The bombing of a school belonging to UNRWA and used by Hamas as a terror base in northern Gaza Strip
The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday night passed by a large majority a resolution calling for an "immediate humanitarian cease-fire" in the Gaza Strip. Some 153 countries voted in favor of the cease-fire, 10 countries voted against and 23 abstained or were absent.
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The list of countries that voted against includes the United States, Israel, Czech Republic, Micronesia, Paraguay, Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Nauru, Guatemala and Austria. Among the countries that abstained are Germany, Great Britain, Ukraine, Georgia, Argentina, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Netherlands, Panama, South Sudan, Togo, Tonga, Slovakia, Uruguay and Lithuania.
In October the General Assembly called for "an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities" in a resolution adopted with 121 votes in favor, 14 against - including the U.S. - and 44 abstentions.
The Israel Defense Forces has begun pumping seawater into Hamas' tunnel complex in Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing unnamed U.S. officials. The process will likely take weeks, according to the report.
Some Biden administration officials have said the process could help destroy the tunnels, where Israel believes the militant group is hiding hostages, fighters and munitions, the Journal reported. Other officials have expressed concerns the seawater would endanger Gaza's fresh water supply, the newspaper reported.
An IDF fighter jet and tanks struck a Hezbollah launch post with weapons and terrorist infrastructure after a number of launches were identified toward IDF posts along the northern border, according to the IDF spokesperson's unit. Throughout the day on Tuesday, Hezbollah claimed responsibility Tuesday afternoon for eight shooting attacks on Israeli posts in the border area.
In addition, three launches of rockets from Syria toward Israeli territory were identified. Two of the rockets fell in open areas inside Syrian territory, and one launch fell in an open area in Israel. In response, the IDF fired toward the sources of the launches.
A convoy of 80 aid trucks for Gaza was sent from Egypt to the Kerem Shalom crossing for security checks on Tuesday after a new inspection system was opened in an effort to accelerate deliveries of relief, a Red Crescent official said. The use of Kerem Shalom, which is on the border between Israel, Gaza and Egypt about 3 km (1.86 miles) from Rafah, should allow for the processing of more trucks, including some that would come from Jordan for the first time since the start of the war in Gaza, aid officials say.
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Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden
(Photos: Yonatan Zindel/Flash90, Reuters)
U.S. President Joe Biden said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should "replace his government." The Israeli government is "beginning to lose support in the face of indiscriminate bombings," Biden said during a fund-raising event in Washington for his re-election campaign. Biden's statement comes ahead of the expected visit to Israel by U.S. national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, who is supposed to arrive on Thursday and meet with Netanyahu and other officials.
Meanwhile, Biden has invited to a meeting at the White House the families of hostages with American citizenship who are held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a senior U.S. administration official told Reuters. It is currently unclear how many families will attend the meeting, and some may take part virtually. This will be the first time that the president himself will meet with them.
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IDF handover ceremony of the bodies recovered from Gaza
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The IDF has recovered from Gaza the bodies of Hamas hostage Eden Zacharia, 28, from Rishon Lezion, who was abducted from the Nova music festival in Re'im, and Sergeant Major Ziv Dado, 36, from Rehovot, who was killed during the Hamas surprise attack on October 7, the IDF Spokesperson's Office released for publication. As part of the operation during which the bodies were located,aster Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot and Master Sgt. (res.) Eyal Meir Berkowitz were killed, and other soldiers were injured.
A home in Kibbutz Bar'am in northern Israel took a direct hit from an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon, the Upper Galilee Regional Council reported Tuesday afternoon. The home sustained heavy damage but there were no casualties. Sirens sounded in the area during the attack.
Earlier, the IDF said that air defenses fired "a number of interceptors" at a "suspicious aerial target" that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, without saying whether the threat was shot down. The report came following sirens sounding in Western Galilee.
Shortly thereafter, incoming rocket attack alarms were also activated in the border communities of Zar'it and Shtula. IDF responds with artillery fire. Sirens also sounded as far as the city of Acre, which has been rarely targeted since the beginning of the war.
Hamas called on the Palestinian Authority to sever security coordination with Israel and shift to “comprehensive resistance.”
The statement comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that Israel should prepare for the possibility of war with the PA.
“Netanyahu's declarations about the readiness of the occupation army to attack the Palestinian Authority confirm his intention to harm our people in Gaza and the West Bank," Hamas said.
Meanwhile in southern Israel near the Gaza border, sirens warned of an incoming rocket attack in the city of Ashkelon and the towns of Mefalsim, Nir Am, Netiv HaAsara, Karmia, Yad Mordechai, Zikim and Mavki’im.
The Ashkelon Municipality reported that four rockets were intercepted by air defenses, and there was no property damage or casualties.
Four Palestinians were killed on Tuesday in a drone strike during an Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp, the Palestinian health ministry and the Palestinian official news agency WAFA said.
One other person was injured in the attack on Al-Sibat neighborhood in the city of Jenin, WAFA reported. Jenin hospital director told the agency the Palestinians were directly targeted. Israeli forces are encircling three hospitals in the area, WAFA added.
Aftermath of IDF airstrike in Jenin
Meanwhile, Duvdevan commando forces a building used by Hamas terrorists and found about 250 rockets, mortars and anti-tank missiles ready for use, among other weapons and military equipment.
Later, Givati Brigade soldiers destroyed a weapons manufacturing facility and found hundreds of grenades, rockets and LAW anti-tank missiles. Additionally, the IDF stated that Naval forces identified and attacked a terrorist cell that fired toward forces in the Gaza Strip.
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they carried out a military operation against the Norwegian commercial tanker STRINDA in its latest operation to protest against Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
The group targeted the tanker with a rocket after the crew refused to respond to all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sare'e said in a televised statement.
He vowed that the Houthis would continue blocking ships heading to Israeli ports until Israel allows the entry of food and medical aid into the Gaza Strip - more than 1,000 miles from the Houthi seat of power in Sana'a.
The attack on the tanker STRINDA took place about 60 nautical miles (111km) north of the Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at about 2100 GMT, a U.S. official told Reuters. A second U.S. official said the STRINDA was able to move under its own power in the hours after the attack.
U. S. President Joe Biden said during a White House reception for Hanukkah that he has disagreements with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still today although the U.S. support for Israel's offensive on Gaza will continue until Hamas is uprooted.
"Folks, were there no Israel, there wouldn't be a Jew in the world that was safe," Biden told the 800 guests at the event, which included Holocaust survivors, members of Congress and Jewish leaders and was held amid the rise of antisemitism in the U.S.
First published: 07:45, 12.12.23