Israel-Hamas war: IDF doubles strikes on Gaza Strip
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Israel almost doubled its strikes on the Gaza Strip overnight, as it ramped up its attack against Hamas.
The Israel Defense Forces said it struck more than 450 targets in Gaza from land, sea and air over the past 24 hours - the most since a truce collapsed last week and around double the daily figures typically reported since then.
Hamas has said it is battling Israeli troops “on all axes of the incursion into the Gaza Strip”.
Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed nearly 17,200 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run authorities.
The vast majority of Gazans are now displaced and unable to access any aid, hospitals are overrun and food is running out, with the main United Nations agency warning that society was “on the verge of a full-blown collapse”.
03:58 PM GMT
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03:57 PM GMT
Pictured: An Israeli armoured personnel carrier (APC) manoeuvres, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas
03:52 PM GMT
End 'decimation' of Palestinian lives, says head of UN aid agency
The head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to end the “decimation” of Palestinian lives in the territory.
Philippe Lazzarini urged all UN member states to “take immediate actions to implement an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, saying in a statement that “calling for an end to the decimation of the lives of Palestinians in Gaza is not a denial of the abhorrent attacks of 7 October in Israel”.
His comments come as Israel sharply stepped up strikes on the Gaza Strip.
03:35 PM GMT
Hamas brutality can't justify 'collective punishment' of Palestinians, says UN chief
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that Hamas brutality could never justify “collective punishment” of Palestinians as Israel presses its campaign against Hamas in the Gaza strip.
“Some 130 hostages are still held captive. I call for their immediate and unconditional release, as well as their humane treatment and visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross until they are freed,” Mr Guterres said at an emergency meeting of the organisation’s Security Council.
“At the same time, the brutality perpetrated by Hamas can never justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
02:54 PM GMT
UN postpones vote on demand for humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza
A UN Security Council vote on a draft resolution that demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has been postponed until 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) Friday, diplomats said.
The 15-member body had been due to vote on the resolution, drafted by the United Arab Emirates, on Friday morning.
A resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the five permanent members - the United States, Russia, China, France or Britain - to be adopted.
The United States, which vetoed one of the earlier draft resolutions and rejects the idea of a ceasefire, has said a new resolution from the council at this stage would not be “useful.”
“Our position hasn’t changed,” said the deputy US ambassador, Robert Wood.
02:42 PM GMT
Pictured: Aftermath of Israeli strikes in Khan Younis
02:20 PM GMT
Blinken meets with Qatari prime minister
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani discussed their coordination on efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas, the State Department has said.
The pair also discussed the importance of preventing the conflict in Gaza from spreading.
“The secretary expressed appreciation for Qatar’s critical efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and the recent humanitarian pause in Gaza,” the department said in a statement.
It comes after Mr Blinken criticised Israel’s conduct in its southern Gaza offensive, saying there was a “gap” between its intent to protect civilians and what has been happening on the ground.
02:12 PM GMT
Gaza 'reaching point of no return,' warns UN
We are reaching a point of no return in #Gaza, where the blatant disregard for international humanitarian law scars our collective conscience.
An end to the fighting is imperative if we are to avert the decimation of #Gaza and contain the spillover of this crisis. pic.twitter.com/aC2PSoxuHH— UNRWA (@UNRWA) December 8, 2023
01:39 PM GMT
Watch: Elderly Gazan woman accuses Hamas of stealing aid in rare criticism
01:15 PM GMT
Gaza health system 'on its knees,' says WHO
Gaza’s health system is on its knees and cannot afford to lose another ambulance or a single hospital bed more, the World Health Organisation has warned.
“The situation is getting more and more horrible by the day... beyond belief, literally,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a press briefing in Geneva.
“The health system is on its knees. Gaza cannot afford to lose any more health facilities, another single ambulance, any more hospitals... or even a single hospital bed more.”
It comes after the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that only 14 of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip were functioning in any capacity.
12:50 PM GMT
Funeral of son of former IDF chief takes place
Israeli war cabinet minister Gadi Eizenkot learned of the death of his son in Gaza combat while conferring about operational plans at military headquarters outside the Palestinian enclave, his partner in government recalled at the funeral on Friday.
The funeral was attended by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Minister Benny Gantz said in a televised eulogy that the experience brought home for them both the career-long knowledge that “arrows on the map can become arrows in the hearts of beloved families”.
Master Sergeant Gal Meir Eisenkot, the 25-year-old son of Gadi Eisenkot, was critically injured when a bomb exploded in a tunnel shaft in the Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza. He was taken to hospital in Israel, where he died of his injuries.
Read more here
12:32 PM GMT
Shapps 'encouraged' by opening of Kerem Shalom crossing
Having gone to Israel to drive forward efforts to get more aid into Gaza - I’m encouraged that Israel announced it will open Kerem Shalom Crossing as I discussed with @yoavgallant
It’s absolutely vital more routes open, so we can get lifesaving aid to Gaza. pic.twitter.com/KeuQkdstc2— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 8, 2023
12:01 PM GMT
Israel battling 700 Hamas fighters in Gaza City neighbourhood
Israel is facing growing resistance from Hamas fighters in a Gaza City neighbourhood.
The Israel Defense Forces Golani Brigade is engaged in heavy fighting in Shujaiya on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Israeli media is reporting about 700 Hamas fighters putting up last-moment resistance.
It comes as Israel said it struck 450 targets over the past 24 hours.
11:31 AM GMT
Erdogan links Sweden's Nato bid to F-16 sale
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s stalled Nato membership application conditional on the US Congress “simultaneously” approving Ankara’s request for F-16 fighter jets.
Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment and sought the nuclear protection afforded by the US-led defence organisation in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
Their bids won fast-track approval from all Nato members except Turkey and Hungary.
The two ultimately relented and accepted Finland into the bloc this year.
Mr Erdogan in July lifted his objections to Sweden’s membership after Stockholm took steps aimed at cracking down on Kurdish groups that Ankara views as terrorists.
11:01 AM GMT
Streets of Gaza feel wild, says UN
Civil order is breaking down in #Gaza - the streets feel wild, particularly after dark - some aid convoys are being looted and UN vehicles stoned. Society is on the brink of full-blown collapse. @UNRWA continues to serve the population with what limted aid we have.
— Thomas White (@TomWhiteGaza) December 8, 2023
10:52 AM GMT
Gaza latest pictures:
10:39 AM GMT
Kerem Shalom border crossing to open
Israel has agreed to a US request to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing for the inspection of trucks and their cargo, a US official has said.
Egypt, along with the United Nations, has been lobbying Israel to speed up an inspection process, which requires the vehicles to drive to Egypt’s border with Israel before looping back to Rafah.
The number of trucks crossing daily has dropped to fewer than 100, from nearly 200 during a Nov. 24-Dec. 1 truce, according to the United Nations.
Kerem Shalom sits at Gaza’s southern border with Israel and Egypt and the crossing was used to carry more than 60 per cent of the truckloads going into Gaza before war erupted two months ago.
Jon Finer, a top White House national security aide, said the United States had not given Israel a firm deadline to end major combat operations against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
10:08 AM GMT
Erdogan says no plans for now to meet Biden on Gaza
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was cited on Friday as saying that a meeting with US President Joe Biden on the situation in Gaza was not on his agenda, but that he would discuss it and other issues if Mr Biden called.
Speaking to reporters on a flight from Athens, Mr Erdogan said his foreign minister would hold talks in Washington as part of a so-called contact group of Muslim countries on Friday.
He hoped it would lead to the end of US support for Israel, according to broadcaster Haberturk and others.
09:41 AM GMT
Urgent need to increase aid to Gaza, says Shapps
The Hamas attacks of two months ago brought immense suffering to the region.
There's an urgent need to increase aid to Gaza, which is why I met with ministers in Cyprus & Israel and with the Palestinian Authority here in Ramallah, to work on new routes for much needed aid. pic.twitter.com/B8ePJxk9UE— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) December 8, 2023
09:28 AM GMT
Rockets fired at US embassy in Baghdad
Salvoes of rockets were launched Friday at the US embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, the mission said, the latest in a flurry of such attacks amid the Israel-Hamas war.
“A multi-rocket attack was launched at US and Coalition forces in the vicinity of Union III and the Baghdad embassy complex” without causing any reported casualties or damage, a US official said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
In a statement, the US embassy said “two salvoes of rockets” were fired at the mission compound at around 4:15 am (0115 GMT).
“Indications are the attacks were initiated by Iran-aligned militias,” said a US spokesperson.
08:57 AM GMT
Palestinian Authority 'working with US on postwar plan for Gaza'
The Palestinian Authority is working with US officials on a plan to run Gaza after the war is over, Bloomberg News reported, citing Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.
The preferred outcome of the conflict would be for Hamas, which controls Gaza, to become a junior partner under the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), helping to build a new independent state that includes the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, Ramallah-based Mr Shtayyeh said in an interview to Bloomberg News on Thursday.
“If they (Hamas) are ready to come to an agreement and accept the political platform of the PLO, then there will be room for talk. Palestinians should not be divided,” Mr Shtayyeh said, adding that Israel’s aim to fully defeat Hamas is unrealistic.
Earlier this week, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out the return of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.
08:50 AM GMT
Two-state solution needed more than ever, says Shapps
A sustainable two-state solution is needed now more than ever, Grant Shapps, the Defence Secretary has said.
Mr Shapps posted a picture of himself on social media with the caption: “Walking through Kibbutz Kfar, two months to the day since Hamas’ terror attack.
“Whilst overhead an Iron Dome defensive rocket screamed past bringing down an incoming rocket moments later.
“All a stark reminder that a sustainable two-state solution is needed now more than ever.”
08:46 AM GMT
Son of former IDF chief killed by Hamas tunnel bomb
The son of a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff who was also a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, has been killed in fighting in Gaza.
Master Sergeant Gal Meir Eisenkot, the 25-year-old son of Gadi Eisenkot, was critically injured when a bomb exploded in a tunnel shaft in the Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza. He was taken to hospital in Israel, where he died of his injuries.
Mr Eisenkot, an observer in the war cabinet, was in the war room when he learned of his son’s death.
Gal Eisenkot was one of two soldiers killed in the latest fighting, bringing the total of IDF fatalities to 89.
Read more here
08:45 AM GMT
After the bombs fell
Karim Ward marked his fifth birthday by telling everyone he met that today was his big day.
“He was overjoyed,” his mother Walaa, 31, said. “He wanted us to celebrate, but I told him there were no cake shops open.”
They would celebrate properly when the war was over, Walaa promised.
Then the bombs fell.
Read more from Esam Abed in the Gaza Strip and James Rothwell here
08:40 AM GMT
Hanukkah in pictures:
08:33 AM GMT
Israeli forces kill 6 Palestinians in West Bank raid
Israeli forces shot dead six Palestinians on Friday in a raid on a refugee camp in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The ministry did not identify those who died, but said they had been killed “by bullets from the occupation (Israel) in the Al-Fara refugee camp” near Tubas.
The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Clashes escalated with the (Israeli) forces who stormed the camp amid intense fire and... explosions,” said the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
08:32 AM GMT
Israel must put a premium on civilian protection, says Blinken
Antony Blinken has criticised Israel’s conduct in its southern Gaza offensive, saying there was a “gap” between its intent to protect civilians and what has been happening on the ground.
Speaking at a news conference in Washington following a meeting with Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Blinken laid out concrete steps to ensure civilians are out of harm’s way and the areas they go to are supplied with food, medicine and water.
“As we stand here almost a week into this campaign into the south... it remains imperative that Israel put a premium on civilian protection,” Mr Blinken told reporters. “And there does remain a gap between, exactly what I said when I was there, the intent to protect civilians, and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground.”
