News Archives - Page 36 of 365

At 71,000 Killed: Finally Israel Accepts Gaza’s Health Ministry Stats

CrossFireArabia
January 31, 2026

The Israeli military has accepted the accuracy of the Palestinian Health Ministry’s death toll in Gaza, confirming that about 71,000 Palestinians have been killed in the genocide, after years of refusing to acknowledge the ministry’s reports.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Thursday, the army said the death toll of around 71,000 killed is largely correct, adding that it did not include those missing and buried under the rubble.

Israel had for years refused to accept the death tolls reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry, even branding it “misleading and unreliable”.

For over 2yrs, most of my pro-Israel guests have angrily denied the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty numbers and said they were wildly exaggerated. Now, the IDF has accepted they’re accurate. https://t.co/xE0glY8Sfk
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 29, 2026

The military said it was analysing the data, which also does not include those who died of starvation or from diseases exacerbated by Israel’s years-long genocide in Gaza.

While accepting their accuracy, the military said it was looking to distinguish civilian and military deaths in the enclave.

The data published by the Health Ministry regarding the dead and wounded in the Gaza Strip have been used since the beginning of the genocide by many international organizations, including UN agencies, governments, media outlets, and researchers, and there is broad agreement that they are reliable.

Also, several studies have even raised the possibility that the death toll in Gaza is even higher than the Health Ministry reports. In June 2025, a study was released concluding that, as of January of that year, some 75,200 Gazans were killed during the war. At the time, more and more international experts concluded that the Health Ministry’s data is reliable, and may even be very conservative.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry this week, over 71,660 Palestinians have been killed during the genocide in Gaza and 171,340 others wounded according to the Quds News Network.

News

The Cold Kills 11 Children in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
January 31, 2026

The UN on Friday said the winter conditions in the Gaza Strip are turning deadly as 11 children have died of hypothermia, and renewed calls to lift Israeli restrictions on humanitarian operations.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a news conference that “families in Gaza continue to face harsh winter conditions.”

He reported that “on Tuesday, another child reportedly died from hypothermia,” adding: “This is the eleventh child who has died this way since the beginning of the winter season, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza,” according to Anadolu.

Noting that since October, “the UN and our partners have distributed tens of thousands of tents, providing shelter to over half a million people,” Haq stressed that “tents provide limited protection, especially during the rainy season.”

“We continue calling for more durable shelter solutions to limit people’s dependency on tents,” he added.

Haq also warned that food access remains fragile, saying: “Even with the improvements in food consumption this month, humanitarians stress that the entry of aid and commercial supplies must be sustained and further diversified.”

He said that efforts to address malnutrition have expanded, adding: “Humanitarians have expanded services through dozens of facilities established since the ceasefire.”

“We reiterate that restrictions on humanitarian operations must be lifted,” Haq said, calling on Israel to end “the ongoing ban on UNRWA” and urging that humanitarian partners be allowed to operate “without hindrance across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

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Iran is Ready For War – VP Aref

CrossFireArabia
January 29, 2026

Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on Thursday that the government considers itself to be in a “state of war readiness,” as tensions with the United States continue to escalate.

Addressing a meeting of government officials in Tehran, Aref said Iran “will not be the initiator of a war” but would defend itself “with full force,” adding that the end of any war “will not be determined by the enemies,” in an apparent reference to the US and Israel.

Referring to the 12-day war in June last year and recent regional developments, including the US military buildup in the Gulf and threats by President Donald Trump, Aref said the country remains in a “state of war readiness.”

He said the administration led by President Masoud Pezeshkian “adopted a wartime posture from day one,” adding that a “wartime economic plan” was implemented in the aftermath of the June war according to Anadolu.

Aref emphasized that Iran must remain prepared for a wartime situation in light of unfolding regional developments.

“Our strategy is that we never start a war, but if it is imposed on us, we will defend ourselves, and the end of the war will not be in the hands of the enemies. We believe in dialogue and logic, but if a war begins, its conclusion will no longer be decided by the enemies,” he said.

Commenting on diplomacy, Aref said the government has already declared its readiness for negotiations but is seeking firm guarantees.

“During the previous round of talks—which were also progressing well—the United States attacked the Islamic Republic of Iran. What guarantee is there that it will not do so again this time? If we are assured that they are seeking real negotiations and not using talks as a cover for greater mischief, then we will negotiate,” he said.

In a social media post on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said a massive “armada” was on its way to Iran, while urging Tehran to immediately enter negotiations.

Trump’s statement led to speculation that a military strike on Iran is imminent, drawing strong reactions from Iranian officials.

Earlier on Thursday, Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, echoed Aref’s remarks in an interview with CNN, saying Iran is not opposed to dialogue and diplomacy, but not under the shadow of war and threats.

According to reports, mediation efforts are underway to ease tensions between Iran and the US, with Türkiye leading the initiative.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is scheduled to visit Ankara on Friday.

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A Child Killed Everyday in Ceasefire Gaza

CrossFireArabia
January 13, 2026

Airstrikes, drone attacks and hypothermia continue in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with more than 100 youngsters killed since early October, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

“That’s roughly a girl or a boy killed here every day during a ceasefire,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

“These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones,” he said, speaking from Gaza City. “They’re killed from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from [remote-controlled] quadcopters.”

Mr. Elder pointed out that more children have also died of hypothermia in the last few days, as harsh winter conditions expose the most vulnerable Gazans.

Sheer cold kills six children

“We’ve now gone to six children who died of hypothermia just this winter,” he said. “I wish I could take a camera and show you 30, 40-kilometre [per hour] winds ripping through tents on the beach. It’s bitterly cold, it’s bitterly wet.”

The UNICEF spokesperson stressed that the ceasefire has allowed “genuine progress” in primary healthcare, with UNICEF and partners setting up the first health clinics in the north of the Strip and expanding immunization services.

But desperately needed medical evacuations of children remain at a standstill.

Mr. Elder noted “no noticeable improvement” both on approvals to get children with life-threatening injuries out of Gaza and in convincing more host countries take in the young patients.

He said that in his latest mission to the enclave, he spoke to many children and families denied evacuation despite completing an arduous, formal process.

These included a nine-year-old with shrapnel lodged in his eye who “will lose sight in an eye, maybe both”, a girl in Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City who “may well die” and another child whose leg needs amputating. “All three of those are absolute candidates for medical evacuation; all three of those have so far been denied,” Mr. Elder explained.

Before war erupted in Gaza following Hamas-led attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023, between 50 and 100 patients were evacuated from the enclave every day, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

In an alert on Tuesday, the agency warned that extensive clearance procedures by the Israeli authorities continue to cause delays to deliveries of medicine and food.

“Some essential medical items are classified as ‘dual-use’ and denied entry,” WHO said in a post on X, in reference to goods that are primarily intended for civilian use but which the Israeli authorities believe could be diverted by Hamas or other militant groups for military purposes.

International NGO ban looms

The UNICEF spokesperson also highlighted the dangers of a recent Israeli ban on international NGOs, which will come into effect in the coming month and mean “blocking life-saving assistance”, he alleged. Mr. Elder also stressed the importance of allowing international media into the enclave, which has not been granted despite the ceasefire.

“There needs to be a lot more pressure on allowing international journalists to come in,” he said. “This is my seventh mission [to Gaza] and every time I see the 360-degree devastation, flattening of homes, my jaw drops.”

“It is absolutely as staggering yesterday as it was the first time I saw it more than two years ago,” he insisted.

Mr. Elder warned that two years of war have “left life for Gaza’s children unimaginably hard,” explaining that “the psychological damage remains untreated, and it’s becoming deeper and harder to heal, the longer this goes on”.

“A ceasefire that slows the bombs is progress, but one that still buries children is not enough,” he concluded as reported in UN News.

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Expert: Israeli Demolished 2500 Gaza Homes Since The Ceasefire

CrossFireArabia
January 13, 2026

The Israeli occupation forces demolished more than 2,500 homes since the ceasefire was announced on 10 October, 2025 according to the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. He condemned the ongoing Israeli demolitions in the Gaza Strip, as a flagrant violation of all international laws and conventions.

Barghouti told Jordan 24 the continued policy of systematic demolition and destruction of homes and infrastructure is a war crime against humanity and clearly exposes the falsehood of the occupation’s claims that it is adhering to the ceasefire. He stressed the true aim of these Israeli policies is to deepen the humanitarian catastrophe, is clear collective punishment and create a wave of forced displacement out of Gaza.

Barghouti holds both the Israeli occupation government fully responsible for these crimes and that of the international community for failing to provide protection for the Palestinian people and for not compelling the Israeli occupation to immediately cease its violations.

Barghouti called for an immediate and complete halt to all demolitions and aggression against the Gaza Strip, the formation of an independent international commission of inquiry to hold those responsible for the crimes of demolition and destruction accountable, the provision of international protection for the Palestinian people, and guarantees for the unrestricted entry of relief and reconstruction materials.

He also stressed the necessity of holding the occupation accountable before international courts for its ongoing crimes against civilians, affirming that the occupation’s crimes will not break the Palestinian people’s resolve to remain steadfast on their land and thwart the plans of ethnic cleansing.