Israel-Hamas war updates: Dozens killed, many buried in Israeli air strikes
One of the deadliest strikes since Israel launched its war on Gaza with death toll expected to rise.
- Dozens of civilians are killed in an Israeli air strike on the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza with many more reported buried in the concrete debris.
- Israeli forces continue to sustain losses with more than a dozen troops killed in heavy fighting over the weekend.
- Dozens of civilians are killed in an Israeli air strike on the al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza with many more reported buried in the concrete debris.
- Israeli forces continue to sustain losses with more than a dozen troops killed in heavy fighting over the weekend.
- At least 166 Palestinians killed, 384 wounded in Israeli attacks in last 24 hours.
- Government Media Office in Gaza says 103 journalists now dead.
- More than 20,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. The revised death toll from Hamas’s attack on Israel stands at 1,139.
UN relief chief: ‘Gaza is a public health disaster in the making’
In a post on X, Martin Griffiths, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, outlined the dire state of the health sector in the besieged Gaza Strip.
“Hospitals are barely functioning. Infectious diseases are rife and spreading fast in overcrowded shelters. Hundreds of people with war injuries are unable to receive care,” he wrote.
Hospitals are barely functioning.
⁰Infectious diseases are rife and spreading fast in overcrowded shelters.
⁰Hundreds of people with war injuries are unable to receive care.
Gaza is a public health disaster in the making.— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) December 27, 2023
Thanks for joining us
This live page is now closed. Please follow for all the latest updates on the Israel-Gaza war on our new page here.
Here’s what happened today
We’ll soon be closing this live page. Here’s a recap of today’s events:
- At least 70 people have been killed in an Israeli air attack on Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp, which a Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson describes as a “massacre”.
- Aid groups and UN agencies say Israeli bombardments make implementing the UN Security Council humanitarian aid resolution near impossible.
- The Israeli army says it retrieved the bodies of five Israeli captives from a tunnel in Gaza’s Jabalia region.
- More than 100 journalists have now been killed in Gaza since October 7, says the Gaza government’s media office.
Fighting, explosions reported amid Israeli raid in Nablus
Armed fighting has erupted, followed by explosions, after Israeli forces stormed the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
We are also getting reports that Israeli forces carried out a separate raid in al-Taawon, an Alawite neighbourhood also in Nablus.
قوات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي تقتحم مخيم بلاطة بمدينة نابلس في الضفة الغربية#حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/UqsayeGFW1
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) December 24, 2023
[Translation: Israeli forces storm the Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.]
‘Ongoing ethnic cleansing’ must be stopped: CAIR
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the killing of at least 70 people in an Israeli attack on a residential area in central Gaza.
The group urged Americans to press President Joe Biden and his government to put a stop to Israel’s bloody assault.
“The Biden administration’s callous indifference to – and active support for – the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing being carried out by the far-right Netanyahu government will stain our nation’s international reputation for generations to come,” said CAIR’s Ibrahim Hooper in a statement.
“The fact that President Biden admits that he did not even ask for a ceasefire in a recent conversation with Netanyahu speaks volumes about the administration’s heartless and immoral approach to the genocide in Gaza.”
Israeli ‘public will find it hard to ignore the heavy price paid’
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has appealed for the country to remain united, in a speech on national television. “This moment is a test. We will not break nor blink,” he said.
There has been widespread anger against his government, which many criticise for failing to protect civilians from Hamas’s October 7 attack and promoting policies that allowed Hamas to gain strength over the years. Prime Minister Netanyahu has avoided accepting responsibility for the military and policy failures.
“Over time, the public will find it hard to ignore the heavy price paid, as well as the suspicion that the aims that were loudly heralded are still far from being attained, and that Hamas is showing no signs of capitulating in the near future,” wrote Amos Harel, a military affairs commentator for the Haaretz newspaper.
Jordan airdrops aid on St Porphyrius Church in Gaza
The Jordanian military carried out its seventh airdrop to assist those trapped inside the Church of St Porphyrius in Gaza.
A Royal Air Force plane airdropped humanitarian aid and food supplies.
It is estimated about 800 civilians are in the church, primarily Christians, facing food shortages and a severe lack of necessities, according to a statement.
القوات المسلحة الأردنية تنفذ إنزالاً جوياً عشية عيد الميلاد لمساعدة المحاصرين داخل كنيسة القديس برفيريوس بغزة.#عاجل #التلفزيون_الأردني pic.twitter.com/rCVZUGtVzG
— Jordan TV-التلفزيون الأردني (@JrtvMedia) December 24, 2023
Translation: The Jordanian Armed Forces carry out an airdrop on Christmas Eve to help those trapped inside the Church of St Porphyrius in Gaza.
How can aid get to Palestinians as Israel bombs Gaza?
The UN Security Council has voted to allow more supplies into the Gaza Strip, but Israel’s bombardment and ground offensive continues unabated.
Hundreds more have been killed in Gaza since Friday’s UN Security Council vote for more aid.
So what practical impact will the resolution have?
More witness reports of detainee abuse
Speaking to The Associated Press from a hospital bed in Rafah after his release, Khamis al-Burdainy of Gaza City said Israeli forces detained him after tanks and bulldozers partly destroyed his home. He said men were handcuffed and blindfolded.
“We didn’t sleep. We didn’t get food and water,” he said, crying and covering his face.
Another released detainee, Mohammed Salem, from the Gaza City neighbourhood of Shujaiah, said Israeli troops beat them. “We were humiliated. A female soldier would come and beat an old man, aged 72 years old.”
The Israeli army rejected the claims, saying detainees are “treated in accordance with international law”.
“While detained, the suspects are given sufficient food and water and treated according to protocol,” the army told the AFP news agency in a statement.
Israeli forces recover five captive bodies
The Israeli army announced it retrieved the bodies of five Israeli captives from a tunnel in the Gaza Strip.
“Israeli forces have uncovered a network of tunnels in the Jabalia region, northern Gaza Strip, and retrieved the bodies of five Israeli hostages who were killed there,” army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
No further details were provided and the exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear.
The announcement came a day after the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, said it lost contact with a group responsible for five Israeli captives because of Israeli air attacks.
Israel ‘checking’ on al-Maghazi massacre reports
The Israeli army says it is “checking” on reports that 70 people have been killed in air strikes on the refugee camp near Deir el-Balah city in central Gaza.
Earlier, the health ministry said a “residential block” was attacked and the “toll is likely to rise” given the large number of families residing there.
Death toll in Maghazi attack rises to 70: Health Ministry
At least 70 people have been killed in Gaza in one of the deadliest strikes of the war.
At a nearby hospital, frantic Palestinians carried the dead and wounded, including children, following the deadly strike on the Maghazi refugee camp, east of Deir el-Balah.
“We were all targeted,” said Ahmad Turokmani, who lost several family members including his daughter and grandson. “There is no safe place in Gaza, anyway.”
‘A massacre’: Update on Israeli attack on Maghazi refugee camp
The death toll following an Israeli air strike that hit central Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp has risen to 60 people.
Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said the number of dead is likely to climb with many people buried under the rubble.
“What is happening at the Maghazi camp is a massacre that is being committed on a crowded residential square,” al-Qudra said.
Dozens killed in Israeli attack on al-Maghazi refugee camp
Al Jazeera’s correspondent reports that dozens of Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israeli air raids that targeted a residential square in the al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip.
According to the government media office in Gaza, the attack killed at least 66 Palestinians and wounded dozens more.
In Khan Younis, 22 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the continued Israeli bombing.
Israel’s military campaign since October 7 – including massive bombardment – has killed 20,424 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Shipping giant Maersk prepares to resume Red Sea operations
Denmark’s Maersk is preparing to resume shipping operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, citing the deployment of a US-led military operation designed to ensure the safety of commerce in the area.
The shipping giant paused sending vessels through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait earlier in December because of attacks against its ships. That rendered the Suez Canal, which is key to global commerce, unusable for most routes.
“We have received confirmation that the previously announced multinational security initiative … has now been set up and deployed to allow maritime commerce to pass through the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden and once again return to using the Suez Canal as a gateway between Asia and Europe,” Maersk said in a statement.
Maersk said it would release more details in the coming days. But it said it could again resort to diverting ship traffic depending on how safety conditions evolved.
Several other firms have stopped transiting the Red Sea on safety concerns in recent weeks as has oil major BP.
Spain will not join US-led Red Sea coalition
Spain says it will not join a US-led coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is in the process of putting together a coalition and needs the support of the radical left party Sumar, which opposes US foreign policy.
The Houthis welcomed Spain’s stance with Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein al-Ezzi saying, “We highly appreciate Spain’s refusal to be drawn into American and British lies on the issue of maritime navigation.”
On Thursday, the Pentagon said 20 countries have joined the US-led coalition to protect the key shipping lane.
Israeli army spokesman: We are fighting a complicated war
Daniel Hagari, the Israeli army spokesman, says Israel is fighting a “complex and complicated war”.
“We discovered a network of tunnels in Jabalia and recovered the bodies of three kidnapped soldiers and civilians,” he said.
“We continue to deepen our military operations in Khan Younis. Hamas cannot be destroyed without deaths among our ranks.”
More than a dozen Israeli troops have died in combat over the past few days. Israelis still largely stand behind the country’s stated goals of crushing Hamas’s governing and military capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 captives.
That support has stayed mostly steady despite rising international pressure against Israel’s offensive, the soaring death toll and unprecedented suffering among Palestinians.
Abu Obeida: 48 Israeli soldiers killed in last four days
The military spokesman of the Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, released a statement:
- We targeted the invading forces with missiles and anti-fortifications and anti-personnel devices and clashed with them from zero distance.
- Our fighters have confirmed the killing of 48 Zionist soldiers, the wounding of dozens, and have carried out 24 combat missions during the past four days.
- In the same time period, our fighters have destroyed 35 military vehicles, completely or partially.
- Our fighters rained down a missile attack on the city of Tel Aviv.
- Fighters pounded the headquarters, command rooms, and gatherings of soldiers with mortar shells and short-range missiles on all fronts.
Hamas praises Palestinian Christians’ stance on Christmas celebrations
Hamas has praised the position of Palestinian Christians for limiting their celebration of Christmas this year given the brutal Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip.
“The holidays of our Christian people this year come in light of the ongoing fascist aggression launched by the Israeli occupation against all of our Palestinian people,” Hamas said in a statement.
“The decision of the Palestinian Christians confirms that our people are united on the path to standing firm on our land, preserving our identity, and protecting our Islamic and Christian sanctities.”
‘There’s just darkness’ – Anger and grief in Bethlehem
The typically bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembles a ghost town after Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off because of the war.
The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square are missing along with the throngs of foreign tourists and jubilant youth marching bands that gather in the West Bank town each year to mark the holiday. Dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty square.
“This year, without the Christmas tree and without lights, there’s just darkness,” said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who has lived in Jerusalem for six years.
Vinh said he always comes to Bethlehem to mark Christmas, but this year was especially sobering. He gazed at a nativity scene in Manger Square with a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the thousands of children killed in the fighting in Gaza.
“Our message every year on Christmas is one of peace and love, but this year it’s a message of sadness, grief and anger in front of the international community with what is happening and going on in the Gaza Strip,” Bethlehem’s Mayor Hana Haniyeh said in an address to the crowd.
More than 800 settler attacks in occupied West Bank
Amir Daoud, director general of the Documentation and Publication department in the Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission, tells Al Jazeera that since October 7, there have been 812 settler attacks recorded, including the killing of 10 Palestinians at the hands of settlers.
“The attacks were generally concentrated in the south of Nablus, northeast of Ramallah, and the south of Hebron,” Daoud said.
“The most prominent attacks have deprived Palestinian farmers from harvesting during the olive season,” he added, with more than 4,000 olive trees uprooted in the past 79 days.
Daoud denounced the stance of Europe and the US, saying their governments have ignored settler attacks that impact Palestinian lives on a daily basis, including executions, raids, destruction of infrastructure, and the confiscation of land.
‘Beatings, starvation’: Testimony from Palestinian on abuse
At least 20 Palestinians have been released by the Israeli army and dumped at the border with Egypt after enduring weeks of alleged torture.
One man, Nayef Ali, told Al Jazeera after his arrest from the Zeitoun area in Gaza City, he was taken to a house along with other men and for two days endured beatings without any access to food, water or the toilet.
“The army put us in trucks and took us to a place we didn’t know, an area as cold as snow,” Ali said. “They poured cold water on us, then took us to prison and subjected us to torture and more beatings.”
Ali said the detainees were forbidden to speak or from removing their blindfolds and handcuffs.
“They would throw away bread and would not feed us,” he said.
Talks in Cairo show efforts for a truce still alive
The arrival of a Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) delegation in Cairo, Egypt, indicates talks for a halt to the fighting continue.
The delegation is headed by Islamic Jihad’s exiled leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah and followed talks attended by Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in recent days.
The armed groups have so far said they will not discuss any release of hostages unless Israel ends its war in Gaza, while the Israelis say they are willing to discuss only a temporary pause in fighting.
But neither side has publicly walked away from talks that the US last week described as “very serious”, even as fighting intensified since a truce collapsed at the start of December.
The delegation will reaffirm the group’s position that any exchange of hostages will have to secure the release of all Palestinians jailed in Israel “after a ceasefire is achieved”, a PIJ official said.
Netanyahu: Hostages will be freed when Hamas is defeated
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will keep fighting until it defeats Hamas as it is the only way to free the Israeli captives.
“We’re doing everything we can to protect our soldiers’ lives,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “But there is one thing we will not do: We will not stop until we are victorious. The only way to free our hostages is to defeat Hamas and ensure that Gaza is no longer a threat to Israel.”
The military lost 10 soldiers in Gaza on Saturday, making it one of the deadliest days for Israeli troops since fighting began on October 7.
Christmas grotto outside Nativity Church ‘represents ongoing war in Gaza’
Tariq Salsa, the Palestinian sculptor who created this year’s Christmas grotto outside of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, tells Al Jazeera the message behind it is an expression of the ongoing war in Gaza.
“There is no joy this Christmas, there are no celebrations,” the Bethlehem-based artist said. “All of this is because our people are killed, starved, and displaced every day in the Gaza Strip.”
The grotto was supported by local community institutions and the municipality of Bethlehem.
“The grotto is a representation of the map of Gaza, as if it were a demolished house with rubble in it, an expression of the existing war,” Salsa said.
“It portrays the suffering of the Holy Family, the first Palestinian refugee family that also suffered from oppression, rejection, and displacement, and was exposed to the first historical ‘Nakba’ when they fled to Egypt after the birth of Jesus Christ,” he continued.
The angels hanging around the rubble are the souls of Palestinian children, and the Magi are carrying white shrouds instead of gold, frankincense, or myrrh.
”The Virgin Mary is embracing Christ in a way similar to the way mothers of martyrs do,” Salsa added.