Live blog: Colonel among 10 Israeli soldiers killed in Hamas ambush in Gaza

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Israeli media have said that 10 soldiers were killed in an ambush in Gaza City.

The dead include Colonel Itzhak Ben Basat, 44, the most senior officer to have been killed since the ground invasion in Gaza began in late October, and Lieutenant Colonel Tomer Grinberg, commander of the Golani Brigade's 13th Battalion.

Army Radio said troops who were searching a cluster of buildings lost communication with four soldiers who had come under fire, sparking fears of a possible abduction by Hamas fighters.

When the other soldiers launched a rescue operation, they were ambushed with heavy gunfire and explosives. Other Israeli media outlets carried similar accounts of the battle.

The military confirmed that a total of 10 soldiers were killed in besieged Gaza.

Hamas said the ambush showed that Israel's invasion was a failure.

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2008 GMT — Protesters snarl LA freeway calling for Gaza ceasefire

Dozens of protesters have brought a Los Angeles freeway to a rush-hour halt, calling for a ceasefire in besieged Gaza.

The group linked arms and sat down to block traffic, causing backups stretched for kilometres on the city's already overcrowded road network.

IfNotNow, a group that says it is "American Jews organising our community to end US support for Israel's apartheid system," placed a giant menorah on the roadway and sang, calling for a "ceasefire now."

"As Jews, we cannot sit by as the people of Gaza are starved and slaughtered [in] our name," the group wrote on social media.

"We cannot allow business as usual to continue, as Palestinians are murdered with impunity. So we have closed the freeway."

1954 GMT — US expressed 'concerns' to Israel over civilian casualties: White House

The United States has told Israel of its concerns about civilian casualties in besieged Gaza, the White House said, after President Joe Biden warned Israel it could lose support over "indiscriminate bombing."

"We have had concerns," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said when asked about Biden's remarks to donors to his reelection campaign at an event in Washington.

"And we've expressed those concerns about the prosecution of this military campaign, even while acknowledging that it's Hamas that started this," Kirby told reporters.

Biden himself had laid out those concerns "publicly and privately" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kirby said.

Kirby also played down Biden's comments that Netanyahu had to "change" his policy opposing a two-state solution and that the Israeli premier's hard-right government was "making it very difficult for him to move."

"We're not dictating terms," Kirby said. "It's not for us to dictate terms to a foreign sovereign government."

1952 GMT — At least 288 people in UNRWA shelters killed in Gaza since October 7

UN Palestinian Refugee Agency [UNRWA] said that at least 288 displaced people in its shelters in besieged Gaza have been killed by Israel since October 7.

It added in a post on X that 271 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces, including 69 children, in the occupied West Bank, marking it as "the deadliest year for Palestinians killed in the West Bank since UN began recording casualties."

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs [OCHA] has said that 271 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, since October 7.

1940 GMT — Any post-war plan in Gaza without Hamas is 'delusion'

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said that any plan for post-war besieged Gaza that does not involve the Palestinian resistant group is just a "delusion".

"Any arrangement in Gaza or in the Palestinian cause without Hamas or the resistance factions is a delusion," said Haniyeh in a televised speech.

Haniyeh's comments came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would not allow "the entry into Gaza of those who... support terrorism and finance terrorism".

Haniyeh, however, said he was open to talks for ending the Israeli assault and "putting the Palestinian house in order both in the [occupied] West Bank and the [besieged] Gaza Strip".

He said Hamas was ready for talks that could lead to a "political path that secures the right of the Palestinian people to their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital".

1540 GMT — Women and babies killed 'execution-style' in Gaza school

Israeli forces carried out an execution-style killing of many Palestinians, including women, children, and infants, who had sought refuge inside the Shadia Abu Ghazala School in northern Gaza, witnesses said.

The incident occurred in the Al Falujjah area, west of Jabalia refugee camp.

Disturbing footage obtained by Al Jazeera reportedly shows bodies, including those of newborns, piled up inside the school.

“The Israeli soldiers came in and opened fire on them,” a woman at the scene said.

“They took all men, then entered classrooms and opened fire on a woman and all the children with her.”

The woman said there were newborn children among them. “The Israeli soldiers executed those innocent families at point blank,” she added.

1943 GMT — UN inquiry to investigate Gaza after conflict ends

The UN will launch an inquiry to investigate agency personnel who were killed and damage to its facilities after the conflict in Gaza ends, an official said.

"We have seen reports of a UNRWA (Palestinian Refugee Agency) school being destroyed,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

“After the conflict, there will need to be a board of inquiry from the UN to look at the loss of property and the loss of UN lives.

1839 GMT — Adoption of resolution demanding Gaza cease-fire 'victory for life,' says UN

After the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, an official of the assembly stressed on Wednesday that the resolution must be implemented.

"The PGA (President of General Assembly Dennis Francis) firmly believes that what happened yesterday was a victory for life," assembly spokeswoman Monica Grayley told reporters in New York.

Her remarks came a day after 153 nations in the General Assembly voted in favor of the draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza, while 10 opposed it and 23 abstained.

1550 GMT — Gaza war to continue 'with or without international support': Israel foreign minister

Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that the war in Gaza would continue "with or without international support".

"Israel will continue the war against Hamas with or without international support. A ceasefire at the current stage is a gift to the terrorist organisation Hamas, and will allow it to return and threaten the residents of Israel," Cohen told a visiting diplomat, according to a statement issued by his ministry.

1530 GMT — People of Gaza 'running out of time and options': UNRWA chief

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned that the people of Gaza were "running out of time and options" as Israel's war on Gaza grinds on.

"They face bombardment, deprivation and disease in an ever shrinking space," UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.

Lazzari, who has described the situation in Gaza as "hell on earth," warned that people in the Palestinian territory "facing the darkest chapter of their history since 1948, and it has been a painful history".

1527 GMT — Israel’s actions against Palestinians ‘remind us of apartheid’: Ex-South African minister

The conditions that Israel has imposed in Palestinian territories and on Palestinians are very similar to what South Africans experienced under apartheid, according to leading figure of the country’s anti-apartheid movement.

Many South African freedom fighters, including former President Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and even ordinary South Africans who have visited the occupied Palestinian territories were disturbed by what they saw, Ronnie Kasrils, a Jewish South African who fought apartheid and served as a former intelligence minister, told Anadolu Agency.

“It just reminded us of what we experienced during apartheid; the repressiveness, cruelty, police brutality, restrictions on movement, arrests, detentions and illegal settlers who have taken Palestinian land,” he said.

1418 GMT — Pope reiterates call for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Pope Francis reiterated his call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza amid soaring civilian casualties in Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave.

“I continue to follow the conflict in Israel and Palestine with much worry and pain,” he said during a weekly general audience. “I renew my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. There is so much suffering there.”

“I encourage all parties involved to resume negotiations, and call on everyone to make an urgent commitment to get humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza,” he said.

1330 GMT — UK, US impose fresh sanctions on Hamas officials

The UK and US announced a second round of sanctions against key leaders and financiers associated with Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

According to an official statement, coordinated "sanctions aim to isolate Hamas through freezing assets and imposing travel bans."

Among the seven individuals facing sanctions is Mahmoud Zahar, co-founder of Hamas, and Ali Baraka, Hamas' head of external relations, who publicly defended the October 7 attacks and justified the taking of hostages.

1310 GMT — British premier refuses to call for ceasefire as Christmas message for Gazan children

When asked his Christmas message for the children of besieged Gaza, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ruled out calling for a ceasefire.

In a question at the House of Commons, the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) Westminster leader Stephen Flynn asked: “Can the prime minister please share his Christmas message for children being bombed in Gaza this winter?”

Sunak again refused to call for a ceasefire and said: “Nobody wants to see this conflict go on for a moment longer than necessary. We have been consistent that we support what is a sustainable cease-fire, which means Hamas must stop launching rockets into Israel and release all the hostages."

1052 GMT — UN: Gaza faces public health disaster

The United Nations humanitarian office has said that Gaza faced a "public health disaster" due to the collapse of its health system and the spread of disease caused by overcrowding.

"We all know that the health care system is or has collapsed," said Lynn Hastings, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

"We've got a textbook formula for epidemics and a public health disaster."

The United Nations and aid groups have sounded the alarm about the spread of infectious disease in Gaza, where the internal displacement of 85 percent of the population has caused overcrowding in shelters and other temporary living facilities.

WHO has reported a sharp uptick in acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea, lice, scabies and other fast-spreading diseases.

1007 GMT — Some Israeli soldiers were killed in friendly fire on Oct. 7: Report

Israeli media has said investigations revealed that some Israeli soldiers were killed in friendly fire in the areas around Gaza on October 7 during the Palestinian resistance group Hamas' attack.

According to the Haaretz daily, the Israeli army fought against hundreds of Hamas members on October 7 during which a "limited number" of Israeli forces were identified mistakenly as hostile members.

Haaretz, however, didn't give a specific number of those killed by Israeli friendly fire but said these incidents were limited in comparison to the number of Israeli troops killed by Hamas on October 7.

The Israeli army has so far avoided reviewing the incident of October 7 due to the unusual circumstances under which the army operated against the Hamas members on that day.

0925 GMT — 87 journalists killed in Israeli attacks: Gaza government

At least 87 journalists have been killed in the ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza since October 7, the government media office in the besieged Palestinian enclave said.

In a statement, the office said the latest fatality was Abdulkarim Oda, who was killed in an Israeli attack.

0755 GMT — Ten more soldiers killed in Gaza invasion: Israeli army

The Israeli army has said that 115 soldiers have been killed so far in its Gaza invasion.

It said 10 soldiers died in fighting in the north of the territory on Tuesday, the deadliest day for the military since the ground assault began on October 27.

0521 GMT — Russia says it cannot recognise Israel’s methods against Hamas as 'acceptable'

Russia’s foreign minister has said Moscow cannot recognise Israel’s methods against the Palestinian resistance group Hamas as "acceptable."

“From the very beginning, we strongly condemned … the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7 against Israeli civilians … and urgently called for the need to suppress such terrorist activities. But, at the same time, we cannot recognise as acceptable those methods which began to be used (by Israel) against Hamas, from which civilians suffered the most,” Sergey Lavrov said in a speech at the Russian Federation Council.

Saying that Israel apparently believes it has the right to destroy Hamas by any means, Lavrov said that they see the result of such a line of thought through the huge number of casualties in Gaza since October 7.

“Neighborhoods are being razed to the ground, more than 18,000 civilians have already died, this figure is increasing every day, two-thirds of them are women and children. The situation is terrible," Lavrov said.

0441 GMT — US defence chief visits Gulf to ensure free maritime navigation

The Pentagon has announced that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar next week as the US continues to press allies to commit to an international maritime task force to protect commercial ships in the Red Sea as those ships have come under increased attacks.

Austin will also meet with his defence counterparts in Tel Aviv to show continued US support for "Israel’s right to defend itself".

Late Monday, a land-based cruise missile launched from the Houthi-controlled part of Yemen hit the Motor Transport ship STRINDA, causing a fire. The USS Mason, a destroyer, responded to assist the ship.

0153 GMT — Resolve of Palestinians made Biden realise Israel's war in Gaza is 'madness': Hamas

The resistance and steadfastness of the Palestinian people made US President Joe Biden realise the "madness" of Israel’s military invasion of Gaza, a senior Hamas leader said.

Osama Hamdan made the remarks at a press conference in Beirut when he was asked about a comment by Bid en earlier in the day that Israel is losing support around the world.

The Israeli invasion "will have catastrophic repercussions" on Israel and on Biden’s reelection prospects, he added.

He noted that there is a clear contradiction in Biden's statements, saying that yesterday, he affirmed his absolute support for Israel and today he states that Israel is starting to lose international support.

Biden said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is losing support around the world and Netanyahu "has to strengthen and change" the government to "find a long-term solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict."

0023 GMT — Australia backs UN resolution for Gaza ceasefire in rare split with US Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said the country had supported a UN resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza out of concern for civilians in the besieged Palestinian enclave, in a rare split with close ally the United States.

After dire warnings by UN officials over a deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza in the two month long Israel's war there, the 193-member UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire with 153 countries including Australia voting in favour and 23 abstaining.

Ten countries voted against including the US and Israel. "Australia has consistently affirmed Israel's right to defend itself," Wong told a news conference in Adelaide after the UN resolution passed.

"And in doing so, we have said as Israel must respect international humanitarian law, civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals must be protected."

"The resolution we have supported is consistent with the position we have previously outlined on these issues."

Canada, Australia and New Zealand — which along with the US and Britain make up the intelligence alliance known as the Five Eyes — released a joint statement on Tuesday backing the ceasefire.

"We think it's important that we have very close allies and like-minded countries speak together in support of the position that we've articulated," Wong said, adding the statement had been under discussion "for some time".

Australia and Canada abstained from an October UN resolution calling for a ceasefire, with New Zealand voting in favour.

2131 GMT — UNGA overwhelmingly votes for Gaza truce; US, Israel vote 'no'

The UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly passed a non-binding resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in besieged Gaza — a call the paralysed Security Council has so far failed to make, piling pressure on Israel and its ally the US.

The body, which includes all 193 UN member nations, voted 153 in favour of the resolution, exceeding the 140 or so countries that have routinely backed resolutions condemning Russia for its assault on Ukraine.

Ten countries, including the United States and Israel, voted against it, while 23 abstained.

The Palestinian envoy to the UN called the General Assembly ceasefire resolution "historic".

An attempt by the United States to amend the text to include a rejection and condemnation of "the heinous terrorist attacks by Hamas ... and the taking of hostages" and a bid by Austria to add that the captives were being held by Hamas both failed to get the two-thirds majority support needed to pass.

Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram argued against both the proposed amendments to name Hamas, saying that any blame "has to be placed on both parties, especially on Israel."

"When you deny people freedom and dignity, when you humiliate and trap them in an open-air prison, where you kill them as if they were beasts - they become very angry and they do to others what was done to them," he told the General Assembly.

2300 GMT — Hamas welcomes UN demand for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

Hamas has welcomed the United Nations' demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in besieged Gaza and urged the international community to continue pressuring Israel to abide by the resolution, a senior official of the Palestinian resistance group, Izzat El Reshiq, said in a statement.

More than three-fourths of the 193-member UN General Assembly backed the move, which was vetoed by the United States in the Security Council last week.

2127 GMT — Yemen's Houthi official advises vessels on risks of navigating through Red Sea

Mohamed Ali al Houthi, head of Yemen's Houthi Supreme Revolutionary Committee, has posted a message on X advising on the risks that cargo ships could face while travelling through the Red Sea.

Any vessels navigating through the Red Sea are not allowed to travel towards the occupied Palestinian territories, the post said, adding that all ships that pass Yemen should keep radios turned on, and quickly respond to Houthi attempts at communication.

Houthi also advised against cargo ships "falsifying their identity" or raising flags different from the country belonging to the cargo ship owner.

For our live updates from Tuesday, December 12, click here.