Fuel reserves at Gaza hospitals likely to run out in 24 hours, UN warns
With updates from Rushdi Abu Alouf in Gaza; Lyse Doucet, Lucy Williamson and Nick Beake in southern Israel; Jeremy Bowen, Yolande Knell, Tom Bateman, Alice Cuddy and Joel Gunter in Jerusalem; Anna Foster in northern Israel; and Hugo Bachega in southern Lebanon.
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Edited by Aparna Alluri
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Ex-US ambassador named US special envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues
Former US ambassador to Turkey David Satterfield has been appointed the US special envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues, the White House said on Sunday night.
Satterfield will lead US diplomacy to "urgently address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza", National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement. He added this will include "ensuring life-saving assistance can reach vulnerable people throughout the Middle East".
Satterfield has previously served as Director of Arab and Arab-Israeli Affairs in the State Department and as Director for Near Eastern Affairs on the National Security Council.
Khan Younis population balloons to a million overnight
Rushdi Abu Alouf
BBC News, Khan Younis
Scarce resources are running out, fast in Khan Younis.
This city, normally home to 400,000 people, has ballooned to more than a million overnight.
The main hospital here, already low on essentials, has not only taken in sick and injured from the north - it has now become a refuge.
Refugees line the corridors as doctors work on new arrivals injured by Israeli bombs. The din of competing voices fills the air.
You cannot blame people for coming here.
Hospitals are among the safest places to be in a time of war, protected by international law.
By some measures these people are perhaps the lucky ones, at least for now.
Doctors say they have almost nothing to give the stream of new casualties - water is rationed to 300ml a day for patients. Refugees get nothing.
Elsewhere, residents take in new arrivals. Many in Khan Younis lived in cramped conditions to begin with. Now they are cheek by jowl.
I have seen small apartments, which already housed more than they could comfortably hold, becoming "homes" for 50 or 60 people - no one can live like this for long.
My family now shares a home with four others in a flat with two small bedrooms. There are metres of personal space for us. I consider us among the lucky ones.
Boy, 6, killed in attack US police link to Israel-Gaza conflict
A man in the US has been charged with murder and hate crimes after allegedly stabbing two people because they were Muslim.
Joseph Czuba, 71, is accused of killing a six-year-old boy and injuring a woman, 32, in the town of Plainfield, Illinois.
The boy had been stabbed 26 times.
"Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis," Will County Sheriff's office said in a statement.
Read more here.
'Hamas must be eliminated' - President Biden
US President Joe Biden says Hamas must be eliminated entirely and there must be a path to a Palestinian state.
In an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes, Biden warned Iran and Hezbollah to not get involved and escalate the conflict.
He also vowed to do everything in his power to find US hostages that are still alive and “set them free”.
“I’m not going to go into the detail but we’re working like hell on it,” he added.
Earlier on Sunday, the US State Department confirmed that 13 American citizens are missing. They are presumed to have been taken hostage by Hamas.
“The most important thing is ending this brutality and holding those accountable,” he added.
ICRC calls for water supply to Gaza to resume
The ICRC is calling for the resumption of water supplies to the entire Gaza Strip.
Speaking to BBC News, the ICRC's permanent observer to the UN, Laetitia Courtois says "it’s an obligation of the warring parties to make sure that the civilians don’t suffer. We call for every party to make sure goods to help their survival is resumed as soon as possible".
Courtois added that the organisation is talking to all sides involved in the current escalation.
The ICRC currently has a team of more than 100 in Gaza.
“They are still trying to help and fix the water system that has been damaged, trying to support the medical facilities and the paramedics who are working tirelessly. We’re trying as well to set up a response for the thousands of people displaced,” she says.
She adds that if Israeli troops go into Gaza, there is a legitimate fear that street to street battles will lead to civilian casualties.
Gaza hospitals have 24 hours of fuel left - UN
The UN has warned that fuel reserves at Gaza hospitals are expected to last about 24 more hours.
"The shutdown of backup generators would place the lives of thousands of patients at risk," the UN humanitarian office said on its website.
It comes after a number of aid agencies have called for access to Gaza in order to provide humanitarian assistance including fuel and water.
Earlier today, Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British-Palestinian surgeon working from Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, warned that staff at his hospital do not have enough equipment to help people.
"In terms of medical supplies, we consume a month or a month-and-a-half of medical supplies every day in this emergency," he told the BBC.
US's language focusing more on humanitarian situation - former diplomat
There has been a change in the language used surrounding the Israel Gaza conflict by US President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to focus more on the humanitarian situation, a former diplomat says.
Gerald Feierstein, former US ambassador to Yemen and former deputy consul general to Jerusalem tells the BBC: “If you look at the nuances beginning to appear in US statements – Biden’s statement’s, Blinken’s statements, you see an increasing focus on the humanitarian situation and concern.
"I think that is a reflection of the concern he is hearing, the worry that he is hearing from counterparts in the region,” he says.
Firestein also says that an Israeli ground offensive into Gaza is inevitable but it’s becoming clear that Israel might not have much time.
“The international community will be focused on the need to end this conflict. The objective of destroying Hamas is perhaps an unachievable one,” he says
The former ambassador also says that there are concerns that Hezbollah might become engaged in the conflict and that Iran is also threatening to get involved. He said the US was sending a second aircraft carrier to the region in a bid to stop trouble spilling over.
President Abbas says Hamas does not represent Palestinian people
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that the actions and policies of Hamas do not represent the Palestinian people.
The comments were made in a phone call with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, news agency WAFA said.
According to the news outlet, Abbas "affirmed his rejection of the killing of civilians on both sides and called for the release of civilians, prisoners and detainees on both sides".
Abbas has been president since 2005 and represents the Fatah political party, which has a bitter rivalry with Hamas.
30 US citizens dead and 13 missing
Thirty US citizens have been killed in the Israel-Gaza conflict and 13 remain unaccounted for, the US State Department has confirmed.
In a statement issued on Sunday night about the missing people, a spokesperson said: "The US government is working around the clock to determine their whereabouts and is working with the Israeli government on every aspect of the hostage crisis, including sharing intelligence and deploying experts from across the United States government to advise the Israeli government on hostage recovery efforts."
What do you want to know?
Emma Owen
in London
We're having another change of staff - I'm handing over to my colleague Alex Binley who'll be bringing you the latest for the next few hours.
Just a pointer towards our in-depth coverage - on our topic page, you can find explainers, personal stories, long reads, and a wealth of video gathered and produced by our teams in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and in our newsrooms.
And finally a reminder that we'll have our correspondents on hand in the coming days to answer any questions you may have.
If there is something you would like to know about the current conflict and its origins, send us a question. Here's how:
Please include your name, age and location with any submission.
Latest diplomatic moves
Over the course of the day, we have heard from several world leaders and top diplomats, as efforts continue to prevent the conflict from escalating.
Here's a look over the key lines from today:
In pictures: Life in Gaza as Israeli troops amass near border
There are shortages of fuel, medicines, water and food in the Gaza Strip - and thousands of people are on the move as they await an Israeli assault on Hamas.
Here are some of the images of the day.
'We are on the verge of the abyss in the Middle East' - UN Secretary General
Antonio Guterres has issued a statement.
He made two appeals - for Hamas to release the hostages without any conditions, and for Israel to grant rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid to Gaza.
"Gaza is running out of water, electricity and other essential supplies. The UN has stocks available of food, water, non-food items, medical supplies and fuel....These goods can be dispatched within hours," he said.
"To ensure delivery, our selfless staff on the ground, along with NGO partners, need to be able to bring these supplies into and throughout Gaza safely, and without impediment to deliver to those in need.
"Each one of these two objectives are valid in themselves. They should not become bargaining chips."
A reminder on the geography of Gaza
The Gaza Strip is roughly 41km (25 miles) long and 10km (6 miles) wide.
The population is 2.2m, and this map illustrates the evacuation area.
The area that's shaded red is home to around 1m people. All of whom have been told to move south.
Iran issues new warning to Israel and US
Iran has continued to warn Israel that if it escalates the conflict in Gaza it risks drawing in the involvement of Iran's military.
"If they do not cease their atrocities in Gaza, Iran cannot simply remain an observer," Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told Al Jazeera.
"If the scope of the war expands, significant damages will also be inflicted upon America," he added.
It comes one day after Amirabdollahian met with the leader of Hamas in Doha.
'An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding'
Philippe Lazzarini works for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. He says his agency is no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza.
“There is not one drop of water, not one grain of wheat, not a litre of fuel, that has been allowed into the Gaza Strip for the last eight days,” he says.
The number of people seeking shelter in the organisation’s schools and facilities in the south is overwhelming, 14 members of his organisation have been killed, and Gaza is running out of body bags.
“Every hour we receive more and more desperate calls for help from people across the strip.
“Last week’s attack on Israel was horrendous. The attack and the taking of hostages are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But the answer to killing civilians cannot be to kill more civilians.
“The siege in Gaza, the way it is imposed, is nothing else than collective punishment,” he says.
Twenty-one hospitals told to evacuate and four not functioning, WHO says
Four hospitals in the north of the Gaza strip are no longer working, the World Health Organisation has said.
In a statement on social media, the WHO in occupied Palestinian territory adds that 21 hospitals in Gaza have been given an order to evacuate by the Israel military.
The global health body also notes that the "forced evacuation" of hospitals may amount to a violation of international humanitarian law".
Israel attacking Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon
The Israel Defense Forces have just announced they are attacking sites run by the Hezbollah militant group in southern Lebanon.
It comes after a day of escalating strikes around the Israeli-Lebanese border, which saw the headquarters of the UN peacekeeping force there come under rocket fire.
Gaza should be smaller when this is over, Israeli minister says
Tom Bateman
Reporting from Jerusalem
Benjamin Netanyahu says he will “eliminate” Hamas. But what happens the day after? We’ve been getting some clues this weekend about thinking within parts of the Israeli government.
Cabinet minister Gideon Sa’ar has appeared on Israeli TV. He said Hamas must be destroyed so it could never threaten Israel again, adding this would serve as a lesson to the region.
He also said that Gaza must end up smaller - with Israel taking control of a belt of land in the east and north of the strip. This would be a "security zone" and anyone who entered it would be "intercepted" by the military.
He made clear these objectives were his personal views. but that he was saying them everywhere. Sa’ar said losing land was the price that “Arabs understand”.
This will play into the worst fears of Palestinians as it evokes for them the core issue - the loss of their lands in the conflicts surrounding Israel’s creation 75 years ago.
'My message to the world? We want to live'
Ramez Barhoum is 15 years old. He is currently taking shelter at a UN school in Rafah in southern Gaza.
“There was a bombing next to our house. Innocent people were killed, a whole family next to our house, parents with their kids. We were afraid,” he told the BBC.
He said that the house next to his uncle’s was also bombed. It was then that he fled to the school.
“I saw horrible scenes. A kid not even a year old - his two legs were cut off, his head, he was blown to pieces.
"I can barely stand it. Look around at these kids, ask them if they want to live or not," he said.
“We want to live. Our dream is to live, that’s all we want”.