12m ago / 3:14 PM UTC
28 killed in central city IDF told civilians they could use for evacuation
Twenty-eight people died and 88 more were wounded in Deir al-Balah, a city in central Gaza, 48 hours after the IDF asked civilians from nearby towns to evacuate there, the Palestinian government media office said.
NBC News is unable to independently verify this report. In a post on X, the Palestine Red Crescent Society, an emergency medical care NGO, also said it had evacuated a “large number” of the dead and wounded following a strike on a house in the city.
The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
44m ago / 2:43 PM UTC
Deputy AG: ‘Significant uptick’ in threats against Jews, Muslims and Arab Americans
The Justice Department has seen a “significant uptick” in violence and threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab Americans since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said during an interview with ABC’s “This Week.”
“We have seen a significant uptick in threats of violence and violence, particularly directed at the Jewish community and also at the Muslim and Arab American communities here in the United States,” she said
The department has opened more than 100 investigations into the threats, but many others have also been resolved without incident.
1h ago / 1:59 PM UTC
IDF chief of staff says Khan Younis action is ‘an impressive attack’
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi described Israeli military action in Khan Younis as “an impressive attack” during a situation assessment with forces from the 98th Division of the army, according to the IDF.
Halevi warned that “we still have a lot of work to do,” the IDF said in a post on X.
Khan Younis is Gaza’s second largest city and the largest in the south. The IDF had originally ordered Palestinians to evacuate to Khan Younis, but as it expanded its offensive beyond northern Gaza in recent weeks, Khan Younis has faced significant bombing and ground attacks.
2h ago / 1:25 PM UTC
Aerial and tank attacks on Jabaliya refugee camp
Israel bombed areas of Jabaliya in northern Gaza overnight, with fighting into this morning, residents and Palestinian media said.
The IDF said it had “eliminated seven terrorists and destroyed four Hamas survey methods that were deployed in the area” using air force and artillery fire. NBC News is unable to independently verify these claims.
Residents told Reuters that there had been persistent aerial bombardment and shelling from Israeli tanks in the area, which they said had moved further into the town today.
Jabaliya is a permanent refugee camp in northern Gaza. It has faced persistent bombardment in recent weeks, with strikes hitting UNRWA schools and residential blocks.
2h ago / 1:03 PM UTC
Scenes of a somber Christmas Eve in Bethlehem
Chirstmas Eve is usually the busiest day at the Church of the Nativity — on the site where Jesus is said to have been born — in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank. This year is far more somber, with festive celebrations forgone out of respect for the war in Gaza.
Instead of the usual Christmas tree and lights in Manger Square outside the church, there’s a Nativity scene set in rubble and surrounded by barbed wire. The baby Jesus is wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the thousands of children killed in fighting in Gaza. Worshippers unfurled a giant Palestinian flag in the mostly empty square today.
3h ago / 12:29 PM UTC
Israeli ministers address troops in leveled Beit Hanoun
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war Cabinet minister Benny Gantz toured northern Gaza yesterday and held a situation assessment with army generals in the leveled city of Beit Hanoun, near Gaza’s northeastern border with Israel.
In comments to soldiers, Gallant said, “Every building from where shootings or launches are conducted, and every source of terrorism, must be taken down so that the residents of Sderot [in Israel’s south], may return home in peace.”
He also threatened that the Israeli army would bring the same destruction on Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, saying Hamas soldiers fighting in that area would “see how the story of Beit Hanoun ends.”
“Everyone can use ‘Google Maps’ and imagine what may happen in Beirut,” he added, reiterating previous threats to expand the war to Lebanon’s capital if attacks from Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group in the country’s south, did not stop.
3h ago / 12:04 PM UTC
Palestinian media office publishes the names and photos of 101 journalists killed in Gaza
The Palestinian government’s media office has published the names and photographs of the 101 journalists who have died in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war.
Names of dead journalists include Samer Abudaqa, an Al Jazeera cameraman who was killed in an Israeli drone strike in Khan Younis earlier this month. His colleague, Wael Dahdouh, a famous face in Gaza and throughout the Arab world, was also injured in the strike. Dahdouh later reported on Abudaqa’s funeral.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a nonprofit organization based in New York, has said that the current war in Gaza is the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
4h ago / 11:43 AM UTC
A view of destruction in Rafah
A child stands by rubble in a room overlooking a building destroyed by a strike today in the southern city of Rafah.
4h ago / 11:08 AM UTC
Netanyahu resists reports that U.S. convinced Israel not to expand military activity
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Cabinet meeting today that he told U.S. President Joe Biden that Israel would “fight until the absolute victory — however long it takes.”
Responding to reports that the U.S. had convinced Israel not to expand its military activity, Netanyahu said that he had “seen false publications claiming that the U.S. prevented and is preventing us from operational operations in the region — this is not true. Israel is a sovereign state.”
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Netanyahu was persuaded by Biden not to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon out of concerns it would launch an attack on Israel similar to that of Oct. 7 by Hamas.
“The decision on how to use our forces is an independent decision of the IDF and no one else,” Netanyahu said, reiterating his commitment to a “long war” with the goal of totally eliminating Hamas.
4h ago / 10:58 AM UTC
Child shot by drone while inside hospital, Red Crescent says
A 13-year-old child was killed by a drone while inside Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said on X today.
The child had been internally displaced and was living inside the hospital, PRCS said.
NBC News was unable to independently verify this report. The targeting of children in any situation of armed conflict is considered a war crime under international humanitarian law. The IDF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
5h ago / 10:24 AM UTC
Nine more Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza, in one of the deadliest weekends for the IDF
The IDF confirmed the deaths of nine of its soldiers in central and southern Gaza on Sunday, bringing the total of those killed in combat in the enclave up to 14 this weekend alone.
It has been one of the deadliest weekends in the strip for the IDF, challenging narratives within Israel that Hamas has been significantly weakened by more than two months of fighting in the strip.
153 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the ground invasion, according to the IDF.
6h ago / 9:38 AM UTC
Death toll in Gaza reaches over 20,400
20,424 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said yesterday, with more than 53,600 wounded.
Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the ministry, estimated earlier in December that 70% of those killed were women and children.
The total death toll in the besieged coastal enclave is an estimate due to ongoing war, and the number of people still stuck under rubble, with the absence of sufficient fuel or resources to assist in retrieving them. Earlier in December, the Ministry estimated that 7,780 people were missing and presumed dead beneath rubble.
6h ago / 9:38 AM UTC
Drone attack on Israeli-affiliated merchant vessel off India’s west coast
NEW DELHI — A drone hit an Israeli-affiliated merchant vessel off the coast of India in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, the British maritime security firm Ambrey said, damaging the vessel but causing no casualties.
The incident on the Liberian-flagged chemical product tanker occurred 120 miles (200-kilometers) southwest of the Indian port of Veraval, said Ambrey. It gave no further details about the vessel’s Israeli links.
Ambrey said the drone attack struck the stern and caused a fire onboard that was later extinguished without any casualties among the crew. The firm said the vessel suffered some structural damage and some water was taken onboard.
“The vessel was Israel-affiliated. She had last called in Saudi Arabia and was destined for India at the time,” Ambrey said.
The Indian Navy responded after the shipping company requested assistance, a naval official said.
“Indian Navy had dispatched an aircraft, which arrived overhead the MV (merchant vessel),” a statement said. “Safety of the crew and ship was ascertained. A warship has also been dispatched to provide any assistance as required.”
Major global shipping firms have rerouted their vessels after attacks in the Red Sea since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. Many vessels take a longer and costlier route around the southern tip of Africa.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
6h ago / 9:38 AM UTC
U.S. Navy ship shoots down Houthi drones, responds to attacks on other vessels in Red Sea
Houthi rebels in Yemen fired missiles into international shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea on Saturday, but no ships reported being impacted by the two anti-ship ballistic missiles, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
Between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time, four unmanned aerial drones fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen were shot down by the USS Laboon — the ship the drones were heading toward — U.S. Central Command said, adding there were no injuries or damage from the incident.
The USS Laboon then turned its attention to reports from two ships also in the southern Red Sea that were under attack at approximately 8 p.m. local time, CENTCOM said.
A Houthi one-way attack drone nearly missed the M/V Blaamanen, a Norwegian-flagged, -owned and -operated chemical/oil tanker, CENTCOM said. The M/V Saibaba, a Gabon-owned, Indian-flagged crude oil tanker, reported it was hit by a one-way attack drone, according to CENTCOM.
Neither ship reported any injuries from the attacks, which mark the 14th and 15th on commercial shipping vessels by the Houthis since Oct. 17.
As the Houthi rebels continue to fire missiles at ships in the southern Red Sea, a number of major companies are pausing shipments that pass through region.
6h ago / 9:38 AM UTC
Biden, Netanyahu discuss concerns over civilian deaths in Gaza, hostage releases
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone today and discussed Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Biden reiterated the importance of protecting civilians in Gaza, including those who are supporting the humanitarian aid efforts, according to a White House readout of the call. Biden said it is also crucial to allow those civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting, the White House said.
The leaders also discussed the importance of the release of all remaining hostages being held by Hamas.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
