- Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip continues, with Israeli attacks killing nine Palestinians from the same family in northern Jabalia, and 10 others in southern Khan Younis.
- FEWS NET, a US-created food crisis monitor, says a famine is unfolding in northern Gaza amid Israel’s near-total blockade on food supplies. It also warns that deaths from starvation could surpass famine levels as soon as next month.
- Christians in Gaza mark a sombre Christmas, praying for an end to Israel’s death and destruction, while in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem – the birthplace of Jesus – many dedicate their prayers to the victims of Israel’s genocide.
- In Lebanon, Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on the United States and France-led ceasefire monitoring committee to pressure Israel to cease violating its truce with Hezbollah and withdraw from the south of the country.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,338 Palestinians and wounded 107,764 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.
- FEWS NET takes down report warning of famine in north GazaWe’ve been covering a report by the US-funded group that warned a famine is likely underway in north Gaza.That report is no longer accessible on the group’s website.The development comes after the US envoy to Israel criticised the group’s assessment as “irresponsible”.FEWS Net was created by the US Agency for International Development in the mid-1980s to warn of global food crises.Al Jazeera has reached out to the group for comment.
- Rescue efforts under way after deadly Israeli attack on JabaliaReporting from Deir el-Balah, GazaIn Jabalia town, a four-storey residential building was completely flattened by multiple air strikes.It was only after a couple hours of the attack that the local community managed to remove bodies from under the rubble.Nine Palestinians from the same family were killed. Among them were two parents and their five children.There is fear that there are more people buried under the debris.We were told there were more than 15 people were inside this residential building, the vast majority of them are displaced.This morning, the rescue work is continuing, but slowly, due to the danger involved in this mission in Jabalia town.The Israeli quadcopters and drones are creating intimidation and fear as they target every moving object in the area, something that has impeded the work of civil defence crews who drove there all the way from Gaza City.
- Israeli forces kill 13 Palestinians in predawn attacks on GazaHere’s the breakdown, according to the Wafa news agency:
- At least 10 people killed and several wounded when a house was bombed in the Maen area of southern Khan Younis.A man and his wife were killed in an attack on a residential building near the Ain Jalut Towers in central Nuseirat refugee camp.A young man was killed in an Israeli raid on his home in the central city of Deir el-Balah.
- Gaza toddlers got the polio vaccine, then an Israeli bomb took their legsReporting from Deir el-Balah, GazaThree-year-old Hanan al-Daqqi spends her days with her younger sister Misk, occasionally asking questions.“Where’s Mama?”“Where did my legs go?”The two toddlers have been in the hospital for four months since they were brought there, battered and bleeding from an Israeli bombing on their home in Deir el-Balah. The attack took place a day after Hanan and Misk received their polio vaccines. It killed their mother and severely wounded their father.Hanan lost both her legs and had to undergo surgery to remove part of her bowels.Misk, who is 22 months old, had to have her left foot amputated.Their father’s sister, Shefa al-Daqqi, 28, has been by their side since then, but she still does not know how to answer the girls’ questions.“Children get protection from polio, but then an Israeli air strike takes their legs? How does that make any sense,” she asks.
- Hanan, after the Israeli attack that killed her mother and took both her legs [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera]
- Arrests, clashes as Israeli forces launch raids across the West BankThe Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces have arrested four Palestinians and wounded two others during pre-dawn raids on the city of Nablus and the nearby Balata refugee camp.It said the three of the men were arrested in the Rafidia neighbourhood in Nablus, while the fourth was taken from Balata.The Israeli operation triggered clashes in Nablus, and the soldiers opened fire, wounding two men in the thigh.Wafa also reported that Israeli bulldozers demolished streets and infrastructure inside Balata.The agency also reported raids by Israeli forces in the Am’ari camp, south of Ramallah, as well as the town of Deir al-Ghusun, north of Tulkarem. It said 22-year-old Mohammed Fateh Badran, who had been previously held by the Israelis, was arrested again during the operation in Deir al-Ghusun.
- I am broken’: The women enduring domestic violence amid Israel war on GazaKhan Younis, Gaza – The face of Samar Ahmed, 37, shows clear signs of exhaustion.It is not just because she has five children, nor that they have been displaced several times since the start of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza 14 months ago and are now living in cramped, cold conditions in a makeshift tent in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. Samar is also a victim of domestic violence and has no way to escape her abuser in the cramped conditions of this camp.Two days ago, her husband beat her around the face leaving her with a swollen cheek and a blood spot in her eye. Her eldest daughter clung to her all night following that attack, which happened in front of the children.
LIVE: Israeli forces kill 9 Palestinians from same family in Gaza’s Jabalia
