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Fewer consider Israel’s military action in Gaza ‘proportionate or legal’: Analysis

Fewer consider Israel’s military action in Gaza ‘proportionate or legal’: Analysis
By Alastair McCready, Umut Uras, Virginia Pietromarchi, Edna Mohamed and Nils Adler
Published On 20 Dec 2024

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21 Dec 2024 - 00:00
 (00:00 GMT)

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You can read our piece on the current fighting between local fighters and the Palestinian Authority in Jenin, here.

Watch our video on our exclusive investigation into EU research money flowing to Israel amid its war on Gaza, here.

20 Dec 2024 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

This live page is closing soon, but before we go, here’s a recap of the day’s main developments:

  • At least 25 people were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Friday, medics in the enclave told the Reuters news agency, including at least eight in an apartment in Nuseirat and at least 10 in Jabalia.
  • At least 45,206 Palestinians have been killed and 107,512 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Health Ministry in Gaza says.
  • UNICEF says children in Gaza are “cold, sick and traumatised”, and 96 percent of women and children cannot meet their basic nutritional needs.
  • At least 68 percent of Israelis who took part in a poll did not think a victory in Gaza would be achieved unless the captives held in Gaza were returned, Israeli news outlet Channel 13 reports.
  • The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reports that Israeli forces have blown up several houses and properties in the town of Yaroun in the district of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.
  • Sweden has ceased funding UNRWA after Israel’s ban on the UN agency’s activities.
  • A report published by Haaretz has quoted Israeli soldiers serving in the Gaza Strip describing indiscriminate killings of Palestinian civilians.
20 Dec 2024 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)
Opinion

Palestinian freedom cannot rest on oppression of others

By Ahmad Ibsais

When the wounded Yahya Sinwar hurled a stick at the Zionist war machine, resisting even in the last moments of his life, he embodied the unbreakable Palestinian cause for liberation.

For 75 years of relentless brutality, we Palestinians have remained steadfast in our pursuit to see freedom on our land.

Our resistance endures because it is driven by a profound truth: that the struggle for Palestinian liberation is inseparable from the universal fight for human dignity.

It is this commitment to collective freedom, rather than narrow national interests, that has both sustained Palestinian resistance and ignited a growing tide of global solidarity.

That is why as we Palestinians watch Syrians flood the streets of Damascus, Aleppo, Hama and Homs, tasting freedom for the first time in generations, our hearts are full of complex emotions: grief for those who have been lost, hope for what might be possible and an unwavering commitment to our own liberation.

Read the opinion piece here.

People wave the Syrian and Palestinian flags as they celebrate the ouster of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad in the old city of Damascus, Syria on December 13, 2024 [Reuters/Ammar Awad]
20 Dec 2024 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

Photos: The aftermath of Israeli strike on Nuseirat

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli attack on an apartment in Nuseirat, central Gaza [Khamis Said/Reuters]
[Khamis Said/Reuters]
[Khamis Said/Reuters]
[Khamis Said/Reuters]

20 Dec 2024 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

LISTEN: What is the trauma of bearing witness to genocide?

What happens when people feel they’ve reached capacity as witnesses?

For writer and clinical psychologist Hala Alyan, her work is to preserve the archive of Palestinian stories and pass down resistance through generations.

Al Jazeera’s The Take speaks to Alyan about her work on the complexities of displacement, trauma and the Palestinian diaspora.

Listen to the discussion below:

20 Dec 2024 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

Sweden’s decision to cut funding to UNRWA ‘shameful’, UN official says

The UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has slammed Sweden’s withdrawal of funding to UNRWA.

In a post on X, she called on the Nordic nation to “act swiftly to reverse and remedy” its decision.

20 Dec 2024 - 22:30
 (22:30 GMT)
Developing

Israel launch raid on Sabra, artillery shelling targets Beit Lahiya

Palestinian media are reporting that an Israeli aircraft has launched a raid on Sabra, southwest of Gaza City.

There are also reports of Israeli artillery shelling targeting Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip.

We’ll bring you more details as we get them.

20 Dec 2024 - 22:15
 (22:15 GMT)

Gaza is now a ‘graveyard’, says UNRWA’s emergency officer

Speaking from Nuseirat in central Gaza, UNRWA’s emergency officer Louise Wateridge said aid was desperately needed in the enclave to support people uprooted multiple times by Israeli attacks who have little to protect themselves from the cold and rain.

“The world is not seeing what’s going on with these people – it’s impossible for families to shelter in these conditions,” Wateridge said, as more heavy rain was expected to hit Gaza on Friday evening.

“Most people are living under fabric. They don’t even have waterproof structures and 69 percent of the buildings here have been damaged or destroyed. There’s absolutely nowhere for people to shelter from these elements.”

She said that the horrific conditions across Gaza continue to deteriorate.

“An entire society here is now a graveyard,” she said.

“Over 2 million people are trapped. They cannot escape. And people continue to have basic needs deprived, and it just feels like every path here that you could possibly take is leading to death.”

A Palestinian child seeks shelter from the rain at a camp for displaced people near Nuseirat [Eyad Baba/AFP]
20 Dec 2024 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)
Opinion

The Cyprus-Gaza maritime aid corridor was a harmful publicity stunt

By Sultan Barakat and Androulla Kaminara

Since the October 7 Hamas attacks and the start of the latest Israeli military offensive on Gaza, calls for unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip have remained unanswered.

As violence continues with no end in sight, the need for humanitarian aid in Gaza has drastically increased.

Aid packages airdropped by Jordan and France provided temporary relief to a limited number of people, but did nothing to ease the suffering of the masses.

In many cases, these initiatives served only to provide political capital for responsible governments, allowing them to appear engaged while avoiding the difficult decisions and actions necessary to make a real difference.

The most high-profile, costly and overall harmful example of such symbolic aid initiatives was the US-led effort to establish a temporary maritime corridor between Cyprus and Gaza to deliver aid.

Read more here.

Palestinians climb onto trucks to grab aid that was delivered into central Gaza through a US-built temporary pier on May 18, 2024 [Ramadan Abed/Reuters]
20 Dec 2024 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

Torchlight demonstration in Paris demands end to genocide in Gaza

Demonstrators gathered in front of the Town Hall in the 20th district on Friday evening, carrying torches, Palestinian flags and banners that read: “Stop the genocide in Gaza” and “Ceasefire”.

They also demanded that France enforce arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence chief, Yoav Gallant, and put in place economic and diplomatic sanctions against Israel.

Salim, a member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in France, told the Anadolu news agency that with the end-of-year celebrations approaching, it was important to remind people of the suffering endured by many in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including women and children.

“We must boycott Israel,” Salim said, adding that the boycott should include all companies supporting Israel, including banks and restaurant chains.

Protesters gather in solidarity Palestinians in Paris, France [Esra Taskin/Anadolu]
20 Dec 2024 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

WATCH: What are the implications of Israel’s attacks on Yemen?

Israel carries out air strikes on Yemen, and Houthi forces there launch missiles at Tel Aviv.

Attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of al-Assad in Syria have put the Houthis’ key ally, Iran, under more pressure.

Al Jazeera’s Inside Story speaks to experts on how this new escalation might affect Yemen.

Watch the discussion below:

20 Dec 2024 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)

Most Israelis believe war victory can only be achieved with captives’ return: Report

At least 68 percent of Israelis who took part in a poll did not think a victory in Gaza would be achieved unless the captives held in Gaza were returned.

Israeli news outlet Channel 13 reported that 12 percent of respondents believed that victory would be achieved by annexing Gaza and imposing Israeli sovereignty.

About 8 percent said that the best outcome of the war would be for a moderate Palestinian party other than Hamas to govern Gaza.

The poll suggested that only 29 percent of respondents trusted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while 47 percent trusted army chief Major General Herzi Halevi.

About 24 percent of people trusted Defence Minister Israel Katz.

20 Dec 2024 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Palestinian children from Gaza evacuated to Ireland: Report

Ireland’s national broadcaster RTE has reported that the first Palestinian children from Gaza to be medically evacuated to Ireland for healthcare treatment have arrived in the country.

The media outlet said eight children, accompanied by eight carers and 11 siblings, travelled to Ireland from Egypt on Thursday on a plane provided by the Slovakian government.

The evacuations are a result of a World Health Organization (WHO) request for EU member states to help evacuate Palestinian patients to Europe.

Ten states have responded to the WHO’s request, including Spain, Italy and Norway.

Ireland’s Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora Sean Fleming said that the evacuated children suffer from illnesses like cancer, haemophilia and blood disorders, RTE reported.

20 Dec 2024 - 20:45
 (20:45 GMT)

‘Utter deprivation and unimaginable suffering’ for Gaza’s children: UNICEF

UNICEF says children in Gaza are “cold, sick and traumatised”, and 96 percent of women and children cannot meet their basic nutritional needs.

“Gaza must be one of the most heartbreaking places on earth for humanitarians. Every small effort to save a child’s life is undone by fierce devastation,” Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF communication specialist, said in a statement.

“For over 14 months, children have been at the sharp edge of this nightmare, with more than 14,500 children reportedly killed, thousands more injured.”

Bollen added that amid the festive season, when families celebrate “togetherness”, the reality for children in Gaza is “fear, utter deprivation and unimaginable suffering”.

“Winter has now descended on Gaza. Children are cold, wet, and barefoot. Many still wear summer clothes. With cooking gas gone, many are searching through rubble for scraps of plastic to burn,” Bollen said, adding that in November, an average of 65 aid truckloads entered Gaza, compared with 500 truckloads daily before the war.

20 Dec 2024 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

Amnesty accuses Hezbollah of violating international law

Rights organisation Amnesty International has accused Hezbollah of violating international humanitarian law in Israel because of indiscriminate rocket attacks in its war with Israel.

“Amnesty International documented three Hezbollah rocket attacks on civilian areas of Israel in October 2024 that killed eight civilians and injured at least 16 more that must be investigated as war crimes,” the organisation said on Friday.

Hezbollah did not distinguish between combatants and civilians, as required by international humanitarian law, Amnesty continued. In Israel, civilian homes have also been damaged and destroyed due to the “reckless use” of unguided missiles.

Amnesty recently accused Israel of four “unlawful air strikes” on residential buildings in Lebanon, resulting in many deaths, and called for investigations into whether these were war crimes as well.

Amnesty also criticised Israel’s evacuation orders in Lebanon as inadequate and, in some cases, misleading.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,800 people and wounded more than 15,800 in Lebanon since October 7, 2023. Hezbollah has killed at least 76 Israeli soldiers and 45 civilians in the same period.

Amnesty has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

20 Dec 2024 - 20:15
 (20:15 GMT)

Germany calls HRW report on Israeli acts of genocide in Gaza ‘shocking’

Germany says Israel should address allegations made in a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report that it is committing “acts of genocide” in Gaza by deliberately depriving Palestinian civilians there of access to clean water.

“The report joins a series of reports from international human rights organisations. These reports are, of course, shocking,” Federal Foreign Office spokesperson Christian Wagner said at a news briefing in Berlin.

“And I think it is really urgent that the Israeli government, so to speak, deals with these allegations and addresses them.”

20 Dec 2024 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

At least 25 people killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today

The death toll has been reported by medics to Reuters.

The toll includes at least eight people who were killed in an air attack on a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp and at least 10 people in Jabalia who were killed when an Israeli strike targeted a house.

The Israeli army has not yet commented on the attacks.

20 Dec 2024 - 19:45
 (19:45 GMT)

Photos: Palestinians struggle to get food at distribution centre in Khan Younis

Palestinian women and girls struggle to reach for food at a distribution centre in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on December 20, 2024 [Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
[Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]
[Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Photo]

20 Dec 2024 - 19:30
 (19:30 GMT)

Israeli forces blow up several houses in Yaroun, Lebanon: Report

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reports that Israeli forces have blown up several houses and properties in the town of Yaroun in the district of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon.

A correspondent for NNA reported that explosions were also heard in surrounding villages.

20 Dec 2024 - 19:15
 (19:15 GMT)

Hamas fighter kills two Israeli soldiers in northern Gaza, the Qassam Brigades says

A fighter from Hamas has killed two Israeli soldiers before blowing himself up near a group of soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the group’s armed wing.

The Qassam Brigades said in a statement that the fighter killed an Israeli army sniper and a fellow solider at “point-blank range” in the Jabalia refugee camp.

The fighter, reportedly disguised in Israeli army uniform, then managed to reach a group of six Israeli soldiers and blow himself up, causing casualties, the statement added.

The Israeli army has not yet commented on the attack.