All the latest developments from the Israel-Hamas war.
Two hundred and forty-one Palestinians have been killed in the last 24 hours in Israeli shelling of Gaza.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Hamas-run Ministry of Health reported on Tuesday that 20,915 people had been killed and more than 54,5918 injured since Israel’s bombing began in October.
Most of those killed are civilians.
The Palestinian telecommunications company, Paltel, reported a new telecommunications blackout in the Gaza Strip, the fourth since the beginning of the war.
The Israeli army also announced the death of five soldiers in Gaza, bringing the total number of its troops killed to 161 since October 27, the start of its ground offensive.
Trucks full of bodies
Israel returned bodies recovered from northern Gaza to Palestinian officials on Tuesday, with a semi-trailer truck bringing dozens of the dead in blue body bags loaded in a container.
The bodies were held by Israeli forces in northern Gaza in their ongoing ground incursion into the besieged Palestinian enclave. They were transferred back to the local authorities for burial.
The truck carrying the intact and tattered bodies was seen driving through the Kerem Shalom crossing on the border with Israel, escorted by UN vehicles.
UN appoints new head of humanitarian mission
Four days after the adoption of a Security Council resolution demanding the “large-scale” delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, where 85% of the population has been displaced, the United Nations has appointed the outgoing Dutch Minister, Sigrid Kaag, to coordinate this mission.
The announcement by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres follows the Security Council’s adoption of a resolution on Friday requesting him to expeditiously appoint a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.
More than 2 million civilians are in desperate need of food, water and medicine.
Guterres said Kaag, who speaks fluent Arabic and five other languages, “brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs as well as in diplomacy” to her new post.
She is expected to start on 8 January.