Israel-Hamas war: Israel army says bodies of 2 hostages recovered in Gaza operation

The Israeli army announced on Tuesday (Dec 12) that it retrieved the bodies of two hostages, Eden Zakaria and Ziv Dado, who were taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack in Gaza.

Photo credits - Reuters 

Another Palestinian, identified as 36-year-old Fuad Imad Abahrah, has died from injuries inflicted during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. This brings the death toll to five. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Abahrah bled for half an hour before succumbing, as ambulances were prevented from reaching him, reported Al Jazeera.

In addition to chickenpox and upper respiratory tract infections, cases of jaundice have been reported in the besieged enclave, as mentioned by Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territories. The UN health agency is working on establishing mobile labs in Gaza to analyze samples for jaundice, Peeperkorn explained in a briefing, as reported by Al Jazeera.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday said the death toll from the Israel-Hamas war in the Palestinian territory had risen to at least 18,412.

The ministry said there were more than 50,000 wounded. 

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday at the end of an overnight visit to the Gaza Strip that civilians there were enduring "hell on earth" as Israel's war against Hamas grinds on. "Back in #Gaza, endless deepening tragedy. People are everywhere, live in the street, need everything. They plead for safety & for an end to this hell on earth," UNWRA chief Philippe Lazzarini said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, adding his agency was facing "an impossible situation".

"We condemn anyone who encourages Israel to continue its killings" says Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh during a cabinet meeting in Ramallah.

According to Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry, at least 24 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in the last few hours in Rafah. 

According to World Health Organization (WHO), Gaza has only 11 functioning hospitals remaining out of 36. 

“In just 66 days the health system has gone from 36 functional hospitals to 11 partially functional hospitals – one in the north and 10 in the south,” said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the Palestinian Territory.

The UNGA will meet on Tuesday (December 12) to discuss an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza.

The UNGA last time met on October 27 to discuss the topic, when 120 countries voted in favour of a Jordanian resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities”.

Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant has resisted international calls for a ceasefire, saying the current phase of the military opeartion against Hamas will “take time”.

“We are going to defend ourselves. I am fighting for Israel’s future,” Gallant said in a briefing with The Associated Press.

The minister also refused to commit to any firm deadlines but signalled that the current phase could stretch on for weeks.

Yemen’s Houthi group said Tuesday it was behind a missile attack on a Norway-flagged chemical tanker off the Yemeni coast on its way to Israel.

“In support of the oppressed Palestinian people, currently reeling under the destruction, killing and siege of the Gaza Strip, and to heed the calls of our free Yemeni people, the Yemeni Naval Forces carried out an outstanding military operation against MV Strinda,” Yahiya Sarie, a spokesperson for the group said.

“Over the past two days, the Yemeni Armed Forces prevented a number of vessels from passing through. Those vessels heeded our warnings."
 

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has said that the Hamas terrorist group was on the "verge of dissolution."

“Hamas is on the verge of dissolution – the IDF is taking over its last strongholds,” Gallant said late on Monday, according to AFP.

Israeli PM has said the Gaza Strip will be under the control of Israeli military once the war ends.

“The Strip will be under Israeli military control. After the war, a civilian administration will operate in Gaza and the Strip will be rehabilitated under the leadership of the Gulf states. We will not give in to international pressure,” Netanyahu told the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.

An Israeli attack killed at least two people in Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, claimed Al Jazeera.

In a separate incident, at least 20 people were killed in Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Three homes were destroyed by the strikes in the north of the city. People are feared trapped under the rubble.

Hunger is rising among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Most of the war-torn region's population has been driven from homes and residents have said it is impossible to find refuge or food.

According to the UN, half of the population in starving.

Israeli air strikes killed at least 12 people in Rafah where tens of thousands of people have been seeking shelter, a report by the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will on Tuesday demand an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, days after the United States vetoed such a move in the Security Council.

The US opposed a ceasefire as it said it would only benefit Hamas. 

The United Nations has estimated that 1.9 million of the Gaza Strip's 2.4 million people has been displaced by the war, the news agency AFP reported on Tuesday.

Of the 1.9 million, half of them are children, the UN added. 

In the early hours of Tuesday, the Israel-Gaza border lit up with flares, signalling renewed tensions in the region. 

This escalation follows the collapse of a week-long ceasefire on December 1. After the breakdown of ceasefire, Israel started a ground offensive in southern Gaza. 

The Israeli forces, as per Reuters, have advanced from the east into Khan Younis, while simultaneous airstrikes target areas to the west.

Al Jazeera, the Qatari-based TV network, has accused the Israeli army of attacking the residence of one of its journalists, Anas al-Sharif, in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, leading to the death of his father. The network highlighted that al-Sharif had been receiving threats since November. 

The TV Network urged the international community to swiftly intervene and prevent the Israeli army's alleged targeting of journalists and civilians in Gaza, describing it as a series of massacres.

"We call on the international community to take urgent measures to stop the occupation army's massacres of journalists and civilians in Gaza," it said.

Dozens of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war were arrested after brief protest at the United States Senate office building on Monday. 

Groups, including the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights and Jewish Voice for Peace organised the protest, which called for the US government to divert funds to domestic priorities such as affordable housing and childcare instead of further sending military funds to Israel. 

US Capitol police said they arrested 51 people in total as a result of the demonstration. 

A land-based cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen has struck a commercial tanker vessel, causing a fire and damage but no casualties, two U.S. defenses officials told Reuters on Monday.

The attack on the motor transport STRINDA took place about 60 nautical miles north of Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the officials said. US Navy destroyer Mason was on scene and rendering aid, the officials said.

Yemen's Houthi movement has been targeting international shipping amid regional tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. On Saturday, the Houthis said they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.

It was not immediately clear if the STRINDA had any ties to Israel or if it was heading to an Israeli port.

Source: Reuters

The United States President Joe Biden hinted at the complex relationship he has with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicating that the PM is in a "tough spot" and that the two have had their share of disagreements over the years and at present.

The US "continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they get rid of Hamas, but we have to be careful — they have to be careful. The whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight, we can’t let that happen," said Biden speaking at a White House reception for the Jewish Hanukkah festival. 

He noted he made an inscription on an old photograph of the two men, using a nickname for the Israeli leader. "I wrote on the top of it, 'Bibi I love you but I don't agree with a damn thing you had to say.'"

Israel is in a "tough spot" and that "I've had my differences with some Israeli leadership," said the US president. He did not elaborate on the differences between both of them. The Biden administration has faced criticism from within US about Israel's retaliatory assault which has killed more than 18,200 people in Gaza. 

The Israel-Hamas war continues to rage, with more than 18,200 Palestinians and 104 Israeli soldiers reported dead amid a spiralling humanitarian crisis. 

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies elected a US candidate on Monday as its new president after an acrimonious meeting that nearly saw the vote postponed amid a controversy involving a rival candidate.

Kate Forbes, an existing IFRC board member, became the second woman to ever hold the top job at the world's largest humanitarian network after two rounds of votes.

"Now is the time to lean into our fundamental principles to deliver on our mission and make communities stronger,” she said, vowing to address the impacts of climate change, geopolitical tensions and health emergencies.

UN Security Council envoys spoke of suffering and urged an end to the war in the Gaza Strip. They visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, the besieged Palestinian enclave's only entry point for aid.

China's representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, said: "This is really a tragedy. It has been too long. We have suffered too much. So for the Security Council definitely to maintain peace and security is our primary responsibility."

A majority of UN member states support an immediate and lasting ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, as dire conditions worsen for its 2.3 million residents.

Israel's army was operating "legally and according to international law," army spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Monday (Dec 11) after concerns by the United States about reports Israel used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus munitions in an October attack in southern Lebanon.

Israel said Monday that more humanitarian aid will enter Gaza as it announced two additional checkpoints for examining relief supplies before dispatching them to the Palestinian territory through Rafah gateway.

International aid organisations have struggled to get supplies to desperate Gazans under Israeli bombardment, with only the Rafah crossing in Egypt open.

No new direct crossings will be opened, Israel stressed on Monday, but the Nitzana and Kerem Shalom crossings will be used to carry out checks before sending the trucks through Rafah.

"This is being done to improve the volume of security screenings of aid entering Gaza via the Rafah Crossing and will enable us to double the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza," the army said on X.

Israel is no exception to U.S. policy that any country receiving its weapons must comply with the laws of war, the State Department said on Monday after Washington sold about 14,000 tank shells to Israel without congressional review.

The Biden administration on Friday used emergency authority under the Arms Export Control Act to allow the $106.5 million sale, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

A group of United Nations Security Council diplomats visited the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza to inspect the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave.

The White House said on Monday (Dec 11) that the United States is "concerned" over new reports that Israel used US-supplied white phosphorus in a bombing attack in Lebanon. The attack reportedly injured civilians and burned down houses. 

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The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said Monday that the situation in Gaza is "catastrophic, apocalyptic", with destruction proportionally "even greater" than that which Germany experienced in World War II. 

Borrell said that Israel's military response to Hamas's October 7 attacks has resulted in "an incredible number of civilian casualties". His remarks came after chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

He said the EU was also "alarmed by the violence in the West Bank by extremist settlers" and condemned the Israeli government's decision to approve 1,700 more housing units in Jerusalem, in what Brussels considers a violation of international law.

While noting that Hamas's bloody attacks had cemented its place on the EU's list of terrorist organisations, Borrell made clear he saw Israel's military operation as disproportionate in terms of civilian deaths and damage to civilian property and infrastructure. 

Borrell said: "The human suffering constitutes an unprecedented challenge to the international community. Civilian casualties are between 60 and 70 per cent of the overall deaths," based on Gaza health ministry figures, and "85 per cent of the population is internally displaced. The destruction of buildings in Gaza... is more or less or even greater than the destruction suffered by the German cities during the Second World War," taken proportionally. 

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday that Israel had no intention of staying permanently in the Gaza Strip and that it was open to discussing alternatives about who would control the territory, as long as it was not a group hostile to Israel.

"Israel will take any measures in order to destroy Hamas, but we have no intention to stay permanently in the Gaza Strip. We only take care of our security and the security of our citizens alongside the border with Gaza," Gallant told reporters.

One Israeli doctor claimed on Monday (Dec 11) that the hostages were drugged and abused in Gaza. The specialist said that the hostages, kidnapped during Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel were, drugged to keep them docile in captivity and subjected to psychological and sexual abuse. 

As quoted by AFP, Renana Eitan, director of the psychiatric division of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Centre-Ichilov, said that she has "never seen anything like that" in 20 years of treating trauma victims. 

She said, "The physical, the sexual, the mental, the psychological abuse of these hostages that came back is just terrible. We have to rewrite the textbook."

The centre has received 14 ex-hostages released by Hamas, some of whom reported being drugged, including with what doctors believe were benzodiazapines, a class of depressants with a sedative effect that includes drugs like Valium.

"They wanted to control the kids, and sometimes it's difficult to control young children, adolescents. And they know that if they drug them they will be quiet," she added.

"One of the girls was given ketamine for a few weeks," she continued, referring to a powerful dissociative anaesthetic known for giving the recipient a sense of detachment from their environment. 

"It's unbelievable to do this to a child."