Published December 10, 2023
The U.S. approved $106 million in emergency arms sales to Israel amid widespread critcism for vetoing a U.N. cease-fire resolution.
What we know
- Israel is intensifying its military campaignin southern Gaza. Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi told a group of soldiers that Hamas was falling apart and “we need to press harder.” The IDF also warned Gazans to evacuate the city center of Khan Younis.
- The U.S. approved $106 million in emergency arms sales to Israel amid widespread criticism from human rights groups, U.N. officials and many countries for vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution for a cease-fire in Gaza.
- Philippe Lazzarini, head of the U.N. agency for Palestinians, said today that “dehumanization of Palestinians has allowed the international community to bear continued Israeli attacks in Gaza.” He added that, “By any description, it is definitely the worst situation I have ever seen.”
- Conditions in Gaza are deteriorating rapidly as hostilities have made aid deliveries increasingly difficult and humanitarian zones for displaced people continue to shrink.
- About 1.9 million people have been displaced in Gaza, where health officials say the death toll has now surpassed 17,700 after weeks of Israeli attacks. Thousands more are buried under the rubble and presumed dead. The Israel Defense Forces estimates 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack, with around 140 people still held captive in Gaza.
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SOURCE: www.nbcnews.com
RELATED: Heavy fighting across Gaza as Israel presses ahead with renewed US military and diplomatic support
Mourners carry the body of Mahmoud Abu Haniyeh, 17, during his funeral at the town of Azzun, Westbank, Sunday, December 10, 2023. The Palestinian Health Ministry says Abu Haniyeh was killed during clashes with the Israeli Army on Saturday in the town of Azzun. (AP photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Published December 10, 2023
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Heavy fighting raged Sunday across Gaza, including in the devastated north, as Israel pressed ahead with its offensive after the U.S. blocked the latest international push for a cease-fire and rushed more munitions to its close ally.
Israel has faced rising international outrage and calls for a permanent cease-fire after the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians. About 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where U.N. agencies say there is no safe place to flee.
The United States has lent vital support to the offensive once again in recent days, by vetoing United Nations Security Council efforts to end the fighting that enjoyed wide international support, and by pushing through an emergency sale of over $100 million worth of tank ammunition to Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for the “important ammunition for the continuation of the war,” and for supporting Israel at the Security Council.
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SOURCE: www.apnews.com
RELATED: Flooding Gaza’s Tunnels with Seawater is War Crime – Russia Warns Israel
First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Dmitry Poliansky. (Photo: via UN Website.
Published December 10, 2023
Russia warned Israel against flooding the Gaza Strip tunnels with seawater, and said that this step would be a war crime, the US-based magazine Newsweek reported.
The warning came after Tel Aviv announced that it would establish a large system of pumps to flood the tunnels used by the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas, in an attempt to expel its fighters.
According to Newsweek, “Russia said that reports of proposals to flood the tunnels were shocking and warned that ‘if done, this will be a war crime’.”
The magazine quoted Dmitry Polyansky, First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, as saying that “Such flooding could be considered analogous to ‘do not spare them’ order, but it is not only about that and not only about civilians who may be in those tunnels.”
“Of course, there most likely will be civilians, for where else would they go from the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza,” Polyansky added, according to Newsweek.
Polyansky also expressed his extreme disappointment at the UN Security Council’s failure to adopt a binding resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
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SOURCE: www.palestinechronicle.com
