- Fierce ground fighting is ongoing in the centre of Khan Younis, reports Al Jazeera’s Wael Dahdouh, as Palestinians start 2024 sheltering from Israeli shelling.
- Israel says it will withdraw reservists from its Gaza ground invasion so troops can “gain strength” for future battles.
- The US army has attacked three Houthi boats in the Red Sea, killing at least 10 fighters.
- At least 21,822 people have been killed and 56,451 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack in Israel stands at 1,139.
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Biden faces pressure to strike Houthis inside Yemen: Report
The New York Times newspaper has reported that US President Joe Biden is facing increasing pressure to directly strike the Houthi armed group in Yemen amid their continued Red Sea attacks.
It said US military officials have prepared plans to strike missile and drone bases in Yemen, but the Biden administration is hesitant to use them, as it remains concerned the strikes could inadvertently benefit Iran, while also jeopardising a delicate truce between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Retired Fifth Fleet commander Vice Admiral Kevin Donegan warned in the report that if the US did not respond to the Houthi threat it would invite more attacks as enemy groups start believing that “attacking a US ship carries a low risk of retaliation”.
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Qassam Brigades claims staging deadly ambush against Israeli troops in Bureij
Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, has said its fighters had ambushed Israel’s troops in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, claiming to have killed unidentified number of the occupation forces killed and injured.
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Three killed in Israel’s air attack on Maghazi refugee camp
At least three people have been killed and several others injured after Israel’s air attack on a residential building in the Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera’s team on the ground.
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Iran calls on Security Council to act against Israel’s attacks on Syria
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has called on the UN Security Council to take action after Israel’s killing of a top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander in Syria last week.
“Through Iran’s representative office, we communicated with the UN secretary-general [Antonio Guterres] and called on the Security Council to commit to its duty of maintaining international peace and preventing regional peace from being compromised,” spokesman Nasser Kanani said in his weekly news conference.
Kanani described the assassination of Razi Mousavi as a “blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and said both countries reserve the right to respond at a time of their choosing.
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Friendly fire killed 29 Israeli ground troops in Gaza: Army
The Israeli army has confirmed that out of the 170 ground troops it says it has lost in Gaza since launching its land offensive in late October, a considerable 29 were killed in instances of friendly fire.
It said in a report that two soldiers were killed by gunfire that was not intended to hit them, and nine were killed in accidents, including unintentional weapon discharges, being run over by armoured vehicles, and being hit by shrapnel from controlled demolitions.
The military’s cited reasons behind the self-inflicted deaths are also interesting, and include the presence of a large number of forces operating in Gaza, communication issues between forces, and soldiers being exhausted and not paying attention to regulations.
An Israeli soldier operates in the Gaza Strip [Handout/Israel army via Reuters] -
Israel claims killing of Hamas commander Adil Mismah
The Israeli army has claimed to have killed Adil Mismah, a Hamas commander in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, saying he took part in the October 7 attack on southern Israel.
The military also said in a statement on X that it struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City, claiming to have “located large amounts of weapons” there.
It said a Palestinian group that it claimed attacked Israeli troops with mortar shells was destroyed, and a Hamas fighter launching rockets in Khan Younis was killed.
Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/1/israel-hamas-war-live-new-year-in-gaza-under-non-stop-israeli-bombardment
