Closing summary
It’s approaching 4.45am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv and this blog is about to close. We’ll resume our live coverage later today. Here’s a roundup of the latest developments. And you can see all our Israel-Gaza war coverage here. Thanks for reading.
The Israel Defense Forces said it shot and killed three hostages after mistakenly identifying them as a threat during fighting in Gaza City. The three were named as Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Fouad Al-Talalka, 25, and Alon Shamriz, 26.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the accidental killings of the three Israeli hostages, saying on X (formerly Twitter): “Together with the entire people of Israel, I bow my head in deep sorrow and mourn the fall of three of our dear sons who were kidnapped.”
Israel reopened an aid crossing into the Gaza Strip on Friday after earlier approving the “temporary measure”. Netanyahu’s office said after weeks of pressure that the aid would be allowed to be delivered directly to Gaza through its Kerem Shalom border crossing.
Two of the world’s largest shipping firms, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, have said they are suspending passage through a Red Sea strait vital for global commerce after Yemeni rebel attacks in the area. The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen but are not recognised internationally, say they are targeting shipping to pressure Israel during its war in Gaza.
The US should back the UN security council’s action to protect Gaza’s civilians, Human Rights Watch has said. HRW’s UN director, Louis Charbonneau, said on Friday that the US should act at the UN security council to “pressure Israel, as well as Palestinian armed groups, to comply with international humanitarian law and protect civilians”.
Al Jazeera says its journalist Samer Abudaqa was killed in an Israeli missile attack on Friday. It reports that Abudaqa was working alongside its bureau chief, Wael Al-Dahdouh, and both were reporting at Farhana school in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, when they were attacked by Israeli missiles. It said Abudaqa was trapped in the school for hours and unable to be reached by paramedics due to heavy Israeli shelling around the area.
The German airline carrier Lufthansa has said it will resume flights to Tel Aviv starting 8 January. In a statement released on Friday, Lufthansa said: “In a first phase, Lufthansa Airlines will initially offer four weekly flights from Frankfurt and three weekly flights from Munich. Austrian Airlines is planning eight weekly connections and SWISS five weekly flights.”
In his address at the Global Refugee Forum, Philippe Lazzarini, chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said that what continues to shock him is the “ever increasing level of dehumanization” with the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He said: “The fact that people can laugh, cheer and mock any type of wrongdoing that we observe in this war, when in fact what is happening in Gaza should outrage anyone, should make us all rethink our values… This is also a make or break moment for all of us and for our shared humanity.”
Updated
Israel reopens aid crossing on Gaza border
Israel reopened an aid crossing into the Gaza Strip on Friday after earlier approving the “temporary measure”.
Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said after weeks of pressure that the aid would be allowed to be delivered directly to Gaza through its Kerem Shalom border crossing, Agence France-Presse reports.
Before Friday’s reopening, all aid entering the Palestinian territory had to pass through the Rafah border crossing from Egypt.
The UN has said the amount of aid reaching Gaza has been well below the 500 truckloads a day that entered before October 7. A UN official said hunger and desperation were driving people to seize the limited aid that is arriving.
UN aid chief Martin Griffiths earlier welcomed Israel’s decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing, saying on X (formerly Twitter) that it would increase the flow of aid.
But what the people in Gaza need most is an end to this war.
Updated
