Israel targets Gaza hospitals as Netanyahu reports captive deal 'progress'

The New Arab's live blog on Israel's war in Gaza and other regional developments has now ended, and will resume tomorrow at 0900 GMT.

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Israel's military intercepted a missile early on Wednesday that was launched from Yemen and crossed into Israeli territory, the army said in a statement.

Sirens were activated due to the possibility of falling shrapnel from the interception, the army added.

"For the 5th time in a week, millions of Israelis were sent to shelter as Houthi terrorists in Yemen launched a missile attack," the Israeli military said in a post on X.

The Iran-backed Houthi group has repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what it has described as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza

 three people were killed after Israeli forces bombed a house in Beit Hanoon, the Wafa news agency reported early on Wednesday.

The victims were all from the Al Ghandour family.

At least two people were killed in an attack in Khan Younis, while seven others were wounded. The casualties included children.

Israeli forces also bombed an apartment building in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least one person and wounding four others.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that a commander was moderately injured after his vehicle was hit by an explosive device during a "counter-terrorism" operation in the area of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Iran on Tuesday denounced what it termed Israel's "brazen admission" of having killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, accusing the country of having carried out a "heinous crime."

"This brazen admission marks the first time the Israeli regime has openly confessed to its responsibility for this heinous crime," said Iran's ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani in a letter to the UN secretary-general, a day after Israel's defense minister acknowledged his country was responsible for the killing.

Syria's newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, told Iran on Tuesday not to spread chaos in Syria but to respect the Syrian people's will and the country's sovereignty.

In a post on X, Shibani said: "Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and the country's sovereignty and security. We warn them from spreading chaos in Syria and we hold them accountable for the repercussions of the latest remarks."

He did not specify the remarks he was referring to.

In a televised speech on Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to "stand with firm determination against those who have orchestrated and brought about this insecurity".

"We predict that a strong and honorable group will also emerge in Syria because today Syrian youth have nothing to lose. Their schools, universities, homes, and streets are unsafe," Khameini said.

The Israeli army said on Tuesday it had concluded that military operations in southern Gaza likely led to the killing by Hamas of six hostages in August.

As the fighting churns on, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meanwhile said that an Israeli delegation returned from a "significant" round of talks in Qatar aiming to secure a truce and the release of dozens of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

In late August, after troops found the six hostages' bodies in an underground shaft in Rafah, the military said they were killed just before soldiers reached them.

Netanyahu said at the time that the six -- Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Ori Danino -- were "executed" with a bullet "to the head".

The military probe into their deaths found that Israeli "ground activities in the area, although gradual and cautious, had a circumstantial influence on the terrorists' decision to murder the six hostages", the army said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said that "based on the investigation, the hostages were murdered by gunfire from Hamas terrorists" while Israeli forces were operating in the Tel al-Sultan area.

The death toll in the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem has risen to five following an Israeli raid.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry confirmed three deaths, including the women. The Palestinian Red Crescent said two other men were also killed in the raid.

Earlier on Tuesday the ministry said that 53-year-old Khawla Ali Abdullah Abdo was killed in an air strike at the Tulkarem camp, while 18-year-old Fathi Said Awda Ubaid was fatally shot in the chest and abdomen.

Both victims' bodies were transferred to Thabet Thabet Hospital.

It later said another woman, Bara Khalid Hussein, 30, succumbed to injuries sustained during the raid.

The Palestinian Red Crescent later confirmed the deaths of two other men, saying its ambulances initially faced challenges accessing the scene due to the violence.

Hundreds of Christians in war-ravaged Gaza City gathered at a church on Tuesday, praying for an end to the war that has devastated much of the Palestinian territory.

Gone were the sparkling lights, the festive decorations, and the towering Christmas tree that had graced Gaza City for decades.

The Square of the Unknown Soldier, once alive with the spirit of the season, now lay in ruins, reduced to rubble by relentless Israeli air strikes.

Amid the rubble, the faithful sought solace even as fighting continued to rage across the coastal strip on Tuesday.

"This Christmas carries the stench of death and destruction," said George al-Sayegh, who for weeks has sought refuge in the 12th century Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius.

"There is no joy, no festive spirit. We don't even know who will survive until the next holiday."

A part of the church itself was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in October last year, in which 18 Palestinian Christians were killed, according to the territory's health ministry.

About 1,100 Christians live in Gaza, a community that has also faced the brunt of the war since October 7 last year, when fighting between Israel and Hamas broke out.

Israel's recent air strikes, including one that killed several children according to the territory's civil defence agency, have come under severe criticism from Pope Francis.

Two Palestinian men were killed on Tuesday by an Israeli drone strike targeting the Tulkarem refugee camp, Palestinian media reported.

This attack marks the second time a drone strike targeted the Al-Hammam neighborhood on Tuesday as part of the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps.

At least six people have been killed and several wounded in an Israeli raid on a house in Jabalia al-Nazla in northern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera.

More than 25,000 Syrians have returned home from Turkey since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by Islamist-led HTS rebels, Turkey's interior minister said Tuesday.

Turkey is home to nearly three million refugees who fled the civil war that broke out in 2011, and whose presence has been an issue for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

"The number of people returning to Syria in the last 15 days has exceeded 25,000," Ali Yerlikaya told the official Anadolu news agency.

An Israeli negotiation team will return to Israel from Qatar on Tuesday evening for "internal consultations" regarding a hostage deal after a significant week of talks about Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Tuesday said they fired a "ballistic missile" at central Israel, after the Israeli military said it intercepted a "projectile".

The Iran-backed rebels, who have targeted Israel as well as key maritime routes over the Gaza war, last week fired two missiles that caused damage and more than a dozen injuries in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv.

On Tuesday the Houthis said in a statement that they had targeted a military site "of the Israeli enemy in the occupied area of Yaffa with a hypersonic ballistic missile", using the Arabic name for Jaffa, part of Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military earlier said it had intercepted "a projectile that was launched from Yemen", after air raid sirens sounded in the centre and south of Israel.

It said the projectile "was intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory".

Israel's emergency medical service reported no injuries.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday warned the Houthis over their increasing attacks.

"I have instructed our forces to destroy the infrastructure of Houthis, because anyone who tries to harm us will be struck with full force," Netanyahu told lawmakers, "even if it takes time".

The Houthi rebels have launched dozens of strikes targeting Israel in support of their Palestinian allies Hamas since their October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

The Yemeni rebels have also targeted shipping around the Red Sea, placing a chokehold on one of the world's most vital shipping routes.

Reports from news publication Al Jazeera English say that at least 11 Palestinians have been injured following Israeli shelling of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

More updates to come.

Grieving families mourn their victims killed in recent Israeli airstrikes on Nuseirat refugee camp. pic.twitter.com/M4lpf8AeHn

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 24, 2024

An Israeli drone strike has hit the headquarters of Gaza's Civil Defence, killing one member of the rescue team and his son.

The attack occurred while Civil Defence teams were responding to an emergency at a residential building struck by an Israeli airstrike.

Ahmed al-Madhoun, a member of the team, recounted receiving an urgent call to extinguish the fire caused by the initial strike.

On their way to the scene, they were informed that the location had been bombed again. Upon arrival, they discovered dozens of casualties, including several Civil Defence team members, some torn apart by the blast.

A civil defense member was killed along with his son in an Israeli air strike that targeted the civil defense headquarters in Al Daraj neighborhood, central Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/0ErQ7sfcrn

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) December 24, 2024

Al Jazeera television has clashed with the Palestinian Authority over its coverage of the weeks-long standoff between Palestinian security forces and militant fighters in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Fatah, the faction which controls the Palestinian Authority, condemned the Qatari-headquartered network, which has reported extensively on the clashes in Jenin, saying it was sowing division in "our Arab homeland in general and in Palestine in particular". It encouraged Palestinians not to cooperate with the network.

Israel closed down Al Jazeera's operations in Israel in May, saying it threatened national security.

In September, it ordered the network's bureau in Ramallah, to close for 45 days after an intelligence assessment that the offices were being used to support terrorist activities.

"Al Jazeera has successfully maintained its professionalism throughout its coverage of the unfolding events in Jenin," it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Palestinian Authority security forces have battled Islamist fighters in Jenin, as they try to control one of the historic centres of militancy in the West Bank ahead of a likely shakeout in Palestinian politics after the Gaza war.

Forces of the PA, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, moved into Jenin in early December, clashing daily with fighters from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both of which are supported by Iran.

The standoff has fuelled bitter anger on both sides, deepening the divisions which have long existed between the Palestinian factions and their supporters.

Al Jazeera said its broadcasts fairly presented the views of both sides.

"The voices of both the Palestinian resistance and the Spokesperson of the Palestinian National Security Forces have always been present on Al Jazeera’s screens," Al Jazeera said.

A rescue worker was killed and another injured in an Israeli attack on a Civil Defence centre in Gaza City's Daraj area, according to a statement shared on Telegram.

The Civil Defence noted that this was not the first such attack, highlighting that the same centre was targeted on September 25, injuring four personnel.

More recently, a strike on the Nuseirat Civil Defence Centre resulted in the deaths of four rescue workers.

"This brutal Israeli attack confirms to the world that the Israeli occupation continues to kill humanitarian service providers and that it will not hesitate to target others," the statement read, condemning the ongoing assaults on emergency responders.

US group Hostage Aid Worldwide said Tuesday that it believed Syrian-American bishop Yohanna Ibrahim, missing in Syria since 2013, was being held by the authorities under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.

"He is a US citizen," the group's Nizar Zakka told reporters in Damascus, adding Ibrahim "was seen in 2018 in Branch 291" of the security forces. The senior Aleppo cleric of the Syriac Orthodox Church was kidnapped in April 2013.

Turkey is aiming to strike a maritime demarcation agreement with Syria after a permanent government is formed in Damascus, Turkish Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said on Tuesday.

Turkey, which backed Syrian rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad this month after a 13-year civil war, has been in close contact with the new interim administration of its neighbour, including Turkey's intelligence chief and foreign minister meeting with de-facto Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan last week said Ankara would improve ties with Syria including in trade, energy and defence.

Turkey is also planning to start negotiations with the new Syrian administration on a possible maritime demarcation agreement, Transport Minister Uraloglu told reporters.

"Of course an authority must first be established there... It will be on our agenda for sure, but it's hard to say that it's on today's agenda," Uraloglu said.

The maritime demarcation agreement would be in line with international law and would allow two countries to determine authorities for oil and hydrocarbon exploration, the minister also said.

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in a dawn raid on Tuesday on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

Khawla Abdo, a 53-year-old woman, was killed as a result of shelling by Israeli forces, while Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the abdomen and chest, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military said earlier it killed one Palestinian in a "counter-terrorism" operation in Tulkarm, while its forces arrested 18 other wanted individuals and confiscated dozens of weapons.

Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza and a wider conflict on several fronts.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli forces prevented ambulance crews from reaching Salem by opening fire on him.

Bulldozers also demolished infrastructure in Tulkarm camp, including homes, shops, part of the walls of Al-Salam mosque, which they barricaded off, and part of the camp's water network, it said. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz admitted on Monday for the first time publicly to Israel's killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran in July, further risking tensions between Tehran and its arch-enemy Israel in a region shaken by Israel's war in Gaza and the conflict in Lebanon.

"These days, when the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the beginning of my remarks: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran's defense systems and damaged the production systems, we have toppled the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last to stand," Katz said.

Israel will "damage their strategic infrastructure, and we will behead their leaders – just as we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon – we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana'a," Katz said during an evening honoring defense ministry personnel.

The Iran-backed group in Yemen has been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year to try to enforce a naval blockade on Israel, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's year-long war in Gaza.

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in a dawn raid on Tuesday on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

The Israeli military said the man was killed in a "counter-terrorism" operation that resulted in 18 arrests, while the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Fathi Saeed Odeh Salem died after snipers shot him and fired on ambulance crew.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since 7 October, 2023, which has triggered the current war in Gaza and a wider conflict on several fronts.

WAFA said Israeli bulldozers demolished infrastructure in the camp, including homes, shops, part of the walls of Al-Salam mosque, which they barricaded off, and part of the camp's water network.

Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said on Tuesday.

The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.

Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital - Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia - is targeting Hamas operatives.

Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.

Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.

He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops operating in the area.

"Occupation forces have taken the three hospitals out of medical service because of the repeated attacks that undermined them and destroyed parts of them," Bursh said in a statement.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the report.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa reached an agreement on Tuesday with rebel faction leaders to dissolve all groups and consolidate them under the Defence Ministry, according to a statement from the new Syrian general administration. 

Iranian flights to Syria will remain suspended until late January, local media reported Tuesday, after the fall of longtime Tehran ally president Bashar al-Assad.

"In order to fly to a country, the destination country must grant entry and admission permits," the head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organisation, Hossein Pourfarzaneh, was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.

"Currently, flights to Syria will not be allowed until January 22, after the New Year holidays," he added.

It was not clear exactly when Iran suspended flights to Syria.

US group Hostage Aid Worldwide said Tuesday that it believes journalist Austin Tice, who went missing in Syria in 2012, is still alive, though it did not offer concrete information on his whereabouts.

"We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the US said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive today," Hostage Aid Worldwide's Nizar Zakka said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived at the Tel Aviv District Court to continue his testimony in his ongoing corruption trial.

Netanyahu, the first sitting Israeli prime minister to face a criminal trial, is accused in three separate cases.

The charges include accepting gifts from wealthy associates and allegedly seeking regulatory favours for media executives in exchange for favourable coverage.

The 75-year-old leader has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing.

A Dutch court on Tuesday convicted five men for their part in last month's violence against Israeli football fans in Amsterdam that shocked the world and sparked accusations of racism.

The Amsterdam district court found them guilty for a range of crimes from kicking fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv in the street to inciting violence in chat groups.

The attacks came after two days of clashes, during which Maccabi fans also reportedly chanted anti-Arab slogans, vandalised a taxi, and set a Palestinian flag on fire.

Israeli police stated they are investigating at least 45 individuals in connection with the violence, including incidents involving supporters of the Israeli football club.

Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 45,338 Palestinians and wounded 107,764 since Oct. 7, 2023, the Palestinian enclave's health ministry said on Tuesday.

Civil Defence teams in Gaza City have recovered four bodies and several injured individuals from a house targeted by Israeli forces, reportedly belonging to the Siam family.

According to the Wafa news agency, the victims included two women and a child. The bombed home is situated near the historic El Samra Bathhouse in central Gaza City.

 A delegation from Turkey's energy ministry will visit Syria "soon" to discuss possible energy cooperation including transmitting electricity to ease power shortages, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said late on Monday.

Turkey, which backed Syrian rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad this month after a 13-year civil war, has reopened its embassy in Damascus and its intelligence chief and foreign minister have met with de-facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Erdogan last week said that Ankara would do whatever necessary for the reconstruction of Syria, including improving energy ties.

"A delegation from the Energy Ministry will visit Syria as soon as possible and will conduct examinations on electricity and energy infrastructure of Syria," Bayraktar told reporters.

The Turkish delegation will also discuss energy cooperation with the new Syrian government and Turkey's possible assistance on the issue, Bayraktar added.

"The main problem in Syria in the field of energy is the electricity (shortage) at the moment. A formula will be sought (for Turkey) to provide electricity to Syria," he added.

Turkey currently provides electricity to some parts of northern Syria where it has mounted four military operations since 2016. 

Israel has instructed its diplomatic missions in Europe to try to get the Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen designated as a terrorist organisation.

"The Houthis pose a threat not only to Israel but also to the region and the entire world. The first and most basic thing to do is to designate them as a terrorist organisation," Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said in a statement.

The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what the group describes as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel's military said the projectile was intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory, but it set off air raid sirens overnight in the country's populous central area, sending residents looking for cover.

Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said a 60-year-old woman was seriously wounded after being hurt on her way to a protected space.

There was no immediate comment from Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

It was the third time in a week that fire from Yemen set off sirens in Israel.

On Saturday, a missile slammed into a playground in Tel Aviv, injuring 16, after Israel’s air defense system failed to intercept it.

Earlier last week, Israeli jets struck Yemen’s rebel-held capital and a port city, killing nine. Israel said the strikes were in response to previous Houthi attacks.

Hannah Katzir, an Israeli woman who was taken hostage on 7 October, 2023, and freed in a brief ceasefire last year, has died. She was 78.

The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing the families of people taken captive, confirmed the death Tuesday but did not disclose the cause.

Her daughter, Carmit Palty Katzir said in a statement that her mother’s "heart could not withstand the terrible suffering since October 7."

Katzir’s husband, Rami, was killed during the attack by operatives who raided their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.

Her son Elad was also kidnapped and his body was recovered in April by the Israeli military, who said he had been killed in captivity.

She spent 49 days in captivity and was freed in late November 2023.

Shortly after Katzir was freed, her daughter told Israeli media that she had been hospitalised with heart issues attributed to "difficult conditions and starvation" while she was held captive.

More than 25,000 Syrians have returned home from Turkey since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels, Turkey's interior minister said Tuesday.

Turkey is home to nearly three million refugees who fled the civil war that broke out in 2011, and whose presence has been an issue for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

"The number of people returning to Syria in the last 15 days has exceeded 25,000," Ali Yerlikaya told the official Anadolu news agency.

Ankara is in close touch with Syria's new leaders and now focussing on the voluntary return of Syrian refugees, hoping the shift in power in Damascus will allow many of them to return home.

Yerlikaya said a migration office would be established in the Turkish embassy and consulate in Damascus and Aleppo so that the records of returning Syrians could be kept.

Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus, nearly a week after Assad was toppled by forces backed by Ankara, and 12 years after the diplomatic outpost was shuttered early in Syria's civil war.

Yerlikaya said one person from each family will be given the right to enter and exit three times from January 1 to July 2025 under regulations to be drafted upon Erdogan's instructions.

Syrians returning to their country will be able to take their belongings and cars with them, he added.