8 December 2023 • 8:53am
8:50AM
Two-state solution needed more than ever, says Shapps
8:46AM
Son of former IDF chief killed by Hamas tunnel bomb
The son of a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff who was also a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, has been killed in fighting in Gaza.
Master Sergeant Gal Meir Eisenkot, the 25-year-old son of Gadi Eisenkot, was critically injured when a bomb exploded in a tunnel shaft in the Jabaliya camp in northern Gaza. He was taken to hospital in Israel, where he died of his injuries.
Mr Eisenkot, an observer in the war cabinet, was in the war room when he learned of his son’s death.
Gal Eisenkot was one of two soldiers killed in the latest fighting, bringing the total of IDF fatalities to 89.
Read more here
8:45AM
After the bombs fell
Karim Ward marked his fifth birthday by telling everyone he met that today was his big day.
“He was overjoyed,” his mother Walaa, 31, said. “He wanted us to celebrate, but I told him there were no cake shops open.”
They would celebrate properly when the war was over, Walaa promised.
Then the bombs fell.
Read more from Esam Abed in the Gaza Strip and James Rothwell here
8:40AM
Hanukkah in pictures:
Individual hanukkiah’s featuring the released, and non-released, faces of hostages are displayed outside The Museum of Art
Credit: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Europe
On the first night of Hanukkah 138 candles were lit, one for each person still being held hostage, outside The Museum of Art
Credit: Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images Europe
Family members of hostages kidnapped by Hamas gather to light candles to mark the first night of Hanukkah
Credit: SHIR TOREM/REUTERS
8:33AM
Israeli forces kill 6 Palestinians in West Bank raid
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.
8:32AM
Israel must put a premium on civilian protection, says Blinken
Israel must put a premium on civilian protection, the US Secretary of State has wAntony Blinken has criticised Israel’s conduct in its southern Gaza offensive, saying there was a “gap” between its intent to protect civilians and what has been happening on the ground.
Speaking at a news conference in Washington following a meeting with Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Blinken laid out concrete steps to ensure civilians are out of harm’s way and the areas they go to are supplied with food, medicine and water.
“As we stand here almost a week into this campaign into the south… it remains imperative that Israel put a premium on civilian protection,” Mr Blinken told reporters. “And there does remain a gap between, exactly what I said when I was there, the intent to protect civilians, and the actual results that we’re seeing on the ground.”