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IDF: 'intensive battles' continue in Khan Younis
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has said that “intensive battles” continue in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, and it claims to have located what it described as a “tunnel shaft” in a school.
On the Telegram messaging app, it wrote:
In Khan Younis, intensive battles against terrorist operatives are continuing. IDF ground troops identified a terrorist that attempted to plant an explosive device on a tank, and directed an IDF aircraft to strike the terrorist and three additional terrorists in the area. Furthermore, in Khan Younis, an IDF fighter jet struck an Islamic Jihad weapons production complex.
The statement also included the claim that “during searches in a school, the troops located a tunnel shaft and photos of weapons”, adding that “in Daraj Tuffah, IDF ground troops identified a terrorist cell operating drones used to observe IDF forces in the area. In coordination with IDF artillery and ground forces, a UAV struck the terrorist cell, and killed them”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
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Explosions reported in Iran during ceremony remembering Qassem Suleimani – state media
Iranian state media reported on Wednesday that there had been an explosion near the cemetery in the southern city of Kerman during a ceremony held to mark the 2020 killing of Iran’s top commander Qassem Suleimani in a US drone attack at Baghdad airport.
Reuters reports state media gave no further details.
A further report suggested there had been a second explosion and that there were “several wounded”.
The circumstances are currently unclear although there is some unverified footage on social media which shows a cloud of smoke in the distance among a big crowd of people.
More details soon …
Summary of the day so far …
It is 2pm in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here are the latest headlines …
The Israeli army has said it is “prepared for any scenario” in the aftermath of a strike in Beirut that killed Hamas’s deputy chief. The assassination has stoked fears the war in the Gaza could boil over into a wider regional conflict. Iran has described the Israeli drone strike that killed the senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri late on Tuesday afternoon in Beirut as a “cowardly terrorist operation”. Israel has not formally said it carried out the attack.
Six people were killed in the explosion, reports say, including al-Arouri and two leaders of Hamas’s elite military al-Qassam Brigades. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned a “new Israeli crime” and said the country was filing a complaint to the UN security council.
Hezbollah said its finger “is on the trigger” as it promised vengeance for Arouri’s death. The group said the attack in Beirut was “a serious assault on Lebanon … that will not go without a response or punishment” in a statement posted to Telegram.
A spokesperson for UN peacekeeping force Unifil inside Lebanon has said the organisation is “deeply concerned” about possible escalation in the region. A statement said “We are deeply concerned at any potential for escalation that could have devastating consequences for people on both sides of the blue line. We continue to implore all parties cease their fire, and any interlocutors with influence to urge restraint.”
Israel’s military has said that “intensive battles” continue in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip. It says that an IDF fighter jet struck an Islamic Jihad weapons production complex in the city, and that “during searches in a school, the troops located a tunnel shaft and photos of weapons”. The death of a soldier announced overnight by the IDF has brought the total number of losses for the Israeli army to 509 since 7 October. The claims have not been independently verified.
Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been critical of US opposition to his previously stated push for the transfer of Gazans out of the Palestinian territory. In a social media message posted overnight, Ben-Gvir said “The US is our best friend, but first of all we will do what is best for the State of Israel”. The US state department has pushed back against suggestions from some Israeli ministers that Israel could expel Palestinians from Gaza as part of a “day after” scenario for the war, saying “Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land.”
A total of 22,313 Palestinians have been killed and 57,296 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement. 128 Palestinians were killed and 261 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry, which is run by Hamas, added. At least 85% of the population of the Gaza Strip has already been displaced from their homes by Israel’s military actions. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy has accused the World Health Organization of having “blood on its hands”, saying its silence about allegations of hospitals being used by Hamas “tells terrorists: keep going”. The comments came after US media reports claimed US intelligence believed Hamas had been active in the al-Shifa hospital complex, using it as a command and control centre, and holding “at least a few hostages” there.
The Israeli military has issued more photographs of its troops operating on the ground inside the Gaza Strip.
Other images sent over the news wires to us today show Israeli construction work to install a barrier in southern Israel, and the continued impact of the Israeli bombardment of the south of the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has been critical of US opposition to his previously stated push for the transfer of Gazans out of the Palestinian territory.
In a social media message posted overnight, Ben-Gvir said “The US is our best friend, but first of all we will do what is best for the State of Israel: the migration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza will allow [Israeli] residents to return home and live in security and will protect the IDF.”
The US state department has pushed back against suggestions that Israel could expel Palestinians from Gaza as part of a “day after” scenario for the war, saying “Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land.”
Israeli media this morning, meanwhile, has been reporting that Israel has been conducting negotiations with Congo and other African negotiations about taking Palestinians who would agree to a “voluntary” resettlement.
The report, initially carried by Hebrew news site Zman Israel, cited a senior source in the security cabinet saying “Congo will be willing to take in migrants, and we’re in talks with others.”
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said it is not his government’s position to force “voluntary” resettlement of Gazans, and he has been critical of finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and Ben-Gvir for supporting the idea of emptying Gaza of Palestinians in public, without going so far as to dismiss them from his government.
A total of 22,313 Palestinians have been killed and 57,296 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
128 Palestinians were killed and 261 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry, which is run by Hamas, added.
At least 85% of the population of the Gaza Strip has been displaced.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy has said that the death of an IDF soldier overnight has brought the total number of losses for the Israeli army to 509 since 7 October.
At least 174 of those have died inside Gaza during Israel’s ground operation there. The overall casualty figure from 7 October – including civilians – was about 1,200 people killed, revised down from an initial estimate of 1,400.
The health ministry in Gaza has said more than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military action, and more than 55,000 people wounded. At least another 300 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israel’s military or Israeli settlers since 7 October.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
IDF: 'intensive battles' continue in Khan Younis
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has said that “intensive battles” continue in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip, and it claims to have located what it described as a “tunnel shaft” in a school.
On the Telegram messaging app, it wrote:
In Khan Younis, intensive battles against terrorist operatives are continuing. IDF ground troops identified a terrorist that attempted to plant an explosive device on a tank, and directed an IDF aircraft to strike the terrorist and three additional terrorists in the area. Furthermore, in Khan Younis, an IDF fighter jet struck an Islamic Jihad weapons production complex.
The statement also included the claim that “during searches in a school, the troops located a tunnel shaft and photos of weapons”, adding that “in Daraj Tuffah, IDF ground troops identified a terrorist cell operating drones used to observe IDF forces in the area. In coordination with IDF artillery and ground forces, a UAV struck the terrorist cell, and killed them”.
The claims have not been independently verified.
UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon 'deeply concerned' about 'devastating consequences' of potential escalation
Reuters reports that a spokesperson for UN peacekeeping force Unifil inside Lebanon has said the organisation is “deeply concerned” about possible escalation in the region.
It quotes the spokesperson saying:
We are deeply concerned at any potential for escalation that could have devastating consequences for people on both sides of the blue line. We continue to implore all parties cease their fire, and any interlocutors with influence to urge restraint.
The blue line is the UN-drawn boundary that separates Lebanon and northern Israel. Unifil was created in 1978 to confirm the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. It currently consists of 9,347 troops, with 209 staff officers and 809 civilians working in its administration.
The latest images from Gaza show that Israel continues to bombard the territory.
An Israeli government spokesperson has aimed criticism at the World Health Organization after US media reports claimed US intelligence believed Hamas had been based inside Gaza’s hospitals and held hostages there.
Overnight the New York Times, citing “a senior US intelligence official” reported that “the American government continued to believe that Hamas used the al-Shifa hospital complex and sites beneath it to exercise command and control activities, store weapons and hold ‘at least a few hostages.’”
Israel has repeatedly claimed that Hamas was using hospitals as bases for its activity, a claim which the group has denied.
Eylon Levy accused the WHO of having “blood on its hands” in a post on social media, writing:
And the WHO still says nothing. Silence tells terrorists: keep going. Use hospitals as military bases. We’ll turn a blind eye and claim your bases immune to military attack under international law. And when you tell terrorist to keep going, you have blood on your hands.
And the @WHO still says nothing.
Silence tells terrorists: keep going. Use hospitals as military bases. We’ll turn a blind eye and claim your bases immune to military attack under international law. And when you tell terrorist to keep going, you have blood on your hands. pic.twitter.com/O6IDmw6ayB
Iran: killing of Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut was 'cowardly terrorist operation' by Israel
Iran has described the Israeli drone strike that killed the senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri late on Tuesday afternoon in Beirut as a “cowardly terrorist operation”.
The Times of Israel quotes Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, saying:
The Zionist regime has not achieved any of its goals after weeks of war crimes, genocide and destruction in Gaza and the West Bank, despite the direct support of the US.
The evil activity of the terror machine of this terrorist regime in other countries is a real threat to peace and security and a serious alarm for the security of the countries in the region.
He said the attack that killed Arouri inside Lebanon was a “cowardly terrorist operation”.
IDF announces death of another Israeli soldier inside Gaza Strip
Israel has confirmed the death of another IDF solider overnight killed in fighting inside the Gaza Strip.
At least 174 Israeli soldiers have now been confirmed dead during the ground operation which began in late October. Local authorities in Gaza say over 22,000 Palestinians have been killed inside the territory by Israel’s military action since 7 October.
Overnight the US Central Command (Centcom) has posted an update on social media about the latest attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
Britain’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Authority earlier reported up to three explosions one to five nautical miles from a merchant vessel in the Bab al-Mandab strait.
In recent weeks, Houthi rebels have launched a flurry of drone and missile strikes targeting commercial vessels, which they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
On Jan. 2, at approximately 9:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen into the Southern Red Sea. Multiple commercial ships in the area reported the impact of the ASBMs into the surrounding water… pic.twitter.com/wXpmboqP2g
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 3, 2024Israeli army 'prepared for any scenario' after Beirut strike
The Israeli army has said it is “prepared for any scenario” in the aftermath of a strike in Beirut that killed Hamas’s deputy chief.
The assassination has stoked fears the war in the Gaza could boil over into a wider regional conflict, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
A high-level security official in Lebanon told AFP that Saleh al-Aruri was killed along with his bodyguards in a strike by Israel. A second security official confirmed the information, while Hamas TV also reported Israel had killed Aruri in Lebanon.
Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari did not directly comment on the killing, but said afterwards that the military was in “very high state of readiness in all arenas, in defence and offence. We are highly prepared for any scenario.”
The strike adds to widespread fears that the nearly three-month-old Israel-Hamas war could become a wider regional conflagration.
Hamas said Aruri’s death would not lead to its defeat, while its Lebanon-based ally Hezbollah vowed the killing would not go unpunished, calling it “a serious assault on Lebanon … and a dangerous development”.
Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati condemned the killing and said it “aims to draw Lebanon” further into the war.
Welcome and opening summary
It has just gone 9am in Tel Aviv and Gaza. Welcome to our latest Israel-Gaza blog. I’m Martin Belam and I’ll be with you for the next while.
Israel’s military forces are ready for “any scenario” after the death of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri. Senior IDF spokesperson Rear Adm Daniel Hagari made the comments to reporters after the assassination, without acknowledging his country’s involvement in the incident. “We are focused and remain focused on fighting against Hamas. We are on high readiness for any scenario”.
More on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
Senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri was killed in an explosion in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, reportedly caused by a targeted Israeli drone strike. Israel has not accepted responsibility, but says “whoever did this… [it was] a surgical strike against the Hamas leadership”.
Six people were killed in the explosion, reports say, including al-Arouri, a founder of Hamas’s military wing long targeted by Israel, and two leaders of Hamas’s elite military al-Qassam Brigades. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned a “new Israeli crime” and said the country was filing a complaint to the UN security council.
Hezbollah said its finger “is on the trigger” as it promised vengeance for Arouri’s death, and later claimed it had launched a so-far unconfirmed missile attack on Israeli troops. The group said the attack in Beirut was “a serious assault on Lebanon… that will not go without a response or punishment” in a statement posted to Telegram.
The French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Israel to avoid escalation, “particularly in Lebanon”, after the strike. Agence France-Presse (AFP) is reporting that Macron spoke by telephone with Israeli minister and war cabinet member Benny Gantz.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has posted on X a number of hours ago about meeting families of the hostages who remain in Gaza, saying: “The effort is continuing. The contacts are being held; they have not been cut off. There was an ultimatum from Hamas; now it has been softened.”
Meanwhile Hamas said it won’t release any more hostages it took during the 7 October attacks on Israel, except under its own terms. The group’s political chief, Ismail Haniyeh, told Reuters he laid out the Hamas position to officials of Egypt and Qatar, countries trying to broker a ceasefire similar to the one in November that saw more than 100 hostages freed. Haniyeh is demanding “a complete cessation of the aggression” by Israel.
There’s growing friction between the US government and far-right ministers in Israel who have called for the rebuilding of Israeli settlements in Gaza, and for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to relocate to southern Lebanon. Such proposals, voiced by Israel’s national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, two senior members of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, are abhorrent, the US state department said in a statement on Tuesday.
Turkey arrested 34 people on suspicion of spying for Mossad on behalf of Israel. “The Israeli intelligence service is recruiting personnel to be used in acts against Palestinians residing in our country and their families.,” a government official said. Without providing evidence, the official said the suspects were also spreading fake news and disinformation, carrying out robberies and blackmail for Israeli intelligence.
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said military operations in the south of the Gaza Strip around Khan Younis were focused on areas above what he said was a tunnel network where Hamas leaders were believed to be hiding. “We are reaching them all ways. There already is engagement and there are hostages there too sadly,” he told Israeli troops in footage shown on Israeli television, Reuters said.
At least 22,185 Palestinians have been killed and more than 57,000 wounded by Israel’s military action in Gaza, according to updated figures from the health ministry. It says that 207 Palestinians were killed and 338 were wounded in the past 24 hours. The Gaza health ministry is run by Hamas. The figures do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Separately, the Israeli military has claimed to have killed about 8,000 fighters in the Gaza Strip during its campaign. Additionally, since 7 October, at least 321 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
