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Qatar, Israel hostage talks positive but deal not imminent: source
A meeting between Qatars prime minister and the heads of Israels Mossad spy agency and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Warsaw about hostages held by Hamas was positive but there is no expectation of an imminent deal, according to a source briefed on the diplomatic efforts.
The leaders met in Polands capital yesterday to discuss a potential new deal to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for a potential release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
“The talks were positive with negotiators exploring and discussing different proposals in an attempt to progress on negotiations,” the source said. “An agreement is not expected imminently however.”
Israel’s Herzog floats second Gaza truce for recovering hostages
Israeli President Isaac Herzog signalled readiness on the part of the country to enter another foreign-mediated Gaza truce in order to recover hostages held by Hamas and enable more aid to reach the besieged Palestinian enclave.
“Israel is ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages,” Herzog, whose public role is largely ceremonial, told a gathering of ambassadors, according to his office.
“And the responsibility lies fully with (Hamas leader Yahya) Sinwar and (other) Hamas leadership,” he said.
Qatar, Israel hostage talks positive but deal not imminent: source
A meeting between Qatars prime minister and the heads of Israels Mossad spy agency and the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Warsaw about hostages held by Hamas was positive but there is no expectation of an imminent deal, according to a source briefed on the diplomatic efforts.
The leaders met in Polands capital yesterday to discuss a potential new deal to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza in exchange for a potential release of Palestinians in Israeli prisons and a humanitarian pause in the fighting.
“The talks were positive with negotiators exploring and discussing different proposals in an attempt to progress on negotiations,” the source said. “An agreement is not expected imminently however.”
Israeli army to ‘review’ strike that killed French ministry staffer: Anadolu
Israel’s army will conduct the probe once it receives additional details on the staffer’s identity from French officials, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reports.
This weekend the French foreign ministry condemned the death of the embassy staffer, who had sought shelter in a colleague’s home that was hit by Israeli shelling, and asked Israel to clarify the incident as soon as possible.
“We have asked for a complete spotlight on the circumstances that could explain the targeting of this house, following the explosion that resulted in the death of this staffer,” said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Sunday.
Israeli Airports Authority confirms putting hundreds on unpaid leave
We can confirm that 600 Israeli airport staff are now on unpaid leave, as air traffic to Israel drops amid the Gaza war.
Israel’s Airports Authority confirmed the move to Al Jazeera following an earlier report by Israeli financial newspaper Globes.
An additional 1,000 airport staff have been called up to the army reserves, while 2,000 more have seen their hours reduced by 25 percent due to the drop in business, Globes reported.
Houthis say will continue Red Sea attacks
A senior official says the Yemeni group will continue targeting Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea, “even if America succeeds in mobilising the entire world” to stop them.
Mohammed al-Bukhaiti issued the statement as the US announced the launch of a new multinational naval task force to patrol Red Sea shipping lanes, which have been rocked by Houthi attacks on more than a dozen vessels during the Gaza war.
Writing on X, al-Bukhaiti said the Houthis would only halt attacks on Israel-linked vessels if “crimes in Gaza stop and food, medicines and fuel are allowed to reach its besieged population”.
France to impose sanctions on ‘extremist Israeli settlers’
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has made the announcement during a meeting with her British counterpart, David Cameron, in Paris.
France “has decided to take measures … against certain extremist Israeli settlers,” she said. “I was able to see for myself the violence committed by certain of these extremist settlers. It’s unacceptable,” added Colonna, who returned to the French capital after a trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israeli settlers who live illegally in the occupied West Bank have intensified assaults on Palestinians there during the Gaza war, waging more than 300 attacks, according to the UN.
The US and the UK have also announced measures against some Israeli settlers earlier this month, imposing visa restrictions on those “believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank”.
Swedish company forms task force to avert Red Sea attacks
Swedish company Electrolux has created a task force to find alternative maritime trade routes as vessels passing through the Red Sea fear attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The announcement comes as more than a dozen international shipping firms pause operations in the Red Sea and the US forms an international naval coalition to patrol the waters.
The French foreign minister, whose country is a part of the US-led naval task force, said on Tuesday that France would also strengthen its operational capacity in the Red Sea “to put an end to these attacks”.
Israel wants to ‘buy time’ for war with captive release talks
Analyst Tamer Qarmout says “a window of opportunity” has opened with the talks on the release of the Israeli captives by Hamas, but notes that “will take a long time”.
“The Israelis are interested in buying more time while continuing with their war in the Gaza Strip. And just to convince the families of the captives and people who protest demanding the release of these captives that they are doing something,” the assistant professor in public policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies told Al Jazeera.
“Hamas wants an immediate end of the war, an immediate withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and only then, they are willing to negotiate.”
Israeli forces detain hundreds in Al-Awda Hospital: Ministry
Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, has provided an update on the situation at al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza.
Here are his translated comments:
Israeli forces have turned the hospital into a military barrack.
They have detained 240 people, including 80 medical staff, 40 patients, and 120 displaced persons inside the hospital.
Israeli forces have arrested six hospital staff, including the director of the facility, Ahmed Muhanna.
Houthis: New naval alliance ‘unnecessary’
A new US-led naval alliance in the Red Sea will have no impact on the Houthis’ stance in the Gaza war, according to the group’s chief negotiator.
Houthi official Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters news agency that the international naval patrol mission meant to safeguard Red Sea shipping lanes is “essentially unnecessary”. This is because all waters near Yemen are still safe, he said, except for Israel-linked ships or vessels travelling to Israel.
Yemen’s Houthis have waged attacks on more than a dozen commercial ships they consider to be linked to Israel since the Gaza war broke out, disrupting a key maritime trade channel in the Red Sea.
Israeli forces raid town in Bethlehem
There has been an operation by Israeli forces in the town of Nahalin in southwest occupied West Bank.
Overnight raids were also carried out in other parts of the occupied territory, including Ramallah, Jenin, Hebron and Tulkarem.
More than 4,500 people have been arrested amid Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
Another Red Sea incident reported near Djibouti: UKMTO
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency is reporting an incident 80 nautical miles (148 km) off the coast of Djibouti, at the mouth of the Red Sea, as shipping vessels in the area continue to face threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The UKMTO’s advisory note says authorities are investigating the incident and advised vessels to travel “with caution”.
UKMTO WARNING 016/DEC/2023
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) December 19, 2023
INCIDENThttps://t.co/a6eYax4Zi0#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/dwDdqBrXhz
US defence secretary: ‘Reckless’ Houthi attacks in Red Sea ‘must stop’
Lloyd Austin made the statement at a virtual ministerial meeting touting a new international patrol mission to secure shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
“We’re all here because many countries can directly contribute to our common efforts to keep strategic waterways safe,” said Austin.
“These reckless Houthi attacks are a serious international problem and they demand a firm international response,” he added.
The US-led patrol mission — Operation Prosperity Guardian — will include joint patrols of Red Sea shipping with companies. The United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain will also take part in the patrol.
Hundreds of Israeli airport workers laid off: Report
Israel’s Airports Authority is placing 600 staff on unpaid leave as flight numbers plummet amid the Gaza War, according to Israeli financial newspaper Globes.
An additional 2,000 employees will have their work hours cut by 25 percent, the report says.
Israel’s main Ben Gurion airport currently has some 100 flights coming in per day, a five-fold drop from before the Gaza war, says Globes.
‘Clear progress’ towards new hostage exchange deal after Warsaw talks
Al Jazeera says there is “clear progress” towards a potential new hostage exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, after CIA director Bill Burns flew to Warsaw for negotiations with Israel’s spy chief and Qatar’s prime minister.
However, as Israel points to mid-January as the timetable for the “next stage of the war”, there is concern Hamas may decide” just to sit tight” until then “to see how things play out,” Fisher said.
Hamas may wait until mid-January “to give up any of the captives and use them as a bargaining chip when things actually start to change on the ground,” he added.
Home destroyed in occupied West Bank amid Israeli raid: Report
Israeli forces have blown up the home of a Palestinian prisoner overnight in Nablus in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency is reporting.
The home of Osama Bani Fadl was located in a three-storey building in the town of Aqraba, the Palestinian news outlet said.
Earlier we reported that Israeli forces also carried out raids in Hebron, Jenin and Tulkarem.
Unwashed and underfed, babies born into Gaza war face hardship in tents
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) – The grandmother has a simple wish for her twin baby granddaughters, Alma and Salma: they should be in a clean, safe room where they can be bathed.
Instead, the infants are living in a tent in a camp for displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza. Their mother cannot breastfeed them because she is not getting enough nutrition for her body to produce milk. And they have never been bathed.
Alma and Salma are part of a generation of Gaza babies born into homeless, destitute families struggling to survive Israel's ferocious military assault on their crowded strip of land, which has caused a humanitarian catastrophe.
‘Negotiations will be long and difficult’: Israel’s Channel 12
Quoting a source, the Israeli television channel reported that Israeli negotiators now face the challenge of convincing the head of Hamas in Gaza to agree to a deal that does not include a ceasefire.
Israel believes that the decision of Hamas to publish videos of Israeli captives is aimed at pushing for negotiations, Channel 12 also quoted the source as saying.
In recent days, the head of Israel’s spy agency Mossad held talks with the CIA director and the foreign minister of Qatar to discuss the possible resumption of talks for the release of captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Israel faces mounting calls for a Gaza ceasefire at the UN
Israel faces another round of global pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza, with a new vote expected before the UN Security Council and fresh diplomatic efforts.
The UNSC is set to convene to weigh a call for a ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory after a previous bid was vetoed by the US.
A vote on a ceasefire resolution was scheduled for Monday, but the United Arab Emirates, which had introduced the latest text, requested the vote be postponed to allow for negotiations to continue, diplomatic sources told AFP news agency.
US envoys work for new hostage release deal, scale-down of Israel-Hamas war but say no timetable
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The head of the CIA jetted to Europe for talks with Israeli and Qatari officials Monday, sounding out the potential for a deal on a new cease-fire and the release of hostages in Gaza, as the US defense secretary spoke to Israeli military leaders about scaling back major combat operations against Hamas.
Still, there was no sign that a shift in the war was imminent after more than two months of devastating bombardment and fighting. Fierce battles raged in northern Gaza, where residents said rescue workers were searching for the dead and the living under buildings flattened by Israeli strikes.
Pressure is growing, as France, the UK and Germany — some of Israel’s closest allies — joined global calls for a ceasefire over the weekend. Israeli protesters have demanded the government relaunch talks with Hamas on releasing more hostages after three were mistakenly killed by Israeli troops while waving a white flag.
Israeli military: Two more soldiers killed in northern Gaza
The Israeli military identified the two reservists as Daniel Yacov Ben Harosh, a resident of an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, and Rotem Yoseff from Oranit.
Both were killed in fighting on Monday, the statement said.
The killing brings to 131 the number of soldiers killed since Israel began its ground operation in Gaza.
Two other soldiers were also injured in the fighting.
Israeli forces accused of vandalising a house in raid near Hebron
Israeli forces have allegedly vandalised the inside of a house in the al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, in one of its raids across the occupied West Bank.
For years, Israeli soldiers have been accused of destroying the personal property of people targeted during the raids and those incidents have only increased since the October 7 war between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli forces have also been carrying out raids in other parts of the Palestinian territory, including in the town of Kafr Qaddum in Qalqilya and the city of Jericho.
US-led Red Sea patrol force formed in response to attacks by Houthis backing Palestinians
GAZA/MANAMA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Several countries have agreed to jointly carry out patrols in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to try to safeguard commercial shipping against attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, who say they are supporting Palestinians under siege by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
A statement on Tuesday by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on a visit to Bahrain, identified several countries taking part in an international force. It was unclear whether those countries are willing to do what U.S. warships have done in recent days - shoot down Houthi missiles and drones and rush to the aid of commercial ships under attack.
"This is an international challenge that demands collective action. Therefore today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative," the statement said.
Israel signals gradual shift in Gaza war, after US defense chief visit
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israel will gradually transition to the next phase of operations in Gaza, the country's defence minister said on Monday following talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about lower intensity combat and ways to reduce harm to civilians.
Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said the local population would likely be able to first return to Gaza's north, which was the most populated area of the Mediterranean enclave before Israel's invasion in retaliation for the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
Neither Austin or Gallant gave a timeline for a move to what Austin called "more surgical" operations.
US urges Israel to do more to protect civilians in fight against Hamas
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday that Washington's support for Israel was "unshakable" but he urged its ally to do more to protect civilians as its war against Hamas brought yet more death and destruction to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Lloyd, speaking during a visit to Israel, said Hamas was a "fanatical terrorist group" which should never again be able to make attacks on Israel from Gaza.
His visit came amid growing concern from foreign governments and international organisations over the death toll among civilians in Gaza from Israeli bombardments as well as rising hunger and destitution.
