli army admitted that mistakes were made by at least one soldier who fed one of the stories.
One of the main topics allegedly riddled with unconfirmed reporting and misinformation was the death of children and babies, according to Haaretz.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held discussions with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani about the release of hostages and boosting aid to Gaza.
“Spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Al Thani about ongoing efforts to facilitate the safe return of all hostages and further increase levels of aid to civilians in Gaza,” Blinken said on X on Sunday evening.
This comes just a few days after Blinken stepped up calls for Israel to comply with international law and spare civilians as it continues its assault in Gaza.
German Finance Minister Robert Habeck called off a scheduled visit to the Middle East on Sunday, choosing instead to concentrate on discussions regarding a deficit in Germany's 2024 budget.
Habeck was set to travel to Dubai on Monday evening for COP28, followed by visits to Oman, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. However, the chancellor requested that he delay his journey, as per a spokesperson's statement.
The coalition government is currently engaged in detailed discussions on addressing a 17-billion-euro shortfall in the 2024 budget, resulting from a recent constitutional court decision, Reuters reported.
In a Saturday interview, Finance Minister Christian Lindner suggested reducing social spending, international climate funding, development aid, and certain subsidies to address this deficit.
"I am very optimistic that we are on a good path to reach an agreement," Habeck said on Sunday, declining to give further details before an agreement had been reached.
Israel's bombardment of southern Gaza is the “worst bombardment of the war right now”, Unicef spokesperson James Elder said on Sunday.
“I am seeing massive child casualties," Elder posted on X (Twitter).
"We have a final warning to save children; and our collective conscience."
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Sunday called on Israel to respect the international rules of war and said he was accelerating his investigation into violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
"In Gaza, there is no justification for doctors to perform operations without light, for children to be operated upon without anaesthetics. Imagine the pain," ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said in a video message posted online after a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
"I was crystal clear, that this is the time to comply with the law. If Israel doesn't comply now, they shouldn't complain later."
Israel will hunt down Hamas in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar even if it takes years, the head of Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet said in a recording aired by Israel's public broadcaster Kan on Sunday.
It was unclear when Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar made the remarks or to whom.
The agency itself declined to comment on the report.
"The cabinet has set us a goal, in street talk, to eliminate Hamas. This is our Munich. We will do this everywhere, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar. It will take a few years but we will be there to do it."
By Munich, Bar was referring to Israel's response to the 1972 killing of 11 Israeli Olympic team members when gunmen from the Palestinian Black September group launched an attack on the Munich Games.
Israel responded by carrying out a targeted assassination campaign against Black September operatives and organisers over several years and in several countries.
Yemen's Houthi movement targeted two Israeli ships on Sunday with an armed drone and a naval missile, a spokesperson for the group's military said.
The spokesperson said the two ships, Unity Explorer and Number Nine, were targeted after they rejected warnings from the group's navy, Reuters reported.
The Pentagon said on Sunday that it was aware of reports regarding attacks on an American warship and commercial vessels in the Red Sea, the Associated Press reported.
"We're aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available," the Pentagon was quoted as saying in the report.
Maritime security sources on Sunday said that a bulk carrier ship had been hit by at least two drones while sailing in the Red Sea.
Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants traded fire across the Israel-Lebanon border on Sunday for the third consecutive day and Israel said several of its soldiers had been hurt, following the collapse of a truce between it and Hamas militants in Gaza.
The Israeli military said its soldiers were "lightly injured" when an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon hit a vehicle in the Beit Hillel area of northern Israel, according to Reuters.
Israeli forces fired artillery in return, the military's statement read.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said it had targeted several Israeli positions with what it called "appropriate weapons".
Following the eruption of the Hamas-Israel war on 7 October, Hezbollah mounted near-daily rocket attacks on Israeli positions at the frontier while Israel launched air and artillery strikes in south Lebanon. But the border was largely calm during a week-long truce in Gaza that collapsed on Friday.
It has been the worst fighting since the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, a Hamas ally.
Just over 100 people in Lebanon have been reported killed during the hostilities, 83 of them Hezbollah fighters. Tens of thousands of people have fled both sides of the border.
After a week of quiet, Rana's daughters woke up on Friday morning to an intense Israeli bombing.
They are now full of fear, the Khan Younis resident in south Gaza said, as the constant sound of shelling has not stopped since.
"My children wake up and sleep to the sounds of bombing and artillery shelling," Rana, whose name has been changed due to safety concerns, told Middle East Eye.
The Hamad housing complex, where Rana and her family live, was heavily bombarded on Saturday, forcing them to flee.
Their journey to the central area of the Gaza Strip was not any safer, as they saw a car near them get hit.
Rama, aged 11, said she had become used to the peace during the temporary truce last week.
"During the ceasefire, I went to my school to check if it was bombed. It was densely crowded and the smell was unbearable. It was so cold. It was one of the worst scenes I've seen in my life," she told MEE.
"Friday night was very difficult, and there was a lot of bombing. I saw a lot of red lights from the window. I cried a lot. I haven't seen such bombing. So, I ran to my parent's bed. When I heard the bombing, my mother told us to read prayers so that Allah would protect us.
"When we were in the car, a nearby car was bombed. I saw it and huge smoke coming out. I was so scared. Then we saw people living in blanket-like tents and sleeping underneath. Their situation was so miserable. I was so happy when we arrived and found my aunts and uncles were safe. I don't know how my cousin [one-year-old] Khaled, is living in all this. He must be scared."
Alaa, 9, shared similar fears to those of her sister.
"I thought it was a ceasefire, but suddenly I saw many bombings and red lights," she told MEE. "I asked my father what that was, and he told me it was fireworks. But he didn't tell the truth as I saw smoke, which made me so scared."
Gaza's poverty rate is set to soar to more than 90 percent, according to the director of statistics at the Central Bureau of Statistics, Muhammad Qalalwa.
Israel's devastating war on Gaza since 7 October has resulted in at least $700m worth of losses, just in the first month, said Qalalwa on Sunday.
At least 147,000 had stopped working and around 56,000 businesses had closed and unemployment is expected to rise to about 65 percent, he added.
Excluding the current conflict, the economic losses in the Gaza Strip since 2007 when Israel began its siege amounts to about $35bn, said Qalalwa.
Gaza City's Jabalia refugee camp has been heavily bombarded again by the Israeli army, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.
Footage from the Israeli bombardment shows widespread devastation, with many casualties being reported
On Saturday, Jabalia was attacked by Israeli warplanes, killing at least 100 people.
Israeli authorities marked the home of Al-Aqsa Mosque's imam for demolition on Sunday.
According to local media, Israeli forces stormed the residential building in occupied East Jerusalem, which houses several Palestinian families along with imam Ekrima Sabri's family.
Residents were told to leave the house ahead of an imminent demolition.
