Live blog: Gaza urges world to pressure Israel over hospital detainees

Sunday, December 29, 2024

2122 GMT — Palestinian government media office in Gaza has called on the international community to uncover the fate of Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, and medical teams detained by the Israeli army during its raid late last week on the medical facility.

"The occupation is endangering the lives of Abu Safia and the medical teams after their detention,” the office said in a statement.

“We demand the international community, human rights and humanitarian organizations and the International Red Cross urgently intervene to uncover the fate of Dr. Hussam Abu Safia and the medical teams in particular, ensure their immediate release without delay, and provide necessary protection for him and all detainees who are subjected to inhumane practices, especially medical and civil service teams.”

Abu Safia “exemplified remarkable dedication in performing his medical and humanitarian duties during the genocidal war in northern Gaza, despite harsh conditions,” it added.

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1903 GMT — 1 Israeli soldier killed, another injured in Gaza fighting, military says

One more Israeli soldier was killed and another injured in fighting in northern Gaza, the army said.

A military statement said the soldier, from the army’s 9th Battalion in the 401st Brigade, lost his life in clashes in northern Gaza, without giving further details.

Another soldier from the 931st Battalion was seriously wounded in clashes in northern Gaza, the army said in another statement.

According to Israeli military figures, at least 824 soldiers have been killed and 5,541 others injured since the start of war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

1900 GMT — Lebanon recovers bodies of 5 victims amid Israeli violations of ceasefire

Lebanese authorities recovered the bodies of five people in southern Lebanon and counted three new Israeli violations of a ceasefire agreement.

The Lebanese Civil Defense Service said that the bodies of the victims were retrieved in the town of Khiam.

It remains unclear whether the five victims were killed by Israeli fire before or after the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Israeli army forces carried out two large detonations in the southern town of Meiss El Jabal, with the blasts heard in nearby villages, the state news agency NNA reported.

1800 GMT — Israel orders Gaza evacuations ahead of new aggression

The Israeli army issued new evacuation orders for civilians northwest of Gaza City ahead of imminent attacks in the area.

Military spokesman Avichay Adraee ordered residents in areas classified as D1 and D3, including Al-Nasr area, Al-Awda City, and Al-Murabitin neighbourhood, to leave immediately and move to shelters in the centre of Gaza City.

The spokesman claimed that the move followed rocket fire from these areas towards Israel.

Over the past months, the Israeli military has repeatedly issued evacuation orders for Palestinian residents in large areas across Gaza.

1730 GMT — Several children among 13 Palestinians killed in fresh Israeli attacks

At least 13 people, including children, were killed and several others injured in Israeli bombardment in Gaza, a medical source said.

Fighter jets hit a home in the northern town of Beit Hanoun, leaving six people dead, the source said.

A mother and her three children were among the victims, while several people were injured in the attack, it added.

1530 GMT — Egypt rejects Israel’s ‘disgraceful actions’ in Gaza, forced displacement of Palestinians

Egypt rejected Israel’s “disgraceful actions” in northern Gaza and forced displacement of Palestinians from the enclave.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry denounced "the systematic and brutal targeting of Gaza's health infrastructure by Israeli occupation forces.”

The hospital “is the last major functioning healthcare facility in northern Gaza," the ministry said, calling the Israeli raid “a blatant aggression and a flagrant violation of all international norms and conventions."

1500 GMT — Palestinian projectiles fired from north Gaza despite Israeli op

The Israeli military said approximately "five projectiles" were fired from northern Gaza into Israeli territory, amid an ongoing Israeli offensive in the north of the besieged enclave.

"Following the sirens that sounded at 16:26 (14:26 GMT) in the area of communities near Gaza, approximately five projectiles were identified crossing from northern Gaza into Israeli territory," the military said in a statement. "Two projectiles were intercepted" and the rest likely fell in unpopulated areas, it said.

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas said on its official Telegram channel that its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, targeted an Israeli Merkava tank with a highly explosive device in Jabalia in northern Gaza. The group added that as the military rescue force arrived, it was targeted with a Yasin 105 missile.

1330 GMT — Another Palestinian detainee from Gaza dies in Israeli custody

Another Palestinian detainee from Gaza died in an Israeli hospital, prisoners’ affairs groups said.

Ashraf Fakhri Abu Warda, 51, breathed his last at Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba, two days after he was transferred from the Negev Desert Prison in southern Israel, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society s aid in a joint statement.

His family said that Abu Warda, who was detained by Israeli army forces in Gaza on November 20, 2023, had no known health issues before his detention.

His death brought the number of Palestinians who died in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023, to 50, according to Palestinian figures.

1216 GMT — Israeli attacks kill 30 Palestinians as death toll tops 45,500

At least 30 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 45,514, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

A ministry statement added that some 108,189 others were injured in the ongoing assault.

“Israeli forces killed 30 people and injured 99 others in three 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.

1135 GMT — Yemen’s Houthis claim 13 attacks on Israeli targets in 10 days

Houthi forces carried out 13 attacks against Israeli targets in the past 10 days, the Yemeni group said.

The local 26 September website, an outlet linked to the Houthi-run Defence Ministry, said most of the attacks targeted Tel Aviv in central Israel using hypersonic ballistic missiles during the period from December19 to 28.

On Saturday, a Houthi missile targeted the Nevatim Air Base in southern Israel's Negev region with the Houthis saying that the attack “hit its target successfully.”

1126 GMT — Israeli forces order new evacuation at besieged northern Gaza town, residents say

Israeli forces carrying out a weeks-long offensive in northern Gaza ordered any residents remaining in Beit Hanoun to quit the town, pointing to Palestinian rocket fire from the area, residents said.

The instruction to residents to leave caused a new wave of displacement, although it was not immediately clear how many people were affected, the residents said.

1103 GMT — Israel might stay in southern Lebanon beyond 60-day ceasefire deal: Report

The Israeli army might stay in southern Lebanon beyond the 60-day deadline set in last month’s ceasefire agreement, according to Israeli media.

Israel Hayom newspaper said Tel Aviv is looking into keeping its forces at some points of control in southern Lebanon beyond the 60 days outlined in the ceasefire deal.

This suggestion was discussed at the highest political and security levels in Israel, the daily said.

The Israeli outlet attributed the move to what it called the “slow deployment of the Lebanese army in the region.”

1035 GMT — Israeli forces order new evacuation at besieged northern Gaza town, residents say

Israeli forces carrying out a weeks-long offensive in northern Gaza ordered any residents remaining in Beit Hanoun to quit the town, residents have said.

The instruction to residents to leave caused a new wave of displacement, although it was not immediately clear how many people were affected, the residents said.

Much of the area around the northern towns of Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahiya has been cleared of people and razed, fuelling speculation that Israel intends to keep the area as a closed buffer zone after the fighting in Gaza ends.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said it had lost communication with people still trapped in the town, and it was unable to send teams into the area because of the raid.

1024 GMT — Another Palestinian baby freezes to death from cold weather in Gaza

A 20-day-old baby died due to severe cold and a lack of heating in refugee tents in central Gaza, the Health Ministry has said.

The infant, Jumaa al-Batran, “passed away due to the intense cold” in Deir al Balah city, the ministry explained in a statement.

“His twin brother remains in critical care in the neonatal intensive care unit at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza,” it added.

The new fatality brings the number of babies who froze to death in Gaza to five in the past week, according to local health authorities.

0941 GMT — Israel strikes Gaza hospitals, killing seven people at al-Wafaa

At least Seven people have been killed and others seriously wounded in an Israeli strike on the upper floor of al-Wafaa hospital in the centre of Gaza City, the Palestinian Civil Defence has said.

0803 GMT — Israel attacks another hospital in Gaza following Kamal Adwan

The Israeli army has targeted the Baptist Hospital in Gaza, days after raiding and setting fire to the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya.

Eyewitnesses said that an Israeli artillery shell struck the top floor of the Baptist Hospital.

The hospital remains the last functioning medical facility in northern Gaza after the Kamal Adwan Hospital was rendered inoperable after the Israeli army destroyed and partially burned the Kamal Adwan Hospital, according to Anadolu’s correspondent.

2356 GMT — Israel strikes Gaza house, killing multiple Palestinians

Three Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike on a house northwest of Gaza City.

The strike hit a residence on Al-Nafaq Street, causing widespread damage, according to Palestine's news agency Wafa.

Women and children were among the wounded where many of whom were rushed to the Arab Baptist Hospital for treatment.

Local sources identified the targeted house as belonging to the Khadir family.

For our live updates from Saturday, December 28, 2024, click here.