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Dec wk4 P2 -- Dec wk4 -- Dec Wk3 P3 -- Dec Wk3 P2 -- Dec Wk 3 -- Dec Wk 2 P3 -- WK2 P 2 -- wk2 -- wk1 P 3 -- wk1 P 2 -- wk1 -- Nov wk5 P3 -- wk5 P2 -- wk5 -- wk4 P3 -- wk4 P2 -- Nwk4
 Click here for an overview by week in 2024

Special reports: Updates December 21, 2024:  As Gaza war rages israel supportive outlets under fire & EU research funds flow to Israel & My mother's shattered dream of family reunion in Gaza & Gaza's libraries will rise from the ashes & The genocide kills dreams, not just people Previous reports:   and earler stories  Overview special reports

November 28 - 24 and earler stories, 2024 Is Netanyahu immune from ICC arrest warrant-NO!   TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS AND CHILDREN

Shireen Abu Akleh In commemoration of Shireen Abu Akleh, the 'voice of Al Jazeera' killed while revealing the true face of israel Updated: December 6, 2024: Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting the Israel-Gaza war   Click here for earlier stories/news

December 27 - 24, 2024 Food for thought: Is Israel using starvation as a war tactic in its genocidal war in Gaza?...Yes they are! Read more and decide for yourself

December 24 - 18, 2024 Food for thought I, living in the EU, am, like millions of others, 'bombarded' with a tsunami of 'festivities celebrations' that urges to buy and buy without thinking. but... I can only feel ashamed knowing that hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people, and especially children, mothers, women, elderly, are starved to death as a zionist tool of genocide. So do I wish 'happy holidays'? NO I wish for food and peace for all. Gino d'Artali Read more and decide for yourself

December 10 - 7, 2024 Food for thought: 'The next one' as seen by an Iranian activist cartoonnist and yes, with the fall of assad it most likely is a matter of time before the next ones, netanyahu, khamenei, erdogan and others, will follow. Gino d'Artali Read more and decide for yourself

 When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.


Another baby freezes to death
Al Jazeera - Dec 27 2024
<<Health worker displaced by Israeli attacks in Gaza dies of 'extreme cold'
Many people in Gaza lack adequate shelter and are malnourished after more than a year of Israeli attacks and blockades.
A Palestinian healthcare worker has died due to “extreme” weather conditions, according to a statement by the enclave’s Ministry of Health, as severe cold compounds the hardship faced by people displaced by Israel's relentless attacks. The body of Al-Hakim Ahmed al-Zaharneh, who worked at the European Gaza Hospital, was found inside his tent in al-Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, the ministry said on Friday. "This incident comes in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions that displaced citizens are experiencing, as the suffering of Gaza residents increases due to low temperatures and the lack of heating means in tents," the ministry said. The ministry said earlier that four Palestinian babies have died in tents in recent days amid the cold weather and widespread malnutrition. Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said that the number of casualties in vulnerable groups is increasing due to worsening weather conditions. "For 14 months now, people here have been lacking basic necessities to help them survive these difficult conditions - even in summer," he said. "Now in winter, the temperature has dropped very low, [and] people in tent camps feel the cold as being [colder] than the actual levels." He said that mothers often lack the strength or ability to breastfeed as they are malnourished and unwell. "The conditions are worse for vulnerable groups like babies and, in the absence of [humanitarian aid], it is natural that deaths will happen." The vast majority of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since war broke out with the Palestinian group Hamas on October 7, 2023, with many people living in tents that offer little protection from the cold, rain and flooding. The United Nations and other organisations have repeatedly decried the worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza, as Israeli attacks and blockades severely curtail access to food, water, medicine and other supplies. A leading United States government organisation monitoring food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of imminent famine in north Gaza under what it called Israel's "near-total blockade," after the US asked for its retraction, US officials told The Associated Press.
The move follows public criticism of the report from the US ambassador to Israel.
The report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) had warned that a "famine scenario" was unfolding in northern Gaza where Israel launched a renewed offensive in early October. Meanwhile, on Friday, the director of Gaza's Health Ministry told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces stormed the Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the few remaining medical facilities in north Gaza, and forced the 350 people there to evacuate, including all the patients and staff. He said contact with the hospital had been lost.
Israel's war in Gaza has killed at least 45,436 Palestinians and wounded 108,038 since October 7, 2023, according to figures released on Friday by Gaza's Health Ministry.
An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/27/health-worker-in-gaza-displaced-by-israeli-attacks-dies-of-extreme-cold

Jinha - Womens News Agency - Dec 27, 2024
<<Another baby freezes to death in Gaza
Three children have frozen to death in the Gaza Strip in recent days while an Israeli strike on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya killed five medical staff on Thursday.
News Center- The Israeli army continue to attack the Gaza Strip, targeting civilians and medical workers. At least nine Palestinians, including women and children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting the Gaza City and Rafah at dawn on Friday, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. An Israeli strike on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya killed five medical staff on Thursday. Israeli forces ordered everyone, including medical staff and patients to evacuate the hospital, WAFA reported on Friday.
Children freeze to death
According to local sources, a three-week old baby has frozen to death in Gaza in recent days. The baby girl is the third to die from the cold in tent camps in Gaza.
45,399 Palestinians killed
At least 45,399 Palestinians have been killed and 107,940 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, the Gaza's health ministry said in a statement on Thursday.>>
Source: https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/another-baby-freezes-to-death-in-gaza-36243?page=1

Al Jazeera - Dec 27 2024 - Al Jazeera Live By Royce Kurmelovs
<<LIVE: Israel bombs Yemen, kills 50 people near northern Gaza hospital
This video may contain light patterns or images that could trigger seizures or cause discomfort for people with visual sensitivities.
The Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director said about 50 people have been killed, including five medical staff, in an Israeli air strike on a building near the hospital in northern Gaza. Israel attacked a house overnight in Gaza City, killing at least nine people, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/27/live-israel-bombs-yemen-kills-about-50-people-near-northern-gaza-hospital

Al Jazeera - Dec 26 2024 - By Al Jazeera Staff
<<Advocates launch legal push for Argentina, Chile to arrest Israeli soldier
Hind Rajab Foundation has been pursuing legal cases against Israeli soldiers across the globe, citing war crimes.
An advocacy group has initiated legal action in Argentina and Chile, urging the countries to arrest an Israeli soldier for war crimes in Gaza. The cases filed in Argentina and Chile announced on Thursday cite both national and international legal obligations. They come among a wider effort by the Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation to pressure countries across the world to seek more comprehensive justice for abuses committed in the Palestinian enclave. The cases target Israeli soldier Saar Hirshoren for what the Hind Rajab Foundation described as his role in the 749 Combat Engineering Battalion, which chair Dyab Abou Jahjah described as being "systematically involved in the destruction of civilian infrastructure" in Gaza.
The foundation has simultaneously filed a complaint against the entire battalion with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for "war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide". Local prosecutors working with the group filed the criminal complaint in Argentina on December 24 and Chile the next day, calling for Hirshoren's arrest. The foundation said Hirshoren was initially in Argentina when the first case was filed, before leaving for Chile. The prosecutors cited "video evidence from Hirshoren's Instagram account, showing him actively participating in the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza" as well as "his role in the deliberate demolition of neighbourhoods, cultural sites, and essential facilities" in violation of international law. It was not immediately clear if Hirshoren holds dual nationality of any country beyond Israel and his most recent whereabouts remain unknown, Abou Jahjah told Al Jazeera. "I appeal to Argentina and Chile to take their responsibility as democracies, states with the rule of law to arrest Mr Hirshoren," he said.
Push for wider accountability
The latest legal actions come after Amnesty International earlier this month concluded that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza. UN rights experts have reached similar determinations on the war, which began following an attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
Since then, 45,399 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 107,940 have been wounded in Israeli operations, which have also destroyed much of Gaza’s infrastructure and brought a deadly humanitarian crisis.
The Hamas attack on Israel killed 1,139 people.
In November, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing "the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts". Israel has rejected the warrants and has repeatedly maintained its actions in Gaza are in line with international law. The ICC last month also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the October 7 attack on Israel. Israel has said Deif was killed in a July strike. But the Hind Rajab Foundation, named after the 6-year-old killed in Israeli shelling as her family fled Gaza City earlier this year, and other advocacy groups have said accountability should extend beyond the Israeli leadership. The foundation has launched legal actions against Israeli soldiers who are either citizens of - or temporary visitors to - Ecuador, the Netherlands, France, and Cyprus, among others. The group has regularly focused on Israeli soldiers who have posted abuses on social media. For example, Hirshoren posted a video of himself remotely detonating seven buildings near the Mosab bin Omair mosque in north Nuseirat in October, according to an analysis of posts by Drop Site News. Advocates argue that countries that are parties to international rights treaties - including the ICC's founding document, the Rome Statute, as well as the Geneva Convention - have a responsibility to enforce international law.
In October, the group filed a complaint to the ICC naming 1,000 Israeli soldiers it accused of abuses, including 12 dual nationals from France, 12 from the United States, four from Canada, three from the United Kingdom, and two from The Netherlands.
Abou Jahjah said with the ICC taking long-delayed actions, his group hopes to correct a "deficiency" at the nation-state level. It may be a long shot. None of the countries where the group has taken action have sought recourse against the identified soldiers. Neither Chile nor Argentina have responded to the latest appeal. Still, Abou Jahjah said he hopes the message will resonate.
"You cannot let criminals come and vacation in your country as if there's nothing happening," Abou Jahjah said.
"You cannot just default your responsibilities to the conventions that you have signed," he added, "and to the principles of justice that all of these states have embodied in their constitutions." >>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/26/advocates-launch-legal-push-for-argentina-chile-to-arrest-israeli-soldier

Al Jazeera - Dec 26 2024 - By Al Jazeera Staff
<<Retraction of US-backed Gaza famine report draws anger, scrutiny
Report by USAID-funded network said 'highly likely' the threshold for famine has been surpassed in northern Gaza.
United States President Joe Biden's administration is facing criticism after a US-backed report on famine in the Gaza Strip was retracted this week, drawing accusations of political interference and pro-Israel bias. The report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which provides information about global food insecurity, had warned that a "famine scenario" was unfolding in northern Gaza during Israel's war on the territory. A note on the FEWS NET website, viewed by Al Jazeera on Thursday, said the group's "December 23 Alert is under further review and is expected to be re-released with updated data and analysis in January". The Associated Press news agency, quoting unnamed American officials, said the US asked for the report to be retracted. FEWS NET is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment on Thursday afternoon. Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians since early October 2023 and plunged the coastal enclave into a dire humanitarian crisis as access to food, water, medicine and other supplies is severely curtailed. An Israeli military offensive in the northern part of the territory has drawn particular concern in recent months with experts warning in November of a "strong likelihood" that famine was imminent in the area. "Starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing" in northern Gaza, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said in an alert on November 8. "Famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future," it said.
The report
The FEWS NET report dated December 23 noted that Israel has maintained a "near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to besieged areas" of northern Gaza for nearly 80 days. That includes the Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon areas, where rights groups have estimated thousands of Palestinians are trapped. "Based on the collapse of the food system and worsening access to water, sanitation, and health services in these areas … it is highly likely that the food consumption and acute malnutrition thresholds for Famine (IPC Phase 5) have now been surpassed in North Gaza Governorate," the FEWS NET report had said. The network added that without a change to Israeli policy on food supplies entering the area, it expected that two to 15 people would die per day from January to March at least, which would surpass the "famine threshold".
The report had spurred public criticism from the US ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, who in a statement on Tuesday said FEWS NET had relied on <outdated and inaccurate> data. Lew disputed the number of civilians believed to be living in northern Gaza, saying the civilian population was <in the range of 7,000-15,000, not 65,000-75,000 which is the basis of this report>. <At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this,> he said.
'Bullying'
But Palestinian rights advocates condemned the ambassador's remarks. Some accused Lew of appearing to welcome the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. "To reject a report on starvation in northern Gaza by appearing to boast about the fact that it has been successfully ethnically cleansed of its native population is just the latest example of Biden administration officials supporting, enabling and excusing Israel’s clear and open campaign of genocide in Gaza," the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement. The group urged FEWS NET "not to submit to the bullying of genocide supporters". Huwaida Arraf, a prominent Palestinian American human rights lawyer, also criticised Lew for "relying on Israeli sources instead of your own experts". "Do you work for Israel or the American people, the overwhelming majority of whom disapprove of US support for this genocide?" she wrote on X. Polls over the past year have shown a high percentage of Americans are opposed to Israel's offensive in Gaza and want an end to the war. A March survey by Gallup found that 55 percent of people in the US disapproved of Israel's actions in Gaza while a more recent poll by the Pew Research Center, released in October, suggested about three in 10 Americans believed Israel's military offensive is "going too far". While the Biden administration has said it is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, it has rebuffed calls to condition US assistance to Israel as a way to bring the war to an end. Washington gives its ally at least $3.8bn in military assistance annually, and researchers at Brown University recently estimated that the Biden administration provided an additional $17.9bn to Israel since the start of the Gaza war. The US is required under its own laws to suspend military assistance to a country if that country restricts the delivery of American-backed humanitarian aid, but Biden's administration has so far refused to apply that rule to Israel. <We, at this time, have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of US law,> Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters in November despite the reports of "imminent" famine in northern Gaza.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/26/retraction-of-us-backed-gaza-famine-report-draws-anger-scrutiny

Al Jazeera - Dec 26 2024
<<Inside Story
Is Israel using starvation as a war tactic in Gaza?>>
Read more and video here: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2024/12/26/is-israel-using-starvation-as-a-war-tactic-in-gaza

France 24 - Dec 26, 2024 - By: NEWS WIRES
<<UN calls on Israeli forces to leave south Lebanon, cites 'continuing destruction' despite truce
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) voiced alarm on Thursday at the "continuing destruction" of infrastructure in southern Lebanon despite Israel's late November ceasefire with Hezbollah, calling for a "timely withdrawal" of Israeli troops. The United Nations' peacekeeping force in Lebanon expressed concern on Thursday at the "continuing" damage done by Israeli forces in the country's south despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah. The truce went into effect on November 27, about two months after Israel stepped up its bombing campaign and later sent troops into Lebanon following nearly a year of exchanges of cross-border fire initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza.
The warring sides have since traded accusations of violating the truce.
Under the ceasefire agreement, UNIFIL peacekeepers and the Lebanese army were to redeploy in south Lebanon, near the Israeli border, as Israeli forces withdrew over 60 days. UNIFIL said in a statement on Thursday that "there is concern at continuing destruction by the IDF (army) in residential areas, agricultural land and road networks in south Lebanon". The statement added that "this is in violation of Resolution 1701", which was adopted by the UN Security Council and ended the last Israel-Hezbollah war of 2006. The UN force also reiterated its call for "the timely withdrawal" of Israeli troops from Lebanon, and "the full implementation of Resolution 1701". The resolution states that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon, where Hezbollah exerts control, and also calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from Lebanese territory. "Any actions that risk the fragile cessation of hostilities must cease," UNIFIL said. On Monday the force had urged "accelerated progress" in the Israeli military's withdrawal. Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Thursday "extensive" operations by Israeli forces in the south. It said residents of Qantara fled to a nearby village "following an incursion by Israeli enemy forces into their town". On Wednesday the NNA said Israeli aircraft struck the eastern Baalbek region, far from the border.
(AFP)>>
Source: https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20241226-un-calls-on-israeli-forces-to-leave-south-lebanon-cites-continuing-destruction-despite-truce

Al Jazeera - Dec 26 2024
<<Three babies freeze to death in Gaza refugee camp amid Israeli blockade
Mahmoud al-Faseeh carries the body of his daughter, three-week-old Sila, who froze to death in the family tent in al-Mawasi
Three Palestinian babies have died of hypothermia at the al-Mawasi refugee camp in southern Gaza in recent days, as temperatures plummet and Israel's blockade on food, water, and essential winter supplies continues. Ahmed al-Farra, director of the children's ward at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, confirmed the death of three-week-old Sila Mahmoud al-Faseeh on Wednesday, adding that two other babies, aged three days and one month, had been brought to the hospital over the previous 48 hours after dying of hypothermia. "She was in good health and she was born naturally, but because of the severe cold in the tents there was a significant decrease in temperature which made her bodily system stop working and led to her death," said al-Farra, referring to Sila's death in an interview with Al Jazeera. Mahmoud al-Faseeh, father of baby Sila, said the family had been living in "bad conditions" in their tent at al-Mawasi, an area of dunes and farmland on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, close to the southern town of Khan Younis. Al-Mawasi was designated as a <safe zone>, but was attacked repeatedly over the last 14 months of the Israeli offensive. "We sleep on the sand and we don't have enough blankets and we feel the cold inside our tent," he told Al Jazeera. "Only God knows our conditions. Our situation is very difficult." The family's tent was not sealed from the wind and the ground was cold, with temperatures on Tuesday night dropping to 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit). The baby had woken up crying three times overnight. In the morning, her parents found her unresponsive, her body stiff, "like wood", said al-Faseeh in another interview with The Associated Press news agency. He rushed the baby to Nasser Hospital, but it was already too late to revive her. Dr Munir al-Bursh, the director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, said baby Sila "froze to death from the extreme cold", underlining that the site had been declared a "temporary safe humanitarian zone for displaced persons" by the Israeli military.
Israel's bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children.
The offensive has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90 percent of the Strip's 2.3 million residents, often multiple times.
Hundreds of thousands are packed into tent camps along the coast as the cold, wet winter sets in. Aid groups have struggled to deliver food and supplies and say there are shortages of blankets, warm clothing and firewood. "This is a screaming example of the consequences of this unfair war and its impact on the people of the Gaza Strip," said al-Farra.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES:
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/26/three-babies-freeze-to-death-in-gaza-refugee-camp


Al Jazeera - Dec 26 2024
<<Five journalists killed in Israeli strike near hospital, authorities say
Journalists from Al-Quds Today were covering events at al-Awda Hospital when vehicle was struck, according to reports.
Five journalists have been killed in an Israeli strike in the vicinity of a hospital in central Gaza, according to Palestinian authorities and media reports. The journalists from the Al-Quds Today channel were covering events near al-Awda Hospital, located in the Nuseirat refugee camp, when their broadcasting van was hit by an Israeli air strike, Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif reported early on Thursday morning. Footage from the scene circulating on social media shows a vehicle engulfed in flames. A screenshot taken from a video of the white-coloured van shows the word "press" in large red lettering across the back of the vehicle. The deceased journalists have been named as Fadi Hassouna, Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali, Mohammed al-Ladah, Faisal Abu al-Qumsan and Ayman al-Jadi. Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif said that Ayman al-Jadi had been waiting for his wife in front of the hospital while she was in labour to give birth to their first child. Civil defence teams retrieved the bodies of the victims and extinguished a fire at the scene, the Quds News Network said. Israel's military said it had carried out a <targeted> attack against a vehicle carrying members of Islamic Jihad and that it would continue to take action against <terrorist organizations> in Gaza. <Prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians, including the use of precision weapons, aerial observations, and additional intelligence information,> the military said in a post on X. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) earlier this month condemned Israel's killing of four Palestinian journalists in the space of a week, calling on the international community to hold the country accountable for its attacks against the media.
At least 141 journalists have been killed in Israel's war in Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the CPJ.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/26/five-journalists-killed-in-israeli-strike-near-gaza-hospital

Al Jazeera - Dec 25 2024 - By Nils Adler and Urooba Jamal
<<Israeli forces kill dozens in Gaza as ceasefire talks face challenges
At least 25 Palestinians are killed across the besieged enclave since dawn as Hamas says new conditions by Israel delay a ceasefire.
Khan Younis. Israeli forces are pounding the besieged Gaza Strip, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding dozens more as indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas face more obstacles. Medics in the bombarded enclave said the Israeli military targeted yet another school sheltering displaced families on Wednesday in the Gaza City suburb of Sheikh Radwan. The strike killed three Palestinians, including a child, and injured several others. The attack came shortly after an earlier strike targeted a residential home in Gaza City, killing a pregnant woman. According to Al Jazeera's Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, medics were able to save the baby but "lost the mother". "The situation is dire on every level across the Gaza Strip," Khoudary said. "Elsewhere, a very famous Palestinian writer [Walaa Jumaa al-Ifranji] was killed along with her husband [Ahmed Saeed Salama] in an Israeli attack on their home south of the Nuseirat refugee camp," in central Gaza, she added. An Israeli attack on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza also killed two people on Wednesday. Separately, several Palestinians were killed and wounded in al-Mawasi, an area Israel has declared a <safe zone> for people forced to flee their homes in southern Gaza's Khan Younis, where the military said it carried out a strike against a Hamas fighter. The Israeli military routinely targets displacement camps as well as schools-turned-shelters, killing mostly women and children in its genocide since October last year, which has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians. The military also targets hospitals and medical facilities. In the besieged north, where Israeli forces launched a renewed ground offensive more than two months ago, one of the last partially operating hospitals in Gaza has come under intense Israeli attack. An Israeli siege on Kamal Adwan Hospital has intensified over the past few days, and Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reports that it has now been "rendered nonoperational given all the constant attacks and the use of explosive devices". Gaza's Ministry of Health said Israeli forces have also continued to besiege two other medical facilities that are barely operational as they surround Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and Jabalia. The Israeli army forced officials at the Indonesian Hospital to evacuate patients and staff on Tuesday and continued to operate close to nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital. They also ordered the emptying of that hospital, but officials there have refused, citing risks to dozens of patients. Palestinians have accused Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone. The Israeli attacks came as Palestinians in Gaza saw yet another sombre Christmas. Pope Francis denounced the "extremely grave" humanitarian situation in Gaza and appealed for the freeing of Israeli captives held by Hamas in his traditional Christmas address at the Vatican.
"May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war," he said.
Ceasefire talks hampered
Meanwhile, Hamas and Israel traded blame on Wednesday over the failure to conclude a ceasefire agreement despite progress reported by both sides in the past days. Hamas said Israel had set new conditions while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of going back on understandings already reached. "The occupation has set new conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which has delayed reaching the agreement that was available," Hamas said in a statement. Hamas said, however, that it was showing flexibility and the talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, were going in a serious direction. Netanyahu blamed Hamas, saying the group <continues to lie, is reneging on understandings that have already been reached and is continuing to create difficulties in the negotiations>. Israeli negotiators returned to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday evening for consultations about a deal after a significant week of talks, Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday. The United States and the two Arab mediators have stepped up efforts to conclude a deal in the past two weeks.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/25/israeli-forces-kill-at-least-24-in-gaza-as-ceasefire-talks-face-challenges

France 24 - Dec 26, 2024 - By: NEWS WIRES
<<Israel, Hamas trade blame over ceasefire impasse
The Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel traded blame on Christmas Day over their failure to agree on a ceasefire deal despite continuing efforts by US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel traded blame on Wednesday over failure to conclude a ceasefire agreement despite progress reported by both sides in past days. Hamas said that Israel had set new conditions, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of going back on understandings already reached. "The occupation has set new conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which has delayed reaching the agreement that was available," Hamas said.
Hamas said, however, that it was showing flexibility and that the talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, were going in a serious direction.
Netanyahu countered in a statement: <The Hamas terrorist organization continues to lie, is reneging on understandings that have already been reached, and is continuing to create difficulties in the negotiations.> Israel will, however, continue relentless efforts to return hostages, he added. Israeli negotiators returned to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday evening for consultations about a hostage deal after a significant week of talks, Netanyahu's office said on Tuesday. The U.S. and Arab mediators Qatar and Egypt have stepped up efforts to conclude a deal in the past two weeks.
Israel keeps up the pressure Meanwhile, Israeli forces kept up military pressure on the Palestinian enclave. Medics said Israeli military strikes killed at least 24 people across Gaza Strip on Wednesday. One of the strikes targeted a school sheltering displaced families in Gaza City's suburb of Sheikh Radwan, they added. The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas militant operating in the area of Al-Furqan in Gaza City. Several Palestinians were killed and wounded in the Al-Mawasi area, an Israeli-designated humanitarian zone in Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, where the military said the strike targeted another Hamas operative operating there. The ministry of health in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli forces continued to besiege the only three hospitals, barely operational in the northern edge of the enclave, surrounding Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia. The Israeli army forced officials at the Indonesian hospital to evacuate patients and staff on Tuesday and continued to operate in the vicinity of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital. They also ordered that hospital evacuated but officials there refused, citing risks to dozens of patients. Israeli troops were operating in the vicinity of the hospital for the past two days and an Israeli security official said the area was a Hamas stronghold. <Kamal Adwan is at the heart of the most complex fighting in Jabalia,> he said. <We are being very careful.> Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies
The war was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
(Reuters)>>
Video: https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20241225-israel-hamas-trade-blame-ceasefire-impasse-qatar

Al Jazeera - Dec 25 2024
<<Disabled boy in Gaza dreams of playing with friends
Mohammed Saeed Shabaan is an 8-year-old Palestinian boy from Gaza who lost his limbs in a fire several years ago. He dreams of receiving prosthetics so he can run around and play like other children.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/12/25/disabled-boy-in-gaza-dreams-of-playing-with-friends

Al Jazeera - Dec 25 2024
<<Israeli forces kill at least 8 in occupied West Bank raids, drone strikes
Israeli brigade commander hurt in blast from improvised explosive device targeting military vehicle during raid on West Bank’s Tulkarem camp.
Israeli troops and military aircraft have killed at least eight Palestinians, including two women and a teenager, in attacks on the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Seven people were killed in an Israeli drone attack and shooting by troops in the Tulkarem refugee camp, and one person was killed in the nearby Nur Shams camp, the Health Ministry said, following a bloody day of Israeli military raids that began at dawn on Tuesday. The ministry said that two Palestinian women - identified as Khawla Ali Abdullah Abdo, 53, and Bara Khalid Hussein, 30 - and an 18-year-old, Fathi Saeed Salem Obaid, were among the seven people killed in the Israeli attacks on Tulkarem. The official Wafa news agency reported that the teenager died after being shot in the chest and abdomen and the two women were reported killed in drone strikes. The victim in the Nur Shams camp was identified as Mahmoud Muhammad Khaled Amar, who was shot by Israeli soldiers and later found dead on the ground in the camp's Abu Bakr as-Siddiq Mosque neighbourhood, Wafa also reports. Several people were also injured in Nur Shams following an Israeli drone strike, the news agency said. The Israeli military said in a statement that it killed one Palestinian in a <counterterrorism> operation in Tulkarem, while its forces arrested 18 other people and confiscated dozens of weapons. The Israeli military confirmed later that an Israeli aircraft had carried out a strike on the Nur Shams refugee camp. Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement that two of its members were killed in Tulkarem. An improvised explosive device planted by Palestinian fighters and detonated during the Israeli raid on Tulkarem hit a vehicle in which the commander of Israel's Menashe Brigade, Colonel Ayub Kayuf, was travelling, causing him injuries and requiring medical evacuation, the Israeli military said early on Wednesday. Israeli military raids and more shootings of Palestinians were reported across the occupied West Bank late on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning. Wafa reported that two Palestinian men and a 15-year-old were shot and injured during an Israeli raid on the town of Beit Fruik, located east of Nablus. Four young Palestinian men were also shot and injured in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, when Israeli troops at a checkpoint opened fire on the vehicle in which they were travelling, Wafa reports. One of the four was in critical condition, the news agency said. Another Palestinian man was stopped by Israeli forces in the Old City of Hebron and searched. After being released, he was then shot in the thigh by troops without reason, Wafa reports. Israeli military bulldozers also demolished infrastructure during Tuesday's raid on Tulkarem, including homes, shops, part of the walls of as-Salam Mosque, and part of the camp’s water network, the news agency said. Raids by Israeli forces on Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank have increased in intensity and violence since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023 following the Hamas attack on southern Israel. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported last week that 968 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers across the occupied West Bank between January 2023 and November 2024.
Of those killed, 210 were Palestinian children, OCHA reported.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/25/israeli-forces-kill-at-least-8-in-occupied-west-bank-raids-drone-strikes

Al Jazeera - Dec 25 2024 - By Nils Adler and Urooba Jamal
<<LIVE: At least 23 people killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza in 24 hours
Global monitor says famine likely unfolding in north Gaza
Israel has killed at least 23 Palestinians and injured 39 others across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave's Health Ministry.
FEWS NET, a US-created food crisis monitor, says a famine is unfolding in northern Gaza amid Israel’s near-total blockade on food supplies. It also warns that deaths from starvation could surpass famine levels as soon as next month.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/25/live-christians-in-gaza-pray-for-an-end-to-israels-death-and-destruction


Walaa Jomaa Al-Ifranji
Jinha - Womens News Agency - Dec 25, 2024
<<Palestinian writer killed in Israeli airstrike in Gaza
Palestinian writer and artist Walaa Jomaa Al-Ifranji was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting her house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, on Tuesday.
Gaza- Palestinian writer and artist Walaa Jomaa Al-Ifranji was killed along with her husband and her sister in an Israeli airstrike targeting her home in the Nuseirat refugee camp on Tuesday. A funeral was organized for Walaa Jomaa Al-Ifranji, her husband and her sister in the camp with the participation of writers and artists. Walaa Jomaa Al-Ifranji, 35, was a writer and artist, known for her creative designs and paintings. She also launched initiatives and projects to support young people.>>
Source: https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/palestinian-writer-killed-in-israeli-airstrike-in-gaza-36228?page=1

Al Jazeera - Dec 24 2024
<<Two Gaza Civil Defence workers killed as Israel launches multiple strikes
At least six other people killed and many wounded in an Israeli raid on a house in Jabalia al-Nazla in northern Gaza.
At least two members of Gaza's Civil Defence have been killed in the latest Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave, rescue and emergency services say. A drone strike targeting the Civil Defence headquarters in Gaza City on Tuesday killed firefighter Nabil Bahloul and his son. Another Civil Defence worker, Najib Sakr, was killed as the Daraj neighbourhood in Gaza City was bombed by Israeli forces. "We received an emergency stress message ... calling for help to extinguish a fire that broke out as a result of an Israeli air strike on a residential building," said Ahmed al-Madhoun, a member of the Civil Defence. "We rushed to the scene. On the way, we received a call telling us that the site we were heading to has just been pounded again. We went and found dozens killed, including our fellow Civil Defence team members shredded to pieces." The Israeli military's targeting of Gaza's Civil Defence offices is on the rise, Al Jazeera's Gaza correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum said. "We are talking about 14 centres that have been obliterated alongside 56 vehicles, including fire engines and ambulances," he said. "Civil Defence workers are unable to effectively operate in northern Gaza, where their services are witnessing a near-total collapse due to the repeated Israeli attacks on their members on the ground," he added. As a result, civilians are taking responsibility, coming together to conduct risky rescue operations, including pulling victims from under the rubble of bombed buildings, Abu Azzoum said. At least six Palestinians were killed and many others wounded in an Israeli raid on a house in northern Gaza's Jabalia al-Nazla area, according to Al Jazeera reporters on the ground. The house belonged to the Abu Warda family. Civil Defence officials said the bodies of three children were still under the rubble and its crews were facing difficulty in recovering them. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said a mid-level Israeli ceasefire negotiating team will return to Tel Aviv on Tuesday night after a <meaningful week> of talks in Qatar. Additionally, an Israeli military investigation concluded on Tuesday that the presence of Israeli troops inadvertently contributed to the deaths of six captives killed by their Hamas captors in Gaza. The captives' bodies were discovered in a tunnel in late August, an event that sparked some of the largest antiwar protests since the war began. The investigation found that the six captives were killed by multiple gunshots from their captors after surviving for nearly 330 days in Gaza.
Israel's genocide in Gaza since October last year has killed at least 45,338 Palestinians and wounded 107,764.
At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and more than 200 were taken captive.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/24/two-gaza-civil-defence-workers-killed-as-israel-launches-multiple-strikes
 

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