Israel-Hamas war, Dec 7 highlights: WHO decries 'unprecedented' attacks on healthcare centres in West Bank

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, spoke with Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Ron Dermer, today, a senior US state department official was quoted as saying by the news agency Reuters.

During the call, Blinken said that Israel needs to do more to protect civilians in its offensive in southern Gaza, Reuters reported.

Blinken also urged Dermer to let Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

In a rare and unprecedented move, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter on Wednesday (Dec 6). This decision is aimed at formally warning the UN Security Council about the global threat emanating from Israel's ongoing military operations in Gaza.

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Israel’s military has continued its military campaign in Gaza as war with Hamas hit two-month mark amid worsening humanitarian crisis in the blockaded Palestinian enclave. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had struck about 250 targets in Gaza over a 24-hour period, ending on Thursday morning.

Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said that the death toll in the enclave has crossed 17,000 mark and is now at 17,177. The ministry has said that 46,000 people have been injured since the October 7 attack.

Rising civilian casualties is a key issue Israel is facing global pressure over. Israel's own allies have supported Israel's right to defend itself after Hamas' October 7 attack but they are increasingly pushing Israel to avoid civilian casualties in its war with Hamas.

The Israeli army has said that an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanese territory into northern Israel has killed an Israeli citizen.

The army said in a statement that "terrorists launched an anti-tank missile from Lebanese territory toward the area of Matat"

In a separate statement, emergency service Magen David Adom said that a 60-year-old man was brought to one of their teams but was declared dead.

According to Israeli TV, a guided-missile attack by Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon killed a civilian in northern Israel. The 60-year-old man died in a village, near the Lebanese border. 

Across Europe, activists are protesting and blockading n front of weapons manufacturers and suppliers to Israel, per a Guardian report. 

Exxelia (Paris, France), Terma Group (Aarhus and Copenhagen, Denmark; Leiden, The Netherlands), and UAV Engines (Shenstone, UK) are some of the companies facing protests from activists. 

Billionaire Elon Musk has criticised the presidents of Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for their shaky testimony during a congressional hearing on antisemitism.

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Austria’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday said it was ending a suspension of aid to Palestinian after a review found out that money was not being funneled into terror activities. 

"There is no indication that Austrian development projects funded by the ADA (Austrian Development Agency) were misused to fund or promote terrorism or to spread anti-Semitic content."

The Saudi state news agency SPA has reported that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and the president of Russia, during their meeting in Riyadh, expressed shared "deep concern" about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and Vladimir Putin stressed on the necessity to halt military actions in Palestinian territories and ensure the protection of civilians in alignment with international law and humanitarian principles, as per a jointly issued statement.

Diaa Rashwan, the leader of the Egyptian State Information Service, said in  statement that Egypt will not permit the evacuation of the Gaza Strip and stresses on ongoing collaboration with partners to expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid. He states that Egypt keeps the Rafah border crossing "permanently opened," and any hindrances arise from the Israeli side.

Amnesty's investigation concluded that the Israeli strike, resulting in the death of Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injuries to six other journalists, was likely caused by a tank round fired from Israel. The report, similar to an earlier HRW statement, calls for a thorough investigation into the incident as a potential war crime. Aya Majzoub, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, emphasized the importance of holding Israel accountable and preventing the targeted killing of journalists.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the death of another soldier who was killed during the operation in Gaza bringing the toll of the ground offensive against Hamas to 87.

The soldier was identified as 24-year-old Maor Gershoni who was a Sergeant First Class of 6th Brigade’s 8173rd Battalion. 

A report by the Wall Street Journal said that the United States asked Israel not to respond to missile and drone attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. 

The report citing US officials said saying that the American forces will respond to the Houthis since they have warships in the area and has shot down several of the missiles fired at Israel, while Israel has intercepted others.

The officials, as per the report, have cited concerns that an Israeli response to the Houthis could widen the current war. 

The Israeli strike that killed one journalist and injured six others merits a "war crime" investigation, rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch told AFP on Thursday.

Issam Abdallah, 37, was killed instantly in the strike. The others present -- two other Reuters journalists, two from Al Jazeera, and two from AFP -- were all injured. AFP photographer Christina Assi, 28, was seriously wounded, later had a leg amputated and is still in hospital.

Source: AFP

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid criticised the planned far-right march which was to take place in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, and said that it should be canceled.

“The march in Jerusalem this evening is a blatant Kahanist attempt to set ablaze additional fronts and cause more death and destruction,” said Lapid in a post shared on X, while making reference to the followers of the late Jewish extremist Meir Kahane.

“As prime minister, I approved marches in Jerusalem but not violent provocations,” he added and called the cabinet dysfunctional for not putting ban on the march.
 

Israel's defence ministry and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) started a programme for better equipping civilian community defence teams.

The local teams constitute the residents of communities and are the first people to respind to attacks and infiltrations. The military, in a statemetn, said that it will start providing equipments to 12 teams every week in Gaza-adjacent communities.

The programme will eventually expand to all communities across the country.
 

As the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) closes in on one of Hamas co-founders Yahya Sinwar, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that it was “only a matter of time” for them to find the 61-year-old, who is believed to be the architect of the October 7 surprise assault.

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Flares were seen falling in Gaza and smoke and sounds of explosions were heard on Thursday (December 7) morning as Israeli troops pressed on with their offensive in the south of the embattled Palestinian enclave.

Hundreds of thousands of people made homeless in north Gaza during the war were desperately seeking shelter in the diminishing number of places in the south designated as safe by Israel.

Israeli warplanes on Wednesday (December 6) bombed targets across the densely populated coastal strip in one of the heaviest phases of the two-month-old war. (Reuters)
 

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday (Dec 6), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he believed Israel was taking more steps to protect civilians in their offensive into southern Gaza.

“I said to them very clearly when I was there just a week ago, we cannot have a repeat of what happened in the north in the south in terms of harm being done to civilians,” he said.

“What we’re seeing is areas clearly designated by Israel that are safe areas, where there’s not going to be firing or the military. We’ve seen efforts to make sure that people know that they need to move – and not in the entire city, but just discrete neighborhoods. So that’s positive,” Blinken said.

Israel’s 98th Paratrooper Division has intensified its attack on Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip as four Israeli divisions are engaged in “high intensity” fighting with Hamas in the region.

Two more Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza and four more were seriously injured. Reports said that both the soldiers were 22 years old.

Senate Republicans on Wednesday (Dec 6) blocked the White House's request for $106 billion in emergency aid for Ukraine as well as Israel as the conservatives showed resistance to the debarment of immigration reforms they had demanded as part of the package.

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The UN secretary-general, warning he expects public order in Gaza to break down completely and soon, struck a rare and powerful alarm bell in a letter Wednesday to the Security Council.

Antonio Guterres said he was invoking Article 99 of the UN's charter, which states that "the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security."

While repeating his call for a "humanitarian cease fire," Guterres wrote that the humanitarian conditions amid the Israel-Hamas war are "fast deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole."

Satellite imagery collected by Maxar Technologies on Sunday (December 3) provided a detailed snapshot of the challenges and efforts in managing the displacement crisis in Southern Gaza amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The images highlight a number of schools, hospitals, and other locations where displaced Palestinians have sought refuge over the past week. The visuals also depict new field hospitals have been established in Khan Younis and Rafah.

Israel on Wednesday approved a "minimal" increase in fuel supplies to war-torn Gaza in order to prevent a "humanitarian collapse", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.

A "minimal supplement of fuel -- necessary to prevent a humanitarian collapse and the outbreak of epidemics" had been approved to enter "into the southern Gaza Strip", Netanyahu's office wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that the "minimal amount" would be reconsidered "from time to time by the War Cabinet."

Islamic Resistance claimed on Wednesday (December 6) that they attacked Israeli posts near the Lebanese border. Video provided by the Islamic Resistance showed a vehicle exploding, and several explosions near alleged Israeli installations. Reuters was able to confirm the location of the Birkat Risha site by the positioning of towers, buildings and vegetation with matched the satellite imagery. Reuters was not able to independently verify the other locations and the dates on which the videos were taken.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a rare move on Wednesday to formally warn the Security Council of a global threat from the Gaza war as Arab states seek to leverage that to renew a push for the council to call for a ceasefire.

The United States, one of five veto powers on the 15-member council, is opposed to a ceasefire between its ally Israel and Hamas because it believes such a move would only benefit the Palestinian militants.

G7 leaders reaffirmed their support for a two-state solution to the long-running Israel-Palestinian conflict in a statement issued after a virtual meeting on Wednesday.

"We remain committed to a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution that enables both Israelis and Palestinians to live in a just, lasting, and secure peace," the statement said.

Yemen's Houthi group launched several ballistic missiles at military posts in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, the group's military spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Navy shot down a drone that originated from a part of Yemen controlled by the Houthi group, a U.S. defense official told Reuters.

Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hamas in south Gaza on Wednesday in the heart of the city of Khan Younis, forcing Palestinian civilians, many already displaced from the north, to search for refuge elsewhere with their options dwindling.

Israeli warplanes also bombarded targets across the densely populated coastal strip in one of the heaviest phases of the war in the two months since Israel began its military campaign to eliminate Hamas, Gaza's ruling Palestinian militant group.

A strike hits the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, the night sky turning orange with fire and smoke, and the sound of further explosions is heard. Ambulances are trying to get through a busy street. Israel is now focusing its offensive on the south of Gaza, after nearly two months of war sparked by deadly attacks on Israel.

Nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured on Wednesday (December 6) in an Israeli bombardment of a house in Rafah, a city in Gaza's far south near the border with Egypt, according to Palestinian medical sources. Reuters footage showed several bodies and injured people - one man with both legs cut off below his knees - being carried away from the scene as people searched through rubble with their bare hands. The building was on fire following the strike and the side of the structure completely destroyed. A resident eyewitness told Reuters three strikes hit the home which was full of displaced people.

At a church in Bethlehem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the nativity scene includes a baby Jesus figure wearing a keffieh and lying surrounded by rubble in a gesture of solidarity with the people of Gaza. On Wednesday, Israeli forces battled Hamas militants in the city of Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, as part of an expanded military operation nearly two months after the deadly Hamas attack on October 7. The attack killed 1,200 people and saw a further 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities. In Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says that Israel's military response has killed more than 16,200 people. 
 

Lebanese soldiers and residents of the village of Shmistar, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, take part in the funeral procession of Sergeant Abdelkarim Al Mokdad. The Lebanese army said Al Mokdad was killed by Israeli fire on a military post near the country's southern border.