Israel-Hamas war updates from Dec 15: Gaza is 'integral part' of Palestinian state, says Abbas

Images released by the Israeli army showing what they say are Israeli soldiers of the Commando Brigade's Maglan unit fighting Hamas in Khan Yunis, including at one of the homes of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

German airline group Lufthansa said Friday it planned to resume flights to Tel Aviv from January 8, after the service was suspended in early October following the Hamas attacks on Israel.

The Lufthansa group airlines will initially "offer a total of 20 weekly connections to and from Tel Aviv," it said in a statement, corresponding "to around 30 percent of the regular flight schedule". It added that flights to Beirut, suspended since October 13, were resumed on Friday.

Israel approved Friday the "temporary" delivery of aid into Gaza via its Kerem Shalom border crossing, the prime minister's office said, opening a new route for supplies after weeks of pressure. Kerem Shalom, which sits on Gaza's border with Israel, recently began inspecting shipments of aid bound for the territory, but the trucks still had to travel to Rafah afterwards to enter.

Israel's cabinet "approved today a temporary measure of unloading the trucks on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing" in order to increase the amount of aid getting into the territory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

"The cabinet's decision determines that only humanitarian aid arriving from Egypt will be transferred into the Gaza Strip this way," it added.

The Israeli army has released footage of its soldiers training near border with Lebanon. There has been frequent exchange of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah across Israel-Lebanon border.

Hezbollah has said that it was launching cross-border attacks to support Hamas.

Germany has said that attacks by Iran-backed Huthi rebels in the Red Sea are threatening not only Israel but also international shipping routes.

"These attacks endanger not only Israel's security -- these attacks threaten international maritime shipping and the freedom of trade routes," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at a press conference in Berlin.

AFP has reported that multiple rockets were intercepted in central Jerusalem. Sirens warning of incoming projectiles have been sounded in the city for the first time since October, AFP has reported citing Israel military.

Western nations, along with the European Union have called on Israel to "take concrete steps to halt unprecedented violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank." The appeal has been made in a joint statement published by French foreign ministry.

The signatories have said that Israel's settlement policy "is illegal under international law."

They also said that "as the occupying power, Israel must protect Palestinian civilians in the West Bank" and "bring those responsible for this violence to justice".
 

PLA president Mahmud Abbas has said Gaza was an 'integral part' of the Palestinian state. His words came as he spoke with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The discussion took place in his West Bank headquarters.

"Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine", his office said in a statement, adding that "the president underscored that separation or any attempt to isolate any part of it is unacceptable".

Multiple media reports have said that an Israeli police officer kicked photographer from Anadolu when he was lying injured on the ground. The incident has reportedly taken place in Jerusalem.

Eylon Levy, Spokesman of Israeli Government has confirmed that bodies of three hostages have been repatriated, reported Reuters.

Israel has reportedly offered to open the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel into Gaza, Al Jazeera reported. The goods crossing has ben closed since October 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel. 

This should make a significant difference in aid delivery.

Kerem Shalom also has a pipeline for fuel.

Rafah where the international aid is being passed at the moment is not exactly designed for goods.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is getting "worse by the day", a UNICEF spokesperson told Sky News.

James Elder, who has recently been to Gaza said that Israel's bombardment has been "unrelenting" and there remains a "grave threat of disease" in the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

"With no sanitation, middle-class people who previously had a home with three bedrooms and two bathrooms – there is nowhere to go to the toilet so they have to find a place," he said.

“Water will then throw that sewage through. The sewage system has broken down and at the same time children are down to less than a litre of clean safe water.

“Disease is rushing through with water, diarrhoea is off the charts, and they can’t go to hospitals because they are treating children with mortar [injuries] and amputations, and so they know that is not a place [to go].”

- The European Union called on Israel to take immediate and concrete steps to tackle settler violence in the West Bank.

- Israel’s military says it has carried out an attack in the border area between Gaza and Egypt. Heavy fighting is reported in Khan Younis between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants.

- The Israeli army says one soldier is killed in southern Gaza, bringing the total Israeli military death toll since the war started to nearly 450.
 

The IDF said that another soldier lost his life in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip as the toll of Israel army soldiers reached in the ground offensive against Hamas reached 118.

The soldier was identified as Sgt. First Class (res.) Shay Uriel Pizem, 23,  who was a tank commander in the 401st Armored Brigade’s 9th Battalion. 

The IDF said that a Hezbollah target was hit by the Air Force in Lebanon as the exchanges of fire with the terror group continued along the border.

It also said that out a strike was carried out by the group on two gunmen identified near the border.

The IDF said that a series of airstrikes was completed by them against the sites used by the internal security of Hamas on the Gaza-Egypt border.

The IDF, in a statement, said that the strikes were carried out by fighter jets, drones and attack helicopters which targeted guard posts, weapons depots, military compounds, observation posts and command centers which belonged to the internal security forces of Hamas.

“The sites that were hit in the Rafah area, where Hamas terrorists operated, aided the smuggling efforts led by the Hamas terror organization and included weapons that endanger IDF soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip and the citizens of Israel,” said the IDF.
 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the troops found the dead body of  28-year-old civilian hostage Elia Toledano, who was abducted from Supernova music festival by the terrorists near Kibbutz Re’im on October 7.

The body of Toledanowas retrieved from Gaza amid an operational activity carried out under the Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504. After his body was retrieved, medical and rabbinical authorities carried out his identification and the family was notified.

According to an Al-Jazeera report, citing  an unreleased UN report, written by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Israeli authorities have approved 1500 housing permits illegally. 

Israeli authorities have announced $1 million bounty for information that leads to identification and capture of those behind the October 7 terror attacks. The Israeli military informed about the bounty by dropping leaflets in Gaza. 

Israeli heritage minister Amichai Eliyahu, in a radio interview said he think the Gaza Strip must be "fully" occupied. 

“It’s as if for our morals we are not willing to be a little cruel. To win, you need a little cruelty. To win, you have to be a little scary," he added. 

The IDF has claimed that it destroyed the headquarters of a Hamas-linked battalion and a tunnel while conducting operations in the Shujaiya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City’s center.

IDF on Friday said it had recovered bodies of hostages Nick Beizer and Ron Sherman killed by the Hamas. They both were soldiers in the Israeli Army, holding the position of corporal and sergeant respectively.

At least one Palestinian was killed in an Israeli strike on western Rafah early Friday. Several others were reported to be injured.

A Dutch court will on Friday rule on the export of F-35 parts to Israel as it is using these fighter jets in the Gaza Strip.

The case is related to US-owned F-35 parts stored at a warehouse in the Netherlands and then shipped to several partners, including Israel, via existing export agreements.

A group of human rights organisations has brought the case, arguing that supplying the parts contributes to alleged violations of international law by Israel in its ongoing war with Hamas.

The body of 28-year-old Elia Toledano who was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7, has been recovered by our Special Forces in an operation in Gaza and brought back to Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on X on Friday.

The Israeli military has identified the latest soldier to be killed in Gaza as a 19-year-old sergeant in the 603rd Engineer Battalion, who died in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, as per reports. 

A Jewish protest group demanding a ceasefire in Israel's war in Gaza on Thursday (December 14) blocked a major highway in Philadelphia, snarling rush hour traffic, media reports said. 

Two US officials have reportedly said that the Israelis informed the US about their ongoing offensive against Hamas, specifying that the current phase, involving intense air strikes and a substantial ground operation, is expected to conclude within the next 2-3 weeks.
 

At least 26 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Rafah in southern Gaza, reports said citing Palestinian officials.