Summary of the day so far
It’s 1am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv and this blog is now closing. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) has warned that the scale and intensity of ground operations and fighting in Gaza is hindering the delivery of aid to those in need. In a statement on Wednesday, the OCHA said humanitarian operations are “facing increasing operational challenges due to intensified hostilities, insecurity, blocked roads, scarcity of fuel, and extremely limited communications.”
Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war. Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in the southern city of Khan Younis and in the southern town of Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble. An Israeli strike killed 20 Palestinians near al-Amal hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, according to a Gaza health ministry spokesperson.
At least 21,110 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action in Gaza since 7 October, according to figures released on Wednesday by the health ministry in the territory. The ministry reported that 55,243 people had been wounded. It said 195 people were killed and 325 injured in the last 24 hours.
Six Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Wednesday after an Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. According to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, the six people were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town of Tulkarem, where Israeli soldiers were also deployed.
Israel’s military chief, Herzi Halevi, has said his forces are “at a very high level of readiness” amid escalating Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon. Israeli war cabinet minister, Benny Gantz, separately said that the situation on the country’s northern border “demands change”, adding that the time for diplomacy “is running out”. Hezbollah claimed on Wednesday morning to have fired 18 rockets into Israel from Lebanon. The IDF said it intercepted some of the rockets. A Hezbollah fighter was killed late Tuesday in an Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon along with his brother, a Lebanese-Australian national, and his wife, according to reports.
Telecommunications and Internet services are being gradually restored in central and southern Gaza, the Palestinian phone service provider, Paltel, has said on Wednesday. Phone and Internet services experienced a “complete breakdown” on Tuesday that was “due to the ongoing offensive”, it said.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned the people of Gaza face “grave peril”. In a statement on Wednesday, the WHO said its teams had undertaken “high-risk” missions to deliver supplies to hospitals in northern and southern Gaza, where they witnessed “intense hostilities in their vicinity, high patient loads and overcrowding.”
Israel has responded furiously to comments by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, comparing Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler. Speaking at an awards ceremony in Ankara, Erdoğan said the Israeli prime minister was no different from Hitler and likened Israel’s attacks on Gaza to the treatment of Jewish people by the Nazis. Netanyahu responded by saying the Turkish president should be the last person to lecture Israel. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, said Erdoğan’s remarks were “deeply offensive” to Jewish people around the world.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, told Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a call on Wednesday of the need to work towards a durable ceasefire, according to a statement from the French presidency. A readout of the call from the Israeli prime minister’s office said Netanyahu thanked Macron “for France’s involvement in defending freedom of navigation and its willingness to help restore security along Israel’s border with Lebanon.”
Benjamin Netanyahu has allegedly refused requests from security officials to begin making plans for control and governance of the Gaza Strip after the war ends, according to a report. Multiple requests were conveyed on behalf of the directors of the Mossad, the Shin Bet security agency, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff and the defence ministry to arrange a meeting with the prime minister’s office, Israeli media reported. Meanwhile, a White House official has said national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, have discussed planning for the day after the Israel-Gaza war, including governance and security in Gaza.
Updated
More than two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Wednesday after blocking traffic heading to John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, according to police.
The Port Authority police department (PAPD) said 26 people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and impeding vehicular traffic. It said buses were sent to offer rides for travellers affected by the backup.
Photos and videos on social media showed protesters holding hands and forming a line that stretched across the highway, holding banners that said “Free Palestine,” “Genocide then//Genocide now,” “Right to return” and “Divest from genocide.”
Similar protests took place at Los Angeles International Airport today, during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said about 36 protesters were arrested of rioting, and that at least one person was arrested “for battery on a police officer”.
This unlawful behavior is dangerous and will not be tolerated. Approx. 36 protesters were arrested and booked for 404.6 PC (Rioting) and at least one arrested for battery on a police officer.
— LAPD PIO (@LAPDPIO) December 27, 2023
