Thank you for following our LIVE coverage of day 78 of the Israel-Hamas war. We will be back tomorrow with more news updates.
Osama Hamdane, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon, said that "the UN Security Council resolution on aid to Gaza is a weak and insufficient measure," as reported by Al-Jazeera.
He reiterated that "there will be no negotiations on the exchange of prisoners until the assault on Gaza has ceased."
US President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday to discuss the Israel-Hamas war, according to the White House via Reuters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has denied Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that the Biden administration dissuaded the Israeli government from carrying out a major pre-emptive strike on southern Lebanon on Oct. 11, reports Al Jazeera.
"The Wall Street Journal report is incorrect, and our decision since the beginning of the war has been to achieve victory in the south and deter any attack in the north," the Israeli Prime Minister's office said.
The Israeli army has announced that five of its soldiers have been killed since Friday while fighting in the Gaza Strip, according to AFP.
Four soldiers were killed on Friday in the south of the Gaza Strip and a fifth on Saturday in the north of the Palestinian territory, the army said in a statement.
These deaths bring to 144 the number of Israeli soldiers killed since the start of the Israeli army's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27, AFP added.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Saturday that it had received a report of an incident in the vicinity of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, 45 nautical miles southwest of Saleef, Yemen, according to Reuters.
Authorities are investigating and vessels are being advised to transit with caution, the statement said.
US President Joe Biden convinced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to abandon plans for a pre-emptive strike against Hezbollah, four days after the Oct. 7 attack, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Saturday.
Israel had intelligence that the party was "preparing to cross the border as part of a multi-pronged attack," the newspaper quoted officials. The US considered Israel's intelligence to be unreliable.
According to the report, Biden warned Netanyahu — while warplanes were in the air awaiting orders — that such an action could trigger a wider war in the region.
Iran rejected US accusations of involvement in recent attacks by Yemeni Houthi rebels against commercial vessels in the Red Sea, according to AFP.
"The Resistance has its own forces and acts according to its own decisions and capabilities," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told local news agency Mehr.
According to Mehr, the diplomat was reacting to "Western claims" that Tehran was "informing" the Yemeni Houthis of "the location of US ships."
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammad ben Abdelrahman Al-Thani and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi discussed the war in Gaza at a meeting in Doha, reports Al Jazeera.
According to the Qatari Foreign Ministry, the two men called for a "binding resolution" from the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire.
"We warn of the repercussions of the deprivation of food, water and medicine for the Palestinians and the violation of their rights," reads a statement.
A precarious calm has prevailed in southern Lebanon since 5 p.m., reports our correspondent in the region Mountasser Abdallah, noting that no Israeli attacks have been reported so far.
The Israeli army and the Shin Bet said in a joint statement on Friday that they had killed Hassan Atrash, who was "responsible for the trade, manufacture and smuggling of Hamas weapons," Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.
According to the troop and the Shin Bet, the man was killed in an air strike while riding in a vehicle. He was "involved in smuggling weapons from many countries into the Gaza Strip, and also played a role in smuggling weapons into the West Bank."
Israeli military operations have claimed 20,258 lives in Gaza since Oct. 7, Gaza's health ministry announced, according to AFP.
This figure includes 201 people killed in the last 24 hours, the ministry said, which also reported more than 53,000 wounded.
Dozens of Palestinians were killed, some of them "executed" in the street, this week during an Israeli army ground operation in the Jabalia area of the northern Gaza Strip, Gaza's health ministry announced according to AFP.
"The occupation committed several atrocious massacres resulting in the deaths of dozens of martyrs in the Jabalia camp, in the Tal Al-Zaatar area and in the city of Jabalia. They also executed dozens of citizens in the streets," said Gaza's health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidreh.
Read more here.
Hezbollah announced that it attacked the Israeli Jal el-Alam site at 4:40 p.m., inflicting "direct injuries."
Palestinians wait to collect food at a donation point in a refugee camp in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Dec. 23, 2023, amid Israel-Hamas war. (Credit: Mahmud Hams/AFP)
Israel targeted the outskirts of both Mais al-Jabal (Nabatieh district) and Naqoura (Sour district) with three shells each, and the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district) with two shells, security sources told our correspondent in the south.
The head of the National Assembly in France rejected a request to lift the parliamentary immunity of a right-wing deputy, the Franco-Israeli businessman Meyer Habib, made by 39 left-wing deputies who accused him of "apologizing for Israeli war crimes in Gaza."
In a response made public by deputies from the radical left-wing movement La France Insoumise (LFI), Yaël Braun-Pivet wrote that "the statements made by a parliamentarian in the Assembly chamber are covered, in accordance with Article 26 of the Constitution, by the principle of irresponsibility, which is absolute and for which no procedure exists to 'lift'."
The Israeli army has intercepted a "hostile aircraft infiltration" in Israel's north, Haaretz reports.
At around 2:40 p.m., the Israeli news outlet reported sirens sounding to warn of an aerial intrusion in northern Israel.
BREAKING: Hezbollah says it targeted a deployment of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Birkat Risha site at 1 p.m. using "appropriate weapons."
Israel is shelling the outskirts of Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil district), residents of the town tell our correspondent in the south.
The presidents of Egypt and Iran have discussed recent developments in Gaza and the prospect of restoring diplomatic ties between their countries in what Iranian state television says is the pair's first phone conversation, Reuters reports. The leaders met last month for the first time on the sidelines of the Joint Arab Islamic Extraordinary Summit in Riyadh. Click here for more.
Three artillery shells have struck the outskirts of the town of Jibbayn (Sour district), our correspondent reports, citing residents of the area.
Several Hezbollah officials have spoken today on the regional security situation in relation to Israel. We summarize their remarks below:
- Hezbollah parliamentary bloc head MP Mohamad Raad said, "It has become evident to the entire world that in Israel there isn't a fighting army, but rather a killing army." Speaking from the southern town of Zawtar al-Charkieh (Nabatieh district) during a religious ceremony for Hezbollah at the town, Raad noted that this war has shown many "Westerners the true face of the Israelis and the fake one that their governments tried to present to them, that of Israel being a democracy in the Middle East; they can now see that Israel is a savage."
- Hezbollah's central council member Nabil Qaouk spoke from Mahrounah (Sour district) during a memorial ceremony for one of Hezbollah's slain fighters. Qaouk said that "any Israeli targeting of civilians will face a rapid and fiercer resistance," and he insisted that Hezbollah "will continue defending civilians in Lebanon." He noted that there is a "decision by the resistance factions in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to remain in continuous confrontation against the Israeli enemy as long as aggression persists."
- Lastly, Hashem Safieddine, chairman of Hezbollah’s executive council — and Nasrallah's presumed heir — said “Hezbollah is not a resistance movement waiting for the US or Israeli determination of its destiny.” His comments came during a ceremony honoring slain killed Hezbollah fighters in Burj al-Chemali (Sour district). He highlighted the “importance of the attacks Hezbollah is carrying out” in northern Israel and stated that “resistance efforts are attracting Western delegations to demand their cessation, indicating discomfort among the US, Israel and the West with the influential resistance in south Lebanon.”
Image: Palestinians wait to collect food at a donation point in a refugee camp in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 23, 2023. (Credit: Mahmud Hams/AFP)
Israeli artillery shelling has hit the outskirts of Tayr Harfa (Sour district), the mayor of the town tells our correspondent in the south. The mayor says five shells fell on the outskirts of the town half an hour ago, but so far no damages have been reported.
Sirens sounded early this afternoon in the Israeli town of Kfar Azza, near the border with the Gaza Strip, for the first time since Thursday, Haaretz reports, without providing further details.
Are the Hamas and Israeli leaderships both divided over the call for a truce, our journalist Ghadir Hamadi asks. Read what she uncovered here.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander has said the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the United States and its allies continue to commit "crimes" in Gaza, Reuters reports, citing Iranian media. More details here.
Hezbollah has announced the death of another of its members, Ali Hussein Harb from the town of Yaroun in south Lebanon. This brings the total number of Hezbollah members killed since Oct. 8 to 123.
In his Christmas message from Bkirki, Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai criticized the clashes in southern Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel.
"We pray for our families in south Lebanon who are suffering from a war that has been imposed on them and that no Lebanese wants," Rai said.
"We stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza, subjected to a war of collective extermination. We call on the United Nations to put an end to this war," he added.
Hezbollah has announced the death of its member, Hassan Abdul Nabi Tlaiss, from the town of Brital in the Bekaa Valley. This raises the total number of Hezbollah members killed since Oct. 7 to 122.
The attack on a ship in the Arabian Sea this morning remains unclaimed, AFP reports, citing the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations and maritime security firm Ambrey. AFP adds that Ambrey says the "Liberia-flagged chemical/products tanker ... was Israel-affiliated."
Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV's correspondent Khodr Markiz sustained an eye injury when a car windshield shattered due to an airstrike in the Khardali area of south Lebanon early this morning, Al-Manar TV journalist Ali Shoeib tells our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah.
"The aircraft bombardment was close, and the crew narrowly escaped certain death," Shoeib said.
Some reports circulating claim MTV Lebanon's crew was also close to the strike; however, L'Orient Today has not yet been able to independently verify this information.
According to the British maritime security firm Ambrey, cited by Reuters, the drone attack on a vessel in the Arabian Sea caused a fire, which has been extinguished. The firm adds that there were no casualties among the vessel's crew and that the Indian navy is responding to the incident.
The director of UNRWA affairs - Gaza, Thomas White, says more than 150,000 people are impacted due to Israel’s latest evacuation orders for people in central Gaza to move to Deir al-Balah, “to expand ongoing military operations."
He wrote on X that the area is “already overwhelmed with displaced including UNRWA shelters.”
Here's a wrap-up of what happened in south Lebanon over the past hour:
Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike on the Khardali river, south of the Litani, near a UNIFIL center, prompting Lebanese army personnel to redirect cars at the Khardali checkpoint, our correspondent in the south reported, citing local residents.
Intense artillery shelling took place on the outskirts of Deir Mimas (Marjayoun district), locals told our correspondent.
South Lebanon update
The night was relatively calm in south Lebanon, though a strike on a house in the locality of Bint Jbeil (Bint Jbeil district) was reported by a resident of Yaroun (Marjayoun district) to our correspondent in the region, Muntasser Abdallah. The source added that no casualties were reported.
At 7:15 a.m., Israeli army aircraft bombed a house in Kfar Kila (Marjayoun), completely destroying it, according to a resident of that locality.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and Hamas issued opposing statements last night in response to the UN Security Council's adoption of a resolution intended to help bring more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Click here for more.
The Palestinian Red Crescent claims to have received 70 trucks carrying humanitarian aid from the Egyptian Red Crescent yesterday, according to CNN information relayed by Haaretz this morning.
Here's what you need to know this morning:
Israeli strikes and ground fighting continue in the Gaza Strip.
After five days of laborious negotiations to avoid a veto by the United States, the UN Security Council finally adopted a text on Friday calling for the "immediate" and "large-scale" delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza. The resolution refrains from calling for a “cease-fire.”
Israel's offensive in Gaza has forced 1.9 million people to flee their homes — that's 85 percent of the population — according to the UN.
Meanwhile, Egyptian and Qatari mediators continue to try to find a path to a new truce between the warring parties. More details here.
Good morning,
Thanks for joining us, and welcome to our live coverage on day 78 of the Israel-Hamas war.
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