UN envoys from the security council have made a whirlwind trip to Egypt’s Rafah Crossing into Gaza in what is being seen as a urgent attempt to try to halt the war.
The trip went ahead under heavy security as there were further signs of a deterioration in law and order – with starving Gazans becoming more and more desperate to find food and water.
Camera teams inside the Gaza Strip filmed yet more frantic scenes, showing crowds scavenging around water bottles which appeared to have fallen off an aid truck.
The truck was filmed moving at speed with a number of men, one armed, sitting on top of the aid as if they were guarding the cargo.
The UN trip to the border was hastily organised by the United Arab Emirates, the sole Arab representative on the Security Council, in the wake of the failure to agree on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
We were part of the entourage that accompanied the diplomats, which included representatives from Russia, China, Brazil, Albania, Japan, Slovenia and the UK- but did not include the US.
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All 15 members of the security council were invited, including some of the incoming rotating non-permanent members.
The US and France were the only two of the five permanent members to not take up the invitation.
In a heavily embargoed visit due to security concerns, the group was whisked around key areas, as well as the border crossing, to give them first-hand experience of the difficulties in delivering aid and the size of the problem facing agencies.
With the truce collapsing about a week ago, the number of aid trucks entering Gaza has dwindled to sometimes not more than 50 a day.
Nearly 90% of the 2.3 million citizens of Gaza are displaced, thousands are dead and wounded, and the number of operating hospitals reduced to a fraction compared to before the Hamas attack on Israel.
‘Israel not holding up aid’
But even as the trip went ahead, Israeli spokespeople insisted they were not to blame for the log-jam of aid trucks on the roads leading to the border crossing.
Eylon Levy, speaking on behalf of the Israeli government, said they’d opened a second crossing to ease aid delivery through Kareem Shalom – the only other Israeli border with Gaza in the south.
“There’s no hold up on the Israeli side,” Mr Levy insisted. He hinted the paucity of aid reaching Gazans was down to poor coordination by the organisational bodies responsible on the other side of the border.
“The problem is the bottleneck at the Rafah crossing, and the problem is that international agencies are not keeping pace. Israel is not placing any restrictions on humanitarian necessities in the Strip,” he added.
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Hamas stealing aid, claims Israel
Sky News has not been able to independently confirm whether the Kareem Shalom border is fully open or how it is operating.
The UAE’s UN ambassador, Lana Nusseibeh, said it is still only being used to scan and check aid trucks before they enter Gaza – but the trucks are then re-routed to the nearby Rafah crossing – which before the warwas intended only as a pedestrian crossing.
She told Sky News: “There’s a lot of blame going round. There are over 17,000 dead Palestinians from this conflict from Israel’s attack on Gaza, and 60% of them, 70% of them, are woman and children – so there’s a dire situation on the ground in Gaza that we have to address.
“More broadly, on humanitarian aid, I think we need some kind of monitoring mechanism that is efficient,” she added.
“What we are seeing here, with trucks lining up the border on the way in, is not efficient on that scale. Kareem Shalom has to be opened and it should become a crossing point, as much as a scanning point for aid to go in.
“Palestinians are the future neighbours of the state of Israel. How you treat your neighbours is going to define what happens for decades to come and the kind of peace we want in the region.”
‘Let down by the UN’
The UN diplomats were driven in buses past lengthy lines of aid trucks parked up along the road leading to the border crossing, as well as parked in nearby Arish town, waiting to be checked before getting permission to go inside Gaza.
Accompanied by Egyptian police escorts and a van flying a prominent white flag, the convoy was also taken to Arish hospital to see injured and wounded Palestinians, as well as shown a Red Crescent warehouse stacked full of essentials including food, medicines, water purifiers and cold weather clothing.
When the group reached the Rafah crossing, Sarah Badr, a young woman from the World Youth Forum, interrupted the visit to urge them to use their influence to stop the war.
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Alex Crawford: ‘Streets’ of backed-up aid for Gaza
“When I visited the United Nations when I was much younger I was so proud because of the declaration of human rights and what it represented,” she said.
Security council members who voted for a ceasefire were frustrated by the failure because of the US veto.
The ambassador for China, Zhang Jun, told Sky News: “This is really a tragic event, not just for the Palestinians, but for the whole world. We should not allow it to continue. It has been too long.”
But like many of the other ambassadors, they vowed to continue the battle for a ceasefire and a lasting peace.
“This is clearly the will of the international community,” the UAE’s ambassador to the UN said. “And we have to look at a two-state solution and how to create peace in the region.”
The diplomatic group was also able to interact virtually via screens with doctors and patients at the new UAE field hospital inside Gaza in Rafah – and was taken to the opening of a new desalination plant that will pump fresh water to 300,000 people.
As the diplomatic group was being driven by the heavily fortified wall separating Egypt from Gaza, the ambassadors could see smoke from bombings on the other side and what appeared to be rocket fire – as well as Palestinians waving to them and standing on ridges on the Gaza side.
On 19 December, 80-year-old Palestinian grandmother Halima Abu Leil was shot in an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raid on her neighbourhood in Balata refugee camp in Nablus, West Bank.
Two days later, Halima’s children told Sky News their mother was shot six times by Israeli special forces on her way to buy groceries. She died soon after.
Warning this piece includes an image from CCTV of the moment Halima Abu Leil was shot.
“They could see she is an elderly lady but they shot her six times – in her leg, in her chest. When she was first shot in her legs, she knelt on the ground,” her daughter said.
Newly released grainy CCTV footage shows the moment she was shot and reveals that a van marked as an ambulance was used during the surprise IDF raid.
Halima Abu Leil’s family want the footage to be seen.
Sky News’ Data & Forensics unit has analysed the CCTV and geolocated the street where the video was filmed. It is the exact location Halima’s son told us she “fell to her knees” as she was shot.
Three men are also walking down the street. There is no visible contact between them and Halima. Based on our analysis of their silhouettes, the figure in the middle appears to be holding a weapon. They are likely to be neighbourhood militants.
The three men veer to the right, moving into a sunny area. One takes a seat on some stairs, while the other two stand. They join someone sitting there already.
A few yards away, Halima stops in the middle of the street to speak to another woman with a shopping trolley.
An ambulance pulls into vision, separating the two women, and drives slowly down the street. A white van pulls in behind the medical vehicle.
A few moments later, the passenger door of the white van opens and a faint cloud of smoke is visible, suggesting that a gunshot is fired.
This is the moment Halima falls to her knees.
The men, some of them armed, scatter to the right and left into alleyways along with other people in the street.
A detailed analysis of the footage suggests that visible clouds of smoke on the walls are the result of multiple shots. The footage and imagery we gathered from the site of the killing shows bullet holes in the building next to where Halima was standing.
The woman she was speaking to moments earlier takes cover in a doorway.
At the same time, figures who appear to be Israeli military forces exit the ambulance in the foreground. They are equipped with helmets, backpacks, rifles, and other gear.
Armed figures can also be seen leaving the white van in the background. They are seen aiming their weapons down the street.
Halima appears to get hit again and collapses to the floor. The men likely to be neighbourhood militants are not visibly present in the street when this happens.
At the time of our previous report, the IDF said they had conducted “counterterrorism activity” in Balata camp the morning Halima was killed.
We approached the IDF about the CCTV footage and the use of a medical vehicle to conduct their operation.
This was its response: “The IDF is committed to and operates in accordance with international law. The mentioned incident is under review. The review will examine the use of the vehicle shown in the video and the claims of harm to uninvolved individuals during the exchange of fire between the terrorists and our forces.”
The use of a marked medical vehicle for a security operation could be a contravention of the Geneva Convention and a war crime – as well as Halima’s killing.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese watched the CCTV video and told Sky News she was shocked but not surprised.
She says: “When I look at the footage, what emerges prima facie is that there were no precautions taken – within these operations whose legality is debatable – to avoid or spare civilian life. No principle of proportionality because there was wildfire directed at the identified target and ultimately no respect for the principle of distinction.
“So this was a murder in cold blood and could be a war crime as an extrajudicial killing.”
According to the United Nations Office of Human Rights in occupied Palestinian territory (OHCHR oPt), Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 813 mostly unarmed Palestinians, including 15 women and 177 children, since 7 October 2023.
In a statement to Sky News regarding Halima’s killing, the OHCHR oPT said: “Any deliberate killing by Israeli security forces of Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank who do not pose an imminent threat to life is unlawful under international human rights law and a war crime in the context of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian Territory.
“This incident must be investigated independently, effectively, thoroughly, and transparently. If there is evidence of violations of the applicable law enforcement standards, those responsible must be held to account.”
Sophie Alexander, international affairs producer, and Michelle Inez Simon, visual investigations producer, contributed reporting.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy has met Israel’s prime minister in an effort to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza before the president-elect takes office on 20 January.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed details of the meeting with Steve Witkoff on Saturday, adding that the head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency has been deployed to Qatar in order to “advance” talks.
It was not immediately clear when David Barnea would travel to Doha for the latest round of indirect discussions between Israel and Hamas.
Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli official said some progress had been made, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach a deal in Gaza.
The mediators are making renewed efforts to halt fighting in Gaza and free the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Mr Trump takes office.
A deal would also involve the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Families of Israeli hostages welcomed Mr Netanyahu’s decision to dispatch the officials, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters describing it as a “historic opportunity”.
Mr Witkoff arrived in Doha on Friday and met the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.
Egyptian and Qatari mediators received reassurances from Mr Witkoff that the US would continue to work towards a fair deal to end the war soon, Egyptian security sources said, though no further details were released.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Families of the roughly 100 hostages still held in Gaza are pressing Mr Netanyahu to reach a deal to bring their loved ones home.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the area destroyed and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, with most of its population displaced.
Pope Francis has been honoured with America’s highest civilian award by President Joe Biden, who has described the pontiff as “a light of faith, hope, and love that shines brightly across the world”.
It is the first time Mr Biden, 82, has given the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction during his four years in office.
In a statement, the White House said the award is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavours”.
Mr Biden had been scheduled to present the medal to Pope Francis, 88, in person on Saturday in Rome on what was to be the final overseas trip of his presidency. But the president cancelled his visit to monitor the California wildfires.
The White House said Mr Biden bestowed the award during a phone call in which they also discussed efforts to promote peace and alleviate suffering around the world.
The award can be presented with or without distinction.
Mr Biden presented the medal of freedom – without distinction – on 5 January to several people including fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, humanitarian and U2 singer Bono, fashion designer Ralph Lauren and actors Michael J Fox and Denzel Washington.
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Mr Biden himself is a recipient of the award with distinction, recognised when he was vice president by then president Barack Obama in a surprise ceremony eight years ago.
The citation for the pope’s honour said his “mission of serving the poor has never ceased”.
“A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children’s questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths,” it added.