Israel-Hamas war updates: ‘We are not stopping,’ vows PM Netanyahu
These were the Israel-Hamas war updates for Monday, December 25.
This live page is now closed. You can follow the latest developments here.
This live page is now closed. You can follow the latest developments here.
- The Gaza war is far from over, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says, dismissing what he cast as “false media speculation” his government may call a halt to fighting.
- About 250 Palestinians killed, mostly women and children, and 500 injured in the past 24 hours, Gaza health ministry says.
- Israeli army admits it is fighting a “complex and complicated war” with many soldiers killed over the past few days.
- More than 20,674 people have been killed and 54,536 wounded in Israeli attacks since October 7. The revised death toll from Hamas’s attack on Israel stands at 1,139.
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Has the US-led Red Sea force calmed shipping companies amid Houthi attacks? Read our analysis here.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been heckled by the families of captives held by Hamas in Gaza. Read more about it here.
Here’s what happened today
We will soon be closing this live page. Below is a recap of the day’s main developments:
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the war on Gaza is far from over.
- About 250 Palestinians have been killed and 500 injured in the past 24 hours, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
- A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent has told Al Jazeera that the number of aid trucks entering Gaza does not meet the humanitarian needs of its people.
- Razi Mousavi, an adviser in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has been killed in an Israeli air strike on the outskirts of Damascus.
- Hamas said its fighters have targeted an Israeli force in northern Gaza’s Jabalia.
WATCH: Netanyahu heckled by families of captives during speech
The Israeli prime minister said during a speech to lawmakers that Israel will not succeed in freeing the remaining captives held in Gaza “without military pressure”.
Netanyahu promised to bring the captives home but said “more time” was needed.
Israeli media reported that his address was met with chants of “No time, now!” from the families of the Israeli captives in Gaza as they held up signs reading, “What if it was your brother?” and, “What if it was your father?”
Watch our video to learn more about the pressure on Netanyahu to bring home the captives.
Israeli strategic affairs minister to visit Washington, DC: Report
Ron Dermer is expected to visit Washington, DC for talks with the White House and State Department, US news website Axios is reporting.
Dermer – a former ambassador to the United States – will meet with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and members of Congress, an unnamed Israeli official reportedly told Axios.
Described as a confidant of Netanyahu by Israeli media, Dermer will reportedly discuss Israel’s plans for its war on Gaza during his visit, as the Biden administration continues to support its close ally.
Israeli strike reported in southern Gaza
The Wafa news agency reported that the latest air attack hit the al-Amal neighbourhood in western Khan Younis.
The attack resulted in casualties but the exact number could not be immediately determined, according to Wafa.
We will update you as soon as we receive more information.
WATCH: What message do Palestinian Christians send by cancelling Christmas?
Celebrations are muted in the occupied territories as Israel’s war on Gaza rages.
Usually bustling with visitors from around the world this time of year, Bethlehem is empty this Christmas.
Festivities are muted in the occupied West Bank as Israel shows no sign of ending its onslaught in Gaza.
Israeli bombs do not discriminate. Everything and everyone in the strip is a target: from hospitals to schools, mosques to churches.
So what is the significance of cancelling this year’s festivities in Bethlehem?
Watch our video to find out:
Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp in ruins after deadly Israeli attack
Residents of Gaza’s al-Maghazi refugee camp have returned to their neighbourhood to find only blocks of concrete lying where their homes had stood.
“These houses are destroyed. Our house was bombed,” Abu Rami Abu al-Ais told Al Jazeera on Monday, standing in the debris. “There’s no safe place in the Gaza Strip.”
Late on Sunday, at least three houses in the camp were hit by Israeli air attacks, which killed more than 100 people in one of the deadliest attacks in two and a half months of war.
Click here to read the full story.
Report: Netanyahu bars Gallant from holding talks with Mossad chief on captives
Netanyahu has been preventing his defence minister from holding separate talks with the director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency on efforts to secure the release of captives in Gaza.
Israel’s Channel 12 cited government sources that said that Yoav Gallant has been barred from meeting with David Barnea when Netanyahu is not part of the discussion.
Channel 12 also said that Gallant invited Barnea to attend meetings and received messages from Netanyahu’s office that the premier disapproved of.
The offices of both Netanyahu and Gallant denied the report.
Netanyahu’s office, however, said in previous statements that only the war cabinet had the authority to handle matters related to captives and the missing in Gaza.
Israeli forces raid Tulkarem in West Bank
Israeli soldiers, accompanied by vehicles and military bulldozers, have stormed the occupied West Bank town.
More than 100 Israeli army vehicles are in the Nur Shams refugee camp, according to local media sources. Entrances to the camp have been sealed off, effectively placing the camp’s residents under siege.
The development comes as several other towns north of Tulkarem have also been raided by Israeli forces. These include the towns of Attil, Deir Al-Ghusun and Zeita.
WATCH: Palestinians say were ‘blindfolded’, ‘constantly beaten’ in Israeli custody
Reports have emerged throughout Israel’s ground operations in Gaza of the mistreatment of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces.
Al Jazeera spoke to one man who was beaten in Israeli custody.
Watch our video to see his testimony:
Israeli forces, settlers, attack Palestinians across West Bank
Ahmed Jibril, the director of ambulance and emergency services at the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS), says at least eight Palestinians across the occupied West Bank have sustained injuries as a result of attacks by Israeli forces and illegal settlers.
Here are some of the incidents:
- A 19-year-old man sustained shrapnel wounds in his foot during a raid on the town of Attil in Tulkarem.
- A 31-year-old man was injured in a settler attack near Deir Sharaf, west of Nablus. Settlers attacked the man’s car, breaking the vehicle’s windows.
- A 17-year-old and an 18-year-old were injured when Israeli forces fired live bullets towards them in the village of Kafr Ni’ma, near Ramallah.
- A 43-year-old woman was injured after Israeli forces attacked her in the village of Burqa, northwest of Nablus.
- A 20-year-old man was wounded by live bullets fired by Israeli forces during confrontations in the town of Sa’ir, near Hebron.
- A 23-year-old man was injured in the neck during a raid by Israeli forces in the town of Aqaba near Tubas.
- A 24-year-old was assaulted by Israeli forces and sustained bruises near the Container Checkpoint.
Israeli hospital receives 18 soldiers injured in Gaza: Report
Israeli media says a single Israeli hospital has received all 18 wounded soldiers in the past 24 hours.
Israeli Channel 7 quoted a statement by the Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel as saying that among the injured soldiers. there is at least one in serious condition.
The hospital noted that there are 49 Israeli soldiers in its various departments, including 16 in serious condition.
Earlier, the Israeli army said two more soldiers were killed and one seriously injured in battles in northern Gaza.
Hamas dismisses ‘ridiculous plan’ for displacement of Palestinians from Gaza
The group has released a statement condemning comments made by Netanyahu and his Likud party regarding the facilitation of the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
The statement says that Hamas “will not allow this strange enemy intruding on our land to pass any plan that obliterates our cause or removes our people from their land and sanctities,” calling Netanyahu’s goal of “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza an excuse to prolong Israel’s war.
PRCS says received 4,760 aid trucks over last two months
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says the aid trucks came from the Egyptian Red Crescent through the Rafah border crossing over the last two months.
The aid trucks were received between October 21, 2023, and December 22, the PRCS said.
The trucks contain “food, water, relief aid, medical supplies, and medicines”, it said.
The PRCS received 4760 trucks🚚 from the @EG_Red_Crescent through the #Rafah crossing between October 21, 2023, and December 22, 2023. 📍These trucks contain food, water, relief aid, medical supplies, and medicines. ⭕The PRCS’s share is 3049 trucks, while 1711 trucks were… pic.twitter.com/Kb1bpoSx3b
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 25, 2023
Israeli commander dismissed for endangering forces in Gaza
An Israeli commander has been dismissed from the Golani 51st Battalion after endangering Israeli forces fighting in Gaza City’s Shujaiyeh neighbourhood, Israeli media has reported.
According to Channel 12, the commander was replaced after ordering soldiers to enter homes in the area despite concerns over the houses being boobytrapped, in an incident that occurred about three weeks ago.
The Jerusalem Post said that the 51st Brigade has suffered heavy losses among its ranks since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip, losing nearly 30 soldiers and commanders in the enclave.
Aid entering Gaza is not nearly enough, PRCS says
The number of aid trucks that are allowed to enter Gaza does not meet the humanitarian needs of its people, Farsakh says.
In the past few days, only 60 trucks have been allowed into the enclave, the Red Crescent spokesperson told Al Jazeera. The NGO receives 70 trucks per day.
“Unfortunately, the aid that has entered so far does not meet even 10 percent of the needs on the ground,” Farsakh said. “The humanitarian situation is getting worse … every hour due to continued Israeli bombardment of all areas.”
About 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have now been displaced, she said. They are all in dire need of food, water, medicine, warm clothes, blankets and mattresses.
LISTEN: Why are some Palestinian Christians cancelling Christmas?
Christmas festivities in Bethlehem are muted this year as Palestinian Christians refuse to celebrate during Israel’s war on Gaza.
Some say they too are being targeted. So what message does this show of unity by Palestinians convey?
PRCS says its crews in Gaza endure violations ‘on a daily basis’
Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, says Israeli forces are constantly committing violations against the NGO’s crews in Gaza, placing their lives at risk.
Violations occur “on a daily basis”, Farsakh told Al Jazeera. Among them are attacks and shelling that happen near PRCS teams while they try to evacuate those killed and wounded, she said.
Other violations include the detention of PRCS staff and volunteers. At least eight members of the team continue to be held by Israeli forces after an attack on an ambulance centre in northern Gaza’s Jabalia last week.
The whereabouts of Awni Khattab, who headed the ambulance centre in Khan Younis, is still unknown, Farsakh said. He was arrested by Israeli forces during the transfer of patients from al-Shifa Hospital more than a month ago.
PRCS ambulances have also been attacked and destroyed by Israeli forces. In northern Gaza, all of the ambulances have been damaged, Farsakh said.
There are also “great risks and challenges in reaching many places” as a result of the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and streets, she said.
Hezbollah decries ‘blatant and shameless assassination’ of IRGC commander
The Lebanese group has released a statement calling the killing of Razi Mousavi in an Israeli air strike on Damascus a “crime”.
Mousavi held the rank of major general and was in charge of a “resistance support unit” in Syria, Iranian officials said.
According to Hezbollah, he “worked to support the Islamic resistance in Lebanon for decades of his honorable life, dedicated to serving the resistance and its mujaheddin”.
‘Palestine a test between political courage and moral cowardice’
Afif Safieh, a former Palestinian diplomat, says Netanyahu “aims to have as much Palestinian geography” as possible.
“Israeli society should become aware that Hamas compared to Netanyahu are amateurs in terrorism. And Israeli society should become aware in Palestinian-Israeli relations, the oppressor seems to hate the victim much more than the victim hates the oppressor,” Safieh told Al Jazeera.
“I believe the American-Jewish community has a particular responsibility, and I am proud to say many of the youth of the American-Jewish community have demonstrated in New York City and Washington, saying, ‘Not in our name.’ I’m proud of their moral attitude.”
He suggested the European Union should take the lead in achieving peace because the US government is standing firmly by Israel.
“I always said Palestine is a test between political courage and moral cowardice. I hope our appointment with political courage is not too distant in the future,” Safieh said.
Palestinian family, displaced and living in a tent, welcomes baby girl
Netanyahu outlines his conditions for peace in Gaza
In an opinion-editoral piece published by the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal, the Israeli prime minister says there are “three prerequisites for peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors in Gaza”.
First, he wrote, is the destruction of Hamas, dismissing concerns about the high rate of civilian deaths during Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip.
The death toll in Gaza since October 7 is approaching 21,000 with 250 of that number coming in a 24-hour stretch this weekend, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
“Unjustly blaming Israel for these casualties will only encourage Hamas and other terror organizations around the world to use human shields,” Netanyahu said after saying that Israel “does its best” to avoid civilian casualties.
His second condition for peace is the demilitarisation of Gaza to ensure it is “never again used as a base to attack” Israel. In practice, he said, this will mean a “temporary security perimeter” around the enclave that prevents the smuggling of weapons.
Finally, Netanyahu called for the “deradicalisation” of Gaza, taking aim at Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who, he said, incites violence against Israelis.
Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemns Netanyahu’s support for Gaza displacement
The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has condemned recent comments made by Netanyahu and his Likud party regarding the facilitation of the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the ministry said the Israeli prime minister’s comments, which support the displacement of Palestinians to other countries, reveals “the true goals of the genocidal war he is leading”.
“Netanyahu’s support for the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip calls for a courageous international stance to immediately stop the aggression against the Gaza Strip and to stop the crime of ethnic cleansing and displacement before it is too late,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The ministry said these comments are “a blow to all countries that supported Israel in its war against our people and continue to do so under the pretext of self-defence”.
“It expresses an Israeli failure of all international efforts and positions that claim to care for Palestinian civilians,” it added.
Video shows hundreds of detained Palestinians in Gaza stadium
A video circulating on social media shows hundreds of Palestinian men, stripped to their underwear, held captive by Israeli soldiers in a stadium in Gaza.
Israeli tanks are seen bulldozing one area of the stadium, which has been turned into a detention camp. The Palestinian detainees are made to walk with their hands holding their ID cards above their heads and are forced to sit in the cold with their hands handcuffed behind them with Israeli soldiers walking around them.
According to the local news agency Quds Network, the video, which is set to upbeat music, was taken by an Israeli photographer embedded with the army. It shows a naked man in a wheelchair in the stands, at least two children standing with their arms raised alongside the other men and, towards the end of the clip, an Israeli soldier holding a Palestinian baby wrapped in a blanket.
Human rights organisations and the UN have documented cases of Israeli forces carrying out summary executions of Palestinians held in detention after removing them from shelters and displacement camps.
Iran reserves the right to respond to ‘vicious’ attack that killed commander in Syria
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani says the killing of Razi Mousavi, adviser in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is “vicious and cowardly”.
Mousavi was killed in an Israeli air strike on the outskirts of Damascus earlier in the day, Iranian officials said in a statement.
Kanani condemned the attack, saying Iran was within its rights to respond with the “necessary measures” and at a time and place of its choosing.
Earlier, we highlighted a report from the US news site Axios that said the Israeli government is expecting a response from Iran, possibly rocket fire from Lebanon or Syria into northern Israel.