Wednesday, December 27, 2023
19:30 GMT – Israeli army has killed 8,800 Palestinian children in 82 days: Gaza media office
Israel has killed 8,800 children alongside 6,300 women since the offensive on Gaza started October 7, the Gaza media office said on Wednesday.
It said that "the number of killed Palestinians who have been brought to the hospitals in the strip since the beginning of the war has reached 21,110."
"During 82 days of the comprehensive genocidal war, the Israeli army committed 1,779 massacres, resulting in 28,110 martyrs and missing individuals," it added.
16:00 GMT – Gaza death toll rises to 21,110 amid Israeli attacks
The health ministry in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip said on Wednesday that at least 21,110 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the war with Israel erupted on October 7.
The ministry said the toll included 195 people killed in the past 24 hours.
It added that another 55,243 people have been wounded since the start of the war.
15:00 GMT – Jordanian king, Egyptian president push for Gaza ceasefire
King Abdullah II of Jordan met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Wednesday and the two pushed for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where relentless Israeli attacks have killed more than 21,000 people in just over two months.
The two stressed their complete rejection of attempts to liquidate the Palestinian issue, and forcibly displace Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, according to statements shared by both sides.
They called for an immediate ceasefire and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza to ease the suffering of the people.
0703 GMT — The Israeli army announced three more soldiers were killed in the clashes with Palestinian fighters in northern Gaza as Israel stepped up strikes inside Gaza, where nearly 21,000 people have already been reported killed.
In a statement cited by the Times of Israel online newspaper, the Israeli army identified the three soldiers as Lt. Yaron Eliezer Chitiz, 23, deputy commander in the army's Givati Brigade, Staff Sgt. Itay Buton, 20, and Staff Sgt. Efraim Jack man, 21, both from the Givati Brigade.
In an earlier statement, the Israeli army also declared five soldiers, including commanders, killed in Gaza, in addition to the injury of 43 soldiers, nine of them in serious condition, in Gaza.
A total of 164 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli ground invasion in the narrow enclave on October 27.
More updates
0915 GMT — Israeli soldier stabbed injured Palestinian inside ambulance in West Bank, says doctor
A Palestinian doctor said Israeli soldiers stabbed and assaulted injured Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency , Radwan Blaibla, head of Tulkarem Medical Syndicate, said the Israeli army stopped ambulances that were transferring injured Palestinians from the Nour Shams refugee camp in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
"One injured was stabbed in his neck by (an Israeli) soldier while in the ambulance, posing danger to his life," the physician said.
He added that the injured Palestinian suffered wounds from the Israeli airstrike on the refugee camp and the stabbing exacerbated his health condition.
0850 GMT — 3 killed, 1 injured in Israeli air strike in southern Lebanese town
Three Lebanese people were killed and one other was injured in an overnight Israeli airstrike on a house in Bent Jbeil town in southern Lebanon, local media reported.
"The Bent Jbeil town awoke on a massacre committed by the Israeli enemy last night that left three of the town's residents martyred and a fourth injured," the Lebanese official news agency NNA said.
It added that ambulances and medical teams rushed to the scene to remove the victims from the rubble of the destroyed home.
Separately, Hezbollah announced the death of a member, Ali Bizzi.
0814 GMT — UN appoints a former Dutch deputy premier and Mideast expert as its Gaza humanitarian coordinator
Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and a Mideast expert, was appointed the U.N. coordinator for humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza, the United Nations chief announced Tuesday.
The announcement by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres follows the Security Council’s adoption of a resolution on Friday requesting him to expeditiously appoint a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, where more than 2 million civilians are in desperate need of food, water and medicine,
Guterres said 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.
06:00 GMT - Israel warns its attacks on Gaza will continue ''for many more months''
Israel's army chief has warned its aggression in Gaza will last "many more months" as the military stepped up strikes, where nearly 21,000 people have already been reported killed.
But Israel's leaders have repeatedly vowed to keep up their offensive until Palestinian resistance group Hamas is destroyed, and army chief Herzi Halevi signalled there would be no quick end to the war.
"This war's objectives are essential and not simple to achieve," Halevi said on Tuesday night.
05:30 GMT - Jordan, Egypt discuss efforts to reach ceasefire in Gaza
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry to exchange opinions on efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Meeting in Egypt's capital Cairo, they exchanged views on the ongoing coordination and consultation process between the two countries to ensure a ceasefire, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said on X.
They also addressed ways to deliver "adequate, urgent and sustainable" aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
04:47 GMT - Israel kills six Palestinians in West Bank incursion
An Israeli military raid in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank has left six Palestinians dead and several others wounded early on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
"Six martyrs killed by the occupation [Israel] and some who were seriously wounded were transported to the Thabet Thabet government hospital in Tulkarem," the ministry said in a short statement.
03:26 GMT - US, Israel discuss war in Gaza; Cuba slams 'terrorist' Israel
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer have discussed planning for the day after Israel's brutal war on besieged Gaza, including governance and security, a White House official said.
Sullivan and Dermer also discussed efforts to bring home the remaining captives and a transition to a different phase of the war to maximise focus on high-value Hamas targets when they met, the official said.
Israeli forces have expanded their ground invasion into urban refugee camps in central Gaza after bombarding the crowded Palestinian communities and ordering residents to flee.
02:52 GMT — eSIM cards help war-torn Gaza stay online
Power cuts have become a fact of life in war-torn Gaza. But thanks to embedded SIM cards, Palestinians can still access the internet and maintain a channel of communication with loved ones abroad.
"Without them, we'd be cut off from the world," said Hani al Shaer, a local journalist who depends on eSIM cards to do his live streams.
"And no one would know what was happening in Gaza," he added, just as the besieged territory experienced the latest in a series of telecoms breakdowns since the war began.
02:29 GMT - Cuba condemns 'genocide' in Gaza committed by 'terrorist state of Israel'
Cuba's president has called for an end to Israel's brutal war in besieged Gaza, which has been raging for more than two-and-a-half months.
"The genocide committed by the terrorist state of Israel in Gaza is a humiliation for all humanity. How long will there be impunity? How long will there be a free way to murder? Cuba, which will never be among the indifferent, raises its voice for Palestine again and again," Miguel Diaz-Canel said on X.
The island nation has repeatedly condemned the violence in Palestine, and even the Cuban Parliament declared solidarity with the Palestinian people.
02:13 GMT - Palestinian activist arrested after questions about facebook posts
Supporters of a local Palestinian activist in the occupied West Bank said he has been arrested by Israel on suspicions of incitement.
They said Munther Amira, a social worker and community activist in the Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem, was arrested on December 18 by Israeli troops.
Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli activist assisting Amira, said Munther was questioned about Facebook posts, but denied allegations against him. He said it was unclear which posts drew attention from Israeli authorities.
For our live updates from Tuesday, December 26, click here.
