Palestinian men walk along a narrow street past destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on June 11, 2024. Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP
Doha, Qatar: Deadly Israeli air attacks have continued across the Gaza Strip, with northern Gaza City experiencing several deadly strikes over the past 24 hours.
Wafa news agency reported that over six people have been killed in an Israeli air attack on a home in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood. This brings the total number of people killed by Israeli attacks since dawn to 14, with a number of others wounded.
Since October 7, at least 37,164 people have been killed and 84,832 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza.
Watch this page for more live updates:
[9:00pm Doha Time] Qatar committed to bridging gap to reach ceasefire in Gaza: PM
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani affirmed Qatar's commitment to bridging the gap and bringing parties together to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all prisoners and hostages.
During a joint press conference with US Secretary of State HE Antony Blinken today, June 12, His Excellency said that today's meeting built on a series of important discussions and deliberations over the past eight months regarding the war in Gaza and ways to end it, in addition to discussing working to prevent the expansion of violence and conflict in the region. Read more.
[7:00pm Doha Time] Slovenia announces 2.5 million euros towards victims of war in Gaza
One million euros ($1.08m) will be allocated for the Palestinian people through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said in a statement.
Meanwhile, another million euros will be allocated to the UN’s World Food Programme, and the remaining 0.5 million euros ($0.54m) will be assigned “to health and psychosocial rehabilitation projects” for victims of the war in Gaza.
The ministry said it has so far given 4.3 million euros ($4.6m) in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians since the war began on October 7.
[6:00pm Doha Time] About 500 medical personnel killed in Gaza since October 7
The Health Ministry in Gaza has said that Israeli forces killed at least 498 health personnel and medical specialists and detained at least 310 others since the war began.
In a report, the ministry said only 16 hospitals remain partially operational while 64 health centres out of a total of 90 are out of service with more than 130 ambulances destroyed.
The total number of requests for treatment abroad reached 25,000, but the number of those who were approved to travel was only 6,645, the ministry said. Only 4,895 of those have actually been able to make the journey out of the Gaza Strip. The Rafah crossing, which the Israeli army seized and closed in May, remains shut.
The ministry added that 1.5 million infectious diseases have been recorded since Israel began its onslaught on Gaza.
[3:55pm Doha Time] Ceasefire most immediate way of preventing conflict from escalating: Blinken
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the US is “continuing to work every day on increasing the flow of assistance into Gaza and making sure it gets to people who need it within Gaza, working to improve civilian protection, working to release the hostages.
“The single most effective and most immediate way to end the suffering of people in Gaza, to end suffering of Palestinians and Israelis alike, is to tackle the human assistance crisis, to protect conflict from escalating and spreading to other places is to get a ceasefire,” he said during a press conference in Qatar.
He lauded Qatar’s efforts, saying: “Qatar has been a tireless partner in working to mediate a ceasefire and a hostage release.”
Talking about the Hamas’s response to the UN-backed ceasefire plan, Blinken said that some of their requested amendments are workable, but some are not.
Blinken said mediators will continue urgently trying to “close the deal” in the days ahead.
[3:50pm Doha Time] Prime Minister highlights need for ‘sovereign Palestinian state’
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani emphasised the need for a permanent solutions to the Gaza war rather than "temporary measures". Read here
[3:49pm Doha Time] Details from the joint press conference between Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and US Secretary of State HE Antony Blinken in Doha.
I discussed with the US Secretary of State, Hamas' response regarding the ceasefire deal: PM, at a joint press conference with HE Antony Blinken, Secretary of State of the United States of America#Qatar #Doha #US #Breaking pic.twitter.com/z1o4NZ7sry
— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) June 12, 2024
[2:15pm Doha Time] Israeli military claims to strike 30 Gaza targets in last day
Israeli ground troops and air forces have continued operating in Rafah and central Gaza, according to its military.
This included carrying out close-quarter combat in Rafah, said the military, claiming its forces have destroyed several fighter cells and booby-trapped structures in the last day, reported Al Jazeera.
It also included targeted air strikes throughout central Gaza, the military added.
Israel’s latest attacks throughout Gaza have also killed numerous civilians, including a child in a home in Rafah, stated the Wafa news agency.
[2pm Doha Time] Israeli forces launch numerous raids in southern Lebanon
Israeli forces have launched raids on the towns of Markaba, al-Adisa, and Deir Siryan in southern Lebanon, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent reported.
The news comes as part of an escalation witnessed on the Lebanese front since this morning, as Hezbollah bombed many Israeli settlements and sites with about 170 missiles in response to the Israeli forces’ assassination of four Hezbollah members Tuesday evening, including a senior commander.
[1:17pm Doha Time] Health Ministry calls for fuel to operate generators
Gaza’s Ministry of Health warns that hospitals, health centres and the only oxygen station in Gaza City Governorate have stopped working due to a lack of fuel.
“This exposes the lives of dozens of sick and wounded people to inevitable death,” it said in a statement, adding that medicines stored in refrigerators will be damaged due to a lack of diesel fuel operating generators.
“We appeal to all relevant, international and humanitarian institutions to intervene quickly to bring in the necessary fuel, in addition to the electric generators and spare parts needed for maintenance.”
[1pm Doha Time] Children in Gaza trekking for hours for water
With many of Gaza’s water wells and pipelines destroyed during the war, clean water has become increasingly difficult to find.
To cope, children in the enclave often make long treks to fetch water, lugging heavy containers back to their homes or shelters, according to UNRWA.
“Children are losing their childhood because of this war. This needs to stop now,” said the agency.
A direct consequence of the war in #Gaza: children can spend 6-8 hours a day collecting water & food, often carrying heavy weights & walking long distances.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) June 12, 2024
Children are losing their childhood because of this war. This needs to stop now.#WorldDayAgainstChildLabour#CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/nc7HoydXSk
[12:30pm Doha Time] UN probe accuses Israel of ‘extermination’ in war on Gaza
An independent UN investigation has concluded that Israel committed crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza, including the crime of “extermination”.
“The crimes against humanity of extermination; murder; gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys; forcible transfer; and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment were committed,” the Commission of Inquiry said in a report, due to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next week.
[12pm Doha Time] Israeli military placed on UN ‘blacklist’ in annual Children in Armed Conflict report
The UN’s annual report on Children in Armed Conflict, a copy of which was obtained by the Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday, provides details on why the Israeli military for the first time has been placed on a blacklist of countries that have killed and maimed children and attacked schools and hospitals.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres chief said in the report that he was “appalled by the dramatic increase and unprecedented scale and intensity of grave violations against children in the Gaza Strip, Israel and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem”.
The report said the UN had verified the killing of 2,267 Palestinian children in Gaza among some 9,100 children that have been reported killed in the territory “and verification is ongoing”.
Palestinian children gather inside a tent at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on June 11, 2024. Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP
[11am Doha Time] Gaza’s ‘lost generation’: UNRWA chief sounds alarms as 600,000 children deprived of education
UNRWA Chief Philippe Lazzarini told regional and world leaders who gathered in Jordan on Tuesday for the Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza conference, that more than 600,000 Palestinian children are being deprived of education in the war-torn territory.
In his remarks to the conference, Lazzarini said his UN agency for Palestinian refugees wanted to see an immediate ceasefire, the international community boost its response to the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza, and preparations “for early recovery, including education” in the territory.
“More than 600,000 children” in Gaza are currently deprived of education and are “on the verge of becoming a lost generation”, Lazzarini said.
