LIVE: Israel kills five journalists in Gaza as babies freeze to death

• Israeli forces continue to pound Gaza, killing five journalists in an attack on their vehicle in the central Nuseirat refugee camp, and five others in the bombing of a residential building in northern Gaza City. At least 30 people are reported missing in the latter assault.
• Doctors say three Palestinian babies have died of hypothermia in a displacement camp in southern Gaza as temperatures plummet and Israel’s blockade on food, water and essential winter supplies continues.
• Hamas accuses Israel of setting “new conditions” in ongoing ceasefire talks and delaying a truce deal, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office blames the Palestinian group for creating “new obstacles”.
• Israel’s military also intensifies its raid on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, sending in reinforcements, a day after killing eight people there. The victims include two women and a teenager.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,361 Palestinians and wounded 107,803 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.
• Israel arrests one in southern Lebanon as UNIFIL urges protection of ceasefireThe Israeli army “kidnapped” one person during an incursion into the town of Tebnine in southern Lebanon, according to the country’s National News Agency.It said the man was heading to his workplace at the Indonesian battalion centre affiliated with UNIFIL in the town of Adshit al-Qusayr in the Marjayoun District.The Israeli military has not immediately commented. The UN force in southern Lebanon has not specifically commented on the incident.UNIFIL said in a statement that “any actions that risk the fragile cessation of hostilities must cease”.
• Controversy after Tehran tries to rename street in honour of Yahya Sinwar
  • Maziar Motamedi
  Reporting from TehranA municipality in Iran’s capital this week announced it would rename a street in honour of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza who was killed by the Israeli military in the besieged enclave in October.It apparently made sense to the authorities because the new Martyr Yahya Sinwar Street would connect the Jihad Square to Fathi Shaqaqi, the street named years ago in honour of the assassinated leader and physician who founded the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.But there was an immediate uproar, including on social media, and the municipality was forced to announce today that it is now considering another part of Tehran for Sinwar.The main reason is that the street to be renamed was Bisotun, a site of ancient Iranian inscriptions and bas-reliefs that symbolises the country’s rich history and culture, dating back to thousands of years before Islam.The incident also comes amid speculation about the future of the Iran-led “axis of resistance” after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
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• Assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza City on October 1, 2022 [Mohammed Salem/File: Reuters]
• If you’re just joining usHere are the latest developments:
  • Israeli forces have raided the city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank to escort a group of Israeli settlers to the flashpoint Joseph’s Tomb, according to the Wafa news agency.Israel’s Ynet News is reporting that the country’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican ambassador over comments by Pope Francis, in which he criticised Israeli killings in Gaza as “cruelty”.Gaza’s Government Media Office says the Israeli killing of five journalists earlier this morning has taken the death toll among media workers in Gaza since the war began to 201.The number of people killed in the Israeli bombing of the Dalloul family home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood has risen to eight, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to pray in defiance of the holy Muslim site’s longstanding status quo that bans Talmudic rituals being performed there.Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that two bodies have been recovered following an Israeli bombing in the Musabbeh area, north of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
    
• • Palestinians greet one another after Israeli strikes in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood on December 26, 2024 [Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP]
• Israeli military beefs up security around Al-Aqsa Mosque compoundHeavily armed Israeli soldiers have been patrolling the area in occupied Jerusalem’s Old City and around the holy site since this morning as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir led settlers inside in another provocative move.Local sources cited by the Wafa news agency said the military deployed a special unit in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa to secure the storming and prevent Muslim worshippers from entering.Settlers also performed Talmudic rituals at the Western Wall, or the Al-Buraq Wall, and near the Bab al-Qattanin or Cotton Merchants Gate into Al-Aqsa.Netanyahu’s office clarified in a statement that despite all the moves, “the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed”.
• Brother documents painful moment Israel killed journalists in central GazaPhotographer Omar al-Jadi has documented the moments after the Israeli military attacked his journalist brother Ayman and his four colleagues who were sleeping in their van marked as “press” in central Gaza.Omar watched helplessly as the bombed vehicle burned, shouting cries of agony: “Guys, Ayman is inside, Ayman my brother is martyred.
• Israeli bombing kills 2 north of Rafah cityOur colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that two bodies have been recovered following an Israeli bombing in the Musabbeh area, north of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah.
• Israel’s Ben-Gvir storms Al-Aqsa Mosque compound againThe far-right Israeli national security minister says he “went up to our holy place this morning to pray for the safety of our soldiers, for the speedy return of all those kidnapped, and for complete victory with God’s help”.Itamar Ben-Gvir posted the lines on X with an image of himself being protected by armed soldiers as he entered the holy Muslim site again in defiance of its longstanding status quo that prohibits Talmudic rituals being performed there.He has stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound multiple times before, especially when talks about a Gaza agreement – to which he is vehemently opposed – heat up. He has previously said he wants to build a synagogue there.
• Israeli forces kill 20 people since dawn: Medical sourcesMedical sources have confirmed to Al Jazeera that at least 20 Palestinians, including five journalists, have been killed in the continuous bombing of the Gaza Strip since dawn.Translation: Farewell to the fiv

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/26/live-israel-pounds-gaza-as-three-babies-freeze-to-death-in-tent-camps