Search for survivors in Deir el-Balah rubble continues
The situation is really deteriorating in the middle of the Gaza Strip, in particular in Deir el-Balah town where a residential building belonging to the Khattab family has been completely destroyed.
There are still people who are stuck under the rubble and there are ongoing efforts by the civil defence team to pull them from under the wreckage of the destroyed buildings.
Similarly also, the attacks continued on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the past hour where the Israeli military drones have opened fire against residential buildings there amid ongoing efforts to force those people in these areas to flee to Rafah just to have a kind of full military mobility on the ground against the Palestinian fighters.
Palestinians search for bodies and survivors amid the rubble of a destroyed mosque in Deir el-Balah town, Gaza Strip on Sunday
‘Where is Hind?’: Palestinian girl and rescue crew still missing
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has once again raised questions about the fate of the six-year-old girl who was trapped in her family’s car in Gaza City on Monday after the vehicle was attacked by Israeli forces. The PRCS had sent rescuers to the area to help Hind but it lost contact with them.
“Where is Hind? Where are Yousef and Ahmed? Are they still alive? We want to know their fate,” the PRCS said in a social media post. “150 hours have passed and the fate of our colleagues, Yousef Zeino and Ahmed al Madhoun, from the PRCS EMS team, who went to rescue the 6-year-old girl, Hind, remains unknown.”
Al Jazeera’s Wael Dahdouh’s mother dies
The mother of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief has died at a hospital in Gaza due to illness. Dahdouh, who has become a symbol for the perseverance of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, had lost his wife Amna, son Mahmoud, daughter Sham and grandson Adam to an Israeli air raid in October.
Dahdouh was later wounded in an Israeli drone attack that killed his colleague, Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa. Last month, his eldest son, Hamza – a journalist who worked with Al Jazeera – was also killed in an Israeli attack alongside fellow journalist Mustafa Thuraya.
Wael Dahdouh hugs his daughter during the funeral of his son Hamza Wael Dahdouh, January 7, 2024
Israeli raids and armed fighting reported in occupied West Bank
Our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues and local media are reporting Israeli raids across the occupied West Bank tonight, including in the town of Ya`bad, south of Jenin, where Palestinian resistance groups have targeted Israeli forces with explosive devices. Israeli forces have also been reportedly fighting with Palestinians in the town of Sarra, west of Nablus.
Raids have been reported elsewhere in the occupied West Bank in the following locations:
- The city of Tubas
- The town of Bidya, west of Safit
- The town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah
- The town of Beita, south of Nablus
- The town of Halhul, north of Hebron
- The village of Ramin, east of Tulkarem
- A man was shot in the town of Sarra, west of Nablus
Israeli occupation forces storm the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah, in the West Bank
US ‘must not provide another dollar’ for Israel’s war: Bernie Sanders
The progressive US senator has called for ending Washington’s funding for “the horrific war against the Palestinian people”. “For the sake of the Palestinian people and our own standing in the world we must not provide another dollar for the Netanyahu war machine,” Sanders said in a statement.
Biden urges US Senate to ‘swiftly pass’ bill with $14.1bn in Israeli military funding
US senators are requesting $14.1bn in military aid to Israel as part of a draft emergency national security funding bill released on Sunday. The funding for Israel is included in the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Bill, which includes a total of $118.3bn of funding, including for Ukraine and US border controls. US President Joe Biden has urged Congress to “swiftly pass” the deal and “get it to my desk so I can sign it into law immediately”.
Israel plan to hire 65,000 foreign building workers to replace Palestinians
The Israeli government has said it will bring workers from India, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan to resume construction stalled since October 7 when Palestinian workers were sent home after Hamas’s attack. A Housing Ministry spokesperson said new groups of foreign workers were expected to arrive in coming weeks as the government seeks to avoid a blockage in supply. Some 72,000 Palestinian workers were employed on construction sites in Israel before the war.
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