- December 19, 2023
- Posted by: AliensFaith
- Category: OBJECTIVE PRESS
Ismail Haniyeh set to lead ‘high-level’ delegation from militant group as Israel says it is willing to agree to another truce in exchange for more hostages
Welcome back to our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. This is Adam Fulton and here are the latest developments as it nears 7am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv.
The leader of Hamas is due in Egypt on Wednesday for talks on a fresh ceasefire in Gaza after Israel said it was willing to agree to another pause in exchange for more hostages.
Twelve Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, health officials in the territory said. Residents on Wednesday reported intensifying gun battles between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces in the centre and eastern districts of the city. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday that 19,667 Palestinians had been killed and 52,586 wounded in the war.
The Israeli military attacked a military structure of the Hezbollah militant group after intercepting six rockets launched from Lebanon on Tuesday, the military said. It also attacked a squad that carried out a shooting at a Israeli military post in the Malkia border area which left two reserve soldiers “moderately injured”, Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
Talks between Qatar’s prime minister and the heads of the CIA and Mossad spy agency on Monday were “positive”, a Qatari official said. But no imminent deal for a truce involving hostages releases was expected, he said.
The United States has launched a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea as attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni militants over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza forced major shipping companies to reroute, stoking fears of sustained disruptions to global trade. The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said Britain, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain were among nations involved in the Red Sea security operation, which would conduct joint patrols in the southern Red Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Aden.
Israeli forces raided one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza, putting it out of action, according to the hospital’s director. The nighttime raid at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City led to the arrest of doctors, medical staff and patients, according to reports, and damaged the hospital. Israeli forces took control of the facility after surrounding it for 12 days, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières. The hospital still had dozens of patients inside, including 14 children, it said
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the Israeli ground operation would “expand to additional areas” of the Gaza Strip. It is thought he was referring to the central Gaza Strip or the southern city of Rafah.
