Live Updates: Israel kills 240 Palestinians in Gaza since end of truce - Hamas

Saturday, December 2, 2023

08:49 GMT - Israel kills at least 240 Palestinians

Hamas has said that 240 people have been killed in Palestine's Gaza since the pause in the fighting expired on Friday.

Another 650 people had been injured in "hundreds of air strikes, artillery and navy bombardments, everywhere in the Gaza Strip", it said in a statement, adding that Israeli forces had "particularly targeted Khan Younis, where dozens of houses were destroyed with their inhabitants inside".

08:00 GMT - Israeli strikes kill two pro-Hezbollah fighters in Syria: monitor

Israeli air strikes killed two Syrian pro-Hezbollah fighters when they hit sites belonging to the Iran-backed group near Damascus, a war monitor has said.

"Two Syrian fighters working for Hezbollah were killed and seven other fighters working for the group were wounded in Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah sites near Sayyida Zeinab," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

07:10 GMT - Belgian PM: It is unfortunate that violence in Gaza started again

Belgium's Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has said that it is unfortunate that violence in Gaza has started again.

"It's unfortunate that the violence has started again. We hope that as soon as possible, more hostages can be liberated. We hope that the humanitarian access could be a permanent humanitarian access," he told reporters at the COP28 Summit in Dubai.

07:06 GMT - More than 400 targets attacked in Gaza since truce end: Israel army

The Israeli military has said it had attacked more than 400 "terrorist targets" in Gaza since a pause in the fighting with Hamas ended the day before.

Air, naval and ground forces were involved, it said, adding that fighter jets hit "more than 50 targets in an extensive attack in the Khan Younis area" in the south of the territory.

06:28 GMT - Gaza death toll rises as Israel bombs in post-truce talks

In a grim turn of events, the death toll in Gaza soared as renewed fighting entered its second day on Saturday.

Talks aimed at extending a week-old truce with Hamas crumbled, further intensifying the conflict. Mediators lamented that Israeli bombardments were hindering efforts to re-establish a ceasefire.

Israel's ground, air, and naval forces, claimed to have struck over 200 "terror targets" in Gaza.

05:00 GMT - Israel continues bombardment of Gaza

Renewed bombardment of Gaza stretched into a second day on Saturday after talks to extend a week-old truce with Hamas collapsed and mediators said Israeli bombardments were complicating attempts to again pause hostilities.

Eastern areas of Khan Younis in southern Gaza came under intense bombardment, with columns of smoke rising into the sky, Reuters journalists in the city said.

Gaza health officials said Israeli air strikes had killed 184 people, wounded at least 589 others and hit more than 20 houses.

Residents took to the road with belongings heaped up in carts, searching for shelter further west.

04:00 GMT - Israel informs Arab states it wants buffer zone in post-war Gaza

Israel has informed several Arab states that it wants to carve out a buffer zone on the Palestinian side of Gaza's fence as part of proposals for the enclave after war ends, Egyptian and regional sources said.

According to three regional sources, Israel related its plans to its neighbours Egypt and Jordan, along with the United Arab Emirates, which normalised ties with Israel in 2020.

They also said that Saudi Arabia, which does not have ties with Israel and which halted a US-mediated normalisation process after the Gaza war flared on October 7, had been informed. The sources did not say how the information reached Riyadh, which officially does not have direct communication channels with Israel.

02:31 GMT - Gaza’s civilian population cannot be allowed to suffer further: Irish foreign minister

Ireland's foreign minister reiterated his call for a "durable humanitarian ceasefire" and full respect for international humanitarian law.

Micheal Martin said resuming fighting is a "disappointment,” as he condemned Hamas’ actions and the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

"The pause in the conflict in recent days was highly valuable," he said in a statement.

Noting that dozens of hostages have been released during the humanitarian pause, Martin said it also brought "a significant improvement" in access to vital humanitarian aid.

"It is important to stress the catastrophic impact Israel’s military action is having on children and the most vulnerable civilians in Gaza," said Martin.

He stressed that Gaza’s civilian population "cannot be allowed to suffer further."

For our live updates from Friday (December 1), click here.