Gaza onslaught continues as Israel bulldozes dozens in hospital

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Israeli forces carried out a large-scale offensive in Tulkarm on Saturday, according to local sources, cited by the Palestinian official news agency Wafa.

A large contingent of the Israeli occupation forces accompanied by heavy bulldozers stormed the city in what seems to be a large-scale military offensive.

The military raid was further reinforced as Israeli forces deployed reconnaissance drones above the city and its surrounding refugee camps at low altitudes, creating an atmosphere of uncertainty.

An Israeli airstrike killed a US Agency for International Development contractor in Gaza last month, his colleagues said in a statement Saturday. The US development agency noted the death and urged greater protection for humanitarian workers in the fighting there .

Hani Jnena, 33, was killed November 5 along with his wife, their 2-year-old and 4-year-old daughters, and her family, the US-based humanitarian group Global Communities said.

An internet-technology worker, Jnena had fled his neighborhood in Gaza City with his family to escape the airstrikes, only to be killed while sheltering with his in-laws, the group said. His employer was an on-the-ground partner for USAID, the US agency said.

The Washington Post first reported the death.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging for a UN investigation into reports that Israeli forces bulldozed medical tents in Gaza with injured Palestinians inside, allegedly burying civilians alive”.

The US-based Muslim advocacy group is appealing for an investigation into witness reports of what happened at Kamal Adwan Hospital on Saturday.

“The horrifying reports that forces of the far-right Israeli government bulldozed medical tents in Gaza and buried Palestinian civilians alive…must be investigated by an independent, international tribunal,” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell.

“The horrifying reports that forces of the far-right Israeli government bulldozed medical tents in Gaza and buried Palestinian civilians alive...must be investigated by an independent, international tribunal,” said our @EdAhmedMitchellhttps://t.co/taKRxyNHss#Gaza #CeasefireNOW

— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) December 16, 2023

Mai Al-Kaila, the Palestinian minister of health has called for an international investigation into reports that Israeli forces buried Palestinians alive in the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital during the ongoing ground offensive in northern Gaza.

In a press statement this evening, Al-Kaila urged the international community to take serious action to uncover the details of this tragedy and not to ignore or remain silent about reports of war crimes coming from the Gaza Strip.

She further explained that the Israeli army deliberately removed the wounded from Kamal Adwan Hospital into the open in extremely cold weather and assaulted medical staff, posing a serious threat to the lives of the wounded and patients.

US Central Command chief Michael Kurilla met with Israeli military chief of staff Staff Herzi Halevi in Israel on Saturday.

Kurilla also conducted a security review with the head of the Shin Bet security agency, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

The meeting comes as US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has departed for the Middle East, where he is set to travel to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that it participated in a joint United Nations mission to deliver health supplies and assess the situation at the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

The team delivered medicines and surgical supplies, orthopedic surgery equipment, and anesthesia materials and drugs to the hospital which was "currently minimally functional," the WHO said.

UK foreign minister David Cameron and German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on Saturday said the "need is urgent" for a "sustainable ceasefire" in Gaza.

The two ministers wrote in a joint Sunday Times article that "too many civilians have been killed" in the conflict, and raised the pressure on Israel to bring its operation against Hamas to a swift, but "sustainable", end.

"We must do all we can to pave the way to a sustainable ceasefire, leading to a sustainable peace. The sooner it comes, the better - the need is urgent," they wrote.

However, the pair also said that they "do not believe that calling right now for a general and immediate ceasefire, hoping it somehow becomes permanent, is the way forward.

A Palestinian teenager was killed in the town of Deir Ammar, in the West Bank on Saturday night following confrontations with the Israeli army, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported.

The boy was identified as16-year-old Atallah Ziad Badaha and was shot in the chest before succumbing to his wounds minutes later. Two other young Palestinians were injured in the raid.

Israeli forces stormed the Deir Ammar refugee camp, triggering confrontations in which Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition at local residents protesting their raid into the town.  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that the army's killing of three hostages in Gaza in a case of mistaken identity was heart-breaking, but "military pressure is necessary" to bring the other captives home.

"It broke my heart. It broke the whole nation's heart," he said of the deaths, while adding: "With all the deep sorrow, I want to clarify: the military pressure is necessary both for the return of the kidnapped and for achieving victory over our enemies."

The families of hostages held in Gaza on Saturday called on Israel to make an urgent deal to secure their release after the army admitted "mistakenly" killing three captives in the Palestinian territory.

"All we get again and again are dead hostages... take us into consideration and come up with a plan now (for negotiation)," Noam Perry, daughter of hostage Haim Perry, said at an event in Tel Aviv organised by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Tel Aviv has received ceasefire-related requests and orders to remove Israeli forces from Gaza, but refuses "to do so".

Al Jazeera has decided to refer the case of what it called the assassination of one of its cameramen in Gaza to the International Criminal Court, the Qatari-based network said in a statement on Saturday.

The cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, was killed by an Israeli drone strike on Friday while reporting on the earlier bombing of a school used as a shelter for displaced people in the southern Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera.

More than 8,000 people are reportedly missing under the rubble from Israeli’s bombardment in Gaza, on top of the death toll of more than 19,000, a Hamas official said, according to Al Jazeera. 

Osama Hamdan stressed that 70 percent of the dead and missing are women and children.

“The occupation has committed many massacres in the 71 days of war in Gaza. The aggression continues in the occupied West Bank where 300 deaths have been recorded since October 7," Hamdan said at press conference in Beirut, Lebanon.

“This fascist failing government [in Israel] does not care about the lives of their own soldiers and just pushes them into this war where there is no victory. They know very well they enter Gaza alive but will leave dead, handicapped, or psychologically disturbed.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement has engaged in Oman-mediated talks with "international parties" about its operations in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, a Houthi spokesman said on Saturday, following a series of attacks on ships by the militia group.

The statement didn't identify the international parties involved in the talks and didn't say where they took place or when, but may indicate the Houthis could be willing to deescalate.

The Houthis stressed in the Oman-mediated talks that their position was not subject to negotiation until Israel stops its "aggression" against Gaza and allows humanitarian aid to enter, said Mohamed Abdel-Salam, the Houthi spokesman.

However Abdel-Salam also said that "any real steps" addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by bringing in food and medicine "would contribute to reducing the escalation".

The Houthis have launched attacks against vessels sailing the Red Sea and Arabian Sea in protest of Israel's bombardment and invasion of Gaza that has killed almost 19,000 Palestinians.

Two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli gunfire in two separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The men were identified as 20-year-old Aziz Abd al-Rahim Aziz Khalil, who died of his wounds after being shot in the abdomen by Israeli forces in the town of Beit Ummar.

The second victim was identified as Salim Nasser Salim Hajar, a 25-year-old was killed in the city of Tulkarm, the health ministry said in a statement.

That brought the total number of Palestinian fatalities reported in the West Bank to 290 since October 7.

The Israeli army said on Saturday that a soldier was killed and two others wounded in the area of Margaliot on the Lebanese border, with a spokesperson confirming to AFP the casualties were caused by a "hostile aircraft".

"Sergeant Major (reservist) Yehezkel Azaria, from Petah Tikva fell during an operational activity in the Margaliot area, aged 53 at the time of his death," the army said in a statement.

Israeli forces stormed and bulldozed parts of Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza on Saturday, burying alive and killing dozens of patients and injured displaced Palestinians, according to a video uploaded by Al-Jazeera videographer and reporter Anas al-Sharif.

The video from al-Sharif suggests that the courtyard, which contained many tents set up by refugees, was deliberately bulldozed by Israeli forces before people had a chance to escape.

To read more on The New Arab's report on the Kamal Adwan attacks, please click here.

مشاهد مروعة تفوق الوصف من داخل مستشفى كمال عدوان بعد انسحاب آليات جيش الاحتلال الإسرائيلي من داخله pic.twitter.com/gBn6PImSYa

— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) December 16, 2023

Israel's Army Radio, the military-run network, has said that another Hamas-held captive Inbar Haiman, has died in Gaza.

Haiman “was murdered by Hamas” according to the report but there have not been further details provided yet.

Israel's public broadcaster Kan News reported that 27 year old Haiman attended the Supernova music festival near Gaza on October 7. 

The announcement of her death came after Israeli forces admitted to have mistakenly killed three captives its forces mistook for Hamas fighters.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have announced the two female victims killed in a shooting earlier today by an Israeli sniper as Israeli force besiege Gaza's Holy Family Church.

In a statement, the Patriarchate have identified the women, who were mother and daughter, as Nahida Anton and Samar Anton.

Both Nahida and Samar were walking to the Sister’s Convent when they were shot dead.

“One was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety,” a statement said.

Meanwhile Pastor Mitri Raheb added that the women’s home was also destroyed last month in an air raid by Israeli forces.

UNRWA, the United Nations agency that supports Palestinians, has said that there have been at least 150 Israeli hits on UN facilities in Gaza.

The organisation emphasised that schools, medical facilities and UN buildings should not be a target.

"In Gaza, they have become just that," the agency said, adding that "not even places protected by the laws of war have been spared".

British group Stop the War Coalition have listed 57 pro-Palestinian events across the UK, that includes assemblies and candlelit vigils.

The organisers join other activists and organisations around the world on the relentless Israeli offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip. 

An organisation that represents journalists working in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, has made a public plea for an investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) said Abu Daqqa was its first member of the organisation to be killed in the ongoing war in Gaza.

“We consider this a grave blow to the already limited freedom of the press in Gaza and call on the army for a prompt investigation and explanation,” the association said.

“The FPA is alarmed by the military’s silence and calls for an immediate inquiry and explanation as to why it apparently attacked the area and why Samer could not be evacuated in time to be treated and potentially saved.”

The wife of a released Israeli captive said that she pleaded to the Israeli war cabinet that continued fighting in Gaza may harm hostages, according to Israeli news publication Haaretz.

“We begged the war cabinet, warning that fighting might harm the hostages, unfortunately we were right,” Raz Ben-Ami said. 

Ben-Ami's statement came after Israeli forces admitted that they had mistakenly shot three Hamas-held captives in Gaza, leading to their death.

This is despite the fact that one hostage spoke in Hebrew to beg for help and others held up a makeshift white flag.

Israeli officials appear more willing in calls with mediators to strike a fresh deal for a ceasefire and release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages held in Gaza, two Egyptian security sources have said.

The comments came as Axios reported the head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, David Barnea, met Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Europe in an effort to revive talks on Friday.

The Egyptian sources said Israeli officials appeared to have changed their mind on some points that they had previously refused, but did not go into further detail.

Axios said the meeting in Europe was the first between senior officials from Israel and Qatar, which has been negotiating between the sides, since the collapse of a seven-day ceasefire in late November

The Wall Street Journal separately reported Qatar's prime minister would meet Mossad's Barnea in Norway's capital Oslo.

The manager of Gaza’s al-Awda Hospital has said that there have been no aid or supplies reached the hospital for 67 days.

In in an audio message sent to Al Jazeera, Ahmed Muhanna said that there was also no oxygen left at the facility. He also noted that Israeli tanks are surrounding the hospital.

“Israeli tanks are around the hospital … while one tank closed the entrance,” he said. “They targeted two floors of the hospital from the outside, destroying the surgical wards.”

“We are looking for support from international societies, especially the Red Crescent and the World Health Organization,” he added.

Israeli forces has told CNN that it takes “all operationally feasible measures to protect both civilians and journalists”.

The military claimed that it “has never and will never deliberately target journalists."

“Given the ongoing exchanges of fire, remaining in an active combat zone has inherent risks.”

Israeli forces' comments follow Al Jazeera Media Network condemning the air strike that killed its cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa and wounded his colleague Wael Dahdouh.

Israeli forces prevented medical team to reach Abu Daqqa, which led to bleeding out after several hours.

With Abu Daqqa's killing, the number of journalists and media workers killed in Gaza has surpassed more than 90.

Reports have surfaced on a mother and daughter who have been shot dead by an Israeli sniper at the Catholic church in Gaza, where it is estimated that around 600 people are seeking refuge, that make up predominately of Palestinian Christians.

Bethlehem based pastor Munther Isaac has also flagged the suspected killings of the women.

"Two women shot dead in the Catholic church in Gaza. More injured... Tragic news from Gaza. Lord have mercy. Stop this genocide!!" he wrote in a post on X.

Another testimony from the church said that the holy site has been besieged by Israeli forces, as many are fearing their lives. 

Two women shot dead in the Catholic church in Gaza. More injured... Tragic news from Gaza. Lord have mercy. Stop this genocide!!

— Munther Isaac منذر اسحق (@MuntherIsaac) December 16, 2023

The testimony also described the incident involving the killings of the mother and daughter and stated that they attempted to exit the premise to use a restroom when they were shot outside the church.

They added that those who tried to aid the women were injured by Israeli grenades. The wounded have since been able to return to the church, as doctors are attempting to save them.

The Mossad chief, and the Qatari prime minister are expected to meet on Saturday in the Norwegian capital of Oslo to renew negotiations for the release of Hamas-held captives.

The discussions are said to be “exploratory”, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

 The Israeli intelligence service chief, David Barnea, is also said to plan on meeting with Egyptian officials.

Reports have surfaced on Israeli forces who have been targeting one of the only churches in the Gaza Strip.

"Alarming reports coming from the Catholic Church in Gaza City where 100s of Christian Palestinians are seeking shelter. Spoke to relatives of those trapped inside they said several people were shot today inside the compound by snipers," The Independent chief international correspondent Bel Trew tweeted on X.

Lib Dem MP Layla Moran has also appealed online for further visibility on the continued attacks in Holy Family Church.

Moran has said her family and hundreds of others have been trapped in the church's compound. In a post on X, the politician said her family have reported the use of white phosphorous and gunfire into the church by Israeli forces outside the gates.

They also described a bin collector and cleaner who were killed and that their bodies remained uncollected. 

Moran, whose mother is a Palestinian from Jerusalem, said there were 300 people who are currently seeking shelter at Holy Family Church.

Update. Soldiers are at the gates and there was a fire when they hit one of the (already dysfunctional) generators. There is no water left. There are 300 people there. We don’t know why this is happening. Are they going to be expelled from a church just days before Christmas??! https://t.co/iNoUmzoKnf

— Layla Moran 🔶 (@LaylaMoran) December 16, 2023

Three hostages that Israel said were killed mistakenly in Gaza by its forces had been holding up a white flag, according to an initial inquiry into the incident, a military official said on Saturday.

A soldier saw the hostages emerging tens of meters from Israeli forces in the area of Shejaiya, the official said.

"They're all without shirts and they have a stick with a white cloth on it. The soldier feels threatened and opens fire. He declares that they're terrorists, they (forces) open fire, two are killed immediately," said the military official.

The third hostage was wounded and retreated into a nearby building where he called for help in Hebrew, the official said.

"Immediately the battalion commander issues a ceasefire order, but again there's another burst of fire towards the third figure and he also dies," said the official. "This was against our rules of engagement," he added.

A spokesman for Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthis said the group had attacked the Israeli Red Sea resort city of Eilat on Saturday with a swarm of drones.

Iran does not recognise the state of Israel, and spokesman Yahya Sarea referred to Eilat as in "southern occupied Palestine".

Meanwhile, a UK destroyer had also shot down suspected attack drone that was 'targeting Red Sea shipping'.

British defence minister Grant Shapps said on Saturday that a navy ship HMS Diamond shot down a suspected attack drone targeting merchant shipping in the Red Sea.

"HMS Diamond shot down a suspected attack drone which was targeting merchant shipping in the Red Sea," Shapps said on social media platform X.

"One Sea Viper missile was fired and successfully destroyed the target."

The families of the hostages held by Hamas since October 7 have met on Saturday to discuss the protests that were kickstarted following the killing of three Hamas-held captives by Israeli forces.

As the protests continue to intensify, the families are hoping to press the government to renew further talks that can release the captives, according to local Israeli media.
 

Several media outlets have reported that a meeting between the Mossad chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani may occur to resume negotiations for the release of Hamas-held captives.

This follows the killing of three hostages that were killed by Israeli forces- who say they were mistaken for Palestinian fighters.

Last month, Israel pulled back its Mossad negotiators from Qatar, due to claims that the attempted talks for a negotiation reached an impasse.

The Palestinian health ministry has issued the latest updates on the state of key health facilities in Gaza.

The health ministry have said that Israeli forces have been targeting anyone who moves in Kamal Adwan and al-Awda hospitals, as the southern section of Kamal Adwan has been completely destroyed.

In both hospitals, forces have refused to issue an evacuation order for people to vacate the premises, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, Al-Sahaba Centre was attacked on Friday by Israeli forces- which is said to be the only maternity care centre operating in Gaza.

The destruction in Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza after it was bombed by the Israeli occupation forces. pic.twitter.com/o5iJwUDRB8

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 16, 2023

Israeli forces was on Saturday investigating the killing of three hostages which it said had been mistakenly identified as a threat by soldiers, an incident that sparked protests in Tel Aviv.

The military said Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa -- all in their 20s -- were shot during operations in Gaza City.

The military said later it had started "reviewing the incident" and that "immediate lessons from the event have been learned" and passed on to all troops on the ground.

Israeli forces have begun raiding the town of Ni’lin in the occupied West Bank, according to videos that have been verified by Al Jazeera English.

 16 people were arrested earlier in the West Bank cities of Hebron, Tulkarm, Jericho and Ramallah.

Occupation forces storm the town of Ni'lin, west of Ramallah pic.twitter.com/hbWbw0Vi0w

— Abdul Quadir - عبدالقادر (@Northistan) December 16, 2023

The Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement to update that there have been diplomatic efforts to reach a new truce in the besieged Gaza Strip.

“Qatar affirmed its ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause and expressed hope for building upon the progress made to accomplish a comprehensive and sustainable agreement that would end the war, stop the bloodshed of our Palestinian brethren, and lead to serious negotiations and the launch of a political process that yields a comprehensive, permanent, and just peace in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative,” the ministry said in a statement.

A seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US, failed to renew by December 1.

The United States agrees with Israel that its ongoing war in Gaza "could go on for months," but Washington was discussing about more surgical operations in scope and scale, the White House said.

"We agree with the Israelis that this conflict could go on for months," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday.

Iran is saying it has executed an Israeli Mossad spy in the country’s southeast, state TV reported Saturday.

The report said the spy was linked to foreign intelligence services, including Mossad, and charged with involvement in releasing classified information.

The judiciary body executed the person in a prison in Zahedan, the capital of the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan.

The report did not identify the person.

In April 2022, Iranian intelligence officers arrested three people they said belonged to a group linked to Mossad. It is not clear if the executed person was one of them.

Israel on Saturday mourned the deaths of three Gaza hostages killed when its forces say had mistaken them for a threat, with the military expressing remorse over a "tragic" incident that sparked protests in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli forces said Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa - all aged in their twenties- were shot during operations in a neighbourhood of Gaza City.

The trio were among an estimated 240 people taken hostage during Hamas's October 7 raids into Israel, which also killed an estimated 1,200 people.

"During combat in Shejaiya, [Israeli forces] mistakenly identified three Israeli hostages as a threat and as a result, fired toward them and the hostages were killed," Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

As news of the incident spread late Friday, hundreds of people gathered at Israel's ministry of defence in Tel Aviv to call on Netanyahu's government to secure the release of 129 hostages still being held in Gaza.

The demonstrators waved Israeli flags and brandished placards.

"Every day, a hostage dies," read one message.

"I am dying of fear," said Merav Svirsky, sister of Hamas-held hostage Itay Svirsky.

"We demand a deal now."