The Israeli army continues its strikes in the south of the Gaza Strip this Friday, December 29. A Hamas delegation is expected in Egypt to discuss a ceasefire project, which also provides for the release of hostages in the hands of the Palestinian Islamist movement.
What you must remember :
■ Multiplication of Israeli strikes during the night from Thursday to Friday in the Gaza Strip, particularly in the south, on Rafah.
■ A Hamas delegation is expected in Cairo this Friday, December 29 to discuss a possible ceasefire plan also providing for the release of hostages.
■ Hamas Ministry of Health announces a new assessment of 21 320 dead since the start of the war, October 7, and 55,603 injured. 1 140 people were killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, according to data provided by the Israeli government. The Israeli army said Thursday it had killed more than 2 000 Palestinian fighters since the end of the truce in early December. 167 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the start of the Israeli army’s ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on October 27, according to the latest army figures.
Information given in universal time (Paris+1)
07:49: The Hamas Ministry of Health announces that twenty seriously ill patients will be able to go to Egypt for emergency treatment
The announcement from the Ministry of Health was made on the Telegram network. The twenty patients concerned will be able to leave the enclave via the Rafah crossing point this Friday morning, for emergency treatment in Egypt.
07:44: A Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic recounts the moment Israeli armed forces besieged the ambulance center in Jabaliya on December 20
Testimony of Mohammed Salah, a paramedic at the PRCS ambulance center 🚑 in #Jabalia about the beating and humiliation he and his colleagues endured during their arrest by the Israeli forces after the invasion of the #Jabalia ambulance center in northern #Gaza a week ago.
🚨The… pic.twitter.com/Hi9K192WzY— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) December 29, 2023
07:29: A video posted on X by the Israeli armed forces shows a tunnel they allegedly found in a mosque in Gaza
🔴WATCH as IDF troops uncover a terrorist tunnel shaft hidden inside a mosque in Gaza.
This is a direct threat to both Israeli and Gazan civilians: pic.twitter.com/lQm1huQWbB
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 28, 2023
06:52: Iran executes four people for “ collaboration » with Israel
Iran executed four people convicted of collaborating with Israel, Tehran’s sworn enemy, in West Azerbaijan province on Friday, the judicial authority’s news agency announced. “ Four members of a sabotage group linked to the Zionist regime were hanged this morning ”, indicated Mizan Online.
Those executed, Vafa Hanareh, Aram Omari and Rahman Parhazo, as well as Nasim Namazi, a woman, were found guilty of “ war against God “, “ corruption on earth ” And ” collaboration with the Zionist regime “. According to the same source, the group was also accused of having “ carried out large-scale actions against the security of the country under the direction of the Mossad », the Israeli spy agency.
06:40: In New York, a symbolic funeral procession for a ceasefire in Gaza
Dressed in black, holding fake babies swaddled, hundreds of demonstrators participated on Thursday, December 28 in a symbolic funeral procession in the emblematic avenues of New York, to demand a cease-fire and an end to the devastating Israeli bombings in Gaza .
Demonstrators also held photos depicting Palestinian children who died in Gaza.
06:34: The UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (Ocha) estimates that 100,000 Palestinians are now in Rafah, in southern Gaza
An estimated 100,000 people have moved over the past days to Rafah, #Gaza‘s most densely populated area. Their movement, often a repeated displacement, followed the intensification of hostilities and Israeli evacuation orders.
More in Flash Update #79:
🔗https://t.co/RmgUHTJ7p5 pic.twitter.com/ef7t1PADDR
— OCHA oPt (Palestine) (@ochaopt) December 29, 2023
06:21: Ex-hostage Mia Shem testifies about her captivity on Israeli television
Facing the camera, this 21-year-old former hostage, released on November 30, explains having spent 54 days of captivity at the home of a Hamas member and his family. She describes the conditions in which she was held hostage, her feelings, but also the feeling of guilt that has followed her since her release concerning the other hostages who have still not been released.
Read alsoIsrael-Hamas: ex-hostage Mia Shem testifies about her captivity on Israeli television
05:51: The US Navy shoots down a drone and a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in the Red Sea
The US Navy on Thursday shot down a drone and an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the southern Red Sea, the US military command in the Middle East, Centcom, said. “None of the 18 vessels in the area were damaged, and no injuries were reported,” Centcom said on X, indicating that it was “ the twenty-second attempted attack by the Houthis against international ships since October 19 “.
The USS MASON (DDG 87) shot down one drone and one anti-ship ballistic missile in the Southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis between 5:45 – 6:10 pm (Sanaa time) on Dec. 28. There was no damage to any of the 18 ships in the area or reported injuries. This is the 22nd… pic.twitter.com/Y4JRS22850
— US Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 29, 2023
Since the start of the war on October 7 between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen, have increased attacks in the Red Sea against ships they consider “ related to Israel », in solidarity with the Palestinian territory, bombed and besieged by Israel. Israel’s first ally, the United States patrols this strategic area of the globe with other countries, in an international coalition to protect maritime traffic from attacks by the Houthis, a movement close to Iran.
In recent weeks, several missiles and drones have been shot down by American, French and British warships. The United States also announced on Thursday a series of sanctions targeting the Houthis’ financing channels, targeting several people and entities in Yemen and Turkey that they consider involved in this financing. Washington accuses Tehran of helping Yemeni rebels carry out these attacks, but the Islamic Republic has always denied providing them with military equipment.
Read alsoGaza: Spain refuses to participate in the military coalition in the Red Sea against the Houthis
05:29: A Hamas delegation expected in Cairo this Friday
A Hamas delegation is expected in Cairo on Friday to discuss a three-step Egyptian plan that provides for renewable truces, staggered releases of Palestinian hostages and prisoners and, ultimately, a ceasefire ending hostilities .
In Cairo, the Hamas delegation will transmit to the Egyptians “ the response of the Palestinian factions, which includes several observations, to their plan “, told AFP an official of the Islamist movement requesting anonymity.
These observations include: on the terms of the planned exchanges and the number of Palestinian prisoners who will be released, and on obtaining guarantees for a total Israeli military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip », added this manager. “ We are in contact with the mediators as we speak. I cannot provide further details. We are working to bring them all back “, declared Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu during a meeting Thursday in Tel Aviv with families of hostages.
05:24: Increased Israeli strikes in the south of the Gaza Strip
During the night from Thursday to Friday, Israeli forces increased strikes in the Gaza Strip, particularly on Rafah in the south, where Palestinians rushed into piles of rubble in search of survivors.
South of Jerusalem, a Palestinian also injured two Israelis in a knife attack before being shot dead, according to police and rescuers, with Hamas hailing a “ heroic operation » conducted in « answer » to the situation in Gaza.
► Find here our live from December 28