What’s blocking a ceasefire deal in Gaza?

Former Israeli government adviser Daniel Levy tells The Bottom Line that Israel is not interested in a ceasefire in Gaza.

He says the Israelis are aware of the atrocities they commit in Gaza, but the thorough dehumanisation of Palestinians – coupled with a desire to dispossess them of their lands and human rights – blocks any chance for progress.

The result for Israel, Levy argues, is an Israel that will not be accepted in the region, even if some Arab governments “normalise” relations.

Hamas says Israel’s new conditions have delayed ceasefire deal

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have cited a statement issued by Hamas, in which the group says it is showing flexibility and the ceasefire talks, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, are still going in a serious direction.

But the statement said Israel has set new conditions regarding withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the ceasefire, the captives, and the return of displaced Palestinians, which have led to delays in reaching a Gaza ceasefire agreement.

‘I am broken’: The women enduring domestic violence amid Israel’s war on Gaza

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/25/i-am-broken-the-women-enduring-domestic-violence-amid-israel-war-on-gaza

The face of Samar Ahmed, 37, shows clear signs of exhaustion.

It is not just because she has five children, nor that they have been displaced several times since the start of Israel’s brutal war on Gaza 14 months ago and are now living in cramped, cold conditions in a makeshift tent in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis. Samar is also a victim of domestic violence and has no way to escape her abuser in the cramped conditions of this camp.

Two days ago, her husband beat her around the face leaving her with a swollen cheek and a blood spot in her eye. Her eldest daughter clung to her all night following that attack, which happened in front of the children.

_{Palestinian women and children sit in a makeshift tent next to the rubble of a house in Khan Younis, the southern Gaza Strip}

No health facilities in northern Gaza are operational

We can confirm now that the northern part of the Gaza Strip lacks any proper access to health facilities. The Indonesian Hospital, the largest health facility in northern Gaza, is out of service.

It’s now only a shelter with a minimum level of healthcare provided to people given the deliberate, constant attacks on its essential facilities, as well as arrests of a large number of medical staff.

There is a video circulating by the Israeli military of soldiers on the ground, bragging about destroying the majority of the hospital.

The other health facility is known as al-Awda Hospital, operated by a charitable organisation. It worked in the past few weeks as a subordinate system for Kamal Adwan Hospital, in terms of providing medical staff and supplies – but not any more.

The upper floor of this hospital has been destroyed. Its medical staff were burned, set on fire. The surrounding areas has become dangerous, because of the constant attacks, preventing any sort of movement between Kamal Adwan and al-Awda Hospital.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is rendered nonoperational given all the constant attacks and the use of explosive devices at its facility that have turned the area into a war zone, impeding all movements in and out of the hospital.

Global monitor says famine likely unfolding in north Gaza

The Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) is warning that a famine is likely unfolding in besieged northern Gaza, including in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon, as Israel continues its near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to the region.

The US-created food crisis monitor also said that if Israel keeps up the blockade that it began on October 5, deaths from starvation could pass famine levels as early as next month.

FEWS NET uses a scale developed by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) to assess famine. The IPC has a five-tier classification system, with Phase 5 being the most extreme level.

“Based on the collapse of the food system and worsening access to water, sanitation, and health services in these areas […] it is highly likely that the food consumption and acute malnutrition thresholds for Famine (IPC Phase 5) have now been surpassed in North Gaza Governorate,” FEWS NET said.

“In the absence of a change to Israeli policy on the entry of food and nutrition supplies to this area, FEWS NET expects non-trauma mortality levels will pass the Famine (IPC Phase 5) threshold between January and March 2025, with at least 2-15 people dying per day.”

It says its analysis of World Food Programme (WFP) reports suggests no food entered besieged areas of the North Gaza governorate between October 2 and 31, while only 130-135 metric tonnes of food successfully entered in November.

The latter amount is estimated to cover less than 5 percent of food needs among the population that was estimated to be in North Gaza at that time, it said.

Then on December 20, an additional 80-85 metric tonnes of food reportedly reached 800 people in Beit Hanoun, it said.

FEWS NET, citing UN estimates, says some 10,000 to 15,000 people are thought to remain trapped in northern Gaza.

US envoy rejects FEWS NET’s warning of famine in north Gaza

Jacob Lew, the US ambassador to Israel, dismissed the report, saying FEWS NET relied on data that is “outdated and inaccurate”.

He said in a statement that FEWS NET’s assessment assumes there are between 65,000 to 75,000 people remaining in north Gaza. But that Israeli and UN estimates show the figure is in the range of 7,000 to 15,000.

“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this,” Lew said.

FEWS NET, which was created by the US government, uses a scale developed by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) to assess famine. The IPC has a five-tier classification system, with Phase 5 as the most extreme level.

For a Phase 5 declaration, at least 20 percent of households in an area have to be experiencing famine conditions, acute malnutrition has to exceed 30 percent and there have to be more than two deaths per 10,000 people.

FEWS NET, in its latest assessment, said “it is highly likely that the food consumption and acute malnutrition thresholds for Famine (IPC Phase 5) have now been surpassed in North Gaza Governorate”. It also warned that deaths from starvation could pass famine levels as early as next month if Israel keeps up its near total blockade of the region.

Ahh to solve a food crisis, kill and displace more people...

FEWS NET takes down report warning of famine in north Gaza

The report by the US-funded group that warned a famine is likely under way in north Gaza is no longer accessible on the group’s website. The development comes after the US envoy to Israel criticised the group’s assessment as “irresponsible”.

FEWS NET was created by the US Agency for International Development in the mid-1980s to warn of global food crises.

Al Jazeera has reached out to the group for comment.

Death toll from Israel’s attack on North Gaza home rises

We’ve been covering an Israeli attack on the Abu Warda family home in Jabalia al-Nazla. The Wafa news agency is reporting that the death toll has risen from six to nine, with the victims including a couple and five siblings from the Abu Warda family.

Israel says fighter jets bombed near UN building in Gaza’s Shati refugee camp

Israel’s military said warplanes attacked a site near a United Nations building in the area of the refugee camp overnight, claiming their target was a “Hamas launch site”. Warnings for residents to flee the area ahead of the attack were issued, the Israeli military claimed, adding that “a rocket was spotted being launched from the area”.

While the Israeli military included aerial video footage of a huge explosion after its apparent attack on the site in the Shati camp, it did not provide any evidence of the Hamas rocket it claimed had been launched.

The Israeli military also made no mention of likely civilian casualties resulting from its attack near the UN building.

Three Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on North Gaza

The Wafa news agency is reporting that the three people were killed after Israeli forces bombed a house in Beit Hanoon.

The victims were all from the Al Ghandour family. Several others were also wounded in the attack, Wafa reported.

Two killed in Israeli attack on tents in Khan Younis

We’ve been covering an Israeli raid on tents housing displaced people in southern Khan Younis. Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are now reporting that at least two people were killed in that attack, while seven others were wounded. The casualties included children.

The Israeli military has also issued a statement confirming the attack in the Khan Younis “humanitarian zone”. It said it was targeting a Hamas fighter, but did not provide evidence for its claim.

Rescue efforts under way after deadly Israeli attack on Jabalia

In Jabalia town, a four-storey residential building was completely flattened by multiple air strikes. It was only after a couple hours of the attack that the local community managed to remove bodies from under the rubble.

Nine Palestinians from the same family were killed. Among them were two parents and their five children. There is fear that there are more people buried under the debris. We were told there were more than 15 people were inside this residential building, the vast majority of them are displaced.

This morning, the rescue work is continuing, but slowly, due to the danger involved in this mission in Jabalia town. The Israeli quadcopters and drones are creating intimidation and fear as they target every moving object in the area, something that has impeded the work of civil defence crews who drove there all the way from Gaza City.

Israel bombs Khan Younis again, kills two

We have more on Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Israeli forces have bombed an apartment in Khan Younis, killing at least two Palestinians.

Kamal Adwan Hopsital under continued siege

We have received more updates coming from the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safia. He confirmed to Al Jazeera that the Israeli military had imposed a very heavy siege on the hospital, with the night being very bloody and Israeli attacks having destroyed water and fuel tanks.

He also said that all the doors and windows of the hospital have been blown out due to the explosions. Israeli drones have dropped grenades on people and even their houses in the north of Nuseirat.

Israel kills at least 27 Palestinians in Gaza since dawn

Just within the past half-hour, five people were killed. More people are missing and trapped under huge piles of rubble.

One in the eastern area of the central part of the Gaza Strip in the Bureij refugee camp in a drone attack on a group of people. He was reported killed right away as he seemed to be hit directly.

Four more in a drone attack in the city of Beit Hanoon in the northern part of the Strip.

The total number of people killed since dawn, in addition to those killed last night in Jabalia, nine members of one family, as well as the other people across the central area, Khan Younis City and Gaza City, has risen to 27 people.

We’re looking at a conservative reading of the figures. It’s people who have arrived at the hospital identified and registered by health officials. There are still many who are unable to be removed from the rubble.

Israeli attack kills pregnant woman in Gaza City

Israeli air strikes are taking place everywhere across the Gaza Strip. A pregnant woman was killed in one of the Israeli air strikes on a residential house in Gaza City. Medics were able to save the baby, but it lost the mother.

Elsewhere, a very famous Palestinian writer [Walaa Jumaa Al-Ifranji] was killed along with her husband [Ahmed Saeed Salama] in an Israeli attack on their home south of the Nuseirat refugee camp.

A baby also died from the cold weather in a makeshift camp in the city of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.

People have been living in makeshift camps for 14 months moving from one place to another. Their tents are very fragile, they have no tarps, no blankets or winter clothes. The situation is dire on every level across the Gaza Strip.

Death toll rises in Israeli attack on Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp

We reported earlier that a Palestinian man was killed instantly in an Israeli attack on the Bureij refugee camp in the central area of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian news agency Wafa is now reporting that one more person was killed in the attack, which targeted a group of people in the camp.

Israeli forces kill several in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan area

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that at least three Palestinians, including a child, have been killed and a number of others are injured following an Israeli bombing of a school in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood. The school in western Gaza City housed displaced people.

At least four people killed in Israeli attack on school in Gaza City

In the past couple of hours, the Israeli forces targeted a school in Gaza City. At least four Palestinians were killed. Among them is a child, and at least 25 Palestinians have been injured in that attack. The Israel forces targeted a tent that was sheltering a Palestinian family.

Palestinians do not know where to go. They have been targeting different areas all over the Gaza Strip: in schools and hospitals, in residential buildings.

Three Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes near Rafah

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that one person has been killed in an Israeli strike north of Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Two others have been killed in Israeli shelling in an area east of Rafah.

Three people killed in Israeli attack on Gaza City

At least three people have been killed during an Israeli attack on a tent housing displaced people in Gaza City, the civil defence teams are reporting. A number of Palestinians have also been wounded in the attack.

Israeli commander wounded in Tulkarem blast

The Israeli military says the commander of the Menashe Brigade has been wounded after an explosive device detonated near his vehicle in the occupied West Bank camp. In a post on X, the military said Colonel Ayub Kayuf was taken to hospital and treated for mild injuries.

The blast took place as the Israeli military conducts a sweeping raid on Tulkarem and the nearby Nur Shams refugee camp.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least eight Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Tulkarem and Nur Shams.


_{An explosive device planted by Palestinian fighters explodes after being detonated by Israeli soldiers during a military raid in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem on December 24}

Casualties as Israel bombs West Bank town

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that several Palestinians were wounded after Israeli forces launched a drone attack on the town of Tammun in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military confirmed the attack on the town in the Tubas governorate, saying it carried out the strike after Palestinian fighters set off explosives targeting its forces operating in the area.

According to the Palestinian Information Centre, the Tubas Battalion of the al-Quds Brigades has claimed responsibility for the blast.

The Israeli military is also conducting raids in the nearby Tukarem governorate. As we’ve been reporting, at least eight Palestinians have been killed there.

Two Palestinians ‘critically wounded’ in Israeli air raid on West Bank town

We have more on the Israeli attack on the occupied West Bank town of Tammun. The Wafa news agency is reporting that two Palestinians were “critically wounded” in the attack and have been hospitalised.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it launched the raid after Palestinian fighters detonated an explosive device near troops operating in the town.

More injuries in West Bank’s Am’ari refugee camp