Israel denies WHO’s request to deliver medical supplies

Wounded children being treated at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital last month (photo)

Two more Palestinian journalists killed; Ha’aretz calls for probe into Israeli “friendly fire” on October 7th; humanitarian aid dismally slow; ignoring the whole point of Houthi resistance; South Africa’s genocide campaign picks up speed – except in Knesset; West Bank deaths; Israel top court says No to foreign journalists in Gaza; AIPAC news; Hezbollah leader killed

GAZA: The World Health Organization (WHO) says Israeli authorities have denied a request it made to deliver medical supplies to the Central Drug Store in Gaza City and al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia.

“This marked the fourth denial of a mission to the al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia and Central Drug Store in Gaza City since December 26, leaving five hospitals in northern Gaza without access to life-saving medical supplies and equipment,” the WHO said.

GAZA: Gaza’s Government Media Office has confirmed the deaths of two more Palestinian journalists – Abdullah Baris and Muhammad Abu Dayer. “They were martyred by the ongoing Israeli occupation bombing of the Gaza Strip,” it said.

The total number of journalists killed in Gaza since October 7 has now reached 112, the office said.

In addition, separate Israeli air strikes killed family members of two other Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Ahmad al-Batta, a reporter for Qatar-based Al Araby, lost his mother and several other members of his family in one attack. The channel confirmed the news by posting a video of the moment al-Batta hears the news on the phone and is consoled by colleagues. Sameer Radi, a reporter for a Palestinian television channel, also lost his wife and two children in an air strike. The video shows him holding the wrapped body of his child.

GENOCIDE CASE: More than 900 popular movements, unions, political parties, and other organizations have signed an open letter calling on states to support South Africa’s Genocide Convention case against Israel.

“We now urge other countries to reinforce this strongly worded and well-argued complaint by immediately filing a Declaration of Intervention with the ICJ, also called the World Court,” said the groups from Belgium, UK, US, Australia and other countries.

An Israeli legislator is working to have another member of Knesset expelled over his public support for the South African genocide allegations motion before the International Court of Justice. The chairman of the Israel Beitenu faction, Oded Forer, is collecting signatures to bring about the removal of Ofer Cassif from the Israeli Knesset, according to Israeli media.

“[Cassif] chose during the war to join one of the most destructive initiatives for the security of the State of Israel and thus he supports the struggle of Hamas against Israel. He must soon find himself beyond the borders of the Knesset and preferably beyond the borders of Israel.”

Cassif stated, “My constitutional duty is to Israeli society and all of its residents, not to a government whose members and its coalition are calling for ethnic cleansing and even actual genocide,” he wrote.

Notably, while Israeli (and pro-Israel) politicians for the most part denounce the genocide allegation, they have not so far addressed the documented charges.

Palestinians inspect a car hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah (photo)

ISRAEL: Ha’aretz calls for probe into Israeli tank fire during October 7 attack: The leading Israeli newspaper’s editorial board said the Israeli army should investigate an incident where witnesses say an Israeli tank fired at a house in Kibbutz Be’eri with Hamas fighters and Israeli captives inside.

“Above all, it must disclose whether the so-called Hannibal Directive – which states that hostage-taking should be prevented even at the price of harm to our own forces – was used against the Israelis held hostage in that house,” the newspaper said.

The editorial board stressed that a probe must be conducted now, not after the war, because it relates to the fate of the remaining captives who are being held captive in Gaza.

(Note: a great deal of investigative work has been done regarding the issue of “friendly fire” on October 7th – all reaching the conclusion that at least some of the death and destruction that day was caused by the Israeli military, possibly using the highly controversial Hannibal Directive.)

HUMANITARIAN AID: Gisha, the Legal Center for Freedom of Movement says just 6,000 aid trucks entered Gaza over the past three months. This is the equivalent of 12 days of operations before October 7. “Truckloads aren’t the only indicator but can give a sense of scale,” said Tania Harry, executive director of the nonprofit, which campaigns for freedom of movement for Palestinians.

“This war [is] being waged in a way that completely impedes the delivery of aid on the massive scale it’s now needed,” she added.

“The UN and other humanitarians don’t deny that they are struggling, but the biggest obstacle they keep citing is lack of safe access. Without a ceasefire, there is no way to reach those in need and scale aid delivery.”

WEST BANK: Israeli occupation soldiers tonight fatally shot three Palestinian young men in the town of Iktaba to the east of Tulkarem City, said WAFA correspondent. A special Israeli unit, accompanied by a large military force, stormed the town of Iktaba amid the heavy firing of live bullets toward a parked vehicle, before cordoning off one of the houses in the area and fatally shooting three youths inside.

According to sources, Israeli forces ran over one of the bodies with their military jeep before withdrawing from the area.

Since October 7, 60 Palestinians have been killed in Tulkarem, out of a total of about 340 in the wider occupied West Bank.

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ISRAEL: The Israeli Supreme Court has rejected a petition to improve Gaza access for foreign journalists: A petition presented to the court by the Foreign Journalists Association asking for reporters to enter Gaza without an Israeli military escort has been rejected, the Israeli news website Walla says. The report said the court argued that allowing journalists in would endanger the Israeli military.

Almost every foreign reporter who has entered Gaza since the beginning of the war has travelled with the Israeli military, adhering to military rules and agreeing to allow footage to be reviewed by the military before its publication. Critics of the policy argue that the restrictions against the entry of journalists into Gaza are an attempt by Israel to prevent coverage of its attacks, which have killed more than 23,000 Palestinians.

US Secretary of State Blinken says the Yemeni rebels’ attacks on ships in the Red Sea are affecting 15 percent of global commerce.

“We’ve had 40 countries come together to make clear that what the Houthis are doing has to stop,” he told reporters. “And we have other countries that have made clear that if it continues there have to be consequences. So our strong preference is that the Houthis get the message that they’re receiving from countries around the world that this needs to stop.”

The reason for the Houthi threat, which Blinken has yet to address, is Israel’s brutal war against Gaza.

AIPAC: The Israel lobby wants Americans to demand that they stay in the dark about Israel’s human rights abuses – so Israel can keep taking taxpayers’ money: American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has sent an email to supporters asking them to contact their US senators in opposition to the measure that was introduced by Vermont’s Senator Bernie Sanders last month. The resolution would require the secretary of state to produce a report on Israel’s human rights practices within 30 days.

Biden is seeking more than $10bn in additional military aid to Israel, but US law prohibits security assistance to countries that engage “in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights”.

“For decades, both Republican and Democratic administrations have provided support and security assistance to Israel without linking our aid to specific Israeli policies,” AIPAC said in its email. “Such conditioning would undermine US national security interests.”

The Israel lobby – AIPAC – is considered by many to be a foreign agent, and by some to be a hate group. Its Israel-first-and-only agenda works to compromise free speech, engages in “economic espionage,” exercises outsized control over politicians (watch this video), and funds propaganda trips for Congress members and influencers.

A child wounded in Israeli bombardment lies at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah (photo)

LEBANON: An Israeli air strike killed senior Hezbollah commander Wissam al-Tawil on Monday, a development that is likely to result in a further escalation between the two sides, which have been involved in a low intensity conflict since 7 October.

Tawil died along with another fighter from the Lebanese armed group, according to the Reuters news agency. The Israeli air strike targeted the pair’s car in the village of Majdal Selm.

“This is a very painful strike,” one security source said, while another added, “Things will flare up now.”

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – JANUARY 7:

Palestinian death toll since October 7: at least 22,945* (~22,613 in Gaza* (at least 9,600 children), and at least 332 in the West Bank, about 77 of them children). This does not include an estimated 8,000 more still buried under rubble (4,900 women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 30,676 Palestinian deaths.

*IAK does not yet include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile is being disputed; although much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, experts are still looking into the incident. Israel is blocking an international investigation.

About 1.9 million people have been displaced (about 85% of the population).

Palestinian injuries since October 7: at least 61,245** (including at least 58,926 in Gaza** and 4,068 in the West Bank). **NOTE: it is impossible to provide an accurate number of injuries in Gaza due to the ongoing bombardment and communication disruption.

It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza**.

Reported Israeli death toll since October 7: ~1,139 (8 killed in West Bank, 174 in Gaza), including 32 Americans, and 8,730 injured, approximately 36 children).

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel may have been caused by Israeli soldiers; additionally, since Israel has a policy of universal conscription, it is unknown how many of those attending the outdoor rave a few miles from Gaza on stolen Palestinian land were Israeli soldiers.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

For more news, go here and here. Broadcast news from the region is here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org