Dire humanitarian conditions worsen in Gaza as Israel widens offensive

Israel’s widening air and ground offensive in southern Gaza has displaced tens of thousands more Palestinians and worsened the territory’s dire humanitarian conditions, with the fighting preventing distribution of food, water, and medicine outside a sliver of southern Gaza and new military evacuation orders squeezing people into ever-smaller areas of the south.

Here’s what’s happening in the war:

Leaflets in Khan Younis

Residents of Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza and the latest focus of the Israeli military’s ground offensive, say the army has showered the area with leaflets quoting a verse in the Quran.

Palestinians deciding whether to flee Khan Younis as Israeli tanks draw closer viewed the quoted verse, “The flood overtook them as they were wrongdoers,” as an ominous portent.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment when asked about the leaflet drop.

Journalist Aamer Tabsh in Khan Younis said he saw Israeli planes drop thousands of the fliers.

Tabsh said residents are convinced the reference to the epic flood of Noah in the Quran and Bible “means that something much worse is coming”.

Some are linking it to Hamas’s name for its October 7 attack against Israel, Al Aqsa Flood Battle. Others pointed to recent reports that the Israeli military was considering flooding Hamas’s subterranean tunnel network with seawater to force out the militants.

Jerusalem march planned

Ultranationalist Jews plan to march through the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday (December 7) in a demonstration that risks igniting new violence in the holy city.

Israeli police on Wednesday confirmed that they gave permission for a march of 200 people to pass through the Muslim Quarter and through the Old City to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray. The march coincides with the start of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

Ultranationalist activists have called on supporters to honour the memory of fallen soldiers who died in the latest Gaza war and to push for expanded Jewish access to Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site.

Jews call the site the Temple Mount, the spot where the biblical Temples once stood. Muslims call it the Noble Sanctuary, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock.

A similar march in 2021 boiled over into an 11-day Gaza war.

Arab nations fine-tuning ceasefire resolution

Arab nations at the United Nations are fine-tuning a proposed UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the two-month Israeli-Gaza war.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, said Wednesday that it’s essential that the UN’s most powerful body demand a halt to the conflict following the resumption of bloodshed in Gaza after the end of a weeklong humanitarian truce on Dec 1.

Surrounded by members of the 22-nation Arab Group, Mansour also told reporters that a ministerial delegation from Arab nations and the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation headed by Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister will be in Washington on Thursday to meet with US officials.

“On top of the agenda is this war has to stop,” he said. “A ceasefire has to take place and it has to take place immediately.” Mansour said the national security adviser to US Vice-President Kamala Harris contacted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday morning and that Abbas pressed for an immediate cease-fire and more humanitarian aid.

The US, Israel’s closest ally, has veto power in the Security Council and has not supported a ceasefire.

UN chief warns of humanitarian catastrophe

The United Nations chief is urging the UN Security Council to use its clout to avert “a humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that the fast-deteriorating humanitarian system now risks a total collapse.

He reiterated his urgent call for a humanitarian ceasefire. He warned that Israel’s bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza, who have no shelter or essentials to survive, will soon lead to a complete breakdown of public order.

Guterres wrote to the 15-member Security Council on Wednesday under Article 99 of the UN Charter for the first time since he took the helm of the 193-member world body in 2017. It allows the secretary-general to bring to the council's attention any matter that he believes threatens international peace and security.

Guterres said the desperate conditions in Gaza and the breakdown of public order will make humanitarian assistance impossible. He warned that “an even worse situation could unfold, including epidemic diseases and increased pressure for mass displacement into neighbouring countries.”

“The international community has a responsibility to use all its influence to prevent further escalation and end this crisis,” Guterres said.

Israel warns it won’t renew UN official’s visa

Israel’s foreign minister has warned that he will not renew the residency visa of the top UN humanitarian coordinator for the West Bank and Gaza Strip, saying she failed to condemn Hamas for its October 7 attack on Israel and emerging reports of sexual violence by Hamas against Israelis.

“We will no longer be silent in the face of the bias of the UN!” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote Tuesday on X, formerly called Twitter.

Lynn Hastings, a veteran UN official, serves as the UN resident coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. She has been outspoken in criticising Israel’s handling of the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war which was triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack.

Cohen has previously threatened not to renew Hastings’ visa, which expires next week, and has grown more vocal in recent days.

Stepane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, criticised Cohen’s social media posts, saying “personal attacks on UN personnel anywhere around the world” are unacceptable and endanger lives.

UN human rights chief urges immediate ceasefire

The UN human rights chief is demanding that the international community immediately push “with one voice” for a cease-fire in Gaza as the plight of civilians deepens.

“Palestinians in Gaza are living in utter, deepening horror,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said at a news conference in Geneva.

“As an immediate step, I call for an urgent cessation of hostilities and the release of all hostages.” He added: “The international community needs to insist with one voice on a cease-fire, immediately, on human rights and humanitarian grounds.”

Türk said that, as more information emerges on allegations of sexual violence by members of Hamas and other Palestinian groups in their attack on Israel in October, “it is painfully clear that these attacks need to be fully investigated to ensure justice for the victims.”

Türk said he asked Israeli authorities in October for permission to deploy a team to investigate the attacks on Israelis, and has repeated the request, but hasn't received a response.

Countries offer to store Gaza aid in Cyprus

Cyprus says a number of countries have offered to store humanitarian assistance in the east Mediterranean island nation as part of a plan to ship the aid to Gaza via a maritime corridor.

The countries include the UK, which last week sent humanitarian aid that is being stored at Larnaca port, from where ships will depart for Gaza once conditions on the ground in the territory allow for it, government spokesperson Constantinos Letymbiotis said Wednesday.

He said the UK has also offered a shallow-draft ship capable of approaching Gaza’s shoreline, where it would be able to offload the aid without the need for port facilities required by large vessels.

Earlier this week, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said he held talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who reaffirmed their support for the aid corridor. Israel has also backed the plan but has given no indication yet when the aid could begin to flow.

Erdogan’s warning

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Israel that there would be serious consequences if Israel pressed ahead with a threat to attack Hamas officials on Turkish soil.

The Turkish leader also said his country has petitioned the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials to be prosecuted for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

His comments — made Tuesday and reported by Turkish media on Wednesday — echoed warnings from other Turkish officials in response to the head of Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, who said in an audio recording that his organisation is prepared to destroy Hamas “in every place,” including in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar.

Erdogan also said thousands of lawyers from various countries were employed to petition the ICC.

“We brought the war crimes committed in Gaza to the court’s agenda and we will be following up on this,” Erdogan said. “Netanyahu will not be able to evade paying the penalty for his actions. Sooner or later, he will be tried and will pay the price for the war crimes he committed.”

Death toll crosses 16,200: Gaza ministry

The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says 16,248 Palestinians have been killed and more than 42,000 wounded since the Israel-Hamas war broke out two months ago.

The ministry said Tuesday evening that the death toll included more than 6,000 children and more than 4,000 women. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The figures show a sharp rise in deaths since a weeklong truce between Israel and Hamas collapsed on Dec 1. Since the resumption of fighting Friday, more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed, according to the Health Ministry.

The United States had urged Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians as its blistering air and ground campaign shifted to southern Gaza, particularly in and around Khan Younis, the territory's second largest city.

(With AP inputs)