Gaza: Israel kills '700 people in 24 hours', widens offensive in south

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Six Thai hostages kidnapped and held for weeks in the Gaza Strip by Hamas will arrive back in the kingdom on Monday, officials said.

At least 32 Thais were abducted by Hamas, with Bangkok's foreign ministry and Thai Muslim groups working to negotiate their release.

On Monday, at around 2:00 pm (0700 GMT), six are expected to land at the capital's Suvarnabhumi airport following weeks in captivity.

Since their release, the group have been recuperating at a hospital in Israel as authorities made preparations to fly them home.

It follows the return of 17 citizens from Thailand at the end of November, during a temporary truce that saw scores of people released before it expired on December 1.

Another nine Thais are still among the hostages taken by Palestinian militants during October's cross-border raid into Israel, according to Bangkok's foreign ministry.

Thirty-nine Thais have been killed and 19 wounded in the war, with the kingdom evacuating more than 8,500 of its people, according to Thailand's foreign ministry.

According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Gaza is witnessing "significant increases in some communicable diseases."

These include "diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, skin infections and hygiene-related conditions like lice. There are also initial reports of disease outbreaks, including hepatitis A."

According to the OCHA this is due to overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions, which currently has an estimated 1.8 million displaced persons as a result of Israel's bombardment of the enclave. 

Violent clashes are ongoing between the Israeli military and Hamas' armed wing the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam brigades in southern Gaza.

According to The New Arab's sister publication Al Araby Al Jadeed clashes are ongoing in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. 

Israel announced late on Sunday that it had begun military operations in the south of the Gaza Strip.

At least 60 Palestinians have been detained during Israeli raids on Sunday night into Monday morning, according to Al Jazeera.

The detentions come following Israeli raids in Qalqilya, Jericho, Jenin and Tulkarem. 

Atleast four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike hit the northern gate of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalia, northern Gaza.

According to Al Jazeera, sources at the hospital over 10,000 people are seeking shelter within the grounds of the hospital.

Al Jazeera also reported that 99 bodies had arrived at the hospital since Sunday morning, 35 of which are waiting to be buried.

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani about the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and about how to increase aid into the enclave.

"Spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Al Thani about ongoing efforts to facilitate the safe return of all hostages and further increase levels of aid to civilians in Gaza," Blinken stated on X, formerly Twitter.

Spoke with Qatari Prime Minister Al Thani about ongoing efforts to facilitate the safe return of all hostages and further increase levels of aid to civilians in Gaza.

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 4, 2023

According to Hamas official Osama Hamdan, who is based in Lebanon, Israel is attempting to trap and kill civilians by creating safe areas in Gaza.

"It has become clear that the occupation's claim... of the existence of safe areas in the south of the Gaza Strip, and its constant call for citizens to go there, was a pre-meditated plan and trap to commit more massacres against unarmed civilians and displaced people in the south," he said.

Israel's military spokesperson confirmed at a press conference that the army was expanding its operations into southern Gaza, saying "the [military] continued to extend its ground operations against Hamas centres in all of the Gaza Strip".

"The forces are coming face-to-face with terrorists and killing them" he added. 

According to Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli armoured entered the southern city of Khan Younis from east of the strip on Sunday night.

Hamas' armed wing the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades has stated on its telegram channel that it has continued to fight Israeli forces across the Gaza Strip. It has also continued to launch rockets towards Israel. 

A "self-defense strike" was carried out in northern Iraq against a drone launch site, a US military official said on Sunday, after an air strike killed five pro-Iranian militants there.

"A self-defense strike was carried out on a drone staging site," the official said on condition of anonymity. It took place "in the vicinity of Kirkuk" and targeted "an imminent threat", he added.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has stated that two paramedics and an injured person were wounded after being fired upon by Israeli forces in the Faluja area of northern Gaza.

🚨Urgent: Two PRCS paramedics and an accompanying injured person were wounded as IOF fired upon two ambulances 🚑 in the Faluja area, north of the #Gaza Strip, while transporting an injured individual.#Gaza#NotATarget pic.twitter.com/pEqhOxFkX8

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 3, 2023

Iran's foreign minister reiterated warnings about a regional expansion of the war in Gaza if Israel continued it's "war crimes" in the enclave, according to Iran's foreign ministry.

During a call with Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, Hossein Amir-Abdollahain stated that "if the war crimes committed by the Israeli regime in Gaza and the West Bank are not stopped, the scope of the war in the region is likely to deepen and expand".

Iran has consistently warned Israel that it's military campaign in Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians, could lead to a regional expansion.

Two ships that Yemen's Houthi movement claimed to have attacked in the Red Sea on Sunday had no connection to the state of Israel, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

Yemen's Houthi movement said its navy had attacked two Israeli ships, Unity Explorer and Number 9, with an armed drone and a naval missile.

Speaking to reporters in Tel Aviv, Hagari said: "Today missiles were fired at two commercial ships without a connection to the state of Israel.

"I will repeat that so it's clear: without any connection to the state of Israel.

"One ship was significantly damaged and it is in distress and apparently is in danger of sinking and another ship was lightly damaged."

He said he had looked into the activity with the US Central Command and the US 6th Fleet before briefing reporters. He blamed the attack also on Iran, which backs the Houthis. 

The Israeli military announced that it had killed a commander in Hamas' armed wing the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

According to the Israeli military the commander, Haitham Hawajri, led the Qassam Brigades Shati Battalion.

Hamas has yet to confirm the claims. 

The World Food Programme (WFP) has stated that there is a "high risk of famine for all the people of Gaza," highlighting that those with chronic diseases are likely to be most at risk.

In a statement issued on Sunday the UN agency added that "Gaza's food system is on the brink of collapsing," as shops have shut and inflation is running high. 

The WFP also stated that it was able to conduct a thorough assessment of Gaza's needs during the week-long ceasefire which broke down on Friday, adding that the organisation needed a minimum of "$314 million to sustain its emergency response for up to 1.1 million affected people until April 2024".

The Israeli military has stated that a rocket was fired into Israel from southern Syria, landing in the occupied Golan Heights. The military also stated it was firing artillery at the source of the launch.

An air strike Sunday killed at least five pro-Iranian militants in Iraq's northern Kirkuk province, two Iraqi security sources told AFP.

The raid targeted a site used by an armed group affiliated with Hashed al-Shaabi, a coalition of former paramilitary forces integrated into the Iraqi regular military, a senior security official in Kirkuk said without saying who had launched the attack.

It came a day after the government in Baghdad had warned the United States against "attacks" on Iraqi territory.

Iranian backed militias, some of whom are part of the Hashed al-Shaabi, have conducted attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria since the start of the Gaza war as the US has continues to support Israel in its bombardment of Gaza. 

Israel will hunt down Hamas even in Qatar, Turkey and Lebanon even if it takes years, the head of Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet said in a recording aired by Israel's public broadcaster Kan on Sunday.

It was unclear when Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar made the remarks or to whom. The agency itself declined to comment on the report.

"The cabinet has set us a goal, in street talk, to eliminate Hamas. This is our Munich. We will do this everywhere, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar. It will take a few years but we will be there to do it."

By Munich, Bar was referring to Israel's response to the 1972 killing of 11 Israeli Olympic team members who were held hostage during the Munich games by the Palestinian Black September group.

Israel responded by carrying out a targeted assassination campaign against Black September operatives and organizers over several years and in several countries.

The broadcast comes after a report by the Wall Street Journal that detailed how Israel was planning to hunt down Hamas leaders in Lebanon, Turkey and Qatar following the end of military operations in the Gaza Strip.

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)

The Israeli military Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi has announced that the Israeli army was conducting ground operations in southern Gaza. 

Halevi, who was speaking to Israeli soldiers of the Gaza Division, stated that "yesterday, today, we killed [Hamas] battalion commanders, company commanders and many operatives. And yesterday morning we started the same move in the south of the Gaza Strip".

He added that operations in the south of the Gaza Strip would be "no less powerful than [the operations in northern Gaza], it will have no less results."

A UK interfaith coalition comprising religious, political and civic leaders, as well as grieving relatives of some of those killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, held a vigil Sunday in London.

Hundreds gathered mid-afternoon in frigid conditions opposite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Downing Street office and residence to "give a voice to the majority of the public who stand against hate", organisers said.

The grouping, Together for Humanity, aimed to highlight its nascent movement against rising anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim hate with the event, dubbed "Building Bridges".

It was spearheaded by Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered British lawmaker Jo Cox, and supported by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby as well as a leading British rabbi, imam and peace activists.

British-Israeli Magen Inon, whose parents were killed in Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, was among the speakers.

Others included Palestinian peace activist Hamze Awawde, who lives in Ramallah in the Palestinian Territories and has had relatives injured recently in the conflict.

Together for Humanity has emerged since Israel began bombing Gaza in response to the October 7 attack, which has prompted a spike in anti-Muslim and antisemitic hate crimes.

More than 100 activists in the Dubai Expo City where this year's COP28 U.N. climate summit is being held took part in a protest on Sunday to call for a ceasefire as Israel wages war on Gaza.

The protests were unusual to see in the United Arab Emirates where freedom of expression is limited, but as hosts of the annual U.N. conference, the UAE is allowing protests to take place at COP28 itself.

Holding banners calling for a "ceasefire" and "climate decolonisation", activists chanted "Free, Free Palestine".

"We are seeking an end to the siege, end to the occupation," Palestinian-American Tariq Luthun told Reuters after taking part in an earlier, smaller demonstration calling for a ceasefire.

Jacob Maurice Johns, an Indigenous activist from North America, said Palestinian voices were being silenced and needed the world to stand in solidarity with them.

The war in Gaza has featured prominently at COP28, where several world leaders on Friday spoke critically of Israel's bombardment.

Yemen's Houthi movement targeted two Israeli ships on Sunday with an armed drone and a naval missile, a spokesperson for the group's military said.

The spokesperson said the two ships, Unity Explorer and Number Nine, were targeted after they rejected warnings from the group's navy.

(Reuters)

Two Palestinian children were inured after being shot by Israeli settlers. The kids were playing in an area north of Deir Qaddis, which is overlooking a settlement, Fares Nasser, head of the village council says.

The children, aged 11 and 12, were shot in the legs by an Israeli settler, Nasser said.

The village of Deir Qaddis is located west of the city of Ramallah

Israel's military said on Sunday that it had identified a launch from Syria towards Israel and that its artillery responded by striking the site of the launch.

The army gave no further details. 

Qatar is demanding an "immediate, comprehensive and impartial international investigation" into what the Gulf country's prime minister described as Israeli crimes in Gaza, Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV reported on Sunday.

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani also said Qatar would continue its efforts towards facilitating another truce and reaching a permanent ceasefire in the besieged enclave, Al Jazeera added.

(Reuters)

An American warship and multiple commercial ships came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea, the Pentagon said, potentially marking a major escalation in a series of maritime attacks in the Mideast linked to Israel's war on Gaza.

“We’re aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available,” the Pentagon said.

The British military earlier said there had been a suspected drone attack and explosions in the Red Sea, without elaborating.

The Pentagon did not identify where it believed the fire came from. However, Yemen's Houthi rebels have been launching a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, as well as launching drones and missiles targeting Israel as it wages war against the Gaza Strip

Gaza's health ministry on Sunday said 15,523 people had died in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war with Israel.

Seventy percent of the Palestinians killed in Israel's war on Gaza were women and children, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said, adding that 41,316 people had been wounded.

"During the past hours,  316 dead and 664 wounded were removed from rubble and taken to hospitals, but many others are still under the rubble," Qudra said.

Israel has hit the Catholic Church's Holy Family School in Gaza City with an airstrike, according to Al Jazeera.

The school is being used to shelter a large number of displaced Palestinians.

As we mark the first month of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, a significant concern has arisen for the cultural heritage in the Palestinian enclave, which is currently under relentless bombardment . Heritage For Peace, an organization based in Spain, has conducted a thorough survey of the archaeological sites damaged by the Israeli bombardment since October 7. Their findings, documented in a detailed report, are now available on their website in both Arabic and English.

The survey, focusing on the first month of the aggression, revealed a distressing reality. Out of 325 archaeological sites in the Gaza Strip, 104 heritage sites have been affected by the Israeli bombardment. These sites have either been completely destroyed, partially damaged, or have suffered collateral damage, necessitating immediate intervention for restoration.

The most severely impacted sites include:

1. Jabaliya Byzantine Church – Completely destroyed by direct bombardment.
2. Al-Omari Mosque in Jabaliya – Also destroyed by direct bombardment.
3. Sheikh Shaban Mosque – Also completely razed due to direct bombardment

Dr Ashraf al-Qudra, a ministry spokesman, has said that four medical crew were detained today, and the total numbers of those who are held by Israeli forces include the head of al-Shifa hospital.

In a daily briefing, al-Qudra also said that 56 ambulances have been destroyed by Israeli forces and that the entire health sector stands unable to provide necessary treatment as a result of lack of medical equipment and staff.

“We are attending to hundreds of victims on the floors of hospitals,” he said. “Hospitals are helpless. They are overwhelmed as a result of the large number of victims.”

Al-Qudra said that Israel is “willfully targeting the remaining medical facilities in the north so residents are forced to move to the south.”

He said that only 403 patients have been allowed to leave Gaza for treatment, calling the mechanism to transport the injured out of the besieged coastal enclave “lacking”.

“We appeal to the world to put an end to this genocidal war on Gaza. We call on all parties to work towards providing a humanitarian corridor whereby fuel and medical teams are allowed in and victims are allowed outside,” he said.

Footage shared by a Palestinian journalist on Instagram shows the aftermath of an Israeli attack on Khan Younis.

The video shows destruction caused at the Hamad Town towers, which is a civilian area. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by M O H A M M E D || A D N A N (@mo7ammed.photos)

Muslim American leaders from six battleground states on Saturday vowed to mobilize their communities against President Joe Biden's reelection over his support of Israel's war in Gaza, but they have yet to settle on an alternative 2024 candidate.

The states are among a handful that allowed Biden to win the 2020 election. Opposition from their sizeable Muslim and Arab American communities could complicate the president's path to Electoral College victory next year.

"We don't have two options. We have many options," Jaylani Hussein, director of Minnesota's Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) chapter, said at a press conference in Dearborn, Illinois when asked about Biden alternatives.

"We're not supporting (former President Donald) Trump," he said, adding that the Muslim community would decide how to interview other candidates.

The so-called #AbandonBiden campaign began when Minnesota Muslim Americans demanded Biden call for a ceasefire by Oct. 31, and has spread to Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Read the full story here.

Residential blocks and neighbourhoods in the Jabalia refugee camp have been targeted, according to Al Jazeera.

Several homes were targeted at once by Israeli forces, leaving tens of people killed and more buried under the rubble. The number of dead and missing is rapidly increasing because these are very densely populated areas.

It is difficult for rescuers to reach these people. Israeli forces are also targeting first responders, impeding their work and delaying them from reaching those who may have survived.

There are multiple reports of Israel once again attacking the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza.

Unverified footage from the ground shows massive destruction and people carrying the dead and wounded away.

In the below video, children cry for their father in the wake of the attack.

🚨Children looking for their father after the Israeli occupation bombed their house in Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/bG59KYSygO

— Palestine Now. (@PalestineNW) December 3, 2023

The Israeli army says a number of its soldiers were “slightly” injured following an antitank missile attack launched from Lebanon. Israeli media has claimed the number of wounded is four.

Since October 7, skirmishes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah have been largely confined to the border area, though the Iranian-backed group has lost close to 100 men. At least 15 Lebanese civilians and four journalists have been killed since the war began.

This is how UNICEF’s global spokesperson James Elder has described the scenes inside the Nassar hospital in Khan Younis, south of Gaza:

“Everywhere you turn to, there are children with third-degree burns, shrapnel wounds, brain injuries and broken bones. Mothers crying over children who look like they are hours away from death. It seems like a death zone right now.”

On top of the risk of being killed in an Israeli air strike, disease is the second biggest threat to children, he added.

“We risk seeing as many children…  that die from a lack of water, protection and sanitation,” Elder said.

More than 600 foreign nationals and Palestinians with dual nationality in Gaza are expected to be permitted entry into Egypt on Sunday.

A list was published by Palestinian border officials bearing the names of those who would be allowed to exit the besieged enclave. More than 300 people on the list are from the US and Canada. There are also a number of Germans, Norwegians, Greeks, Turks and Filipinos.

The Rafah border crossing has been opened for almost 900 foreign nationals and those with dual nationality since Israel restarted attacks on Gaza on Friday, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In addition, 13 injured people were allowed to cross into Egypt early on Sunday

Pope Francis on Sunday said it was "painful" to see that the truce between Israel and Hamas had been broken and called on all parties involved to reach a new ceasefire agreement as soon as possible.

He also said he was thinking about the people still held hostage in Gaza and the lack of basic necessities in the Palestinian territory.

Francis, who is suffering from a lung inflammation, had his words read by an aide during his Sunday Angelus message, which he delivered indoors from his Vatican residence rather than by a window overlooking St. Peter's Square.

The UK's military will conduct surveillance flights over Gaza to help locate hostages held by Hamas, Britain's defence ministry confirmed at the weekend.

Hamas fighters seized around 240 Israeli and foreign hostages, according to Israeli authorities. Around 110 have since been freed, mainly during a recent week-long truce.

Israel's military resumed fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory on Friday after it walked away from negotiations over a new ceasefire. The resumption of combat has frustrated hopes for the swift release of the more than 130 captives the Israeli army has said are still being held in Gaza.

London did not reveal when its military surveillance flights over the territory would start but stressed they would be unarmed and focused only on hostage recovery efforts.

"In support of the ongoing hostage rescue activity, the UK Ministry of Defence will conduct surveillance flights over the Eastern Mediterranean, including operating in air space over Israel and Gaza," it said in a statement.

"Surveillance aircraft will be unarmed, do not have a combat role, and will be tasked solely to locate hostages," the ministry added.

Read the full report here.

Israel has detained over 60 Palestinians in overnight raids in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

The arrests on Saturday night came mostly in the towns of Hebron, Bethlehem, Jericho, Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin. The Palestinian WAFA news agency reported that at least four women were among those arrested.

The latest arrests add to over 3,000 Palestinians arrested in the West Bank since October 7, according to the UN Human Rights Office. Many prisoners are held without trial or charges, under a system of “administrative detention”.

Israel continued its arrest campaign during the week-long truce from November 24 to30. During this time, Israel detained nearly as many new Palestinian prisoners as it released under the terms of the truce

The Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza has said that more than 700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the last 24 hours.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said that over 1.5 million people have also been displaced in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army has called on residents from certain neighbourhoods in southern Khan Younis to evacuate to other areas.

The warning came through the new evacuation system that Israel says was elaborated for civilians to avoid being targeted.

Since Friday, Israeli forces started dropping leaflets showing a map of Gaza divided into thousands of numbered “blocks”. Each paper has a QR code which links to the map. Residents are asked to scan the code and identify their zone to be able to follow the Israeli army’s instructions should they target their house’s zone.

It is not easy for Palestinians in Gaza to be able to do that given the extremely limited internet connection caused by Israeli bombardment and cutting off communication lines.

There are also questions about where they would go as tens of thousands of people are sheltering in areas across the south after fleeing from the north.

Despite Israel's warning system, civilians are bearing the brunt of Israeli air attacks on Khan Younis.

Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank late on Saturday, killing one man and torching a car, Palestinian authorities said.

The Palestinian ambulance service said a 38-year-old man in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, in the northern West Bank, was shot in the chest and died as residents confronted settlers and Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli military said soldiers arrived at the scene and used riot dispersal means and live fire to break up the confrontation between residents and settlers. It said Palestinians shot fireworks in response and an Israeli and four Palestinians were injured. The incident was being examined and had been handed over to police, it said.

In another incident, Wajih Al-Qat, head of the local council of the village of Madama near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, said a group of about 15 settlers burned the car and broke the windows of a house with stones.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the incident.

The attacks are the latest in a series of similar incidents involving settlers that have drawn condemnation from world leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration is set to impose visa bans on extremist settlers.