Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in a phone call that there is a chance now for a deal to release all the hostages held in Gaza, including US citizens, Reuters reports.
“Minister Katz updated Secretary of Defence Austin on the negotiations for the release of the hostages, and said that there is now a chance for a new deal that will allow the return of all the hostages, including those with American citizenship,” Katz’s office said in a statement.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has met his Irish counterpart Michael Higgins and Prime Minister Simon Harris for talks on the conflict in Gaza and boosting bilateral ties, AFP reports.
The two heads of state discussed the Middle East situation, including the political upheaval in Syria, according to a statement from Higgins’s office.
“The outrageous suffering in the absence of a ceasefire in Gaza was the central part of their discussion,” the statement added.
There had also been “agreement on the need to expand international recognition of the Palestinian state”, said Egyptian presidential spokesman Mohamed al-Shenawy.
Sisi praised Dublin’s “courageous positions in support of the Palestinian cause”, Shenawy added in a statement.
The UN has appealed for $4.07 billion to provide desperately needed aid in conflict-battered Gaza and the West Bank next year, saying that the actual amount needed is far higher, AFP reports.
The aim will be to assist “the entire population of Gaza, estimated at 2.1 million people, and 900,000 people in the West Bank”, the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA said in its appeal.
It said that the actual needs amounted to “at least $6.6bn”, but suggested that Israeli constraints placed on aid delivery meant it would be difficult to scale up operations to that level.
“To be able to implement the full scale of what is urgently needed, Israel must take immediate and effective measures to ensure the essential needs of civilians are met,” the appeal said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has said “Israeli fighter jets continue to destroy the remaining military assets in Syria for the fourth consecutive day”, * Al Jazeera* reports.
According to the War Monitor, some of the main targets of today’s Israeli air strikes were radar systems in the villages of Billah and Al-Balatah, north of Tartous, as well as one in the countryside of Latakia.
Deir Az Zor military airbase as well as the al-Talae camp in the city of Deir Az Zor’s al-Jourah area were also targeted according to the organisation.
Prosecutors called for two years in jail for a man suspected of punching and kicking Israeli football fans in Amsterdam during a night of violence that sparked worldwide shock and accusations of anti-Semitism, AFP reports.
The 22-year-old identified as Sefa O was one of five suspects before an Amsterdam court on charges relating to the chaos in the city following a match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv on November 7.
Maccabi supporters suffered “hit-and-run” attacks in the city centre following calls on social media to target them, prompting allegations from Dutch and Israeli politicians of anti-Semitic motives.
The court saw images of a man alleged to be O kicking a person on the ground, chasing targets, and punching people in the head and the body.
O played a “leading role” in the violence which “had little to do with football”, the prosecutor alleged.
However, the prosecutor said: “In this case, there was no evidence of… a terrorist intent and the violence was not motivated by anti-Semitic sentiment.”
“The violence was influenced by the situation in Gaza, not by anti-Semitism,” said the prosecutor. The attacks followed two days of skirmishes that also saw Maccabi fans chant anti-Arab songs, vandalise a taxi and burn a Palestinian flag.
The death toll from fresh Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip has risen to 38, most of them in a strike on a house in Beit Lahiya on the northern edge of the enclave, Reuters reports.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said that Israeli action in Syria violates a 1974 treaty between Israel and Syria that ended the Yom Kippur war, calling Israeli air strikes on Syria a matter of serious concern, Reuters reports.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing Israel’s actions did not serve to stabilise the situation in Syria and called on it to show restraint.
Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 33 Palestinians, most of them in an airstrike on a house in Beit Lahiya town in the north of the enclave.
The Beit Lahiya strike killed at least 22 people, including women and children, health officials said. Relatives listed the names of the dead on social media.
More than 30 people were living in the multi-storey building before it was struck, and several family members remained missing as rescue operations continued through the morning, the Palestinian WAFA news agency said.
In nearby Beit Hanoun, where the Israeli forces have operated since October, medics said an Israeli airstrike killed and wounded several people, without giving an exact toll. Rescue workers said several people were trapped under rubble.
Earlier today, at least seven Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, medics told Reuters.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service and medics said four other people were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes on two houses in Gaza City.
In his first comments since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, “Occupied Syrian territory will be liberated by brave Syrian youth. Do not doubt that this will happen, and the US will be ejected from the region by the axis of resistance,” Al Jazeera reports.
“Syria’s events have lessons for us all, including our officials. One of the lessons is negligence about the enemy,” he added.
He said that Iranian intelligence agencies sent warning reports to Syrian authorities from months ago but were ignored.
An Israeli delegation is visiting the Egyptian capital Cairo as part of efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the region, Anadolu reports citing local media.
Israeli media, including Channel 14 and the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, confirmed the visit, saying the delegation includes Ronen Bar, the director of the Shin Bet internal security agency, and Israeli army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
Discussions reportedly focused on a potential prisoner exchange deal.
At least 44,805 Palestinians have been killed and 106,257 wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement, Reuters reports.
The toll includes 19 deaths in the previous 24 hours, the statement added.
The United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA has said in a post on X, “Attacks on health facilities across Gaza are overwhelming an already decimated system. Thousands of families are left without care.”
“With almost no medical evacuation available, Unicef reports it would take seven years to evacuate 2,500 children from Gaza who need critical care, with many already losing their lives.
“These children deserve protection, safety, and a future. They deserve a CeasefireNow.”
In late September, an experienced pilot at low-cost European airline Wizz Air felt anxious after learning his plane would fly over Iraq at night amid mounting tensions between nearby Iran and Israel.
He decided to query the decision since just a week earlier the airline had deemed the route unsafe.
In response, Wizz Air’s flight operations team told him the airway was now considered secure and he had to fly it, without giving further explanation, the pilot said.
“I wasn’t really happy with it,” the pilot, who requested anonymity from fear he could lose his job, told Reuters. Days later, Iraq closed its airspace when Iran fired missiles on Oct 1 at Israel. “It confirmed my suspicion that it wasn’t safe.”
Reuters spoke to four pilots, three cabin crew members, three flight security experts and two airline executives about growing safety concerns in the European air industry due to escalating tensions in the Middle East following October 2023.
Dozens of wounded patients at the Indonesian Hospital in the Israeli-besieged northern Gaza are at risk of dying due to lack of food and water, Palestinian health authorities have said.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said late on Tuesday that 60 patients were “at risk of death”.
“The humanitarian situation inside the hospital has become extremely dangerous, as the wounded lack basic needs, which increases their suffering under the difficult conditions imposed by [Israeli] forces,” the ministry said in a statement.
Wounded Palestinian children are taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for medical treatment after an Israeli attack on the Maghazi refugee camp in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, on December 9. — Anadolu Agency
Israeli strikes in the northern and central Gaza Strip have killed at least 31 Palestinians, most of them in Beit Lahiya town in the north of the enclave, medics said, Reuters reports.
Health officials said an Israeli airstrike on a house in Beit Lahiya killed at least 22 people, including women and children. Relatives listed the names of the dead on social media.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa said at least 30 people were living in the multi-storey building before it was struck, adding that several members of the family remained missing as rescue operations continued through morning hours.
The Israeli military said it was checking the report.
Earlier, at least seven Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, medics told Reuters.
The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said another two people were killed by an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City.
In Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli forces have operated since October, medics said an Israeli airstrike killed and wounded several people. Rescue workers said several people were trapped under the rubble of a house.
The UN’s senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza stressed the need for political will to alleviate the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Anadolu reports.
“I have painted a very, very bleak picture as civilians in Gaza continue to suffer,” Sigrid Kaag told reporters following a closed session at the UN Security Council, adding, “nothing prepares you for what you see, what you hear, and the conversations you’re having with your fellow human beings, Palestinians in Gaza.”
“I have visited Gaza over a period of three decades in my life, and we are at a low point,” she added.
The UN General Assembly will vote on a draft resolution that seeks an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture after the US previously vetoed a similar action in the UN Security Council, AFP reports.
In addition to calling for “an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire,” the draft resolution seeks “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” an accommodation of the United States and other staunch allies of Israel.
The resolution, which is non-binding, also demands “immediate access” to widespread humanitarian aid for the citizens of Gaza, who have been subjected to more than a year of conflict with Israel, especially in the besieged north of the territory.
A car has been set alight and two properties spray painted with anti-Israel messages in Sydney just days after an arson attack at a synagogue in Melbourne which is being investigated as terrorism, Reuters quotes Australian authorities as saying.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the latest attack, the second targeting the Jewish community in the Sydney suburb in three weeks, was an “outrage” and he would be briefed on it soon by a new anti-Semitism task force.
“This is an attack on people because they happen to be Jewish,” Albanese told ABC Radio. “The idea that we take a conflict overseas and bring it here is something that is quite contrary to what Australia was built on … this is a hate crime, it’s as simple as that.”
The New South Wales state police said two people wearing face coverings and dark clothing were spotted near the area when the car caught fire in the eastern suburb of Woollahra, an area with a large Jewish population.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the incident would be treated as “a wanton act of vandalism”, with offenders facing up to 10 years in jail.
Amnesty International has criticised the US for welcoming former Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, for whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.
“Instead of upholding international law principles and arresting him, the Biden administration is welcoming him,” Amnesty International USA said on X, sharing a Jerusalem Postreport saying Gallant met with US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk at the White House.
A US-based charity, the World Central Kitchen, has fired dozens of Palestinians working for the charity in the Gaza Strip, at least three workers told Reuters, after Israel alleged that at least 62 staff were linked to armed groups.
In a message to staff, WCK confirmed that it had “made changes” after Israel demanded an investigation into its hiring practices in Gaza.
“This should not be taken as a conclusion by WCK that the individuals are affiliated with any terror organisation,” it said, adding that Israel had not shared its intelligence and “we do not know the basis for Israel’s decision to flag these individuals”. It said it had taken the step “to protect our team and our operations”. A WCK spokesperson confirmed 62 people had been let go.
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, as Israel’s offensive continues, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov 19, 2024. — Reuters
An Israeli security official told Reuters that Israel had demanded an investigation into staff potentially linked to the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, after it said a WCK employee identified as Ahed Azmi Qdeih took part in the attack. Qdeih was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Nov 30. WCK confirmed the airstrike at the time and said it had no knowledge about an employee involved in last year’s attack.
Two WCK workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said they had been informed the termination was based on an Israeli assessment of the workers and came for “security reasons”, a term usually used to indicate links with Palestinian armed groups.
“They told me and others that Israel rejected us for security reasons. It is a joke,” one worker told Reuters, asking not to be named fearing Israeli reprisals.
At least seven Palestinians have been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Nuseirat camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, medics tell Reuters.
In Beit Hanoun town in northern Gaza Strip, where the Israeli forces have operated since October, medics said an Israeli airstrike killed and wounded several people. Rescue workers said several people were trapped under the rubble of a house.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the two attacks reported by Palestinian medics.
Israeli forces have been operating in Beit Hanoun, the nearby town of Beit Lahiya and the Jabalia refugee camp since Oct 5, saying they are fighting Hamas gunmen waging attacks from those areas and preventing them from regrouping.
Palestinian children play in the rubble of a building destroyed during previous Israeli bombardment, in Khan Younis in the south Gaza Strip, on December 10. — AFP
A Palestinian man helps a girl near an installation composed of stuffed animals set up on a pile of debris, in Khan Younis in the south Gaza Strip, on December 10. — AFP
A Palestinian woman and a child stand at the door of a house next to a building destroyed during an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, on December 10. — AFP
Palestinian children play in the rubble of a building destroyed during previous Israeli bombardment, in Khan Younis in the south Gaza Strip, on December 10. — AFP
The scale of suffering witnessed in Gaza this year has shaken many people’s faith in human rights, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said.
“The rights being denied to people in Gaza are the same rights intended to protect all of us. We all have a stake in Gaza,” the group said in a post on X.
Universal human rights are the best guarantee there is of a world where all individuals can live in dignity, security, equality, and freedom, it added.
“We all have a stake in safeguarding and advancing human rights. We all have a stake in building a future where respect for human rights, dignity, and accountability are not postponed but delivered.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken the witness stand for the first time today in his long-running corruption trial, saying he was being hounded for his hawkish security policies, Reuters reports.
The leader of the right-wing Likud party, Netanyahu assailed the Israeli media for what he called its leftist stance and accused journalists of having hounded him for years because his policies did not align with a push for a Palestinian state.
“I have been waiting for eight years for this moment to tell the truth,” Netanyahu told the three-judge court. But I am also a prime minister … I am leading the country through a seven-front war. And I think the two can be done in parallel.“
Netanyahu was indicted in three cases involving gifts from millionaire friends and for allegedly seeking regulatory favours for media tycoons in return for favourable news coverage.
