Welcome back to our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. It’s nearing 9am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv on this 24 December. I’m Christine Kearney and here’s an overview of the latest to bring you up to speed.

Joe Biden discussed Gaza with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, the White House said.

Biden declined to detail his conversation with Netanyahu, telling reporters it was a “private conversation”. Israel’s main ally has kept up its support while expressing concern over the growing casualty toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

But, he added: “I did not ask for a ceasefire.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said on Sunday eight soldiers had been killed in the Gaza Strip, bringing to 154 its published combat losses since ground incursions began on 20 October, Reuters reports.

More on those stories soon, but first a recap of the other key developments.

A shortage in fuel, power, medical supplies and health specialists as a result of Israel’s attacks across Gaza has left al-Ahli hospital’s emergency care and surgical services “paralyzed”, the World Health Organization said. “Al Ahli is a shell of a hospital … There are no operating theaters any more due to the lack of fuel, power, medical supplies and health workers,” Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s Palestine representative, said.
Water and sanitation services in Gaza are at the point of collapse, Unicef said on Saturday. Amid Israel’s deadly attacks across the strip, which have killed more than 20,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 2 million survivors, Unicef said that the deteriorating humanitarian situation is raising the risk of large-scale disease outbreaks.
The UN secretary general has warned that the scale of death and destruction inside Gaza is blocking delivery of desperately needed aid. On Saturday, Hamas also claimed that an Israeli military airstrike might have killed five hostages.
Two Qatari Armed Forces aircraft carrying aid for Palestinians displaced by Israeli strikes in Gaza has headed to El Arish, Egypt. In an announcement on Saturday, Qatar’s foreign ministry said that the two aircraft carrying 33 tons of aid consisting of food and medical supplies are en route to Gaza.

A Palestinian child holds an empty pot waiting to receive food distributed by volunteers. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

“We are not getting the humanitarian supplies that we need to cater and respond to a humanitarian crisis this size and this scale,” UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma has said. Speaking to CGTN, Touma added: “The more that we have these evacuation orders that the Israeli authorities continue to issue … we will see an exodus of people continue to search for safety, search for shelter.”
The director of UNRWA affairs, Thomas White, reiterated the absence of safety across the Gaza Strip as more than 1.9 million Palestinians remain displaced as a result of Israel’s attacks. In a tweet on Saturday, White wrote: “People in Gaza are people. They are not pieces on a checkerboard - many have already been displaced several times. The Israeli Army just orders people to move into areas where there are ongoing airstrikes. No place is safe, nowhere to go.”
In response to the UN security council’s passage of a resolution on Gaza aid delivery, Médecins Sans Frontières said that it “falls painfully short of what is required to address the crisis in Gaza”. In a series of tweets on Saturday, MSF said: “The watered-down resolution on #Gaza will not ensure the massive scale-up and rapid flow of humanitarian aid needed, as bombs continue to rain down on Palestinian civilians, force mass displacement, and deny access to vital medical care and humanitarian assistance.”

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