Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, has criticised the UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, over his call for donor states to “guarantee the continuity” of UNRWA, the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (see post at 07.32 for more details).
It came after Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the United States, Australia and Canada in pausing funding after UNRWA revealed an investigation had been launched into 12 members of staff who allegedly took part in the 7 October attack led by Hamas that killed 1,140 people.
Erdan said that the UN chief had repeatedly ignored “evidence” presented to him regarding UNRWA’s involvement in “incitement and terrorism”.
“Every country that continues to fund UNRWA before a comprehensive investigation of the organisation should know that its money might be used for terrorism, and the aid that will be transferred to UNRWA may reach the Hamas terrorists instead of the people of Gaza,” he wrote on X on Sunday.
Jan Egeland, secretary of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has said that “lifesaving aid” in Gaza is being threatened by donors “recklessly suspending aid” to UNRWA, the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine.
“UNRWA has rightly terminated the contracts of those alleged to violate our neutrality principle,” he wrote on X.
“Donors, do not starve children for the sins of a few individual aid workers.”
At least nine countries, including top donors the US and Germany, have paused funding after UNRWA revealed an investigation had been launched into 12 members of staff who allegedly took part in the 7 October attack led by Hamas that killed 1,140 people.
Aid officials have warned the risk of deaths from preventable disease, as well as the risk of famine, are growing as the flows of aid like food and medicine into the territory is a fraction of what it was before the war.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are now reliant on the aid UNRWA provides, including about one million who have fled Israeli bombardments sheltering in its facilities, according to Reuters.
Israeli fighter jets have struck two Hezbollah sites in the towns of Zibqin and Houla in Lebanon, Al Jazeera quoted Daniel Hagari, the Israeli military spokesperson, as saying.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, has criticised the UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, over his call for donor states to “guarantee the continuity” of UNRWA, the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (see post at 07.32 for more details).
It came after Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the United States, Australia and Canada in pausing funding after UNRWA revealed an investigation had been launched into 12 members of staff who allegedly took part in the 7 October attack led by Hamas that killed 1,140 people.
Erdan said that the UN chief had repeatedly ignored “evidence” presented to him regarding UNRWA’s involvement in “incitement and terrorism”.
“Every country that continues to fund UNRWA before a comprehensive investigation of the organisation should know that its money might be used for terrorism, and the aid that will be transferred to UNRWA may reach the Hamas terrorists instead of the people of Gaza,” he wrote on X on Sunday.
The Israeli army on Sunday said special forces were continuing to engage in “intensive battles” in Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Younis, where it claimed troops eliminated “terrorists and located large quantities of weapons”.
Strikes were also carried out in central and northern Gaza, it added.
Uganda has distanced itself from an opinion written by a Ugandan judge on the international court of justice (ICJ) dissenting from the panel’s ruling in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, saying the remarks do not reflect Uganda’s position.
Julia Sebutinde was the only judge on the 17-member ICJ panel to vote against all six measures adopted by the court in a ruling ordering Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, according to Reuters.
Sebutinde was one of only two judges who issued dissenting judgments while 15 voted for the emergency measures, which covered most of what South Africa had asked for in the case.
“The position taken by judge Sebutinde is her own individual and independent opinion, and does not in any way reflect the position of the government of the republic of Uganda,” the government said in a statement.
It added that the east African country supported the position of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on the conflict that was adopted at its summit in the Ugandan capital this month.
That NAM position contained in a document issued at the end of the summit condemned Israel’s war in Gaza and killing of civilians. It also called for an immediate ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access.
The movement was formed officially in 1961 by countries opposed to joining either of the two major cold war-era military and political blocs.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says that medical teams at the al-Amal hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis cannot perform surgical operations due to “oxygen depletion”.
The PRCS on Saturday condemned the siege and targeting of al-Amal hospital and its branch headquarters in Khan Younis for the sixth consecutive day.
In a statement posted to X, the PRCS said: “The occupation continues to bombard the vicinity of the hospital and open fire, jeopardising the safety of medical staff, the wounded, patients, and approximately 7,000 displaced individuals who sought refuge there to escape Israeli bombardment.”
Since the beginning of the “continuous targeting” of al-Amal hospital and the PRCS’s headquarters for about four weeks, dozens of people had been killed and injured inside the facilities and surrounding areas, it added.
The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, should ensure the UK is “on the right side of history” after the international court of justice (ICJ) ruling on Israel’s war in Gaza, the Scottish National party (SNP) said.
The UN court stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in Gaza in a ruling published on Friday after an action brought by South Africa, but ordered Israel to ensure its forces do not commit acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
In a letter to Cameron, Brendan O’Hara, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “One could argue that it needn’t take a ruling by a court to persuade a democratic, or morally sound, nation to take action to prevent genocide.”
He added: “I hope that the secretary of state will not need this letter to serve as a reminder of the legal obligations which now fall on the UK government, legal obligations which should have been moral obligations three months ago.”
O’Hara went on to urge the UK government to avoid giving Israel a “blank cheque”, adding that “we are past turning a blind eye”.
He said:
I urge the UK government to commit to standing with South Africa, on the right side of history.
Today’s ruling will not end this war, but I am asking the UK government to do what is right and adhere to the provisional measures.
The UK government must act swiftly and firmly to persuade its friend, Israel, to abide by the order and prevent acts of genocide against the Palestinian people.
At least 26,422 Palestinians have been killed and 65,087 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Sunday.
Over the past day, 165 Palestinians were killed and 290 injured, the ministry added.
Most of the casualties have been women and children, the ministry has said, and thousands more bodies are likely to remain uncounted under rubble across Gaza.
Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, have discussed efforts to de-escalate the war in Gaza, according to the Qatari foreign ministry.
In a statement, the ministry said:
During the call, they discussed cooperation relations between the two countries and the latest developments in the war on Gaza Strip along with ways of de-escalating the situation.
The prime minister and minister of foreign affairs affirmed Qatar’s commitment to its efforts in mediating and facilitating negotiations between Iran and western countries, including continuing to implement the recent agreement between Iran and the United States brokered by Qatar.
Qatar was critical in securing a week-long truce in November in which more than 100 hostages were released in return for 240 women and children held in Israeli jails. Numerous rounds of negotiations have since faltered.
The Israeli military has reportedly issued another order for residents of some of the neighbourhoods in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip to evacuate.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, said Palestinians in the neighbourhoods of Nassr and al-Amal, along with those of the area’s refugee camp and city centre, must “immediately” leave.
They were told to go to al-Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands were previously forced to move to.
The Israeli army’s air force also confirmed “intense fighting” is ongoing in Khan Younis, and it conducted multiple airstrikes on Sunday.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has pleaded for donor states to “guarantee the continuity” of the body’s Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) after several halted funding over accusations of staff involvement in Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.
Agence France-Presse reports Guterres said in a statement on Saturday:
While I understand their concerns – I was myself horrified by these accusations – I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations.
Israel has alleged several UNRWA staff were involved in Hamas’s attack, leading some key donor countries to suspend their funding.
UNRWA fired several staff over Israel’s accusations, promising a thorough investigation into the claims, which were not specified, while Israel vowed to stop the agency’s work in Gaza after the war.
The row between Israel and UNRWA follows the UN’s international court of justice ruling on Friday that Israel must prevent possible acts of genocide in the conflict and allow more aid into Gaza.
Guterres said:
The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences. But the tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRWA, many in some of the most dangerous situations for humanitarian workers, should not be penalised.
The dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met.
Guterres confirmed that 12 UNRWA employees were cited in the accusations, which the UN is investigating. Nine have been fired, one was dead and the “the identity of the two others is being clarified”, he said.
Several key donor countries to UNRWA have said they will temporarily suspend their current or future following accusations, including the US, the UK, Canada and Switzerland.
Hamas hit out against Israeli “threats” against UNRWA on Saturday, urging the UN and other international organisations not to “cave in to the threats and blackmail”.
US negotiators are making progress on a potential agreement under which Israel would pause military operations against Hamas in Gaza for two months in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages captured in the 7 October attack on Israel, according to two senior administration officials, Associated Press reports.
The officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive discussions, said on Saturday that emerging terms of the yet-to-be sealed deal would play out over two phases.
In the first phase, fighting would stop to allow for the remaining women, elderly and wounded hostages to be released by Hamas.
Israel and Hamas would then aim to work out details during the first 30 days of the pause for a second phase in which Israeli soldiers and civilian men would be released. The emerging deal also calls for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The Guardian has not confirmed the terms of the potential agreement and Israel and Hamas have not commented on it.
The AP report continues:
While the proposed deal would not end the war, US officials are hopeful that such an agreement could lay the groundwork for a durable resolution to the conflict.
The New York Times first reported on Saturday that progress has been made towards an agreement for a pause in fighting in exchange for the remaining hostages.
The CIA director, Bill Burns, is expected to discuss the contours of the emerging agreement when he meets on Sunday in France with David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and Egypt’s intelligence chief, Abbas Kamel, for talks centred on the hostage negotiations.
President Joe Biden spoke on Friday with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, by phone, with the calls with both leaders focusing on the hostage situation.
The White House said in a statement about Biden’s call with the Qatari leader:
Both leaders affirmed that a hostage deal is central to establishing a prolonged humanitarian pause in the fighting and ensure additional life-saving humanitarian assistance reaches civilians in need throughout Gaza. They underscored the urgency of the situation, and welcomed the close cooperation among their teams to advance recent discussions.
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis. I’m Adam Fulton, it’s 8.35am in the Gaza Strip and Tel Aviv and here’s a rundown on the latest news to this minute.
US negotiators are making progress on a potential agreement under which Israel would pause military operations against Hamas in Gaza for two months in exchange for the release of more than 100 hostages, Associated Press reports two senior Biden administration officials as saying.
The officials, who requested anonymity, said on Saturday that the emerging terms of the yet-to-be sealed deal would play out over two phases. In the first, fighting would stop to allow for the remaining women, elderly and wounded hostages to be freed.
Israel and Hamas would then aim to work out details during the first 30 days of the pause for a second phase in which Israeli soldiers and civilian men would be released, the report said. The emerging deal also reportedly calls for Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The director of the CIA is expected to discuss the prospective agreement when he meets on Sunday in France with the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, the Qatari prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence chief for talks.
The Guardian has not confirmed the terms of the potential agreement and Israel and Hamas have not yet commented on it.
More on that shortly. In other key developments:
The decision by the US, UK and other western nations to freeze funding for the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees will significantly worsen the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, Palestinians have warned. Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland joined the US, Australia and Canada in pausing funding after UNRWA, the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, revealed that an investigation had been launched into 12 members of staff who allegedly took part in the 7 October attack led by Hamas that killed 1,140 people.
Israel’s foreign minister said his country would seek to stop the UNRWA from operating in Gaza after the war. Israel was aiming to ensure “UNRWA will not be a part of the day after”, Israel Katz said on Saturday.
Hamas said Israel was on a “campaign of incitement” against UN agencies delivering aid to Palestinians in Gaza. A statement by the militant group highlighted an Israeli accusation of “collusion” between the World Health Organisation and Hamas, which the UN agency rejected on Friday.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has increased public pressure on Qatar to help secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Asked about his closed-door remarks, an audio recording of which was leaked to Israeli TV this week, that he was refraining from thanking Qatar for its mediation and deemed it “problematic”, Netanyahu told reporters: “I take back nothing.”
The Palestinian foreign ministry said an immediate ceasefire was “the only way” to implement Friday’s international court of justice interim ruling. The judgment stopped short of ordering a ceasefire in Gaza but demanded Israel attempted to try to contain death and damage in its offensive. The ministry also condemned what it called the “clear Israeli determination to continue destroying the Gaza Strip and turning it into an inhabitable place”.
The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, pressed China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, to use China’s influence to help rein in Iran’s support for Houthis after their attacks on Red Sea shipping. According to a US official, Beijing has told Washington that it is raising the issue with Tehran. Washington is waiting to see whether China does so and how effective the outreach will be, the official added.
Crews extinguished a fire onboard the fuel tanker Marlin Luanda, after the vessel was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, the commodities trader Trafigura said. The firefighting effort was supported by Indian, US and French navy vessels, it added. No casualties or injuries were reported onboard.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society on Saturday condemned the siege and targeting of al-Amal hospital and its branch headquarters in Khan Younis for the sixth consecutive day. The “siege and its consequences” were a “blatant violation of international agreements, especially the provisions of international humanitarian law that require the Israeli occupation to respect the Red Crescent emblem”, it said.
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2024-01-28 10:43:51Z
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