Main events on December 24th
- Israeli forces launched a drone strike on the headquarters of the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza City, killing a rescue worker and his son. Another Civil Defence member was killed in a separate attack on the northern city.
- In southern Gaza, at least seven Palestinians, including three children, have been wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a tent housing displaced people in Khan Younis.
- Hundreds of Palestinian Christians in Gaza City gathered at a church in the war-torn territory on Christmas Eve, praying for an end to Israel’s war, which has laid waste to the enclave and killed at least 45,338 people.
- Eight people have been confirmed killed in Israeli attacks on Tulkarem and the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
- An Israeli negotiating team has returned to Tel Aviv from Qatar after a “meaningful week” of talks on a ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said.
- Iran’s mission to the UN has called on the world body’s secretary-general to condemn Israel after it finally admitted to assassinating former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital, Tehran, in July.
- Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati has called for ceasefire monitors to pressure Israel to withdraw forces from southern Lebanon and stop violating the truce agreement with Hezbollah.
Palestinians dying from preventable illnesses as Israel attacks hospitals, blocks aid: UN
Israeli authorities have denied 48 of 52 attempts by the United Nations to coordinate humanitarian access to northern Gaza – which is under a “near-total siege” – since December 1, while the four that received approval still faced impediments, the UN said.
In its latest Gaza situation report, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported that patients with treatable illnesses were dying in the enclave because of “depleted medical supplies and lack of life-saving equipment”.
Israel has blockaded and hampered the entry of food, water, medical and other essential supplies to the Gaza Strip since launching its war on the Palestinian territory in October 2023, which has now killed more than 45,000 people.
OCHA’s latest report said the attacks “near or on” the al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza continued, and both facilities required urgent supplies of food and water.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces were also reported to have entered the Indonesian Hospital, also in northern Gaza, and ordered all patients, their caregivers and staff to flee. Only one doctor and an engineer now remain at the hospital, according to OCHA.
Nine-year-old internally displaced Palestinian girl, Heba Muhanna, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Heba lost her leg, her father and five uncles in an Israeli air strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp on December 12
