- Heavy bombardments are reported near Deir el-Balah, including at the Nuseirat, al-Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps as Israeli forces residents to evacuate south.
- At least 32 people killed in Khan Younis and five in Rafah as Israeli attacks continue across Gaza.
- Israeli Defence Minister says operations in southern Gaza, which have included the bombing of refugee camps and previously declared civilian ‘safe zones’, will continue.
- At least 22,600 people killed and 57,910 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack on Israel stands at 1,139.
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Israeli forces withdraw from two neighbourhoods in Gaza City
Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul says that after more than 10 days, Israeli forces have withdrawn from the neighbourhoods of Daraj and al-Tuffah in Gaza City.
“The Israeli army left behind them a trail of destruction,” al-Ghoul said, speaking in front of al-Shifa Hospital. “They bulldozed cemeteries and uprooted recently the buried bodies.”
People tried to use the so-called humanitarian corridor on al-Rashid Road to go south, but were shot at directly by Israeli soldiers, he added.
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Palestinian government spurns Israel’s post-war Gaza vision
The Palestinian government has indicated it is not open to a post-war plan for Gaza outlined by Israel’s defence minister that would turn governance of Gaza over to unnamed “Palestinian bodies” while granting Israel security control.
In a statement cited by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the presidency said it is committed to seeing an end to Israel’s occupation and to a future Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, under the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative.
It “unequivocally [rejects] any plans that go beyond these parameters”, it said, according to the Wafa report.
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‘Millions’ demonstrate in Yemen to support Palestinians
Massive crowds are gathered right now in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and other cities in a demonstration of solidarity with Palestinians.
Al Masirah TV, the state television channel run by the Houthis, claimed that two million Yemenis participated in the “Blood of the Free People…on the Road to Victory” march.
Live footage from the Al-Sabeen Square in Sanaa showed an endless sea of demonstrators, many carrying Palestinian flags. Houthi officials addressed the crowds.
A rally statement said the Yemenis are ready to fight the US and commemorated their 10 fighters killed by the US last week, condemned al-Arouri’s assassination in Lebanon, and urged an Arab boycott of Israeli and US goods and products.
The Yemenis participating in the rallies chanted for Palestinians and against the US and Israel [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters] -
Qassam Brigades target Israeli soldiers east of Khan Younis
The Qassam Brigades said its fighters detonated a minefield targeting Israeli soldiers in Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, that resulted in a number of casualties.
Hamas’s armed wing also said it attacked an Israeli bulldozer in the same area.
Earlier, a joint operation by the Qassam Brigades and al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad movement, attacked three Israeli Merkava tanks in the Ma’an area in Khan Younis.
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‘Humanitarian corridor’ attacked
In the past hour or so, a bridge that connects Gaza City with central Gaza has been bombed and destroyed. This is on the coastal road Israel ordered people to take to evacuate to southern Gaza.
On the one hand, people are told to evacuate from areas under attack, but then the roads – the ‘humanitarian corridors’ – they are told to take are being attacked.
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Maersk says to avoid Red Sea for foreseeable future
Shipping giant Maersk has said that it would divert all vessels around Africa instead of using the Red Sea and Suez Canal for the “foreseeable future” after Yemeni rebels attacked its merchant ships.
The Danish company cited the highly volatile situation and noted that the security risk remains high.
“We have therefore decided that all Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden will be diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future,” it said in a statement.
Containers of Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk are seen in Copenhagen, Denmark. [File: Sergei Gapon/AFP] -
Photos: Pro-Palestinian demonstrations take place in Jordan’s capital
People pray during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Amman [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] 
A Palestinian boy holds a placard during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza in Amman, Jordan [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] 
[Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] 
[Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] -
Gradual escalation on Israel-Lebanon border
The cycle of violence continues along the Lebanon-Israel border.
Israel is carrying out a series of air strikes, targeting what it says are Hezbollah military infrastructure, fighters and launch sites. Lately, it has been stepping up its attacks.
It’s still confined largely along the 120km (75 miles) border, but Israel is trying to pressure Hezbollah to pull back because it believes it is the only way that the tens of thousands of Israelis can return to their homes in northern Israel.
Hezbollah, however, is refusing to do that, and says it will not discuss anything along the border until Israel’s attacks on Gaza stop.
Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/5/israel-war-on-gaza-live-israel-attacks-bombard-khan-younis-rafah
