Live blog: Netanyahu reportedly pushes for 'voluntary migration' from Gaza

Monday, December 25, 2023

2103 GMT — Israeli media said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for plans to implement "voluntary migration" of besieged Palestinians in Gaza to other countries.

According to the Israel Hayom Daily, Netanyahu made the comment during a closed-door parliamentary session for his ruling Likud Party lawmakers.

"Our problem is the countries that are willing to absorb [them], and we are working on it," he reportedly said.

Danny Danon of the Likud Party said during the session that there are countries that actually raised this issue, including Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller and former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who is seeking the US Republican Party nomination for the 2024 presidential elections.

He added that Israel must form a committee to follow up on the issue to ensure that anyone who wants to move to a third country can do that.

The Palestinian side, including the Palestinian Authority and Hamas resistance group, has yet to comment on the reported Israeli statement.

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2106 GMT — WHO says received 'harrowing' accounts from Gaza

World Health Organization staff visited a besieged Gaza hospital receiving casualties from deadly strikes on a refugee camp, hearing distressing stories of entire families killed and seeing dying children.

"WHO's team heard harrowing accounts shared by health workers and victims of the suffering caused by the explosions," the UN health agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter.

"One child had lost their whole family in the strike on the camp. A nurse at the hospital suffered the same loss," he said.

The Health Ministry in Gaza says that at least 70 people were killed in Israeli strikes late Sunday on three houses in the Al Maghazi refugee camp.

The Israeli military issued its customary statement, saying it was "reviewing the incident".

Rows of victims' bodies, shrouded in white bags, lined the ground at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, central Gaza, ahead of a mass funeral. Al Aqsa Hospital staff had reported receiving around 100 casualties from the strike, Tedros said.

"The hospital is taking in far more patients than its bed capacity and staff can handle," he said. "Many will not survive the wait," he warned, insisting "this latest strike on a Gazan community shows just why we need a #CeasefireNOW".

2040 GMT — Israeli hospital receives 18 injured soldiers from Gaza in one day

Israeli media said a single Israeli hospital had received 18 Israeli soldiers injured from battles in Gaza in the past 24 hours.

Israeli Channel 7 quoted a statement by the Soroka Medical Center in southern Israel as saying among the injured soldiers; there is at least one in a serious condition.

The hospital noted that currently, there are 49 Israeli soldiers hospitalised in its various departments, including 16 in serious condition.

On Monday, the Israeli army said two more soldiers were killed and one seriously injured in battles in northern besieged Gaza.

The Israeli army has lost 489 army personnel, including soldiers and commanders.

2036 GMT — Erdogan pledges more support for oppressed, especially in Gaza

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed the nation's enduring commitment to support the oppressed, particularly in besieged Gaza.

At a ceremony in Ankara commemorating poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy, who wrote the words of Türkiye's national anthem, Erdogan said: "We will continue to cry out in Akif's language for those killed, exploited, and oppressed, especially in Gaza, and stand on the side of justice and the just."

In response to continued attacks on Türkiye's independence, Erdogan stressed the nation's determination to secure its future.

He also urged a united effort to maintain a resolute position against any activities jeopardising the country's internal cohesion.

1839 GMT — Israel gets 230 planes, 20 ships loaded with US weapons: report

The United States has sent 230 cargo planes and 20 ships loaded with weapons and military equipment to Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war on October 7, according to Israeli media.

The US military assistance includes artillery shells, armoured vehicles and basic combat tools for soldiers, Yediot Ahronoth newspaper reported.

Israel’s Defence Ministry estimates the cost of the current war on Gaza at around $17 billion.

1801 GMT — Israeli food industry group warns of potential shortage due to Red Sea attacks

Israel's Food Industries Association has warned of a potential food shortage due to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

"There is a risk of food shortage in emergencies after threats in the Red Sea amid the current developments in the Gaza war," the group said in a statement quoted by Maariv Daily.

It called for measures to ensure Israel’s food production does not go below less than 75 percent of the country’s food needs.

"Failure to take these measures will cause a severe shortage of food in times of wars and emergencies," the group warned.

1725 GMT — Hamas rejects temporary pauses, calls for end of Israeli war on Gaza

Hamas has said that it rejects any temporary pauses and seeks a permanent halt to Israeli attacks on Gaza.

"Our people want a permanent end of this aggression, not temporary pauses," Hamas said in a statement.

The resistance group said it will not enter any hostage swap negotiations with Israel unless "there is a total cessation of the aggression."

In another development, Hamas denied media reports citing Egyptian security sources that the group and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement had rejected an Egyptian proposal to cede power in Gaza in return for a permanent ceasefire.

1720 GMT — Israel will pay for killing Revolutionary Guard general: Raisi

Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed that Israel "will certainly pay" for the killing of Sayyed Razi Moussavi, a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard in Syria.

"Without a doubt, this action is another sign of frustration, helplessness and incapacity of the usurping Zionist regime (Israel) in the region," Raisi said in a statement that added Israel "will certainly pay for this crime".

1709 GMT — Hamas urges ICC to hold Israel accountable over ‘crimes’ in Gaza

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to overcome political pressure and hold Israel accountable for its "crimes" in Gaza.

"The ICC and its prosecutor Karim Khan have failed to take serious and immediate action regarding war crimes and genocide being committed in occupied Palestine, especially in Gaza," Hamas said in a statement.

"This raises questions about the (court's) role in protecting humanity against violations by war criminals," it added.

1550 GMT — Israeli air strike kills senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards general in Syria

A senior commander with Iran's Revolutionary Guard was killed by an Israeli air strike in Syria, Iranian state media has said.

Sayyed Razi Moussavi "was killed during an attack by the Zionist regime a few hours ago in Zeinabiyah district in the suburbs of Damascus," the official IRNA news agency reported, using a different name for Sayyida Zeinab south of the Syrian capital.

IRNA said Moussavi was "one of the most experienced advisors" of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria.

The IRGC confirmed Moussavi's death in a statement, saying he was killed in a "missile attack" and vowed that Israel "will pay for this crime".

1539 GMT — Israel's Netanyahu says military pressure needed to free hostages

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel would not succeed in freeing the remaining hostages held in Gaza without applying military pressure.

"We wouldn't have succeeded up until now to release more than 100 hostages without military pressure," Netanyahu said during a speech in Israel's parliament. "And we won't succeed at releasing all the hostages without military pressure."

Hostages' family members sat in the chamber looking down on the premier, holding posters of their relatives behind the plexiglass and intermittently interrupting him.

"Now! Now! Now!" the family members shouted.

1414 GMT — Gaza's medical shortages claim thousands of Palestinian lives

At least 9,000 people died in Gaza due to lack of medical treatment amid the Israeli onslaught, the government media office has said.

1348 GMT — Gaza death toll mounts as 250 killed in past 24 hours: ministry

At least 250 Palestinians have been killed and 500 wounded by Israeli attacks in Gaza in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 20,674 since October 7, the Health Ministry in besieged Gaza has said.

The ministry also added that 54,536 people have been wounded since the start of the Israeli war on the enclave.

1338 GMT — Gaza war will last long, not close to ending: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the war on Gaza was far from over and dismissed what he cast as false media speculation that his government might call a halt to fighting against Hamas.

"We are not stopping. We are continuing to fight, and we will be intensifying the fighting in the coming days, and the fighting will take long and it is not close to concluding," he told lawmakers from his Likud party, according to a statement.

1254 GMT — Hamas, Islamic Jihad reject giving up power in return for permanent ceasefire: Egyptian sources

Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad have rejected an Egyptian proposal that they relinquish power in Gaza in return for a permanent ceasefire, two Egyptian security sources have said.

Both groups, which have been holding separate talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo, rejected offering any concessions beyond the possible release of more hostages seized on Oct. 7.

Egypt proposed a "vision", also backed by Qatari mediators, that would involve a ceasefire in exchange for the release of more hostages, and lead to a broader agreement involving a permanent ceasefire along with an overhaul of leadership in Gaza, which is currently governed by Hamas.

1225 GMT — Pope calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Pope Francis has deplored the desperate humanitarian situation of Palestinians in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire and the freeing of hostages in his Christmas message.

"I plead for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims, and call for a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid," he told thousands of faithful gathered in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican in his traditional Urbi et Orbi message.

1221 GMT — Israel 'terrorising' Gaza civilians over military defeat: Hamas

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has accused Israel of terrorising civilians in Gaza over its military defeat in the enclave.

The accusation came shortly after at least 70 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, according to health authorities.

"Whenever the Nazi army is defeated in front of the heroes of the resistance, it practices its terrorism against defenceless civilians with the help of [US President Joe] Biden," senior Hamas member Izzat al Rishq said in a statement.

1218 GMT — Israel detains 35 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have detained 35 more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, taking the tally of detainees in the occupied territory to 4,730 since Oct. 7, according to prisoners' affairs groups.

The arrests took place in the cities of Nablus, Tulkarem, Ramallah, Beit Laham, Al Halil and East Jerusalem, the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The figure of detainees does not include those arrested by Israeli forces in Gaza.

1146 GMT — Cessation of Gaza attacks to mark hardest political time for Netanyahu: Ex-Israeli government adviser

Daniel Levy, an adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's government, has said that the cessation of attacks on Gaza would mark the "beginning of the hardest political time" for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Levy told Anadolu that Netanyahu's refusal to halt the attacks is driven by his "personal interests."

He criticised Israel's attacks on Gaza and the political and military support provided by the UN to Israel.

1107 GMT — Israel's actions in Gaza echo Srebrenica, Rwanda massacres: UN rapporteur

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, has said that Israel's actions in Gaza are not much different from recent massacres in other parts of the world such as Srebrenica and Rwanda.

"It is not that different from other massacres of civilians if you look closer. Genocide is a process, not a single act. It must be prevented but in Gaza - as in Srebrenica and Rwanda before - the world is just letting it happen," Albanese said on X.

She was responding to a post which included a UN press release on unlawful killings in Gaza City at the hands of Israeli forces, which raises alarm about possible war crimes.

1016 GMT — Israeli attacks on journalists constitute war crime: IFJ

Israeli attacks on journalists “to stop news getting out of Gaza” constitute a war crime, according to the deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Speaking to Anadolu on the rising death toll of journalists in Gaza due to Israeli attacks, Tim Dawson said: “It is clear that the situation in Gaza is terrible for everyone. Food, water, fuel, and shelter are in short supply.”

“Journalists have suffered more than most – around 7 percent or 8 percent of all journalists in the enclave have lost their lives, and nearly all have lost family members,” he lamented.

“It is hard to think of a conflict that has devastated such a congested area,” the official decried.

0639 GMT — Israel accused of gruesome torture on Palestinian detainees

Harrowing testimonies have emerged on cases of torture by the Israeli military on Palestinian detainees from Gaza and occupied West Bank, according to a joint statement by prisoners’ affairs groups.

"The testimonies from recently released detainees in Gaza revealed gruesome details of torture and abuse by the occupying army upon them, with their bodies bearing signs of abuse," the statement said.

The prisoners' society published a video showing an elderly man with bruises and wounds on his feet and wrists.

"Prisoner Nael al Barghouti, 66, had been tortured during his transfer from Ofer Prison in western Ramallah, to Gilboa Prison in northern Israel," the press release said.

Read more here

0629 GMT — Egypt 'proposes' new deal between Hamas, Israel

Israeli officials said that Egypt has proposed to both Tel Aviv and Hamas to move forward with a new agreement, involving the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

"The Egyptian proposal is expected to be discussed on Monday during the meeting of the war cabinet," Israeli news website Walla quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying.

"The proposal is initial and fresh but important and positive," the official said, claiming that "Cairo has significant leverage over Hamas, which may help in the success of a proposal to release the Israeli hostages in Gaza."

Read more here

0219 GMT — 'Our hearts' are in Beit Laham : Pope Francis

Pope Francis appealed for peace while leading Christmas Eve mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as the Israeli war on Gaza relentlessly raged on.

"Tonight, our hearts are in Beit Laham, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war,” he told about 6,500 faithful, referring to Jesus Christ.

0030 GMT — 'Christ is under the rubble' in Gaza: Beit Laham reverend

As Christmas Eve celebrations in the occupied West Bank city of Beit Laham were halted due to the Israeli aggression in Gaza, a reverend asked: "Where is God?"

"Christ is under the rubble. We are angry. We are broken. This should have been a time of joy. Instead, we are mourning. We are fearful," Munther Isaac started his address during the "Christ in the Rubble: A Liturgy of Lament" service at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Beit Laham.

"Gaza as we know it no longer exists. This is an annihilation. This is a genocide. The world is watching. Churches are watching," Isaac continued, saying the Western world does not see Palestinians as "equal."

Despite the "immense blow," the Palestinians have endured, he said, adding they will be ok.

"We, the Palestinians will recover. We will rise. We will stand up again from the midst of destruction as we have always done as Palestinians,” he said.

Isaac stressed that Christmas is not about Santa, trees, gifts, and lights.

"This message is our message to the world today, and it is simply this: This genocide must stop now! " he said.

0000 GMT — Israeli 'massacre' on Christmas Eve at refugee camp kills 70

An Israeli airstrike on Al Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza has killed at least 70 people, a spokesman for the health ministry in the enclave said Sunday.

Ashraf Al Qudra said what was happening at the Maghazi camp was a "massacre" that was committed on a crowded residential block.

He added that the death toll is likely to climb, given the large number of families residing there.

For our live updates from Sunday, December 24, click here.