Israel war: IDF dog-cam recorded hostage pleading for help
A camera strapped to an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dog captured a hostage pleading for help days before he was mistakenly killed by Israeli troops.
The canine was sent into a building in the Gaza Strip on December 10 as part of a reconnaissance mission after a group of Hamas operatives opened fire on Israeli soldiers.
The dog was shot dead by Hamas gunmen, who were in turn killed by IDF troops, allowing Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim and Samar Talalka to escape captivity, according to new details from the military’s investigation into their deaths.
Five days later, Shamriz, Haim, and Talalka attempted to approach troops but were instead shot and killed.
During the battle, the camera mounted on the dog recorded the voice of one of the trio, thought to be Mr Shamriz, shouting for “Help” and that there were hostages inside the building.
The group are not seen on the footage, which was not being monitored live and was only discovered on December 18, after the body of the canine was recovered.
03:59 PM GMT
Today's live coverage has ended
Today’s live blog is closing. Here is a roundup of the day’s main events:
The head of Hamas has arrived in Cairo for ceasefire talks with Egyptian officials after Israel indicated it was willing to agree to another pause in fighting in exchange for the release of more hostages.
Hamas is not interested in exchanging hostages just to get bombed by Israel afterwards, a senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera.
Hamas’s leader in Gaza narrowly evaded capture by the Israel Defense Forces twice in recent days, according to Israeli media reports.
Foreign minister Sir David Cameron will travel to Jordan and Egypt this week to push for a sustainable ceasefire and further humanitarian pauses in Gaza, the foreign office said on Wednesday.
Israel’s clearing operation in northern Gaza appears to be entering its final stages, the Institute for the Study of War has said.
03:49 PM GMT
Netanyahu rules out Gaza ceasefire before 'elimination' of Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the war in Gaza will continue “until Hamas is destroyed.”
In a statement to the media, Mr Netanyahu declared: “We’re continuing the war to the end. It will continue until Hamas is destroyed — until victory… until all the goals we set are met: destroying Hamas, releasing our hostages and removing the threat from Gaza.
“Anyone who thinks we’ll stop is unmoored from reality… We’re raining fire on Hamas, hell fire.”
03:45 PM GMT
Rocket sirens sound in northern Israel
Rocket siren alarms have been heard in a number of communities in northern Israel, including Ma’alot-Tarshiha, Shomera, Abirim and Kfar Vradim.
There are no immediate reports of anyone being hurt in the apparent attack.
Before the alert, the skies above Israel had been unusually calm as Hamas’ leaders visited Egypt for talks revolving around a possible pause in the fighting and the release of hostages.
03:27 PM GMT
Shoes laid out to represent dead children
Thousands of shoes have been laid out in Rotterdam to symbolise the children who have died in Gaza during the war.
03:05 PM GMT
Strikes kill at least 46 in Jabalya
Heavy airstrikes in the Jabalya area of northern Gaza have killed at least 46 people in the area.
Videos shared on Wednesday showed destruction and thick smoke in the area as people picked through the rubble.
Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry claimed that 46 bodies had been recovered and 110 injured had been taken to Jabalya Health Center.
They said that dozens are believed to be trapped under the rubble.
02:46 PM GMT
‘Fast-track humanitarian aid to Gaza via Cyprus,’ says top Israeli diplomat
Israel wants to fast-track the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza through a maritime corridor from Cyprus, Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen has said.
Mr Cohen said Israeli and Cypriot teams would spend Wednesday and Thursday hammering out the details of the initiative so that aid shipments can begin as soon as possible.
Cyprus pitched the idea of such an aid corridor shortly after the start of the war in Gaza.
Officials from the country have stated that several countries, including Britain, have dispatched aid that is currently stored at the Cyprian port of Larnaca.
02:33 PM GMT
IDF 'almost catch' Hamas leader hiding in tunnel
Hamas’s leader in Gaza narrowly evaded capture by the Israel Defense Forces twice in recent days, according to Israeli media reports.
Yahya Sinwar is believed to be hiding in tunnels under Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, where Israeli forces have been engaged in intense fighting in recent weeks.
IDF troops are said to have breached some of the underground structures as they attempt to hunt down Sinwar and other Hamas leaders who orchestrated the terror group’s October 7 raid on southern Israel.
But the Hamas chief was reported to have escaped just before the Israeli forces arrived.
Intelligence gathered by the IDF indicates that Sinwar is on the move rather than remaining in any one place for an extended period.
02:10 PM GMT
US defence secretary makes unannounced visit to USS Gerald R Ford
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin flew out to the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier Wednesday to meet with the sailors he has ordered to remain at sea to prevent the conflict from growing.
Mr Austin has been in the region to press Israel to shift its bombardment of Gaza.
Using the ship’s public address system, Mr Austin thanked the sailors and their families for giving up their holidays because of the mission.
“Sometimes our greatest achievements are the bad things we stop from happening,” Austin told the crew. “In a moment of huge tension in the region, you all have been the lynchpin of preventing a wider regional conflict.”
The aircraft carrier’s more than 4,000 sailors and the accompanying warships were supposed to be home in early November.
01:48 PM GMT
IDF deploys tactical drones
Soldiers from the Israeli Defence Forces have been deploying tactical drones near the border with Gaza.
01:29 PM GMT
First aid convoy from Jordan delivers food to Gaza
The first aid convoy to travel directly from Jordan to Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7 has delivered 750 metric tonnes of food to the Palestinian enclave, the UN World Food Programme said on Wednesday.
“This crucial first step could pave the way for a more sustainable aid corridor through Jordan and allow for the delivery of more aid at scale,” WFP said in a statement.
12:48 PM GMT
Hamas official refuses to ‘play game’ of releasing hostages for a ceasefire
Hamas is not interested in exchanging hostages just to get bombed by Israel afterward, a senior Hamas official told Al Jazeera.
Ghazi Hamad told the Qatari broadcaster: “Israel will take the card of the hostages and after that they will start a new round of mass killing and massacres against our people.”
He added: “We will not play this game.”
The Hamas official also mooted a reconciliation between the terrorist group and Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO).
Though Hamad said the group had reached out many times to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads Fatah, with an intention to “take decisions together”, such a move could trigger more extensive US sanctions.
12:23 PM GMT
IDF claims to have discovered long-range rockets in Gaza truck
The Israel Defence Forces has released an image of what it believes to be long-range rockets intended for use by Hamas, found in a truck in Gaza City.
“Over the past day, IDF troops conducted a targeted raid in Jabalia and located a truck with long-range rockets installed by the Hamas terrorist organisation,” the IDF said in a statement.
Fighters from the Nahal Brigade and the 551st Brigade Combat Team claim to have located the vehicle in the Jabaliya area before destroying the truck, which they say also harboured numerous guns.
11:59 AM GMT
Hamas leader arrived in Cairo for talks
The head of Hamas has arrived in Cairo for ceasefire talks with Egyptian officials after Israel indicated it was willing to agree to another pause in fighting in exchange for the release of more hostages.
Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is expected to lead a “high-level” delegation to meet with Egypt’s spy chief and others on “stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners”, according to reports.
It follows mounting international pressure for a new truce, with the United Nations due to vote on calling for a ceasefire later today.
11:39 AM GMT
At least 66 per cent of jobs lost in Gaza
At least 66 per cent of jobs have been lost in Gaza since the conflict erupted in October, the International Labour (ILO) said on Wednesday, warning that employment losses could continue to increase in the enclave.
The losses amount to a total of 192,000 jobs in the small Palestinian territory, the ILO said in its second assessment of the impact of Israeli ground and air strikes on Gaza.
In a first assessment released in early November, ILO estimated that 182,000 jobs had been lost in Gaza, a figure representing more than 60 per cent of employment.
“Today hardly anybody in Gaza is able to earn income from work,” said Peter Rademaker, ILO deputy regional director for the Arab states.
“It’s clearly a still growing curve,” he said of employment loss. “It might even get worse.”
11:21 AM GMT
Pictured: Israeli operations continue
The Israeli Defence Forces have been photographed during their ongoing mission inside of Gaza.
11:03 AM GMT
Greece advises vessels to avoid Yemeni waters after Red Sea attacks
Greece has advised commercial vessels sailing in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to avoid Yemeni waters, keep only the necessary crew on the bridge and follow alerts issued by maritime authorities to avoid attacks in the area.
Greek ship-owners control about 20 per cent of the world’s commercial vessels in terms of carrying capacity.
A shipping ministry advisory was issued on Saturday, as recent attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi militant group on vessels have forced leading shipping companies to reroute via the cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal, the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
According to a document seen by Reuters, vessels should also conduct fire drills for regular checks of their safety equipment before they reach Yemeni shores, and are advised to sail through the southern Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait at night.
10:41 AM GMT
Hamas releases series of hostage videos
Hamas and other affiliate groups have released numerous hostage videos this week.
The series of videos show various hostages under duress, pleading for their return to Israel.
Three elderly male hostages could be seen in a video released by Hamas on Monday.
It was denounced by Israel as a “criminal, terrorist video”.
Yesterday al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, released a further video of two male hostages.
The pair, Gadi Moses, 79 and Elad Katzir, 47, were kidnapped on October 7 from Kibbutz Nir.
Mr Moses said that their current situation was “unbearable”.
Israel believes that 129 hostages are still inside Gaza.
10:23 AM GMT
IDF 'neutralises' attacker in West Bank
The Israeli Defence Forces has “neutralised” a Palestinian driver who attempted to ram soldiers at a West Bank junction outside of Hebron.
Troops from a reserve battalion had been guarding the junction at the time of the attack.
No injuries were reported.
10:08 AM GMT
Hamas and Israel not 'near a final deal at the moment'
Hamas and Israel are not near agreeing upon a hostage deal, an Israeli official has said.
“For the time being, it’s still negotiations. There is nothing final,” the official told CNN.
They added that Hamas is asking for “more heavy-duty prisoners than before”, referring to the previous release of Palestinian women and teenage prisoners from Israeli prisons.
It is thought that 129 hostages from the October 7 attack are still being held in Gaza, of which 108 are still alive and 21 dead.
09:52 AM GMT
Gazans warned to avoid Salah al Din road and axis
The Israeli Defense Forces has warned Gazans to avoid the Salah al-Din road and axis, describing it as a “battlefield”.
“The fighting and military advance of the defence forces in the Khan Younis area do not allow the movement of civilians through the Salah al-Din axis in the sections north and east of the city of Khan Younis,” IDF Arab spokesman Avichay Adraee said.
“The Salah al-Din axis constitutes a battlefield, so it is dangerous,” he added.
Adraee warned people to leave the city via roads to its west, adding that a humanitarian pause will take place in the city of Rafa between 10 am and 2 pm local time (8 am-12 pm UK time).
09:41 AM GMT
In pictures: The latest from Gaza
09:19 AM GMT
Half of Gazans starving, according to UN agency
Half of Gazans are starving and often going entire days without food amid Israel’s attacks, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
“The amount of aid crossing into Gaza does not meet a fraction of the needs,” the WFP wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The WFP said that just 10 per cent of the food Gaza needs has entered the strip over the past 70 days.
Two weeks ago, the WFP warned that 97 per cent of Palestinians in northern Gaza and 83 per cent in the south reported inadequate food supplies.
09:03 AM GMT
Internet services cut in southern Gaza
Internet services are down in southern Gaza, according to a connectivity tracking service.
NetBlocks said there had been a “collapse in connectivity” in numerous areas, despite some connections being restored recently.
Throughout the conflict, internet connection has been sporadic in Gaza, with Hamas blaming Israel for the outages.
08:48 AM GMT
Israel nears end of operation in northern Gaza
Israel’s clearing operation in northern Gaza appears to be entering its final stages, the Institute for the Study of War has said.
The ISW, a US based think tank, said that Israel had broken down Hamas’ brigade in north Gaza.
#Israel–#Hamas War Update, Dec. 19, 2023: Israel has degraded Hamas’ North Gaza Brigade, which is consistent w/ CTP-ISW's observation that Israel appears to be nearing the final stages of its clearing operation in the northern #Gaza Strip.
Full report: https://t.co/HG6aKFbPln pic.twitter.com/YGJDT7nM9Q— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) December 20, 2023
On Tuesday, the Israeli Defence Forces announced that it had “dismantled” Hamas’s three battalions operating in Jabaliya, just north of Gaza City.
The IDF said in an update that at least 500 Palestinians believed to be Hamas fighters had surrendered in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
08:33 AM GMT
David Cameron to visit Jordan and Egypt this week
British foreign minister Sir David Cameron will travel to Jordan and Egypt this week to push for a sustainable ceasefire and further humanitarian pauses in Gaza, the foreign office said on Wednesday.
Sir Cameron, on his second visit to the region, will travel with Britain’s Minister of State for the Middle East Tariq Ahmad and “progress efforts to secure the release of all hostages, step up aid to Gaza and end Hamas rocket attacks and threats against Israel.”
In Jordan, Sir Cameron will meet his counterpart Ayman Safadi and in Egypt, he will travel to Al Arish, near the Egypt-Gaza border, to see the impact of UK aid being sent to Gaza.
