A ball of fire and black smoke rises moments after an Israeli air strike targeted a residential building in the city of Bureij in the central Gaza Strip on June 3, 2024. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
Doha, Qatar: Israel continued to bomb southern and central Gaza with the total number of Palestinians killed raised to atleast 36,479, while 82,777 have been left wounded.
Education Ministry in Ramallah, stated that most of the children killed by Israel in Gaza, occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem were students or were in nurseries.
It added that since the war on Gaza started, 620,000 students have been prevented from going to school, while 88,000 have been denied education at the university level.
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Some Gazans are now reduced to drinking sewage water and eating animal feed, the WHO's regional chief said on Tuesday, pleading for increased aid access immediately to the besieged territory. Read more.
[8:23 Doha Time] International community must pressure Israel, Hamas to reach agreement to end Gaza war: MoFA spokesperson
Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari called on the international community to pressure the Israeli and Palestinian sides to accept US President Joe Biden's internationally-backed proposal to end the war in the Gaza Strip, and reach a prisoner exchange deal between the two sides. Read more.
[8:23 Doha Time] Thirty-three Palestinian Red Crescent members killed during war, agency says
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is Palestine’s local branch of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
It provides emergency medical and ambulance services in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, a role that has been critical during the Gaza war. Its ambulances and staff have repeatedly come under Israeli fire while responding to emergencies.
So far during the war, Israeli attacks have killed 33 PRCS staffers, 19 of whom were actively engaged in humanitarian work, according to the agency.
Since October 7, Israeli occupation forces have killed 33 PRCS staff members and volunteers, including 19 who were targeted while performing their humanitarian duties.#NotATarget ❌ pic.twitter.com/myUHY5vib8
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) June 4, 2024
[8:12 Doha Time] Children unfed all day, thousands for one toilet in Gaza: Oxfam
Palestinians displaced by the Gaza war are living in "appalling" conditions, with children sometimes going for a whole day without food and thousands sharing the same toilet, Oxfam warned on Tuesday. Read here
Palestinians queue for meal rations at a communal food distribution point in al-Bureij refugee camp in the besieged Gaza Strip on June 3, 2024. Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP
[7:15pm Doha Time] WHO Director-General praises Qatar's humanitarian role, support for victims and displaced people in Gaza Strip
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) HE Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the humanitarian role played by the State of Qatar and the support it provides in the health sector, especially for Palestinian victims and displaced people in the Gaza Strip. Read here
[6:05pm Doha Time] World Central Kitchen says it has supplied 50 million meals in Gaza
The aid group says it has delivered more than 50 million meals in Gaza after suspending operations in April when an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers.
WCK said it now has two main kitchens in operation in Gaza, and another 65 community kitchens spread throughout the territory.
“We’re always looking to expand as much as possible,” John Torpey, the group’s Middle East activation manager, said.
[5:37pm Doha Time] Up to 11,000 Palestinians need immediate medical evacuation: WHO official
Hanan Balkhy, World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, has said that between 7,000 to more than 11,000 Palestinian patients need immediate medical evacuations.
Speaking in Geneva, Balkhy said the patients who need evacuation are required to receive treatment in specialised hospitals.
“If you’re talking about leaving nobody behind, we are already leaving significant numbers behind from Gaza, but also, when there’s pressure on already fragile health systems in the neighbouring countries,” she said, adding, “So we have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Balkhy continued, “If we do not have peace, that’s going to be an extremely challenging situation. We need peace within the borders to open up.”
A member of the Palestinian Civil Defence opens the door to a damaged ambulance, where he has been living for months, in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza on June 1, 2024. Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP
[2pm Doha Time] No ‘concrete approvals’ yet on current ceasefire proposal: Qatar
Negotiators have not had “concrete approvals” from either side yet to the ceasefire proposals on the table, reported Al Jazeera.
The media house quoted Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari as saying while speaking at the weekly press briefing in Doha. Read more
[1:15pm Doha Time] UN rights chief says standards of war conduct brutally violated in Gaza
United Nations rights chief Volker Turk has said the norms and standards on the conduct of the war had been violated brutally in Gaza.
Speaking in Malaysia, Turk welcomed a US-proposed ceasefire deal for the conflict, calling the Gaza situation “beyond catastrophic”.
Palestinians inspect the carcass of a car targeted in Israeli bombardment, resulting in casualties, in Deir al-Balah on June 4, 2024. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
[12:30pm Doha Time] Gaza death toll rises
The number of people killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7 has risen to at least 36,550, including 71 in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged and bombarded territory.
At least 82,959 people have also been wounded, including 182 in the past day, the latest figures showed.
[11:30am Doha Time] ‘Heart-wrenching’ situation in Gaza ‘stark reminder’ of human cost of conflict: UN
Tor Wennesland, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, has said he visited the besieged Gaza Strip yesterday and witnessed the “devastating impact of the hostilities”.
“The scenes of destruction and suffering of people are heart-wrenching,” he said. “And it is clear that urgent action is needed to alleviate the humanitarian crisis facing the Gaza Strip.”
Wennesland also said he visited al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis and met with officials to discuss ways to address the immediate needs of the population.
“What I saw in Gaza is a stark reminder of the human cost of conflict,” he said, adding that the US proposal for a ceasefire should be accepted by all parties involved.
Palestinians mourn relatives killed in Israeli bombardment of a house in al-Bureij refugee camp, at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah on June 4, 2024. (Photo by Bashar Taleb / AFP)
[11am Doha Time] Turkiye, US discuss war on Gaza
Ankara: Turkish President's Foreign Policy and Security Chief Advisor Akif Cagatay Kilic held a phone call on Monday with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
During the call, the two sides discussed the Israeli war on Gaza, as well as bilateral relations, the situation in Ukraine, and other regional issues, according to the Turkiye's Anadolu Agency (AA).
They also exchanged views on combating terrorism - an issue of priority to both sides. (QNA)
[10:30am Doha Time] Japan's Nagasaki holds off inviting Israel to peace ceremony
The Israeli ambassador to Japan has not yet been invited to Nagasaki's annual peace ceremony, said city officials who instead sent the embassy a letter calling for a Gaza ceasefire.
The city in southern Japan this week invited dozens of countries and territories to the August 9 event on the anniversary of the US nuclear attack in 1945 that killed 74,000 people.
But "as for Israel, the situation is changing day by day... so we have put sending an invitation letter on hold," mayor Shiro Suzuki told reporters on Monday.
Its letter said that if city officials decide in the coming months that there is no problem in inviting Israel, "we will issue an invitation swiftly", according to the mayor.
Worries that protests could disrupt the memorial for atomic bomb victims are partly behind the decision, said Suzuki.
"Given the critical humanitarian situation in Gaza, and public opinion in the international community, there are concerns about the risk of unexpected incidents during the ceremony," which should be "safe and smooth".
The Palestinian envoy has been invited to the ceremony in Nagasaki, local officials told AFP on Tuesday.
[9am Doha Time] Gaza's situation getting worse, there are no more functional hospitals: UN
Head of OCHA's Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) Andrea De Domenico said that the situation in Gaza is getting worse and that there are no more functional hospitals in Rafah.
Domenico added in a press conference that there are great efforts to re-establish a hospital in the central region of Gaza, but there are no more functional hospitals in Rafah, except for field hospitals.
He pointed out that medical teams were sent to the region from all over the world, pointing out that these doctors were unable to find a place to treat the injured.
Domenico said that it has become very difficult for UN operations to continue their presence in Gaza in light of the current situation.
The UN official added that he believes that there is no other place in the world where the regime is suffering from great pressure and that there is no other UN mission that can continue its activities under these circumstances other than Gaza.
The Israeli occupation army launched a violent ground attack on Rafah, which is crowded with displaced people and residents, despite UN and international warnings of the consequences of aggression against the border city, and the order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to stop the attack, which caused an exacerbation of the humanitarian catastrophe, the closure of the Rafah crossing, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands again.
[8:30am Doha Time] US urges Security Council to back Gaza ceasefire plan
The United States announced a draft Security Council resolution supporting Gaza ceasefire plan outlined by US President Joe Biden on May 13.
"Today, the United States circulated a new US draft Security Council Resolution supporting the proposal now on the table to end the fighting in Gaza through a ceasefire and hostage deal. Numerous leaders and governments, including in the region, have endorsed this plan. We call on the Security Council to join them in calling for implementation of this deal without delay and without further conditions," US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement.
The US Ambassador urged members of the UN Security Council to adopt the draft resolution. "Council Members should not let this opportunity to pass by. We must speak with one voice in support of this deal," she stressed.
"Swift implementation of this deal would enable an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas in its first phase, an immediate surge in humanitarian assistance and restoration of basic services, the return of Palestinian civilians to northern Gaza, together with a roadmap for ending the crisis altogether and a multi-year internationally backed reconstruction plan," she explained.
Biden on Friday laid out what he described as a three-phase Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza in return for the release of Israeli hostages, saying "it's time for this war to end".
The US proposal comes a week after Algeria proposed a draft resolution to the Security Council calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas, and ordering Israel to immediately cease its military offensive in Rafah.
