Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
At least 32 Palestinians were killed in relentless Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to the Health Ministry in the enclave.
Around 70 children have been killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip in the last five days.
The Health Ministry stated in its Saturday update that 499 additional Palestinians, whose names were documented and verified by the ministry’s relevant committee, have been added to the overall death toll.
IN NORTHERN GAZA, At least 5,000 Palestinians have been killed and missing in Israel’s ongoing offensive in northern Gaza since Oct. 5, according to local authorities.
“Some 9,500 others have also been injured, in addition to the detention of 2,600 people, including women and children, in a flagrant violation of all international conventions and norms,” Gaza’s government media office said in a statement.
“In the past 100 days, our people in northern Gaza have suffered the most horrific forms of killing, ethnic cleansing, destruction, and displacement,” it added.
8 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on school sheltering displaced people in northern Gaza
At least eight Palestinians, including two women and two children, were killed Saturday evening in an Israeli airstrike on a school sheltering displaced civilians in northern Gaza, according to Palestinian medics.
The attack targeted the Halawa School in Jabalia, leaving 30 others injured. Eyewitnesses reported that an Israeli drone struck a room inside the school, causing extensive casualties.
The Israeli army, in a statement, claimed it had targeted Hamas members operating from the school.
RELATED:
WATCH: UN warns Israel is keeping food from civilians in Gaza
The United Nations is warning that famine is spreading in northern Gaza, with babies dying of malnutrition and Palestinian families starving.
And yet, it says all this is avoidable, and accuses Israel of refusing to allow food assistance into the Strip and worsening the hunger crisis.
Watch Al Jazeera’s video report from Tareq Abu Azzoum in Deir el-Balah:
Thousands of unexploded Israeli munitions remain in Gaza: Media
Thousands of unexploded munitions fired by the Israeli army have remained scattered across Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli media.
Quoting unnamed senior officers late Friday, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the Israeli army recently launched an investigation to determine whether Palestinians used unexploded munitions to manufacture an improvised explosive device (IED) that killed three Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza last week.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army announced that three soldiers were killed and three others injured when an IED exploded under a tank in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza.
According to the report, the Israeli army has fired tens of thousands of munitions into Gaza, with the air force alone dropping approximately 30,000 bombs since the war began.
“Thousands of bombs dropped by Israeli aircraft in Gaza did not detonate, including some weighing a ton,” Channel 12 noted.
The report also revealed that some US-supplied weapons and munitions delivered to Israel during the war were found to have technical issues.
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) stated in April 2024 that an estimated 7,500 tons of unexploded ordnance are scattered across Gaza, a cleanup process that could take up to 14 years.
Israel destroyed Gaza ‘for generations to come’ and the world stayed silent
90% of Gaza cease-fire deal’s details completed: Israeli media
The details of the Gaza cease-fire and a prisoner swap deal between Israel and the Hamas group are “almost complete,” an Israeli newspaper reported on Saturday.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Israeli political sources as saying that “90% of the details of the prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas have been agreed upon.”
The sources claimed that the main sticking point between the two parties is that Hamas wants “guarantees” that Israel implements the second phase of the deal and links it with the first phase.
The newspaper added that Hamas is concerned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may resume war after completion of the deal’s first phase.
It also noted that due to the progress in the cease-fire talks, US President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff made an unannounced visit on Saturday to Israel and met with Netanyahu.
The report added all parties aim to reach a deal before Trump assumes office on Jan. 20.
Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt and Qatar to reach a cease-fire in Gaza have so far failed due to Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.
PM Netanyahu sends head of Mossad to Qatar to discuss truce
The Israeli prime minister’s office says in a statement that Israel will send a delegation headed by the chief of its Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, to Doha to continue talks on a possible deal to secure the release of captives in Gaza.
Barnea’s presence means high-level Israeli officials who would need to sign off on any agreement are now involved.
Also being sent to Qatar are the head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency and military and political advisers. Netanyahu’s office said the decision followed a meeting with his defense minister, security chiefs, and negotiators “on behalf of the outgoing and incoming US administrations”.
Israeli army approves plans for evacuation of forces from Gaza
HA’ARETZ REPORTS: The Israeli military recently approved plans for the rapid evacuation of large areas in the Gaza Strip, amid progress in negotiations for the release of hostages, Haaretz has learned.
The military examined several options for evacuating forces from Gaza, including through the Netzarim corridor, which divides the strip into two. The army explained that it has the capability to evacuate soldiers from the area, despite the numerous infrastructure and positions the military has established there.
The IDF emphasized that it would be able to implement any agreement approved by the political leadership, including one requiring immediate evacuation.
The 4km (2.5-mile) deep and heavily fortified Netzarim Corridor runs across the Gaza Strip, stretching from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.
[Muhammad Shehada of the Center for International Policy writes;] Over the past months, outgoing Secretary of State Antony Blinken has given several interviews in which he repeatedly claims that Hamas, rather than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been the key obstacle to achieving a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza. This messaging has been echoed by other Biden administration officials and surrogates.
At a workshop in Geneva in November, a recently retired US ambassador, who had just returned from meeting White House officials, claimed, “There are currently three ceasefire deals on the table and Hamas isn’t responding to any of them.” The veteran diplomat acknowledged the suffering in Gaza but blamed it on Hamas’ “rejection” of an agreement to end the war.
To my surprise, a former senior Israeli security official in the room rushed to challenge this claim, which he described as a “shameful attempt to rewrite history and blame Hamas rather than Netanyahu for the obstruction of ceasefire talks” (continue reading here).
West Bank: Jenin Camp Under Siege – PA Forces Target Civilians, Prevent Food, Medicine
The media committee in the Jenin refugee camp issued an open letter to Arab and international media, urging them to highlight the severe suffering of the camp’s residents due to the ongoing military campaign by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, the Quds News Network reported on Saturday.
In the letter, the committee reported that the Jenin camp is under a complete siege, with electricity and water cut off, while food and medical supplies have been blocked, worsening the already dire humanitarian situation.
The committee confirmed that hospitals in the refugee camp have been raided and turned into military barracks, and wounded individuals have been arrested directly from the operating rooms, a flagrant violation of international humanitarian laws.
The situation inside the refugee camp is described as “almost impossible,” with residents struggling to survive amid severe shortages of basic necessities and ongoing random shelling that threatens their safety.
The letter also reported that the refugee camp has been subjected to indiscriminate shelling, leading to the burning of homes and the displacement of entire families.
Journalists have been directly threatened to prevent coverage of the events, aiming to obscure the reality and suppress the Palestinian narrative. Additionally, the campaign includes widespread arrests, violent raids on homes and mosques, random gunfire injuring women and children, and the destruction of property and infrastructure.
The committee appealed to the international community and the media to provide accurate coverage of the crimes committed against the residents and to hold the Palestinian Authority accountable for actions that serve the Israeli occupation’s interests and undermine the Palestinian resistance.
NOTE: Conditions in the Jenin refugee camp have been terrible for a long time due to Israel’s years-long crackdown. It is only recently that the Palestinian Authority has been actively involved.
RECOMMENDED READING:
War Crimes – Hind Rajab Foundation Sends 1,000 Israeli Soldiers’ Names to Int’l Criminal Court
The names of over 1,000 Israeli soldiers have been sent to the International Criminal Court by the Brussels-based human rights organization Hind Rajab Foundation, Israeli media reported.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Foundation is actively pursuing Israeli soldiers who have left “digital footprints” while engaging in military operations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria.
“All through the war in Gaza, Israeli soldiers have been leaving behind not only their physical footprints but also digital fingerprints, with many of them posting videos and photos of themselves online – and sometimes recording improper conduct and potential war crimes,” Haaretz noted.
The Foundation was established last year in memory of Hind Rajab, a 5-year-old girl killed when Hind’s family’s vehicle was shelled by Israeli tanks, leaving only her alive. The tanks then destroyed the ambulance sent to rescue her, killing both paramedics inside; eventually Hind also died. The Foundation aims to challenge Israel’s pattern of impunity.
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A little child was killed in an air strike that targeted the school of Halawa in Jabalia town, north of Gaza. pic.twitter.com/qxrTPsYLsk
— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) January 11, 2025
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JANUARY 11, 2025:
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 11, 2025: at least 47,410* – 46,565 in Gaza; in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers and/or settlers have killed at least 845 Palestinians (~175 of them children).
(The ministry of health added 499 deaths to its death toll on Saturday, specifying they have now completed the data and confirmed identities on files whose information was incomplete.)
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.
According to a report in the Lancet, by multiplying the reported deaths by five, it is possible to reach a conservative estimate of total deaths (including indirect causes like starvation and lack of medicine). Using the latest figure from AFP (46,006), it is reasonable to estimate at least 232,825 total deaths in Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
According to a recent report by the UN Human Rights Office of identified fatalities in Gaza, about 44% were children. It is reasonable to estimate that 20,489 of known direct deaths and 102,443 of the total deaths are children.
Palestinian injuries from October 7, 2023 – January 11, 2025: at least 116,660 (including at least 109,660 in Gaza and 7,000 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 11, 2025: ~1,608 (or 1,585) (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 423*** (or 400) military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza (updated: Jan. 7, 2025); 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
ADDITIONAL STATISTICS: Since October 7th, 2023:
- At least 54 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (at least 35 of them from Gaza).
- At least 43 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition (at least 37 of them children)**.
- About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
- About 345,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
*The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.
Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.
**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.
***The figure does not include the reportedly 59 Israeli soldiers – nearly 17% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.
† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
- Dr Abu Safiya symbolized humanity in Gaza, as it is destroyed
- Gaza death toll may be 41% higher than official figures: study
- NYTimes rejects Quaker ad for calling Israel’s actions “genocide”
- Blinken Declares Genocide in Sudan But Refuses to Acknowledge Genocide in Gaza
- Blood Splattered Madness
- Knesset members urge IDF to destroy Gaza’s food, water and power
- ‘No Civilians’: IDF Soldiers Reveal Killings, Lawlessness in Gaza
- Israel’s Judaization Policy Replaces Arab Towns with Synagogues
- Gaza is Now ‘Hell on Earth’—Exactly as Intended
- Trump shared video criticizing Netanyahu’s ‘obsessive’ push for US-Iran conflict
- Last Christmas in Gaza?
- WATCH: The Israel Lobby Pays, The U.S. Congress Obeys
- Israel still can’t find any 7 October rape victims, prosecutor admits
- Biden administration is manufacturing doubt about Gaza’s famine
- Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s life in danger due to torture: Immediate international intervention needed for his release
- 60 Minutes program on Lebanon pager attack was Israeli propaganda
- Systemic Rape Allegations Against Israel Meet A Deafening Silence
- The Myth of Israel as ‘US Aircraft Carrier’ in Middle East
- The Failure of the Two-State Solution – Refugees
- Born in the heat of war, dead from the cold: Gaza’s children are freezing to death
- ‘Decades to rebuild’: Israel grabs land and wipes out Syria’s arsenal
- WATCH: The Israeli Hit List – Iran Remains
