Israel-Gaza war updates: ‘No negotiations now on truce’, says Hamas
Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of Hamas’ political bureau, says captive swap talks are finished until onslaught ends.
- A Hamas official tells Al Jazeera negotiations on prisoner exchanges are now over and will not resume until Israel halts it attack and hands over all Palestinian prisoners.
- Israel ordered its Mossad negotiating team in Doha to return to Israel because of what it called an “impasse”.
- A Hamas official tells Al Jazeera negotiations on prisoner exchanges are now over and will not resume until Israel halts it attack and hands over all Palestinian prisoners.
- Israel ordered its Mossad negotiating team in Doha to return to Israel because of what it called an “impasse”.
- Israel renews its bombardment of Gaza, hitting areas across the enclave after the end of a week-long truce.
- At least 15,207 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the official death toll stands at about 1,200.
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Here’s what happened today
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- Negotiations on prisoner exchanges are now over and will not resume until Israel halts its attack, says Hamas.
- Israel’s military is ignoring international appeals to spare civilians as it has launched more than 400 attacks in the past day.
- Hamas fired a rocket barrage into Israel, showing after 57 days of war that it is still capable.
- Netanyahu says the war “will continue until we achieve all our goals”.
- Israel will not enjoy security if it continues to kill Palestinian civilians, France’s president says.
One killed, two injured in Paris attack linked to Gaza war, interior minister says
One person has been killed and two others injured after an assailant attacked passersby in Paris near the Eiffel Tower, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has said.
“The police have just courageously arrested an assailant attacking passersby in Paris, around the Quai de Grenelle. One deceased person and one injured person treated by the Paris fire brigade. Please avoid the area,” Darmanin posted on the social media platform X on Saturday.
Darmanin said the suspect told police he was upset over the situation in Gaza.
BFM TV reported that the man who died was a German national and that the assailant had used a hammer to carry out the attacks.
Israeli attack levels Rafah residential building to the ground
The entire Gaza Strip had been earlier targeted by the Israeli occupation forces but during the last hour, the Israeli occupation forces had levelled to the ground a residential building in the Rafah district. More than six Palestinians have been reported killed and a number of them have been injured.
Meanwhile, the eastern areas of Khan Younis have been under artillery shelling for more than two hours.
We can clearly hear the sounds of the Israeli explosions in the eastern areas of Khan Younis again.
Israel are trying to destroy all buildings that are adjacent to the borders and they are also firing illumination flares into the sky of eastern areas of Khan Younis which could clearly be seen from our location here in the centre of Khan Younis City.
Similarly, the attacks continue in Nuseirat refugee camp where more than nine Palestinians have reportedly been killed with 10 others who have been also wounded in a residential building that was hit by the occupation forces.
CAIR condemns Israel’s Jabalia refugee camp attack
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned Israel’s attack on Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.
“More than 100 men, women and children were killed in the bombing of residential buildings hosting displaced families,” the US-based Muslim advocacy group in a statement.
“Each day brings another war crime in the far-right Israeli government’s genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” Nihad Awad, CAIR’s national executive director said. “These are American bombs being dropped on civilians – paid for with American taxpayer dollars.”
We today condemned the latest “Israeli war crime of the day” after more than 100 men, women and children were killed in the bombing of residential buildings hosting displaced families in #Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp. #GenocideinPalestine #CeasefireNOW https://t.co/LycPQ9cYFK
— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) December 2, 2023
Israel seeks ‘elimination of Palestinian people’: Doctor
Dr Mads Gilbert, who has worked in Gaza, says the objective of the Israeli military is clear and it is the “elimination of the Palestinian people”.
“They are killing and injuring by bombing. They are starving and thirsting and freezing people to death. The WHO said recently more people can now die from disease, famine, thirst and hypothermia than from bombing,” Gilbert told Al Jazeera.
“I talked to my colleagues in al-Aqsa Hospital earlier. It normally has 198 beds. They have more than 650 patients. There is no room to treat them. These doctors and medical students are doing a heroic job trying to handle this massive flow of patients coming in.”
Israel ignores pleas to protect civilians, launches hundreds of strikes
Israel’s military is ignoring international appeals to spare civilians. The military said it hit more than 400 “Hamas targets” across Gaza over the past day, using air strikes and shelling from tanks and navy gunships.
It included more than 50 attacks on the city of Khan Younis and surrounding areas in the southern half of Gaza.
At least nine people, including three children, were killed in an attack on a house in Deir al-Balah city in the south, according to the hospital where the bodies were taken. The hospital also received seven bodies of others killed in overnight attacks, including two children.
The death toll in Gaza has exceeded 15,200 with more than 40,000 people wounded since October 7. The health ministry said 70 percent of the dead were women and children.
LISTEN: Despite Israel’s prisoner release, thousands still detained
More than 100 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons during Israel and Hamas’s temporary truce. But thousands more remain in detention and Israel continues to arrest people.
So, why were they imprisoned in the first place?
Muslim-Americans launch ‘Abandon Biden’ campaign
Muslim-American leaders from six battleground states have pledged to mobilise their communities against President Joe Biden’s re-election over his support of Israel’s war on Gaza.
The so-called #AbandonBiden campaign began when Minnesota Muslim-Americans demanded the president to call for a ceasefire and has spread to Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida.
The states are among a handful that allowed Biden to win the 2020 election. Opposition from their sizeable Muslim and Arab-American communities could complicate the president’s path to victory next year.
“We don’t have two options. We have many options,” Jaylani Hussein, director of Minnesota’s Council on American-Islamic Relations chapter, said at a press conference. “We’re not supporting [former President Donald] Trump.”
Hamas launches rocket barrage into Israel
It is certainly the largest barrage of rockets we have seen from the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire ended. A huge barrage hitting multiple places within Israeli territory in the south, in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Most of those rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system. We are hearing at least one person has been injured.
This is a very significant statement from Hamas. It is a message that they can still do this. We are 57 days into the war and Hamas still has the capability to fire rockets into Israel.
Israel warns Palestinians in Gaza to flee – but to where?
The United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, has highlighted that warning messages from Israel do not indicate where the recipients should go.
Mohammed Foura, 21, already displaced once from Gaza City, said half an hour before one air strike, he was warned by other residents to flee. They shouted, “Get out, get out,” he said, as families piled their belongings into cars or carried them away.
Nader Abu Warda fled Jabalia, near Gaza City, at the start of the war and no longer knows which way to go. “They told us, ‘Gaza City is a war zone.’ Now it’s Khan Yunis. Yesterday they were saying, ‘Evacuate the east of Khan Yunis.’ Today they say, ‘Evacuate the west,'” he said, visibly exasperated.
“Where are we going now – into the sea? Where are we going to put our children to bed?”
Photos: More death, destruction as Israel bombs south Gaza
Palestinians fear the bombings point to a ground operation in the south that would pin them into a shrinking area.
Clouds of grey smoke from the attacks hung over Gaza with nearly 200 people killed since the pause in hostilities expired early on Friday.
The southern part of Gaza, including Khan Younis and Rafah, was pounded by Israeli warplanes and artillery. Thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering there because of fighting in the north.
See the images here.
Israel must shield civilians to win in Gaza: Pentagon chief
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has urged Israel to protect civilians in Gaza.
Austin told the Reagan National Defense Forum in California that he “learned a thing or two about urban warfare” while fighting in Iraq and leading the campaign against the armed group ISIL (ISIS).
“Like Hamas, ISIS was deeply embedded in urban areas. And the international coalition against ISIS worked hard to protect civilians and create humanitarian corridors, even during the toughest battles,” Austin said.
“The lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. In this kind of a fight, the centre of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.”
He added: “The United States will remain Israel’s closest friend in the world. Our support for Israel’s security is non-negotiable.”
Israeli strike destroys Qatar-funded housing complex
Israeli air strikes have hit a cluster of multistorey buildings in Hamad City, a Qatari-funded housing development on the outskirts of Khan Younis. Huge clouds of smoke have engulfed the complex. There is no immediate word on casualties.
“Where is it safe? I swear to God no one knows. Where are we going?” asked Zohair al-Raai, who said his family received a recorded message saying their building in Hamad City should evacuate.
The attacks came at almost exactly the same time Israeli negotiators pulled out of truce talks in Qatar. Hamad City is named for former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who laid the foundation stone on a visit 11 years ago.
Inaugurated in 2016, the development was among the newest projects in Gaza. The first flats – more than 1,000 – were provided to Palestinians whose homes were destroyed in the war between Israel and Hamas two years earlier.
Watch: Can Israel learn from the intelligence failure that led to Hamas attack?
Renewed Israeli bombardment of Gaza after the truce is worsening the humanitarian crisis.
Israel has one of the most advanced and well-equipped militaries in the world.
And yet, on October 7, Hamas fighters breached the Gaza border fence, infiltrated southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people.
Update: Second Palestinian killed in occupied West Bank
A 41-year-old man has been killed in Qarawat Bani Hassan, northwest of Salfit, the town’s mayor, Ibrahim Assi, confirms.
Earlier, we reported three people had been wounded there by live ammunition fired by Israeli soldiers and settlers, according to the Red Crescent.
The mayor told Al Jazeera that Ahmad Assi, a father of six, was shot in the head and bled to death before his body was found by residents.
The first death on the day in the West Bank was of another man in Beita, south of Nablus.
Macron: No security for Israel at the cost of Palestinian lives
Israel will not enjoy security if it continues to kill Palestinian civilians, France’s president says.
“There is no lasting security for Israel in the region if its security is achieved at the cost of Palestinian lives,” Macron said at a press conference in Dubai before flying to Qatar.
Macron is in Doha to help with efforts to agree on a new truce and potentially a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
MSF calls for independent probe into deadly Israeli attack
MSF has called for an investigation into the Israeli attack on one of the medical charity’s convoys that killed two people.
One of the staff members who survived says Israeli tanks and snipers on rooftops aimed at them before they fired, hitting his colleagues.
🔊 One of our staff recounts the moment Israeli forces opened fire on a clearly-marked MSF convoy in #Gaza, killing two people.
We have asked the Israeli authorities for a formal explanation and we call for an independent investigation into this attack. pic.twitter.com/mOV9wbBWZs
— MSF International (@MSF) December 2, 2023
‘Brute force’ against entire population cannot be legitimised: Turkey
Addressing an X post by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Oncu Keceli says in a statement: “The more Israel oppresses Palestinians and destroys their basic freedoms, the more resistance it will face as many more Palestinians will continue to seek the realisation of their collective and individual rights.”
“At the core of the current problem lies Israeli occupation as well as its expansionist mentality and repressive actions that completely ignores law, human rights and universal principles,” Keceli said.
The use of “brute force against an entire civilian population by an occupying power cannot be legitimized as self-defence”.
Cohen said earlier that Israel “will free Gaza from Hamas for the sake of Israel’s security and to create a better future for the residents of the region”.
He added: “You [Turkey] are welcome to host in your country Hamas terrorists who aren’t eliminated and flee from Gaza.”
Palestine Red Crescent receives ambulances from Saudi Arabia
The PRCS says Saudi Arabia has donated seven ambulances and they had been delivered by the Egyptian Red Crescent through the Rafah border crossing.
‘A night of horror’: Palestinians describe Israeli attacks
Abu Wael Nasrallah, 80, says he and his displaced family will stay put in Khan Younis in southern Gaza because they have already lost everything in Israel’s bombardment.
“There is nothing left to fear. Our homes are gone, our property is gone, our money is gone, our sons have been killed, some are handicapped. What is left to cry for?”
A mother of four who gave her name as Samira said she fled south from Gaza City with her children after Israel began bombing there last month. They now shelter with friends in a home west of Khan Younis.
She said Friday night was one of the most terrifying since she arrived: “A night of horror.”
She and other residents said they feared the intensity of the bombing in Khan Younis and the nearby city of Deir el-Balah means an Israeli ground invasion of the south is imminent.
Released Israelis call for rest of captives to be freed
Israelis released in the past week by Hamas from Gaza have called for their fellow captives left behind to be freed.
Tens of thousands of people gathered at a rally in Tel Aviv outside Israel’s defence headquarters, where they cheered Yelena Trupanov, 50, standing on a stage just two days after being freed.
“I came to thank you because without you, I wouldn’t be here. Now we must bring back my [son] Sasha and everyone. Now.”
Similar pleas from other released hostages were shown on video.
‘We will continue till the end’: PM Netanyahu
Israel’s prime minister says military pressure as well as diplomatic efforts helped get the captives released.
At a press conference, Netanyahu said the war “will continue until we achieve all our goals, which is getting the captives back and eliminating Hamas. The ground operation is necessary to achieve the aforementioned goals.”
Netanyahu added soldiers were fighting in line with international humanitarian law. “This is a long-term war, but we will win this war at the end of the day,” he said.
“Our soldiers prepared during the days of truce for total victory against Hamas.”
‘No place to go’: Israel’s military targets Khan Younis
Israel has dropped leaflets with evacuation orders over towns east of Khan Younis.
One Khan Younis resident said a neighbour received a call from the Israeli army warning that houses in the area would be hit and everyone should leave. “We told them, ‘We have nothing here. Why do you want to strike it?'” said the resident, Hikmat al-Qidra, adding that the homes were destroyed.
The leaflets generated panic and confusion, especially in the crowded south. Unable to go to northern Gaza or neighbouring Egypt, their only escape is to move around a 220sq-km (85sq-mile) area.
“There is no place to go,” said Emad Hajar, who fled with his wife and three children from the north a month ago to Khan Younis. “They expelled us from the north, and now they are pushing us to leave the south.”
The Israeli military has divided the Gaza Strip into 2,300 “blocs” and is now sending SMS messages to residents telling them to leave before they launch strikes, which they say will “eliminate Hamas”.
17 women and children still held in Gaza: Gallant
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant says Hamas had violated the truce by refusing to release these captives. The Israeli army said on Friday that 136 people are still being held in Gaza.
Gallant also said:
- The army has resumed fighting in Gaza and will continue until it crushes Hamas’s military and recovers the hostages.
- As the military operation expands, our pressure on Hamas increases.
- We eliminated a large number of Hamas leaders.
- We killed a large number of terrorists, arrested hundreds and destroyed many Hamas headquarters.
- Recovering 110 hostages is an unprecedented achievement.