Palestinian group calls for probe into journalist’s killing in the West Bank

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has released a statement mourning the death of Shaza al-Sabbagh, who it says was studying journalism at Al-Quds Open University.

The group called for an independent committee to be formed “to uncover the truth, hold the killers accountable, and ensure they do not escape punishment”.

As we reported earlier, Al-Sabbagh was shot in the head during clashes between the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) security forces and fighters in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The journalist’s family said the shots came from a PA military point, but a spokesman for the organisation denied its forces were involved.

The PA, which partially governs parts of the occupied West Bank, is carrying out an operation to root out what it calls “lawless elements” in the Jenin refugee camp.

Journalism student shot dead in occupied West Bank

Shatha Sabbagh was a 21-year-old Palestinian journalism student, but she’d been very active lately inside the Jenin refugee camp with her media work, trying to portray the picture to the international and Arab media. She was a very important source of information from within the camp itself.

Now she has been shot dead and the family is accusing the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces, saying there is no way that the bullet could have come from any side but the PA’s snipers. The PA security spokesperson says they were not in the area where Shaza was shot.

The family has taken her body for autopsy, and they say that depending on the results, they will file a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority.

Tensions rising in West Bank due to PA’s ‘security campaign’

The Palestinian Authority (PA) would not say that they’re carrying out a raid in the Jenin refugee camp but a security campaign, which started in early December.

We’ve been speaking to the spokesperson of the Palestinian security forces, and he’s been saying the PA is not going to allow any areas to operate outside its sovereignty. The PA has been saying they are after criminals and people who are breaking the law.

But you have the Jenin battalion, the fighters who have been confronting the Israeli forces, saying, “Well, no, we are there and holding weapons because we want to fight the Israeli occupation.”

The PA has maintained in the past that it does not want to fight Israel militarily. And it has been saying it will not allow Jenin or the West Bank to become a battlefield like we’re seeing in Gaza.

So it’s really escalating tension inside the refugee camp, and with the killing of the journalist we are expecting further escalation.

Palestinian detainee from Gaza dies after transfer from Israeli prison

A 51-year-old Palestinian prisoner from the Gaza Strip has died in Israeli custody, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

It said Ashraf Muhammad Fakhri Abd Abu Wardah died earlier today in the Soroka Medical Center in Israel after being transferred from Ktziot Prison in the Negev Desert two days earlier.

He had been detained since November 20, 2023, and according to his family, he had no prior health issues. There have been numerous testimonies, accounts and videos of physical and sexual abuse taking place inside Israeli prisons.

This raises the number of Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli custody since the start of the war on Gaza to at least 50, marking the highest death toll in the history of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement since 1967.

As of early December, the confirmed number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons was more than 10,300, including 90 women and at least 345 children, according to the organisation.

Clashes as Israeli forces raid towns, cities across occupied West Bank

Here’s where the raids occurred overnight, according to Palestinian media:

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Main events from December 29th

Law professor reacts to news of Netanyahu’s surgery

Adil Haque, a law professor at Rutgers University, responded to reports that Netanyahu’s surgery was done under full anaesthesia, by noting that the Israeli leader is accused of preventing the entry of anaesthetics into the Gaza Strip.

“One of the crimes against humanity with which the [International Criminal Court] ICC charged Netanyahu involves intentionally limiting or preventing anaesthetics from entering Gaza,” Haque wrote in a post on X.

The professor quoted from the ICC complaint, which said: “Doctors [in Gaza] were forced to operate on wounded persons and carry out amputations, including on children, without anaesthetics.”

One of the crimes against humanity with which the ICC charged Netanyahu involves intentionally limiting or preventing anesthetics from entering Gaza.

"Doctors were forced to operate on wounded persons and carry out amputations, including on children, without anaesthetics" https://t.co/NqArfBQnpi pic.twitter.com/RKIY9xR2iz

— Adil Haque (@AdHaque110) December 29, 2024

UN special rapporteur calls for global medical boycott of Israel

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, has urged medical professionals around the world to sever ties with Israel as a direct response to the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.

“I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a concrete way to forcefully denounce Israel’s full destruction of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide,” Albanese said on X.

Albanese’s statement comes as the ongoing conflict continues to devastate Palestinian infrastructure, with Gaza’s medical facilities being severely affected by Israeli military forces.

Her comments reflect growing international concern about the deteriorating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where hospitals and clinics have been targeted and overwhelmed by relentless violence.

A lack of essential medical supplies, infrastructure damage and the loss of life have left Gaza’s health sector struggling to cope.

I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a concrete way to forcefully denounce Israel's full destruction of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide.#FreeDrHussanAbuSafiya https://t.co/qzZ7CqufI6

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) December 30, 2024

Gaza crisis ‘has reached unbearable breaking point’: IOM

The head of the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) is reminding the world that infants are dying of the freezing cold in Gaza while hospitals and shelters for displaced Palestinians are bombed and destroyed by Israeli forces.

“Member States must act now to prevent further devastation and restore hope for peace in 2025,” Amy Pope said in a post on X.

Close to 2 million people, or 90 percent of the population in the enclave, has been internally displaced, some numerous times, as a result of Israeli military attacks in the past 15 months.

As the new year nears, the crisis in #Gaza has reached an unbearable breaking point. Innocent lives, including infants, are lost to winter cold. Hospitals and shelters are targeted. Member States must act now to prevent further devastation and restore hope for peace in 2025. pic.twitter.com/UGXKOuNpua

— Amy Pope (@IOMchief) December 30, 2024

Israel carries out ‘large-scale bombings’ in south Lebanon

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that Israeli forces launched two waves of “large-scale” bombings in the southern town of Meiss el-Jabal on Sunday.

The attacks come more than a month after Israel agreed to a ceasefire deal with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and as rescuers continue to search for those reported missing during the Israeli assault on the country.

In the southern town of Khiam, the Lebanese Civil Defence announced recovering the bodies of five people killed in the Israeli assault and said the effort to find all the missing people would continue in the week ahead.

Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 3,961 people and 16,520 others since the war on Gaza began.

_{People walk near a damaged mosque after the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, in the Lebanese village of Khiam, December 23}

Senior French officials meet with Lebanese army chief amid Israeli attacks

The Lebanese army says commander General Joseph Aoun met French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu and Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot with an accompanying delegation in Lebanon.

They discussed the general situation in Lebanon and the region, ways to enhance cooperation relations between the armies of the two countries, and “continuing support for the army in light of the current circumstances”, it said in a post on X.

The army said earlier today it arrested 31 citizens across the country for “opening fire” and some drug-related offences, releasing images of weapons and ammunitions seized. It has also been moving across southern Lebanon in upholding the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military continues to launch attacks across southern Lebanon, accusing the Lebanese army of slow deployment. The Lebanese army has in turn accused Israel of repeated violations of the ceasefire, including burning and destruction of residential homes.

Israeli minister threatens to assassinate Houthi leader: Report

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen has threatened to assassinate Yemeni Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi as regional tensions escalate over Israel’s war on Gaza, local media report.

“I’m sending a message to the Houthi leader that if he continues with his actions, he will end up exactly like [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar and [Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan] Nasrallah,” Cohen told Israeli radio station 94 FM.

Sinwar was killed by Israeli military forces in Gaza in October while Nasrallah was assassinated in an Israeli strike in Beirut in September.

“Our focus now is on Yemen and Iran,” Cohen said. “It should be said that unless Iran is harmed, instability in the Middle East will continue.”

Last week, Israel launched air strikes against Houthi-held positions in the capital, Sanaa, and the coastal province of Hodeidah in retaliation for Houthi drone and missile attacks.

Over the past year, Houthis have targeted ships in and around the Red Sea with missiles and drones in a show of support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Amnesty demands Abu Safia’s immediate release

Amnesty International has joined the growing list of people and organisations calling on Israel to release Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

In a statement shared on X, Amnesty said it is “extremely concerned over” Abu Safia’s “fate and wellbeing” and that he “must be released immediately and unconditionally”.

Amnesty also called on Israel to release all Palestinians held arbitrarily noting that “Israel has detained hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers from Gaza without charge or trial”.

It added: “Health workers have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment and been held in incommunicado detention.”

1/5 We are extremely concerned over the fate & wellbeing of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan hospital who was detained by Israeli forces along with others during a raid on the hospital on 27 December. He must be released immediately and unconditionally. pic.twitter.com/nwqq95pLEc

— Amnesty MENA (@AmnestyMENA) December 29, 2024

UN’s Palestine expert calls for Abu Safia’s release

Francesca Albanese said “all of us must do all we can to save” the Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director.

“For each Palestinian life that should and could have been saved in Gaza, we have been put to the test. And we have failed, over and over. We must not fail again,” she wrote on X.

For each Palestinian life that should and could have been saved in Gaza, we have been put to the test. And we have failed, over and over. We must not fail again.
All of us must do all we can to save Dr Abu Safiya.#FreeDrHussamAbuSafiya https://t.co/FM3kFohXvh pic.twitter.com/uzixrKGAqQ

— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) December 29, 2024

WHO chief calls for Abu Safia’s release, end to attacks on hospitals

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus demanded the Kamal Adwan director’s “immediate release”, expressing concern over the Israeli raid that shut down the hospital and forced the displacement of patients and medical staff.

The WHO director-general said critical patients from Kamal Adwan were “moved to the Indonesian Hospital, which is itself out of function”.

He said his organisation and partners have delivered food, water and basic medical supplies to the Indonesian Hospital and transferred 10 critical patients to the nearby al-Shifa Hospital. But Israeli forces detained four patients during the transfer, he noted.

“We urge Israel to ensure their healthcare needs and rights are upheld,” he said.

Now, some seven patients along with 15 caregivers and health workers remain at the “severely damaged” Indonesian Hospital, “which has no ability to provide care”, he said.

Tedros also noted that two more hospitals in Gaza City, al-Ahli Hospital and al-Wafaa Rehabilitation Hospital, came under attack on Sunday, and that “both are damaged.”

The WHO chief said hospitals in Gaza “have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat”. “We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to healthcare. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Ceasefire!” he added.

Hospitals in #Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat.

Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern #Gaza is out of service — following the raid, forced patient and staff evacuation and the detention of its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya two…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 30, 2024

Palestinian lawmaker urges Katz to ‘not abandon Dr Abu Safia’

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that Ahmad Tibi, a prominent Arab member of Israel’s parliament, has asked Defence Minister Israel Katz if he can visit Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

Abu Safia is reportedly being held in the Sde Teiman base in Israel’s Negev desert.

“Given the harsh detention conditions, reports of widespread torture in prisons, and dozens of detainees who have died in recent months while in custody, including [Dr Adnan al-Bursh] in April of this year, I request to visit Dr Abu Safia as soon as possible,” Tibi is reported to have written to Katz.

“The notorious reputation of this facility, which endangers lives, is now known worldwide,” Tibi wrote. “We must not abandon Dr Abu Safia, the man who stayed with his patients until the very last moment.”

The doctor was taken by the Israeli army from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya on Friday, after soldiers conducted a raid of the facility and then set fire to it.

Abu Safia held at Israeli military detention centre: Report

The director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, who Israel detained in a recent attack on the medical complex, is being kept at a controversial army base, Sde Teiman, which is also a detention facility, CNN reports quoting recently released former prisoners.

“Two Palestinian prisoners released this weekend from the facility said they saw Abu Safia at the prison, and another former detainee said he heard Abu Safia’s name being read out,” the CNN report said.

The WHO and authorities in Gaza said they lost contact with Abu Safia after the raid, which also saw the Israeli military force expel dozens of medical staff and patients and shut down the only partially functioning hospital in northern Gaza.

The Israeli army confirmed on Saturday that it arrested the director as he was “suspected of being a Hamas terrorist operative” and the hospital was used as a “command and control centre”.

The army has not disclosed his whereabouts and has not provided evidence for its claims.

Malta’s UN envoy challenges Israel’s claims on aid trucks

Vanessa Frazier, the permanent representative of Malta to the UN, has pushed back against Israel’s claim that it is allowing aid into Gaza.

“Don’t be fooled by these numbers,” Frazier said in a post on X, referring to an Israeli military tweet that said some 1,290 humanitarian trucks had entered the war-torn enclave in the past week.

“Prior to the war on #gaza over 500 aid trucks entered Gaza daily,” Frazier said.

Israel’s claim came as concern grows over an imminent famine in Gaza, especially in the north, as the Israeli military continues to restrict aid into the blockaded territory. In addition to blocking aid, Israeli forces have also destroyed most local food sources in Gaza, including farms, orchards and fishing boats.

Malta joined 14 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council last month to call for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent” ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, in a resolution that was blocked by the United States.

Don’t be fooled by these numbers.

Prior to the war on #gaza over 500 aid trucks entered Gaza DAILY#CeasefireNow https://t.co/rXftfr5Gm4

— Vanessa Frazier 🧡 (@_VanessaFrazier) December 29, 2024

Five aid trucks lost in Gaza due to armed looting, says WFP

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) says that yesterday, it attempted to bring in 40 trucks on behalf of humanitarian partners through the Gate 96 checkpoint – which Israel claims was opened for humanitarian purposes in March – but was faced with violent, armed looting, resulting in the deaths of two community members.

It said five trucks were lost due to the armed looting.

As we reported earlier, Gaza’s Government Media Office addressed the incident in a statement, accusing the WFP of, “violating the correct protocol followed and implemented in securing aid trucks,” but did not provide details or elaborate on what the WFP allegedly did.

For over two weeks, “nearly all movement of aid through crossings in south and central Gaza has resulted in violence, looting, and tragic deaths” due to attacks and the absence of law and order along convoy routes inside Gaza, the WFP said.

In the statement the WFP called on “all parties to the conflict” uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, specifically enabling the protection of the civilian population, and safe passage of the humanitarian assistance they require for survival.

“Above all, a ceasefire is needed,” it said.

In Gaza, 80 percent of households have at least one child going without food, says UNRWA

The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has reiterated its call for a ceasefire in a post on X. UNRWA assists nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Israel will ban UNRWA operations in the country starting in late January.