SPECIAL REPORTS

2025 Jan wk2P2 -- Jan wk2 -- Jan wk1 P2 -- Wk1
2024 Dec wk5 -- Dec wk4 P2 -- Dec wk4 -- Dec Wk3 P3 -- Dec Wk3 P2 -- Dec Wk 3 -- Dec Wk 2 P3 -- WK2 P 2 -- wk2 -- wk1 P 3 -- wk1 P 2 -- wk1 -- Nov wk5 P3 -- wk5 P2 -- wk5 -- wk4 P3 -- wk4 P2 -- Nwk4
 Click here for an overview by week in 2024

Special reports: Updates January and earlier, 2025-'24: Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war & Sense of impunity 'absolute' & No food, no sleep, no hope in Gaza and related report & Genocide in Gaza: Silence is complicity Previous reports: Al-Shifa was a dream and a nightmare & Why is hypothermia killing Gaza’s children? & Gaza's 2024: A year of war and misery 2 Stories & When burning hospitals are no longer news 2 Stories & Genocide in Gaza: Silence is complicity and earler stories  Overview special reports

November 28 - 24 and earler stories, 2024 Is Netanyahu immune from ICC arrest warrant-NO!   TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS AND CHILDREN

Shireen Abu Akleh In commemoration of Shireen Abu Akleh, the 'voice of Al Jazeera' killed while revealing the true face of israel Updated: December 6, 2024: Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting the Israel-Gaza war   Click here for earlier stories/news

January 12 - 8, 2025 Food for thought: <All hell will break out> president-elect trump. As if the Palestinians have been living in paradise in the past 15 months and babies/children are going to sleep looking at a star-clad heaven. Gino d'Artali And more actual news

January 5, 2025 - December 26, 2024 "I don't know if I will write to you again. I keep what I have written and am writing. Maybe it will come to light one day. I refuse a cheap death. I curse the murderer," Mohammad Hijazi - Media worker, killed Read more and decide for yourself December 30 - 26, 2024 'Betrayed' and 'abandoned' Sixth baby dies from severe cold

December 10 - 7, 2024 Food for thought: 'The next one' as seen by an Iranian activist cartoonnist and yes, with the fall of assad it most likely is a matter of time before the next ones, netanyahu, khamenei, erdogan and others, will follow. Gino d'Artali Read more and decide for yourself

 When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.

Al Jazeera - Jan 12 2025 - By Mersiha Gadzo and Urooba Jamal
<<LIVE: Israel hammers Gaza, sends top officials to truce talks in Qatar
Israeli strike targets Jabalia: Children killed in attack on school-turned-shelter
Israeli forces continue to pound Gaza, after killing dozens on Saturday, including a paramedic and at least eight people in a school-turned-shelter in northern Jabalia. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending senior negotiators, including the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet security agencies, to Qatar for a ceasefire and captive exchange talks.>>
Read more/video: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/1/12/live-israeli-forces-kill-dozens-in-gaza-as-negotiations-continue-in-doha

Al Jazeera - Jan 11 2025
<<The Listening Post
Israel's image crisis and the limits of propaganda>>
Read more/listen here: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/the-listening-post/2025/1/11/israels-image-crisis-and-the-limits-of-propaganda

Al Jazeera - Jan 10 2025
<<Israeli settlers set fires, vandalise buildings in occupied West Bank
Israeli settlers have set fire to farmland and buildings, and wrote racist slogans in Abu Falah village, northeast of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/1/10/israeli-settlers-set-fires-vandalise-buildings-in-occupied-west-bank

Al Jazeera - Jan 10 2025
<<Israeli soldiers hide in white van to arrest Palestinian man
Security camera video captured the moment Israeli special forces hiding in a commercial vehicle arrested a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank. Israel's previous use of civilian disguise has been condemned as a violation of international law.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2025/1/10/israeli-soldiers-hide-in-white-van-to-arrest-palestinian-man

Al Jazeera - Jan 10 2025
<<Israeli settlers commit arson and vandalism in spate of West Bank attacks
Settlers burn Palestinian farm shed and spray racist slogans in Hebrew on the outskirts of Khirbet Abu Falah. Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have set fire to farmland and sprayed racist slogans in a village near Ramallah, according to news reports, as arson attacks and deadly Israeli military raids have escalated in recent days. The attacks came as Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet (Shabak), urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday to greenlight a major military offensive in the occupied territory. Palestinian news agency Wafa, quoting witnesses, reported on Friday that a group of settlers attacked the farm on the outskirts of Khirbet Abu Falah where they burned a shed and left racist graffiti on the walls in Hebrew. Footage published online by the Quds News Network showed the alleged arson attack. Palestinian civil defence crews were deployed to extinguish the blaze. No injuries were reported in the attack on Thursday night. Wafa reported that Khirbet Abu Falah, as well as the town of Turmus Aya and the village of al-Mughayyir, all northeast of Ramallah, have been subject to repeated raids by Israeli settlers, who allegedly carried them out under the protection of Israeli soldiers. Earlier, Israeli settlers also torched a Palestinian-owned vehicle in the village of Wadi Rahhal, south of Bethlehem, according to Al Quds Today. The most recent Israeli settler attacks came after Palestinian gunmen shot and killed three Israeli settlers near the illegal settlement of Kedumim on Monday. In the first week of 2025, Israeli settler attacks injured at least 18 Palestinians across the occupied territory, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). During the same period, at least three Palestinians, including a teenager, were killed by Israeli forces, while three other Palestinians, including a child, were killed in disputed circumstances, OCHA reported. The data did not include the three other Palestinians, including two children, who were killed in an Israeli drone attack in the town of Tammun also in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday. On Friday, Israeli forces continued to carry out raids across the occupied West Bank, firing grenades and arresting several Palestinians. In Qabatiya, south of Jenin, Israeli forces, disguised in civilian clothing, surrounded a house and bombarded it with projectiles, according to Wafa quoting residents in the area. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Since the beginning of 2025, more than 50 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli home demolitions across the occupied West Bank, according to OCHA. Overnight, multiple Israeli raids were also reported across Nablus with several young Palestinians arrested. Footage posted on Telegram and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency shows the moment when Israeli forces lined up and detained dozens of young men during an assault on the town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit. Israeli forces also raided al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem; the town of Nilin, west of Ramallah; the villages of Hajjah and Baqat al-Hatab, east of Qalqilya; and Jalazone refugee camp, a frequent target of Israeli military operations. On Friday, Shin Bet's Bar was quoted as saying in a Channel 12 news report that Israel should learn from the October 7 Hamas attack and launch a major offensive in the occupied West Bank. “A broad, reality-changing move must be initiated that will collapse and eliminate the phenomenon of the armed Palestinian battalions ... in order to ensure our freedom of operation there." >>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/10/israeli-settlers-commit-arson-and-vandalism-in-spate-of-west-bank-attacks

Al Jazeera - Jan 9 2025
<<US House votes to advance bill to sanction ICC over Israel arrest warrants
The legislation is in retaliation for the International Criminal Court seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu over Israel's war in Gaza. The United States House of Representatives has voted in favour of a bill to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) in retaliation for its arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Legislators in the lower chamber of the US Congress passed the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act" by an overwhelming margin, 243 to 140, on Thursday in a signal of strong support for Israel. Forty-five Democrats joined 198 Republicans in backing the bill. No Republicans voted against it. The bill now heads to the Senate, where a Republican majority was sworn in earlier this month. The legislation proposes sanctions for any foreigner who helps the ICC in its attempts to investigate, detain or prosecute a US citizen or citizen of an allied country that does not recognise the authority of the court. Neither the US nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC. The sanctions would include the freezing of property assets, as well as the denial of visas to any foreigners who materially or financially contribute to the court's efforts. "America is passing this law because a kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel," Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a speech before Thursday’s vote. The vote, one of the first since the new Congress was seated last week, underscored strong support among President-elect Donald Trump's fellow Republicans for Israel's government, despite its ongoing war in Gaza. That conflict has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians since it began in October 2023, many of them women and children. United Nations experts have denounced Israel's methods in Gaza as "consistent with the characteristics of genocide". That prompted ICC prosecutors last May to issue the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant. In response, US legislators threatened retaliation against the ICC. In a letter sent to outgoing US President Joe Biden in May, dozens of human rights groups urged him to reject calls for punitive action. "Acting on these calls would do grave harm to the interests of all victims globally and to the US government’s ability to champion human rights and the cause of justice," the groups wrote at the time. This week, another group of human rights organisations issued another letter ahead of Thursday's vote, denouncing the House bill as an attack on an "independent judicial institution". Sanctioning the court, they wrote, will "jeopardize the ability of desperate victims across all the court's investigations to access justice, weaken the credibility of sanction tools in other contexts, and place the United States at odds with its closest allies". The letter warned that imposing "asset freezes and entry restrictions" on ICC allies would bring the US "the stigma of siding with impunity over justice". Nevertheless, the US Senate, under Majority Leader John Thune, has promised swift consideration of the act so Trump can sign it into law after he takes office on January 20. In 2020, during his first term in office, Trump sanctioned senior ICC leaders over the court’s investigations of US crimes in Afghanistan and Israeli crimes in occupied Palestinian territory. President Biden later lifted those sanctions. The ICC, based in The Hague, is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. The State of Palestine has been a member since 2015, and the court first announced an investigation of crimes committed there by both Israeli and Hamas officials in 2019. Though Israel is not party to the ICC, the court has jurisdiction over crimes committed on a member state’s territory, regardless of the nationality of those committing them. The US has supported the court at times, for instance, when the ICC’s top prosecutor sought an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Russia, like Israel and the US, is not a member of the court. Karim Khan, the prosecutor who issued the arrest warrant against Netanyahu and Gallant, has said that his decision is in line with the court's approach in all its cases, and he indicated that the warrants could prevent ongoing crimes.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/9/us-house-votes-to-advance-bill-to-sanction-icc-over-israel-arrest-warrants

Jinha - Womens News Agency - Jan 10, 2025
<<Gaza death toll likely 41% higher than reported, study finds
The number of people killed in the Gaza Strip is likely 41% higher than the figure reported by authorities in Gaza, a study published in The Lancet journal has found.
News Center- A study on the death toll in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has found that the number of people killed in the enclave is likely 40% higher than the figure reported by the authorities in Gaza. The researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Yale University, and other institutions conducted the peer-reviewed statistical analysis published in The Lancet journal on Thursday. The researchers used a three-list capture-recapture analysis to estimate the death toll from the Israeli air and ground assault against Gaza during the first nine months of the war, from October 2023 to the end of June 2024.
64,260 people died from traumatic injuries
The researchers estimated that 64,260 people died from traumatic injuries during this period, which is approximately 41% higher than the figure reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry. "Overall, women, children, and people aged 65 years or older accounted for 16 699 (59·1%) deaths due to traumatic injury," the study said.
At least 46,006 Palestinians, including 17,841 children and 12,298 women, have been killed and 109,378 others injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.>>
Source: https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/gaza-death-toll-likely-41-higher-than-reported-study-finds-36323?page=1


Asmaa Nasser
Jinha - Womens News Agency - Jan 10, 2024 - by NAGHAM KARAJEH
<<Women of Gaza struggle to survive amid uncertainty
"I am not a fighter and what is going on here is not a war having mutual clashes. The whole world should know this," said Asmaa Nasser, one woman in Gaza.
Gaza- Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a bloody war in the Gaza Strip and people in the Gaza Strip have struggled to survive amid uncertainty. Under clouds of smoke and amid the rubble, the stories of women reveal the strength of people despite the tragedy faced by them. Women always pay the heaviest price during wars and conflicts; women of Gaza take care of children while struggling against hunger, thirst, housing problems and insecurity. In northern Gaza, the stories of women are like a mirror reflecting the suffering experienced by the people.
'We struggled to survive'
Asmaa Nasser, a 20-year-old woman displaced from the city of Beit Hanoun, told NuJINHA the suffering they experienced in the four-month siege and constant bombardments on the city of Beit Hanoun. "We were trapped in our house without power and water. We could not cook because there was no water and it was as if we were in a mass grave. Warplanes were flying over the city while people were trying to go out in order to find something to eat. While the children were crying from hunger, we had no choice but to wait. Our conditions were deteriorating but we struggled. Despite everything, we struggled to survive."
She lost her family members
After two-week bombardment, the city was in ruins. "My life turned upside down. We got out from under the rubble, but we were injured. I lost many of my family members, including my sister, my brother and his three children. I had to bury them because there was no one who could help me. I think I will never forget what I experienced there." Asmaa Nasser managed to take her injured family members to the Kamal Adwan Hospital. "I also took my sister’s son to the hospital, he was seriously injured. The hospital was full of dead bodies and injured people. When I arrived at the hospital, Israeli forces raided the hospital and forcibly evacuated the hospital."
'They also aimed to destroy our souls'
Asmaa Nasser took shelter in a center along with other women. "I was subjected to a search and a humiliating interrogation. They also aimed to destroy our souls. Despite everything, I was looking for my sister's son everywhere. Whenever I saw an ambulance, I thought he could be inside it. I do not know where my parents are now."
'We just do our best to survive'
Witnessing the horror of war, Asmaa Nasser concluded her speech as follows: "I do not have the luxury of giving up. If I give up, I will never find my family members. I am not a fighter and what is going on here is not a war having mutual clashes. The whole world should know this. We just do our best to survive but even our right to life has been taken away from us." >>
Video: https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/women-of-gaza-struggle-to-survive-amid-uncertainty-36316?page=1

Al Jazeera - Jan 9 2025
<<Three Gaza hospitals face imminent closure as latest Israeli raids kill 50
The UN warns that a lack of fuel threatens to shut down more medical facilities as Pope Francis describes Israel's military campaign as ‘very serious and shameful'. The United Nations warns that a lack of fuel supply in Gaza threatens to shut down more medical facilities across the besieged territory, putting the lives of patients and newborns at "grave risk". The UN's condemnation of the "deliberate and systematic" attacks on Gaza hospitals came as relentless Israeli strikes killed more than 50 more Palestinians in the last 24 hours. Gaza health officials on Thursday said Al-Aqsa, Nasser and the European hospitals are at risk of imminent closure, after repeated Israeli bombardment and blockade of supplies, as they face the same fate as Kamal Adwan, Indonesian and Al-Awda hospitals. Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, said the facility was now "overstretched" given an influx of more injured civilians, many of them women and children, who had now faced a genocide for 15 months. "Doctors are reporting about the acute shortage of basic supplies, including surgical tools, antibiotics and painkillers," he said. Dr Bushra Othman, general surgeon and a volunteer at the hospital, said the situation is being assessed every 24 hours, as officials attempt to replenish supplies. "At any time during the day, power and electricity will cut out, and certain areas should be protected such as the operating theatres, the intensive care unit, including the neonatal unit," she told Al Jazeera. At Nasser Hospital, Doctors Without Borders warned that the lives of 15 newborns in incubators were at risk due to a shortage of fuel for generators that provide electricity to the facility. "Without fuel, these newborns are at risk of losing their lives," said Pascale Coissard, MSF's emergency coordinator. Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum, also reporting from Deir el-Balah, said the atmosphere in the Palestinian territory "is quite charged with tension and fear. What we have seen over the past 24 hours has been very bloody. The death toll from the past day has really been staggering," he said. On Thursday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) renewed its call for a ceasefire. "More humanitarian aid must come into Gaza and a ceasefire is more critical than ever," the group wrote on X.
Despite the UN's appeal, Israel continued its bombardment across the Gaza Strip. Medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic at least six Palestinians were killed in attacks at dawn in central and southern Gaza, while at least eight others were killed in Jabalia in northern Gaza. Wafa news agency reported that four Palestinians, including three children, were killed at Nuseirat refugee camp while several others remained missing under the rubble.
Wafa said Israeli strikes killed at least 51 civilians and injured 78 others in the past 24 hours. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed 46,006 Palestinians and wounded at least 109,378 others, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health. Meanwhile, Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his criticisms of Israel's military campaign as "very serious and shameful". In his yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide on Thursday, the pope appeared to reference deaths caused by the cold weather in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity. "We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit," the text of his address said.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/9/three-gaza-hospitals-face-imminent-closure-as-latest-israeli-raids-kill-50


US Denies Gaza genocide
Al Jazeera - Jan 9 2025
<<Compare & Contrast
US recognises RSF genocide vs. US Denies Gaza genocide
The US's hypocritical stance on genocide.>>
Read more/video: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/compare-contrast/2025/1/9/us-recognises-rsf-genocide-vs-us-denies-gaza-genocide

Al Jazeera - Jan 9 2025
<<Tump shows he "doesn't really have a plan" for Middle East
Rami Khouri, from the American University of Beirut, comments on US President-elect Donald Trump saying that <all hell> will break loose if Hamas doesn't release Israeli captives.>>
Video: https://www.aljazeera.com/program/quotable/2025/1/9/aje-onl-qt-rami_khouri-080125

Al Jazeera - Jan 9 2025 - By Alastair McCready, Zaheena Rasheed and Usaid Siddiqui
<<LIVE: Israel kills 50 in Gaza as fuel shortages threaten 3 key hospitals
Injured Palestinians, including children, are brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for medical treatment aftermath of Israeli attack on a residential building in Deir Al Balah, Gaza on January 08. Israeli forces have killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in the past day, medics said, as authorities warned that the Al Aqsa, Nasser and European hospitals in the enclave face imminent closure over dire fuel shortages. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expresses optimism about the prospects of a ceasefire and captives release deal in Gaza, saying "we're very close" to reaching an agreement.>>
Read more/video: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/1/9/live-israel-kills-50-people-in-gaza-recovers-body-of-captive-from-rafah

Al Jazeera - Jan 8 2025 - by Jazeera
<<Israeli attacks kill dozens in Gaza as ceasefire talks continue
Death toll rises as Gaza healthcare further collapses, deadly raids continue in occupied West Bank.
At least 46 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, as international mediators continued talks aimed at securing a truce and captives-for-prisoners exchange. Medical sources provided Al Jazeera with Wednesday’s death toll in Gaza as Israeli forces also conducted several raids across the occupied West Bank, killing three people. At least 45,936 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials, with another 109,274 wounded since Israel began its war in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas fighters on southern Israel. That attack killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics, and around 250 others were taken captive. Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum said the majority of Israeli attacks on Wednesday were concentrated in the north of the Gaza Strip, particularly around Gaza City. An Israeli strike on a Gaza City park killed five people and an attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Jabalia killed four, he said. In central Gaza, at least 10 people were killed in a strike on a family home in the Bureij refugee camp, including women and children, survivors said. "There has been an intensification of air strikes since the early hours of this morning," Abu Azzoum said, adding that Israeli attacks also injured four telecommunications employees who were working in maintaining internet landlines in Gaza City. "What we saw in the past few hours is very devastating situation, especially in Gaza City, which has been the epicentre of military attacks, especially in densely populated areas," he said.
Hospitals out of service
Rawya Taboura, a nurse at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera the health facility is subject to direct Israeli shelling "targeting the hospital walls and its surroundings" and preventing aid deliveries. Gaza's Health Ministry said earlier this week that all three major hospitals in Gaza's north remain out of service due to the fighting, with the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Abu Safia, remaining detained by Israeli forces. "Unfortunately, so far, no one has been able to provide aid due to the difficulty of the situation outside the hospital and the difficulty of coordinating with the relevant parties," Taboura said. "We have not been able to provide aid to the hospital," she added. "The situation in the hospital is very dire." Further south, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis announced it would shut down operations at 5pm (15:00 GMT) on Wednesday due to a lack of fuel, with the Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir el-Balah reporting it was out of basic medicine and supplies. On Wednesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was among the international aid groups calling for unhindered access to Gaza. Aid groups have repeatedly accused Israel of stifling aid access. The IFRC said that dire winter weather conditions were “exacerbating the unbearable conditions” in Gaza, with many families left "clinging on to survival in makeshift camps, without even the most basic necessities, such as blankets". The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), meanwhile, reported that at least 74 children had been killed in Gaza in the first week of 2025, "suffering from attacks, deprivation, and increasing exposure to the cold". The figure included eight infants and newborns who have died from hypothermia in recent days. More than a million children are among Gaza's displaced, with many living in makeshift tents with little protection from the elements, the agency said.
'Heinous crimes'
As the fighting rages in Gaza, Israeli raids have continued across the occupied West Bank. On Wednesday, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) said 45 Palestinians have been arrested since Tuesday night across the governorates of Hebron, Nablus, Tubas, Tulkarem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. In Bethlehem, several teachers and students suffered injuries after inhaling tear gas that Israeli soldiers launched at the Kisan School east of Bethlehem, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The tear gas was reportedly a response to some students throwing stones at Israeli military vehicles. Meanwhile, three Palestinians, including two children, were killed by an Israeli air strike on the town of Tammun on Wednesday in Tubas governorate. The killed children were identified as nine-year-old Rida Bisharat and 10-year-old Hamza Bisharat by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry. It described the strike as a "heinous crime". The ministry further said Israel's "application of its aggressive policies in the West Bank" was "in flagrant violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions".
Ceasefire talks continuing
As the fighting continued, mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States were pushing forward with efforts to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would see a ceasefire and exchange of Israeli captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Speaking from Paris, France on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken maintained that an agreement was "very close". However, past efforts to secure a trace have repeatedly failed, with both Hamas and Israel accusing each other of changing the terms. Washington has also been criticised for not imposing more leverage on its <ironclad> ally Israel, to which it provides billions of dollars in military aid. Meanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy appointee, Steve Witkoff, on Tuesday said he would travel to Doha, Qatar to join the negotiations. He expressed hope that an agreement would be reached before Trump takes office on January 20. For his part, speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that <all hell will break out> if a deal is not reached by the time he takes office. He declined to define what that means, or if it could spell increased US involvement in the conflict. Later on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the bodies of two captives, Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne, had been recovered in Gaza.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/8/israeli-attacks-kill-46-in-gaza-as-ceasefire-talks-continue

Al Jazeera - Jan 8 2025 - by Jazeera
<<Israeli attacks kill 46 in Gaza as ceasefire talks continue
Death toll rises as Gaza healthcare further collapses, deadly raids continue in occupied West Bank.
At least 46 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, as international mediators continued talks aimed at securing a truce and captives-for-prisoners exchange. Medical sources provided Al Jazeera with Wednesday's death toll in Gaza as Israeli forces also conducted several raids across the occupied West Bank, killing three people. At least 45,936 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials, with another 109,274 wounded since Israel began its war in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas fighters on southern Israel. That attack killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics, and around 250 others were taken captive. Reporting from Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera's Tareq Abu Azzoum said the majority of Israeli attacks on Wednesday were concentrated in the north of the Gaza Strip, particularly around Gaza City. An Israeli strike on a Gaza City park killed five people and an attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Jabalia killed four, he said. In central Gaza, at least 10 people were killed in a strike on a family home in the Bureij refugee camp, including women and children, survivors said. "There has been an intensification of air strikes since the early hours of this morning," Abu Azzoum said, adding that Israeli attacks also injured four telecommunications employees who were working in maintaining internet landlines in Gaza City. "What we saw in the past few hours is very devastating situation, especially in Gaza City, which has been the epicentre of military attacks, especially in densely populated areas," he said.
Hospitals out of service
Rawya Taboura, a nurse at the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, told Al Jazeera the health facility is subject to direct Israeli shelling "targeting the hospital walls and its surroundings" and preventing aid deliveries. Gaza's Health Ministry said earlier this week that all three major hospitals in Gaza's north remain out of service due to the fighting, with the director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, Abu Safia, remaining detained by Israeli forces. "Unfortunately, so far, no one has been able to provide aid due to the difficulty of the situation outside the hospital and the difficulty of coordinating with the relevant parties," Taboura said. "We have not been able to provide aid to the hospital," she added. "The situation in the hospital is very dire." Further south, Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis announced it would shut down operations at 5pm (15:00 GMT) on Wednesday due to a lack of fuel, with the Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir el-Balah reporting it was out of basic medicine and supplies. On Wednesday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) was among the international aid groups calling for unhindered access to Gaza. Aid groups have repeatedly accused Israel of stifling aid access. The IFRC said that dire winter weather conditions were "exacerbating the unbearable conditions" in Gaza, with many families left "clinging on to survival in makeshift camps, without even the most basic necessities, such as blankets". The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), meanwhile, reported that at least 74 children had been killed in Gaza in the first week of 2025, "suffering from attacks, deprivation, and increasing exposure to the cold". The figure included eight infants and newborns who have died from hypothermia in recent days. More than a million children are among Gaza's displaced, with many living in makeshift tents with little protection from the elements, the agency said.
'Heinous crimes'
As the fighting rages in Gaza, Israeli raids have continued across the occupied West Bank.
On Wednesday, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society (PPS) said 45 Palestinians have been arrested since Tuesday night across the governorates of Hebron, Nablus, Tubas, Tulkarem, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. In Bethlehem, several teachers and students suffered injuries after inhaling tear gas that Israeli soldiers launched at the Kisan School east of Bethlehem, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The tear gas was reportedly a response to some students throwing stones at Israeli military vehicles. Meanwhile, three Palestinians, including two children, were killed by an Israeli air strike on the town of Tammun on Wednesday in Tubas governorate. The killed children were identified as nine-year-old Rida Bisharat and 10-year-old Hamza Bisharat by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry. It described the strike as a "heinous crime". The ministry further said Israel's "application of its aggressive policies in the West Bank" was "in flagrant violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions".
Ceasefire talks continuing
As the fighting continued, mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States were pushing forward with efforts to broker an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would see a ceasefire and exchange of Israeli captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Speaking from Paris, France on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken maintained that an agreement was "very close". However, past efforts to secure a trace have repeatedly failed, with both Hamas and Israel accusing each other of changing the terms. Washington has also been criticised for not imposing more leverage on its "ironclad" ally Israel, to which it provides billions of dollars in military aid. Meanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy appointee, Steve Witkoff, on Tuesday said he would travel to Doha, Qatar to join the negotiations. He expressed hope that an agreement would be reached before Trump takes office on January 20. For his part, speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that <all hell will break out> if a deal is not reached by the time he takes office. He declined to define what that means, or if it could spell increased US involvement in the conflict. Later on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the bodies of two captives, Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne, had been recovered in Gaza.>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/8/israeli-attacks-kill-46-in-gaza-as-ceasefire-talks-continue

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