The eldest son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief has been killed in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza.
Hamza al-Dahdouh, an Al Jazeera network journalist and cameraman, was driving in a car with other journalists along a road between Khan Younis and Rafah on Sunday when it was hit.
Freelance journalist Mustafa Thuraya was also killed. A third journalist, Hazem Rajab, was seriously injured.
Four other members of bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh's family have been killed.
His wife Amna, his grandchild Adam, his 15-year-old son Mahmoud and seven-year-old daughter Sham were killed in an Israeli strike in Nuseirat refugee camp in October.
According to Al Jazeera correspondent Hisham Zaqout, Hamza al-Dahdouh and a group of journalists were en route to the Moraj area north-east of Rafah - which was designated a "humanitarian zone" by the Israeli army - but which had reportedly experienced recent bombings.
Many displaced Gazans had fled to the area to escape the bombardment in other regions of the territory. Hamza had intended to report on the unfolding situation and the aftermath of the bombings in the area, according to Al Jazeera.
In a statement to the BBC, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: "An IDF aircraft identified and struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat to IDF troops.
"We are aware of the reports that during the strike, two other suspects who were in the same vehicle as the terrorist were also hit."
Live footage from Al Jazeera showed the aftermath of the strike on the car they had been travelling in.
It also showed his father Wael al-Dahdouh in tears, holding his hand and standing next to his body in a morgue in Khan Younis. He was buried in the southern city of Rafah.
"Hamza was not just part of me. He was the whole of me. He was the soul of my soul. These are tears of sadness, of loss. These are tears of humanity," his father said at the funeral.
"I call on the world to look closely at what's happening in Gaza."
Wael al-Dahdouh was himself wounded and his cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa was killed in a separate strike while filming last month.
Mr al-Dahdouh, who has eight children, continued reporting on the war in Gaza.
Hamza al-Dahdouh had one million followers on Instagram. His final post before he was killed was about his father. "You are steadfast and patient. Do not despair of God's mercy. Be certain that he will reward you," he said.
The Al Jazeera Media Network said in a statement that it "strongly condemns the Israeli occupation forces' targeting of Palestinian journalists' car".
"The assassination of Mustafa and Hamza... whilst they were on their way to carry out their duty in the Gaza Strip, reaffirms the need to take immediate necessary legal measures against the occupation forces to ensure that there is no impunity," it added.
It also alleged that the strike "confirms without a doubt the Israeli forces' determination continue these brutal attacks against journalists and their families, aiming to discourage them from performing their mission, violating the principles of freedom of the press and undermines the right to life".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Hamza al-Dahdouh's death was "an unimaginable tragedy".
He added that "far too many innocent Palestinian men, women and children" have died in the war.
Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told the BBC's World This Weekend that "Israel does not deliberately target journalists".
"We're the only country in the Middle East that actually does have a free press. We're the only country in the entire region where the press can write bad things and criticise the leaders of government," he said.
"To say Israel deliberately targets the press is ridiculous, we're the only country that actually enshrines the free press."
More than 75 journalists have been killed since the war in Gaza started.
More than 22,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Divers have entered a flooded cave in Slovenia to try to evacuate five people who have been trapped deep inside since Saturday, the head of the rescue mission has said.
A family of three adults with two guides had begun a visit to the Krizna Jama (Cross Cave), 30 miles (50km) south of the capital, Ljubljana, on Saturday morning.
The group became trapped on a dry platform after heavy rain caused a steep rise in the water levels within the cave, which is known for its emerald green underground lakes and can only be visited by boat.
On Monday, Maks Merela, the head of Slovenia’s cave search and rescue unit, said the water levels were starting to recede and his team hoped to have the group out by the end of the day.
“The first section of the cave is passable for now,” Merela said. “The divers are getting inside and we hope they will come out with evacuees in the course of the day, by evening at the latest.”
Cave divers located the group late on Saturday 2km from the entrance to the 8km long cave.
Rescue teams had delivered them a tent, warm clothes, food and medicines. “They are in a super psycho-physical condition, in a dry place, they have a heated tent and all supplies they need,” Merela said. “They are only waiting to get out.”
All exits would be passable when the water subsided, he added. Evacuees would be given diving suits if there was need for them to swim out of the cave, he said.
Igor Benko, the head of Slovenia’s speleological association, told the country’s official STA news agency that it could take a few days for the passage to be safe again.
Thirty-five cave rescuers and eight divers from all over Slovenia were involved in the rescue operation, assisted by 11 firefighters and members of the civil protection force, authorities said.
Slovenia is known for its more than 14,000 caves, some of which can be visited by large groups of tourists travelling on underground trains. Others, like the Krizna cave, can be visited only by small groups using boats.
Krizna Jama is the fourth most biodiverse known cave ecosystem in the world.
Reuter, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report
The World Health Organization (WHO) has cancelled another mission to transport medial supplies to northern Gaza after failing to be given security guarantees.
It is the fourth mission aiming to bring urgent supplies to the Al-Awda Hospital and a key pharmacy that has been cancelled since 26 December, a statement from the UN's global health body says.
The WHO adds it has been 12 days since it has been able to reach northern Gaza, where much of the heaviest fighting has been taking place since Israel launched a ground invasion.
"Heavy bombardment, movement restrictions, and interrupted communications are making it nearly impossible to deliver medical supplies regularly and safely across Gaza, particularly in the north", a WHO statement says.
Sunday's delivery had been scheduled to ensure five hospitals in the north are able to continue treating people.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he is "shocked by the scale of health needs and devastation in northern Gaza", adding that any more delays will "will lead to more death and suffering for far too many people".
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By James FitzGerald
BBC News
Alaska Airlines placed restrictions on the Boeing plane involved in a dramatic mid-air blowout after pressurisation warnings in the days before Friday's incident, investigators say.
Pilots reported warning lights on three previous flights, said Jennifer Homendy of the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
As a result, the airline prevented the jet from making long-haul flights over water, Ms Homendy said.
No-one on board was hurt in the drama.
After losing part of its fuselage, the plane - a Boeing 737 Max 9 - made a safe emergency landing back in Portland, with 177 passengers and crew on board.
It is not clear if there is a link between the issues that led to previous pressurisation warnings, and the issue that caused the later blowout.
NTSB chief Ms Homendy set out new details of the "very chaotic" and "terrifying" situation on board Alaska Airlines flight 1282 on 5 January.
The force of the blowout caused the door of the cockpit to open and a laminated checklist and the first officer's headset both flew out into the cabin, she said.
She added that no information from the cockpit voice recorder was available because it was not retrieved before a two-hour cut off.
Ms Homendy later announced that the part of the fuselage that detached had been found, after a teacher named Bob located the missing section in his yard.
The authorities had been searching for the door plug - a piece of fuselage with a window that can be used as an emergency exit in certain configurations - in Portland, the city the plane had departed minutes before.
It was described by Ms Homendy as the "key missing component" to work out why the incident happened.
The flight to Ontario, California, had reached 16,000ft (4,876m) when it began its emergency descent, according to flight tracking data.
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One passenger, Diego Murillo, said the gap left by the missing component was "as wide as a refrigerator".
Some 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes remain grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) as safety checks continue.
Boeing said in a statement: "Safety is our top priority and we deeply regret the impact this event has had on our customers and their passengers."
Alaska Airlines said in its most recent statement: "While we await the airworthiness directive (AD) inspection criteria from the FAA and Boeing, our maintenance teams are prepared and ready to perform the required inspections of the mid exit door plugs on our 737-9 MAX fleet.
"The 737-9 MAX grounding has significantly impacted our operation. We have cancelled 170 Sunday flights and 60 cancellations for Monday, with more expected."
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken is continuing his fourth tour of the Middle East since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
He’s due to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Monday where he’ll speak with crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. He’ll then head to Israel where he’ll hold talks there on Tuesday.
Before leaving Doha in Qatar, Antony Blinken gave a news conference where he made several comments about the Israel-Gaza war including that:
Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow … They cannot, they must not be pressed to leave Gaza.
Some Israeli ministers have recently spoken in favour of “encouraging” Palestinians to leave and re-establishing Jewish settlements in the territory, although this is not official Israeli policy, Agence France-Presse reports.
Blinken also warned that the Israel-Gaza war could spread across the region without concerted peace efforts:
This is a moment of profound tension for the region. This is a conflict that could easily metastasise, causing even more insecurity and suffering.
The US secretary of state said he would tell Israeli officials that it is imperative they do more to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday:
The war must not be stopped until we achieve all the goals: the elimination of Hamas, the return of all our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel … I say this to both our enemies and our friends.
Al Jazeera has accused Israel of a “targeted killing” after two of its Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip were killed in an Israeli strike on their car.
Hamza Wael Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuria, who also worked as a video stringer for AFP and other news organisations, were killed while they were “on their way to carry out their duty” for the channel in the Gaza Strip, the network said.
A third freelance journalist travelling with them, Hazem Rajab, was seriously injured.
Al Jazeera said in a statement it “strongly condemns the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of the Palestinian journalists’ car”, accusing Israel of “targeting” journalists and “violating the principles of freedom of the press”.
The health ministry in Gaza also confirmed the deaths and blamed an Israeli strike.
The Guardian’s Chris McGreal has taken a closer look at the domestic reaction in South Africa after it launched legal action against Israel accusing the country of genocide.
Israel has denounced South Africa’s legal action at the international court of justice accusing Israel of genocide and war crimes in Gaza as amounting to support for Hamas.
Israel called the charge that it was intentionally killing thousands of Palestinian civilians – which the ICJ is expected to start hearing on Thursday – a “blood libel”. Jewish organisations in South Africa accused the ruling African National Congress of siding with terrorism and antisemitism.
But South Africa’s lawsuit seeking a halt to the Israeli assault on Gaza in response to the Hamas cross-border attack in October comes after years of deteriorating relations rooted in the ANC’s decades-long support for the Palestinian cause and the legacy of Israel’s close military alliance with the apartheid regime during some of the most oppressive years of white rule.
The Guardian’s Archie Bland is taking a closer look at the figures coming out of the Israel-Gaza war for First Edition.
Gaza’s ministry of health says that at least 22,835 Palestinians had been killed by yesterday, with another 58,416 reportedly injured. That figure does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but an estimated 70% are women and children. 7,000 more are reportedly missing and most are likely dead.
Israel’s final count for Hamas’s 7 October massacre is 1,139: 685 Israeli civilians, 373 members of the security forces, and 71 foreigners. Deaths in Israel since then bring the total to about 1,200. 36 of the victims were children. The Israeli military says that 174 soldiers have been killed in Gaza, and 1,023 injured.
Read more of his analysis here:
Germany is ready to allow sales of Eurofighter jets to Saudi Arabia, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said on Sunday.
Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain jointly build the jet and each can veto deals, Agence France-Presse reports.
Germany has blocked arms sales to Riyadh since the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. That includes blocking a deal for 48 Eurofighter jets signed by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in London.
“We do not see ourselves, as the German federal government, opposing British considerations on other Eurofighter (sales),” Baerbock told journalists on a trip to Israel, in which she highlighted the Saudi role in the Middle East security crisis since the Israel-Gaza war.
Germany’s foreign minister noted that Saudi Arabia and Israel had “not renounced their policy of normalisation” since war broke out. “The fact that Saudi Arabia is now intercepting missiles fired by the Houthis at Israel underlines this, and we are grateful for that,” AFP reports.
“Saudi Arabia is a key contributor to Israel’s security, even these days, and is helping to stem the risk of a regional conflagration.”
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says 73 Palestinians were killed and 99 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours. The figures were given in a statement on Monday, says Reuters.
Israel’s offensive has so far killed 22,835 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials. In Israel, about 1,200 people were killed and 240 were taken hostage on 7 October, according to Israeli officials.
More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has posted on Telegram and X in the last hour that it “struck numerous Hezbollah targets in Lebanon” overnight.
The post says “IAF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military compound in the area of Marwahin”. It also says a rocket launcher and infrastructure was hit in Ayta ash Shab.
Earlier, the IDF confirmed that a Hezbollah rocket barrage damaged a strategic airbase in northern Israel, on Saturday.
The IDF declined to comment on the extent of the damage at Mt Meron airbase, which is less than 10km (6.21 miles) from the border with Lebanon.
The US secretary of state Antony Blinken is continuing his fourth tour of the Middle East since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
He’s due to visit the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on Monday where he’ll speak with crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. He’ll then head to Israel where he’ll hold talks there on Tuesday.
Before leaving Doha in Qatar, Antony Blinken gave a news conference where he made several comments about the Israel-Gaza war including that:
Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow … They cannot, they must not be pressed to leave Gaza.
Some Israeli ministers have recently spoken in favour of “encouraging” Palestinians to leave and re-establishing Jewish settlements in the territory, although this is not official Israeli policy, Agence France-Presse reports.
Blinken also warned that the Israel-Gaza war could spread across the region without concerted peace efforts:
This is a moment of profound tension for the region. This is a conflict that could easily metastasise, causing even more insecurity and suffering.
The US secretary of state said he would tell Israeli officials that it is imperative they do more to prevent civilian casualties in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday:
The war must not be stopped until we achieve all the goals: the elimination of Hamas, the return of all our hostages and ensuring that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel … I say this to both our enemies and our friends.
Hello and welcome to our Middle East crisis blog, covering the Israel-Gaza war and other events in the region. It’s currently 8:03am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. I’m Reged Ahmad and I’ll be with you for the next while.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is on his fourth tour of the Middle East since the 7 October attacks in Israel by Hamas. Speaking at a news conference after his meeting with Qatari prime minister sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Blinken said “Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow,” and that “this is a conflict that could easily metastasise, causing even more insecurity and suffering”.
More on Blinken’s comments in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
The Israeli military says it has completed its mission to destroy Hamas’s infrastructure in northern Gaza and has scaled back its military operations there as the offensive moves south, In recent weeks, Israel had already been scaling back its military assault in northern Gaza and pressing its offensive in the territory’s south, Associated Press reports.
The Qatari foreign ministry has released a statement following US secretary of state Antony Blinken’s meeting with Qatari prime minister sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani on Sunday. In the statement, the Qatari foreign ministry said that Blinken and al-Thani discussed ways to pressure for a ceasefire, lift restrictions imposed on humanitarian aid and discussed negotiations to release prisoners and the latest regional developments.
Some bakeries in Gaza have resumed functioning after over 50 days of closures due to shortages in fuel and electricity as a result of Israel’s deadly attacks across the strip. The World Food Programme announced the resumption of bakery functions in Gaza on Sunday, adding that it is providing wheat flour, salt, sugar and yeast so bakeries can start making bread again.
Beirut’s airport screens were hacked on Sunday with messages that showed anti-Hezbollah messages, Agence France-Presse reports Lebanon’s state news agency saying. According to Lebanese media reports, the messages urged Hezbollah to not “drag the country into war”. Another message said: “You’re going to blow up our airport by bringing in weapons. Let the airport be freed from the grip of the [Hezbollah] statelet,” AFP reports.
Nine people are confirmed to have died in the occupied West Bank, as more details emerge about an Israeli drone strike in Jenin. Seven Palestinians were targeted in an airstrike by the Israeli army in Jenin refugee camp and an Israeli police officer was killed during an operation, the Israeli army said. An Israeli civilian was also shot dead in another incident north of Ramallah, the army said.
A Hezbollah rocket barrage on Saturday night damaged a strategic airbase in northern Israel, the country’s military confirmed. The Israeli Defense Forces declined to comment on the extent of the damage at Mt Meron airbase, which is less than 10km (6.21 miles) from the border with Lebanon.
Two journalists have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza . Hamza Wael Al-Dahdouhof Al Jazeera and Mustafa Thuria, a video freelancer for AFP, died while travelling in a car, the health ministry and medics confirmed.
UNRWA’s Gaza deputy director Scott Anderson gave an update on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza as a result of Israel’s deadly attacks which have killed nearly 23,000 Palestinians while leaving nearly 2 million survivors internally displaced. Speaking to CNN, Anderson said: “The levels of hunger are quite severe in Gaza. From Rafah to the north, it gets worse, the farther north you go.”
Crew from Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee have been forced to withdraw from Gaza’s al-Aqsa hospital due to Israeli bombardment. In a statement released on Sunday, MAP said: “As a result of increasing Israeli military activity around the Al Aqsa hospital, the only functioning hospital in Gaza’s Middle Area, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC)’s Emergency Medical Team (EMT) has been forced to withdraw and cease activities.”
Israel has named its former supreme court president Aharon Barak as its addition to the international court of justice (ICJ) panel scheduled to hear a genocide allegation filed against it this week, an Israeli official said. Under the ICJ’s rules a state that does not have a judge of its nationality already on the bench can choose an ad hoc judge to sit in their case, Reuters reports.
Two journalists have been killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza this morning. Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with Al Jazeera and Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for AFP, were killed while travelling in a car, the health ministry and medics confirmed to AFP. Reports suggest the car was hit in the region between Rafah and western Khan Younis.
Hamza Wael Dahdouh’s father, Wael Al-Dahdouh, is Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief and was also recently wounded in a strike. His wife and two children were killed by a separate Israeli strike in the initial weeks of the war.
At least 77 journalists and media workers were killed between 7 October, when the war started, and 31 December, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
There have been major civilian casualties from strikes on the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis this morning. Health officials in Nasser hospital said on Sunday that Israeli strikes on houses in the town had killed 50 people, with many images coming through this morning of babies and children who have been killed.
At least 64 people have been killed overnight and early on Sunday in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, according to its Hamas-run health ministry. The death toll includes babies and children.
AFP reports:
Israeli bombardment [claimed] civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory’s displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported.
Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis’ European hospital, among them Mohamed Awad, who wept over the body of a 12-year-old boy and listed other family members killed.
“My brother, his wife, his children, his relatives and the brothers of his wife - there are more than 20 martyrs,” he said.
The Israeli army - which said on Saturday it had “dismantled” Hamas’s military leadership in northern Gaza - reported that its forces had killed more “terrorists” in central Gaza, including in a drone strike in the Bureij refugee camp, a built-up urban area.
Two journalists have been killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza this morning. Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with Al Jazeera and Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for AFP, were killed while travelling in a car, the health ministry and medics confirmed to AFP. Reports suggest the car was hit in the region between Rafah and western Khan Younis.
Hamza Wael Dahdouh’s father, Wael Al-Dahdouh, is Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief and was also recently wounded in a strike. His wife and two children were killed by a separate Israeli strike in the initial weeks of the war.
At least 77 journalists and media workers were killed between 7 October, when the war started, and 31 December, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
There have been major civilian casualties from strikes on the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis this morning. Health officials in Nasser hospital said on Sunday that Israeli strikes on houses in the town had killed 50 people, with many images coming through this morning of babies and children who have been killed.
Palestinians have been searching for survivors amid the rubble in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, on Sunday after an Israeli airstrike.
Haitham Imad, a photographer for EPA, has been taking pictures this morning of the Brais family as they hunt for missing people among destroyed buildings.
It is not yet clear how many have died in the strike but other images filed this morning show multiple bodies being taken for burial from the mortuary at Nasser hospital, including babies.
Jordan’s King Abdullah used his meeting with the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to push for an Israeli ceasefire. In a statement issued by the palace, he warned of the “catastrophic repercussions” of the continuation of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
In a sign that the talks had done little to water down Jordan’s position on the conflict, the monarch told Blinken that Washington had a major role to play to put pressure on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Blinken is in Jordan as part of his week-long tour of the region. He also met the foreign minister and visited a World Food Program warehouse where trucks are being packed with aid to be delivered to Gaza.
Peter Beaumont is in Beirut, where the assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’s political bureau, has prompted fears that the war could spill over into Lebanon. You can read full report here, which includes powerful reportage from the city.
This is an extract of his analysis of the current fears for conflict spreading further in the region:
[fear of an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel] has dominated debate in Lebanon and the wider region in the days since Arouri’s killing, even as a tenuous normality has returned to Beirut’s sprawling southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, in wake of the attack. While streets that emptied in the immediate aftermath of the strike have become busy again, anxiety lingers. The mood was summed up by Lebanon’s outgoing prime minister, Najib Mikati, who on Friday talked of “the danger of attempts to drag Lebanon into a regional war … with serious consequences, particularly for Lebanon and neighbouring countries”.On Saturday morning, as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel, saying the barrage was only its first response to Arouri’s killing, Mikati’s warning took on an added resonance. The cross-border exchanges have highlighted the fact that, three months on, Israel’s war against Hamas is starting to bleed ever wider across the region.
Since 8 October, limited exchanges across the border – including airstrikes and drone attacks – have become a daily occurrence between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as other factions in Lebanon, inflicting casualties on both sides. Iran-backed groups in Iraq have stepped up attacks on US military bases, while Yemen’s Houthis – who, like Hamas and Hezbollah, have long enjoyed Iranian support – have launched long-range drones and threatened commercial shipping around key routes in the Red Sea. Last week, Islamic State claimed responsibility for two blasts which ripped through a crowd in southern Iran, killing at least 84 people, while a US airstrike in Baghdad killed the commander of an Iranian-backed Shia militia.
But it has been in Lebanon, above all, where the situation has become most dangerous, undermining a fragile understanding between Hezbollah and Israel that has persisted since the hugely destructive second Lebanon war in 2006.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, met King Abdullah II of Jordan and the country’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, in Aman on Sunday morning as part of a diplomatic push to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas from spreading elsewhere in the region.
Blinken’s position is that detailed plans for the post-conflict future of the territory need to be worked on, but Jordan and other Arab countries have so far been highly critical of Israel’s actions and argue that no long-term planning can happen until there is a ceasefire. Blinken is pushing Israel to adjust its military operations to reduce civilian casualties while boosting the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza.
Blinken also toured a World Food Program warehouse in the Jordanian capital where trucks are being packed with aid to be delivered to Gaza.
After talks on Saturday with Turkish and Greek leaders Blinken said he wanted to prevent “an endless cycle of violence” as part of his week-long visit aimed at calming tensions in the region.
The Israeli military has signalled a shift away from its focus in northern Gaza, saying it has finished dismantling Hamas’ military infrastructure there.
Its spokesman, R Adm Daniel Hagari, said on Saturday night its forces would “continue to deepen the achievement” there, AP reported, adding that they would strengthen defences along the Israel-Gaza border fence and focus on the central and southern parts of the territory.
It comes as the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is on an official visit to the region. The US has repeatedly urged Israel to wind down its air and ground offensive in Gaza and focus on more targeted attacks against Hamas leaders, to prevent harm to Palestinian civilians.
Blinken is expected to put pressure on Israel to protect civilians in Gaza when he lands on Tuesday. In recent weeks, Israel had already been scaling back its attacks on northern Gaza and pushing south, where most of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians are being pushed into smaller areas in a humanitarian disaster while Israeli airstrikes continue.
More detail has come in on this morning’s airstrike in the occupied West Bank. The strike killed six Palestinians in Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry said, while Israel said that one of its soldiers had been killed.
Here’s some more from Reuters, who spoke to people on the ground this morning:
Israel said its aircraft fired on Palestinian militants who had attacked troops in the city of Jenin, while the Palestinian ministry said the strike targeted people who had gathered at the site, and eyewitnesses said the attack happened as Israeli forces were withdrawing.
“One of the martyrs was decapitated,” Mujahid Nazzal, a Palestinian doctor and first responder at the scene, told Reuters.
“It seemed the missile directly hit him. Others had their limbs severed. A seventh person was seriously injured and taken by the ambulance.”
Another witness, Ahmed Suleiman, said, “The air strike happened at the entrance of Jenin in an area called Martyr’s Triangle. You can see the effects of the missile. Blood and body parts scattered everywhere.”
Four of those killed were brothers, according to family members.
An Israeli border police officer was killed and others wounded when their vehicle was hit by an explosive device during operations in Jenin, the Israeli military and police said.
A helicopter helped rescue them with covering fire, the military said, adding that an aircraft fired at a “terrorist squad that hurled explosives and endangered our forces, a number of terrorists were killed.”
Six people were killed early on Sunday during an Israeli airstrike in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
“An Israeli occupation bombardment on a group of citizens killed six people in Jenin,” said the Palestinian Authority-run Ministry of Health, which is based in the West Bank.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported early Sunday that a major deployment of Israeli forces was under way in Jenin.
Violence has intensified in the West Bank since Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel from Gaza on 7 October. More than 300 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the conflict broke out, according to the United Nations Office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
At least 11 people were killed in Russian shelling in Donetsk on Saturday, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin.
Five children were among the dead and eight further people were wounded in the attack on the eastern Ukraine region, partially occupied by Russia.
Emergency services believe the number of victims could increase as around six more people appear to be under the rubble of one destroyed building.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy said that Russia must feel the consequences of every such attack, adding "that no such strike will go without consequences."
Shelling hit the town of Pokrovsk, some 50 km from the frontline.
Before the war, it had a population of 60,000. Nine people were killed and 82 injured in August in Russian shelling.
Crimean air base hit
Ukraine’s military claimed it successfully attacked the Saki military airbase in the west of the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
“Saki airfield! All targets were hit!” Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on Telegram.
He also published a photo purporting to show the airfield, though Euronews could not immediately verify the image.
Russian officials did not comment on the alleged attack, but Russia’s Defense Ministry said in the early hours of Saturday that it had successfully downed four Ukrainian missiles over the peninsula overnight.
Later on Saturday, the ministry reported its air defence forces had shot down six Ukrainian anti-ship missiles over the Black Sea.
North Korean-made missiles allegedly used in Ukraine
Ukrainian officials claimed on Saturday they have evidence, which shows Moscow fired North Korean-supplied missiles on Kharkiv earlier this week.
The eastern region's prosecutor’s office said a missile which hit central Kharkiv on 2 January appears to be made in North Korea.
Investigators who examined parts of the missile concluded the rocket was visually and technically different from Russian models.
On Thursday, the White House said US intelligence officials determined that Russia has acquired ballistic missiles from North Korea and is seeking close-range ballistic missiles from Iran as Moscow struggles to replenish arms for its military campaign with Ukraine.
A Euronews report in September explored what Moscow and Pyongyang need from one another, ranging from food to advanced weapons. Read more on this story below.
Christmas Eve masses in Belgorod cancelled
Local officials in Belgorod said that an “air target” was intercepted on approach to the Russian border city, some 40km from Ukraine.
Ukrainian attacks on 30 December in Belgorod killed 25 people, with rocket and drone attacks continuing throughout this week.
It was the deadliest attack on Russian soil since the war began in February 2022, coming after a major bombardment of Ukraine's largest cities.
As Russians prepared to celebrate Orthodox Christmas, Christmas Eve masses in Belgorod were cancelled due to the “operational situation,” Mayor Valentin Demidov said.
Experts previously told Euronews that Kyiv was launching drone strikes against Russia to hit military targets and boost morale at home by showing the country had offensive power, though they warned this strategy could backfire, especially if civilians were killed/
“I can see why Ukranians want Russia to feel how it feels to wake up in the morning from the sirens of air defences, hiding in cellars, waiting and hoping a missile barrage won't kill you... But they risk losing the moral high ground," said Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher at King’s College War Studies Department.
