- Israeli forces continue to pound Gaza, a day after attacks that killed 30 people, including seven in an assault on al-Wafaa Hospital in Gaza City. The nearby Ahli Hospital was also shelled.
- Gaza’s Government Media Office says a “significant” cold front will affect the Strip in the coming hours and days, amid reports that a fifth baby has died from hypothermia.
- Calls are also growing for the release of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital who was arrested after Israeli forces stormed the facility and set fire to it on Friday.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,484 Palestinians and wounded 108,090 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.
- Number of infants froze to death in Gaza rises to 7: ReportMedical sources have told the Wafa news agency that infant Ali al-Batran, who was one month old, died due to extreme weather conditions this morning.He is the twin of the baby Juma who died yesterday due to the cold weather in a tent in Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza, the sources said.Wafa quoting the sources also said the lack of food security among mothers has led to the emergence of new cases of illness among children, which exacerbates the health situation in light of the difficult circumstances the region is experiencing.
- Jimmy Carter: The father of Arab-Israeli normalisationOn December 29, former President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100. As the 39th president of the United States and as a private citizen, Carter was an advocate for peace between nations, democracy and various humanitarian and environmental causes. But in the Middle East, he is going to be remembered as the father of Arab-Israeli normalisation.Sworn in as president in 1977, Carter was given the opportunity by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to be the architect of the first normalisation deal between an Arab country and the Zionist state. He helped Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin conclude the 1978 Camp David Accords and negotiate the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty that formally ended the conflict between the two countries.As developments in the past four decades have shown, neither the accords nor the treaty led to peace and justice in the Middle East. Israel continues its occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip; the Palestinians still do not have an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital; and an overwhelming majority of the Arab public refuses to recognise Israel or agree to normalising relations with it.
- Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, US President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin clasp hands on the north lawn of the White House after signing the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel on March 26, 1979 in Washington [File: AP/Bob Daugherty]
- If you’re just joining usHere are the most recent developments:
- WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus demanded the “immediate release” of the Kamal Adwan Hospital director, expressing concern over the Israeli raid that shut down the hospital and forced the displacement of patients and medical staff.UN’s Palestine expert Francesca Albanese also called for Abu Safia’s release, saying “all of us must do all we can to save” him.Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and wounded several in a bombing of a house near Palestine Stadium in Gaza City, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have reported, citing Al-Aqsa TV.The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces have arrested two Palestinians from the town of Tuqu in the occupied West Bank.
LIVE: Israel attacks two more hospitals as winter adds to suffering in Gaza
