Live Updates: Israeli air strike kills Gaza's emergency medical director

Monday, June 24, 2024

09:26 GMT — Israeli air strike kills Gaza's emergency medical director

The head of Emergency and Ambulance Services in Gaza has been killed in an Israeli air strike, the territory’s health ministry said.

In a statement, the ministry confirmed that Hani Al Jafrawi lost his life in an Israeli air strike.

The statement emphasised that “healthcare workers continue their humanitarian duty of evacuating the wounded and deceased around the clock, despite the continuous Israeli bombardment."

08:50 GMT — Germany’s Baerbock calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza, ahead of her Israel visit

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, and warned that a further escalation in the Middle East would be a “catastrophe” for all people in the region.

Speaking to reporters during an EU meeting in Luxembourg, Baerbock said she will be heading to Israel later in the day to discuss diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza and ways to increase humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

“We’re thinking of the hostages, the images from Gaza, they are heartbreaking. That's why it's definitely not an option for us, and our partners, to bury our heads in the sand now, we need this cease-fire,” Baerbock said, and underlined that more should be done to end the suffering of Palestinian civilians.

08:28 GMT — Palestinian injured, several arrested in Israeli army raids across occupied West Bank.

A Palestinian has been injured and several others arrested during Israeli raids in cities and towns across the occupied West Bank late on Sunday, witnesses have said.

Israeli forces carried out a series of incursions in the cities of Nablus and Ramallah, the Al Far'a refugee camp near Tubas, and towns in Hebron and Tulkarm.

While the raids at homes and businesses led to clashes and armed confrontations with Palestinians, explosions were also heard in several areas within the camp.

07:50 GMT — Situation in Gaza 'incommensurable' amid Israeli attacks: EU foreign policy chief

The situation in Gaza, where Israel continues its military offensive since last October, has become "incommensurable," the EU foreign policy chief has said.

Josep Borrell, at the doorstep of the EU’s foreign affairs council meeting in Brussels, deplored the death of over 100 Palestinians in latest Israeli attacks over the weekend, which he described as "one of the bloodiest days."

He reiterated support for the cease-fire backed by US President Joe Biden, but said it may not be implemented due to "lack of will from both sides."

07:12 GMT — Israel could use 'unprecedented weapons' in war with Hezbollah

Israel has alerted the US it could use weapons never deployed before in the event of an all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to sources cited by Channel 12.

“Tel Aviv conveyed a message to the White House stating its intent to employ unspecified new weapons systems to swiftly deal with any potential conflict with Hezbollah and avoid a prolonged war," the Israeli television channel said.

Israel warned that if Hezbollah does not "back down" soon, Israel will take military action in Lebanon.

07:03 GMT — EU fear Middle East on brink after Hezbollah threats

European foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said that the Middle East was close to seeing the conflict expanding into Lebanon just days after Iran-backed Hezbollah threatened EU member Greek-administered Cyprus.

"The risk of this war effecting the south of Lebanon and spilling over is every day bigger," Borrell told reporters ahead of a foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg.

"We are on the eve of the war expanding."

06:45 GMT — Over 20,000 children missing in Israel's brutal war on Gaza

Thousands of Palestinian children have been missing, trapped beneath the rubble of destroyed homes, detained by Israeli forces, buried in unmarked graves or lost from families, Save the Children said in a new statement

The agency’s child protection teams said the latest displacements caused by the offensive in Rafah have separated more children and further increased the strain on families and communities caring for them.

"It is nearly impossible to collect and verify information under the current conditions in Gaza, but at least 17,000 children are believed to be unaccompanied and separated and approximately 4,000 children are likely missing under the rubble, with an unknown number also in mass graves," the British aid group said.

06:30 GMT — Israeli bombing in Gaza City kills 2 Health Ministry staffers

Two Palestinians working for the Ministry of Health were killed and several other people were wounded in Israeli air strikes on a medical clinic in downtown Gaza City.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said in a press release that its “teams recovered the bodies of two martyrs working for the Ministry of Health and many wounded individuals as a result of Israeli occupation aircraft targeting Al Daraj Clinic,” without providing further details.

06:00 GMT — Israel prepared for multi-front war — Netanyahu

Israel is preparing to change the situation on its border with Lebanon but hopes there will be no need to do so, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, referring to the army’s ongoing confrontations with the Lebanese Hezbollah group.

Speaking to Israel’s Channel 14 about the possibility of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, Netanyahu said if necessary, “we will meet this challenge too. We can fight on several fronts. We are prepared for this.”

Regarding the war in Gaza, he said the phase of intense fighting is nearing an end, but the war will not end until Hamas no longer controls the enclave.

05:20 GMT — Israeli bombing in Gaza City kills 2 health ministry staffers

Two Palestinians working for the Ministry of Health were killed and several other people were wounded in Israeli air strikes on a medical clinic in downtown Gaza City.

Gaza’s civil defence agency said in a press release that its “teams recovered the bodies of two martyrs working for the Ministry of Health and many wounded individuals as a result of Israeli occupation aircraft targeting Al Daraj Clinic,” without providing further details.

04:25 GMT — Israelis wounded by anti-tank missile fired from southern Lebanon

Two Israelis were wounded when a house was hit by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon.

“Two people were slightly wounded” by an anti-tank missile fired toward the northern Israeli city of Metula, Israel’s Army Radio said on X.

A helicopter reportedly evacuated the wounded to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa. There has been no immediate comment from the Lebanese side on the report.

For our live updates from Sunday, June 23, 2024, click here.