Israel-Palestine live: Thousands in state of panic as Israel continues to strike hospitals

In a column for Middle East Eye, academic Farid Hafez argues that the German state is cracking down on displays of support for the Palestinian cause, while giving Israel a free pass on its massive bombardment of Gaza. 

"The McCarthyite climate of censorship, suppression and intimidation has affected people in many different segments of German society. A state official was forced to leave office early over a social media post critical of Israel, while an employee at the Jewish Museum Berlin was fired for speaking about apartheid in the occupied West Bank," Hafez writes. 

"Germany seems to be governing through fear. These are threatening developments - not only due to the restrictions on free speech and assembly, but also because of the expansion of social control and surveillance."

You can read the full column below. 

Opinion: Germany's march to illiberalism in the name of defending Israel

The Lebanese branch of Hamas' armed wing said it targeted Haifa with a salvo of rockets on Monday, extending the range of attacks launched from southern Lebanon amid an escalation on both sides.

The Israeli military said Iron Dome air defence missiles were deployed to intercept the rockets. 

There were no immediate reports of rocket impact inside Israel. 

Rania and her husband, Khaled, left Gaza for life-saving chemotherapy treatment in Jordan a few months ago.

They were supposed to come back to Gaza in November, but the devastating Israeli war on Gaza has forced them to remain far away from their sons in the enclave.

“The physiological factor is very important in cancer treatment. Our sons, house and families are in Gaza," Khaled told Middle East Eye. "This has placed a heavy psychological burden on us, especially on Rania, as cancer has spread throughout her body.” 

With the total blockade on Gaza and relentless air strikes, many Palestinians who left prior to the war are wondering if they will ever see their loved ones again.

Read more: Why some Palestinians who left Gaza want to return home now

Al-Mayadeen has said that Israeli security agencies are recommending that its broadcasts should be shut down in Israel. 

The Lebanon-based broadcaster is viewed as pro-Hezbollah. 

Communications minister Shlomo Karhi will recommend suspending the channel's operations in Israel during the next cabinet session, according to the broadcaster. 

Earlier on Monday, Al-Mayadeen journalist Hanaa Mahameed said she was ambushed and threatened in occupied East Jerusalem by an Israeli journalist and a group of settlers. 

Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians driving a car in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm on Monday in what local media described as "assassinations".

Footage of the incident online appeared to show several Israeli troops ambushing a car carrying at least three Palestinians.

Local media said they were senior members of Tulkarm-based armed resistance groups. 

In videos taken by residents, the Israeli soldiers are seen firing a hail of bullets at the car. Images taken in the aftermath show three men soaked in blood inside the vehicle, which is pierced with dozens of bullet holes. 

The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the death of three Palestinians in Tulkarm but did not provide their details. It added that one more person had been critically wounded. 

An Israeli officer who was stabbed by a suspected Palestinian in occupied East Jerusalem on Monday has died from her wounds, police have said. 

The officer, named Elisheva Rose Ida Lubin, was stabbed outside Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday morning by a 16-year-old resident of East Jerusalem’s Issawiya neighbourhood, according to police.

The teenager, who has not been named, was shot dead at the scene. Another Israeli officer was lightly wounded in the attack. 

The Israeli military has targeted solar panels on the roof of al-Shifa hospital, the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip on Monday. 

Local media reported that the panels were hit by air strikes in an attempt to disrupt what little energy supplies remain in the enclave. 

On Friday, Israeli jets bombed the entrance of the hospital, leaving several people dead and wounded.

Saudi Arabia plans to host a summit of regional countries on Sunday, aiming to unify pro-Palestinian states that ask for an immediate ceasefire, two people familiar with the issue told Middle East Eye. 

The summit is planned to take place one day after Riyadh hosts an emergency Arab League foreign ministers meeting on Palestine.

A person familiar with the Saudi plans to host a summit said that Islamic countries were divided, with some, such as Jordan, finding it hard to stand up to the US and Israel due to their over dependence on western support.

“Egypt’s Cairo Peace Summit last month was a good initiative to underline the importance of a ceasefire, but western states that attended the conference blocked every move to meaningfully oppose the Israeli attacks against the civilians,” the person added. 

You can read MEE Turkey bureau chief Ragip Soylu's full report below. 

Read more: Saudi Arabia plans to host a Gaza summit on Sunday, say sources 

The heads of 18 UN agencies and NGOs have issued a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire. 

"An entire population is besieged and under attack, denied access to the essentials for survival, bombed in their homes, shelters, hospitals and places of worship. This is unacceptable," they wrote in a letter on Monday. 

"Scores of aid workers have been killed since October 7 including 88 Unrwa colleagues - the highest number of United Nations fatalities ever recorded in a single conflict."

The signatories went on to call for all parties to respect international law, and for the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians held hostage. 

 "More aid - food, water, medicine and of course fuel - must enter Gaza safely, swiftly and at the scale needed, and must reach people in need, especially women and children, wherever they are," they said. 

"We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It's been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now." 

The signatories included the heads of Unicef, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation and Save the Children. 

The Israeli army arrested Palestinian journalist Somaya Jawabra and her husband Tariq Yousef, who is also a journalist, on Sunday afternoon in the occupied West Bank. 

Jawabra is seven months pregnant and the mother of three young children. Both she and Yousef work for local media outlets.

After interrogating them, Israeli intelligence officers kept Jawabra in detention and released her husband, MEE reporter Fayha Shalash reported on Monday. 

They later transferred Jawabra to Ma'ale Adumim police station and informed her family that she was under arrest and that a trial session would be held next Thursday.

Israel has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians in a month of relentless bombing in Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday. 

At least 4,100 are children, 2,500 are women and 500 are elderly people, comprising 70 percent of the total death toll. 

Nearly 25,000 more people have been wounded.

Abu Shadi, born Masoud al-Qutati, a 64-year-old pastry chef, was killed in an Israeli air strike on 3 November.

He was the vendor at a popular knafeh restaurant, which produced the popular Palestinian sweet, made of spun pastry bathed in syrup and cheese.

Over the course of his decade-long career in sweet-making, Qutati earned a reputation for his generosity, as well as for the taste of his pastries.

Amongst Palestinians in Gaza, he had the nickname "Father of the Poor", for offering cut-price plates of knafeh to local residents and for free to those who could not afford to pay.

Read more: The popular knafeh maker known for his generosity, killed in Gaza

Israeli air strikes on several hospitals in Gaza City on Monday have killed eight Palestinians, according to the health ministry. 

Four were killed at the al-Rantisi paediatric hospital, while four others were killed at Gaza's Eye Hospital. The Israeli military also targeted the enclave's only psychiatric hospital.

All three hospitals are a short distance away from each other in Gaza City. 

The South African government said on Monday it would recall all its diplomats from Israel to "signal" its concern over the situation in Gaza, AFP news agency reported. 

"The South African government has decided to withdraw all its diplomats in Tel Aviv for consultation," Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, a minister in the president's office, told a press briefing.

Israeli air strikes have hit the only psychiatric hospital in Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said on Monday. 

The attack caused severe damage to the building in Gaza City. 

Israeli bombs also struck an eye hospital in the city, the ministry added.