- Mass casualties reported in Israeli strikes on the Jabalia and Nuseirat refugee camps; Gaza hospitals continue to be targeted.
- The WHO describes situation at al-Shifa Hospital “a complete horror scene” and calls the destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital “appalling”.
- Hungry and desperate Palestinians are looting aid trucks to get water and food as desperation mounts in southern Gaza’s Rafah City.
- At least 18,787 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel stands at nearly 1,140.
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UN Security Council to vote for cessation of hostilities in Gaza
The UN Security Council (UNSC) is set to convene later today to vote for a new resolution calling for a suspension in the fighting in Gaza.
The draft text “calls for an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access in the Gaza Strip for those in need”.
The vote comes after it failed to pass a resolution on December 8 calling an immediate ceasefire due to a US veto.
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WATCH: Why does Israel keep the bodies of Palestinians it killed?
Dozens of bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces have been confiscated by Israel in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
Human rights organisations fear that many more are being taken away from Gaza, and they may not be returned like several others whose remains have not been returned for years by Israeli authorities.
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Key events on day 73 of the war on Gaza
It’s day 73 of the war on Gaza and this is how things stand:
- Israeli air attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp killed at least 90 people and wounded more than 100 others.
- Oil prices rose nearly 1 percent in Asian trade as Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and lower exports from Russia stoke supply fears.
- Palestinian officials say the Israeli army holding Ahmed Muhanna, the director of Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital, in an unknown location.
- The Freedom Theatre in Jenin continues to demand the immediate release of its director, Mustafa Sheta, and acting teacher, Jamal Abu Joas.
- On Sunday, Israel’s military rejected claims that its forces “murdered” two women who were sheltering in a Catholic church in Gaza.
Read our complete list of key events here.
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Khan Younis hospital latest health facility targeted by Israeli forces
Reporting from Rafah, southern Gaza
Nasser Hospital is increasingly becoming a war zone amid a surge in Israeli attacks in the eastern part of Khan Younis as well as in the central part where the hospital is located.
The building hosting the maternity ward is believed to be housing thousands of evacuees and displaced Palestinians who came from different parts of Khan Younis to seek shelter.
In the last 48 hours, a bomb fell near the building but did not explode, causing a great deal of panic. Three people were injured as a result.
Overnight, the building was directly targeted by a missile that destroyed parts of it and damaged medical equipment.
There are reports of a young girl being killed and several others critically injured.
Once again, we are seeing a hospital that is not only serving as a health facility but also as a shelter, coming under direct attack from Israeli forces.
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Aftermath of Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital
We’ve been reporting on an Israeli attack on the Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
Hani al-Aar, a Palestinian journalist, has shared footage of the aftermath of the attack,
The video, verified by Al Jazeera, shows the impact of the shelling as well as the destruction inside the hospital, where there is a large number of injured and displaced Palestinians from across the Gaza Strip.
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Palestinians’ message to the world: ‘Stop sleeping and get up’
Our colleague Anas al-Sharif has spoken to people in Gaza seeking shelter and treatment at a medical centre in Jabalia al-Balad. Many of them are women and children.
“They are targeting innocent children,” one person said, carrying his son in his arms. “We are hosting poor, helpless and displaced people who can’t find a place at the schools. Israeli forces have targeted all of us inside our house.”
Another Palestinian accused Israeli forces of committing “genocide”.
“Our message to the world is that enough is enough … stop sleeping and get up. Don’t you feel that we are part of humanity?” he said.
A medical professional at the hospital said the healthcare system in northern Gaza has collapsed and called for an “immediate ceasefire”.
“The medical teams are exhausted. The situation is catastrophic. We are facing a genocide.”
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Father of killed captive accuses Israeli soldier of knowing ‘who he was dealing with’
Avi Shamriz, the father of one of the three captives mistakenly killed by Israeli forces in northern Gaza, has accused the soldier who shot at them of knowing what he was doing.
“It was clear that he knew who he was dealing with,” Shamriz was reported as saying by Israeli media.
Alon Shamriz, along with two other captives, was killed after more than two months of being held by Hamas fighters as he moved towards the soldiers shirtless and waving a white cloth.
The incident triggered fury and condemnation among the families of the remaining captives, reigniting calls for the war cabinet to spell out a clear plan for their release.
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Oil prices rise after Houthi attacks in Red Sea
Oil prices have risen nearly 1 percent in Asian trade, as Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea and lower exports from Russia stoke supply fears.
Brent crude futures climbed 0.4 percent to $76.87 a barrel on Monday morning, while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5 percent to $71.77 a barrel.
Attacks on ships by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have forced Danish shipping giant AP Moller-Maersk, Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, French company CMA CGM, Hong Kong-based OOCL and Italian-Swiss-owned Mediterranean Shipping Co to pause shipments through the Red Sea.
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Another Palestinian injured in ongoing Israeli raid in Nablus
A young Palestinian was shot and injured after Israeli forces fired live ammunition while carrying out a raid in the city of Nablus in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, medical sources told the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The extent of the young man’s injury was not immediately known.
Wafa said an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew overhead while the raid was ongoing.
Additional raids were also taking place in the following areas:
- Martyrs’ Roundabout and Palestine Street areas of Nablus
- Town of Beita near Nablus
- Am’ari refugee camp in the city of el-Bireh
- Aida and al-Azza refugee camps in Bethlehem
- Town of Aqaba north of Tubas
- Abwein northwest of Ramallah
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If you’re just joining us
It’s just after 7am (05:00 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Here are some of the key developments overnight:
- Ten members of a family are among 25 people killed in an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
- Israel trying to “eliminate” Gaza’s health sector, Health Ministry official tells Al Jazeera amid more attacks on hospitals.
- Mossad chief gets green light to restart negotiations with mediators, Israeli media report.
- Media reports suggest US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is to announce an expanded Red Sea Protection Force during a Middle East visit.
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US defence secretary to arrive in Israel in coming hours
reporting from occupied East Jerusalem
Lloyd Austin is going to bring the traditional US message that Israel is absolutely right to conduct this war to defeat Hamas but it has to do so within international law and try and reduce the number of civilian casualties.
Of course, we’re seeing very little of that on the ground. From the parading of half-naked prisoners, to the bombing of hospitals and the targeting of residential buildings.
Lloyd Austin will make the point that he’s experienced in urban warfare given his role as an American senior commander in Iraq and Afghanistan.
It’s up to the Israelis to decide when they transition from this stage to the stage where apparently it’s going to be commando operations into urban centres targeting specific members of Hamas.
It feels because we’ve heard this message so often in the last couple of months that it’s spin from the Americans.
The Israelis continue to prosecute the war the way they see fit. And they will continue to do that even after Lloyd Austin’s visit.
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Al-Awda Hospital director being held in unknown location: Ministry
The Israeli army is detaining Ahmed Muhanna, the director of Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital, in an unknown location, Gaza’s Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra has said.
Other medical staff at the hospital in the Jabalia refugee camp were detained, stripped and interrogated for four hours in “inhumane conditions” before being released, al-Qudra added in a statement posted on Sunday night.
Al-Qudra asked for international organisations to intervene urgently to protect the hospital, which he said had also been bombed, as well as its staff.
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Four more soldiers killed in Gaza: Israeli army
The Israeli army has announced that the four soldiers were killed during the latest clashes between its forces and Palestinian armed groups in the southern Gaza Strip.
One of the soldiers died of his injuries on Sunday following the fighting on Thursday, the military said.
Another soldier was also reported injured.
Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2023/12/18/israel-hamas-war-live-israeli-strikes-on-jabalia-refugee-camp-kill-90