Live Updates: UAE condemns ethnic cleansing calls in Gaza by Israeli ministers

Friday, January 5, 2024

0035 GMT - UAE condemns Israeli ministers' calls for ethnic cleansing against Palestinians

The United Arab Emirates [UAE] has condemned Israeli ministers' calls for the mass expulsion and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and demanded an end to Israeli war in the besieged enclave.

"The United Arab Emirates strongly condemns the extremist statements of the Israeli Ministers of Finance and National Security calling for the displacement of Palestinians outside Gaza, reoccupation of the [Gaza] Strip, and the construction of settlements in it," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referring to extremist Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

It emphasised "the UAE's categorical rejection of these offensive statements and all practices and procedures carried out in contravention of resolutions on international legitimacy, which threaten further escalation and instability in the region."

2336 GMT - Pro-Palestine protesters stage rally in Berlin under heavy rain

A group of pro-Palestine protesters have staged a rally in the German capital Berlin to protest Israel's ongoing aggression in Gaza, which has killed more than 22,400 people and left the coastal enclave in ruins.

Despite heavy rain, the protesters gathered outside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's office to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Carrying Palestinian flags, the crowd chanted slogans such as "Free Palestine" and "Stop the genocide."

2325 GMT - Gaza hospital received 155 dead, 357 wounded after December attacks

Gaza's Al Aqsa Hospital received 155 dead and 357 wounded following Israeli attacks on two refugee camps in December, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders [MSF] has said, reiterating its call for a ceasefire.

"From the hospital, we can hear the bombing in the neighbourhoods northeast of Al Aqsa Hospital in Gaza’s Middle Area, near the Al Bureij and Al Maghazi refugee camps," it quoted Carolina Lopez, MSF emergency coordinator in the besieged enclave, as saying on its X account.

"No one and nowhere is safe in Gaza," the MSF said.

"We need a sustained #ceasefire now to prevent more deaths and injuries, to ensure the delivery of unhindered aid, and a massive scale up of health care to meet Gazans' medical needs," it added.

For our live updates from Thursday, January 4, click here.