Israel-Hamas war: Israel strikes 450 targets in Gaza; UN to vote on ‘immediate ceasefire’

Israeli forces squeezed Gaza’s main cities as the UN launched an ceasefire bid following weeks of fighting that Hama claims has left 17,177 people dead in Gaza.

Vast areas of Gaza have been reduced to a wasteland, with the UN estimating 80 per cent of the population has been displaced and facing shortages of food, fuel, water and medicine, along with the threat of disease.

Israeli strikes targeted Gaza City, Jabalia and Khan Yunis, with residents told to move west major cities.

The fighting has pushed Gazans further and further south, turning Rafah near the Egyptian border into a vast camp for many of the 1.9 million displaced.

Israel’s military released footage of naval forces firing from the Mediterranean towards what it called Hamas infrastructure on shore. Other military video showed what it described as strikes on targets in Khan Yunis.

ROCKETS FIRED AT US EMBASSY

Rockets were launched at the US embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, the mission said, the latest in a flurry of such attacks amid the Israel-Hamas war.

“A multi-rocket attack was launched at US and Coalition forces in the vicinity of Union III and the Baghdad embassy complex” without causing any reported casualties or damage, a US official said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

In a statement, the US embassy said “two salvos of rockets” were fired at the mission compound in the early hours of Friday morning, local time.

“Indications are the attacks were initiated by Iran-aligned militias,” said a US spokesperson.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani warned attacks on embassies undermine the country’s security and stability.

ISRAEL STRIKES HEZBOLLAH IN SYRIA

Four pro-Hezbollah fighters were killed in an Israeli drone strike on their car in the south of Syria, a war monitor said.

The four fighters “working on behalf of Hezbollah” were killed in Madinat al-Baath town in the province of Quneitra, close to the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

The monitor was unable however to confirm if the combatants were Syrian or not, but they were not part of the Syrian army, Abdel Rahman said.

TOP HAMAS COMMANDERS ADDED TO TERRORIST LIST

The European Union added two of Hamas’s top military commanders to its terrorist blacklist, linking them directly to the October 7 attacks on Israel.

Brussels said Mohammed Deif, 58-year-old commander general of the Hamas military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and his deputy Marwan Issa had been added to its sanctions list.

“The two individuals are subject to the freezing of their funds and other financial assets in EU member states,” it said.

“It is also prohibited for EU operators to make funds and economic resources available to them.”

IDF STRIKES 450 TARGETS IN GAZA

Israel military has revealed it has hit more than 400 targets in Gaza in the past day – the highest reported since the end of the ceasefire deal last week.

“Approximately 450 targets were struck from the air, sea, and ground as IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip continued extensive battles with terrorists,” the IDF said in a statement.

“The troops continue to operate to locate and destroy underground tunnel shafts, weapons, and additional terror infrastructure.”

Members of the Israeli army’s infantry 6th brigade take part in an assault coordination exercise near Moshav Kidmat Tsvi in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 7. Picture: AFP

Members of the Israeli army’s infantry 6th brigade take part in an assault coordination exercise near Moshav Kidmat Tsvi in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 7. Picture: AFP

UN TO VOTE ON IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE

The UN Security Council will meet in Gaza on Friday to vote on urging an immediate ceasefire after weeks of ruinous war, as Israel continues its intense bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

In a letter to the council on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres took the extraordinary step of invoking the UN charter’s Article 99, which states that the secretary-general may bring to the attention of the council “any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.” No one in his job had done this in decades.

Members of the Israeli army’s infantry 6th brigade take part in an assault coordination exercise near Moshav Kidmat Tsvi in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 7, 2023, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues with Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip. Picture: AFP

Members of the Israeli army’s infantry 6th brigade take part in an assault coordination exercise near Moshav Kidmat Tsvi in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 7, 2023, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues with Hamas militants in the southern Gaza Strip. Picture: AFP

Mr Guterres wrote: “Amid constant bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces, and without shelter or the essentials to survive, I expect public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible.”

He called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” to prevent “a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians” and the entire Middle East.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric expressed hope that the council will heed Mr Guterres’ urgent appeal.

Mr Dujarric said that since Wednesday the UN chief has spoken with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and their counterparts from several other countries.

ISRAEL KILLED SIX PEOPLE IN WEST BANK: PALESTINIAN HEALTH MINISTRY

Israeli forces shot dead six Palestinians on Friday in a raid on a refugee camp in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The ministry did not identify those who died, but said they had been killed “by bullets from the occupation (Israel) in the Al-Fara refugee camp” near Tubas.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Clashes escalated with the (Israeli) forces who stormed the camp amid intense fire and… explosions,” said the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Violence has flared in the territory since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry said four Palestinians, two of them teenagers, were killed in multiple Israeli operations around the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.