Israel-Hamas war updates: Death toll in Gaza hits 20,000 as fighting rages
Fighting continues to rage around the Strip as a resolution continues to be held up at the UN Security Council.
This live page is now closed. Please follow along with our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war at our new page, here.
This live page is now closed. Please follow along with our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war at our new page, here.
- Israeli air attacks hit close to an Al Jazeera crew reporting live on air, striking a residential building near a hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza.
- At least 46 people killed and dozens wounded in Israeli attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, the Health Ministry says.
- Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political office, is in Egypt’s Cairo, in what could signal a new phase of possible truce negotiations.
- A United Nations Security Council vote on a draft resolution to halt the fighting has been delayed yet again, according to diplomats, and is now expected to be held on Thursday.
- At least 20,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. The death toll from Hamas’s attack on Israel stands at nearly 1,140.
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Also, read more about how Yemenis are viewing a possible wider escalation in the region, here.
Here’s what happened today
We will soon be closing this live page. Here’s a recap of today’s events:
- Israel has said air attacks across Gaza – including in the southernmost city of Rafah – will continue as the death toll in the enclave today passed 20,000 since the start of the conflict.
- The UN human rights office has said it received “disturbing information” accusing Israeli forces of summarily executing at least 11 unarmed Palestinian men in Gaza City.
- Human Rights Watch has said most people in Gaza are displaced and susceptible to harm, as the WHO chief warns of a “lethal” mix of disease and hunger.
- A vote on a UNSC draft resolution that seeks to up aid deliveries to Gaza has again been delayed as parties seek US support to avoid a veto.
- US President Joe Biden has said he did not expect an imminent breakthrough as representatives of Israel, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were in Egypt for the latest round of indirect captive release talks.
Qassam Brigades shows off weapons workshop in video
Hamas’s armed wing has released a video of its weapons manufacturing capabilities.
It shows the Qassam fighters operating machinery to make rifles, assembling ammunition and testing the weapons.
A message to Israel released with the video says: “We will continue killing your soldiers by our locally manufactured snipers.”
Israel says it struck more positions in southern Lebanon, Syria
Israel’s military has said its warplanes have struck another Hezbollah position in southern Lebanon.
That came after Hezbollah today said it had targeted Israeli positions near Beit Hillel and Shtula.
Israel’s military also said it fired at fighters near a perimeter fence in the area of Metula.
In another incident, Israel said it returned fire after four launches from Syria were detected in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights area.
Israeli forces raid occupied West Bank
Raids have been reported overnight in the city of Qalqilya as well as the town of Yabad.
Videos from Yabad, southwest of Jenin, show Israeli forces patrolling through the town’s streets.
At least 303 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis in the occupied West Bank, the majority of them during Israeli military raids.
Pressure on Israeli government to reach captive deal
There’s growing pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, both domestically and internationally.
On the international front, you have the Americans who are hoping to see the Israelis transition to a less intense phase of the fighting within a few weeks. Domestically though, you have intensified pressure from the families of the captives, especially after three captives were killed by the Israeli military in northern Gaza, saying they should do everything in their power to bring home the captives.
Now, there have been indications that these talks so far have been quite positive. Egyptian security officials saying that Israel is offering a one-week pause in the fighting and what they want in return is the release of 40 captives – all the women, any children who are left as well as elderly men.
There have also been discussions in Europe between the Israelis, the Americans and the Qataris to try and find some sort of consensus, but what’s still not clear is what the Israelis are willing to give up in exchange for the release of all of the captives.
WATCH: Why the war on Gaza is not making Israel safer
Political scientist Ian Bremmer says the human carnage of Israel’s war on Gaza is strengthening Hamas.
Meanwhile, US support for Israel’s actions has made Washington “more isolated than the Russians were when they invaded Ukraine”.
LISTEN: Can the UN do anything to stop Israel’s war on Gaza?
As Israel’s war on Gaza continues, questions grow about the power of the UN to halt the war that has killed at least 20,000 Palestinians since October 7.
Thousands of bodies are believed to be buried under the rubble. And more than 52,000 people in Gaza have been wounded in Israel’s relentless onslaught as it targets hospitals, homes and schools.
US Muslim group urges investigation into UN report of summary killings in Gaza City
The statement from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) comes after the UN human rights office said earlier today that it had received disturbing information accusing Israeli forces of killing 11 unarmed Palestinians in front of their families.
“While the Biden administration blocks all attempts to end the genocide in Gaza, real people are being slaughtered daily in ways that echo the darkest periods of human history,” Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s communications director, said in a statement.
“Our nation must call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire to end the killing, ethnic cleansing and starvation of an entire people – the very definition of genocide.”
Each delay on UNSC vote means more death in Gaza: Expert
“Every hour that it doesn’t pass is another hour in which hundreds of Palestinians are being bombed and killed,” says Helen Lackner, a Middle East analyst. “Every delay is a delay that allows the Israelis to continue their relentless bombardment.”
She told Al Jazeera that even if the resolution is passed, “the Israelis have got a very long history of ignoring” such measures.
“So I don’t see any rapid and serious result out of this resolution even if it is passed.”
Israeli forces raid Tulkarem refugee camp
An Al Jazeera correspondent reports that soldiers have stormed the town of Atil in the occupied West Bank.
A social media video verified by Al Jazeera shows Israeli forces patrolling the streets of the town.
We will bring you more updates on the raid as information comes in.
WHO describes dire scene at al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza
Tedros, the WHO chief, said that as of two days ago, the hospital had been the last functioning facility in northern Gaza where injured people could undergo surgery.
But that has since ceased. “That has left north Gaza with no functional hospital. Only four hospitals operate at a minimum level, providing very limited care,” he said in a post on X.
In a video, Sean Casey, the WHO emergency medical teams coordinator, described the situation after arriving as part of an aid delivery convoy.
“There are patients here who have been injured for more than a month and have had no surgery. There are patients who have been operated on but they are now getting post-operative infections because the hospital doesn’t have sufficient antibiotics,” he said.
“This is a completely unacceptable situation.”
Al-Ahli Arab Hospital is a “shell” of its former self due to lack of fuel, staff, supplies – @WHO/@UN mission to north #Gaza finds.
WHO and UN partners undertook another high-risk joint mission today to Al-Ahli Arab and Al-Shifa hospitals in northern Gaza.
Our teams delivered… pic.twitter.com/tlSI3gbawA
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 20, 2023
Unprecedented hunger in Gaza, says UN agency
The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says that people in Gaza “are desperate, hungry & terrified”, with “alarming levels of hunger never before witnessed” in the enclave.
In a social media post, UNRWA added that its partners were distributing what they can, “but water, food & medicine are being used as weapons of war”.
“Constant bombardment prevents aid reaching those in need,” the post said.
Israel continues to restrict the entry of aid into Gaza as it carries out bombing raids across the territory.
Alarming levels of hunger never before witnessed in📍#Gaza – People are desperate, hungry & terrified.@UNRWA colleagues continue to distribute what they can, but water, food & medicine are being used as weapons of war.
Constant bombardment prevents aid reaching those in need. https://t.co/HZ7h6c9Ubv
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 20, 2023
Cyprus aid corridor will allow Israel to cut off Gaza: Israeli FM
Eli Cohen, in an interview with Israeli media, said he has reached an agreement with Cypriot and UK authorities to open the corridor after a brief trip to Cyprus today.
Israel will “establish a sea corridor between Cyprus and Gaza, provided that it would be under Israeli security supervision and control”, he said.
He also said this would be done in a way that would allow Israel to “completely close the crossings between Israel and Gaza, and in order to ensure complete separation from Gaza”, implying that Israel intends to close the recently opened Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing with Gaza.
Last month, Cyprus proposed establishing a corridor to collect, inspect and store aid on the island before shipping it to the Palestinian enclave.
Israel preparing citizens for ‘concessions’ with Hamas: Report
Israel is preparing its public for possible tough decisions – including the release of “dangerous” Palestinian prisoners – as part of a new prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas, Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan) has reported.
Israel is discussing with mediators the possible release of dozens of Israeli captives in Gaza, prioritising women who were not released under previous deals as well as elderly people who were injured during their capture or suffer from chronic illnesses.
The Israeli public must be prepared to make “concessions” regarding the release of so-called “dangerous prisoners”, said the Kan report, citing an Israeli source.
The term “dangerous prisoners” refers to Palestinian detainees who are serving heavy sentences in Israeli prisons.
US plans to urge Switzerland not to hold Geneva Conventions conference on war: Report
According to the Huffington Post, US officials are finalising the diplomatic initiative in response to an expected request from Palestinian diplomats and several UN member states for Switzerland to hold a conference looking at possible violations of the conventions.
The Geneva Conventions are a series of treaties and protocols that establish international humanitarian law.
Both Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories are party to the four main treaties of the conventions. Switzerland, as the “depository”, generally determines when meetings are held to discuss concerns raised by the parties.
The Huffington Post cited internal State Department documents that direct US officials to convey “serious concern” about any effort to hold a conference and to make several arguments against it. That includes saying the UN General Assembly has not passed a resolution calling for such a conference and that doing so would risk politicising the conventions.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on the report. We’ll bring you their response when we can.
Are Houthi Red Sea attacks hurting Israel and disrupting global trade?
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is where 12 percent of the total global seaborne trade of oil, as well as 8 percent of liquified natural gas, passed through in the first half of 2023, according to the US Energy Information Administration. That is 8.8 million barrels per day of oil and 4.1 billion cubic feet per day of LNG.
More than 17,000 ships pass through it each year, some heading to the Suez Canal that takes them to the Mediterranean and acts as the link between Asia and the West.
Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk, which accounts for 15 percent of the global container freight market, has been among several of the largest global names in the shipping industry to opt out of taking the route. Together with Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, which has also pulled out, they account for almost a quarter of the market.
Container rates for shipments from North Asia to the United Kingdom, which go through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, have hit record highs this year, according to assessments by S&P Global Platts. Underwriters are charging more to insure ships planning to take the route as well.
ICC prosecutor gets list of Israeli military officers involved in Gaza war
An NGO says it submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor a list of 40 Israeli commanding officers who allegedly planned and executed the bloody war on Gaza.
The non-profit said the ICC prosecutor should investigate as suspects for war crimes and crimes against humanity the senior Israeli commanders identified by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).
DAWN submitted the information in response to the prosecutor’s November 17 call for parties to present to his office information relevant to its investigation team’s ongoing probe into violations of the Rome Statute in Palestine, including the current war in Gaza.
“These 40 [military] commanders who have been responsible for planning, ordering, and executing Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment, wanton destruction, and mass killing of civilians in Gaza should be prime suspects in any ICC investigation,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN’s executive director.
“While Israel has done its best to conceal the identities of many of its officers, they should be put on notice that they face individual criminal liability for the crimes underway in Gaza.”
As long as Israel has US support, it will continue war on Gaza
Gideon Levy, a columnist at the Israeli daily Haaretz, says the Biden administration has given Israel a green light to continue its military offensive.
And this means that “Israel will continue no matter how many victims are in Gaza, no matter how many children are killed in Gaza and even no matter how many Israeli soldiers are killed”, Levy told Al Jazeera.
The Israeli journalist also said UN Security Council resolutions that are not accompanied by sanctions against Israel will not be able to pressure the country to end its war on Gaza.
“As long as it will be only declarations, condemnations – Israel ignored many resolutions of the international community in the past, including many resolutions of the Security Council,” he said.
Levy added that while the Israeli public might be supportive of a temporary truce to try to get more captives out of Gaza, few Israelis support a lasting ceasefire to stop the war outright. “I don’t see a major protest for really putting an end to the war,” he said.
Gaza conflict ‘stain on our collective conscience’: UN relief chief
Martin Griffiths says that “such a brutal conflict has been allowed to continue and for this long – despite the widespread condemnation, the physical and mental toll and the massive destruction – is an indelible stain on our collective conscience.”
He made his statement on X, calling the latest death toll in Gaza a “shameful milestone”.
Earlier, we reported that the Gaza Media Office said at least 20,000 Palestinians had died in Gaza since October 7.
That such a brutal conflict has been allowed to continue and for this long – despite the widespread condemnation, the physical and mental toll and the massive destruction – is an indelible stain on our collective conscience. pic.twitter.com/M7awX8b8nC
— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) December 20, 2023
Blinken talks Gaza with major allies
The US secretary of state says in a statement that he spoke today with French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, and UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
Blinken emphasised the US commitment to an independent Palestinian state, and “stressed the importance of urgently addressing humanitarian needs in Gaza, the imperative of minimizing civilian casualties, and the need to prevent the conflict’s further escalation,” according to the statement.
The US has maintained support for a two-state solution to the Palestine issue in the face of recent repeated dismissals of this outcome by senior Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Most Palestinians in Gaza are displaced and susceptible to harm: HRW
Two months after Israel ordered northern Gaza evacuated, 85 percent of population is displaced multiple times.
Nearly half are crammed inside Rafah, the enclave’s southernmost governorate with a pre-war population of 280,000, says Human Rights Watch.
Extensive destruction suggests Israel may be trying to make return impossible, the watchdog says, adding that forced displacement is a war crime.
“Repeated attacks by the Israeli military have turned neighbourhoods into rubble and, according to aid organizations, destroying or damaging the majority of homes in Gaza risks making parts of Gaza unliveable for years to come.”
Macron says fighting Hamas doesn’t mean ‘flattening Gaza’
The French president made the comment during a wide-ranging interview with the France 5 broadcaster.
“We cannot let the idea take root that an efficient fight against terrorism implies to flatten Gaza or attack civilian populations indiscriminately,” he said.
He called on Israel “to stop this response because it is not appropriate, because all lives are worth the same and we defend them”.
While acknowledging “Israel’s right to defend itself and fight terror”, Macron said France called for the protection of civilians and “a truce leading to a humanitarian ceasefire”.
Macron was one of the first Western leaders to support a ceasefire in Gaza. Earlier this month, he travelled to Qatar in an effort to negotiate a new pause in fighting.
Netanyahu and Smotrich parties trade barbs
The Israeli prime minister’s right-wing Likud party has responded to Finance Minister Smotrich’s post on X, after the latter said the Mossad chief should be sent to eliminate Hamas leaders, and not to negotiate with them.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has already instructed the Mossad to eliminate senior Hamas officials wherever they are, just as he instructed the finance minister to open the taps and ensure that funds reach citizens, businesses, evacuees, soldiers, and reservists,” a Likud statement said.
Smotrich’s far-right Religious Zionist party replied, saying, “The only taps that the prime minister tried to pressure the finance minister to open in all kinds of shady plans are those intended to flow funds to the Palestinian Authority so that it can transfer them to Hamas in Gaza. It is good that the finance minister stood up to the challenge and set a red line.”
Opening of neonatal clinic in Rafah delayed due to attacks: Aid group
The Project HOPE group says the clinic, which will be dedicated to providing much-needed care to pregnant and newborn Palestinians, was meant to begin seeing patients this week.
However, a neighbouring four-storey mosque was hit by an Israeli attack today, causing damage to the clinic. Staff were not present at the facility at the time of the attack.
“This setback delays our ability to begin treating patients, a disservice to parents eagerly seeking critical care for their newborns,” Chris Skopec, executive vice president of global health at the organisation, said in a statement.
The UN has estimated there are about 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with about 180 births a day.