Live Updates: Aid entering Gaza amid pause 'not even enough for triage' — UN

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

14:24 GMT — The United Nations has welcomed the increase in aid deliveries into Gaza afforded by a temporary truce but warned it was not enough to even start addressing the Palestinian territory's massive needs.

UN children's agency UNICEF said the aid flow to northern Gaza - the largest since the war erupted on October 7 - was "the right start".

"(It's) definitely the right type of aid -- fuel, medicines, food, warmth," spokesperson James Elder told a press briefing in Geneva via video-link from Gaza.

But, he warned, the needs in the besieged enclave of more than two million are so huge that "all this aid is triage... It's not even enough for triage."

When there are insufficient resources to treat everyone who needs it, hospitals and aid organisations are forced to triage - that is, to prioritise the most urgent cases, or those people most likely to survive, and leave the others.

"The aid needs to multiply... Everything here is emergency care right now," Elder said

More updates ????

14:55 GMT — Israeli army opens fire on Lebanese territory with artillery shell: Lebanon

The Israeli army has fired at least one artillery shell on Lebanese territory, marking the first shelling since the start of a humanitarian pause in Gaza, according to the official Lebanese news agency NNA.

The Israeli army fired a shell on land on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Aita al Shaab in the Rahib region, it said.

The Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper cited an Israeli military source that said no shells were fired from the Israeli side toward southern Lebanon.

A cautious calm has been prevailing in the border areas between Lebanon and Israel since Friday when a humanitarian pause took effect in Gaza.

14:47 GMT — Several soldiers injured in exchange of fire in Gaza: Israeli army

The Israeli army has said that a number of its soldiers were "lightly injured" in an exchange of fire in northern Gaza.

"Over the last hour, 3 explosive devices were detonated adjacent to IDF troops in 2 different locations in northern Gaza, violating the framework of the operational pause," the Israeli army said in a statement on platform X.

In one of the locations, the army said, an exchange of fire also took place and a "number of soldiers were lightly injured during the incidents."

Earlier, Hamas' Qassam Brigades said that field clashes took place in northern Gaza between its fighters and the Israeli army over the violation of the humanitarian pause by the army.

14:34 GMT — UN says 'high risk of famine' for Gaza

The population of Gaza risks famine if humanitarian food supplies do not continue, the UN's World Food Programme has warned.

The WFP said it had delivered food to 121,161 people in Gaza since Friday, when a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas began. The truce was extended by two days on Tuesday.

"Thanks to the pause, our teams have been in action on the ground, going into areas we haven't reached for a long time. What we see is catastrophic," said WFP's director for the Middle East, Corinne Fleischer.

The agency said that six days was "not enough to make any meaningful impact", calling for "uninterrupted and regular supplies" of food into Gaza.

14:34 GMT — Israel approves unprecedented budget to cover war on Gaza

The Israeli government has approved an annexe budget, described as unprecedented, worth an estimated $8 billion to cover the needs of the war against Gaza.

The new annexe budget of 30 billion Israeli shekels will cover the costs of funding the war until the end of the year, according to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

KAN reported that Benny Gantz, who is a member of Israel's War Cabinet Council, besides Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, opposed the budget.

13:31 GMT — Hamas reports clashes with Israeli forces over truce violations

The military wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, Qassam Brigades, reports field clashes with the Israeli army over violations of the humanitarian pause in northern Gaza.

The armed group has called for mediators to enforce the terms of the humanitarian pause in Israel.

Videos published on social media over the initial four-day truce showed Palestinians fleeing gunfire as Israeli forces stopped displaced residents from returning to northern Gaza during the temporary truce.

Before the truce began the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning people not to attempt to return to the area.

12:44 GMT — 1,000 Israeli soldiers, officers injured since outbreak of war on Gaza

Around 1,000 Israeli soldiers and officers have been injured since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7, Israeli media has reported.

According to Haaretz daily, which got the figure from an Israeli military source, the number includes 202 cases in critical condition, 320 in moderate condition, and around 470 who were lightly wounded.

Haaretz added that 29 of the critically injured soldiers are still receiving medical treatment in hospitals in addition to 183 who were moderately wounded and 74 lightly wounded.

These are the first figures from the Israeli army on injured soldiers.

The Israeli army officially says the death toll of its personnel killed since October 7 is 392, but without specifying how or where they were killed.

11:34 GMT — Israel not letting enough fuel into Gaza: EU

Israeli restrictions on fuel supplies to Gaza are hampering aid deliveries and humanitarian access required under an UN resolution, an EU commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, has said.

Lenarcic - who is in charge of crisis management - was speaking as the EU countries and aid organisations scrambled to provide relief to Gaza's population of 2.3 million under a truce agreed by Israel and Hamas.

"We are calling for the increase of fuel supplies to the (Gaza) strip," Lenarcic told journalists in Brussels.

11:00 GMT - CIA director to meet Mossad counterpart

CIA Director Bill Burns is set to meet Mossad Director David Barnea and Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al Thani in Doha on Tuesday.

The focus will be on discussing a potential extension of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, contingent on more hostage releases, Axios reported, citing a US official and two well-informed sources.

During the meeting, Burns intends to advocate for additional hostage deals with Barnea and the Qatari Prime Minister, the report says. The broader conversation aims to encompass the Gaza crisis, according to a statement from a US official.

10:23 GMT - More people at risk of death from disease than bombings in Gaza: WHO

There is a risk that more people could die from diseases than from bombings in Gaza if the enclave's health system is not put back on its feet quickly, a World Health Organization spokesperson said.

"Eventually we will see more people dying from disease than from bombardment if we are not able to put back together this health system," said the WHO's Margaret Harris.

She described the collapse of Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza as a "tragedy" and voiced concern about the detention of some of its medical staff by Israeli forces.

The Yemeni Houthi group denied any involvement in maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden, affirming that their actions target Israeli ships.

This statement came in response to the United States' announcement that "two ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen towards an American naval destroyer in the Gulf of Aden."

Abdulmalik Al Ajri, a member of the Houthi political bureau and negotiation team, wrote on X, "Regarding the announced acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden by the United States, the statements issued by the Yemeni Armed Forces (the Houthis) are clear that their maritime operations only target hostile Israeli ships."

08:04 GMT - Israeli army kills second Palestinian

A second Palestinian has been killed by Israeli army gunfire near the city of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank.

Palestinian medical sources at Salfit Governmental Hospital told Anadolu Agency, "A citizen from the town of Kafr Ayn northwest of Ramallah arrived at the emergency department with multiple gunshot wounds, described as critical, and died as a result."

Local sources in the town of Kafr Ayn said that "an Israeli force stormed the town and arrested a citizen, leading to clashes with dozens of Palestinians."

07:39 GMT - About 60 Palestinian women 'still in Israeli jails'

Israeli authorities continue to hold 60 Palestinian women in jail, with most detained after October 7, a local non-governmental organisation has said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Amal Sarahneh, media officer at the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), said the Israeli army detained 56 Palestinian women and girls in a major wave of arrests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem after October 7, so far detaining 3,260 people.

Sarahneh added that Israel had released 33 Palestinian women under a prisoner swap deal with Gaza-based resistance group Hamas over the past four days.

06:53 GMT - Jordan evacuates wounded members of its medical staff in Gaza

Jordan announced that it had evacuated members of its medical staff in Gaza who had been wounded in Israeli airstrikes, transporting them to the kingdom to continue medical treatment.

According to a statement from the Jordanian Armed Forces on their website, the evacuation took place in response to a directive from King Abdullah II.

It said that "upon the royal directive, the Jordanian Armed Forces evacuated the injured personnel from the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza to Al Hussein Medical City in Amman. They sustained injuries while attempting to provide assistance to those injured in Gaza, who were subjected to Israeli airstrikes in the area."

05:52 GMT - UN experts call for independent investigations into crimes committed in Israel, Palestine

Urging Israel, the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and authorities in besieged Gaza to cooperate fully with the investigations, UN experts said "independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict."

"The duty to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity, including any act of summary or extrajudicial killing, torture or other outrages on human dignity, is a fundamental legal obligation," they added.

They also called on the international community to work so that all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as for any other international crimes committed in the conflict are swiftly brought to justice, especially those with command responsibility.

04:17 GMT - Israel frees Palestinian minors

Israel has freed 30 Palestinian minors and three women "during the night" under the terms of a truce deal that returned captives from besieged Gaza.

The release brought the total number of Palestinian women and minors freed by Israel during the initial four-day pause in the fighting to 150.

Those freed early on Tuesday included the youngest female Palestinian, 16-year-old Nofuz Hammad, from Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, who was initially handed 12 years in prison by Israeli authorities and now released in Hamas' swap deal with Israel, Anadolu Agency reported.

03:44 GMT - Israel receives list of additional Gaza captives to be released

Israel's government has received a list of captives held by Hamas in besieged Gaza who are expected to be released on Tuesday under an extended truce deal with the resistance group, Israel's Army Radio reported, citing the Israeli prime minister's office.

The Axios news website reported the list contained 10 captives.

03:13 GMT — Netanyahu's office approves inclusion of 50 female Palestinians in release list

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said it has approved the inclusion of 50 female Palestinians in the list for release in case additional Israeli captives are released from besieged Gaza.

The statement came after Qatari mediators said a four-day truce agreed to allow an exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinians languishing in Israeli jails that was set to expire after Monday had been extended for another two days.

For our live updates from Monday (November 27), click here.