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Live blog: Israeli air strikes across Gaza kill at least 24 Palestinians
Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its 353rd day, has killed at least 41,431 Palestinians and wounded over 95,818 others — a conservative estimate — with 10,000+ believed to be buried under rubble of bombed homes.
A Palestinian woman reacts as she inspects the damage to a school sheltering displaced people after it was hit by an Israeli strike. / Photo: Reuters
REUTERS
A Palestinian woman reacts as she inspects the damage to a school sheltering displaced people after it was hit by an Israeli strike. / Photo: Reuters
Monday, September 23, 2024
2219 GMT — At least 24 Palestinians were killed and dozens others injured in Israeli air strikes across Gaza, according to medical sources.
Seven people lost their lives and several others were injured in an Israeli strike targeting Kafr Qasim School, where thousands of displaced civilians have sheltered in the Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, Civil Defence spokesperson Mahmoud Basal said in a statement.
Four more people were killed and 15 others injured in another air strike on a house in the central city of Deir al Balah, he added.
Fighter jets hit another house north of Rafah in southern Gaza, killing four people, while six more lost their lives when a drone shelled a group of civilians east of the city, the spokesperson said.
Two more people were killed in artillery shelling in the town of Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, medics said.
One civilian was also killed and another injured in a drone attack west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, a local source said.
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2217 GMT — Thousands of Palestinians at risk of death as winter approaches: local authorities
Palestinian authorities have warned of the potential deaths of thousands of people in northern Gaza due to cold weather and lack of heating resources amid Israel’s ongoing war on the enclave.
“Thousands are at risk of dying from cold weather due to the unavailability of heating supplies like cooking gas, charcoal and wood,” the Ministry of Social Development in Gaza said in a statement Sunday.
“Every passing moment exacerbates the suffering of Gaza’s residents, who face harsh conditions due to the war.”
The ministry called on international organisations to help by facilitating the entry of cooking gas, fuel derivatives and heating supplies “to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe”.
“Many families have resorted to using wooden furniture as fuel for cooking, given the scarcity of other resources after nearly a year of war and blockade,” it said.
2048 GMT — Palestine holds jurisdiction over Gaza and West Bank: Abbas
Palestine has the “jurisdiction” over Gaza and the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.
“Palestine has the jurisdiction over Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and will continue to carry out its responsibilities,” Abbas said during a meeting with head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Mohammed al Alimi, on the sidelines of the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Abbas renewed his call for ending Israeli attacks against Palestinians, a complete withdrawal from Gaza, reconstruction and holding a political process “that ends the occupation and achieves security, stability and peace for all in the region”.
2028 GMT — Hamas claims to have killed, injured Israeli soldiers in Rafah attacks
Palestinian resistance group Hamas claimed to have killed and injured several Israeli soldiers in attacks in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
In a statement on its Telegram channel, the group’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said that its fighters detonated an explosive device at an Israeli force, leaving several soldiers dead and injured.
The group said it also targeted an Israeli tank and bulldozer with anti-tank shells in al Shoka neighbourhood east of Rafah. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the claim.
2014 GMT — Lebanese University suspends classes amid Israeli attacks
The Lebanese University, the country’s only state-funded public university, said it will suspend classes in three cities in southern Lebanon on Monday amid Israeli attacks.
Bassam Badran, the university president, said in a statement on Sunday evening that university branches in Sidon, Nabatiyeh, and Tyre will remain closed on Monday.
The decision comes “in light of instability resulting from the continued Israeli assaults, and to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff”, the statement said.
2007 GMT — Internet service cut off in central, southern Gaza amid Israeli attacks
Internet service has gone down in central and southern Gaza, the Palestinian telecom company Paltel said.
In a post on X, the company said the service was disrupted by the ongoing Israeli military attacks in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis areas in Gaza. “Our crews are working hard to restore the service as quickly as possible,” it added.
The blockaded enclave has faced several communications and internet outages amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the enclave that left more than 41,400 dead since last October.
1954 GMT — Half of Israeli hostages in Gaza ‘are alive’: Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said about half of the hostages held in Gaza “are alive”.
This comes as Netanyahu and his government face accusations from hostages’ families of abandoning them through a new proposal for a hostage swap with Hamas.
“According to the information we have, half of the hostages in Gaza are alive,” Netanyahu said during a closed meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee as cited by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
On Thursday, families of the hostages criticised a proposal for a “safe exit” put forward by Gal Hirsch, Israel’s coordinator for prisoners and missing persons, to the US government aimed at negotiating a hostage exchange with Hamas.
1923 GMT — US ‘pushing hard’ to prevent ‘wider war’ in Mideast: Biden
US President Joe Biden said the United States would do everything possible to prevent an escalation of war in the Middle East, as hostilities flared between Israel and Hezbollah.
Affirming that he was worried about rising regional tensions, Biden told reporters from the White House South Lawn that his administration was “going to do everything we can to keep a wider war from breaking out. And we’re still pushing hard”.
1918 GMT — Iran’s IRGC claims to dismantle Israel-linked network over ‘anti-security actions’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed to have dismantled a network of “mercenaries and collaborators” allegedly linked to Israel.
In a statement, the IRGC announced the dismantling of a network of 12 “mercenaries and collaborators of the regime”, referring to Israel, across six provinces in Iran.
According to the statement, those arrested intended to carry out “anti-security actions” and were identified through “decisive intelligence” obtained by the IRGC’s intelligence wing.
The IRGC further stated that following the “disgraceful defeat” of Israel and its Western allies, particularly the US, in pursuing their “sinister and evil goals against the people of Gaza and Lebanon”, Israel had orchestrated “a series of anti-security actions” within Iran.
1826 GMT — EU foreign policy chief calls for urgent ceasefire as Israel-Hezbollah border attacks intensify
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed “extreme concern” over escalating violence between Lebanon and Israel, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
In a statement, Borrell highlighted recent attacks in the Lebanese capital Beirut that killed at least three children amid ongoing cross-border violence between Israel and the Hezbollah group.
“A ceasefire is urgent, across the Blue Line as in Gaza,” Borrell stated, emphasising the harm that civilians have suffered on both sides.
The Blue Line serves as a boundary separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israel-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.
For our live updates from Sunday, September 22, 2024, click here.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES
