Live blog: Hamas slams Israeli ministers over Gaza ethnic cleansing remarks

Monday, January 1, 2024

2047 GMT — Palestinian resistance group Hamas has said Israeli politicians supporting ethnic cleansing in besieged Gaza is "a dream that will not come true" after Israeli extremist ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich called for resettling illegal Jewish settlers in Palestine's coastal enclave.

"The last of the statements of the leaders of the occupation government regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people was Minister Ben-Gvir's speech regarding the displacement of our people from the Gaza Strip and the establishment of Jewish settlements there. These are dreams that will not be possible to realise in the face of the determination and heroic resistance of the Palestinian people," Hamas said in a statement.

The Hamas statement was in response to comments by extremist Israeli officials including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called for "voluntary evacuation" of Palestinians from Gaza and urged various countries to accept expelled Palestinians from Gaza.

Hamas described the discourses of Israeli ministers as "fascist" and called on the international community and the United Nations to "mobilise the tools of international law against this fascist attitude, which is considered a war crime, and hold the leaders of the occupying structure responsible for their ongoing crimes against children and defenceless civilians."

More updates 👇

2112 GMT — US carrier to return from Mediterranean

The US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, deployed to the eastern Mediterranean after the surprise blitz on Israel by Hamas in October, will return to the United States "in the coming days," the Navy has said.

Sent to "contribute to our regional deterrence and defence posture," the carrier will "redeploy to its home port as scheduled to prepare for future deployments," the Navy said in a statement.

"The Department of Defense continually evaluates force posture globally and will retain extensive capability both in the Mediterranean and across the Middle East," the statement added.

The Navy said it was "collaborating with Allies and partners to bolster maritime security in the region."

It noted that the Defense Department will continue to rely on the presence of its forces in the region — including the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group — "to deter any state or non-state actor from escalating this crisis beyond Gaza."

2057 GMT — 10,000 cancer patients in Gaza without medicine: Head of Turkish hospital

There are 10,000 cancer patients in besieged Gaza without critically needed medicine after their only hospital was forced out of service by the Israeli army in the early days of Israel’s devastating onslaught on the blockaded Palestinian enclave, the head of a hospital in Gaza has said.

"After the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital for cancer was forced to go out of service, there are 10,000 cancer patients facing compelling and inhumane circumstances," Dr. Subhi Skaik, the hospital’s director, said in a statement.

He added that now, cancer patients in Gaza have no access to cancer medicine.

Skaik urged countries worldwide to help get the hospital running again, calling it the "only resort for cancer patients in Gaza."

2012 GMT — Al Qassam Brigades hit 26 Israeli army vehicles in Gaza City in past 48 hours

The armed wing of the Hamas group said its fighters had targeted 26 Israeli military vehicles in two neighbourhoods of Gaza City, and achieved direct hits.

"In the past 48 hours, our fighters targeted 26 [Israeli] Zionist invading military vehicles in the neighbourhoods of al Daraj and al Tuffah in Gaza City," the Al Qassam Brigades said in a statement.

In an earlier statement, the brigades said its fighters had targeted Israeli soldiers and vehicles in several areas across besieged Gaza, including in the southern city of Khan Younis, and inflicted confirmed hits on Israeli soldiers.

1655 GMT — Another Israeli minister calls for ethnic cleansing in Gaza

Promoting ethnic cleansing in Gaza, an extremist Israeli minister has called for the return of illegal Jewish settlers to the besieged Palestinian enclave, saying Palestinians should be "encouraged to emigrate", a day after similar controversial remarks by another extremist politician.

"We must promote a solution to encourage the emigration of Gaza's residents," Israel's extremist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.

Israel withdrew the last of its troops and illegal settlers from Gaza in 2005, ending an occupation that began in 1967 but maintaining a harsh blockade over the territory from land, air and sea.

The ethnic cleansing Palestinians and re-establishment of Israeli illegal settlements "is a correct, just, moral and humane solution," Ben-Gvir said.

His comments come a day after far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for the return of illegal settlers to Gaza, equally saying Israel should "encourage" the territory's approximately 2.4 million Palestinians to vacate.

1932 GMT — 361 relief planes arrived in Egypt for Palestinians in Gaza

The Egyptian Red Crescent Society said 361 relief planes have so far arrived in Egypt's Al Arish city for Palestinians in Gaza.

In a statement cited by the Egyptian state news agency, the head of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society branch in North Sinai, Khaled Zayed, said the cargo planes carried some 11,000 tonnes of different aid supplies to the Palestinian people.

He added that another plane from the United Arab Emirates on Monday arrived at the Al Arish airport holding 10 tonnes of medicines and food supplies for Gaza.

1842 GMT — Hezbollah says 3 more fighters killed in clashes with Israeli army

The Lebanese group Hezbollah said it mourned three more fighters who were killed in clashes with the Israeli army on the border areas between them.

The Lebanese official news agency NNA said the three were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon.

The statement did not specify what the fighters were tasked with when being targeted but said they were killed "on the road to Jerusalem," in reference to the Hezbollah fight in support of the Palestinian resistance facing Israel's devastating onslaught in Gaza.

1822 GMT — Palestine urges Tony Blair to distance himself from Israeli 'voluntary evacuation' of Palestinians

Palestinian authorities have urged former British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to get involved in Israeli plans that seek to expel nearly two million Palestinians from Gaza under what Israeli officials call "voluntary evacuation."

In a statement, the Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry, based in the occupied West Bank, said it is following "with great interest" reports in Israeli media saying Blair is heading a team to work for the "voluntary" evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza, and is holding meetings with some countries on the issue.

It added that if these reports are correct, it will then consider his steps "hostile to the Palestinian people and their rights in their homeland," as well as "a flagrant violation of international law, and hostile to humanity."

1644 GMT — Israel troop pullback signals 'gradual shift' to lower intensity operations: US official

Israel's decision to withdraw some troops from Gaza appears to be the start of a gradual shift to lower intensity operations in the north of the Palestinian enclave, although there was still fighting going on there, a US official said.

Israel pulled tanks out of some Gaza City districts, residents said, as it announced plans to shift tactics and cut back on troop numbers. Still, fighting raged elsewhere in the Palestinian enclave along with intense bombardment.

"This appears to be the start of the gradual shift to lower intensity operations in the north that we have been encouraging, which reflects the success the IDF has had in dismantling Hamas's military capabilities there. I'd caution though there is still fighting in the north and this does not reflect any changes in the south," the official told Reuters.

1334 GMT — Israeli officer takes Palestinian infant from Gaza

An Israeli soldier revealed that an officer took a Palestinian infant from Gaza after Israeli air strikes likely claimed the lives of her family.

Shachar Mendelson, a friend of the soldier, told Army Radio on Sunday that Capt Harel Itach, from the Givati Brigade, who was later killed in battles in the northern Gaza on November 22, took the Palestinian infant to a hospital in Israel.

Asked about the infant, Mendelson said: "Itach spoke to a friend during his service in Gaza and told him that while in one of the houses he entered, he heard a baby cry, and decided to take her to Israel." Asked if the infant's family was likely killed in an Israeli airstrike and there was no one around her, Mendelson responded: "That is correct."

1304 GMT — Israeli air strikes on Gaza kill 165 Palestinians in 24 hours

A total of 21,978 Palestinians have been killed and 56,697 have been wounded in Israeli strikes in Gaza since October 7, the health ministry in Gaza said.

The figures include 165 Palestinians killed and 246 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.

The ministry further said that 70 percent of the casualties were women and children.

1119 GMT — Vaccines for children enter Gaza for 1st time since Oct 7

Vaccines for children started entering Gaza via the Rafah border crossing for the first time since the outbreak of the Israeli war on the enclave on October 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry announced.

These vaccines, such as for polio, measles, rubella and mumps and sufficient for a period ranging from eight to 14 months, were purchased by the Palestinian government, in addition to donations from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Health Minister Mai Al Kaila said in a statement.

"The Egyptian Health Ministry had previously approved the use of the cooling units on the Egyptian side to store the vaccines until their delivery into Gaza," she said. "The delivery process was carried out in accordance with the international standards for vaccine storage under the UNICEF supervision."

1055 GMT — Israel to pull some troops from Gaza as war enters new phase

Israel is withdrawing some forces from Gaza to shift to more targeted operations against Hamas, and is partially returning reservists to civilian life to help the economy as the war looks set to last well into the new year, an Israeli official said.

The official said toppling Hamas remained an objective of the offensive in the Palestinian enclave, and that some of the five brigades withdrawn will prepare for a possible flare-up of a second front against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Since launching the war on Gaza, Israeli officials have said they would wage it in three main stages. The first was intense shelling to clear access routes for ground forces and encourage civilians to evacuate. The second was the invasion that began on October 27. The military is moving to the third stage, said the official, who could not be named in print given the sensitivity of the issue.

1007 GMT — 29 Israeli soldiers killed in 'friendly fire, operational incidents' during Gaza battles

The Israeli military data revealed that 29 soldiers were killed in "friendly fire and operational incidents" during the ground offensive in Gaza since October 27, Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation KAN reported.

Among the deaths, 18 soldiers were killed in friendly fire, two with gunfire (without further details), and nine in ammunition and weapons incidents or vehicular collisions, the broadcaster said.

According to military figures, at least 506 soldiers have been killed since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on October 7 and 172 since the beginning of the ground offensive on October 27.

0930 GMT — Israel's war on Gaza will continue throughout 2024: army

Israel's war in Gaza will continue throughout 2024, a military spokesperson has said in a New Year's message, insisting that tens of thousands of reservists would be needed for fighting.

"The IDF (Israeli Military) must plan ahead, understanding that we will be required for additional tasks and warfare throughout this year," Daniel Hagari told reporters.

"The objectives of the war require prolonged fighting and we are preparing accordingly."

0759 GMT — Hundreds of thousands hold anti-Israeli protest in Istanbul, demanding ceasefire

Thousands of people have gathered in Istanbul for an event titled "Mercy for our martyrs, support for Palestine, curse on Israel," organised by Türkiye's NGOs.

The event involved the participation of 308 non-governmental organisations (NGOs). After the morning prayers at Hagia Sophia Mosque, Eminonu New Mosque, Sultanahmet Mosque and Suleymaniye Mosque, the participants rallied in the mosque courtyards, offering prayers for the martyrs and Palestinians who lost their lives in Israeli attacks.

Protesters waved Turkish and Palestinian flags rallied to the Galata Bridge on the Bosphorus chanting: "Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine" and "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest).

0704 GMT — Aid to Gaza meets only 10 percent of population needs

Israel must increase humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza as the aid entering the enclave meets only 10 percent of its needs, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

"Half of Gaza's population is in a state of severe or extreme hunger, and 90 percent of Gaza's more than two million residents are going a whole day without food, often," the newspaper said.

"The 190 trucks that enter Gaza daily with Israel's approval provide only about 10 percent of the needs of Gazans," it added.

Read more here.

0621 GMT — Israeli army intercepts drone over Syria's Golan Heights

The Israeli army has claimed that it intercepted an armed unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the occupied Golan Heights that was launched from Syria.

This marks the third such incident since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7.

On Friday, the Israeli army said that rockets were launched from Syria toward Israel, and one reportedly landed in the occupied Syrian territories.

0120 GMT — Medical teams in Gaza exhausted dealing with large numbers of patients' injuries: Doctor

A British doctor of Palestinian origin said medical teams in Gaza are exhausted, dealing with large numbers of patients.

"The medical staff (at the European Gaza Hospital in the city of Khan Younis) is very exhausted, and the emergency department always receives patients with difficult and complex cases," Basil Badir, an orthopedic specialist from the team IDEALS, affiliated with the Islamic Aid charity organisation in the UK, told Anadolu in an exclusive interview.

Badir, who arrived in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza on December 25 with four doctors, stressed that health teams in Gaza are exhausted, especially those working in hospital emergency departments. He said the role of the British medical team is to "try to alleviate the suffering of their colleagues working in the medical field in Gaza, even if only in a small way."

0040 GMT — Israel rings under barrage of rockets from Gaza

Several rockets fired from Gaza targeted Tel Aviv and southern Israel as the country rang in the New Year, according to AFP journalists on the ground.

Air-raid sirens sounded as journalists in Tel Aviv saw Israeli missile defence systems intercept the rockets. People who had gathered on the streets to celebrate New Year's Eve took shelter, while others continued to party.

The attack on southern Israel came at midnight (22:00 GMT) and another targeting Tel Aviv occurred a minute later, according to AFP journalists.

0000 GMT — Israel to release some reservists as assault on Gaza grinds on

The Israeli military will release some reservists who were called up to fight in Gaza, a move that it said would help the economy as the country prepares for a prolonged aggression on the tiny enclave.

"Some of the reservist soldiers will return to their families and their jobs already this week," said military spokesperson Daniel Hagari.

"This will allow a significant relief for the economy, and will allow them to gather strength ahead of the coming activities in the next year, and the fighting will continue and we will need them."

2200 GMT — UN food agency urges long-term ceasefire in Gaza

The UN World Food Program (WFP) reiterated that only a long-term ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access could end the deteriorating situation in Gaza.

International organisations and agencies continue to urge an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and increasing flows of humanitarian aid amid an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

"As we count down to a new year, there is a different kind of countdown in #Gaza," the WFP said on X, adding: "We are racing against time to avert a complete collapse of even the most basic services and starvation for millions."

For our live updates from Sunday, December 31, click here.