EXPLAINER
An Israeli attack killed 20 waiting on aid in Gaza, heavy fighting is under way at the enclave’s hospitals.
Here’s how things stand on Friday, January 26, 2024:
Latest updates
- The International Court of Justice will deliver its response to South Africa’s request for emergency measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza from “irreparable harm” today at 1pm local time in The Hague (12:00 GMT)
- An Israeli overnight air attack on a house in the al-Hassayna neighbourhood of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza has killed at least 11 people, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
- The United Nations trade body sounded an alarm on Thursday that global trade is being disrupted by attacks in the Red Sea, the war in Ukraine and low water levels in the Panama Canal.
- Lawmakers in Georgia, United States, passed a bill on Thursday that would define anti-Semitism in state law, The Associated Press news agency reported. The proposal seeks to adopt a definition of anti-Semitism that would help prosecutors identify hate crimes and illegal discrimination targeting Jewish people.
Human impact and fighting
- Heavy fighting is under way in the vicinity of the Al-Aqsa, Nasser, al-Amal and al-Khair hospitals in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Thursday.
- On Thursday, a large group of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian assistance at a roundabout in Gaza City were fired on by Israeli forces. At least 20 were killed and 150 injured, many seriously, OCHA reported.
- At least 200 people were killed and 370 injured in Gaza in a 24-hour period between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.
- A least 13 people were killed and 56 injured after Israel struck a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) training centre on Wednesday, the agency confirmed on Thursday. Israel said it was conducting an investigation into the incident, but has “currently ruled out” that Israeli aircraft or artillery were responsible.
Diplomacy
- The heads of the intelligence services of Israel, Egypt and the US, along with Qatar’s prime minister, are negotiating a deal between Israel and Hamas for a pause in fighting and the release of captives, Al Jazeera correspondents in Jerusalem reported early on Thursday.
- US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, via phone call on Thursday. Austin reiterated US support for Israel’s “right to defend itself” and the US’s endeavours to ensure aid is made accessible to Gaza, along with resolving tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border, according to a US Department of Defense statement.
- On Thursday, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on US President Joe Biden to denounce the Israeli attack on people lining up to receive aid in Gaza City, which killed at least 20.
- Hamas official Osama Hamdan told reporters in Lebanon on Thursday that Israel’s efforts to create a buffer zone along its border with Gaza constitute a “crime” and act of “blatant aggression” against the Palestinian people.
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