IDF denies report claiming it executed 15 people at a U.N. school in Gaza
The Israel Defense Forces denied an Al Jazeera report that said its troops had executed 15 people at a school run by the U.N. agency supporting Palestinians, saying the claims made were “deceitful” and “biased.”
In the report, piles of bullet casings can be seen in the destroyed school with residents saying they found dead bodies.
The IDF said in a statement to NBC News its soldiers operated within the area of the school after people were evacuated, finding weaponry and ammunition.
It “even encountered armed terrorists who were using civilian infrastructure and the population as human shields,” the IDF said.
Homes shattered in southern Gaza as strikes continue
Palestinians walk through the rubble of what remains of their homes, following continued Israeli bombardments of the southern region today.
IDF suspends soldiers seen singing Hanukkah songs at a mosque in the occupied West Bank
The Israel Defense Forces has suspended soldiers seen singing Hanukkah songs at a mosque in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
In videos shared online, soldiers can be seen singing in Hebrew using a mosque’s loudspeaker system, usually used for the Muslim call to prayer. In other footage, singing in Hebrew can be heard from outside a mosque.
“The behavior of the soldiers in the videos is serious and stands in complete opposition to the values of the IDF, the soldiers will be disciplined accordingly,” the IDF said in a statement to NBC News.
However, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said there was “no room for disciplinary action” against the fighters who should instead be given “full support” during wartime.
The Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry said it condemned Gvir’s statements and “the storming and desecration of a mosque,” adding the singing violated the sanctity of the mosque.
British foreign secretary warns against ‘extremist settlers’ targeting Palestinians
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron warned today that Israel needed to do more to stop Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian civilians.
“Extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians,” he wrote in a post on X.
Cameron added that those involved in such violence would be barred from immigrating to the United Kingdom.
At least two were killed as Israeli forces storm hospital in northern Gaza, Health Ministry says
At least two were killed and 10 were left wounded after Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, Health Ministry spokesperson Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra said in a statement today.
He said supply of drinking water, food and electricity are all being blocked by Israeli forces, depriving 12 children in need of milk.
“We warn that they will lose their lives as a result of cutting off electricity and stopping their life support equipment,” al-Qidra said, adding that 2,500 displaced people have been evacuated by Israeli forces from the hospital toward shelters.
NBC News has not independently verified the claims.
Video shows child’s body carried through Gaza floodwater
Heavy rain and flooding is adding to the misery in Gaza as a battered and displaced population struggles to cope with the conditions.
Warning: This video includes images that some viewers may find upsetting or disturbing.
Rain and flooding worsening the conditions in besieged Gaza
The already destroyed streets of Gaza are now flooded with rainwater, as more than 2 million people in the enclave face dropping temperatures, acute food and water shortage.
In a video geolocated by NBC News, a paramedic is seeing carrying a woman out of a broken window of an ambulance while moving through water up to his waist.
A rainwater reservoir, Sheikh Al-Radwan pool, in northern Gaza city is at “ a very critical level and there was no fuel to pump it,” the Gaza municipality said today, adding that it is filled with sewage and flooding is creating a dangerous situation.
U.N. and aid agencies have warned of waterborne diseases as blocked sewers and pumps fail to clear water without electricity.
Children injured after Khan Younis strike
Palestinian civilians, injured by Israeli airstrikes, arrive at Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza today.
Hostage families demand explanation after report that Israel blocked negotiations visit
Families of hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attacks are demanding Israeli officials “break the deadlock in negotiations” after a report that Mossad Chief David Barnea’s visit to Qatar to jump-start negotiations was blocked by Cabinet ministers.
“The families were shocked by the report on the rejection of the Director of Mossad’s request to formulate an agreement for the release of the hostages,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said in a statement, adding the families “demand an immediate explanation.”
“The feeling is that every evening a Russian roulette of murdering hostages in Hamas captivity takes place,” it added.
Israeli officials have previously traveled to Doha in Qatar to negotiate the releases of hostages.
The prime minister’s office told NBC News, “Israeli officials did not comment on those reports.” NBC News has not confirmed the report.
U.S. naval ship shot down Houthi drone while responding to mayday call
The USS Mason shot down a drone launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen yesterday while responding to a mayday call from a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker under attack from the rebels, U.S. Central Command said today in a post on X.
“These forces first attempted to board the tanker via skiffs,” it said, adding a two missiles were fired later at the vessel and both missed. Subsequently, the Mason shot down a drone in self-defense.
“There were no injuries to personnel and no damage to any vessels,” it said.
Attacks on commercial ships in the region have increased, which the Houthi rebels say is in support of the people of Gaza. The Israeli military campaign in the besieged Palestinian enclave has displaced the majority of its 2.2 million people.
UNRWA: 2023 the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2005
This year has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the United Nations began recording casualties in 2005, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said yesterday in a report.
At least 271 Palestinians, including 69 children, have been killed by Israeli forces, it added.
Israeli forces have been raiding camps and carrying out arrests in the occupied West Bank in the past few weeks, with at least seven killed, including one child, from missiles fired by Israeli drones Tuesday, UNRWA said.
In Gaza, at least 135 of UNRWA staff members have been killed since the war began Oct. 7, the agency said today in a post on X, adding that 70% of its team is displaced across Gaza.
Putin says there is no comparison between Gaza and Ukraine conflicts
Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at an end-of-year news conference in which ordinary citizens had the chance to pose questions, said there was no comparison to be drawn between the conflicts taking place in Gaza and Ukraine.
‘God help us’: Displaced Gazans who fled bombardment now face health crisis in a makeshift tent city
TEL AVIV — Women, children and the elderly are among the thousands of displaced people living in a huge, makeshift tent city sprawled across the desert in southern Gaza.
Some live in unfinished concrete structures, others are sheltering under plastic sheets and tents. Laundry is done in buckets. Cooking is done outside on makeshift, wood-fired metal stoves. Many walked miles to get to the camp on the outskirts of the city of Rafah, the blisters on their feet still visible from perilous journeys amid regular Israeli bombardment, the trauma etched on their faces.
Rohifa Ramza, 15, Baker told an NBC News crew earlier this week that she wondered whether it would be better “for me to die here instead of living this black life.”
“This is our life. We are living in a tent at the Egyptian border,” she said. “May God help us. May God help us.”
Read the full story here.
IDF spokesperson says military is ‘creative’ in damaging Hamas tunnels
The Israeli military will use a “creative variety of ways” to destroy Hamas tunnels, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said during a briefing yesterday after being asked directly whether the military was flooding tunnels.
“Some of these ways are tactical activity, using some kind of tool to get the terrorists out of the tunnels and some permanent destruction so that the tunnel cannot function,” he said. “The more ways the better, it is wrong to give the enemy the information where and in what place.”
A U.S. official told NBC News on Tuesday that the Israeli military began using seawater to flood underground tunnels, where it is believed Hamas leadership is hiding. The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
NBC News previously reported that Israel was considering this tactic, though critics argued it may exacerbate the current humanitarian crisis after the Palestinian Water Authority warned it could damage Gaza’s underground aquifer.
Sullivan meets the Saudi crown prince
National security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed the ongoing efforts for “sustainable peace” between Israelis and Palestinians in a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, yesterday.
“They also discussed the humanitarian response in Gaza, including efforts to increase the flow of critical aid,” the White House said in a readout of their meeting.
A child is mourned in Rafah
A woman cries as she cradles the body of a child killed in a recent Israeli bombardment, outside Najar Hospital in Rafah, in southern Gaza today.
Netanyahu pledges to press on with war until ‘victory’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed the war in Gaza would continue until Israel achieved a definitive victory.
“We are going on to the end, until victory, nothing less,” he said. “Nothing will stop us,” he told a brigade fighting in Gaza, according to a readout from his office. “I also say this in light of the great pain, but also in the face of the international pressures.”
President Joe Biden said earlier that Netanyahu “has to change,” and that the support for Israel’s military campaign was waning amid its heavy bombardment of Gaza. But his talk has not translated into actions to slow Israel’s war.
On Tuesday, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to back a nonbinding cease-fire resolution. The U.S. joined Israel and eight other countries in voting against it.
Highlights from NBC News’ reporting relating to the war
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