Israel-Hamas war top developments: Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says 21,672 killed in war

"The health ministry warns of a prospect of famine and dehydration of more than 1,9 million displaced people who lack proper accommodation, food, water, medicine and safety," says Hamas' health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra in a presser in Gaza's Rafah.

Israeli troops shot a Palestinian, who they claim tried to drive his vehicle at them, near the West Bank city of Hebron on Saturday (30 December)
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the man, who they identified as Muhammed Masalma, was killed in the incident.
Israeli army did not mention whether the man died only confirming they fired at him after he attempted to drive his vehicle at them in what they described as a "ramming attack."

The Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers on Saturday condemned the US approval of a $147.5 million sale of high-explosive artillery munitions and related equipment to Israel.

The United States announced the sale of the 155mm artillery munitions on Friday under an emergency provision that waives the normal requirement for a congressional review.

Hamas said the sale was "clear evidence of the American administration's full sponsorship of this criminal war".

President Joe Biden's administration "conspicuously aligns itself with and actively supports all atrocities perpetrated" by Israel, the group said in a statement.
 

Footage released on Friday (December 29) by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) showed its paramedics rushing wounded children to a hospital in Khan Younis and treating them after Israeli strikes.
The video also showed a PRCS paramedic driving an ambulance and colleting bodies from what it said was Khan Younis.
 

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday at least 21,672 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since the war with Israel erupted on October 7.

A ministry statement said 165 Gazans were killed over the past 24 hours, while a total of 56,165 others have been wounded in the fighting.

Hamas released a video on Saturday (December 30) it says shows its militants firing mortar shells at Israeli forces in Gaza. Reuters was not able to independently verify the location or the date when the video was filmed.

The warfare in central and southern Gaza propelled a new exodus of people already driven from other areas in what Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called an essential stage of Israel's mission to destroy its foe Hamas.

Clouds of smoke rise in Khan Yunis following Israeli air strikes. Israel continued to pound Gaza nearly 12 weeks into the war, triggered by Hamas's bloody October 7 attacks on Israel, which has devastated much of the besieged Palestinian territory and forced many hundreds of thousands, media reports said. 

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Residents and rescue team pulled a toddler alive from debris on Thursday (December 28), by digging rubble with bare hands after deadly airstrike in Rafah, media reports said. 

Reports quoting UNICEF said that the agency delivered at least 600,000 doses of vaccines to Gaza on Friday (Dec 29) to protect children in the besieged enclave from diseases.

McDonald's Malaysia has sued a movement promoting boycotts against Israel for "false and defamatory statements" that it says hurt its business, seeking damages amounting to 6 million ringgit ($1.31 million), reported Reuters. 
 

After UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) said that the Israelis opened fire on an aid convoy which was on an authorised route, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths reportedly said that an attack on humanitarian workers are "unlawful.”

After nearly three months of deadly strikes, incessant displacements and sputtering humanitarian aid, "exhausted" Gazans say they are desperate for an end to the fighting as Israel's war against Hamas looks set to grind on into the new year.

Health authorities in the Gaza Strip said that 187 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in the war-torn region in the last 24 hours. The death toll has climbed to 21,507 since the conflict started. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Friday that it destroyed one of the hiding spots of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar- an apartment in Gaza City. 

According to a report by The Jerusalem Post, an IDF spokesperson said that the apartment  is part of a long and branching network of tunnels that were constructed by Hamas. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of a growing threat of infectious diseases in the Gaza Strip, as the conflict displaces more and more Gazans, forcing them ever further south towards the already-overcrowded city of Rafah.

People in the war-torn Gaza Strip have said that they are desperate for the ongoing conflict to end.

"Enough with this war! We are totally exhausted. We are constantly displaced from one place to another in cold weather," 49-year-old Um Louay Abu Khater from a camp in the southern border city told the news agency AFP. 

The Israeli army said on Friday that it shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The army said soldiers "neutralised" a driver who rammed his car into people near a military post south of Hebron.

The Joe Biden-led United States administration announced on Friday that it approved  $147.5 million sale of high-explosive artillery munitions and related equipment to Israel under an emergency provision that waives the usual congressional review.

"Israel will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense," a statement from the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said. 

South Africa appealed to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking an order that declares Israel in violation of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention. This comes as the death toll in Gaza continues to increase.