The latest developments from the Israel Hamas war.
Communications partially restored in Gaza after three days of outage
Telecommunications have been partially restored in the Gaza Strip after three days of outage, the Palestinian operator Paltel announced.
The company reported in a press release the "gradual recovery" of the network, down since Thursday, in the centre and south of the territory.
UN aid trucks entering Gaza from Israeli territory - reports
The Egypt Red Crescent are reporting that UN aid trucks trucks have started to enter Gaza.
They say the trucks will go into the enclave as of Sunday for the first time since the war broke out.
The Israeli government body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, COGAT, explained that trucks would all undergo security checks. They'll also be transferred directly to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.
The crossing, which has borders with Israel-Gaza and Egypt-Gaza, has been closed since Hamas's attacks on 7 October.
Israel's security cabinet approved the reopening of the crossing for Gaza aid on Friday, following increased pressure from the US during a visit from White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Israeli army says it has discovered 'largest tunnel' dug under the Gaza Strip
The Israeli army has claimed to have discovered "the largest tunnel" that Hamas dug under the Gaza Strip.
An AFP photographer who was authorised to go there noted that it was of sufficient size to allow small vehicles to circulate.
"This massive network of tunnels, which divides into several branches, extends for more than four kilometres and arrives only 400 metres from the Erez crossing point" between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli armed forces said in a statement.
The tunnel is said to be equipped with a pipeline system, electricity, ventilation, sewers, communication networks and rails. Its floor is made of beaten earth and its walls are made of reinforced concrete, except at its outlet, reinforced by a metal cylinder approximately one and a half centimetres in diameter.
The Israeli army claims to have discovered a large number of weapons there ready to be used in the event of an attack by Hamas.
Nicknamed "the Gaza metro" by the Israeli military, the maze of galleries was first used to circumvent the blockade imposed by Israel after Hamas took power in the territory in 2007.
Hundreds of galleries have been dug under the border with Egyptian Sinai to move people, goods, weapons and ammunition between Gaza and the outside world.
In a study published on 17 October, the Institute of Modern Warfare at the American Military Academy West Point estimates the existence of some 1,300 galleries over 500 kilometres.
Colonna calls for ‘immediate and lasting truce’ in Gaza
The French Minister of Foreign Affairs has called for a "new immediate and lasting truce" in the Gaza Strip, saying she was "concerned" by the humanitarian situation and the fate of the hostages after more than two months of war.
"Too many civilians are being killed," Catherine Colonna said after a meeting with her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in Tel Aviv.
She stressed that the first week-long truce ended on 1 December had allowed the release of hostages - 105 of the 250 taken by force by Hamas during the 7 October attack - as well as an increase in humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza while evacuating injured people.
Colonna reiterated that three French people remain "detained, missing or hostages in the Gaza Strip" and that France is sparing no effort to free them.
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen rebuffed her claims, calling any call for a ceasefire as an "error" and a “gift for Hamas”.
Netanyahu says Israel will fight 'to the very end' as ‘accidental’ killing of hostages adds to concern over wartime conduct
Israel pressed ahead with its Gaza offensive on Sunday after a series of shootings, including of three hostages who were shirtless and waving a white flag, raised questions about its conduct in a weeks-old war that has brought unprecedented death and destruction to the coastal enclave.
Speaking at a press conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the killing of the three captives - branded a ‘mistake’ - “has broken my heart, it has broken the entire nation's heart."
He claimed the remaining hostages held by Hamas would soon return home, but the distance between victory and disaster is "tiny".
Hitting back on growing international pressure to stop the fighting, Netanyahu said, "we are determined to continue all the way to the very end" until "there will be no authority that will continue training for terror" in Gaza.
"After we have eradicated Hamas and Gaza will be demilitarised under the control of Israel there will be no-one who will educate their children to annihilate Israel," he added.
UK and Germany call for ceasefire - marking a significant attitude shift
The UK’s foreign secretary David Cameron and his counterpart in Germany, Annalena Baerbock, have called for a "sustainable ceasefire" in Gaza - joining an increasing list of global powers putting pressure on Israel to stop the fighting.
In a joint article published in Welt am Sonntag and The Sunday Times, they wrote: "too many civilians have been killed", adding that a ceasefire "leading to a sustainable peace" was needed.
"The sooner it comes, the better. The need is urgent," Baerbock and Cameron wrote.
The move is particularly significant for the UK, whose Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has previously only lent his support to "humanitarian pauses" in the conflict - but his government has so far stopped short of calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in United Nation votes.
‘Mistake’ shootings draw scrutiny from the top of Israel’s government
Military officials said on Saturday that the three hostages who were mistakenly shot by Israeli troops had tried to signal that they posed no harm. It was Israel's first such acknowledgement of harming hostages in a war that it says is largely aimed at rescuing them.
The three hostages, all in their 20s, were killed Friday in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops are engaged in fierce fighting with Hamas. An Israeli military official said the soldiers’ behaviour was against the army's rules of engagement and was being investigated at the highest level.
Israel says it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians and accuses Hamas of using them as human shields. But Palestinians and rights groups have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of recklessly endangering civilians and firing on those who do not threaten them, both in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, which has seen a surge of violence since the start of the war.
Israel on Friday said it was opening a military police investigation into the killing of two Palestinians in the West Bank after an Israeli rights group posted videos that appeared to show troops killing the men - one who was incapacitated and the second unarmed - during a raid.
Anger over the mistaken killing of the hostages, though, is likely to ramp up pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to renew Qatar-mediated negotiations with Hamas over swapping more of the remaining captives for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Hamas has said there will be no further hostage releases until the war ends, and that it will demand the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants.
Hamas released over 100 of more than 240 hostages captured on 7 October in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners during a brief cease-fire in November. Nearly all freed on both sides were women and minors. Israel has successfully rescued one hostage.
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2023-12-17 15:22:30Z
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