Israel's aggression on besieged Gaza - now in its 86th day - has killed at least 21,672 Palestinians and wounded 56,165 as Tel Aviv continues bombardment of cities, towns and refugee camps across the coastal enclave.
Sunday, December 31, 2023
7:45 GMT - Israeli PM Netanyahu vows to retake Gaza's border with Egypt
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to retake control of Gaza's border with Egypt, escalating Israel's aggression on the besieged enclave as the Palestinian death toll rises to over 21,670.
"The war is at its height," Netanyahu told reporters of the fighting since October 7 when the Palestinian resistance group Hamas and its allies infiltrated Israel, killing 1,200 people and capturing 240 others.
He said the Philadelphi Corridor buffer zone that runs along Gaza's border with Egypt must be in Israeli hands.
06:50 GMT - Historian Raz Segal blasts Israel’s ‘genocidal incitement’ against Palestinians in Gaza
Israeli historian Raz Segal blasted Israel’s aggression against the people of Gaza and said that it amounts to “incitement to genocide.”
Segal told Breaking Points YouTube channel that the incitement is dealt with in Article 3 of the “The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, or the Genocide Convention for short -- an international agreement that criminalises genocide and obligates countries to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition.
“Incitement to genocide, which usually happens actually in media discourses, but also in political discourses, sometimes in public spaces in various ways,” he said. “Anyone who follows Hebrew language sources” would know about the “genocidal discourse” in Israeli media and outdoor signs as well.
06:00 GMT - US shoots down 2 anti-ship ballistic missiles fired by Houthi group in Red Sea: CENTCOM
The US said Saturday it shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles in the Red Sea in response to a Houthi attack on a merchant vessel.
"Today at approximately 8:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU reported that they were struck by a missile while transiting the Southern Red Sea.
"The Singapore-flagged, Denmark-own ed/operated container ship requested assistance, and the USS GRAVELY (DDG 107) and USS LABOON (DDG 58) have responded to the ship," US Central Command (CENTCOM) wrote on X.
05:20 GMT - Israeli War Cabinet members refuse to attend news conference with Netanyahu
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz refused to attend a news conference by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Saturday.
The Israeli broadcasting authority reported on X that Gallant and Gantz refused to attend the conference without specifying the reason.
As of 1840 GMT, there has been no official statement from the three men.
04:30 GMT - More than 20 Israeli soldiers killed, injured in Gaza: Al Qassam Brigades
Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing, said that more than 20 Israeli soldiers were killed and injured during clashes in Gaza City.
The Al Qassam Brigades said on Telegram that their fighters clashed with Israeli special forces “penetrating the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, resulting in more than 20 soldiers killed or injured.”
In another post, it added that fighters targeted an “Israeli Merkava tank with a Sho'ath explosive in the Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza.”
For our live updates from Saturday, December 30, click here.
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