Israel-Hamas war live: Israeli goal in Gaza ‘forced displacement’: UN envoy
Addressing the Security Council, Majed Bamya says that Israel’s destruction of Gaza is meant to drive out Palestinians.
- Addressing the UN Security Council, Palestine’s UN envoy says the widescale destruction of Gaza by Israeli operations has made it clear their sole goal is “forced displacement”.
- Israel’s security forces say they have “neutralised” a man who they say stabbed two people in an attack at the Mazmoria checkpoint, south of occupied East Jerusalem.
- Addressing the UN Security Council, Palestine’s UN envoy says the widescale destruction of Gaza by Israeli operations has made it clear their sole goal is “forced displacement”.
- Israel’s security forces say they have “neutralised” a man who they say stabbed two people in an attack at the Mazmoria checkpoint, south of occupied East Jerusalem.
- At least 35 people have been killed in Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps following Israeli bombings in central Gaza.
- Israeli soldiers have fired at an aid convoy as it returned from northern Gaza along a route designated by the Israeli army, according to Thomas White, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza.
- In Gaza, at least 21,507 people have been killed and 55,915 injured in Israeli attacks since October 7. The death toll from Hamas’s attack on Israel stands at 1,139.
‘Ethnic cleansing under the mantle of humanitarian action’: Expert
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University in the US, says Israeli officials, both in Netanyahu’s coalition and in the opposition, have been speaking more openly about making Gaza unliveable for Palestinians.
“There have been ongoing statements in recent days … which seem to indicate a particular plan the Israeli government seems to want to implement, which is not only to create unbearable conditions for the population of Gaza, but actually to speak about removing the population,” he said.
“Or as one [far-right finance] minister Smotrich said, to encourage them to leave Gaza either to the Sinai Peninsula or to other countries that would welcome them,” Bartov said.
“Or that Israel would rule that area and as this particular minister said, there should be discussions about settling the Gaza Strip,” he said, adding that if the current trajectory continues, the world is witnessing an operation of “ethnic cleansing under the mantle of humanitarian action”.
Has Israel weakened Hamas enough to win the war on Gaza?
As 2023 draws to a close, how strong is Hamas after nearly three months of bombardment and ground invasion?
A detailed and impartial analysis of various aspects of Israel’s military performance leads to the conclusion that so far, Hamas has experienced more successes than failures.
Read the full analysis here.
Israeli raids ongoing in West Bank
Israeli forces are raiding the Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm, according to videos posted on social media.
Israeli troops are also in Talluza and Asira al-Shamaliyah in the Nablus district.
Raids across the occupied West Bank have been nightly since the beginning of the war.
At least 319 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settler violence since the beginning of the war, making 2023 the deadliest year for Palestinians in the territory on record.
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Follow along with our coverage of the Israeli war on Gaza on our new page, here.
- South Africa has filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice accusing it of “genocidal acts”. Read more about it here.
- What controversial weapons has Israel used in Gaza? Find out in our explainer here.
- For first-hand accounts of Israeli raids by doctors in the occupied West Bank, read our feature here.
Here’s what happened today
We will soon be closing this live page. Below is a recap of the day’s main developments:
- Palestine’s UN envoy has said the destruction of Gaza has made it clear Israel’s sole goal is “forced displacement”.
- UN officials have slammed Israeli forces for firing at an aid convoy as it returned from northern Gaza.
- At least 35 Palestinians have been killed in Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps following Israeli bombings in central Gaza.
- The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed an attack on a base in al-Shaddadi, Syria.
- WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus has raised alarm over the spread of diseases in Gaza’s shelters.
US arms package for Israel contradicts calls for ‘lower-intensity’ war in Gaza
It’s important to point out the broader context of the messaging.
We’ve been hearing from all the top Biden administration officials for weeks that it is time for Israel to move to a lower-intensity conflict.
In essence, stop the mass bombing. Stop the mass deaths of civilians.
So, in that context – knowing that is what they say they want – they are now selling to Israel the exaction munitions they need to continue a high-intensity campaign.
We’ve been given notice just in the last few hours that Israel is going to be buying M107,155 projectiles. These are usually fired out of howitzers [artillery] and they are very deadly, very strong … and if you think how densely packed Gaza is, that is going to lead to mass destruction.
They didn’t say exactly how many [shells] were going to be in this $147.5m package.
But, in previous packages, it really does mean that thousands and thousands of bombs will be going to Israel.
Signals Hamas may be open to captive talks seen as ‘positive’ sign
Israeli officials, speaking anonymously, say that they are dealing with this with extreme caution, but that it is a positive sign given Hamas’s stance against any form of negotiations without a total stopping of Israel’s siege on Gaza.
Israel’s saying it’s a step in the right direction but that they haven’t gotten an official proposal yet.
Now, on Hamas aside, they are saying that they have let mediators know that a total end to the aggression on Gaza – a total end to all Israeli military activities – is the priority, but that there is what they call a “backbone” to some of these talks now.
The deal would include the release of around 40 captives. The Israelis have previously asked for all remaining women and children as well as elderly men and individuals who might need medical care.
But, again, officials speaking anonymously say this is very preliminary.
Another journalist killed in Gaza
Gaza’s Government Media Office says that a journalist at Al-Quds TV was killed in an Israeli air strike on his home in Nuseirat in central Gaza.
He was identified as Jabr Abu Hadros.
The office said that 106 journalists have been killed since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza.
WATCH: Israeli forces have fired tear gas on young Palestinians
Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied east Jerusalem regularly see crowd suppression measures used by Israeli forces, as they deny thousands of young Palestinians entry into the third holiest sight in Islam.
Earlier today, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan was present when tear gas was deployed against a crowd.
Watch our video to find out what happened.
Report: IRGC members killed in Israeli strike on Damascus
Saudi news site Al Arabiya reports that 11 members of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed last night in an air strike on an airport in the Syrian capital.
The report says that the strike hit as a group of IRGC commanders were arriving at the airport.
Report: US slowing down military aid to Israel
News site Al-Monitor, quoting unnamed Israeli military sources, says that the US has been slow to supply Israel with needed weapons and ammunition.
The report also says that, according to a source in Israel’s ruling coalition, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s failure to discuss post-war plans for Gaza during yesterday’s war cabinet meeting was the result of a threat from far-right minister Smotrich.
Biden has not shown he cares about political fallout of Israel policy: Analyst
Despite polls showing that younger US citizens increasingly oppose Biden’s continued support for Israel’s war in Gaza, the administration has done little to indicate it’s seeking to mend the political fallout.
“The certainly is a significant amount of pressure on Biden from segments of the US, especially younger,” Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, told Al Jazeera. “We’ve seen in numerous polls that support for the Biden administration’s position on the Gaza war goes down with each younger age group.”
However, he added, “The Biden team doesn’t seem to care that much. I mean, I’m sure they’re obviously paying attention to the attitudes of younger voters, but that isn’t having any effect on the policies of the Biden administration.”
“Will these younger Americans vote for a third-party Candidate? Not vote at all? Or will they get behind Biden, once he’s up against a Republican?” he said. “We don’t know. But there certainly is a political price that he could be paying.”
Rockets fired from Syria land in Israel
The Israeli army says on X that two rockets fell in open areas inside Israel after they crossed Syrian territory. It said that it attacked the source of the launches.
Syrian media reported that three rockets were seen launched towards Israel, and Israeli Army Radio said that air raid sirens were activated in the northern Golan Heights.
Biden administration again bypasses Congress in possible Israel weapons sale
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has approved the potential sale of 155mm M107 projectiles and related equipment to Israel, according to the sale.
Blinken determined that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to Israel, thereby waiving the congressional review requirements, according to the Pentagon.
The approved potential sale of the bursting artillery rounds is valued at $147.5m. The Biden administration had previously bypassed Congress to approve the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106m earlier this month.
The move comes as several prominent US legislators have called for weapons sales to Israel to be conditioned on concrete steps to de-escalate the violence and lower civilian casualties in Gaza.
Israeli forces detain critically wounded teenager in Qalqilya, Health Ministry says
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says a 17-year-old boy who was shot in the chest by Israeli forces has been detained in the occupied West Bank.
The teen, identified by local media as Hamza Mohsin Shreim, was arrested in an ambulance vehicle at a checkpoint while medics were trying to move him from Qalqilya Hospital to a facility in Nablus.
Earlier, Wafa news agency said two Palestinians were wounded when Israeli soldiers opened fire towards them near the eastern entrance to Qalqilya.
Hamas officials says no captives will be released without ceasefire
Speaking with Al Jazeera, Osama Hamdan responded to Israeli media reports that Hamas was nearing an agreement on a new captive release deal.
Hamdan said Hamas informed all mediators that their priority is to stop the aggression against Gaza once and for all.
He said there is currently no talk of a captive exchange before fighting in Gaza stops.
He added that a possible release of captives in exchange for a month-long ceasefire, a detail that was reported by Israeli media, has not been discussed.
Aerial photos show scale of camps in Rafah where displaced Palestinians are sheltering
Israeli attacks continue across southern, central Gaza
We have been hearing sounds of explosions from Khan Younis from our location in Rafah, as the military confrontations continue.
The Israeli occupation forces had dropped different leaflets for the residents to keep fleeing to the south of the Gaza Strip. But during the last couple of hours, a residential building in Rafah had been attacked by the Israeli air forces, where a number of Palestinians were injured – the vast majority of them were young children.
The attacks also extended to the middle governates of the Gaza Strip – the key urban areas that have been the main focus for the Israeli military ground operations during the last couple of days: Bureij, Maghazi and Nuseirat refugee camps.
Aid entering Gaza not meeting basic needs of Palestinians, Foreign Ministry says
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry says Israel is deliberately limiting the amount of aid entering the Gaza Strip and is depriving Palestinians of their basic humanitarian needs.
The aid currently entering the Strip “does not even meet the bare minimum of what is required”, especially in northern Gaza, the ministry said in a statement.
It condemned an Israeli attack on an aid convoy travelling along a road designated for its use by the army in northern Gaza.
On top of indiscriminate bombardment, Israeli forces are using hunger and the spread of diseases as tools to commit “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza, the statement continued.
It also called for the UN Security Council to reconvene and issue a resolution that calls for an immediate ceasefire.
Domestic factors limit Israel’s time to wage war on Gaza
Giorgio Cafiero, CEO of Gulf State Analytics, tells Al Jazeera that factors such as the negative effect the war is having on Israel’s economy will decide how long the war lasts.
“There’s also the factor of war fatigue on the Israeli public,” he said. “These will be the factors that pressure the Israeli government to wind down the war”.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think US pressure is going to push Israeli leadership to wind down the conflict,” he continued, citing the soft stance the administration of President Joe Biden has taken towards Israel.
“All of the war crimes we’ve seen … none of that is resulting in giving Israel any ultimatums or setting forth any red lines,” Cafiero said.
“The support from team Biden has been ironclad this entire time. I don’t expect that to change.”
US welcomes Denmark sending frigate to Red Sea
The US has faced reluctance from some allies over the coalition, which is aimed at protecting commercial shipping in the Red Sea amid threats from the Yemen-based Houthis.
It has said 20 countries have joined the coalition, but has only named 12.
Denmark is home to Maersk, one of the world’s largest commercial shipping companies.
USCENTCOM welcomes the Danish government’s announcement of sending a Royal Danish Navy frigate to support Operation Prosperity Guardian. https://t.co/DgpqKvHv5e
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 29, 2023
Qatar official tells Israel Hamas is ‘ready in principle’ to resume captive negotiations: Report
Israeli news site Walla has reported that Qatari officials passed this message to Israel.
Efforts to resume negotiations have been at an impasse since a previous break in fighting ended in November.
Al-Quds Brigades claims latest attack on Israeli vehicle
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad says it targeted the vehicle with an RPG shell northeast of Bureij refugee camp in Gaza.
‘This is what the future wants’: Young people to call for ceasefire on New Years Eve
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Bushra Mohammad, a spokesman for the Countdown2Ceasefire campaign, said the project is calling on people around the world to call for a ceasefire on New Years Eve.
“This will be the largest call for a ceasefire, and it will be livestreamed throughout the night at every hour to show the global call for a ceasefire,” she said.
It is “absolutely crucial” for young people’s voices to be heard, she said.
“Because this is what the future wants,” she said. “We want a ceasefire, a permanent and an immediate one, because the suffering has gone on for far too long.”
Hezbollah in southern Lebanon ‘will never be the same again’: Israeli military spokesman
In his daily news conference, Daniel Hagari has said Israel over the last two days carried out “widespread strikes by fighter jets, tanks and artillery” on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.
He added that Hezbollah in southern Lebanon “no longer looks the same as it did on October 6, and it will never be the same again”.
Fighting has continued on the Israel-Lebanon border since October 8, with Hezbollah saying its goal is to pull Israeli military resources away from Gaza.