Israel-Hamas war: List of key events, day 66

Here’s how things stand on Monday, December 11, 2023:

Latest developments

• Palestinian activists have announced a global strike on Monday, calling on people around the world to avoid making any purchases and attend rallies in their cities to push for an immediate ceasefire.
• The United Nations is appealing for $46bn in funding for 2024 to support millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the world, including in the occupied Palestinian territory.
• A Qatari aircraft carrying 116 tonnes of humanitarian aid for Gaza landed at Egypt’s El Arish airport on Sunday.
• University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill resigned on Saturday after backlash against her testimony at a congressional hearing on the rising anti-Semitism on university campuses. Members of Harvard University are now defending President Claudine Gay from similar pressures after she was also subjected to questioning on the anti-Semitism row during an appearance before a US House committee hearing last week.

Human impact and fighting

• Gaza’s death toll stands at 17,997 while 49,229 have been wounded since October 7, according to a situation report from the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) on Sunday. At least 1,550 families have lost multiple relatives.
• Israeli strikes have been targeting Rafah and Khan Younis in the south of Gaza through the early hours of Monday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic and Palestinian news agency Wafa.
• On December 9 and 10, Israeli forces shot several medical personnel in Gaza, including the Ministry of Health director general of pharmacy, while they were trying to reach the ministry warehouses to get medical supplies for hospitals, UNOCHA reported.
• The agency also reported that humanitarian access to the north of Gaza “remains severely constrained” while hundreds of thousands of civilians there need urgent assistance.
• Israel’s military announced on Monday that it killed Emad Krikae, the commander of Hamas’s Shejaiya Battalion.
• On Sunday, the Lebanese group Hezbollah launched explosive drones and missiles at Israeli positions, while Israeli air raids on southern Lebanon destroyed five homes and damaged many more.
• Israeli forces have arrested hundreds of Palestinian men and boys in Gaza, stripping them to their underwear and subjecting them to harsh treatment, according to UNOCHA and videos online. The latest arrests took place on December 9 and 10, said UNOCHA.

Diplomacy

• Egypt and Mauritania invoked Resolution 377 for the UN General Assembly to discuss an immediate humanitarian ceasefire at an emergency session in New York City on Tuesday.
• Addressing the Doha Forum on Sunday, several world leaders condemned Israel’s military operation in Gaza. Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Israel’s displacement of Palestinians in the enclave meets the “legal definition of genocide”. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Israel using Hamas as a justification for “collective punishment” is “unacceptable”.
• Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at the forum that Israeli bombardment of Gaza is “narrowing the window” for a ceasefire, but added that Doha will continue to push for one.
• Humanitarian group Oxfam’s branch in Canada has joined the global strike, calling on supporters to join a silent rally for a ceasefire in Gaza.
• The World Health Organization adopted a resolution calling for immediate humanitarian access to Gaza in a rare special meeting of its executive board on Sunday.
• In a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “displeasure” with Russia’s recent position at the UN against Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territories.