2023-12-16 23:36:48
According to a report by Al Jazeera on the 16th, Osama Hamdan, a senior official of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said at a press conference in Beirut, Lebanon, that Israeli attacks have killed more than 19,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. , and more than 8,000 people are missing. In addition, the Palestinian death toll in the West Bank has risen to 300 since October 7.
According to US media reports on the 16th, Qatari and Israeli officials held talks that day to negotiate on matters such as the resumption of ceasefire negotiations between the two parties in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to promote the restoration of ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the continued release of detained persons.
conflict dynamics
Israeli troops continue to advance ground operations
On the 16th local time, the Israeli army continued its air strikes on the Gaza Strip and advanced ground operations. Thick smoke rose from many places in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, and continuous loud noises might be heard. A video released by Agence France-Presse on the 16th showed an Israeli helicopter landing and flying east of Khan Younis. In addition, the Israeli military also released a video that day saying that Israeli troops killed an armed man hiding in a tunnel shaft. The Israel Defense Forces said on social media that on the 16th, the Israeli army carried out attacks on two schools in northern Gaza where militants were hiding.
Hamas attacks Israeli military positions
The Qassan Brigade, an armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), released a video on the 16th. The footage showed that armed personnel of the Qassan Brigade launched an attack on soldiers in an Israeli military stronghold in the Gaza Strip. There were Israeli soldiers. die. Armed personnel of the Qassan Brigade also seized weapons from Israeli soldiers.
Qatari and Israeli officials hold talks to discuss restoration of ceasefire in Gaza Strip
According to a report from the US news website Axios on the 16th, Qatar Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed and Israeli Intelligence and Secret Service (Mossad) Director David Barnea held talks in a European city that day to resume ceasefire negotiations between the two sides in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. , to promote negotiations on matters such as the restoration of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the continued release of detained persons. According to reports, this is the first time that senior officials from Qatar and Israel have held talks on the Palestinian-Israeli situation since the conflict between the Palestinian and Israeli parties resumed fighting in the Gaza Strip on December 1.
The report quoted sources as saying that the meeting was “just the beginning of further negotiations” and emphasized that the process would be “long, difficult and complex.” The heads of the CIA and Egyptian intelligence services were also briefed on the meeting.
humanitarian situation
UN agency: Record number of Palestinians killed in West Bank this year
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released a report on the 16th stating that this year was the highest number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank since the agency began keeping records in 2005.
Data show that as of December 15, a total of 477 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem this year, of which 278, including 70 children, were killed when a new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out on October 7 Later he was killed.
The report also shows that attacks by Israeli settlers once morest Palestinians have also increased since the outbreak of this round of conflict. Before October 7, there were an average of 21 attacks by Israeli settlers once morest Palestinians per week in the area. After October 7, this number increased to 35.
Rafah children walking in the ruins: We have nothing left
As the Israeli army continues to advance its military operations in the southern Gaza Strip, the previously relatively safe city of Rafah in the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip has also begun to be bombed frequently. On the 16th, Layan, a 9-year-old local child, and her 13-year-old brother Suleiman walked through the ruins of their home following being bombed, trying to find their remaining supplies and toys.
Layan said, we were sitting here yesterday and then we had to leave. All of a sudden they (Israeli troops) blew up our house.
Suleiman said that this house once sheltered his family from wind and rain and held many beautiful memories for the family. Now, they have nothing.
surrounding situation
Provisional border conflict between Lebanon and Israel has killed 108 Hezbollah militants in Lebanon
On the morning of December 16, local time, Lebanese Hezbollah announced through its affiliated news media “Lighthouse” that an armed man died in the Lebanese-Israeli temporary border conflict. The statement did not mention specific information such as time and location.
According to local Lebanese media statistics, since the Lebanese-Israeli temporary border conflict broke out on October 8, 108 armed personnel of Hezbollah in Lebanon have died.
Yemen’s Houthis claim drone attack on Israel
On the followingnoon of the 16th local time, the Houthi armed forces in Yemen issued a statement stating that they launched “cross-border drone attacks” on multiple targets in the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
The Houthis also stated that they will continue to launch attacks on Israeli targets until Israel ceases its military operations in the Gaza Strip. Israel has yet to respond to the Houthi attacks.
Voices from all sides
Families of Israeli detainees call for new deal to release detainees
According to the Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post, on the evening of the 16th local time, family members of Israeli detainees and their supporters held a press conference in Tel Aviv, calling on Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli war cabinet to After two detained Israelis were “accidentally killed” by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, a new agreement was reached with the Palestinians to achieve the release of the detained persons.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterates call for ceasefire in Gaza Strip
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recently called once more on both Palestine and Israel for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip at the annual press conference hosted by the United Nations Correspondents’ Association in Geneva.
Tedros said that the WHO Executive Board’s special meeting on the health situation in the occupied Palestinian territories recently passed a resolution calling for the immediate, continuous and unhindered delivery of humanitarian relief supplies and the dispatch of medical workers to Gaza. The resolution also calls on the Director-General to continue reporting on the impact of the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict on public health and mental health.
He said that these tasks are almost impossible to accomplish under the current circumstances and no one, including humanitarian and medical workers, is safe in the Gaza Strip. “The only solution is an immediate ceasefire.”
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