Israel – Hamas war: Mossad’s Biggest Intel failure

Does Israel’s ‘kill-rate’ claim add up? Has the war divided the world? Israel-Hamas war live: WHO decries ‘catastrophic’ situation.

A special UN General Assembly session to be held on Tuesday comes after the whole has picked interest. The World Health Organization has requested “immediate, unimpeded” access to Gaza as its chief called the current situation “catastrophic”.

‘The end of the war is still a long way’.

Benjamin Netanyahu is not backing down on his idea that this war will take as long as it takes, and of course, he’s suddenly supported by more than $106m worth of ammunition that has been delivered by America, including tank rounds and supporting equipment.

He’s aware that the international community is growing concerned about the rising death toll in Gaza. But for the moment, if America is putting any pressure on Israel, it is very much behind the scenes because as we saw at the United Nations on Friday, when they vetoed a ceasefire call, they are very much in line with what Israel is doing, and Benjamin Netanyahu knows that.

People are talking about this war stretching on for another two months. Benjamin Netanyahu says that they will continue to fight until they achieve all their goals – goals he talked about at the start of the campaign, which includes the release of all those being held captive, the destruction of Hamas, and the deradicalization of Gaza, as he calls it. It seems that Israel is still a long way away from that, which means the end of the war is still a long way away too.

WHO Resolution Calls for Urgent Humanitarian Access to Gaza

The World Health Organization adopted a resolution calling for immediate humanitarian access to Gaza in a rare special meeting of its executive board on Sunday. The resolution – calling for the “immediate, sustained and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief, including the access of medical personnel” – was adopted by consensus.

Medical equipment is scattered outside the emergency ward of the Indonesian Hospital at the edge of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, after Israeli troops reportedly raided the medical facility, on November 24, 2023. The United Nations has appealed for $46bn in funding for 2024 to help millions of people affected by humanitarian crises around the globe, including in the occupied Palestinian territories, Sudan, and Ukraine.

In its Global Humanitarian Overview for 2024, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that nearly 300 million people will require humanitarian assistance next year due to conflicts, climate emergencies, and economic factors. “I think the Middle East as a whole and Gaza and West Bank is probably going to be the area of greatest need,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying.

Humanitarian Funding Crisis Deepens

The humanitarian system is facing a major funding crisis, with just over one-third of the $57bn required to provide aid funded last year, OCHA said in its annual assessment of global humanitarian needs. Griffiths described this as the “worst funding shortfall in years”. Former UNRWA official says Gaza turning into ‘world’s largest open-air death camp’

Injury, arrests reported after Israeli raid near Ramallah. A young man was injured after Israeli forces fired live bullets after storming the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli forces also fired stun grenades and tear gas at a group of young Palestinians resulting in the injury during the raid.

Sources from Beitunia told Wafa that Israeli forces also arrested two men during the raid, which also targeted the Beitunia Boys School and several homes in the town. They also carried out separate raids in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, where they seized a vehicle, and at-Tira in the city of Ramallah, the report said.

[Translation: Israeli occupation forces arrest freed prisoner Bilal Abu Radha after storming his home in the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Rescue And Aid.

Qatari food and medical aid bound for Gaza arrives in Egypt. Three Qatari aircraft carrying 116 tonnes of aid for Palestinians in Gaza have arrived in Egypt, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a post. The aircraft were carrying food and medical supplies provided by the Qatar Fund for Development, the Qatar Red Crescent Society, and Qatar Charity, the ministry said.

The supplies were delivered to Egypt’s El Arish International Airport in preparation for being transferred to Gaza, the post said, adding that the delivery brings the total amount of aid from Qatar to Gaza to 1,362 tonnes. “The aid comes as part of the State of Qatar’s full support toward the brotherly Palestinian people during the difficult humanitarian conditions,” the ministry said.

Rafah and Khan Younis have been under intense bombing since the early hours of this morning as the Israeli occupation expands its military operations in the south. Israel conducts several raids overnight on homes in cities across the occupied West Bank. The UN humanitarian agency reports arrests by Israeli soldiers of hundreds more Palestinian men seeking shelter in northern Gaza on December 9 and 10.

Tensions and Casualties

Egypt and Mauritania invoke Resolution 377, with the UN General Assembly now set to hold a special session at 3 pm New York time (20:00 GMT) on Tuesday to discuss an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

An Israeli cabinet meeting ends without a decision on allowing the return of some Palestinian laborers from the West Bank to agricultural and construction works. Three Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip, and another was killed in a road accident. The Israeli military identified the four soldiers killed as:

Warrant Officer (Res.) Gideon Ilani, 35, from Asael, fought in the 2855th Battalion and was killed in Gaza. Warrant Officer (Res.) Etay Perry, 36, from Modi’in, fought in the 8111th Battalion and was killed in fighting in southern Gaza. Major (Res.) Eviatar Cohen, 42, from Kfar Saba, fought in the 8111th Battalion and was killed in fighting in southern Gaza.