DHe Israeli military spokesman described the elimination of the military structure of the Islamic Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip. Spokesman Daniel Hagari said Saturday that before the war began three months ago, Hamas had two brigades with 12 brigades in the northern coastal region. “There were about 14,000 terrorists in total,” Hagari said. Since then, many commanders have been killed and arms and ammunition destroyed. Soldiers found and detonated underground mines.
Hagari said eight kilometers of underground tunnels and 40 entrances were found in Jabaliya, a refugee district in the northern part of the Gaza Strip alone. Hamas no longer operates in an organized manner in this area. “There are still terrorists in Jabaliya, but now they operate without a structure and without commanders.” But he expects occasional rocket attacks on Israel from the area to continue.
The army is now focusing on destroying Hamas structures in the center and south of the Gaza Strip. Hagari emphasized that this will take time and the fight will continue throughout the year.
Israeli ground operations in the Gaza Strip
Source: OpenStreetMap; Infographic World
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7:33 pm – Thousands of Israelis join new protests against Netanyahu
Thousands of people took part in protests in Israel against right-wing conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Demonstrators in the coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv and the port city of Haifa called for new elections to oust Netanyahu on Saturday evening. “We will not give up” and “the government of evil,” chanted demonstrators in Tel Aviv as they marched through the city center.
Last year there were repeated mass protests against the highly controversial judicial reform that Netanyahu's right-wing, religious government wanted to implement. After the October 7 massacre by Islamist Hamas and other groups along the Israeli border, the protests largely ceased after the war in Gaza.
2:37 pm – Borrell: Lebanon should not be drawn into the conflict
According to EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell, Lebanon should not be dragged into the Middle East conflict. No one wins from a conflict in the region, Borrell said during a visit to Lebanon. Increasing shelling along the border between Israel and Lebanon is worrying.
12:00 pm – Hezbollah fires dozens of rockets at Israel
Lebanese Hezbollah fighters fired dozens of rockets at Israel on Saturday. Shiite militias said an Israeli base on Mount Meron was hit by 62 rockets and hit. This was the initial reaction to the killing of Hamas official Saleh al-Aruri in Beirut.
Israel spoke of about 40 missiles, but did not mention any hits. In response, a Hezbollah position that fired rockets was also hit.
11:49 am – Gaza: 22,700 Palestinians killed
In the Gaza Strip, at least 22,722 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since the start of the war, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. Another 58,200 people were injured. Officials said that 122 people have died and 256 people have been injured in the last 24 hours alone.
10:54 am – Security firm Ambre reports an incident in the Red Sea
British maritime security firm Ambre says it has received information about the incident in the Red Sea. Ambre says it happened at Bab al-Mandab strait, but gives no details. Crews of commercial vessels traveling in the area are asked to stay as low as possible. Ambre says only essential personnel should be on the bridge of ships.
Bab al-Mandab is a strait connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, which continues into the Arabian Sea, a marginal sea of the Indian Ocean. Important commercial shipping routes pass through the Red Sea. Houthi rebels in the Hamas-aligned Red Sea country of Yemen have repeatedly attacked merchant ships they say are linked to Israel.
05:10 am – Famine in Gaza? Israel contradicts UN horror story
While aid organizations in the Gaza Strip talk of impending famine, Israel's military presents the situation differently. “Based on our assessment, based on our discussions with the UN and other humanitarian organizations, there is sufficient food supply in the Gaza Strip,” he said. Elad Goran belongs to the related Gogat authority.
“We also see improved access to water and food.” However, to reach the coastal area sealed off by Israel, the UN And other aid agencies must “urgently” increase their own capacity to receive and distribute aid.
On the same day, the UN Martin Griffiths, head of OCHA, the emergency relief office, described the situation in Gaza as increasingly dramatic. “Gaza has become a place of death and despair,” he said. “The last twelve weeks have been traumatic, especially for children,” said the UN emergency aid coordinator. “No food. No water. No school. Day after day nothing but the terrible sounds of war.” Griffith explained that the Gaza Strip had simply become “uninhabitable”.
2:01 am – Israel wants to avoid South Africa's genocide charges
According to a media report, Israel wants to build international pressure against South Africa's genocide case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague over the Gaza war. The “Axios” news website cited a copy of a cable the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent to its embassies abroad that said the move was aimed at avoiding a court injunction to stop the fighting immediately. It will instruct embassies to persuade local diplomats and politicians to issue a statement against South Africa's case. A hearing on the case is scheduled to take place in court next week.
Three months after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip against the Islamist Hamas, Israel must answer for the first time the ongoing military operation in the International Court of Justice. South Africa, UN on Israel. It sued the court and accused it of genocide. The court adjourned the hearing to January 11 and 12. Judgments of the UN Court are generally binding. However, judges do not have the power to compel a government to implement it.
11:21 pm – US offers ten million dollars for information on Hamas financiers
The State Department says the U.S. is offering up to $10 million for information on five Hamas financiers or anything that disrupts the Palestinian militant group's financial means. The ministry said the five individuals, namely Abdelfazid Hamza Elhassan Khair, Amar Kamal Sharif Alshawa, Ahmed Sadu Jahleb, Walid Mohammad Mustafa Jadallah and Muhammad Ahmad Abdul Taim Nasrallah, have been previously designated as global terrorists by the United States. In a statement.
10:56 pm – Israel defends planned inquiry into its own failures
The Israeli military is defending itself against sharp criticism from some right-wing extremist ministers about a planned inquiry into its own mistakes that made the Hamas massacre possible on October 7. Spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Friday evening that the military must learn from its mistakes. He also stressed that the investigation has not yet started. Reports suggest that this is an internal investigation and will involve former security officials. According to Hagari, the results of the processing should be made public.
According to Israeli media reports, there was a heated debate at the Israeli cabinet meeting on Friday night. Right-wing extremist ministers hit out at Commander-in-Chief Herzei Halevi after he announced the establishment of a commission to address the military's wrongdoings.
Cabinet members criticized the timing as fighting is still ongoing in the Gaza Strip. The appointment of Shaul Mofas, a former defense minister who oversaw Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, to head the commission also met with fierce opposition. Many right-wing extremist ministers are now calling for the depopulation of the Gaza Strip after the war. This was denied by Defense Minister Jove Gallant.
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