A young man salvages objects amid the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli bombing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on January 27, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Doha, Qatar: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the need to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), affirming that urgent measures would be taken after allegations of the involvement of employees in the October 7 attacks.
He further indicated, "2 million civilians in Gaza depend on critical aid from UNRWA for daily survival but UNRWAs current funding will not allow it to meet all requirements to support them in February."
Meanwhile Israeli army issued another order for residents of multiple Khan Younis neighbourhoods to evacuate as it intensified its assault on southern city.
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[11:55 pm Doha Time] Devastation across Gaza
According to the latest data from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Palestinian government as of January 28, Israeli attacks have damaged:
• More than half of Gaza’s homes - 360,000 residential units have been destroyed or damaged
• 378 educational facilities
• 14 out of 35 hospitals are partially functioning
• 122 ambulances
• 221 places of worship
[10 pm Doha Time] The death toll in the Gaza Strip rises two days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to prevent destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza but failed to order ceasefire.
[7:15pm Doha Time] Minister of State for International Cooperation highlights to BBC need for accelerated humanitarian aid delivery into Gaza
Minister of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs HE Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater has demanded an accelerated and obstacle-free humanitarian aid delivery and adequate levels of aid supplies into all Gaza Strip areas.
Read more: https://s.thepeninsula.qa/nbjgyk
[5:15pm Doha Time] IN PHOTOS: Protesters in San Sebastian display Picasso's "Guernica", Palestinian flag in solidarity with Palestinians
Demonstrators hold a canvas with a detail of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso's masterpiece "Guernica" depicting a mother, and wave a giant Palestinian flag during a protest in solidarity with the Palestinian people under the slogan "SOS Gaza", on La Concha beach in the Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian on January 28, 2024
[4:55pm Doha Time] Director of Nasser Hospital morgue appeals for end to war
A video footage has shown staff and residents at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis digging a new mass grave to bury 14 people who were for days inside the hospital’s mortuary refrigerator.
The director of the morgue at Nasser Medical Hospital said the burials were taking place without the presence of their families due to their displacement.
He appealed for an end to the war and the siege on the hospital, saying: “It is not reasonable to bury martyrs in the sand, you must stand with the Palestinian people, we do not have electricity, water, food or shrouds, life has become non-existent in Nasser Medical Hospital.”
“We are trapped inside the hospital on all four sides,” he added.
This is the second mass grave to be dug inside Nasser Hospital due to the siege of the hospital by Israeli vehicles and the inability of citizens to reach the cemeteries in the city.
[2:30pm Doha Time] UNICEF: West Bank children living in ‘constant fear and grief’
The UN’s agency for children says kids in the occupied West Bank are living in “constant fear and grief” as the Israeli army continues to assault the area during its war on Gaza.
“The streets used to be good and paved, but they were destroyed when the army arrived,” said 11-year-old Hussam.
UNICEF shares this video as it says West Bank children living in ‘constant fear and grief’#Gaza #Palestine https://t.co/gSkQdX3tLE pic.twitter.com/FLHAqkPAix
— The Peninsula Qatar (@PeninsulaQatar) January 28, 2024
[12:45pm Doha Time] PRCS warns of oxygen depletion at besieged al-Amal Hospital
The Palestinian Red Crescent warned medical teams at the besieged al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis are “unable to perform surgical operations” because of a depletion of oxygen.
Israeli forces have intensified their attacks on the hospital as ground operations in southern Gaza advance.
[11am Doha Time] Israeli army tells Khan Younis residents to abandon homes
The Israeli military issued another order for residents of multiple Khan Younis neighbourhoods to evacuate as it intensifies its assault on the southern city.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman, 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 air strikes on Sunday.
[10am Doha Time] ‘Dangerous’ situation at Nasser Hospital as Israeli siege continues
The largest hospital in besieged Khan Younis city remains crippled and faces collapse as Israel’s offensive continues nearby.
Footage showed people in the crowded facility being treated on blood-smeared floors as frantic loved ones shouted and jostled.
Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement that Nasser Hospital lacked anaesthesia and other medicine for intensive care units, and had “dangerous” shortages of blood.
“These are the only painkillers left we have. If you want to count them, they are only for maybe five or four patients,” Dr Muhammad Harara said.
[9:30am Doha Time] Frigid, wet weather intensifies suffering of Gaza’s war displaced
The UN warned that the rain and winter cold in Gaza is “making an already unsanitary situation completely uninhabitable for the people”.
“Most have no warm clothes or blankets,” UN official Ajith Sunghay said.
In al-Mawasi- a narrow coastal strip once designated as “a safe zone” but struck by Israeli attacks in recent days – displaced Palestinians tiptoed on sandaled feet through garbage-lined puddles in damp and chilly weather. Walls of sheets and tarps billowed in the wind. A mother wept after rain leaked in and soaked the blankets.
“This is our life. We have nothing and we left [our homes] with nothing,” said Bassam Bolbol, whose family ended up in al-Mawasi after leaving Khan Younis and finding no shelter in Rafah.
[9am Doha Time] ‘Hunger stalks everyone’: UNRWA says 2 million people dependent on its aid
The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA has shared posts highlighting its role in responding to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as some of its largest funders have said they will withdraw or review their donations.
“UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over 2 million people depending on it for their sheer survival,” the agency said in a social media post.
UNRWA says it is providing shelter for about 1 million displaced people, including in its school buildings, as well as food and other assistance.
“93 percent of displaced families in southern governorates of Gaza have reported inadequate food consumption. People are desperate, hunger stalks everyone,” UNRWA added.
