Live Updates: Gaza death toll from Israeli assaults tops 24,600

Thursday, January 18, 2024

13:37 GMT — Palestinian health officials in Gaza said at least 24,620 people have been killed in the Israeli assault on tiny enclave that began on October 7.

A Health Ministry statement said 61,830 people have also been wounded in the Palestinian territory during the aggression.

13:08 GMT — EU lawmakers stop short of seeking unconditional Gaza ceasefire

The European Parliament stopped short of calling for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, saying this should happen only if hostages held in the besieged Palestinian enclave were released and Palestinian resistance group Hamas dismantled.

Three groups of EU lawmakers - the socialists, centrists and greens - had sought a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire and the restart of efforts towards a political solution.

12:45 GMT — Gaza war to slow Middle East economies: Qatar

The war in Gaza will hit economies across the Middle East if it is not resolved and the conflict urgently needs a non-military solution, Qatar's finance minister told Reuters.

Qatar, whose mediators are involved in talks on the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas, has also helped mediate in several regional conflicts including in Afghanistan.

"The solution is really to look for a permanent solution for the main issue in the Middle East which is the Palestinian problem ... This cannot be fixed by military actions," Qatar's Finance Minister Ali Al Kuwari said in Davos.

11:36 GMT — Israel sounds sirens in Eilat, target of past Houthi launches

The Israeli military sounded sirens in the southern port city of Eilat and a local radio station said an explosion had been heard as the result of the interception of an incoming aerial threat.

Eilat, on the Red Sea, has been the target of past long-distance launches by Iranian-aligned Yemeni Houthis, in solidarity with Gaza which is under ongoing brutal assault by Israel.

10:06 GMT — Palestinian killed in Israeli military raid in occupied West Bank

A Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire during a military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem, according to local medics.

A 27-year-old was shot in the chest when Israeli forces raided the Nur Shams refugee camp in the city in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement.

Thursday’s fatality came one day after five Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the same refugee camp on Wednesday.

According to witnesses, Israeli military bulldozers destroyed several shops, vehicles and roads in the camp.

10:50 GMT — World-famous actors read out genocide accusations against Israel on camera

Videos of world-renowned actors reading aloud the accusations against Israel regarding the alleged genocide in Gaza, during the initial hearing of the case filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), have garnered thousands of views on social media platforms.

Actors of the TV series "Crown," Khalid Abdalla and Tobias Menzies, and the actors of the TV series "Game of Thrones," Charles Dance, Carice van Houten and Lena Headey were among the 29 actors featured in videos published on YouTube channel "The Palestine Festival of Literature."

The videos were also watched hundreds of thousands of times on X.

09:50 GMT — Israel should allow displaced Gazans to return to their homes, Jordan minister says

Israel should allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said in a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan.

The Israeli assault launched in October 7 has displaced most of Gaza's population of 2.3 million.

08:24 GMT — Several Palestinians injured in Israeli army raids in occupied West Bank

The army stormed the cities of Ramallah, Al Bireh, Tulkarm, Hebron and Nablus, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

Israeli army also raided Palestinian homes in the Al Amari refugee camp, arresting several people.

Clashes also broke out in the city of Qalqilya during which the Israeli army used live bullets, according to witnesses.

08:06 GMT — Dozens more killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza

Israeli strikes have killed dozens more people overnight, the health ministry in Gaza said, including in the territory's south where Israel has intensified its military offensive.

The renewed strikes came as medicine for hostages held by the fighters and fresh aid for civilians entered the Palestinian territory under a newly brokered deal.

The ministry said 93 people had been killed, including 16 in a single strike on a house in the southern city of Rafah, where many people have fled.

"The strike left 16 killed, among them women and children, and 20 injured," the ministry said.

07:42 GMT — Israeli party pushes for overthrow of government over handling of Gaza hostages

The Israeli left-wing Labor Party said that it will present a proposal to the Knesset to withdraw confidence from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government due to its failure to release hostages held in Gaza.

"There is no confidence in a government that does not prioritise the return of its hostages," the party said in a statement on X.

Withdrawing confidence requires at least 61 lawmakers to vote in favour of the proposal. The government led by Netanyahu has a majority of 64 seats, making it difficult for the proposal to pass.

07:06 GMT — UAE pledges $10M for ailing health sector in Gaza

“The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI) pledged a contribution of around AED 37 million (US $10 million) in support of the healthcare sector in Gaza,” Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported.

These funds “aimed at providing essential medical supplies to people in Gaza, especially children gravely impacted by the dire conditions pervasive now in Gaza,” it said.

“The pledge came as part of a Letter of Intent signed between MBRGI and the World Health Organization, aimed at supporting humanitarian efforts and providing life-saving emergency healthcare response in the Gaza Strip,” the news agency added.

05:17 GMT - Netanyahu rejects proposed Gaza captives release deal

The Israeli government prepared a proposal to initiate new negotiations with the Palestinian group Hamas for the release of Israeli captives in Gaza but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the offer, according to local media.

Israel’s Channel 13 reported that unnamed Israeli ministers outlined the general framework of a deal in recent days aimed at securing the release of Israeli captives held by Hamas.

Negotiations were expected to proceed through an unnamed mediator, but Netanyahu reportedly rejected the move.

04:51 GMT - US fires wave of missiles on Yemen as Gaza's toll rises

The US military has fired another wave of ship- and submarine-launch missile strikes against Houthi-run sites, US officials said, marking the fourth time in days it has directly targeted the group in Yemen as violence that ignited in the wake of the Israel's war on Gaza continues to spill over in the Middle East.

The strikes come after a one-way attack drone was launched from a Houthi-run area in Yemen and struck the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned and -operated M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden.

On Wednesday, Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam told Al Jazeera TV the group would keep up its attacks on Red Sea shipping following a US decision to put the group back on a list of "terrorist" entities.

03:54 GMT - Houthis vow to continue targeting Israel-linked ships

US and UK forces launched a fourth round of strikes in four areas of Yemen, the Houthi group has said, pledging to continue its strikes on Israel-linked shipping.

"The American-British aggression targeted the governorates of: Al-Hudaydah, Taiz, Dhamar, Al-Bayda and Saada," the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV said, referring to the port of Hudaida, the city of Taez and elsewhere.

"We will continue to target Israeli ships heading to the ports of occupied Palestine, no matter how the American-British aggression tries to prevent us from doing so."

03:12 GMT - Gaza collects more bodies as Israel pummels besieged enclave

Israeli bombardment on the southern, central and northern Gaza has killed several Palestinian civilians and wounded many others, Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.

"The occupation warplanes carried out sporadic strikes on Khan Younis, in the southern Strip, especially in the vicinities of Qizan an Najja and Batn al Sameen areas, as well as shelled a new residential square in the centre of the city," it said.

"In Rafah City, in the south, the Israeli jets targeted a group of civilians, resulting in the killing of two civilians and the wounding of others," WAFA reported.

02:30 GMT - UK urges Iran to stop arming Houthis

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said he had spoken with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and urged Tehran to stop backing the Houthi group in Yemen.

"Iran must cease supplying the Houthis with weapons and intelligence and use its influence to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea," Cameron, attending the World Economic Forum, wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

"Iran must also stop using the regional situation as cover to act recklessly and violate others' sovereignty. I made this clear to FM @Amirabdolahian."

02:00 GMT - US confirms Houthis hit its ship in Gulf of Aden

The US military has confirmed that Yemen's Houthi group targeted a US-owned carrier ship in the Gulf of Aden with a drone.

"At approximately 8:30 pm (Sanaa time) Jan. 17, an assessed one-way attack UAS (unmanned aircraft system) was launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and struck M/V Genco Picardy in the Gulf of Aden," the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X.

The Marshall Islands-flagged M/V Genco Picardy is a US-owned and operated bulk carrier ship.

For our live updates from Wednesday, January 17, click here.