Region

GENEVA — The Gaza Strip has become a graveyard for thousands of children, the United Nations said on Tuesday, as it feared the prospect of more dying of dehydration.

The health ministry in Gaza said the strikes have killed more than 8,500 people, mainly civilians.

The UN children's agency UNICEF said there was a risk that the number of child deaths directly from bombardment could become eclipsed.

“Our gravest fears about the reported numbers of children killed becoming dozens, then hundreds, and ultimately thousands were realised in just a fortnight,” UNICEF spokesman James Elder said in a statement.

“The numbers are appalling; reportedly more than 3,450 children killed; staggeringly this rises significantly every day.”

“Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else.”

He said the more than one million children living in the Gaza Strip were also suffering from a lack of clean water.

“Gaza’s water production capacity is a mere five percent of its usual daily output. Child deaths, particularly infants, to dehydration are a growing threat,” he said.

UNICEF is calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, with all access crossings into Gaza opened for the safe, sustained and unimpeded access of humanitarian aid, including water, food, medical supplies and fuel.

“And if there is no ceasefire, no water, no medicine, and no release of abducted children? Then we hurtle towards even greater horrors afflicting innocent children,” said Elder.

“There are certainly children who are dying who have been impacted by the bombardment but should have had their lives saved,” Elder told reporters in Geneva, via video-link.

He said that without greater humanitarian access into the Gaza Strip, “then the deaths from the attacks, they could absolutely be the tip of the iceberg”.

Elder said that according to figures from health faculties in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, some 940 children were missing.

UN humanitarian agency spokesman Jens Laerke added: “It’s almost unbearable to think about children buried under rubble, but [with] very little opportunity or possibility for getting them out.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said people in Gaza were dying not just from direct bombardment.

“We have 130 premature infants that are dependent on incubators, of which 61 percent approximately are in the north,” said WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier.

“It’s an imminent public health catastrophe that looms with the mass displacement, the overcrowding, and the damage to water and sanitation infrastructure.”

WASHINGTON — Protesters with hands covered in red paint repeatedly interrupted a congressional hearing on US military aid Tuesday, demanding Washington stop funding Israel's fight against Hamas.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were appealing to the Senate Appropriations Committee for billions of dollars in military assistance to support Israel, Ukraine and other security costs.

Some two dozen spectators raised hands covered in paint in a symbol of the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its bombardment of the Palestinian territory after Hamas's attack earlier this month.

Several wore messages of "Free Gaza" written on their arms and held signs demanding "No more $$$ 4 Israel," while some cried out "Ceasefire now," "Palestinians are not animals" and "Shame on you all".

One man wore a shirt reading "Stop backing genocide".

Blinken was forced to stop speaking several times as some demonstrators were escorted out by police.

President Joe Biden has asked Congress for more than $105 billion in security spending, including $14.3 billion for its staunch ally Israel.

SANAA/DOHA — Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Tuesday pledged more attacks against Israel if its war on Hamas in Gaza continues, saying it had already fired drones and ballistic missiles in three separate operations.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces... confirm they will continue to carry out qualitative strikes with missiles and drones until the Israeli aggression stops," said a Houthi military statement aired on the rebels' Al Masirah TV.

It said Houthi rebels "launched a large batch of ballistic missiles... and a large number of armed aircraft" towards Israel on Tuesday, in the third such operation since the Gaza assault began on October 7 after Hamas fighters staged the worst attack in Israel's history.

Earlier, Israel's military said a "hostile aircraft intrusion" had set off warning sirens in Eilat, its Red Sea resort, later saying it had intercepted a "surface-to-surface missile" fired towards Israeli territory, that was "successfully intercepted by the 'Arrow' aerial defence system".

"All aerial threats were intercepted outside of Israeli territory," it said.

Abdelaziz bin Habtour, prime minister of the Houthi government, on Tuesday said the rebels were "part of the axis of resistance" against Israel, which includes Tehran-backed groups in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and were fighting with both "words and drones".

"It is one axis and there is coordination taking place, a joint operations room, and a joint command for all these operations," he said.

"We cannot allow this arrogant Zionist enemy to kill our people"

The Houthis seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014 and control large swathes of the country

Israel had blamed the Houthis for a drone attack on Friday, saying its aircraft had intercepted "hostile targets" headed for southern Israel.

At the same time, six people were lightly injured when debris hit a building across the border from Eilat in the neighbouring Egyptian resort of Taba, the Egyptian army said at the time.

On October 19, the US Navy said it shot down three land-attack cruise missiles and “several” drones fired by the Houthis, possibly at Israel.

Meanwhile, Iran said on Tuesday it was “natural” for Tehran-backed groups to attack Israel in light of its war on Hamas, warning of a wider spillover if no ceasefire is reached.

The remarks were made by Iran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Qatar’s capital Doha where he met with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his Qatari counterpart to discuss a push for a diplomatic breakthrough.

“It is natural that the resistance groups and movements do not remain silent against all these crimes” committed by Israel, Amir-Abdollahian said in remarks relayed by Iran’s foreign ministry.

“They will not wait for anyone’s advice, therefore we need to use the last political opportunities to stop the war,” he said after talks with Sheikh Tamim, warning the situation could “get out of control”.

Concerns are high over a regional conflagration, especially as Iran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas but insists it had no involvement in the October 7 attack — has loyalists and proxy fighters in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Since the Gaza conflict began, there have been a string of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria as well as almost daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border between Hizbollah and the Israeli army.

On Sunday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi warned on X, formerly Twitter, that Israel had “crossed the red lines, and this may force everyone to take action”, without elaborating.

ABU DHABI — Nothing has yet been agreed between the nearly 200 countries that will meet at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai, with two days of preparatory talks in Abu Dhabi failing to produce any major breakthrough, participants said on Tuesday.

Around 70 ministers took part in talks on Monday and Tuesday at the Emirates Palace, a luxurious resort in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi, to hammer out details before next month’s UN climate summit, the most important since the landmark Paris agreement in 2015.

“The main focus for the moment is clearly the loss and damage fund” for poorer nations hit by climate change, French Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told AFP before the talks closed on Tuesday without a deal.

The previous round of negotiations in mid-October also ended in failure, with more talks scheduled from November 3-5 in Abu Dhabi.

Egypt’s delegate to this week’s talks, Mohamed Nasr told AFP “almost 80 per cent of the text” is agreed, while an African negotiator who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the “real battles” will be fought at COP28.

The agreement to set up a dedicated fund to help vulnerable countries cope with climate “loss and damage” was a flagship achievement of last year’s COP27 talks in Egypt.

But countries left the details to be worked out later.

“I felt there was a lot of goodwill, constructive engagement, big debates and trying to find solutions,” German climate negotiator Jennifer Morgan,told AFP, while admitting there’s still “a lot to do in the next 28 days”.

A series of talks this year have tried to tease out consensus on fundamentals like the structure, beneficiaries and contributors — a key issue for richer nations who want China to pay into any fund.

“We were one or two days away from an agreement,” said a European negotiator on condition of anonymity.

But several disagreements, including on beneficiaries, delayed a breakthrough.

“The United States does not want to put in a penny if China is a potential beneficiary,” the negotiator said.

‘Not fit’ for funding 

Developing nations are demanding negotiators nail down the fund’s operation, governance, location, contributors and beneficiaries, and a timeline for payouts, at the November 30-December 12 COP28 summit.

But many are sceptical of the willingness of rich countries to establish the fund, even temporarily, through the World Bank, which is “not fit for purpose for broader development issues”, said Michai Robertson of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia does “not want any wording that would expand the list of donors beyond the developed countries”, said the European negotiator.

Even if these hurdles are settled by COP28, it remains to be seen how much money rich countries are willing to supply.

In 2009, they pledged $100 billion of climate finance every year to developing nations, but failed to meet the 2020 deadline. There are hopes that goal will be met this year.

The loss and damage fund is based on voluntary contributions and is not an “obligation”, Pannier-Runacher told AFP after chairing a Tuesday session on the fund.

The French minister said an agreement must be quickly reached to avoid turning the fund into a “pretext” to delay discussions on phasing out of fossil fuels.

‘Strong views’ 

COP28 will draw up the first official assessment of humanity’s efforts to respect the 2015 agreement and its ambition to limit global warming “if possible to 1.5ºC” since the pre-industrial era.

For the first time, the world is flirting with the limit this year. The global climate, over several years, is considered to have already warmed by about 1.2ºC, accompanied by a procession of natural disasters.

In about 30 years of COP meetings, the only progress on hydrocarbons was a coal-reduction target at COP26, and there have been no decisions on oil and gas.

“I know there are strong views about the idea of including language on fossil fuels and renewables in the negotiated text,” said COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber on Monday, calling on countries to find “common ground”.

In closing remarks on Tuesday he said: “We need to get on with the work. There is no time for delay. We should use every single day between now and the beginning of COP28 to make progress on all the elements.”

In July, Jaber, who heads UAE oil giant ADNOC, said that “phasing down fossil fuels is inevitable” — a statement he has not repeated this week.

A fossil fuel phaseout is already implicit in other commitments, including one to triple renewable energy capacity to 11 terawatts by 2030.

BEIRUT — Lebanon's caretaker prime minister said on Monday he was working to ensure his country does not enter the Hamas-Israel war, even as Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging cross-border fire.

Najib Mikati said he feared an escalation, with the border skirmishes stoking concerns that Lebanon's Iran-backed Hizbollah could launch its own war with Israel.

"I am doing my duty to prevent Lebanon from entering the war" raging further south, Mikati told AFP in an interview.

Cash-strapped Lebanon is facing the possibility of war essentially leaderless, as political divisions have left the country without a president for almost a year, while Mikati has headed a caretaker cabinet for about a year and a half.

"Lebanon is in the eye of the storm," Mikati said.

"I cannot rule out an escalation because there is a race to reach a ceasefire before escalation spreads in the entire region."

Hizbollah and allied Palestinian factions in Lebanon have exchanged fire with Israel almost daily since Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel.

Iran-backed or affiliated groups have also launched attacks on Israel from Syria, and targeted US forces stationed in Syria and Iraq.

Mikati, who is on good terms with Hizbollah, said he has no “clear answer” about whether war loomed ahead, adding that “it depends on regional developments”.

In 2006, Israel and Hizbollah fought a bloody conflict that left more than 1,200 people dead in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 in Israel, mostly soldiers.

“For now Hizbollah has managed the situation rationally and wisely, and the rules of the game have remained constrained to certain limits,” Mikati said.

“But at the same time I feel like I cannot reassure Lebanese” because the situation is still developing, he added.

Violence on the Israel-Lebanon border has killed at least 62 people in Lebanon according to an AFP tally, 47 of them Hizbollah fighters but also including four civilians, one a Reuters journalist.

Israeli officials have reported at least four deaths, including one civilian.

Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon due to the skirmishes, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

RAMALLAH, Occupied Palestine — Israeli occupation forces killed five Palestinians in the West Bank on Monday, said health officials in the occupied territory, as violence has escalated amid Israel's war on Gaza.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said four people aged 23 to 28 were killed during the Israeli early morning raid on the northern city of Jenin.

According to the official Palestinian agency Wafa, "more than 100 military vehicles and two bulldozers" took part.

The raid targeted Jenin and its refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups and the target of frequent military incursions.

Another nine people were wounded, a ministry statement said.

Military drones hovered over the area and army snipers were positioned on buildings around Jenin's main hospital, Wafa said.

Part of the hospital's perimeter wall was demolished by armoured military bulldozers.

120 dead in three weeks 

Later Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said a 23-year-old man was shot dead by Israeli forces in Yatta city near Hebron.

The ministry also confirmed on Monday that another 23-year-old man died after being shot by a settler days ago in Ras Karkar, northwest of Ramallah.

The deaths came a day after five Palestinians were killed by army fire during several military incursions into the West Bank.

The health ministry says around 120 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 7.

The West Bank was already a hotbed of tension before the Gaza war, with frequent Israeli army raids, a surge in attacks by Jewish settlers.

GAZA STRIP, Occupied Palestine — Ground battles raged inside the northern Gaza Strip on Monday and Israeli tanks were seen on the outskirts of the besieged costal enclave. 

Israel's intensifying land and air campaign since Hamas's October 7 attacks has heightened fears for the 2.4 million civilians trapped inside besieged Gaza.

Gaza's health ministry said Monday that at least 8,306 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the start of the war with Israel on October 7.

The ministry said at least 3,457 children were among the dead, as Israel continued to pound the Gaza Strip with air and artillery strikes.

Dozens of Israeli tanks rolled into the fringes of Gaza City, eyewitnesses said, after a night of heavy clashes in nearby areas.

Hamas said its Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades were engaged in "heavy fighting" with Israeli troops on Sunday inside northern Gaza, where besieged residents were again told to flee.

Concern has surged about the widening humanitarian disaster, with fears centred on Gaza hospitals inside Israeli-mandated evacuation zones where medics warn that many patients cannot be moved.

Columns of Israeli tanks and armoured bulldozers were seen churning through the sand, and Israeli snipers took positions inside emptied residential buildings, in footage released by the army.

Israeli tanks were later spotted on the edges of Gaza City, usually the most densely populated urban area but now emptied of many residents following repeated Israeli evacuation orders.

A witness told AFP the Israeli tanks blocked the strip’s major north-south road and had been “firing at any vehicle that tries to go along it”.

AFP journalists are not inside Gaza City, following Israeli warnings that the territory’s northern areas must be considered a war zone.

Israel has for weeks warned Palestinians civilians to flee the northern half of the Gaza Strip, while also cutting off normal supplies of water, food, fuel and other essentials to the long-blockaded territory.

The United Nations reported on Sunday that civil order was starting to break down after “thousands of people” had ransacked its warehouses looking for tinned food, flour, oil and hygiene supplies.

According to the UN, all 10 hospitals in northern Gaza have received evacuation orders, despite sheltering thousands of patients and about 117,000 of the displaced.

Among those being treated are intensive care patients, infants and elderly people on life support systems.

The head of the World Health Organisation said calls to evacuate Al Quds hospital in Gaza City were “deeply concerning”.

“We reiterate, it’s impossible to evacuate hospitals full of patients without endangering their lives,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

Mohamed Al Talmas, who has taken shelter in Gaza’s biggest hospital Al Shifa, said “the ground shook” there with intense Israeli raids.

‘Collective punishment’ 

UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned the situation was getting “more desperate by the hour” and warned against the “collective punishment” of Palestinians.

The International Criminal Court Lead Prosecutor Karim Khan warned Israel on Sunday that preventing access to humanitarian aid could be a “crime”.

Limited aid has entered Gaza from Egypt under a US-brokered deal, but its volume has fallen far short of the hundreds of trucks a day aid agencies say are needed.

The UN reported that 33 trucks carrying water, food and medical supplies had entered Gaza on Sunday, bringing to 117 the total that have entered through the Rafah crossing since the resumption of aid on October 21.