In the West Bank, Israeli settlers with a military escort visit Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus. Israeli settlers also graze their sheep on Palestinian crops in Khirbet al-Tuba in the Masafer Yatta area. Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian man during a raid in Ya’bad. Israeli forces also assault a Palestinian man in Madama. Elsewhere, Israeli forces issue a punitive demolition notice for a home in Bal’a. Israeli forces also arrest 15 Palestinians during raids in and around Jericho, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Tubas, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem. In East Jerusalem, Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir leads a settler tour of the Haram al-Sharif compound. Ben-Gvir says he prayed at the compound. The PA, Egypt. and Jordan condemn the visit. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Beit Lahiya, Gaza City, Nuseirat refugee camp, and Rafah, killing dozens of people, including around 50 people, including 5 doctors, in an airstrike on a building adjacent to the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya. Israeli forces also kill 5 Palestinian journalists traveling in a broadcast van clearly marked as press outside of al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat refugee camp. Israel subsequently claims the 5 journalists were involved in “combat propaganda.” A Palestinian infant dies from cold weather in Gaza, raising the infant death toll from the cold weather in the past 72 hours to 4. An Israeli soldier is killed in northern Gaza. In Yemen, Israeli forces bomb power station and airports in Sanaa and Hodeidah, killing 6 people and injuring 40 in attacks. WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus says members of his crew were injured in an Israeli attack on Sanaa airport where he and his colleagues were waiting to board a plane out of the country. (NYT 12/25; AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, HA, HA, NYT, REU, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WHO 12/26; AJ, AP, HA, REU 12/27)
More than 45,399 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 17,500 children and 11,487 women, and around 107,940 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 11,000 people are missing in rubble. 836 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 172 children. More than 6,500 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 390 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 2,485 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. 87% of all housing units in Gaza have been destroyed or severely damaged since 10/7/2023. (AJ, UNOCHA, WAFA 12/26)
Israeli forces leave Qantara, Adshit al-Qusayr, and Wadi al-Hujeir in Lebanon after being asked to by the ceasefire committee members. (AJ 12/26)
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres condemns the Israeli airstrike on the airport in Sanaa where WHO director-general Ghebreyesus was present and during which a World Food Programme employee was severely injured. (AJ 12/27)
AP reports that Israeli attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara has ordered an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara on suspicion of harassing political opponents and witnesses against Netanyahu in his corruption trial. (AP, AP, HA 12/26; AJ 12/27)
The New York Times reports that on 10/7/2023 Israel changed it civilian protection protocols to allow more civilian casualties in attacks on Gaza. (HA, NYT, NYT, REU 12/26)