Live Updates: Netanyahu diverges from his key ministers on Gaza reoccupation

Thursday, January 11, 2023

06:00 GMT - Netanyahu contradicts key ministers on reoccupation of Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister, has said Israel has no plans to reoccupy Gaza or expel its Palestinian population, a statement that contrasts extremist members of his far-right government who have repeatedly called for ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza.

"I want to make a few points absolutely clear. Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

He claimed that Israel is fighting only Hamas resistance group and not the Palestinian population "in full compliance with international law."

05:30 GMT - Press, rights groups call on Biden to protect journalists in Gaza

Six press and rights organisations have called on US President Joe Biden to protect journalists amid Israel's brutal war on besieged Gaza, in which more than 23,300 Palestinians, including 116 journalists, have been killed over the past three months.

"We believe your administration can and must do more to effectively pursue accountability for journalists killed in the hostilities and to protect and support local and international journalists covering it," said the letter by the Committee to Protect Journalists [CPJ] and five other press freedom and human rights organisations.

The other five organisations are Freedom House, the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Human Rights Watch, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, and Reporters Without Borders.

04:48 GMT - UN Security Council demands Houthis halt Red Sea attacks

The UN Security Council [UNSC] has demanded Yemen's Houthis immediately end attacks on ships in the Red Sea and implicitly endorsed a US-led task force that has been defending vessels while cautioning against escalating tensions.

The demand came in a Security Council resolution approved with 11 votes in favour, none against and four abstentions. It also called on the Houthis to release the Galaxy Leader, a Japanese-operated vehicle carrier linked to an Israeli businessman that the group commandeered on November 19, and its crew.

A Houthi spokesman immediately reacted to the UNSC resolution, saying the resolution is a "political game," adding the US is the one violating international law.

03:27 GMT - Olympics-ex French basketball player loses Paris 2024 role over pro-Palestine post

Former French national team basketball player Emilie Gomis has been stripped of her role as an Olympics ambassador over a controversy linked to a social media post about Israel's brutal war on besieged Gaza, Paris 2024 organisers said.

On October 9, two days after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel, Gomis posted an Instagram story which showed maps of France being gradually covered by the flag of Israel, accompanied by a question that read, "What would you do in this situation?"

Critics accused the former basketball player of antisemitism, which Gomis strongly denied.

For our live updates from Wednesday, January 10, click here.