Image source, Anadolu

The Israeli defence ministry body overseeing policy for the Palestinian territories, Cogat, says the UN “must do better” on delivering aid to people in Gaza.

A post on X, external, formerly known as Twitter, says Israel has expanded its capability to inspect aid being delivered via the Egyptian-controlled Rafah border crossing, and that the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom goods crossing is to be opened for the first time since the war began.

“The aid keeps waiting at the entrance of Rafah. The UN must do better - the aid is there, and the people need it,” it adds, underneath a photo showing dozens of lorries queuing.

In its latest briefing, external, the UN humanitarian office says the ability of its staff in Gaza to receive incoming aid has been “significantly impaired over the past few days by several factors”.

“These include a shortage of trucks within Gaza; telecommunications blackouts; and the increasing number of staff who were unable to travel to the Rafah crossing due to the intensity of hostilities.”

The UN also says aid distribution has also largely stopped outside the Rafah area over the past few days due to the fierce fighting and restrictions of movement on main roads, particularly in and around the nearby city of Khan Younis.

Representatives of member countries of the UN Security Council are due to visit the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip today, according to reports, days after a council resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in the territory was defeated by a United States veto.

The visit to the Rafah border crossing is being arranged by the United Arab Emirates – which drafted last week’s resolution – whose UN ambassador Lana Nusseibeh said the aim of the trip is to “learn first-hand what is needed in terms of a humanitarian operations scale-up”.

Nusseibeh added it is not an official Security Council visit, Reuters reports.

According to UAE outlet The National, the only countries on the 15-member council not to join are France, the US and Gabon.

A US spokesman told Reuters that it is “working around the clock to try to improve the situation on the ground”.

Image source, .

Video shows Gaza detainees allegedly 'surrendering guns' - what we knowpublished at 09:17 Greenwich Mean Time 11 December 2023

09:17 GMT 11 December 2023

As we have been reporting this morning, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said dozens of Hamas fighters are "laying down their weapons and handing themselves over".

Images of detained and stripped Palestinians apparently surrendering some weapons to Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip have prompted speculation about the circumstances of the events and the filming.

Initially, two videos of what appeared to be the same scene - a man in his underwear obeying instructions to lay down a weapon - but with slight differences, sparked speculation it may have been filmed repeatedly for separate "takes".

BBC Verify has examined the footage and established that both clips came from a continuous sequence in which three guns in total appear to be handed over.

But, questions remain about the exact circumstances and the release of the videos.

• You can read the full BBC Verify analysis here

Image source, Reuters

A former UK diplomat has said the government should "get off the fence" on Gaza and call for all violence against civilians to stop.

Tom Fletcher, who worked as a foreign policy advisor to former PM Gordon Brown, says senior UN officials on the ground have told him "Gaza is becoming a slaughterhouse".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he explains a UK decision to vote for a ceasefire at the UN security council during 2009 Israel-Gaza conflict contributed to a truce motion, despite US government oppostion to it.

"It moved the US to an abstention and so people say UN Security Council resolutions are just demonstrative, but we had a ceasefire within a week of that resolution."

On Friday, the US vetoed a similar call for a ceasefire and the UK abstained at the security council. All other members voted in favour, including China, Russia and France - the three other permanent members with veto power.

Fletcher acknowledges the violence in Israel and Gaza since 7 October is "on a completely difference scale" to 2009, but adds that the "fundamentals are the same, we've got to protect civilians in Israel and Palestine".

Let us bring you some fresh comments from a retired deputy commander of the Gaza division of the Israeli army who tells the BBC how he views the Israeli operation.

Speaking from Tel Aviv, Amir Avivi tells BBC Newsday the conflict could go on for another two months.

"We are now in a crucial moment," he says. "More and more terrorists are surrendering.

"Within a week or two the IDF will get full control of the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

"It is a very dense area, a stronghold of Hamas, but geographically this is only 20% of the Gaza Strip.

"But, it is an important achievement."

Elsewhere in Gaza, Avivi describes "fierce fighting" around Khan Younis to the south and insists Israel is "liberating Gaza from Hamas".

Image source, Reuters

Yolande Knell
BBC Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

As fierce battles rage on, Israel says dozens of Hamas members have surrendered in northern Gaza where its forces began their ground offensive six weeks ago.

Hamas has denied the claims.

In the city of Khan Younis, Israeli tanks have now reached the city’s main north-south road and war planes have been attacking an area in the west.

It’s thought Hamas leaders may be hiding in the city in south Gaza.

Qatar has said it’s continuing efforts to mediate a ceasefire and free more than 100 remaining hostages held by Hamas but is not seeing the same willingness to negotiate as before.

Meanwhile, Hamas has issued a threat to Israel that not a single hostage will be allowed to leave Gaza alive unless its demands for a prisoner exchange are met.

Palestinian activists are calling for a global strike as part of a coordinated effort to pressure Israel for a ceasefire.

Israel has said it cannot end the war now – before achieving its aim of crushing Hamas.

More than 100 Israeli soldiers have died since the beginning of Israel's ground offensive in Gaza.

Three of the four announced dead this morning were killed in fighting in southern Gaza, while the fourth died in a military-related traffic accident, the Israel Defense Forces says.

The IDF have published the names of 430 troops killed since 7 October when Hamas attacked Israel.

Of these deaths, 101 have been killed since the IDF began its extensive ground assault on Gaza on 27 October, which has continued since - other than during a seven-day ceasefire which ended on 1 December.

Image source, Reuters

Israel's prime minister has said dozens of Hamas fighters are "laying down their weapons and handing themselves over".

In a statement on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu said the "war is in full swing" and full defeat will take more time, but added that it is "the beginning of the end for Hamas".

"I say to the Hamas terrorists: it is over. Don't die for [Hamas chief Yahya] Sinwar. Surrender - now," he said.

Hamas has warned that no hostages would leave Gaza alive unless its demands were met.

"Neither the fascist enemy and its arrogant leadership... nor the supporters behind them... can take their prisoners alive without exchanging, negotiating, and agreeing to the terms of the resistance," Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said in an audio clip posted on Sunday on the military wing's Telegram channel.

Pressure has been growing on officials over the 138 people still being held by Hamas and other armed groups.

Israel has repeatedly pledged to do everything it can to rescue the remaining hostages. Some 110 hostages have been released in total- but a week-long truce under which dozens were freed ended last week and since then Israel has resumed its bombing of Gaza.

The UN General Assembly will meet on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza, its president said.

This comes after the US on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire - this was backed by almost all other members. The UK abstained.

AFP news agency, which said it has seen a draft of the text, said it calls for "an immediate humanitarian cease-fire" as well as the "immediate and unconditional release of all hostages".

Groups of people climbed onto passing aid trucks in Rafah on Sunday in an attempt to steal supplies. Police fired their guns into the air to disperse the crowd.

Humanitarian groups have warned that food and medicines shortages will be felt more sharply in Gaza as winter sets in, and with the vast majority of the population displaced.

The Gaza Strip is home to about 2.3 million people in total - 80% of whom rely on humanitarian aid mainly due to the ongoing hostilities with Israel.

Israeli military said it attacked a "terrorist cell" in Lebanon, external on Sunday and that it had intercepted a "suspicious aerial target" that crossed Lebanese territory.

In an X post, external at 22:13 local time (20:13 GMT) Israel Defense Forces added that it detected a number of launches from Lebanon into Israel, and were responding by firing the sources of the shooting.

Meanwhile, Syrian state news agency SANA said Israel carried out air strikes near its capital Damascus late on Sunday.

UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lynn Hastings has condemned the assaults on human rights on both Palestinians and Israelis as the world marked International Human Rights on Sunday.

She called for the unconditional release of hostages held by Hamas, while sharply criticising Israel's "disproportionate" response in Gaza.

"The air strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure... cannot be justified. Nor can the siege, depriving the entire Gaza population of food, water, health care and hygiene," she wrote in a statement, external.

Israel must allow the delivery of humanitarian aid inside Gaza, she said, reiterating others' calls for a ceasefire.

She also noted "unprecedented levels" of Israeli state and settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Sunday marked 75 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed, setting out for the first time that fundamental human rights are to be universally protected.

"In 2023, I should not have to issue such a statement. It is as if we have learned nothing in the past 75 years," Hastings wrote.

Image source, Getty Images

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has defended the Biden administration's move to allow the sale of 14,000 tank shells - worth more than $106m (£84m) - to Israel without congressional review.

“Israel is in combat right now with Hamas,” Blinken said in TV interviews with ABC and CNN.

“We want to make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Hamas.”

On Friday, the US State Department used an Arms Export Control Act emergency declaration to immediately deliver the tank rounds to Israel. The rounds are part of a larger package which includes 45,000 shells for Israel's tanks worth more than $500m.

Image source, Reuters

Yvette Tan
Live editor

It's 07:00 in Israel and Gaza, and 13:00 in Singapore - where we are restarting our live coverage.

Here's a look at what's happened over the last few hours:

• Israel's bombardment of Gaza is "narrowing the window" for a new truce, Qatar's prime minister has said
• Despite this, Qatar will continue its efforts to pressure both sides into a ceasefire, said Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, speaking at the Doha Forum
• Also speaking in Doha, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Gaza had become "hell on earth"
• The Biden administration is under scrutiny after it was revealed that it bypassed Congress to supply tank shells to Israel
• The Israel Defence Forces on Monday claimed to have killed Emad Krikae, the commander of Hamas' Shejaya Battalion. In a post on X, the IDF said Krikae was responsible for anti-tank missile training in the Gaza City Brigade
• And as the world marked the 75th International Human Rights Day on Sunday, a top humanitarian official said of the Israel-Gaza War: "it is as if we have learned nothing in the past 75 years"

Follow us as we bring you the latest updates throughout the day.

Image source, Reuters

We're about to pause this live coverage. Here are some of the key headlines of the day:

• The Hamas-run health ministry said the number of people killed in Gaza has risen to about 18,000. Israel has previously disputed the figures, but they are viewed as credible by the UN
• Israel ordered civilians to flee the centre of Khan Younis, whose civilians told the BBC they feared a repeat of the siege of Gaza City earlier in the war. The Israeli military chief had earlier told his soldiers to "press harder" in Gaza, saying there were signs Hamas was disintegrating
• Israel reiterated that it was committed to minimising civilian casualties, saying it was urging people to escape "difficult fighting" in the key southern city

• The prime minister of Qatar - which has been a key mediator in the conflict - said there was a "narrowing" window to secure a new ceasefire, but said it would keep up pressure on both sides to halt hostilities. Qatar helped to broker a previous week-long pause in fighting
• Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu accused Western countries of inconsistent attitudes to Hamas

• World Health Organization chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Gaza's health system was "on its knees and collapsing"

Image source, Reuters

With much of the Israeli effort focused on Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis, Palestinians are heading further south to seek refuge; all the while struggling with severe water and food shortages.

Meanwhile, funerals have been held in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP

Imogen Foulkes
Geneva correspondent

Member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) have passed a resolution calling for immediate medical access to Gaza.

In an unusual move, the WHO’s executive board met in emergency session to discuss what its director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned was a health catastrophe - with many wounded, and high risk of disease.

The resolution calls for immediate unimpeded access for aid, and for those fighting to abide by international law. That means no attacks on hospitals or health workers.

It also demands that all those detained – hostages and Palestinians – should have access to medical care.

The WHO has warned that the terms of the resolution will be virtually impossible to fulfil without a ceasefire, something the United States vetoed at the UN Security Council on Friday.

Earlier Ghebreyesus said "the impact of the conflict on health is catastrophic", adding that "Gaza's health system is on its knees and collapsing".

Hamas's armed wing says it's still inflicting blows on Israel - and "what is coming is greater".

In an audio message given to Al Jazeera, spokesperson Abu Ubaida said the Israeli military "failed in the north and south of the Gaza Strip" and that it would fail more as it moved into other areas.

Ubaida went on to say a previous week-long ceasefire between the two sides "proved our credibility", as the Israeli hostages freed during that period were only released on Hamas's terms. He added that no more hostages would be freed unless Israel engaged in talks.

The message also said Hamas fighters had fully or partially destroyed 180 military vehicles and killed "a large number" of Israeli soldiers. The Israeli military has not commented, and the BBC cannot independently verify Hamas's claims.

An official at al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza tells the BBC the building has been "under siege for five days", meaning none of the 250 or so people inside are able to enter or leave.

Mohammed Salha describes an increasingly desperate situation - saying the facility only has enough fuel for four days, food for three days, and water for two days.

He says it's impossible to get fuel refills, and that "we don't know how to deal with this situation." He says snipers have shot at a number of people in the hospital - two of whom were killed - without specifying who was behind the alleged shooting.

The BBC has approached the Israeli military for comment on this, and some separate accusations from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) - which has detailed in a social media thread, external alleged attacks by Israeli troops on one of its ambulances and paramedics.

Image source, Getty Images