Live blog: Yemen's Houthis target Israeli air base with hypersonic missile

Saturday, December 28, 2024

1637 GMT — Yemen's Houthis have launched a hypersonic ballistic missile targeting Nevatim Air Base in Israel's southern Negev region, the group said.

In a recorded address, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the operation involved a Palestine 2 hypersonic missile, which he claimed successfully hit its target.

Saree warned Tel Aviv that Houthis are "committed to continuing their religious, moral and humanitarian duties by carrying out more military operations against the Israeli enemy until the aggression on Gaza stops and the siege is lifted".

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1845 GMT — US, UK carry out air strikes in Yemen's Hajjah province, says Houthi group

The Houthi group said the US and UK had carried out air strikes in Yemen's northwestern Hajjah province.

"The American-British aggressors conducted two air strikes in the area of Bahis in the Hajjah province’s Midi district," said pro-Houthi TV channel Al-Masirah.

The broadcaster, however, did not say whether there were any casualties or material damage.

1830 GMT — Israel's attacks on hospitals in northern Gaza 'unacceptable:' Norway

Norway called recent Israeli air strikes in northern Gaza on some of the few remaining operating hospitals "unacceptable."

"It is heartbreaking – and completely unacceptable – that the civilian population in Gaza, including children, is being deprived of life-saving treatment due to a shortage of hospitals, healthcare personnel and supplies," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement.

1815 GMT — Qatar's foreign minister discusses Gaza ceasefire talks with Hamas delegation in Doha

Qatar's prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, discussed developments surrounding ceasefire talks for Gaza with a Hamas delegation headed by senior official Khalil al-Hayya in Doha, the Qatari foreign ministry reported.

1737 GMT — Israeli military confirms north Gaza hospital chief held in raid

Israel's military confirmed it has detained a hospital director during a raid in north Gaza that the World Health Organization said left the area's last major health facility emptied of patients and staff.

The military said the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Hussam Abu Safiya, is being held for questioning, suspected of "being a Hamas terrorist operative", and the raid is now over.

Gaza health officials and the WHO earlier Saturday had said the raid forced the hospital in Beit Lahia out of service and led to Abu Safiya's detention.

1332 GMT — Israel employs armoured vehicles to clear roadside bombs in Gaza: report

The Israeli army has been using remotely controlled explosive-laden armoured personnel carriers (APCs) to neutralise improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and traps set by Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza, a local Israeli daily claimed in its report on Saturday.

"The source of the powerful explosions heard on Thursday across southern and central Israel was the Israeli army's use of old M113 armored personnel carriers, packed with tonnes of explosives, to detonate areas rigged with traps and explosive devices in Gaza," Yedioth Ahronoth claimed in its report.

"The military uses heavily armored M113 APCs, filled with explosives, to destroy sites rigged with explosive devices remotely," it added.

1321 GMT — Palestinian Health Ministry slams Israeli army for moving patients to destroyed Indonesian Hospital

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza warned about dire conditions faced by patients forcibly evacuated under Israeli military orders from Kamal Adwan Hospital to the Indonesian Hospital, which had already suffered severe damage from earlier Israeli air strikes.

In a statement, the ministry said: "A harrowing night has passed for the forcibly evacuated patients, who are now in critical conditions at the Indonesian Hospital without access to water, electricity, food or medical supplies."

The ministry emphasised that "the countdown to losing their lives has begun, as most of the Kamal Adwan medical staff have been detained by Israeli forces".

1300 GMT — Israel kills 48 Palestinians in Gaza, death toll nears 45,500

At least 48 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, bringing the total number of deaths since October of last year to 45,484, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Saturday.

According to a ministry statement, approximately 108,090 people have also been injured during the ongoing genocidal attacks.

“Israeli forces killed 48 people and injured 52 others in two massacres of families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

1200 GMT — WHO chief says narrowly escaped death in Israeli strikes on Yemen airport

The head of the World Health Organization said he only narrowly escaped death in fatal Israeli strikes on the airport in Yemen's capital.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told BBC Radio his ears were still ringing following Thursday's attack as he prepared to board a flight in Sanaa, and stressed that the protection for civilian installations under international law must be respected.

0750 GMT — At least 11 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza

At least 11 Palestinians have been killed and scores more wounded in Israeli air strikes on civilians in northern Gaza, a house in the central part of the coastal enclave, and displaced people's tents in Khan Younis, with the death toll feared to rise.

Medical sources told Anadolu that an Israeli strike on a group of civilians in Sarari Street in Jabalia, northern Gaza, killed two Palestinians and wounded several others.

Nine more Palestinians, including children, have been killed in an Israeli air strike targeting the Naami family's home in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

In another attack in southern Gaza, Israeli drones targeted displaced people’s tents in Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, causing multiple casualties. Shelling also struck areas east of Khan Younis and northwest of Rafah.

0918 GMT — Israeli forces detain over 15 Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Israeli occupation forces have detained at least 15 Palestinians from various areas of the occupied West Bank since yesterday evening, continuing their ongoing crackdown on the local population.

According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS), The detentions were distributed across the governorates of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Ramallah, and Hebron.

The raids were accompanied by assaults, threats against detainees and their families, and widespread destruction of property, including damage to homes.

0904 GMT — Gaza children freezing to death amid Israeli blockade, warns UNRWA chief

The commissioner-general of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that children in Gaza are freezing to death due to the cold weather and a severe lack of shelter.

"Gaza babies are freezing to death due to cold weather and a lack of shelter," Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a post on X.

"Blankets, mattresses, and other winter supplies have been stuck in the region for months waiting for approval to get into Gaza," he said, referring to Israel's inhumane blockade of the coastal enclave.

He reiterated his call for an immediate ceasefire, urging “an immediate flow of much-needed basic supplies, including for winter.”

0812 GMT — 2 more Palestinian Authority security personnel killed in occupied West Bank

Two more Palestinian Authority security personnel have been killed in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, bringing the death toll from the ongoing "operation" to nine, which was launched in response to the killing of a senior security officer.

Palestinian security forces launched the operation three weeks ago against what they called "outlaws" in the Jenin refugee camp.

Anwar Rajab, a spokesperson for the Palestinian security forces, said an intelligence agent who was on duty in the Jenin camp when he was injured died of his wounds on Wednesday.

According to local media, at least nine people have been killed in the campaign, including five security personnel, three civilians, and an Islamic Jihad commander.

0721 GMT — Israeli forces detain director of north Gaza hospital: officials

Gaza health officials said that Israeli forces detained the director of a hospital in the north, which the World Health Organization said was put out of service by an Israeli raid.

"The occupation forces have taken dozens of the medical staff from Kamal Adwan Hospital to a detention centre for interrogation, including the director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh," the health ministry in Gaza said in a statement.

The Gaza civil defence agency also reported that Abu Safiyeh had been detained, adding that the agency's director for the north, Ahmed Hassan al-Kahlout was among those held.

"The occupation has completely destroyed the medical, humanitarian, and civil defence systems in the north, rendering them useless," Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defence agency, told AFP.

0548 GMT — Arab Parliament condemns burning of Gaza hospital by Israeli army

The Arab Parliament condemned the Israeli occupation forces' burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, and forcing patients and medical staff to evacuate it, saying ir represents a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and global legal standards.

The Arab Parliament stressed that the occupation's insistence on completely destroying the health system in Gaza comes as a result of the shameful international silence on the crimes it is committing .

The Parliament called on the international community and the Security Council to assume their moral, political and legal responsibilities to immediately stop these crimes, ceasefire in Gaza, and hold war criminals in the occupying entity accountable for the crimes they are committing against the Palestinian people.

0412 GMT — Injured UN worker evacuated after attack on Yemeni Airport: WHO

An injured staff member of the UN Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) was safely evacuated from Yemen following an attack on the Sana’a airport, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Today we managed to evacuate our WFP (World Food Programme) UNHAS colleague who was injured in yesterday’s attack on Sana’a airport in Yemen. We are now in Jordan , where he will receive further medical treatment," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

The victim was part of a UN mission negotiating the release of detained colleagues in Yemen.

"Deepest gratitude to the UNHAS team for their service and swift evacuation from Yemen, where we were on a UN mission to negotiate for the release of detained colleagues. Attacks on civilians and humanitarians must stop, everywhere," he emphasised.

0347 GMT — Israeli forces arrest two Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Israeli occupation forces arrested two young men, Islam Muwaffaq Ghnaim (22) and Karim Zaitawi, in Tulkarm city, occupied West Bank, local sources toldWAFA.

The occupation forces stormed the city from its western and southern entrances, and patrolled its main streets, the vicinity of Tulkarm camp, and the Ezbet al-Jarad suburb, amidst the outbreak of clashes in several locations.

2134 GMT — Hamas denies Israeli claims it was present in Gaza hospital

The Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, has denied Israeli claims about the presence of its members inside the hospital that was attacked by Israeli army in the northern besieged Gaza.

"We categorically deny the presence of the resistance fighters in the hospital, which was open to everyone, including international and UN agencies," Hamas said in a statement.

The group said the Israeli claims aim "to justify the heinous crime committed by the occupation army by evacuating and burning all sections of the hospital as part of its plan of genocide and forced displacement."

2128 GMT — Israeli attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital put 'last major health facility' in northern Gaza out of service: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Israeli attack on the Kamal Adwan Hospital put "the last major health facility" in northern besieged Gaza out of service, calling an end to "this horror."

Initial reports indicate that some key departments were severely burned and destroyed during the attack, while 60 health workers and 25 patients in critical condition, including those on ventilators, reportedly remain at the hospital, it said on X.

The UN agency said patients in moderate to severe conditions were forced to evacuate to the destroyed and non-functional Indonesian Hospital. "WHO is deeply concerned for their safety," it said.

"This raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital comes after escalating restrictions on access for WHO and partners, and repeated attacks on or near the facility since early October," it said. "Such hostilities and the raids are undoing all our efforts and support to keep the facility minimal functional."

2024 GMT — Stalemate in prisoner swap negotiations strengthens Israeli opposition: Poll

A public opinion poll in Israel said the current stalemate in negotiations to end the carnage in Gaza has slightly strengthened the country's opposition.

This week's Maariv newspaper poll said amid the deadlock in talks for a hostage-prisoner swap and ceasefire in the enclave, the opposition could gain one more seat compared to the previous poll, reaching a majority of 62 seats.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc, meanwhile, could secure 48 seats and Arab parties 10 seats if elections are held today.

For our live updates from Friday, December 27, 2024, click here.