Hamas 'holding hostages in central Gaza' as Israel's forces move in
Hamas could be holding hostages in central Gaza, it has been reported.
Sources from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told the Jerusalem Post that the terror organisation may be keeping some of the captives it took on October 7 in the area.
Most of the hostages still held by Hamas are thought to be located in southern Gaza.
The report came after the IDF said it had expanded its offensive in Gaza to densely populated refugee camps in the central part of the enclave.
The military’s latest evacuation orders cover an area of central Gaza that was home to nearly 90,000 people before the war and now shelters more than 61,000 displaced people, mostly from the north, according to the UN humanitarian office.
04:16 PM GMT
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04:15 PM GMT
Israel 'expands offensive' into refugee camps
Israel’s army says it has expanded its offensive in Gaza to densely populated refugee camps in the central part of the enclave.
IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said that troops were “fighting in the southern Gaza Strip in the area of Khan Younis”, adding the military had also “expanded the combat to the area known as the central camps”.
Residents of central Gaza described shelling and airstrikes shaking the Nuseirat, Maghazi and Bureij camps.
“It was a night of hell. We haven’t seen such bombing since the start of the war,” Rami Abu Mosab, speaking from the Bureij camp, told the Associated Press.
He said warplanes flew overhead and gunfire and explosions echoed from the eastern edge of the camp.
03:51 PM GMT
Iranian Guards vow revenge against Israel over general's killing
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Israel on Wednesday that it or its allied groups would take “direct” action to avenge the killing of senior commander Razi Moussavi.
The general was killed Monday in an Israeli missile strike near the Syrian capital, according to state media, at a time of heightened regional tensions around the Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza.
The Israeli army, which has launched hundreds of strikes on Iran-linked targets in war-torn Syria in recent years, said only that it does not comment on foreign media reports.
The body of Moussavi, a commander in the Guards’ foreign operations arm the Quds Force, was taken to Iraq for funeral rites in Shiite Muslim holy sites a day ahead of his burial in Iran planned for Thursday.
IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif warned that “our response to Moussavi’s assassination will be a combination of direct action as well as (from) others led by the Axis of Resistance,” the local Mehr news agency reported.
03:05 PM GMT
Israel-Hamas war in pictures:
02:15 PM GMT
Singer eyed as Israel's Eurovision entry dies fighting in Gaza
An Israeli military reservist has been killed in the Gaza Strip just weeks after he successfully auditioned on a TV show that picks the country’s submission for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Shaul Greenglick, 26, performed on “Israel’s Rising Star” on Dec. 3 while on furlough from his mobilisation in the war against Hamas. Dressed in army fatigues and lieutenant’s stripes, he sang a popular ballad and was green-lit for the next round in the selection process.
Writing after Mr Greenglick’s death, one of the judges, Keren Peles, said he had dropped out of the show because of his duties in the infantry reserves.
She had told Mr Greenglick on stage during his appearance on the show: “I’m happy to see you wearing a uniform, because it’s reassuring that someone like you is in uniform. I would be happy to see you representing Israel at Eurovision.”
“I imagined this year differently, as a year of aspiration and of living my dreams,” Greenglick said in a Dec. 14 post on Facebook.
“Now I’m living an old dream, of fighting for the country .... A new, different dream will have to wait a bit.”
01:38 PM GMT
Find 'additional solutions' to distribute aid in Gaza, IDF tells international community
There are “logistical limitations” to getting aid into Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said, as it urged the international community to “find additional solutions.”
IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “Our war is against Hamas, not against the people of Gaza. We’re sending aid into Gaza, to the people of Gaza. We are not the bottleneck.
“On the contrary. We check more aid trucks than can enter Gaza.”
“There are logistical limitations and challenges posed by the ability of international organisations to distribute aid.
“Which is why we urge the international community to find additional solutions, for the distribution of aid, alongside establishing field hospitals and temporary shelters, for Gazans.”
01:20 PM GMT
US Secretary of State expected to visit Middle East next week
Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, is expected to visit the Middle East next week, Axios is reporting.
BREAKING: Secretary of State Tony Blinken is expected to travel to the Middle East late next week to discuss the Gaza war, five U.S., Israeli and Arab officials told me. Blinken is planning to visit Israel, WB, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar
— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) December 27, 2023
01:00 PM GMT
Pictured: The wife of an Israeli military reservist who was killed in southern Gaza reacts during his funeral
12:26 PM GMT
War will continue for ‘many more months’, says IDF chief
Israel’s war on Hamas will last for “many more months”, Israel’s military chief said, despite mounting global calls for a ceasefire.
Herzi Halevi, the chief of the general staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said its “objectives” in the 11-week-old conflict were “essential and not simple to achieve”.
“Therefore, the war will continue for many more months,” he told reporters in a televised statement on the Gaza border on Tuesday.
“There are no magic solutions, there are no shortcuts in dismantling a terrorist organization, only determined and persistent fighting,” he added. “We will reach Hamas’ leadership too, whether it takes a week or if it takes months.”
11:55 AM GMT
Telecom services 'gradually restored' in areas of Gaza
Internet and telephone services that were cut on Tuesday were gradually being restored in central and southern areas of Gaza, the Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel said on X, formerly Twitter.
We would like to announce the gradual restoration of telecom services in the central and southern areas of Gaza Strip after a blackout caused by the ongoing aggression.
— Paltel (@Paltelco) December 27, 2023
11:22 AM GMT
Tory MP says suspected arson attack could be related to his views on Middle East
A Tory MP has said he believes a suspected arson attack on his north London office could be related to his views on the Middle East.
Mike Freer was called on Christmas Eve and told that a shed at the rear of the office had been set on fire, with the resulting blaze causing significant damage to the building.
No one was in the office at the time, and police are treating the incident as a suspect arson attack.
Read more from Fiona Parker here
10:48 AM GMT
Drone footage of mass grave in Gaza
10:22 AM GMT
Six killed in Israeli raid on refugee camp in West Bank
Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, killing at least six Palestinians, Palestinian health authorities said.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, an Israeli drone strike hit a group of Palestinians in the Nur Shams refugee camp next to the town of Tulkarem.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said six bodies have been brought to the Thabet Thabet hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent accused Israeli forces of disrupting ambulances transporting the dead and wounded.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
09:42 AM GMT
Pictured: Bloodstains on the ground where Palestinians were killed are marked by circles of stones
09:11 AM GMT
UN appoints outgoing Dutch finance minister as Gaza humanitarian coordinator
The United Nations has named an outgoing Dutch finance minister as its humanitarian coordinator for Gaza.
The appointment of Sigrid Kaag comes after the UN Security Council called for the “safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale” in a resolution last week.
It requested the appointment of a UN humanitarian coordinator to oversee and verify third-country aid to Gaza.
Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary- General, said Ms Kaag, who speaks fluent Arabic and five other languages, “brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs as well as in diplomacy” to her new post. She is expected to start on Jan. 8.
“She will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza,” he said.
08:52 AM GMT
Israeli strike 'kills three' in south Lebanon
An Israeli air strike on a south Lebanon border town killed a Hezbollah fighter, the group has said, with state media reporting two of his relatives were also killed.
The border between Lebanon and Israel has seen escalating exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah, since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7.
“Enemy warplanes raided, before midnight (2200 GMT), a house... in the centre of the town of Bint Jbeil,” around two kilometres (a little over a mile) from the border, killing a man, his brother and his wife, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.
The NNA identified the dead as Ali Bazzi, his brother Ibrahim and his wife Shourouk Hammoud.
Hezbollah later announced that Ali Bazzi was one of its fighters.
08:27 AM GMT
Biden and Qatari Emir discussed need to release hostages, says White House
Joe Biden and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani discussed the need to release hostages held in Gaza and efforts to boost humanitarian aid on Tuesday, the White House said.
Qatar and Egypt were mediators between Israel and Hamas in the late November truce. Current diplomatic efforts on a new truce have yielded little public progress so far.
“The two leaders discussed the urgent effort to secure the release of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, including American citizens,” the White House readout said, adding they also talked about increasing access to aid.
The Qatari State News Agency said the emir received a phone call from the US president to discuss the latest developments and current joint mediation efforts for calming the situation in the besieged enclave to reach a permanent ceasefire.
08:16 AM GMT
Gaza in pictures:
08:07 AM GMT
US and Israel discuss 'different phase of war'
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer on Tuesday to discuss shifting “to a different phase,” a White House official said.
The meeting provided an opportunity to talk about steps to improve the humanitarian situation in war-torn Gaza and minimise harm to civilians, according to the official, who did not wish to be named.
It was also meant as a chance to speak on “the transition to a different phase of the war to maximise focus on high-value Hamas targets,” the official said.
08:04 AM GMT
Children among Palestinians stripped to underwear by IDF in Hamas search
Dozens of Palestinians, including some who appeared to be minors, have been rounded up in a football stadium and stripped to their underwear in the latest attempts to filter suspected Hamas operatives.
Footage showed predominantly men stepping onto the pitch and sitting in rows with hands held aloft as IDF soldiers in full military gear watched on.
Similar footage from Gaza triggered outrage when released earlier this month, with critics denouncing the Israeli military for its tactics they said humiliated Palestinians.
Read more from The Telegraph’s Middle East Correspondent Nataliya Vasilyeva here
