‘Israel has made clear it wants to commit genocide’: Ex-UNRWA official

Chris Gunness, a former spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), says the Israeli government is not allowing critical aid into Gaza because it wants to continue its genocidal policies against Palestinians.

“There is a litany of – quite frankly – fascistic pretexts” for Israel to maintain its restrictions on humanitarian assistance, Gunness told Al Jazeera.

“Let’s be clear on the big picture: Israel has made it clear that it wants to commit a genocide against the Palestinians, it wants to ethnically-cleanse them, and it wants to starve them,” he said, noting that there are millions of aid items waiting to be brought into the enclave.

“The big picture is that the reason these items are not being let in … is that there is a genocide going on, there is a collective punishment, there is ethnic cleansing, and there’s a policy of starvation.”

_{Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, November 5}

“We’re seeing Palestinians shot on a daily basis, so the idea that this ceasefire is holding – It’s not holding for the families of those who have been killed, it’s not holding for the hundreds of thousands of people who are starving,” Gunness told Al Jazeera.

He noted that tens of thousands of Palestinians – mainly children – remain at risk of malnutrition in the bombarded territory. Gunness also said that, if Israel doesn’t meet its obligation “to flood the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid”, then third-party countries must act.

“That means sanctioning Israel for not abiding by its obligations to the [International Court of Justice]” and ensuring that Netanyahu – who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant on Gaza war crimes charges – is arrested if he visits their country, Gunness said.

“If Mr Netanyahu enters the territory of any of the 123 Rome Statute countries, he needs to be arrested and handed over to The Hague to face charges of using starvation as a weapon of war. These latest reports that we’re seeing – millions of items in warehouses, not being allowed into Gaza – is further proof that this war crime is being committed.”

Israeli army carrying out demolitions near Khan Younis

The Israeli military has been demolishing residential buildings east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, our team on the ground is reporting. Israel has carried out a wave of demolitions in parts of Gaza under its continued control east of the so-called yellow line, where Israeli forces are stationed.

Main events on November 7th

• Hamas’s armed wing has handed over another deceased captive’s remains as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, leaving five captives’ bodies remaining in the Strip.
• An intensified wave of Israeli settler and military violence has continued across the occupied West Bank, with two Palestinian teenagers killed and more injured.
• Negotiations are under way to allow about 150 Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels in southern Gaza behind Israel’s “yellow line” to hand over their weapons and walk free.
• Istanbul’s chief prosecutor has issued arrest warrants for dozens of Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, accusing them of committing crimes against humanity and genocide in Gaza.

The Gaza Ceasefire is a ‘Total Fraud’

Palestinian writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada joins the show to discuss Israel’s ongoing genocide and assault on Gaza, including the horrific r@pe of Palestinian hostages that mainstream media ignores, and the deadly continuation of airstrikes under the so-called ceasefire. He discusses how Israel is using the “Yellow Line” to divide the Gaza Strip, impose proxy rule, restrict aid, and engineer permanent despair — with expulsion and entrenched control as the ultimate goal — as Trump claims a supposed “peace.”

How Israel Became RADICALIZED (w/ Ilan Pappé)

Ilan Pappé tells the story of how old Israel transformed into the fascist, radically religious state we see today — what he calls, "The State of Judea."

Israel identifies remains of latest Gaza captive

Israeli forensic analysts have identified the body of Lior Rudaeff, whom Israel’s military says was killed in the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack in the southern Israeli kibbutz of Nir Yitzhak.

Rudaeff, a 61-year-old volunteer medic and ambulance driver, moved from Argentina to Israel at a young age. Israel’s military lists him as a reservist with the rank of sergeant major.

The armed group Palestinian Islamic Jihad handed over his body to the Red Cross late on Friday, and it was then transferred to Israel’s military in occupied Gaza.

That leaves 5 left to be found.


Israeli army destroys more residential homes in southern Gaza

Al Jazeera correspondents report Israeli forces have blown up residential buildings near the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, despite the ceasefire.

According to UN estimates, 92 percent of all residential buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s war on the enclave.

Red Cross returns 15 bodies of Palestinians held by Israel

The Red Cross has returned the bodies of Palestinian from Gaza following Israel’s confirmation of the identity of the latest captive released by Hamas. The Palestinian Information Center reports 15 bodies were returned by Israel in the latest exchange.

According to the US-brokered ceasefire deal, the remains of 28 deceased captives should be returned in exchange for the remains of 360 Palestinians killed in the war.

Gaza faces ‘severe risks to public health’, says Palestinian ambassador

Palestine’s Ambassador to Brazil Ibrahim al-Zeben has addressed the worsening pollution and environmental degradation in Gaza at the UN COP30 climate summit in Brazil.

“It’s no secret that Gaza is suffering from the genocide that Israel continues to wage, a war that has created nearly a quarter of a million victims and produced 61 million tonnes of rubble, some of which is contaminated with hazardous material,” said al-Zeben.

“In addition, the deliberate destruction of sewage and water networks has led to the contamination of groundwater and coastal waters. Gaza now faces severe risks to public health, and environmental risks are increasing.”

Israel’s attacks have also “destroyed” much of the enclave’s agricultural land, leaving it “in a state of severe food insecurity and famine with food being used as a weapon”.

_{A man sifts through rubbish near a landfill site in Khan Younis, southern Gaza}

Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian home near Ramallah

A gang of Israeli settlers stormed the Palestinian village of Abu Falah, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and set a resident’s house ablaze.

According to the Wafa news agency, the settlers succeeded in burning parts of the home and also fired shots with weapons at people in the area. No casualties were reported.

Palestinian hospitalised after being beaten by Israeli forces

Israeli soldiers raided the home of a Palestinian man in the town of Yatta, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, and “severely beat” him and his relatives.

The official Wafa news agency reported that the man was brought to a nearby hospital to receive treatment for his injuries.

Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers erected several military checkpoints in and around Hebron, and closed roads.

Israeli settlers assault Palestinian journalists, paramedics near Nablus

More attacks by Israeli settlers have been reported in the besieged occupied West Bank.

In one violent incident, settlers stormed an olive harvest event in the Palestinian town of Beita, near Nablus, and assaulted at least seven people, including three journalists and three paramedics, according to the official Wafa news agency.

Citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society, it said some victims were beaten “severely”, with at least three hospitalised. Israeli settlers also carried out a separate attack near the town of Yatta, in Hebron governorate, Al Jazeera correspondents reported.

Israel air raid hits southern Lebanon as attacks continue

Israeli drone-fired missiles have hit a vehicle near a hospital in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil area, reports the Lebanese National News Agency. It did not mention any casualties.

The report comes after a series of Israeli strikes in Lebanon in recent days, which Israel claims targeted Hezbollah fighters and military sites.

Despite a year-old ceasefire, Hezbollah has accused Israel of exploiting Lebanon’s internal divisions and continuing its attacks under the pretext of “security operations”. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned last week that Israel could intensify attacks on Lebanon.

At least 7 wounded during Israeli attack on southern Lebanon

An Israeli drone attack on a car in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil has injured seven people, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Two missiles hit the vehicle near Salah Ghandour Hospital, reported Lebanon’s National News Agency.

The Israeli military says it’s targeting Hezbollah installations, accusing the armed group of refusing to disarm in accordance with an agreement reached last year.

New Israeli attack in southern Lebanon kills 2 as strikes continue

An Israeli air strike targeting a vehicle between the southeastern Lebanese towns of Ain Ata and Shebaa has killed two brothers, reports Lebanon’s National News Agency.

Israel’s military has not commented on the latest deadly attack, which adds to a series of escalating strikes it has carried out in Lebanon in recent days despite a ceasefire brokered a year ago.

EU urges Israel to ‘cease actions that violate’ Lebanon ceasefire

The European Union’s foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni has denounced Israel’s latest wave of attacks on southern Lebanon.

He urged the country to “cease all actions that violate resolution 1701 and the ceasefire agreement reached a year ago in November 2024”.

“At the same time, we urge all Lebanese actors, and especially Hezbollah, to refrain from any measures or responses that could further inflame the situation,” added El Anouni. “Focus by all parties must be on preserving the ceasefire and the progress achieved so far.”

The EU is back to "denouncing" and "urging" and that after a full year of Israel violating the ceasefire. Useless. And of course more to warn Lebanon and Hezbollah not to respond, not to defend themselves. Every time Israel ramps up the attacks it's "please don't escalate by defending yourselves against Israeli strikes".

Freed Gaza doctor describes horrors in Israeli military prison

Dr Ahmed Muhanna – who spent a year and 10 months in Israeli detention – says Gaza’s decimated health sector suffered heavily through Israel’s 18-year blockade before Israel’s war, but he’s “shocked” at the reality of it now.

He told Al Jazeera from Deir el-Balah that about 70 percent of the functioning hospitals face severe shortages of medicine and essential equipment, and environmental contamination from Israel’s attacks continues to sicken Palestinians.

“We have hundreds of patients coming to the emergency departments due to pollution of water and food. It’s very dangerous,” said Muhanna.

He said his imprisonment by Israel’s army was because “I kept my patients in the hospital.

“In the prison, there was no healthcare, and most of the prisoners suffered from disease. We asked many times to change clothes and for showers, but they refused. For seven months, we didn’t change our clothes, which developed scabies and abscesses. We lost many prisoners due to lack of medications,” said Muhanna.

US takes control of aid distribution from Israel amid criticism: Report

US military forces are taking over the movement of humanitarian relief into Gaza as part of Trump’s ceasefire plan, news reports say.

The Washington Post reported that the US-led Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) will replace Israel in overseeing aid into Gaza. It cited an unnamed US official and “people familiar with the matter” as saying Israel is part of the process, but CMCC will decide what aid enters Gaza and how.

The security official said Israeli security services remain part of policy, supervision and monitoring with decisions made jointly, and that the integration of the CMCC was already under way.

Israel is still “part of the conversation”, but decisions will be taken by the CMCC, the US official told the Post, noting the move away from COGAT, the Israeli army unit responsible for regulating and facilitating aid in Gaza.

Criticism of Israel’s severe restrictions on aid entering the famine-hit Gaza Strip is widespread. Israel agreed in the ceasefire to allow 600 trucks carrying essential goods each day, but only about 100 on average have gotten through since the truce took hold on October 10.


Let's see if it makes any difference. They're already contradicting themselves, is it jointly or does the CMCC take over what goes in.

UN schools by day, shelters by night

UNRWA schools in Gaza are serving a dual purpose as classrooms during the day and shelters at night, while students return to class during the ceasefire.

Since October 2023, more than 300,000 UNRWA students have been deprived of a formal education, and 97 percent of the agency’s school buildings have been damaged or destroyed by the fighting.

“Today we brought mattresses instead of desks to sit and study,” student Inam al-Maghari says.

Israeli attack kills Palestinian in central Gaza’s Bureij

Israeli army fire has killed a Palestinian in central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp, a hospital source tells Al Jazeera.

Despite the US-brokered ceasefire, Israeli attacks have killed more than 240 people in Gaza since it took effect on October 10.

Gaza’s water turns poisonous as Israel’s genocide leaves toxic aftermath

Israel’s war on Gaza has not only razed entire neighbourhoods to the ground, displaced families multiple times and decimated medical facilities, but also poisoned the very ground and water on which Palestinians depend.

Four weeks into a fragile ceasefire, which Israel has violated daily, the scale of the environmental devastation is becoming painfully clear.

“The collapse of sewage treatment infrastructure, the destruction of piped systems, and the use of cesspits for sanitation have likely increased contamination of the aquifer that supplies much of Gaza with water,” a recent report by the UN’s Environment Programme said.

Gaza ‘seeing the byproducts of the devastation’

An environmental tragedy is unfolding with each passing day here in the worst form possible.

It impacts livelihoods and safety with hazards everywhere. Aside from the physical destruction from Israel’s two-year bombardment, there are also the long-term consequences of contamination.

The air people breathe, the water they drink, and the food they eat are not healthy. People here ask us if, at some point, there’s going to be a meaningful intervention to have access to clean drinking water.

The remaining plots of agricultural land have been covered with dust, debris and toxic materials from the bombing. But people don’t have any choice when it comes to safety. When it comes to survival versus safety, safety only occupies a small part. People are not thinking about it.

It’s an everyday battle just to find food and water. The bombs may have stopped here – we’re not seeing the mass killing that occurred daily over the past two years – but now we’re seeing the byproducts of the devastation.

Death toll surpasses 69,000 as more bodies found in Gaza’s devastation

Nearly a month after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, authorities in Gaza continue to recover bodies amid widespread destruction using limited equipment and resources.

The Health Ministry in Gaza said earlier that the total number of people killed in the Strip since October 7, 2023, has risen to 69,169 after more of the dead were identified and more bodies recovered.

The ministry said 284 additional people were recently added to the cumulative total after their identities were verified.

Over the past three days, 10 bodies were brought to Gaza hospitals – nine retrieved from under the rubble and one newly killed – along with six injured, the ministry added.

A large number of Palestinians remain missing in the vast destruction from Israel’s war, it said.

_{A man sits on the rubble of a destroyed building in Jabalia, northern Gaza}

Israeli army says it killed two Palestinians who crossed Gaza’s ‘yellow line’

The Israeli military says it shot at two people whom it accused of crossing the yellow line and approaching Israeli soldiers operating in northern Gaza, killing one of them.

Separately, the army said it killed another Palestinian in southern Gaza, who it said had crossed the yellow line and “posed an immediate threat” to its troops.

Israel has continued to fire at Palestinians – including families – who approach the demarcation line, an invisible boundary established under the first phase of the ceasefire.

Israeli troops have moved behind the yellow line, where satellite images show that they hold about 40 active military posts, but Palestinians say it is impossible for them to know where exactly the boundary is – opening them up to deadly dangers.

Israel remains in control more than half of Gaza’s territory.

Palestinian child killed in Gaza after Israeli explosive detonates

Nasser Hospital has announced that a Palestinian child was killed after an explosive device left behind by Israeli forces in the city of Khan Younis detonated.

Unexploded military ordnance pose serious risks to Palestinians across Gaza as they try to return to homes and neighbourhoods destroyed during Israel’s two-year bombardment.

Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence, told Al Jazeera last month that Israel dropped at least 200,000 tonnes of explosives on the territory, with roughly 70,000 tonnes failing to detonate.

Gaza rescuer sends ‘prayers and peace’ to Sudan

Mohammed Abu Loay, a Palestinian civil defence worker in Gaza, has shared a video expressing support for people in war-torn Sudan.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Abu Loay said of the situation in el-Fasher, the city in Sudan’s western Darfur region that has seen mass killings and displacement since it fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) last month.

“Our hearts are with you,” he said.

Palestinians rely on Gaza community kitchens amid Israeli restrictions

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has shared a testimonial from a Palestinian man in Gaza, who explains that he gets food for his family at a community kitchen in the enclave.

“There’s no work or income. That’s why we come to the hot-meal kitchens,” the man said in a video shared on social media. “No matter what aid goods or trucks come in, people remain dependent on these kitchens.”

While the UN has acknowledged that more food and other assistance has entered Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect, it says deliveries remain insufficient to meet peoples’ needs.

“We need full access. We need everything to be moving fast. We are in a race against time. The winter months are coming. People are still suffering from hunger, and the needs are overwhelming,” a WFP representative said last week.

UK foreign minister urges Israeli aid blockade on Gaza to be lifted

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has taken to social media to call for an end to restrictions on humanitarian assistance for Gaza. She included photos of her visit to warehouses in Jordan, which she said were full of aid awaiting shipment to the Palestinian enclave.

Palestinians repurpose destroyed Israeli military vehicles in Gaza

Among Gaza’s dirt and debris, there’s also opportunity for the industrious. Some communities have repurposed fuel and batteries from abandoned or damaged Israeli military vehicles to build improvised water generators.

Hamas says it retrieved body of deceased Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin

Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, says it has retrieved Hadar Goldin’s body in Rafah in southern Gaza. A senior source in the group told Al Jazeera that six slain Palestinians were also recovered from the site where Goldin’s body was found.

Goldin was killed, and his body was taken away during fighting in Gaza in 2014.

Goldin’s body retrieved from Rafah, which Israel controlled for over a year

In the past few hours, members of [Hamas’s] Qassam Brigades … were given the greenlight by mediators to move to retrieve the body of Israeli captive Hadar Goldin from the city of Rafah that has been under Israeli control for more than a year – and has been decimated to the ground as a result of Israeli military operations there.

There are reports that the Israeli captive was retrieved from a tunnel that the Israeli military had inspected multiple times over the past year.

Hadar Goldin was … in the Israeli military. He was captured by Hamas fighters in a military ambush back in … 2014, while the Israeli military was working to destroy tunnels in the eastern parts of the city.

After his abduction, the Israeli military activated the Hannibal Directive, which is a controversial military protocol that is designed to prevent the capturing of Israeli soldiers, even if it risks killing them.

Israel holding bodies of slain Palestinians part of ‘collective punishment’

The bodies of 15 Palestinians were handed over by Israel. These bodies were among those that were withheld by Israel for months and months, many of them from the early weeks of the war in Gaza.

We have been told by medical sources that many of the bodies arrived in deteriorated conditions, which complicates the process of identification and makes it more painful and complex to identify them.

On the ground, this handover comes under growing criticism from Palestinian families, who say Israel continues to hold hundreds of Palestinian bodies as part of a wider policy of collective punishment.

From the perspective of the Palestinian public here, it’s not just about restoring bodies, but more about restoring dignity and enabling families to give a proper burial and mourn their loved ones after two years of unimaginable losses.


_{A displaced Palestinian girl looks out of a tent in Gaza City, November 4}

Israel ‘will continue to act’ until all bodies returned: Defence minister

Israel Katz has said Israel “will act” until the remaining captives’ bodies are returned from Gaza and “the last tunnel is dug”.

His comments come as the Israeli military continues to demolish Palestinian homes and other structures, particularly in the south of the enclave, and carry out deadly attacks across Gaza.

Continually moving the goal posts to keep the genocide going.