· Two children killed yesterday by Israeli forces in Jenin.
- 15,000+ killed*, including 6,150 children, and 33,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 240 Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
- Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,200
*This figure has been confirmed by the government media office in Gaza. However, due to breakdowns in communication networks within the Gaza Strip (particularly in northern Gaza), the Gaza Ministry of Health has not been able to regularly update its tolls. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 20,000.
- 8-year-old Adam Samer Al-Ghoul and 15-year-old Basil Suleiman Abu Al-Wafa were shot dead by Israeli forces during a large-scale raid in Jenin, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank.
- Israel is looking into another extension on the truce, which was expected to end on Wednesday, reported the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.
- A source close to Hamas said the group is willing to extend the truce by an additional four days, reported AFP news agency.
- OCHA: The amount of aid entering Gaza is still “insufficient to meet the extensive needs.”
- Israel’s former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is calling for the removal of Netanyahu, calling him “unfit to lead” as he “can’t manage” the complexity of the current situation in the country, and he “must go before the consequences of his flaws become irreversible.”
- Israel is still denying Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north of Gaza or from visiting the sea in certain parts of the Strip.
- Following the release of 12 captives, including 10 Israelis from Gaza, thirty Palestinian prisoners were freed and returned to their homes in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday as part of the fifth prisoner swap.
- On Tuesday, the US said they airlifted 54,000 pounds of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.
- Following Elon Musk’s visit to Israel on Monday, Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan invited him to Gaza so he could “see the scale of the massacres.”
- Every day in Gaza, where 55% of the besieged enclave’s exports are agricultural products, they lose $1.6m in farm production as a result of Israeli bombardment, says the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
- Jordan cancels Christmas festivities in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, says the Jordan Council of Church Leaders. The Palestinian city of Bethlehem and the birthplace of Jesus Christ has also announced its plans to cancel Christmas celebrations in the city.
Negotiators in Qatar with representatives from Israel, the US, Qatar, and Egypt are working toward extending the current pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel, an anonymous source familiar with the discussions said. It is expected that if the current agreement is adhered to today, requiring Hamas to release 10 Israeli hostages, then the pause could be extended for another 24 hours if Hamas produces an additional list of hostages for tomorrow. Negotiators believe there are enough children and women held by Hamas to extend the temporary pause by two further days; then, talks should turn to men and soldier hostages, the source said. MJ Lee and Alex Marquardt report for CNN.
The fighting pause has entered its sixth day today as 12 hostages were released by Hamas yesterday and Israel released 30 Palestinian prisoners. A total of 81 hostages and 180 Palestinian detainees have been released so far. BBC News reports.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly denied accusations he allowed Qatar to fund or grow Hamas in order to cause divisions among Palestinians, labeling the claims as “ridiculous.” Political opponents in Israel have long argued that Netanyahu has boosted Hamas by allowing funding via Qatar in a “divide-and-rule” approach which was supposed to see rivalry between Isalmist militants and Hamas in the West Bank. “It’s a big lie that I wanted to build [up] Hamas…you don’t go to war three times with Hamas or do major military operations if you want to build up Hamas,” Netanyahu said in an interview yesterday. He added that Israel “wanted to avoid a civilian humanitarian collapse — disease, rampant hunger and other things that would have created an impossible humanitarian situation…that’s why successive Israeli governments allowed this money to go in, not in order to strengthen Hamas. We didn’t want to strengthen Hamas at all.” Paul Ronzheimer and Claudia Chiappa report for POLITICO.
Two Palestinians died yesterday after Israeli military vehicles blocked the entrance to Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin in the occupied West Bank , according to the international president of Doctors without Borders. In a post on X, Dr. Christos Christou, said: “For two hours, we were not able to leave to provide care and people could not reach us, as Israeli military vehicles blocked the entrance of the hospital and the road, preventing ambulances from leaving. Two Palestinians died of wounds while ambulances could not reach them.” The IDF said yesterday they were “conducting counterterrorism activities in the area,” although no further details were provided. Hande Atay Alam reports for CNN.
Israel’s former ambassador to the UK Mark Regev said yesterday it is “impossible to have peace with Hamas,” and when asked whether his country will support rebuilding the Gaza Strip, he said budget funding will be focused “on rebuilding communities in southern Israel.” Regev added that he expects international partners will assist in financing Gaza’s rebuilding, saying the money “doesn’t have to be Israeli money…this is not a war that we started or that we wanted.” BBC News reports.
The Chief of the W.H.O. said more people in Gaza could die from disease than bombings. In a post on X, Tedros Ghebreyesus said more than 1.3 million people are living in overcrowded shelters without access to medication or basic supplies, adding that over 110,000 civilians are suffering from respiratory infections as well as scabies and lice. Samar Zulfaqar and Mithil Aggarwal report for NBC News.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Turkish President Tayyip Erodgan said yesterday that Israel must be tried for war crimes in international courts for its actions in Gaza. During a phone call with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Erdogan discussed the “expectations of the international community regarding Israel’s unlawful attacks,” as well as humanitarian aid into Gaza, the presidency said. “President Erdogan said Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, the laws of war, and international humanitarian law by looking in the eyes of the international community,” it added. Tensions between Turkey and Israel remain high as Erdogan has previously labeled Israel a “terror state.” Tuvan Gumrukcu reports for Reuters
US RESPONSE
The US delivered more than 54,000 pounds of “vitally needed medical supplies and nutrition assistance to the people of Gaza” yesterday. The U.S. Agency for International Development said it used an Air Force C-17 Aircraft to deliver the U.N. humanitarian aid supplies to Egypt, and that more flights are planned “in coming days.” Tara Suter reports for The Hill.
The White House said it is hopeful some American hostages will be released today. National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said there is “certainly hope” of such releases, and added that, “we want to see all the hostages released and so there be extended pauses beyond these two days extension then you know, we’re in favor of that. And we’re going to keep working on this, as I said, hour by hour with all our partners in the region.” Sam Fossum reports for CNN.
President Biden said that Hamas fears “nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace.” In a post on X yesterday, which seems to be an extract from a previous address rather than a new statement, Biden added that “to continue down the path of terror, violence, killing, and war is to give Hamas what they seek.” Mithil Aggarwarl reports for NBC News.
The Biden-Obama divide over how closely to support Israel.
The current president believes his close embrace of Israel, which he called for as vice president, gives him greater influence with Israeli leaders and the public.
The different approaches to Israel by Biden and Obama — who are almost 20 years apart in age — in some ways reflect generational differences among Americans’ views of the war. An NBC News poll released this month found that a majority of voters ages 65 and older approve of Biden’s handling of the war, while 70% of younger voters disapprove of it.
The roots of Biden’s approach to Israel reach back nearly five decades. A lawmaker who has spoken with Biden about Israel described him as “ideological” on the issue.
Two Jewish Democrats introduced a resolution yesterday in the House of Representatives condemning a Republican bill that would revoke visas, refugee status, and asylum for Palestinian Authority passport holders dating back to Oct. 1, 2023.Reps. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) introduced the two page resolution which states that the GOP bill “dangerously conflates Palestinians with Hamas” and is “un-American, bigoted, and is designed to inflame tensions which could result in violence.” Goldman added that “calls to expel Palestinians from the US are racist, xenophobic and have no place in the government of the US.” Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.) together with 10 Republican co-sponsors introduced the GOP bill, which Zinke said “is about the fact that The Biden Administration is completely incapable of vetting anyone coming into our country.” Andrew Solender reports for Axios.
Jewish groups are suing the University of California, UC Berkeley, and its leaders, over “a longstanding, unchecked spread of anti-semitism.” The lawsuit was filed yesterday by the Brandeis Center and Jewish Americans for Fairness in Education, and argues that “inaction” on discrimination against Jewish students has resulted in a rise in antisemitism violence and harassment. The lawsuit cites student demonstrations on campus that followed the Oct.7 Hamas attacks as an example of discrimination. The Jewish groups are also suing against the Berkely law student groups’ policy that excludes students from joining or presenting if they disagree to disavow Israel or identify as Zionists, arguing that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism and that the policy violates various Amendment rights, including freedom of religion, the Equal Protection Clause, and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. “Conditioning a Jew’s ability to participate in a student group [their] renunciation of a core component of Jewish identity is no less pernicious than demanding the renunciation of some other core element of a student’s identity — whether based on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual identity,” the lawsuit said. Berkeley leaders argued the lawsuit is inconsistent with First Amendment protections and said the demonstrations were lawful. Bianca Quilantan reports for POLITICO.