Live blog: Israeli negotiators return from Qatar for internal talks on deal

Tuesday, December 24, 2024

1810 GMT — An Israeli negotiation team will return to Israel from Qatar for "internal consultations" regarding a hostage deal after a significant week of talks about Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

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1905 GMT — Israeli military actions had 'influence' on deaths of six hostages: report

The actions of the Israeli military had a "circumstantial influence" on the deaths of six hostages in Gaza in August, according to a military investigation.

The recovery in September of the bodies of six Israeli hostages, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, prompted half a million people to stage street protests in Israel, demanding the government secure a hostage deal.

The hostages were killed by their captors, the investigation claimed, and that the Israeli military's activity "in the area, although gradual and cautious, had a circumstantial influence".

1900 GMT — Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest mandatory military service in central Israel

Ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked a major street in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, protesting the contentious issue of military conscription.

Dozens of Haredi protesters closed Jabotinsky Street, which connects Bnei Brak with the cities of Ramat Gan and Petah Tikva, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

The protesters sat on the street and disrupted traffic, chanting slogans rejecting military service, including "We would rather die than enlist" and "Conscription orders are destruction orders".

1855 GMT — Israeli forces shoot and injure four Palestinians near Hebron, detain three despite injuries

Four Palestinian young men were shot and injured by Israeli forces near the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, WAFA reported citing security sources.

The sources reported that Israeli forces stationed at a military checkpoint opened fire on a vehicle in the vicinity of Beit Ummar, wounding four Palestinians. Despite their injuries, three of them were detained by the Israeli forces.

The fourth injured youth was transported to a hospital by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) for medical treatment. The Ministry of Health later described the person's injuries as serious.

1717 GMT — Lebanon urges ceasefire monitoring committee to end Israeli violations

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati called on a ceasefire monitoring committee to pressure Israel to halt its violations and withdraw from areas under its occupation in southern Lebanon.

Speaking during a meeting of the ceasefire monitoring committee, Mikati stressed the need to "stop the Israeli violations and to immediately withdraw Israeli forces from the border areas in southern Lebanon".

The Lebanese government said in a statement that Mikati reiterated Lebanon's commitment to the agreement, calling the Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal "unacceptable".

1335 GMT — Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in occupied West Bank camp

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in a dawn raid on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

Khawla Abdo, a 53-year-old woman, was killed as a result of shelling by Israeli forces, while Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the abdomen and chest, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military said earlier it killed one Palestinian in a "counter-terrorism" operation in Tulkarem, while its forces arrested 18 other individuals.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching Salem by opening fire on him.

Bulldozers also demolished infrastructure in Tulkarem camp, including homes, shops, part of the walls of Al-Salam mosque, which they barricaded off, and part of the camp's water network, it said.

1319 GMT — One child is killed every hour in Gaza: UN

At least 14,500 Palestinian children have been killed in Israel's ongoing war on Gaza since last year, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said.

"One child gets killed every hour. These are not numbers. These are lives cut short," UNRWA said in a statement. "Killing children cannot be justified. Those who survive are scarred physically and emotionally."

Deprived of learning, the UN agency said, Palestinian boys and girls in Gaza sift through the rubble. "The clock is ticking for these children. They are losing their lives, their futures and mostly their hope."

1232 GMT — Germany allows more arms exports to Israel: report

Germany approved further arms exports to Israel worth more than €30 million ($31.2 million) over the past few weeks, German newsweekly Der Spiegel reported.

Overall, Germany gave green light to weapon exports to Israel worth more than €160 million ($166.4 million) over the course of the year, despite growing international criticism of what human rights groups report as genocidal actions in Gaza.

According to Der Spiegel, the latest arms export figures were released by the Ministry of Economics following an inquiry.

1214 GMT — Three Palestinians killed in fresh Israeli air strikes

At least three Palestinians were killed in fresh Israeli air strikes in Palestine's Gaza, medics said.

Witnesses said an Israeli quadcopter drone fired a missile into a gathering of civilians in northern Rafah in southern Gaza.

One person was killed and another injured in the attack, a medical source said.

Two more people were killed and others injured in another strike targeting a civil defence centre in al-Daraj neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, the agency said.

1146 GMT — Death toll from Israel's war on Gaza rises to 45,338

At least 21 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, taking the overall death toll since last year to 45,338 the Health Ministry in the enclave has said.

A ministry statement added that some 107,764 others were wounded in the ongoing assault.

"Israeli forces killed 21 people and wounded 51 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.

1143 GMT — Israeli air defence system intercepts projectile launched from Yemen

Israel's military said the projectile was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, but it set off air raid sirens overnight in the country's populous central area, sending residents looking for cover.

Israel's rescue service Magen David Adom said a 60-year-old woman was seriously wounded after being hurt on her way to a protected space.

There was no immediate comment from Yemen's Houthis. It was the third time in a week that fire from Yemen set off sirens in Israel.

1125 GMT — Israeli army forces patients out of north Gaza hospital

Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the besieged territory's health ministry has said.

The Indonesian Hospital is one of Gaza's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.

1011 GMT — At least 15 Palestinians detained in occupied West Bank raids

The Israeli army rounded up at least 15 more Palestinians in fresh military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

A wounded person and former prisoners were among the detainees in the raids that targeted Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tubas, Tulkarem and Ramallah, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

"The raids were marked by abuse, threats against detainees and their families, and acts of vandalism and destruction on citizens' homes," it added.

The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank since October last year to over 12,100, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.

1008 GMT — Israeli drone strike kills one Palestinian in Rafah

An Israeli drone strike targeted a group of civilians in Rafah in southern Gaza, leaving at least one person dead, a medical source has said.

Witnesses said that a quadcopter drone fired a missile into a gathering of civilians in northern Rafah.

The medical source said that one person was killed and another wounded in the attack.

0832 GMT — Israeli army targets hospitals amid deadly onslaught in northern Gaza

The Israeli army has continued to target hospitals as Tel Aviv pressed ahead with a deadly offensive in northern Gaza, according to witnesses.

Witnesses said Israeli forces laid a siege around the Indonesian Hospital in eastern Jabalia amid heavy gunfire around the facility.

The army ordered the medical staff, patients, and displaced civilians taking shelter at the hospital to evacuate the medical facility and head to Gaza City immediately, they added.

An Israeli artillery shell also hit the al-Awda Hospital in Tel al-Zaatar area in Jabalia, witnesses said.

0800 GMT — Israeli forces surround north Gaza hospital

Israeli forces have surrounded the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and forced patients to evacuate, TRT World correspondent, Ashraf Shannon reports from Gaza.

This comes after a video of Israeli forces using bomb robots in Kamal Adhwan surfaced yesterday.

0735 GMT — Israel kills Palestinian teen during occupied West Bank raid

A Palestinian teen was killed by Israeli army fire during a military raid in the occupied West Bank, local media has said.

Witnesses said an Israeli force along with bulldozers raided the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, triggering clashes with angry Palestinian residents.

The official news agency Wafa said a teen was killed by Israeli fire during the raid.

The Israeli army deployed snipers on rooftops while bulldozers embarked on destroying infrastructure and property in the camp, witnesses said.

0630 GMT — Israel killed 12,820 students since the beginning of the Gaza war

The Ministry of Education and Higher Education said that 12,820 students were killed and 21,351 were wounded since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Gaza and the occupied West Bank on October 7, 2023.

The Ministry of Education stated in a statement that the number of students who were killed in Gaza since the beginning of the aggression has reached more than 12,701, and those who were wounded are 20,702, while in the occupied West Bank, 119 students were killed and 649 others were wounded, in addition to the arrest of 542.

She pointed out that 619 teachers and administrators were martyred 3,831 were wounded in Gaza and occupied West Bank, and more than 158 were arrested in the occupied West Bank.

0041 GMT — Israeli military says intercepted projectile that was launched from Yemen

The Israeli military said in a statement that sirens sounded in several areas in central Israel following the launch of a projectile from Yemen.

The missile was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, it added. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

2252 GMT — UN agency declares Gaza the most dangerous place for aid delivery

Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has raised alarm over the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, calling it the most dangerous region for aid delivery.

"We deal with tough places to deliver humanitarian support. But Gaza is currently the most dangerous, in a year when more humanitarians have been killed than any on record," he said.

2225 GMT — Israel admits striking school housing displaced Palestinians

The Israeli military has admitted that it targeted a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, claiming the strike was aimed at assassinating a senior Hamas security official.

A military statement said an Air Force drone directed by intelligence from Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, AMAN military intelligence directorate and the Southern Command killed Tharwat Muhammad Ahmed Albec, the head of the Security Directorate within Hamas' General Security apparatus.

The military claimed that Albec "was operating in a command-and-control centre that was embedded in a compound that previously served as the Musa bin Nusayr school in Duraj Taffah in eastern Gaza City".

It further alleged that Albec's directorate was responsible for "producing intelligence assessments that help within Hamas' decision-making and is also responsible for the security of senior Hamas members, providing them hideout places to ensure the continuation of their military activities."

For our live updates from Monday, December 23, 2024, click here.