Live blog: Hamas says it 'will never be defeated' after Israel kills Arouri

Tuesday, January 2, 2024

2008 GMT — Hamas chief Ismail Haniya has said his Palestinian resistance group "will never be defeated" after the assassination of its deputy leader Saleh al Arouri in Lebanon by Israel.

"A movement whose leaders and founders fall as martyrs for the dignity of our people and our nation will never be defeated," Haniya said in a televised address.

He also said that the assassination of al Arouri is a "terrorist act," a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and an expansion of Israel's hostility against Palestinians.

Haniya mourned al Arouri and two leaders of Al Qassam Brigades, Samir Findi Abu Amer and Azzam Al-Aqraa Abu Ammar, who were also killed in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahiyeh.

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2033 GMT — Hezbollah says assassination of Hamas deputy 'will not go unanswered'

Lebanon's Hezbollah group has warned that Israel's assassination of a deputy Hamas leader in a Beirut suburb "will not go unanswered or unpunished", dubbing "a serious assault on Lebanon".

"We, Hezbollah, affirm that this crime will not go unanswered or unpunished," the group said in a statement.

"We consider the crime of assassinating Sheikh Saleh al Arouri... in the heart of the southern suburb of Beirut to be a serious assault on Lebanon... and a dangerous development in the course of the war," the statement added.

Hezbollah said later it had targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of Marj area with missiles.

2022 GMT — Israel army ready for 'any scenario'

Israel's army has said it was prepared for "any scenario" following the assassination of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al Arouri in a strike on a Beirut suburb.

"The [military] is in a very high state of readiness in all arenas, in defence and offence," army spokesperson Daniel Hagari told reporters without directly commenting on Arouri's assassination.

"We are highly prepared for any scenario." "The most important thing to say tonight is that we are focused and remain focused on fighting Hamas."

1958 GMT — Iran condemns assassination of Hamas deputy

Iran has strongly condemned an Israeli attack that killed Hamas deputy chief Saleh al Arouri in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said the attack once again proves the "foundation of the Zionist regime is based on terror and crime."

The Iranian spokesperson condemned the Israeli attack as a "violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon," and called on the UN Security Council to take an "immediate and effective response to these terrorist acts of the Zionist regime."

Arouri's assassination was the "result of helplessness and heavy and irreparable defeat [of Israel] against the Palestinian resistance groups," he said.

Kanaani said the blood of slain Hamas leaders "will definitely create another boil in the veins of resistance and the motivation to fight against the Zionist occupation, not only in Palestine but also in the region."

1744 GMT — Six dead in Israeli strike that killed Hamas deputy in Beirut

Six people, including the deputy leader of Hamas, Saleh Al Arouri, have been killed in an Israeli drone strike on Beirut's southern suburbs, state media said, giving a new toll.

"The number of martyrs... has risen to six," in a drone strike that targeted a meeting of Palestinian factions at a Hamas office in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) said.

1836 GMT — Top UK and US diplomats discuss Houthi attacks, humanitarian situation in Gaza

The top British and American diplomats held a phone call on the rising number of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea as well as worsening food insecurity in the besieged Gaza.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the international community’s "shared condemnation of the illegal and unjustified attacks" on commercial shipping in the Red Sea by Houthi militants, said a UK Foreign Office spokesperson in a statement.

"They made clear that the UK and US will work with our partners to hold the Houthis accountable for these unlawful seizures and attacks," said the statement.

The spokesperson said Cameron raised the issue of "worsening food insecurity" in Gaza and the “urgent need for significantly more aid to reach civilians through as many routes as possible."

1828 GMT — Hamas pulls back from possible deal

Hamas has frozen any discussions on possible truces and exchanges of hostages with Israel, a Palestinian source told Anadolu.

1821 GMT — Lebanon to file complaint against Israel over Beirut attack

Lebanon will file an urgent complaint with the UN Security Council against Israel over the Beirut attack, Prime Minister Najib Mikati says.

1724 GMT — Lebanon PM condemns Israel killing of Hamas deputy leader

Lebanon's prime minister condemned Israel's killing of Hamas deputy leader Saleh Al Arouri in Beirut, saying the attack "aims to draw Lebanon" further into the Israel-Hamas war.

"Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned the explosion in the southern suburbs of Beirut that killed and injured many," his office said in a statement.

The attack "aims to draw Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations" with Israel at a time when Hezbollah has been exchanging daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

1627 GMT — Senior Hamas leader killed after Israeli drone strike in Beirut

An Israeli drone struck a Hamas office in Beirut's southern suburbs, killing four people, Lebanese state media said.

"Four people were martyred and a number of others injured when the Hamas office was targeted," in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said.

Hamas deputy leader Saleh Arouri was among those killed in the explosion, according to NNA.

A high-level security official in Beirut told AFP that Arouri was killed in the Israeli strike along with his bodyguards in the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs.

Hamas vowed that the killing of the group's deputy will not "undermine the continued brave resistance" in Gaza, where the Palestinian group is battling US-backed Israeli forces. "It proves once more the utter failure of the enemy to achieve any of its aggressive goals in Gaza," senior Hamas official Izzat Al Rishq said in a statement.

1609 GMT — Israel’s 'arrogance' allowed Oct. 7 Hamas attack, says former premier

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert said Israel’s "arrogance" allowed for the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in an interview published today.

"I am certain that Israel had all the intelligence it needed to know what was happening. There were even concrete warnings from friendly intelligence services," Olmert told Spanish daily El Pais. "This was a psychological and intellectual failure, not an intelligence failure."

Olmert explained his theory that Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas and alleged mastermind of the attack, understood from his time in an Israeli prison that “Israelis are very arrogant, and they didn’t believe that the Palestinians could have done what they did; that they weren’t sophisticated or wise enough.”

Olmert, who served as Israeli prime minister from 2006 to 2009, and has had past spats with Netanyahu, told El Pais that it seems like the country’s current leader has “lost touch with reality.”

“He lives in a bubble… He has got to go. There is growing distrust of Netanyahu. Every day, more Israelis understand that he is not the solution. He is the problem,” Olmert said.

1603 GMT — Israel holds bodies of 450 Palestinians: NGO

Israel holds the bodies of 450 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza, according to a local non-governmental organisation.

Among the withheld bodies are 18 belonging to Palestinian detainees, who died inside Israeli jails, the National Campaign for Retrieval of Bodies of Palestinians said in a statement.

The victims “include the bodies of 21 minors, five women and 52 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip,” the statement said.

“Israel withheld 101 bodies of Palestinians in 2023, the largest to have been recorded in a year,” it added.

The NGO said the figure does not include the bodies of Palestinians held by Israeli forces in Gaza due to the lack of precise data.

1510 GMT — Hamas 'open' to one national govt in Gaza, West Bank — Haniya

Hamas chief Ismail Haniya said he is open to a single Palestinian administration to govern Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, and the occupied West Bank.

"We have received numerous initiatives concerning the internal (Palestinian) situation, and we are open to the idea of a national government for the West Bank and Gaza," Haniya said in a televised address.

He also said that hostages abducted from Israel would only be freed from Gaza under conditions set by Hamas.

"The enemy's prisoners will only be released on terms set by the resistance," Haniya added.

1356 GMT — Israeli army says 31 soldiers injured in Gaza fighting in last 24 hours

The Israeli army said that 31 soldiers were injured in the besieged Gaza over the past 24 hours.

Figures released by the army showed that 983 soldiers had been injured since Israel expanded its ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave on Oct. 27.

According to the figures, 507 soldiers died and 2,265 others injured since the outbreak of the war in October.7

1314 GMT — Several killed in Israeli bombardment of HQ in Khan Younis: Palestinian Red Crescent

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that "several" people were killed and wounded in the renewed Israeli bombardment of its headquarters in Gaza's Khan Younis.

Israeli fighter jets struck the eighth floor of the Palestine Red Crescent Society headquarters in southern Gaza.

“Several people were killed and injured in the attack that targeted our premises in Khan Younis,” the society said in a statement, without giving an exact figure.

Hundreds of displaced Palestinians had taken shelter at the premises of the humanitarian aid organisation in Khan Younis amid relentless Israeli attacks on the city.

1309 GMT — Israel holds 8,600 Palestinian detainees: Rights group

At least 8,600 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails, including detainees from the besieged Gaza, according to an Israeli human rights group.

The detainees include 3,291 people held without trial or charge under Israel’s notorious policy of administrative detention, HaMoked said in a statement based on figures released by the Israeli Prison Service.

Around 661 Palestinians classified by Israel as “unlawful combatants” were detained since the outbreak of Israel's war on Gaza on Oct.7, the figures showed.

"Israel's treatment of security inmates [Palestinian detainees] violates their rights to equality, dignity, family life, education, and more, in contravention of international law," HaMoked said.

1251 GMT — Only 15 percent of Israelis want Netanyahu to keep job after Gaza war, poll finds

Only 15 percent of Israelis want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stay in office after the war on Hamas in Gaza ends.

In the poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), 56 percent of those questioned said continuing the military offensive was the best way to recover the hostages, while 24 percent thought a swap deal, including the release of thousands more Palestinian prisoners from Israel's jails would be best.

A mere 15 percent want Netanyahu to be prime minister once the war is over, the poll showed. His political rival and present war cabinet partner, centrist Benny Gantz, garnered support from 23 percent of interviewees. Around 30 percent named no preferred leader.

The poll was conducted among 746 respondents between Dec. 25-28, with a 95 percent confidence level, the IDI said. A previous IDI poll in December found that 69 percent of Israelis thought that elections should be held as soon as the war ends.

1235 GMT — 1,600 Israeli soldiers suffer shell-shock symptoms from Gaza war: Report

At least 1,600 Israeli soldiers have developed shell-shock symptoms since Israel expanded its ground offensive in the besieged Gaza on Oct. 27, according to local media.

Data obtained by the Walla news website showed that 76 percent of these soldiers returned to the battlefield after initial treatment in the field.

Nearly 1,000 soldiers, however, did not improve and required further rehabilitation at military centres, data showed. Some 250 Israeli soldiers were discharged from service as they continued to suffer shell-shock symptoms from the war, Walla said.

1216 GMT — Israel will appear before ICJ to counter South Africa's Gaza case, spokesperson says

Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague to contest South Africa's genocide accusations over the war with Hamas in Gaza, an Israeli government spokesman said.

"The State of Israel will appear before the International Court of Justice at The Hague to dispel South Africa's absurd blood libel," spokesman Eylon Levy said in an online briefing. "We assure South Africa's leaders, history will judge you, and it will judge you without mercy," Levy said.

1129 GMT — Palestine calls Israeli soldier taking infant girl from Gaza 'heinous crime'

Palestinian officials called an Israeli soldier taking an infant girl from Gaza "a heinous crime," saying she should be handed back immediately.

"The kidnapping of the infant girl from the Gaza Strip is evidence that the (Israeli) occupation army is committing the most heinous crimes against civilians without oversight or accountability," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said in a statement.

It called on Israeli authorities "to immediately hand over the infant to the Palestinian National Authority."

The ministry added that the commission of such an act indicates that it was not the first or the last to be committed in Gaza at the hands of Israeli soldiers.

1026 GMT — Palestinian death toll tops 22,180 in Israel's Gaza war

A total of 22,185 Palestinians have been killed and 57,035 wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since Oct.7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Some 207 Palestinians were killed and 338 were wounded in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

0934 GMT — Israel's central bank estimates war cost to reach $58B

Israel's central bank said the actual cost of the Israeli war on Gaza may reach 210 billion Shekels ($58 billion), casting a burden on the country's economy.

At a press conference, Central Bank Governor Amir Yaron urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rapidly curb public spending before the market could react badly if the government failed to do so.

“Not acting now to adjust the budget via cuts in expenditures, removing redundant ministries and increasing revenues in view of the needs of the war is likely to cost the economy much more in the future,” Yaron said.

0901 GMT — Israel to defend itself against Palestinian genocide case at ICJ

Israel's National Security Council Chairman, Tzachi Hanegbi, stated that Israel will not boycott the genocide case filed against it at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) by South Africa for causing the deaths of over 21,000 Palestinians, mostly children and women, in besieged Gaza.

Speaking to Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Hanegbi stated that Israel, as a signatory to the Genocide Convention, will participate in the case.

He denied the genocide accusation, labelling it as "false".

"Israel, a long-standing signatory to the Genocide Convention, will not boycott the proceedings. We will participate and refute the absurd accusation that amounts to blood libel," Hanegbi said.

0626 GMT — Overnight Israeli air strikes across Gaza kill over 30

At least 31 Palestinians have been killed in overnight Israeli air strikes on areas across besieged Gaza.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Tuesday that a series of Israeli airstrikes on residential areas in the city of Deir al Balah, central Gaza, killed 22 Palestinian civilians, most of them women and children.

Another Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza also left several casualties among the civilians.

Other Israeli airstrikes on areas in the city of Khan Younis, south of the besieged enclave, killed at least nine Palestinians.

0536 GMT — Israel raids town in occupied West Bank, kills at least four

Israeli forces have reportedly killed four youths and injured six others after invading the town of Azoun, situated east of Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank.

Local sources say that a substantial military presence infiltrated the town from various directions, resulting in heightened clashes and confrontations.

Israeli forces conducted extensive raids and searches of both residential homes and commercial establishments, seizing surveillance camera recordings during the operation, according to local sources.

Separately, the Israeli military has confirmed four killings during the raids, claiming that the Palestinians were armed and had wounded an Israeli soldier.

0502 GMT — Israel is pulling thousands of troops from Gaza

The Israeli military has confirmed that it was pulling thousands of troops out of Gaza, a step that could clear the way for a new long-term phase of lower-intensity fighting in the Palestinian enclave.

The confirmation of the planned troop drawdown came the same day that Israel’s Supreme Court struck down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious judicial overhaul plan.

While the plan is not directly connected to the war effort, it was the source of deep divisions inside Israel and had threatened the military’s readiness before October 7.

0458 GMT — More strikes after Israel warns war will last through 2024

Shelling and missile strikes rocked the length of the enclave overnight into Tuesday, after Israel's army warned its war on Gaza will last through 2024.

On Monday night into Tuesday morning, eyewitnesses reported missiles fired towards the city of Rafah in the south and shelling around the Jabalia refugee camp in the north.

Fighting was also reported around the central areas of Maghazi and Bureij, as well as the main southern city of Khan Younis.

Despite relentless global demands for a ceasefire, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Monday the army was preparing for "prolonged fighting" expected to last "throughout this year".

0116 GMT — Israel assassinates jailed Palestinian man: Prisoner affairs groups

Palestinian prisoner affairs groups have accused Israel of assassinating an incarcerated Palestinian man in an Israeli jail, seventh such death since October 7.

In a joint statement cited by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society said Israel assassinated Abdul Rahman Bassem Al Bahsh, 23, from the city of Nablus.

The statement said Al Bahsh was siezed on May 31, 2022 and sentenced to jail for 35 months. It added that the number of Palestinians who have been killed in Israeli prisons since October 7 has risen to seven.

Qaddoura Fares, head of the commission, said the seven are the only ones known so far, noting "there are other slain prisoners from Gaza, detainees that no one knows about yet."

The Israeli Prison Services said it would look into the circumstances of the Palestinian's killing, which took place in Meggido prison.

2335 GMT — Hamas urges ICRC action as Palestine says Israel killed prisoner

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has called on the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] to document human rights violations against Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, especially incarcerated females.

In a statement, Hamas urged the ICRC and rights groups "to fulfill their obligations in addressing the brutalities and deprivations of the rights of female Palestinian prisoners within Zionist occupation prisons."

The statement noted that "Palestinian women prisoners are encountering systematic and arbitrary malnutrition and neglect of their medical needs."

According to the latest figures, more than 7,800 Palestinians are being held in Israeli prisons, including 80 women.

The figures do not include arrests of Palestinians from Gaza, whose numbers are not specified by Israeli authorities.

For our live updates from Monday, January 1, click here.