Live blog: Israeli strikes on northern Gaza town kill at least 15

Monday, December 9, 2024

1849 GMT — At least 15 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed and others were injured late in Israeli air strikes on several homes in the Beit Hanoon area of northern Gaza.

The strikes targeted residential homes in the town, including some that were sheltering displaced families, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

One of the dwellings that housed evacuees belonged to the Abu Jarad family, resulting in numerous casualties.

More updates 👇

1951 GMT — Three Israeli soldiers killed, 12 injured in Gaza: army

Three Israeli soldiers were killed, and 12 others were injured, including two critically, during a clash with Palestinian resistance fighters in Jabalia, northern Gaza, according to an Israeli army statement and a report by Haaretz.

The army confirmed that the casualties occurred when soldiers from the Shaked Battalion of the Givati Brigade engaged in combat in northern Gaza.

In its statement, the army added that one soldier from the Sky Rider unit in the Artillery Corps and a reservist from the Shaked Battalion were seriously injured in the same battle.

The statement did not provide specific details regarding the circumstances of the soldiers' deaths or injuries.

1811 GMT — Egyptian president discusses Gaza war, strengthens cooperation during talks in Norway

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi discussed Israel's ongoing genocide against Gaza and strengthening cooperation with Norway during his first visit to Oslo, the first by an Egyptian president since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1936.

The meeting took place between Sisi and King Harald V, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, and Norwegian Parliament Speaker Masud Gharahkhani, according to statements from the Egyptian presidency.

1552 GMT — Qatar condemns Israel's seizure of buffer zone with Syria

Qatar has condemned the Israeli seizure of the buffer zone and sites on the border with Syria.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said this is "a dangerous development".

1537 GMT — Two Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on occupied West Bank

An Israeli air strike in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas killed two Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a statement, the Palestinian health ministry said that two men aged 26 and 32 were killed "by Israeli shelling in Tubas", in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli military said one of its aircrafts struck and killed "several armed individuals" during an incursion in the city.

The strike came a week after the Palestinian ministry said the Israeli army besieged the Tubas hospital, before breaking into it, shooting inside, "assaulting staff and patients and arresting a number of them".

1532 GMT — Yemen's Houthis launch drone attack on 'vital target' in southern Israel

Yemen's Houthi group has said that it carried out a drone attack on a "vital target" in southern Israel.

In a televised statement, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that it fired a drone at an Israeli target in Yavne, south of Jaffa, resulting in a direct hit. He, however, did not give details about the nature of the target.

The spokesperson said the attack was "in response to the Israeli enemy's massacres" against the Palestinians in Gaza.

1502 GMT — Civilian killed, 4 soldiers injured in new Israeli strike in southern Lebanon

A Lebanese civilian was killed and four soldiers were injured in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon on Monday, in the latest violation of a ceasefire deal between the two sides, the army said.

A military statement said Israeli forces struck a car near a military checkpoint in Bint Jbeil district, killing one person and injuring four soldiers.

Israeli forces also shelled the outskirts of the southern town of Naqoura, the state-run National News Agency said, without providing details about injuries.

1453 GMT — US fully backs Israel's military moves in Syria: Israeli media

The US administration fully backs the Israeli military moves in Syria, including the seizure of a demilitarized buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights, Israeli media said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced the collapse of a UN-monitored disengagement agreement, which established a buffer zone between Israel and Syria after Syrian troops withdrew from the area following the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime.

"Washington is aware of and fully supports our actions in Syria," Israel’s Army Radio said.

The radio, citing an Israeli official, said the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Israel and Syria "is dead."

1307 GMT — Hamas congratulates Syrians on toppling Assad

In a statement published on the Palestinian resistance group's official website, Hamas said: "We congratulate the brotherly Syrian people on their success in achieving their aspirations for freedom and justice. We call on all components of the Syrian people to unite, strengthen national cohesion, and rise above the pains of the past."

1245 GMT — Gaza death toll nears 44,800 as Israel kills more Palestinians

At least 50 more Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, pushing up the overall death toll since last year to 44,758, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

A ministry statement added that some 106,134 others were injured in the ongoing assault.

"Israeli forces killed 50 people and injured 84 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours," the ministry said.

1231 GMT — Several killed as Israeli army intensifies attacks in northern Gaza

Several people were killed in Israeli air strikes that targeted a school-turned-shelter and civilians in northern Gaza, a medical source and witnesses said.

Witnesses said Israeli jets struck Abu Hussein School, where hundreds of civilians have sheltered in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

A medical source said several people were killed and injured in the attack, without giving an exact figure. The Israeli strike caused a large part of the school building to collapse, witnesses said.

Four people were also killed in Israeli shelling targeting a group of civilians near al-Halabi Roundabout in Jabalia, the medical source said.

1207 GMT — Ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza's Kamal Adwan hospital 'unacceptable': WHO

The latest shelling of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, which caused severe damage and disrupted vital medical services, is "unacceptable," the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

According to hospital authorities, the attack on December 7 led to injuries among health workers and patients, while water, oxygen, and fuel tanks were destroyed, triggering a fire within the hospital premises.


The facility is now completely without electricity, further crippling its ability to provide essential care, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

"The ongoing attacks on the hospital are unacceptable and are depriving people in northern (Gaza) of the already minimal health services they had left," he said.

1155 GMT — Israel seeks to justify air strikes on Syria, expanded presence in Golan Heights

After Israel launched a wave of air strikes on Syria following the fall of the Baath regime, Tel Aviv sought to justify its attacks by expressing concerns over strategic weapons in its northeastern neighbour.

Israel claimed that its military attacks have targeted chemical weapons, long-range missiles, and other military systems which it said could fall into the hands of extremists after the fall of deposed President Bashar al Assad, who fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of the capital Damascus early Sunday.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed that Tel Aviv's recent actions in the occupied Golan Heights as "limited and temporary," adding that its primary focus was on the security of the country and its citizens.

Saar also said indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas continued, with a focus on a possible prisoner-hostage exchange. He did not provide further details.

1133 GMT — At least four Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon

The Israeli military said that at least four soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon, the first deaths announced in the area since the start of a ceasefire with Hezbollah nearly two weeks ago.

The four reservists, all from the same battalion, "fell in combat" on Sunday, the military said without giving further details.

0851 GMT — One killed, four wounded in Israeli strike in Lebanon's south

Lebanon's military has said one person was killed and four soldiers wounded in an Israeli strike in the country's south, where a fragile ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel came into force last month.

"The Israeli enemy targeted a car near the Saf al-Hawa/Bint Jbeil military checkpoint, killing a citizen and lightly wounding four soldiers," the army said in a statement.

The official National News Agency reported that "enemy aircraft struck a car on the Saf al-Hawa road in Bint Jbeil near an army checkpoint, killing the driver, a civilian".

0959 GMT — Drone attack from Yemen amid regional tension: Israel

The Israeli army said that a drone from Yemen struck an apartment in central Israel amid rising regional tensions over its ongoing war on Gaza.

A military statement said the drone hit the apartment in Yavne city after air defence systems failed to detect it.

No injuries were reported in the attack, which caused damage to several apartments in the building, Israeli media said.

0958 GMT — Israeli army demolishes 2 Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem

The Israeli army demolished two Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, a local official said.

Israeli forces raided the village of Al-Walaja, south of East Jerusalem, and brought down the two structures on claims of lacking a building permit, local councillor Anwar Abu al-Teen told Anadolu.

He said several homes were demolished by the Israeli army in the village two weeks ago.

Abu al-Teen said there are around 70 homes in the village facing the risk of demolition for alleged lack of building permits.

0830 GMT — Israel continues with its deadly offensive on Gaza

Five people were killed in Palestine's Gaza as the Israeli army continued its deadly offensive on the besieged enclave, a medical source has said.

Israeli shelling targeted a group of civilians in Jabalia in northern Gaza, leaving three people dead, the source said.

One person was also killed in an Israeli strike in Khirbet Al-Adas, north of Rafah in southern Gaza, while another Palestinian lost his life in a drone strike in the same city, the source said.

According to witnesses, Israeli forces opened fire on tents of displaced people in the Mawasi area in western Rafah.

Israeli army forces also set fire to a school sheltering displaced civilians in Beit Lahia to force them to flee the building, they added.

In Gaza City, an Israeli air strike targeted the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, but no information was yet available about the wounded.

0046 GMT — Israeli army burns truck carrying goods bound for southern Gaza

The Israeli army has burned a truck carrying goods in the Zeitoun neighbourhood southeast of Gaza City.

The army stopped the privately owned truck as it was heading to the southern part of the enclave via Salah al-Din Street, witnesses told Anadolu Agency.

They added that the army forced the driver to get out of the truck and took him to an unknown location, then set the truck on fire.

0037 GMT — Israel, Hamas close to reaching 'small' ceasefire deal: Sources

Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas are close to reaching a "small" ceasefire deal, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority said, citing political sources.

The broadcasting authority quoted the unnamed Israeli sources as saying that the two sides are close to finalising a deal that would include a two-month ceasefire.

2318 GMT — Israel strikes southern and central Gaza, kills 8

Israel has bombarded central and southern besieged Gaza, killing at least eight Palestinians and wounding several others.

A man and his wife were killed, and six others, including their infant daughter, were seriously wounded when an air strike hit the tent where they were staying in the town of Al-Zawayda in central Gaza, a medical source told Anadolu Agency.

Six more Palestinians were killed and several others wounded when an Israeli drone targeted a motorcycle and a civilian vehicle in the Khirbat Al-Adas area in Rafah city, another medical source said.

The strike targeted residents searching for flour in the Al-Nahal neighbourhood of Khirbat Al-Adas, witnesses told Anadolu.

2252 GMT — Netanyahu claims Assad's fall could strengthen hostage swap deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the fall of Syria's Bashar al Assad regime could lead to a hostage swap deal in besieged Gaza.

He said that the fall of Assad "could open the door to new opportunities to strengthen a deal for the return of the hostages from Gaza."

2104 GMT — Director of key north Gaza hospital says power outage threatens patients

The director of northern Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital said the lives of more than 100 patients were in danger after electricity, oxygen and water supplies were cut due to Israel's onslaught.

Hossam Abu Safiyeh said recent Israeli shelling and bombing had severely damaged the hospital and cut the water and electricity supply to parts of it.

"The outage of electricity and water persists, and we urgently appeal to the international community for assistance," he said.

"The situation is extremely dangerous. We have patients in the intensive care unit and others awaiting surgeries. Access to the operating rooms is only possible after restoring electricity and oxygen supply."

Safiyeh said the hospital currently had 112 wounded patients, including six in intensive care and 14 children.

2024 GMT — Israel's barbaric war on Palestine's Gaza must end: South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said Israel's "barbaric war" against the people of Gaza must end.

"As nations, we know too well the pain of having our lands colonised and our people oppressed. South Africa and Algeria stand firm in our support for the Palestinian people's quest for self-determination," Ramaphosa said while addressing Algeria's parliament during a working visit on Friday, according to a transcript released by the government and seen by Anadolu over the weekend.

He said, "The killing of women, children, and non-combatants; the bombardment of homes, schools, and hospitals; and the denial of humanitarian aid is a stain on the conscience of the world," he said, adding, "We cannot turn a blind eye to this injustice."

For our live updates from Saturday, December 8, 2024, click here.