Israel-Hamas war top developments: Death toll in Gaza Strip climbs to 20,258

Hamas' armed wing said on Saturday that it had lost contact with its militants tasked with guarding five Israeli hostages.

"We believe that those hostages have been killed" in Israeli strikes, said Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida.

Hamas said on Saturday that 201 people had been killed in the last 24 hours. The death toll in the war-torn region currently stands at 20,258.

Hamas released videos on Saturday which showed an attack on Israeli soldiers in Beit Lahia. The footage showed five men in green military wear walking near a building before multiple weapons appeared to be fired at them.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has now climbed to 20,258, Palestinian authorities said on Saturday. 

Footage released by the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad shows what they say are rockets launched from the Gaza Strip as the group battles Israeli forces. 

Images show the destroyed Al-Awda hospital, one of the last remaining hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip which stopped operating after being stormed by the Israeli army, its director said on December 19. "We were called upon by the occupation forces, instructing us to gather in the hospital yard. All men were compelled to strip down to their underwear and were subsequently taken for questioning," recounts the hospital's emergency director.

Bodies and injured Palestinians arrive at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, following an overnight strike. Israel pressed its Gaza offensive Saturday, with Hamas authorities reporting heavy shelling in several cities hours after world powers demanded more aid be allowed into the besieged Palestinian territory.

Two residents were shot dead near Anata, East Jerusalem in unclear circumstance, said the police.

Magen David Adom paramedics, after reaching the scene, declared the men dead.

An investigation has been launched into the killing of the two residents, aged 21 and 31.

Breaking the lull of nearly 48 hours, Gaza Strip launched rockets towards southern Israel. The attack by rockets set off sirens in the border community of Kfar Aza, which has been largely evacuated.

As per reports, four interceptor missiles were downed by the incoming projectiles. No damage or injuries were reported.

An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said that they can close the Mediterranean Sea if the United States and its allies continue committing "crimes" in Gaza, reported Iranian media reported.

Iran has supported Hamas against Israel and has accused the US of supporting Israeli crimes in Gaza. "They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways," said Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, coordinating commander of the Guards, as quoted by Tasnim.

A drone strike damaged an Israeli-affiliated merchant ship in the Indian Ocean on Saturday (Dec 23), the news agency AFP reported citing maritime agencies. According to the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations and maritime security firm Ambrey, the unclaimed attack caused a fire on board....Read Here

The IDF and Shin Bet said that they were able to capture more than 200 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror operatives in the Gaza Strip in the last week, who were taken for questioning.

The joint statement said that in the last week they arrested hundreds of suspects in the Gaza Strip and nearly 200 of them were brought to Israel for interrogation by Shin Bet and Military Intelligence Directorate’s Unit 504.

It said that some of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives were found hiding among the civilian population.

The spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Israel attacked a number of Hezbollah "terrorist targets" overnight and on Saturday morning "including operational infrastructures, terrorist infrastructures and a military compound" in the "Lebanese territory".

The US President Joe Biden said he is "heartbroken" by the news that an American named Gadi Haggai is believed to have been killed by Hamas on 7 October when it attacked Israel.

Haggai, a 73-year-old Israeli-American man, was earlier thought to have been taken hostage in the Hamas attack.

"Jill [Biden, the first lady] and I are heartbroken by the news that American Gadi Haggai is now believed to have been killed by Hamas on October 7. We continue to pray for the wellbeing and safe return of his wife, Judy," he said.

The UN security council called for increased humanitarian assistance for Gaza. However, the UN chief said that the nature of Israel's military operation was creating "massive obstacles" to aid distribution inside the blockaded Palestinian enclave.

The security council passed a resolution on Friday urging steps to allow "safe, unhindered and expanded humanitarian access" to Gaza and "conditions for a sustainable cessation" of fighting.

​​​​​​If you've joined us just now, here's a list of all the latest developments on the Isral-Hamas war.

• UN Security Council approves a resolution urging a significant increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza.
• Approval faced delays to avoid a potential US veto, drawing criticism for not demanding a cessation of hostilities.
• Israel persists with Gaza bombardment, urging civilians to evacuate Bureij refugee camp; children injured in Deir el-Balah.
• World Health Organization head describes Gaza situation as "heartbreaking," warning of an imminent famine.
• The US accuses Iran of significant involvement in attacks by Yemen-based Houthis in the Red Sea.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that the Israeli offensive is creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza, media reports said. 

"Many people are measuring the effectiveness of the humanitarian operation in Gaza based on the number of trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, the UN, and our partners that are allowed to unload aid across the border. This is a mistake. The real problem is that the way Israel is conducting this offensive is creating massive obstacles to the distribution of humanitarian aid inside Gaza," he reportedly said. 
 

To realise a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip remains the overriding goal for global efforts, a Chinese envoy said on Friday.

The UN Security Council (UNSC) on Friday passed a key resolution, emphasising the immediate acceleration of aid deliveries to the distressed civilians in Gaza, but without the original call for an "urgent suspension of hostilities" between Israel and Hamas.

India supported a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly to affirm the right of Palestinian people to self-determination. The resolution received overwhelming support from 172 member nations, with the United States and Israel being the sole dissenters.

The development follows India's earlier vote in favor of a draft resolution during a General Assembly session, where the country, after abstaining for about eight weeks, called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Notably, the United States and Israel, along with eight other nations, voted against this resolution.

Read the article in detail here.

To realize a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip remains the overriding goal for global efforts, a Chinese envoy said on Friday.

The UN Security Council on Friday passed a key resolution, emphasising the immediate acceleration of aid deliveries to the distressed civilians in Gaza, but without the original call for an "urgent suspension of hostilities" between Israel and Hamas.
 

Hamas has claimed that Israel was not making serious offer to free the remaining hostages.

Husam Badran, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, said in an interview with Al Jazeera Live that the talk from the Israelis and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "about new prisoner exchange deals is nothing but an attempt to reduce popular pressure."

"The occupation made a political decision to kill all of its prisoners, in order to relieve internal pressures, and it has become clear that the occupation, Netanyahu, and his war council are not concerned about the lives of their prisoners in the Gaza Strip," Badran said in the interview, which was translated by NBC News.

There is “no food shortage in Gaza,” Israel’s head of the coordination and liaison administration for Gaza said in a news conference.

Col. Moshe Tetro said that "food reserves in Gaza Strip are sufficient for the near term," adding that 50,000 tons of food had entered the enclave since Oct. 7.

Tetro said Israel was providing drinking water through pipes to “hundreds of thousands of residents” in southern Gaza. He did not say whether water was being provided to the north.

Israeli attack kills at least 18 Palestinians, including children, in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported early Saturday.

(WION was not able to verify this report independently)