Live Updates: Health situation in Gaza is 'catastrophic' – WHO chief

Sunday, December 10, 2023

11:20 GMT –– The impact of the Israeli war on Gaza's healthcare sector has been "catastrophic," the World Health Organization chief said at an emergency board meeting, saying conditions were ideal for the spread of deadly diseases.

"It's stating the obvious to say that the impact of the conflict on health is catastrophic," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the 34-member board.

"In summary health needs have increased dramatically and the capacity of the health system has been reduced to one-third of what it was," he said.

10:45 GMT –– Pressure to end war inconsistent with support for eliminating Hamas: Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rebuffed international calls to end the Gaza war, describing them as inconsistent with supporting the war-aim of eliminating Hamas.

Briefing his cabinet, Netanyahu said he had told the leaders of France, Germany and other countries: "You cannot on the one hand support the elimination of Hamas and on other pressure us to end the war, which would prevent the elimination of Hamas."

09:35 GMT - Mediators work to secure new Gaza truce

Mediation efforts to secure a new Gaza ceasefire and release more hostages held by Hamas are continuing despite continued Israeli bombardment which is "narrowing the window" for a successful outcome, Qatar's prime minister said.

"Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told the Doha Forum.

He adding that "the continuation of the bombardment is just narrowing this window for us."

08:54 GMT - Guterres says UN Security Council 'paralysed' over Gaza

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he regrets the Security Council's failure to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, condemning the divisions that have "paralysed" the world body.

Addressing Qatar's Doha Forum, Guterres said the council was "paralysed by geostrategic divisions" that were undermining solutions to Israel's war on Gaza which started on October 7. The body's "authority and credibility were severely undermined" by its delayed response to the conflict, he said two days after a US veto prevented a resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire.

"I reiterated my appeal for a humanitarian ceasefire to be declared," he told the forum. "Regrettably, the Security Council failed to do it. I can promise, I will not give up."

08:27 GMT - Heavy fighting in south Gaza as Israel presses ahead

Heavy fighting raged overnight and into Sunday in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, as Israel pressed ahead with its offensive after the US blocked the latest international efforts to halt the fighting and rushed more munitions to its close ally.

Israel has faced rising international outrage and calls for a ceasefire after the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians and the displacement of nearly 85 percent of Gaza's 2.3 million people within the besieged territory, where UN agencies say there is no safe place to flee.

But the United States has lent vital support to the offensive once again in recent days, by vetoing United Nations Security Council efforts to end the fighting that enjoyed wide international support, and by pushing through an emergency sale of over $100 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel.

07:43 GMT — Top US university president quits after anti-Semitism uproar

The president of an Ivy League university stepped down in the wake of a firestorm of criticism after a congressional hearing on the rise of anti-Semitism on US campuses.

University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill "voluntarily tendered her resignation," the chair of the university's board of trustees Scott Bok announced. Bok also stepped down himself, a university spokesman said.

Magill was among three presidents of elite universities who faced withering criticism following their testimony Tuesday during a congressional hearing on campus anti-Semitism.

06:52 GMT - French frigate downs drones over Red Sea: military

A French frigate shot down two drones in the Red Sea that were heading towards it from the coast of Yemen, the French military said.

"The interception and destruction of these two identified threats" were carried out late Saturday by the frigate Languedoc, which operates in the Red Sea, the general staff said in a press release. The interceptions happened at 2030 GMT and 2230 GMT, it added, and were 110 km (68 miles) from the Yemeni coast.

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday threatened to attack any vessels heading to Israeli ports unless food and medicine were allowed into the besieged Gaza enclave.

06:00 GMT - Israeli forces push into southern Gaza, aid groups sound 'alarm'

Israeli forces pushed into southern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled in search of shelter from Israeli bombardments and intense fighting between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Aid groups have sounded the alarm on the "apocalyptic" humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, warning it is on the brink of being overwhelmed by disease and starvation.

Hamas said that Israel had launched a series of "very violent raids" targeting the southern city of Khan Younis and the road from there to Rafah, near the border with Egypt. An AFP journalist also reported strikes in southern Gaza early Sunday.

05:10 GMT - Hamas welcomes Houthi move to block ships to Israel

Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, has welcomed an announcement Sunday by the Yemeni Iran-allied Houthi group who said it would block ships headed to Israel through the Red Sea.

A statement by Hamas drew attention to the announcement that said: "If necessary supplies, including food and medicine, do not enter Gaza, the passage of ships to the Zionist entity (Israel) through the Red Sea will be blocked regardless of their nationality."

It deemed it a "bold decision" against attacks on Gaza for more than two months and urged Arab and Islamic countries to fulfill their historic responsibility to break the blockade on Gaza.

04:30 GMT - Israel welcomes US veto on Gaza cease-fire resolution at UN

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the US veto of a UN resolution that sought an urgent ceasefire in Gaza

"I greatly appreciate the correct stance taken by the United States in the UN Security Council," the Israeli prime minister said in a televised speech. "Other countries should understand that it is impossible to both support the elimination of Hamas and call for an end to the war aimed at eliminating Hamas," he said.

"We will continue our just struggle to eliminate Hamas and achieve the set goals."

03:50 GMT - 'Bring them home': Israelis call for hostages' release

Hundreds of Israelis gathered in what has come to be known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to call for the release of nearly 140 people still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

As speakers took to the stage, the crowd held placards bearing messages like "they trust us to get them out of hell", and "bring them home now".

Ruby Chen, the father of 19-year-old hostage Itai Chen, said from the podium: "We are asking the Israeli cabinet, the war cabinet, to explain what exactly is on the negotiating table."

For our live updates from Saturday, December 9, click here.