More disinformation from CNN

Gaza no longer in famine, says global hunger watchdog, after influx of aid following ceasefire

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/19/middleeast/gaza-famine-recedes-ipc-intl

Title putting the emphasis on everything is ok now, however the influx of aid is false.

They start the article with this picture


_{Palestinian women receive donated food at a community kitchen in Nuseirat, central Gaza, on Wednesday, December 17}

Is that what an influx of aid for 2 months looks like?

There is no longer famine in Gaza, a United Nations-backed hunger monitor announced on Friday, after an influx of humanitarian aid into the strip following a ceasefire agreed in October between Israel and Hamas.

“Following a significant reduction in conflict, a proposed peace plan, and improved access for both humanitarian and commercial food deliveries, food security conditions have improved in the Gaza Strip,” the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) said. “No areas are classified in Famine,” it added.

The global watchdog had said in August that parts of Gaza are officially experiencing a “man-made” famine.

Then some caveat

The organization noted, however, that despite these improvements, most of Gaza’s population faced high levels of acute food insecurity.

“Although humanitarian assistance, including food aid, has increased, only basic survival needs are being met,” the IPC said.

So not an influx of aid?

Still a risk of famine

While Gaza’s classification has changed, the IPC warned that the risk of the enclave falling back into famine remains.

“Under a worst-case scenario involving renewed hostilities and a halt in humanitarian and commercial inflows, North Gaza, Gaza Governorate, Deir al-Balah, and Khan Younis would face a risk of Famine through mid-April 2026,” it said.

Thus still on the brink of famine?

Israel in August heavily disputed that there was famine in Gaza, saying it was doing all it could to allow aid into the strip.

In response to Friday’s IPC report, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said: “In the face of the facts, even the IPC is forced to admit. There is no famine in Gaza,” adding that there are “hundreds” of aid trucks entering the strip every day.

The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli agency tasked with facilitating aid distribution in Gaza, said that between 600-800 aid trucks enter the Gaza Strip every day, approximately 70% of which carry food.

Blindly posting Israeli talking points without fact checking with the only caveat

Hamas has previously disputed figures from COGAT, saying that not enough aid is making it into the enclave.


It's not just Hamas disputing these figures, it's also the UN, UNWRA, OCHA, WFP, and other humanitarian organizations.

Heck it's even Israel itself that's disputing their own claims...

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/gaza-aid-deliveries-9.7011067

However, Israel's own figures suggest that an average of only 459 trucks a day have entered the Gaza Strip between Oct. 12, when the flow of the aid restarted, and Sunday, according to an AP analysis. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of co-ordinating aid entry, provided the figures.

And those have been disputed as well with only avg 120 trucks actually reaching their destinations in Gaza according to the UN.
One silver lining, it is double that as before the so called 'ceasefire' where only 60 trucks a day went in. Yet malnutrition and acute hunger are still a huge man made threat in Gaza.

MSF urges Israel to let critical aid into Gaza as children freeze to death

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has warned that babies and children in the Gaza Strip are dying from harsh winter weather, calling on Israel to ease its aid blockade as the military continues to violate the ceasefire and press on with its genocidal war.

Citing the death of a 29-day-old premature baby, Said Asad Abedin, from severe hypothermia in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, MSF said on Friday that winter storms “combined with the already dire living conditions [are] increasing health risks”.


The death toll from extreme weather stood at 13 as of Thursday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Another two-week-old baby, Mohammed Khalil Abu al-Khair, froze to death without access to proper shelter or clothing earlier this week.

Ahmed al-Farra, head of the maternity paediatric department at Nasser Medical Complex, said in a video update that “hypothermia is very dangerous” for babies. “If nothing is offered for these families in the tents, for warming, for mobile homes, for caravans, unfortunately, we will see more and more” deaths, al-Farra said.

Children are “losing their lives because they lack the most basic items for survival,” Bilal Abu Saada, a nursing team supervisor at Nasser Hospital, told MSF. “Babies are arriving to the hospital cold, with near-death vital signs.”

In addition to the growing number of deaths, MSF said its staff has recorded high rates of respiratory infections that it expects to increase throughout the winter, posing a particular danger to children under five.

“As Gaza is battered by heavy rains and storms, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians continue to struggle in flooded and broken makeshift tents,” the organisation added. “MSF calls on Israeli authorities to urgently allow a massive scale up of aid into the Strip.”

No letup in Israeli attacks

Palestinian news agency Wafa, meanwhile, reported that Israeli forces demolished buildings, carried out artillery shelling and shot guns in areas east of Gaza City on Saturday morning, with more gunfire reported east of Khan Younis.

On Friday, an Israeli strike on a shelter for displaced Palestinians killed at least six people. The Israeli military claimed to be firing on “suspects”.

Graphic videos from the scene showed body parts and terrified civilians trying to carry wounded people out of danger.

Military vehicles also descended upon the town of az-Zawiya, located west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, where forces severely beat and injured a number of citizens and stormed homes, the agency said.

Netanyahu finally announces October 7 inquiry: Why are Israelis furious?

The news that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be heading the inquiry into his own government’s failings ahead of the Hamas-led attacks of October 7, 2023, has drawn sharp criticism from many across Israel.

Calls for a state commission of inquiry, to be led by a sitting or retired Supreme Court justice, have been omnipresent since the attacks.

Senior military figures, the families of many of those killed or taken captive on October 7, and polls of the Israeli public have supported the establishment of an inquiry capable of holding the government to account.

Until now, Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to avoid an official investigation into any failings on his or his government’s part, arguing instead that overseeing his country’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 people since October 2023, has had to take priority.

However, on Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that Netanyahu would instead be pushing ahead with legislation to establish a politically-appointed inquiry, with him at the helm, with parliament Speaker Amir Ohana, a close ally of the prime minister, expected to play a key role in selecting its members.

Why won’t the inquiry be independent?

An October poll by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies showed that three out of four Israelis supported establishing an independent state inquiry.

Feelings run particularly high among senior members of the military and the relatives of those taken captive or killed during the October 7 attack.

Earlier this month, proceedings in Netanyahu’s criminal trial were held up after some of the families of the bereaved were accused of holding up signs demanding a state inquiry in court, an allegation they strenuously denied.

Eyal Eshel, the father of one of the soldiers killed on October 7, told the judges that the relatives had not come to create a “provocation”, but simply to “look him [Netanyahu] in the eyes and request the simplest of things – a state commission of inquiry”.

Former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant has also called for a state inquiry on numerous occasions, as has the former head of the military, Herzi Halevi.

Last Sunday, 22 former captives and dozens of family members signed an open letter demanding that either a state inquiry be established or the government resign.

“We call on the government of Israel to stop evading, stop procrastinating, stop whitewashing and to immediately establish a full state commission of inquiry,” the letter said.

However, Netanyahu and his governing coalition have repeatedly pushed back against the idea of a state inquiry, claiming that a judge appointed by the Supreme Court could not be trusted to rule impartially.

It won't be independent because of what an idependent inquiry might find...

What has been the political response to the inquiry’s announcement?

Outside of the coalition, fury.

Writing on social media, Yair Golan, the leader of the Democrats, wrote, “This isn’t ‘conflict of interest,’ it’s organised crime under the guise of the law. The man responsible for the greatest disaster in our history isn’t looking for answers, he’s looking for an alibi.”

Other anti-Netanyahu politicians have criticised the planned inquiry.

Avigdor Liberman, the leader of the Yisrael Beytenu party, also called for a state inquiry, using a Hebrew expression that means “a guilty conscience gives itself away”.

Meanwhile, Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party said it would ask the parliament’s State Control Committee on Monday to compel the government to set up a state commission of inquiry.

Chris Hedges: Rebranding Genocide

The Genocide in Gaza has not stopped. It has been rebranded. And that is enough of a linguistic subterfuge to get the world to ignore it.

Who Will POLICE Gaza? Jeremy Scahill on Hamas’ TRUCE OFFER and Warnings of CHAOS

Jeremy Scahill breaks down new reporting on Gaza’s future and a major question hanging over Trump’s plan: who will police Gaza?

Hamas officials tell Dropsite they are willing to support a non-partisan Palestinian police force, resign their governing authority, and enter a long-term internationally monitored truce if the goal is simply to stop attacks on Israel.

They say a foreign occupation or an international force could collapse Gaza’s security, fuel gangs, or push Palestinians into internal conflict. Their pitch is technical, not ideological. They say weapons can be stored, no rockets will appear on the streets, and anyone carrying unauthorized arms can be arrested.

Scahill describes a fear that Washington is ignoring concrete proposals in favor of Israeli demands for total surrender. He warns that returning Gaza to an October 6 status after mass killing and displacement is not realistic.

Israel wants to destabilize Gaza further, same tactic as in Lebanon and Syria. Divide the people. Peace and unity are the biggest threats to Israel.

Latest developments

Israel launches new raids in Syria’s Quneitra, establishes checkpoints

Israeli forces have also advanced into the Quneitra area of Syria’s occupied Golan Heights and set up two military checkpoints.

The Israeli military operation on Saturday took place in the villages of Ain Ziwan and al-Ajraf in the southern part of the country.

For months, Israeli forces have conducted near-daily incursions into southern Syria, particularly in the Quneitra governorate, carrying out arrests, erecting checkpoints, and bulldozing land, all of which have prompted growing public anger and unrest.

Israeli military carries out attack in southern Lebanon

Israel has carried out an attack on what it claims was a Hezbollah fighter in the Yatar area of southern Lebanon, according to a statement from the Israeli military on X.

Israeli ‘spy device’ found in South Lebanon, authorities say

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency quotes the country’s Army Command, saying that the device was found in the town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district.

“As part of the ongoing engineering survey operations in the southern regions in light of the continued Israeli attacks, a specialised military unit found a disguised Israeli spy device equipped with a camera in the town of Yaroun – Bint Jbeil, and dismantled it,” a statement from the army said.

It called on citizens to report any suspicious activity.

Israel’s intelligence network in Lebanon was brought into sharp focus last year when it orchestrated a massive attack on Hezbollah, causing pagers used by the group to explode, killing and wounding many civilians in the process.

Israel’s latest strikes on Lebanon deadly, Health Ministry says

As we reported earlier, Israel has carried out an attack on southern Lebanon’s Yatar, saying it was targeting Hezbollah. Now, Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health says one person has been killed in that attack and at least two wounded.

Hezbollah has not yet commented on the strike, nor has it announced the deaths of any of its fighters today.

Detainees in Ramon prison face severe overcrowding, prolonged confinement, abuse

Palestinian prisoners held at Israel’s Ramon detention centre are facing extremely harsh conditions, particularly those who are ill, according to a report cited by the Wafa news agency.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has said serious health issues were documented during a visit by its lawyer to the prison.

Among them is Dhafer Rimawi, 34, from Beit Rima near Ramallah, who is serving a 32-year sentence and suffers from a thyroid disorder. Despite being scheduled for blood tests in November, no medical examinations have been carried out, the commission said.

Rimawi told the lawyer that his condition causes constant cold, while he is provided with only one blanket. He added that skin diseases are widespread among detainees, with many suffering from boils.

Another prisoner, Mohammad Kleib, 29, from Haris in central West Bank, suffers from torn knee cartilage and irregular heartbeats, but has received no treatment despite medical examinations.

The commission said detainees face severe overcrowding, prolonged confinement, and daily abuse, including beatings, starvation, and denial of medical care.

US advocacy group denounces Israeli strike on wedding in Gaza

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned an Israeli attack on a wedding celebration in Gaza that killed at least six people, including a five-month-old.

In a statement on Sunday, the Washington-based civil rights group said the bombing highlighted what it described as the “complete meaninglessness” of Israel’s ceasefire commitments and urged President Trump and Muslim-majority countries that helped guarantee the truce to intervene.

“Bombing a wedding celebration is an act of brutality,” CAIR said, adding that the attack showed “there can be no genuine ceasefire while the Israeli occupation continues to murder people across Gaza with impunity”.

On Friday, the Israeli army shelled a school being used as a shelter, where displaced Palestinian families had gathered for a wedding.

‘I think we will do it by force’: Israel’s energy minister says only Israel can disarm Hamas

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen has cast doubt on whether an international force deployed to Gaza can successfully disarm Hamas, saying he believes ultimately Israel will have to step in and “do it by force”.

“Either Hamas disarms itself, which will not happen, or an international force acts against Hamas, but I doubt they will do so,” Cohen told Israeli media. “We have to give it a chance, but it’s clear to me that we will have to do it.”

“I think we will do it by force, because Hamas will not lay down its weapons – and only we are capable of doing so,” Cohen added.

Phase two of the ceasefire deal calls for Hamas to lay down its arms, but the group has repeatedly opposed complete disarmament. Earlier this month, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal proposed Hamas could “freeze” the use of weapons with clear guarantees Israel would not resume military escalation.

Israel can't even disarm the West bank. It's just an excuse to keep the genocide going. Even if all weapons and tunnels have been removed, they'll still claim stones are a weapon... It's the standard excuse to murder kids in the West Bank.

Israel’s security cabinet approves 19 new settlements in West Bank

Israel’s security cabinet has approved the establishment of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move the country’s far-right finance minister said was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The decision brings the total number of settlements approved over the past three years to 69, according to a statement from the office of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The latest approvals come days after the UN said the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank – all of which are considered illegal under international law – had reached its highest level since at least 2017.

“The proposal by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz to declare and formalise 19 new settlements in Judea and Samaria has been approved by the cabinet,” the statement said, without specifying when the decision was taken.

Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces near Jenin

A Palestinian child has been killed by Israeli forces during a raid in the northern West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry said 16-year-old Rayyan Mohammad Abu Mualla was shot and killed on Saturday evening in Qabatiya, south of Jenin.

Israeli forces reportedly stormed the town and opened fire, hitting the child. Soldiers prevented Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances from reaching him, leaving him bleeding for some time before he died. His body has been withheld by Israeli forces.

In a separate incident earlier on Saturday, the ministry said 22-year-old Ahmad Zyoud from Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, was killed after being shot in the chest during another Israeli raid.

Israeli forces shoot child at point-blank range

Out of the 1,100 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who have been killed [by Israeli soldiers and settlers] since October 7, [2023,] we don’t often have video to show these extrajudicial killings.

This video shows a 16-year-old boy walking towards what Palestinians say is his home when Israeli forces shoot him from point-blank range. They refuse to let anyone come close to the body for 40 minutes – a practice we have seen a lot in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces wait for the person to die.

We called the family, who said they have no idea what happened. It shows how little regard the Israeli army has for Palestinian life.

Israel shutters Palestinian school in east Jerusalem: Report

Israeli forces have shut down the Noor al-Quds school, located in east Jerusalem’s Silwan neighbourhood, reports the Wafa news agency. The report said the school’s students were forced to move to other schools without parental consent.

Israeli forces shoot, wound two near West Bank separation wall: Report

Israeli forces have shot and injured two young men near a separation wall in the town of ar-Ram in the occupied West Bank, reports the Wafa news agency. The men have been hospitalised, Wafa cites the Palestinian Red Crescent as saying, without detailing their condition.

Israeli ceasefire violations making Gaza peace efforts ‘incredibly difficult’

Israel’s repeated violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement are “creating major risks for transitioning to the second phase”, Turkiye’s foreign minister has said, as he joined diplomats from the United States, Egypt and Qatar in the US city of Miami to review the first phase of the agreement reached in October.

“The ongoing violations by Israel, in particular, are making the process incredibly more difficult. What we see is that all parties are in agreement on this issue, and we also had various discussions on how to prevent this,” Hakan Fidan told Turkish state news agency Anadolu, adding that the ceasefire violations by Israel are “endangering the peace plan” put forth by US President Donald Trump.

Gaza recovery efforts slow as Civil Defence crew searches rubble in Khan Younis

These recoveries are not fast. They are slow and painstakingly dangerous for Civil Defence members risking their lives. During these operations, there is a high risk that these buildings will collapse. And they have limited equipment.

Those crews are currently carrying out recovery operations for 55 Palestinians who have been buried under the rubble of a destroyed house in Khan Younis. Gaza’s Civil Defence says it needs 14 excavators and cranes.

This reflects the Israeli strategy on the ground: Use lethal force to destroy entire communities while winter conditions make recovery operations very difficult.

Four people killed in Gaza City building collapse

At least four people have been killed in a building collapse in Gaza City. Palestinian authorities in Gaza have warned of a growing risk of collapses to civilians after the incident on Saturday evening in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood.

A total of 18 people have been killed in 46 building collapses across Gaza since the ceasefire came into effect on October 10.

“The Ministry of Interior and National Security warns of the escalation of the disaster with the continued prohibition of reconstruction and the non-entry of temporary homes,” the ministry said, adding that winter weather has increased the risk of further collapses.

It said many displaced families have been forced to shelter in damaged buildings because tents “are no longer a solution and do not provide them with protection”.

UNICEF tells Al Jazeera what Gaza urgently needs but doesn’t have

UNICEF says it is working to distribute large quantities of tarps, blankets and winter clothes in Gaza but is still well short of meeting people’s needs.

“We have been able to distribute 250,000 [kits of winter clothing for children],” said UNICEF communications chief Jonathan Crickx. “It’s an important achievement for us, but the total number of children in Gaza is 1 million, so we are nowhere close to supporting all children in Gaza.”

“Most of these children, they don’t have a change of clothes, so when the clothes are wet or dirty, they wear them,” he added.

“We have children who are at risk of dying from hypothermia so we are very, very concerned,” Crickx continued. “It’s really a question of saving lives of children.”

Israeli military says it carried out air strikes in northern Gaza despite ceasefire

Israel’s military says it carried out air strikes in northern Gaza despite a ceasefire being in place.

In a statement posted on X, the Israeli military said its forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip identified several people gathering near the “yellow line”, a demarcation used by Israel inside the enclave, and fired shots to disperse them.

The military claimed that three people later crossed the line and approached Israeli forces. It said two similar incidents occurred elsewhere in northern Gaza.

According to the statement, Israeli aircraft carried out attacks in all three cases “to eliminate the threat”.

There has been no immediate comment from Palestinian authorities, and Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify the Israeli military’s claims.

The incidents come despite a ceasefire agreement intended to halt fighting in Gaza, amid repeated Israeli military actions that Palestinians and rights groups say undermine the truce.

Israeli attack in Gaza City’s Tuffah causes casualties

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting a new Israeli attack in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighbourhood. Israeli gunfire in the neighbourhood caused several casualties, they report, citing a local ambulance source.

Drones hum over Gaza City

Destruction in Gaza is still ongoing. There is a combination of high-precision munitions and AI-automated systems Israel has been using.

Right now, I can hear the sound of drones, which have been the main source of frustration for most of Gaza’s population, turning every street and open space into a potential site of high danger.

Europe, India top buyers as Israeli defence industry sees unprecedented weapon sales

Israel’s defence industry is making record profits as its weapons manufacturers are marketing their products as “battle-tested”, using images of strikes on Gaza as proof of their purported success.

Despite an ongoing genocide trial in The Hague and an International Criminal Court warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, countries around the world are buying these weapons in unprecedented amounts.

In 2024, Israel sold weapons worth $15bn, a 13 percent increase compared with the year before. Europe was the top buyer of Israeli weapons, followed by India.

“Armed drones were used in countless attacks against civilians in Gaza,” Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

“International law experts have long called on countries not to buy or sell weapons to Israel. But so long as profits pile up, it seems Palestinians will continue to be the human lab of modern warfare.”

US senator meets Netanyahu during Israel visit

US Senator Lindsey Graham has met the Israeli prime minister during a visit to Israel, according to Netanyahu’s office.

In a video statement released by the office, Graham said he believed Hamas was not disarming after the Gaza ceasefire calling for it. “My impression is that Hamas is not disarming – they are rearming,” Graham said, adding that the group was seeking to consolidate power in Gaza rather than relinquish it.

The South Carolina Republican also said he believed Hezbollah in Lebanon was also trying to rebuild its military capabilities. “My impression is that Hezbollah is trying to make more weapons,” he said, calling such an outcome “not acceptable”.

Netanyahu agreed with Graham’s assessment, praising him as a “great friend of Israel”, according to the video.

Graham has previously drawn criticism for comments about Palestinians. Last year, he sparked anger after posting on the social media platform X that Palestinians in Gaza were “the most radicalised population on the planet” and comparing Hamas to the Nazi SS, remarks that prompted widespread backlash.

Just more lies for Fox news to carry.

Meanwhile from Lebanon

Lebanon claims first phase of Hezbollah’s disarmament close to complete
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/20/first-phase-of-hezbollahs-disarmament-close-to-complete-lebanons-salam

Lebanon is close to completing the disarmament of Hezbollah in the south of the Litani River before a year-end deadline as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, according to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.