Summary of the day so far
It’s 1am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv and this blog is now closing. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) has warned that the scale and intensity of ground operations and fighting in Gaza is hindering the delivery of aid to those in need. In a statement on Wednesday, the OCHA said humanitarian operations are “facing increasing operational challenges due to intensified hostilities, insecurity, blocked roads, scarcity of fuel, and extremely limited communications.”
Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war. Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in the southern city of Khan Younis and in the southern town of Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble. An Israeli strike killed 20 Palestinians near al-Amal hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, according to a Gaza health ministry spokesperson.
At least 21,110 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since 7 October, according to figures released on Wednesday by the health ministry in the territory. The ministry reported that 55,243 people had been wounded. It said 195 people were killed and 325 injured in the last 24 hours.
Six Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Wednesday after an Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem, where Israeli soldiers were also deployed.
Israel’s military chief, Herzi Halevi, has said his forces are “at a very high level of readiness” amid escalating Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon. Israeli war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, separately said that the situation on the country’s northern border “demands change”, adding that the time for diplomacy “is running out”. Hezbollah claimed on Wednesday morning to have fired 18 rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The IDF said it intercepted some of the rockets. A Hezbollah fighter was killed late Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon along with his brother, a Lebanese-Australian national, and his wife, according to reports.
Telecommunications and Internet services are being gradually restored in central and southern Gaza, the Palestinian phone service provider, Paltel, has said on Wednesday. Phone and Internet services experienced a “complete breakdown” on Tuesday that was “due to the ongoing offensive”, it said.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the people of Gaza face “grave peril”. In a statement on Wednesday, the WHO said its teams had undertaken “high-risk” missions to deliver supplies to hospitals in northern and southern Gaza, where they witnessed “intense hostilities in their vicinity, high patient loads and overcrowding.”
Israel has responded furiously to comments by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. Speaking at an awards ceremony in Ankara, Erdoğan said the Israeli prime minister was no different from Hitler and likened Israel’s attacks on Gaza to the treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis. Netanyahu responded by saying the Turkish president should be the last person to lecture Israel. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said Erdoğan’s remarks were “deeply offensive” to Jewish people around the world.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, told Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a call on Wednesday of the need to work towards a durable ceasefire, according to a statement from the French presidency. A readout of the call from the Israeli prime minister’s office said Netanyahu thanked Macron “for France’s involvement in defending freedom of navigation and its willingness to help restore security along Israel’s border with Lebanon.”
Benjamin Netanyahu has allegedly refused requests from security officials to begin making plans for control and governance of the Gaza Strip after the war ends, according to a report. Multiple requests were conveyed on behalf of the directors of the Mossad, the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff and the defence ministry to arrange a meeting with the prime minister’s office, Israeli media reported. Meanwhile, a White House official has said national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, have discussed planning for the day after the Israel-Gaza war, including governance and security in Gaza.
Updated
More than two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Wednesday after blocking traffic heading to John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, according to police.
The Port Authority police department (PAPD) said 26 people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and impeding vehicular traffic. It said buses were sent to offer rides for travellers affected by the backup.
Photos and videos on social media showed protesters holding hands and forming a line that stretched across the highway, holding banners that said “Free Palestine,” “Genocide then//Genocide now,” “Right to return” and “Divest from genocide.”
Similar protests took place at Los Angeles International Airport today, during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said about 36 protesters were arrested of rioting, and that at least one person was arrested “for battery on a police officer”.
This unlawful behavior is dangerous and will not be tolerated. Approx. 36 protesters were arrested and booked for 404.6 PC (Rioting) and at least one arrested for battery on a police officer.
— LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) December 27, 2023
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) also warned that telecommunications blackouts across Gaza are affecting humanitarian deliveries in the Palestinian territory.
On Tuesday and overnight to Wednesday, the primary telecommunications provider in the Gaza Strip reported another halt to phone and Internet services, citing damage to its infrastructure.
In its statement, the OCHA said:
Humanitarian agencies and first responders have warned that blackouts jeopardise the already constrained provision of life-saving assistance in Gaza.
'Intense' ground fighting blocking aid deliveries to Gaza, warns UN
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) has warned that the scale and intensity of ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza is hindering the delivery of aid to those in need.
In a statement on Wednesday, the OCHA said “heavy” Israeli bombardment from air, land, and sea had continued across most of the Gaza Strip between 23 and 26 December.
It noted that Israeli forces reportedly carried out 50 strikes on three refugee camps – Al Bureij, An Nuseirat, and Al Maghazi – on 24-25 December. Dozens of people were killed in the strikes, according to Palestinian health officials. An unknown number of people are still believed to be trapped under the rubble.
The strikes also destroyed the roads connecting these camps, “hindering the delivery of relief aid”, the OCHA said. An OCHA spokesperson “expressed its grave concern about the continued bombardment of middle Gaza by Israeli forces”, the statement said. It added:
Humanitarian operations are facing increasing operational challenges due to intensified hostilities, insecurity, blocked roads, scarcity of fuel, and extremely limited communications.
Mourners gathered for the funerals of six Palestinians who were killed by a drone strike during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank town of Tulkarem, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
As we reported earlier, the operation took place in the early hours of Wednesday in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem.
The Israeli military said its forces came under attack by militants who threw explosive devices at them during a counter-terrorism operation.
But witnesses said the six young men killed in the strike were sitting together but were not involved in the clashes with Israeli forces, Reuters reported.
The men were aged between 17 and 29, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Emmanuel Macron tells Netanyahu of need for 'durable ceasefire' in call
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, told Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a call on Wednesday of the need to work towards a durable ceasefire “with the help of all regional and international partners,” according to a statement from the French presidency.
France will also work with Jordan in the coming days on humanitarian operations in Gaza, the statement added.
According to a readout of the call from the Israeli prime minister’s office, Netanyahu thanked Macron “for France’s involvement in defending freedom of navigation and its willingness to help restore security along Israel’s border with Lebanon.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke this evening with French President Emmanuel Macron and thanked him for France's involvement in defending freedom of navigation and its willingness to help restore security along Israel's border with Lebanon.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) December 27, 2023
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is investigating reports that two Australian brothers have been killed in Lebanon, the Australian Associated Press writes.
Local media reported that Ali and Ibrahim Bazzi, and Ibrahim’s wife, Shorouq Hammoud, had died after an Israeli airstrike in the town of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. Ali had been a Hezbollah fighter, the reports said, and images of his funeral showed a military-style farewell with the coffin draped in a Hezbollah flag.
In a brief statement on Wednesday the department said it was aware of reports of a death of an Australia citizen and was seeking confirmation.
Thousands of Palestinian families were fleeing from the brunt of Israel’s expanding ground offensive into Gaza’s few remaining, overcrowded refuges, as the military launched heavy strikes across the center and south of the territory, killing dozens, Palestinian health officials said, according to the Associated Press.
Here is more from AP:
On foot or riding donkey carts loaded with belongings, a stream of people flowed into Deir al-Balah — a town that normally has a population of around 75,000. It has been overwhelmed by several hundred thousand people driven from northern Gaza as the region was pounded to rubble.
Because UN shelters are packed many times over capacity, the new arrivals set up tents on sidewalks for the cold winter night. Most crowded onto streets around the town’s main hospital hoping it would be safer from Israeli strikes.
Still, no place is safe in Gaza. Israeli offensives are crowding most of the population into Deir al-Balah and Rafah at the territory’s southern edge as well as a tiny rural area by the southern coastline. Those areas continue to be hit by Israeli strikes that regularly crush homes full of people.
Israel has said its campaign in Gaza is likely to last for months, vowing to dismantle Hamas across the territory and prevent a repeat of its 7 October attack into southern Israel. Benny Gantz, a member of the country’s three-man War Cabinet, said the fighting ”will be expanded, according to need, to additional centers and additional fronts.”
Summary of the day so far
It’s nearly 10.30pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war. Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in the southern city of Khan Younis and in the southern town of Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble. An Israeli strike killed 20 Palestinians near al-Amal hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, according to a Gaza health ministry spokesperson.
At least 21,110 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since 7 October, according to figures released on Wednesday by the health ministry in the territory. The ministry reported that 55,243 people had been wounded. It said 195 people were killed and 325 injured in the last 24 hours.
Six Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Wednesday after an Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem, where Israeli soldiers were also deployed.
A Hezbollah fighter was killed late Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon along with his brother, a Lebanese-Australian national, and his wife, according to reports. Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said one of its jets had struck a Hezbollah military site overnight in Lebanon.
Israel’s military chief, Herzi Halevi, has said his forces are “at a very high level of readiness” amid escalating Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon. Israeli war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, separately said that the situation on the country’s northern border “demands change”, adding that the time for diplomacy “is running out”. Hezbollah claimed on Wednesday morning to have fired 18 rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The IDF said it intercepted some of the rockets.
Telecommunications and Internet services are being gradually restored in central and southern Gaza, the Palestinian phone service provider, Paltel, has said on Wednesday. Phone and Internet services experienced a “complete breakdown” on Tuesday that was “due to the ongoing offensive”, it said.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the people of Gaza face “grave peril”. In a statement on Wednesday, the WHO said its teams had undertaken “high-risk” missions to deliver supplies to hospitals in northern and southern Gaza, where they witnessed “intense hostilities in their vicinity, high patient loads and overcrowding.”
Israel has responded furiously to comments by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. Speaking at an awards ceremony in Ankara, Erdoğan said the Israeli prime minister was no different from Hitler and likened Israel’s attacks on Gaza to the treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis. Netanyahu responded by saying the Turkish president should be the last person to lecture Israel. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said Erdoğan’s remarks were “deeply offensive” to Jewish people around the world.
Benjamin Netanyahu has allegedly refused requests from security officials to begin making plans for control and governance of the Gaza Strip after the war ends, according to a report. Multiple requests were conveyed on behalf of the directors of the Mossad, the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff and the defence ministry to arrange a meeting with the prime minister’s office, Israeli media reported.
The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, have discussed planning for the day after the Israel-Gaza war, including governance and security in Gaza, a White House official has said. During a meeting in Washington on Tuesday, the two also discussed efforts to bring home the remaining hostages and a transition to a different phase of the war to maximise focus on high-value Hamas targets, according to the official.
King Abdullah II of Jordan has met with the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in Cairo. The pair stressed their “complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue” and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the uninterrupted delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid to the territory, a statement from King Abdullah II said.
The White House has welcomed the appointment of Sigrid Kaag as the United Nations senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza. The announcement of Kaag’s appointment on Tuesday followed the UN security council’s adoption of a resolution last week to appoint a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.
Israeli minister Benny Gantz warns of Lebanon border situation
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has said that the situation on the country’s northern border must change, adding that the time for diplomacy was running out.
“The situation on Israel’s northern border demands change,” Gantz told a press conference, Reuters reported.
The stopwatch for a diplomatic solution is running out, if the world and the Lebanese government don’t act in order to prevent the firing on Israel’s northern residents, and to distance Hezbollah from the border, the IDF will do it.
Updated
The residents of Sheikh Radwan, a district in the north of Gaza City, are no strangers to warfare.
Born and raised in the neighbourhood, Emad Jameel’s entire life has been defined by fighting. His childhood was dominated by the first and second intifada, or Palestinian uprisings, and since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, leading Israel to impose a near-total air, land and sea blockade, sheikh Radwan has been repeatedly hit by airstrikes both during and outside wartime.
Through it all, however, Jameel, now 31, found solace in friends and family. But he never dreamed of a war like the one Gaza is suffering now, and he never imagined himself homeless, cast adrift from his community and ferrying his children from place to place across the besieged territory in search of ever-elusive safety.
“Why are we subjected to such torture? Is it because we live in a cursed place, or is it because the whole world enjoys watching our suffering?” the clothing shop assistant said by phone.
All I want is to return to my home, even if it is in ruins. I want to live in a tent there and not in unfamiliar places with strangers.
Read the full story here: ‘Miserable in every sense’: displaced families in Gaza face daily ordeal
World Health Organization (WHO) staff also reported witnessing tens of thousands of people fleeing heavy strikes in the Khan Younis and Middle Area in Gaza.
The UN agency said it was “extremely concerned” that this fresh displacement of people will further strain health facilities in southern Gaza.
Dr Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the West Bank and Gaza, said:
This forced mass movement of people will also lead to more overcrowding, increased risk of infectious diseases, and make it even harder to deliver humanitarian aid.
WHO chief warns Gaza population faces 'grave peril'
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated calls for the international communities to “take urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril” facing the people of Gaza.
In a statement, the WHO said its teams had undertaken “high-risk” missions to deliver supplies to hospitals in northern and southern Gaza, including to al-Shifa hospital and al-Amal Palestine Red Crescent Society on Tuesday.
During their missions, WHO staff witnessed “intense hostilities in their vicinity, high patient loads and overcrowding caused by people displaced by the conflict seeking refuge”, it said.
It said WHO teams reported “finding it impossible to walk inside the hospital without stepping over patients” and displaced people.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said:
The safety of our staff and continuity of operations depends on more food arriving in all of Gaza, immediately. My own colleagues are also being directly and personally affected by the conflict, just like virtually everyone in Gaza. I continue to receive heartbreaking news of the loss of our Gaza staffers’ family members.
Updated
An Israeli man has been arrested on suspicion of having desecrated a Muslim cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem by hanging a donkey’s head, Israeli police have said.
In a statement, police said the 35-year-old was arrested after they were alerted that a man had “broken the law and disrupted public order by hanging the head of a donkey” at the cemetery in East Jerusalem’s Old City, AFP reported.
Police said the man was carrying an axe at the time of his arrest, and that another suspect who allegedly had helped was also in custody.
Footage circulating on social media showed the head of a donkey hanging from a fence of the cemetery, which is adjacent to the ancient Muslim Bab al-Rahma cemetery and near the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
The Jerusalem Waqf Islamic affairs described the incident as “a serious desecration of one of the main historic Muslim cemeteries in Jerusalem.”
The White House has welcomed the appointment of Sigrid Kaag as the United Nations senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.
In a statement, the White House’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the appointment of Kaag, the Dutch former deputy prime minister and a Middle East expert, was an “important step as we continue to work with the UN as a critical partner”.
He added that the US is “the largest financial supporter of the humanitarian assistance efforts to support Palestinian civilians who are caught in the middle of the conflict between Israel and Hamas”, adding:
We welcome Ms. Kaag’s leadership and look forward to working together closely to increase the flow of aid into Gaza, and ensure safety and security for the aid delivery and the humanitarian staff providing the life-saving support to those in need.
The announcement of Kaag’s appointment by the UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, followed the UN security council’s adoption of a resolution on Friday to appoint a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza.
Guterres said Kaag, who speaks fluent Arabic and five other languages, “brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs as well as in diplomacy” to the role.
Israeli forces 'at very high level of readiness' as violence on Lebanon border grows, says IDF chief
Israel’s military chief has said his forces are “at a very high level of readiness” amid escalating Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon.
Herzi Halevi, the chief of the general staff of Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in remarks provided by the IDF and reported by the Times of Israel, said:
Our first task is to return residents safely, and that will take time. Today we approved a variety of plans for the future, and we need to be ready for an offensive, if necessary.
He added:
The IDF and within it the Northern Command are at a very high level of readiness. So far, the campaign here has been managed correctly and meticulously, and this is how it should continue. We will not return the residents without security and a sense of security.
On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon reportedly killed a Lebanese-Australian man, his wife, and his brother, who was a member of Hezbollah, according to reports. The strikes followed a series of attacks by Hezbollah on Israeli posts close to the border.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their communities in northern Israel amid daily Hezbollah rocket, missile and drone attacks, the Times of Israel reported.
Israel calls Erdoğan's comparison of Netanyahu and Hitler 'deeply offensive'
Here’s more on the Israeli response to comments earlier by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has released a statement on social media in which he condemned Erdoğan’s comments, describing them as “deeply offensive” to Jewish people around the world and to the memory of the millions of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Herzog wrote:
I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan. In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis.
The command “Never Again” remains an imperative for the State of Israel – the nation state of the Jewish people - which is committed to the safety and protection of every Jew. There is no struggle more just than the war against the terrorist organization Hamas, which brutally and barbarically murdered Jews, as well as Muslims, and those of other faiths and nationalities.
I strongly condemn and utterly reject the words of Turkish President Erdogan.
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) December 27, 2023
In all of human history, the Holocaust stands alone in its horror and enormity, and his words are deeply offensive to every Jew around the world, and to the memory of the millions of Jews who perished…
Updated
Israel has continued its bombardment since the Hamas attacks on 7 October, killing at least 21,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities.
Drone footage shows the destruction in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. Israel has broadened its offensive against Hamas, conducting house-to-house fighting on the ground.
Here is more on the Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon that reportedly killed a Lebanese-Australian man, his wife, and his brother, who was a member of Hezbollah.
The strike late on Tuesday hit a residential home in the town of Bint Jbeil, Reuters reported. The Lebanese-Australian man, a civilian, was identified by one of his relatives as Ibrahim Bazzi. His wife, a Lebanese national, was also killed.
Hezbollah said one of its fighters, Ali Bazzi, was killed along with his brother and wife. Lebanese media named her as Shourouk Hammoud.
A relative told AFP that Ibrahim Bazzi was an Australian citizen who had flown in for a visit about a week earlier.
Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said one of its jets had struck a Hezbollah military site overnight in Lebanon.
A spokesperson for the Australian foreign ministry said it was aware of the report and was seeking confirmation.
Updated
An Israel military reservist has been killed while fighting in Gaza just weeks after he auditioned to be considered for the Eurovision song contest.
Shaul Greenglick, 26, performed on Israel’s Rising Star, a show that picks the country’s Eurovision submission on 3 December while on furlough from his mobilisation in the war in Gaza.
Dressed in army fatigues and lieutenant’s stripes, he sang a popular ballad and was given the green light for the next round in the selection process, Reuters reported. One of the judges told Greenglick:
I’m happy to see you wearing a uniform, because it’s reassuring that someone like you is in uniform. I would be happy to see you representing Israel at Eurovision.
But Greenglick later dropped out of the show reportedly because of his duties in the infantry reserves. He was killed in fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza, Israel, Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Updated
Telecommunications and Internet services are being gradually restored in central and southern Gaza, the Palestinian phone service provider, Paltel, has said.
The provider announced yesterday that phone and Internet services had experienced a “complete breakdown” that was “due to the ongoing offensive”.
We would like to announce the gradual restoration of telecom services in the central and southern areas of Gaza Strip after a blackout caused by the ongoing aggression.
— Paltel (@Paltelco) December 27, 2023
Netanyahu says Erdoğan 'is the last to preach morality' in response to Hitler comparison
There has been a rapid diplomatic response from Israel to comments earlier by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. [See 13.56 GMT]
In a statement the Israeli prime minister said:
Erdoğan, who is carrying out a genocide of Kurds and holds a world record number of journalists opposed to his rule in jail, is the last to preach morality to us. The IDF is the most moral army in the world, which is fighting and eliminating the most despicable and brutal terror organization in the world, Hamas-Daesh, which committed crimes against humanity and Erdogan praises it and hosts its senior officials.
Citing a video aired on Turkish television that appeared to show Israeli soldiers rounding up half-naked men in a stadium in Gaza, Turkey’s president had said “We watched Israel’s Nazi camps in the stadiums, right? What is this? Remember they used to talk about Hitler in a weird way? How are you different than Hitler? They will make us long for Hitler. Is there anything different in Netanyahu’s actions compared to Hitler’s?”
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz has also hit back at Erdoğan’s comments, saying:
I condemn the statements made by Turkish president Erdoğan. Statements that are blatant distortions of reality and a desecration of the Holocaust’s memory. Hamas was the organisation that perpetrated a despicable massacre. Removing the threat of Hamas from the citizens of Israel is an existential necessity and an unparalleled moral imperative.
Updated
Haaretz reports that “three aircraft crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon and fell near Mount Dov in northern Israel”. There are no reports of damage or casualties.
Israel and anti-Israeli forces have been repeatedly exchanging fire over the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon.
Erdoğan compares Netanyahu to Hitler, condemns US support of Israel
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has compared Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler in a speech likely to provoke a strong reaction in Israel.
The Turkish president has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s actions since 7 October, and has repeatedly singled out the Israeli prime minister.
Associated Press reports that at an awards ceremony in Ankara, Erdoğan referenced a video aired on Turkish television that appeared to show Israeli soldiers rounding up half-naked men in a stadium in Gaza, saying: “We watched Israel’s Nazi camps in the stadiums, right? What is this? Remember they used to talk about Hitler in a weird way? How are you different than Hitler?”
He continued: “They will make us long for Hitler. Is there anything different in Netanyahu’s actions compared to Hitler’s?”
Erdoğan went on to say that Netanyahu was receiving “all kinds of support” from the US, adding: “And with all this support, what did they do to more than 20,000 Gazans? They killed them.”
Erdoğan has previously referred to Netanyahu as “the butcher of Gaza”, accused him of actions amounting to “genocide” and called for him to be prosecuted by an international war crimes tribunal.
Updated
The social media account of King Abdullah II has issued a statement after the meeting of Jordan’s king and the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, in Cairo.
It said the pair “stress their complete rejection of all attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue and forcibly displace Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. His majesty and Egypt’s president call on the world to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the uninterrupted delivery of sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza, to ease the tragic situation and the suffering of people in the strip.”
The statement added: “The two leaders note the international community’s immense political and ethical responsibility towards implementing UN security council and general assembly resolutions in order to maintain the integrity of these international entities.”
Updated
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has allegedly refused requests from security officials to begin making plans for control and governance of the Gaza Strip after the war with Hamas ends, according to a report.
Over the last few days, three requests to the prime minister’s office were conveyed on behalf of the directors of the Mossad, the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff and the defence ministry to arrange a meeting on decisions relating to “the day after” Israel declares it has achieved its goals against the Palestinian militant group in control of the Gaza Strip, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Tuesday night.
All those requests were refused, the network said. “Time is running out and decisions need to be made already about how to act with regard to all the relevant actors inside and outside the Gaza Strip. The Americans want explanations,” it quoted an unnamed security official as saying.
Updated
Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war.
Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in the southern city of Khan Younis and in the southern town of Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble, AP reports.
“It was a night of hell. We haven’t seen such bombing since the start of the war,” said Rami Abu Mosab, speaking from the Bureij camp, where he has been sheltering since fleeing his home in northern Gaza.
He said warplanes flew overhead and gunfire and explosions echoed from the eastern edge of the camp – which, like others in Gaza, houses refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants and now resembles other densely populated neighbourhoods.
A home near Abu Mosab’s shelter was hit, but no one was able to reach the area, he said. Mobile phone and internet service was down for several hours before being gradually restored on Wednesday, the latest of several such outages that have complicated rescue efforts.
With much of northern Gaza levelled, Palestinians fear a similar fate awaits other areas, including Khan Younis, where Israeli forces launched ground operations in early December, and a cluster of built-up refugee camps in central Gaza where the focus has shifted this week.
The military’s latest evacuation orders cover an area of central Gaza that was home to nearly 90,000 people before the war and now shelters more than 61,000 displaced people, mostly from the north, according to the UN humanitarian office.
Israel has said the bombing campaign and ground offensive are necessary to dismantle Hamas and prevent a repeat of its 7 October attack, in which militants broke through Israel’s formidable defences and killed 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and abducted about 240. An estimated 129 remain in captivity after dozens were freed.
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Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza, Israel, Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is expected to travel to the Middle East next week to discuss the war in Gaza, according to an Axios reporter citing five officials.
Blinken is expected to visit Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Updated
Israel has handed over the bodies of 80 Palestinians killed in the conflict in Gaza, the Palestinian ministry of health said on Wednesday after they were buried and the authorities recorded details to help with later identification.
Gaza authorities were trying to figure out when and where the men were killed and who they were, Reuters reports. Israeli officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The health ministry said the bodies were handed over by Israel through the Kerem Shalom border crossing. According to the Islamic Waqf, or religious affairs ministry, the bodies had been collected from the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
It is rare for such a large number of bodies to be returned. They were buried on Tuesday in a long ditch at a Rafah cemetery in the south of the enclave.
“Pictures are being taken to identify them later,” a representative of the Gaza Islamic Waqf said.
Updated
An Israeli strike has killed 20 Palestinians near al-Amal hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, Gaza’s health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf Al-Qidra, told Reuters.
Updated
Here is a map from our graphics team indicating the latest known situation in the Gaza Strip.
Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 2pm in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here are the latest headlines:
Israeli military action has killed 21,110 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its campaign against Hamas on 7 October, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the territory. The ministry reported that 55,243 people had been wounded. It said 195 people were killed and 325 injured in the last 24 hours.
The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, have discussed planning for the day after the Israel-Gaza war, including governance and security in Gaza, a White House official says. During a meeting in Washington on Tuesday, the two also discussed efforts to bring home the remaining hostages and a transition to a different phase of the war to maximise focus on high-value Hamas targets, Reuters quoted the official as saying.
An Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank left six people dead and several others wounded early on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem, where Israeli soldiers were also deployed.
Hezbollah has claimed on Wednesday morning to have fired 18 rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The IDF said it intercepted some of the rockets. There have been no reports of casualties or damage. The organisation also said one of its fighters was killed in an Israeli strike on Bint Jbeil. Two other members of his family were killed.
The deaths of three Israeli soldiers announced overnight bring the total death toll inflicted on the IDF during its ground operations inside Gaza to 164. Israel launched its attack on the territory after the Hamas 7 October attack inside southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack and an estimated 240 were taken hostage.
Iran’s atomic energy chief, Mohammad Eslami, has said there was “nothing new” in an international nuclear watchdog report saying that Tehran had reversed a months-long slowdown in its uranium enrichment programme, Iranian media reported. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, included Iran in a list of countries and territories that he said were attacking Israel in “seven theatres”.
Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch former deputy prime minister and a Middle East expert, has been appointed the UN’s coordinator for humanitarian aid to Gaza. The announcement by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, follows last week’s security council resolution calling for aid to be delivered to the territory “at scale”. The US welcomed Kaag’s appointment. She is expected to start on 8 January.
Global shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd has said it will continue to re-route cargo ships via the Cape of Good Hope rather than transit the Suez Canal due to the threat to shipping posed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have been targeting vessels they claim have links to Israel.
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Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza, Israel and Lebanon.
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More than 21,100 Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza since 7 October – ministry
Israeli military action has killed 21,110 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its campaign against Hamas on 7 October, according to figures released on Wednesday by the health ministry in the territory.
In addition to the deaths, the ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 55,243 people had been wounded. It said there were 195 people killed and 325 injured in the last 24 hours.
The number is thought likely to be an undercount, as there are also a significant number of Palestinians missing in Gaza, believed to be under rubble. The destruction of healthcare facilities has also severely affected the ability to count casualties.
Israel’s military action began after a Hamas attack inside Israel, which killed about 1,200 people. An estimated 240 people were abducted and seized as hostages, of which just over 100 have so far been released.
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Israel’s military has issued a statement about rocket fire into the country from Lebanon this morning, saying:
A number of launches were identified crossing from Lebanon. The IDF Aerial Defence Array successfully intercepted a number of the launches. Additional launches were not intercepted according to protocol. The IDF struck the sources of fire.
Hezbollah earlier claimed to have fired 18 rockets from Lebanon at targets within Israel.
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Imran Khan has filed a report for Al Jazeera from Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank about the drone strike overnight which has killed six Palestinians. [See 5.44 GMT]
He told the network:
The drone came from above, and the men simply didn’t stand a chance. This was a deliberate kill shot. People tried to help them, but for at least an hour and a half, the Israelis wouldn’t allow ambulances to get in. Eventually, they had to pick up the bodies and take them down to where the ambulances were. Of course, at that stage. It was too late. These people were dead.
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The global container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd has said it considers passage via the Suez Canal to still be too dangerous, and will continuing to re-route cargo around the Cape of Good Hope, Reuters reports.
“We continuously assess the situation and plan a next review on Friday,” a spokesperson said.
Shipping via the Red Sea and Suez Canal has been threatened by attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who claim they are targeting ships with links to Israel passing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a narrow strait of water about 20 miles wide between Djibouti and Yemen.
About 12% of global trade passes through the Red Sea, including 30% of global container traffic.
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Jordan has announced that King Abdullah II has departed for Cairo, where he will meet Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. They will discuss Gaza.
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Israel’s military reported earlier that warning sirens had sounded in the kibbutz Rosh Hanikra in northern Israel. Local media reports that Hezbollah has claimed to have fired 18 rockets into Israel from Lebanon. There are no reports of any casualties or damage. The journalist Emanuel Fabian posted this video which purports to show rockets being intercepted by Israel’s “iron dome” defence system.
Barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon at Rosh HaNikra. Several Iron Dome interceptions seen. pic.twitter.com/BnNemxJupX
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 27, 2023
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The Times of Israel reports that the three deaths announced overnight by Israel’s military brings the total IDF death toll from ground operations inside the Gaza Strip to 164.
The latest three soldiers killed were all serving in the Shaked battalion in the Givati Brigade.
The IDF has this morning issued new photographs of its troops operating in unspecified locations within ruins and inside people’s homes in Gaza.
The latest figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claim that 20,915 Palestinians have been killed and 54,918 injured since Israel launched its attack on the territory after the Hamas 7 October attack inside southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in the attack and an estimated 240 were taken hostage.
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AFP is carrying more detail on an Israeli strike inside Lebanon, which Hezbollah said killed one of its fighters. AFP cites Lebanese state media reporting that a man, his brother and his wife were killed in the attack, which struck the town of Bint Jbeil.
Lebanese media NNA identified the dead as Ali Bazzi, his brother Ibrahim and his wife, Shourouk Hammoud.
“Ibrahim Bazzi had come to Lebanon a few days ago from Australia, where he has resided for years, to take his wife, Shourouk, with him and settle in Australia,” the NNA said.
Another family member was wounded, it added. Hezbollah later announced that Ali Bazzi was one of its fighters.
Since 7 October, more than 150 people have been killed on the Lebanese side of the border. Most of them were Hezbollah combatants, but also more than a dozen were civilians and three of them were journalists, according to an AFP tally.
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Images taken in southern Israel on Wednesday morning show that Israel continues to bombard the Gaza Strip.
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Lebanese state media is reporting that three people have been killed and one wounded by an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil.
الوكالة الوطنية للإعلام - 3 شهداء وجريح في الغارة المعادية على بنت جبيل ليلًا https://t.co/7iTjibNkLu
— National News Agency (@NNALeb) December 27, 2023
The claims have not been independently verified.
Israel and anti-Israeli forces have frequently exchanged fire over the UN-drawn blue line that separates the two countries since the surprise Hamas attack inside southern Israel on 7 October. Bint Jbeil is about 2.5 miles (4km) north of the blue line.
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Reuters reports that Iran’s atomic energy chief, Mohammad Eslami, has said there was “nothing new” in an international nuclear watchdog report saying that Tehran had reversed a months-long slowdown in its uranium enrichment programme, Iranian media reported.
“We did nothing new and are doing the same activities according to the rules,” Eslami was quoted as saying.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, included Iran in a list of countries and territories that he said were attacking Israel in “seven theatres”. In addition to Iran, Gallant listed Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria [an Israeli term for the Israeli-occupied West Bank], Iraq and Yemen.
The international community has long accused Iran of enriching uranium in pursuit of a nuclear weapons programme. Israel has never declared in public that it possesses nuclear weapons, but is believed by observers to possess at least 80 warheads.
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In its morning operational update on the Telegram messaging app, Israel’s military has listed several incidents within the Gaza Strip in which it claims to have targeted and eliminated what it described as terrorists.
It said that aircraft and tanks were directed to fire at what it said were Hamas fighters, and in one incident in the area of Shejaiya “the strike led to secondary explosions, which indicate that the area was rigged with explosives aimed at attacking the [Israeli] troops”.
It also claimed that “Israeli Navy forces identified suspects in a compound who posed a threat to the ground forces and struck them. In addition, in order to assist the ground forces, Israeli Navy forces struck Hamas terrorist targets along the coastline”.
The update did not give a total number of fighters that Israel claims to have killed, or offer a total number of targets which Israel had attacked.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Overnight, Israel announced the names of three more Israeli troops who had been killed in action inside the Gaza Strip.
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In today’s First Edition newsletter, Nimo Omer has spoken to Emma Graham-Harrison about Israel’s long-term plans for the war, and how the US president, Joe Biden, has responded to them:
Israel’s military strategy is to demilitarise Hamas by degrading its capabilities so that it cannot attack again. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has dismissed the prospect of the Palestinian Authority running Gaza, a suggestion from US president Joe Biden, and has rejected the idea of foreign peacekeepers brokering a deal, insisting that only the Israeli army could be trusted to make sure that Gaza stays demilitarised. The only stated and clear military goal is to “destroy Hamas”. But this is not “an achievable military goal”, Emma says, because Hamas is an ideological organisation that operates beyond Gaza in practical and political terms.
Netanyahu has said that there is a chance the Israeli military could maintain indefinite security control over Gaza after the war ends, which suggests that the plan is to reintroduce a form of extended Israeli occupation over the strip. Biden has warned Netanyahu against this strongly. “Israeli officials have also discussed the possibility of having a buffer zone in Gaza – as Gaza is really tiny already, taking away more land for this would be massively controversial,” Emma says.
Biden has warned Israel that “vengeance” is not a viable military strategy. He sees the danger in waging a war like this, as he remembers the Bush administration’s war in Afghanistan. “What you had was almost 20 years over which the Taliban grew stronger and stronger and reversed the original American military victory,” Emma says. “Biden clearly sees the danger in something similar happening in this conflict.”
Read more here: Wednesday briefing: Can there be any winners in the Israel-Hamas war?
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Their precise location is classified, but somewhere in Israel there are multiple closely guarded warehouses that contain billions of dollars’ worth of weapons owned by the US government, Harry Davies and Manisha Ganguly report.
Long shrouded in secrecy, the warehouses are part of an extensive but previously little-known stockpile now facing scrutiny as pressure mounts on the Biden administration over its support for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
The stockpile was first established in the 1980s to rapidly supply US forces for any future Middle East conflicts. However, over time, Israel has been permitted in certain situations to draw from its extensive supplies.
Israel now appears to be receiving munitions from the stockpile in significant quantities for use in its war on Gaza, yet there has been little transparency about transfers from the arsenal.
In interviews with the Guardian, multiple former US officials familiar with US security assistance to Israel have described how the stockpile enables expedited arms transfers to the Israel Defence Forces. It could also shield movements of US weapons from public and congressional oversight, they said.
The full report is here:
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The US president, Joe Biden, and the Qatari emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, have discussed the need to release hostages held in Gaza and efforts to boost humanitarian aid, the White House says.
Qatar and Egypt were mediators between Israel and militant group Hamas in the late November truce. Diplomatic efforts on a new truce have yielded little public progress so far, Reuters reports.
The White House readout said Biden and Hamad also talked about increasing access to aid.
The two leaders discussed the urgent effort to secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, including American citizens.
The Qatari state news agency said the emir received a phone call from Biden to discuss the latest developments and joint mediation efforts for calming the situation in Gaza to reach a permanent ceasefire.
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Three more fighters were killed in the Israeli attack that left a senior general from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards dead near the Syrian capital, Damascus, a war monitor has said.
The strike on Monday targeted Razi Moussavi, the most senior commander in the Quds Force – the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – to be killed outside Iran in nearly four years.
“Two foreign fighters and one Syrian fighter were also killed in the Israeli strike,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.
Moussavi was targeted shortly after he entered a farm in an area controlled by Iran-backed groups, said the British-based monitor, which has a vast network of sources on the ground.
Residents in the Sayyida Zeinab district south of Damascus, where the strike hit, said Iran-backed groups have tightened security there.
Later on Tuesday, the observatory reported that “Israeli ground-to-ground missiles targeted two positions belonging to pro-Iran fighters near the [Israeli] occupied Syrian Golan”, without immediately reporting casualties.
It said pro-Iranian groups in that area had been on alert since Moussavi’s killing.
On Monday, the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, expressed condolences for Moussavi’s death, saying Israel would “certainly pay for this crime”.
There was no immediate comment from Israel.
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US and Israel discuss Gaza 'day after' war
The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, have discussed planning for the day after the Israel-Gaza war, including governance and security in Gaza, a White House official says.
During a meeting in Washington on Tuesday, the two also discussed efforts to bring home the remaining hostages and a transition to a different phase of the war to maximise focus on high-value Hamas targets, Reuters quoted the official as saying.
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Six killed in Israeli operation in West Bank refugee camp, Palestinian ministry says
An Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank left six people dead and several others wounded early on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.
“Six martyrs killed by the occupation [Israel] and some who were seriously wounded were transported to the Thabet Thabet government hospital in Tulkarem,” the ministry said in a statement, Agence France-Presse reports.
According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem, where Israeli soldiers were also deployed.
The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the operation.
Violence across the West Bank has flared since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in Gaza after the militant group’s 7 October attack on Israel.
More than 300 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers since the Gaza war erupted, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry.
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Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war – this is Adam Fulton. It’s 7.30am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv and here’s an overview of the latest developments.
An Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank left six people dead and several others wounded early on Wednesday, the Palestinian ministry of health said.
Some of the wounded were taken to the Thabet Thabet government hospital in Tulkarem, in the occupied territory’s north, the Ramallah-based ministry said.
The six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem, according to official Palestinian media.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the operation.
Meanwhile, the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, have discussed planning for the day after the Israel-Gaza war, a White House official says.
More on those stories shortly. In other headlines on this 27 December:
The Israeli military said it had expanded its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip to refugee camps in the central part of the Palestinian territory. Israeli forces continued to bombard the densely populated Nuseirat, Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza for a fourth day on Tuesday. The World Health Organization emergency medical teams coordinator, Sean Casey, said “100-plus patients” had been brought into al-Aqsa hospital in the space of 30 minutes on Monday, adding that “about 100” more lifeless bodies were brought into the hospital around the same time.
Israel is engaged in a “multi-front war”, its defence minister Yoav Gallant, has said, hinting at military operations across the Middle East as the war in Gaza showed new signs of a dangerous regional escalation. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Gallant said Israel was “coming under attack from seven theatres: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria [an Israeli term for the West Bank], Iraq, Yemen and Iran”.
Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza will probably go on for many months, the country’s military chief has said. Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defence Forces’ chief of staff, said on Tuesday that its forces would reach the Hamas leadership “whether it takes a week or whether it takes months”.
Nearly 21,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday. The latest figures say 20,915 people have been killed and 54,918 injured, including 241 Palestinians who were killed in the past 24 hours and 382 injured.
Israeli forces killed two Palestinian people in a raid on a refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry has said. The two people – aged 17 and 31 – were shot dead in the Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, the ministry said.
All telecommunications and Internet services have been lost in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian phone service provider, Paltel, said on Tuesday. In a social media post, it said its services had experienced a “complete breakdown” that was “due to the ongoing offensive”.
The United Nations is “gravely concerned” about the “continued bombardment” of central Gaza by Israeli forces, a UN human rights office spokesperson has said. In a statement, Seif Magango urged Israeli forces to take all measures available to protect civilians and that attacks must adhere to the principles of humanitarian international law.
The Israel Defence Forces said nine of its soldiers were wounded in an anti-tank missile fired by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group on Tuesday. The IDF soldiers were evacuating a civilian who had been injured in an earlier Hezbollah attack on a church, the army said. One of the soldiers was in a “serious condition”, it said. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari accused Hezbollah of “committing war crimes by indiscriminately attacking places of worship”.
Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch former deputy prime minister and a Middle East expert, has been appointed the United Nations’ coordinator for humanitarian aid to Gaza. The announcement by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, follows last week’s security council resolution calling for aid to be delivered to the territory “at scale”. The US welcomed Kaag’s appointment. She is expected to start on 8 January.
Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has said it carried out drone attacks targeting the Israeli port city of Eilat, as well as a commercial vessel in the Red Sea. A Houthi military spokesperson said the group launched an attack with missiles on a MSC United commercial ship in the Red Sea after it rejected three warning calls, as well as drone attacks on the southern Israeli city of Eilat “and other areas in occupied Palestine”.
US Central Command said the US had downed 12 drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land attack cruise missiles fired by Houthis in the southern Red Sea.
The Israeli army has said it arrested senior Palestinian politician Khalida Jarrar in the occupied West Bank, along with other activists of her party. Jarrar, a prominent figure in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), had been previously arrested by Israeli forces in October 2019 and released in September the following year, after being held without trial.
A blast occurred near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday, authorities said. No staff members were wounded or killed in the incident, authorities said, adding that investigations into its cause were ongoing. Israel urged its citizens in India, specifically in New Delhi, to exercise caution.
Israel will no longer grant automatic visas to UN employees, after accusing the global body of being “complicit partners” in Hamas’s tactics. The move comes after Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said on Monday that he had instructed his ministry not to renew the visa of a UN staff member in Israel.
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