Day 76, Israel-Hamas War

 

Hostage exchange deal prospects uncertain after Egyptian talks with Hamas end ‘without results’

Prospects for an exchange deal involving the release of more hostages remained uncertain as Hamas insisted it would not discuss anything less than a complete end to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. a Palestinian official told the BBC.

More than 8,000 Palestinians are being held in Israeli jails, amid an intensified wave of arrests and detentions in Gaza and the West Bank since the 7 October attacks by Hamas, according to human rights groups.

Northern Gaza no longer has a functional hospital, WHO says

“There are actually no functional hospitals left in the north,” Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in Gaza, told reporters via video link from Jerusalem.

🚨There are no fully functioning hospitals in #Gaza today.

🏥 23 are not functioning at all
🏥 9 are partially functioning
🏥 4 are at minimum functioning

Gaza’s health system needs urgent resuscitation.

Humanitarians need safe passage

People in Gaza need peace

Ceasefire NOW pic.twitter.com/QPDvp6HHuF

— WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (@WHOEMRO) December 20, 2023

Four Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike near Rafah

An Israeli air strike killed a Hamas-appointed senior border official and three others in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip near the border with Egypt, Hamas and health officials said on Thursday.

Sirens, interceptions in Tel Aviv as rockets launched from Gaza

Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and a Reuters camera crew witnessed rocket interceptions over Israel’s commercial capital after a TV channel showed launches from the Gaza Strip.

There was no immediate word of any damage or casualties.

Qassam Brigades claim responsibility for Tel Aviv attack

he armed wing of Hamas says it fired the rocket barrage towards Tel Aviv that we reported on earlier, Al Jazeera reports.

The group said in a Telegram post the strikes were in response to the Israeli attacks against civilians in Gaza.

 Emmanuel Macron has said that Israel’s goal of fighting terrorism did not mean it had to “flatten Gaza”. 

The French president called on Israel “to stop this response, because it is not appropriate, because all lives are worth the same and we defend them

US says there were 'serious concerns' current UN ceasefire draft would slow down aid

The US said on Thursday that there were “serious and widespread concerns” that the current draft of a UN security council resolution that aims to boost humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip “could actually slow down” deliveries.

625,000 Palestinian students have been deprived of their education across Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks across the strip, the Palestinian foreign ministry announced.

Across the densely populated territory, 47% of the population are below 18 years old.

Since Israel’s attacks on Gaza, more than 10,000 infants and children have been killed by Israeli strikes, according to the Switzerland-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor. Meanwhile, more than 18,000 children have been injured by Israeli strikes.

Israeli forces claim control of Gaza neighbourhood

In a statement, the Israeli military said it has gained an “operational hold” of the Gaza City neighbourhood, which has been the site of some of the most intense fighting in the war, Al Jazeera reports.

Gaza’s entire 2.3 million population is facing crisis levels of hunger as the risk of famine increases each day, according to a report published by a UN-backed body on Thursday.

The entire 2.3 million population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of hunger and the risk of famine is increasing each day, a UN-backed body said in a report, Reuters reports.

The proportion of households in Gaza affected by high levels of acute food insecurity is the largest ever recorded globally, according to a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

The UAE foreign minister has met with a senior Palestinian Authority official in Abu Dhabi during which they discussed international efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.

Human Rights Watch: Systemic censorship of Palestinian content by Meta

A new HRW report titled Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on Instagram and Facebook “documents a pattern of undue removal and suppression of protected speech including peaceful expression in support of Palestine and public debate about Palestinian rights,” the HRW said.