Israel-Hamas war live: Israeli tanks push deeper into Khan Younis

The Palestinian Authority‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is calling for international pressure to halt a planned Thursday march by far-right Israeli activists on Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli police have approved the protest for Thursday. Activists are expected to march through Jerusalem’s Muslim quarter before reaching the holy site, Israeli news site Haaretz reported.

They are demanding full Israeli control of the Temple Mount, seeking to revoke the Islamic Waqf’s rights to administer Al-Aqsa.

Two young sisters have been rescued from under the rubble of a poultry hatchery that was targeted by Israeli tank shelling four days ago.

Dozens of displaced people were staying at the hatchery in the central town of Deir el-Balah after they were forced to flee their homes in northern Gaza.

“I woke up and felt something hurt, so I raised my hands and found a wall above me, and from the many pains, I went back to sleep,” Maria Abu Safi said, adding that there were about 72 adults and 62 children sheltering in the hatchery.

She heard her younger sister Lana screaming in pain, her feet stuck under a pile of boxes and stones.

“We stayed four days under the rubble, with no food or drink,” Maria said. “I was trying to get out, but there were many stones above us.”

Hezbollah claims to have directly hit a “radar site” in northern Israel, Anadolu news agency reports.

The claim comes as Israel’s military says it is repeatedly shelling Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon and responding to rocket attacks near the border.

Two brothers were walking with their family along the so-called “safe passage” that Israeli forces told Palestinians in northern Gaza and Gaza City to take to flee south.

But a short distance from Wadi Gaza, they found dozens of Israeli army tanks flanking the Salah al-Din Road — Gaza’s main highway — with some snipers standing on top.

The soldiers ordered the brothers to walk towards the soldiers and forced them to strip to their underwear.

One was released, but the fate of the other remains unknown.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day.

“Prime Minster Kishida stated continued growth in the number of civilian casualties should be avoided, and that it is important to calm the situation swiftly, minimize civilian casualties and observe international law including international humanitarian law,” a Japanese foreign ministry announcement said.

In response, Netanyahu set out Israel’s position on the military operation in Gaza, the announcement said, without elaborating.

Israel has been in a state of near-perpetual war for decades, receiving billions of dollars annually in aid and weapons.

It has also consistently broken international law by expanding its occupation and settlements.

But for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it is “the only democracy in the Middle East” – a view often repeated by supporters. Critics, however, say Israel is a political entity that can only survive with repression, the denial of rights and violence.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun his rare trip to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia where he is expected to discuss the war in Gaza, among others.

Al Jazeera’s diplomatic editor James Bays says Putin and the Gulf leaders he is meeting share a similar stance on the war and want a permanent ceasefire.

“It is interesting when they talk about the US’s role and the US abandoning the Palestinians and going around the Palestinians, actually that was done [by] the UAE … that’s one of the countries that signed the Abraham Accords with Israel. So I think there are possibly some differences there,” Bays noted.

“Russia has certainly taken a much tougher line with Israel since the start of this war than it has ever done in the past. It always had pretty good, cordial relations both with the Palestinians and the Israelis, we even saw a Hamas delegation going to Moscow. Despite that, though, Russia is still saying it wants to be involved in any solution to the conflict,” he added.

After the Hamas attacks on October 7, Israel’s initial planned response was to “level” all of the Gaza Strip, according to a report by CNN that cited US officials familiar with the subject.

“Israel’s original plan after the Hamas terror attack involved an immediate large-scale land, air and sea operation involving hundreds of thousands of Israeli troops and a desire to ‘level’ the entirety of the Gaza Strip,” CNN reported.

Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/12/6/israel-hamas-war-live-gaza-death-toll-climbs-as-israel-pounds-enclave