Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Palestinian doctor killed in Israeli air strike
Abdullah Habib, a doctor at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in northern Gaza, was killed by an Israeli air strike targeting the Daraj neighborhood.
ICU at Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital set ablaze by latest Israeli attack
A large fire erupted in north Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital early on 18 December as a result of Israeli attacks on the facility as the health sector in the northern strip is on the brink of total collapse.
Following a night of relentless targeting and shelling of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, Israeli tanks opened fire at the facility early on Tuesday, causing a massive fire to break out in its Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Images circulating on social media showed the fire in the ICU.
“We were surprised by the entry of vehicles and bulldozers into the vicinity of the hospital, which was preceded by a terrifying targeting of citizens’ homes in the vicinity. We heard gunfire and shells without being able to do anything,” said the hospital’s director, Dr Hussam Abu Safia, who was recently injured by Israeli attacks on the facility, in a video posted on X.
“Crazy gunfire was fired at the hospital with all kinds of weapons, and the occupation deliberately targeted the intensive care unit by firing at it clearly.”
He added that ICU patients on ventilators were “miraculously” evacuated from the department as the strikes made impact and the fire broke out.
Kamal Adwan Hospital’s ICU is now out of service, Abu Safia confirmed.
New HRW report: Extermination and Acts of Genocide – Israel Deliberately Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of Water
Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have deliberately obstructed Palestinians’ access to the adequate amount of water required for survival in the Gaza Strip.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a person needs between 50 and 100 liters of water per day in order to ensure that their “most basic needs are met.” In protracted emergency situations, the minimum amount of water required is 15 liters of water per person per day for drinking and washing.
Yet, between October 2023 and September 2024, Israeli authorities’ actions have deprived the majority of the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza of access to even that bare minimum amount of water, which has contributed to death and widespread disease. For many in Gaza, much or all of the water they have had access to is not suitable for drinking.
“If we can’t find drinkable water, we drink the sea water,” one father displaced to a school in Rafah told Human Rights Watch in December 2023. “It happened to me many times when I had to drink the sea water. You don’t understand how much we are suffering.” (Read the full report here.)
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Winter rains bring ‘new set of life-threatening challenges’ in Gaza
Anera, a US-based charity group, discusses the difficulties for displaced Palestinians in the winter:
Rain in Gaza brings a new set of life-threatening challenges for the nearly two million displaced people there who are living in makeshift shelters, tents or damaged buildings. For displaced people in Gaza, rain is a reminder of how precarious and fragile their lives have become.
Most displaced families are living in overcrowded camps or makeshift shelters, where the infrastructure is not equipped to handle rain. Tents and temporary shelters become waterlogged fast and, without proper drainage systems, entire areas easily flood, leaving families exposed to the cold and wet.
Waterlogged conditions significantly heighten the risk of waterborne diseases and respiratory infections. Lacking adequate shelter, warm clothing, or sufficient blankets, displaced people—especially the elderly and children—face greater vulnerability to hypothermia, pneumonia, flu, and other cold-related illnesses. Standing water fosters unsanitary conditions, worsening existing health challenges.
Heavy rain destabilizes the already fragile ground in tent camps and informal settlements, causing tents to collapse and makeshift drainage systems to flood. The uneven terrain, often littered with debris, turns muddy and hazardous, making movement challenging.
Israel allowed less than one-third of humanitarian aid into Gaza in December: UN
The UN on Wednesday reported that Israel has facilitated less than one-third of planned humanitarian aid operations into the Gaza Strip in December.
Citing the Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that Israeli authorities continue to deny UN aid operations to besieged parts of northern Gaza, including Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and areas of Jabalya.
Saying that most UN requests have been “denied outright” by Israel since its siege began 10 weeks ago, Dujarric said, “Across the strip, humanitarians continue to face severe access constraints as they try to reach huge numbers of people in need of food, water, shelter, essential and other essentials for them to survive.”
“Throughout Gaza, we planned 339 aid movements that required coordination with the Israeli authorities between 1 and 16 December. They facilitated less than a third of those movements,” he said.
He noted that “out of 96 such humanitarian movements planned for the first half of December, just 16 were facilitated by the Israeli authorities.”
Hamas replenishes ranks in Gaza with thousands of new fighters: Report
Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades, has recruited thousands of new resistance fighters into its ranks in the Gaza Strip and is adapting to the harsh conditions it faces in battles with Israeli troops, who continue to suffer from exhaustion and mental disorders, according to Hebrew reports on 18 December.
“Hamas has recruited some 4,000 new operatives for the military wing in recent months,” Israeli news site Walla reported on Wednesday, citing sources in the military’s southern command.
‘We kill civilians and count them as terrorists’: Israeli reservists recount Gaza service
In an article in Haaretz (Hebrew language), Israeli officers who served along the Nitzarim axis, a corridor in central Gaza, have revealed that their army systematically shoots all Palestinians who approach the area, regardless of whether they are children or unarmed civilians, and leaves their bodies exposed to scavenging by dogs.
Based on testimonies from several Israeli commanders and soldiers, the investigation was published on Wednesday evening by the daily Haaretz, revealing ongoing acts of genocide in the Palestinian enclave for over 14 months.
Officers testified that the Israeli army established an unmarked boundary near Nitzarim with orders to shoot anyone who approaches it. “Every woman is a scout, or a man in disguise … Anyone on a bicycle could be killed, claiming cyclists were terrorists’ collaborators,” the report quoted an officer as saying.
“The line appears on no map and exists in no official military order. While senior Israel Defense Forces officials might deny its existence, in the heart of the Gaza Strip, north of the Netzarim corridor, nothing is more real,” the report added.
A commander in the 252nd Armored Division revealed to Haaretz that soldiers are enforcing what they call a “line of dead bodies…After shootings, bodies are not collected, attracting packs of dogs who come to eat them.”
“The division commander designated this area as a ‘kill zone.’ Anyone who enters is shot,” the commander in the 252nd Armored Division said.
According to another officer, units, brigades, and divisions along the Nitzarim axis compete to kill the most Palestinians: “If Division 99 kills 150 (Palestinians), the next unit aims for 200.”
The investigation included numerous accounts from officers who served in the area, detailing arbitrary killings and the casual classification of Palestinians as “terrorists” after they are killed.
“Calling ourselves the world’s most moral army absolves soldiers who know exactly what we’re doing,” said a senior Israeli reserve commander who also recently served in the Nitzarim axis.
“It means ignoring that for over a year, we’ve operated in a lawless space where human life holds no value. Yes, we commanders and combatants are participating in the atrocity unfolding in Gaza,” he added.
West Bank: Palestinian Man Succumbs to Gunshot Wounds Near Nablus
Israel ‘abuses’ Lebanon ceasefire to expand illegal demolition campaign
The Israeli army exploited the ceasefire with Lebanon and pushed deeper into the country’s south on 18 December, continuing its destructive campaign of demolitions in areas it was unable to advance into during ground operations against Hezbollah.
“The Israeli occupation forces penetrated the center of Bani Hayyan town [in Marjayoun] for the first time, taking advantage of the ceasefire, and demolished the walls of some houses and the walls of the mosque and carried out bombings in the town,” Al Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib reported.
Pictures and videos on social media showed Israeli tanks and bulldozers moving through the area and carrying out demolitions.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli forces demolished homes in Tyre Harfa, Al-Jbeen, and Sheheen in the Tyre (Sour) district – while continuing similar operations on villages at the border edge, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.
Lebanese authorities have reported around 228 Israeli violations since the cease-fire deal between Israel and Lebanon came into force on Nov. 27.
Penny Wong reportedly chastised by Israeli foreign affairs minister over Australia’s stance on Gaza war
Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has been chastised by her Israeli counterpart for what he claimed was Australia distancing itself from Israel in its “most difficult year”, Israeli media reports.
Wong held talks with the Israeli foreign affairs minister, Gideon Sa’ar, on Tuesday, Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported, after a war of words between the two nations over recent votes at the United Nations general assembly.
Wong reportedly accused Israel of not providing enough humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza [EDITOR’S NOTE: Israel has indeed failed to provide enough humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza], culminating in a heated clash, the paper, which is known for broadly supporting the Netanyahu government’s agenda, reported.
Sa’ar rejected the response and pointed to the 7 October attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas against southern Israel.
“Australia chose to distance itself from Israel in its most difficult year, in which it fought against its bitterest enemies,” Sa’ar is reported to have said.
Australia has shifted its support at the UN in recent months, backing motions condemning Israel’s recent vote to ban Palestinian aid agency Unrwa over allegations its staff had ties with Hamas and supporting a “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza.
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‘Tired of writing about dead kids’: why a US State Department worker resigned over Israel-Gaza policy
When Mike Casey arrived in Jerusalem in 2020, he wasn’t looking for a fight.
An army veteran with a stint in Iraq who joined the state department for over a decade of postings across Asia, he came with the measured optimism of a career diplomat – two years of Arabic training ahead, a potential change in administration, and a chance to make a difference.
He’d eventually work his way up the ranks to become the state department’s deputy political counselor on Gaza.
What he didn’t anticipate was becoming a key witness to what he describes as a systematic failure of US foreign policy.
“The more informed you become on this issue, you can’t avoid realizing how bad it is,” Casey told the Guardian.
Casey resigned from the state department in July after four years at the job, discreetly leaving the post unlike other recent high-profile government departures.
Now seated at his kitchen table in the quiet suburbs of northern Michigan, Casey reflected on how, as one of only two people in the entire US government explicitly focused on Gaza, he became an unwilling chronicler of a humanitarian catastrophe.
“I got so tired of writing about dead kids,” he said. “Just constantly having to prove to Washington that these children actually died and then watching nothing happen.”
Casey’s work function included documenting the humanitarian and political landscape through classified cables, research and reporting. But his disillusionment wasn’t sudden. It was a slow accumulation of bureaucratic betrayals – each report dismissed, each humanitarian concern bulldozed by political expediency (continue reading here).
FOR MORE ON GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES WHO RESIGNED OVER GAZA: Veterans For Peace: U.S. Army Major Quits Over Israel
MORE NEWS:
IMEMC Daily Reports.
The Guardian: ‘Everything is gone’: how Israeli forces destroyed Jabaliya refugee camp
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – DECEMBER 18, 2024:
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – December 18, 2024: at least 45,946* – 45,129 in Gaza; in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers and/or settlers have killed at least 817 Palestinians (~169 of them children).
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.
According to a report in the Lancet, by multiplying the reported deaths by five, it is possible to reach a conservative estimate of total deaths (including indirect causes like starvation and lack of medicine). Using the latest figure from AFP (45,129), it is reasonable to estimate at least 225,645 total deaths in Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
According to a recent report by the UN Human Rights Office of identified fatalities in Gaza, about 44% were children. It is reasonable to estimate that 19,857 of known direct deaths and 99,284 of the total deaths are children.
Since Israel launched an extermination campaign in northern Gaza in early October, over 4,000 Palestinians have been killed or are missing and another 12,000 wounded.
[*The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.]Since October 7th, 2023:
- At least 49 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (at least 30 from Gaza).
- At least 43 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition (at least 37 of them children)**.
- About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
- About 345,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
Palestinian injuries from October 7, 2023 – December 18, 2024: at least 113,788 (including at least 107,338 in Gaza and 6,450 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – December 18, 2024: ~1,593 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 415*** military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza (updated: Dec 11); 39 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.
The death toll in Lebanon since October 8, 2023 is at least 4,047, of which 3,961 were killed in the final months before the ceasefire; most of the 16,638 injuries also occurred toward the end of the war.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.
**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.
***The figure does not include the reportedly 59 Israeli soldiers – nearly 17% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.
† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
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