(AA, Al Jazeera, NNA, Wafa, The Muslim News):
YEMEN
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister say Israel will not stop bombing Yemen until it destroys the Houthis and “hunts down all (their) leaders”. US and UK followed Israel in bombing Yemen, according to Yemen’s Houthi group Friday.
Yemeni Houthi [Ansar Allah] group reported a fresh US-British airstrike on the capital Sana’a on Friday evening, amid regional tensions over Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV said the attack targeted the September 21 Park in the Ma’ain district of Sana’a.
The broadcaster, however, didn’t provide details about injuries or damage from the strike.
There was no immediate comment from Washington or London on the report.
The attack came one day after Israeli warplanes launched airstrikes on Sana’a and the coastal province of Al-Hudaydah in western Yemen on Thursday.
A UN official expressed concern on Friday over Israel targeting key facilities in Yemen, including an airport, where a UN worker was injured.
“The bigger issue is parties to the conflict have an obligation to ensure that they are not striking civilians. The obligation is on them, not on us. We don’t need to prove we’re civilians. They need to prove that they are hitting a military target,” Julien Harneis, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, told reporters.
His remarks came a day after Israel struck targets in Yemen, including the Sana’a International Airport, as World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was about to board a flight.
A UN worker was injured in the attack, and evacuated to Jordan for further treatment, Tedros said.
The WHO chief was in Yemen to negotiate the release of UN staffers who have been held hostage by the Houthi group for several months and assess the health and humanitarian situation in the war-torn country.
Harneis said Sana’a Airport has not been a military target since 2016, and it’s a civilian location.
“It is used by the United Nations. It’s used by the International Committee for the Red Cross. It is used for civilian flights … So, all parties to the conflict have an obligation to respect the civilian nature of that facility and to observe international humanitarian law. The responsibility is on them,” he added.
At least 18 Israelis were injured early Friday while rushing to shelters in Tel Aviv, following a missile launch from Yemen which the Israeli army claimed to have intercepted.
According to the army, the missile was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, with alarm sirens sounding across central areas of the country, including the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
Emergency services reported no direct injuries or material damage from the missile but confirmed that 18 individuals were hurt during the rush to shelters.
Following the missile launch, several flights from Europe to Ben Gurion International Airport were delayed with landing operations resuming approximately 30 minutes later.
Meanwhile, the Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, confirmed that the group had executed “three significant military operations.”
In a statement, Saree said: “We carried out a high-quality military operation targeting Ben Gurion Airport with a Palestine-2 type hypersonic ballistic missile.”
He confirmed that the missile successfully reached its target despite the Israeli military’s efforts to keep the attack under wraps.
In addition to the airport strike, Saree noted that a drone attack also targeted a vital facility in Tel Aviv.
“The operation successfully hit its target,” he added, though no further details on the specific facility were provided.
The Houthi spokesperson also reported a third attack that targeted a ship named Santa Ursula in the Arabian Sea, east of Socotra Island, for “violating the ban on entering Israeli-controlled ports.”
On Thursday evening, the Houthis reported that Israeli airstrikes on Sana’a International Airport and Al-Hudaydah province killed six people and injured 40 others.
The latest strikes are part of a pattern of Israeli military action in Yemen this year. On July 20, Israeli airstrikes on Al Hudaydah Port are said to have killed dozens and caused significant material losses, estimated by Houthi officials at $20 million.
On Sept. 29, Israeli forces conducted widespread airstrikes on western Yemen, including Al Hudaydah and Ras Isa ports.
Most recently, on Dec. 19, Israel targeted power stations in Sana’a, Al Hudaydah, Salif, and Ras Isa, resulting in nine deaths, three injuries, and severe infrastructure damage. The strikes left hundreds of thousands without electricity.
GAZA
At least 37 more Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, bringing the overall death toll since last year to 45,436, the Health Ministry in the enclave said on Friday.
A ministry statement added that some 108,038 others were injured in the ongoing assault.
“Israeli forces killed 37 people and injured 98 others in three massacres of families in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.
“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
Kamal Adwan Hospital, the last remaining in north Gaza, has been raided and cleared of staff and patients by the Israeli army.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says contact has been lost with the hospital and reports a large fire spreading through several of its departments.
This comes after at least 50 people were killed, including five medical staff, in an Israeli air strike on a building near the hospital.
At least 15 people were killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan, the enclave’s Civil Defence said.
Gaza’s Health Ministry appealed to the international community on Friday to provide alternative medical services for civilians after an Israeli raid on a main hospital in the north of the enclave.
The Israeli army raided Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday, burning large sections and forcing patients and displaced civilians to flee.
“The hospital has been under attack since dawn, forcing around 350 health workers, patients, and civilians to evacuate at gunpoint,” Maher Shamiyeh, assistant undersecretary for Gaza’s Health Ministry, told a press conference.
“The Israeli army set fire to the hospital buildings, including the engineering and maintenance building, the central laboratory, and the hospital stores,” he added.
Shamiyeh urged the international community to intervene “to save what is left from Gaza’s health system and to provide alternative medical services for civilians in northern Gaza.”
He also called for opening urgent humanitarian corridors “to ensure patients get access to medical services and the delivery of logistical and medical aid.”
The Israeli army on Friday claimed it detected the firing of a rocket from the northern Gaza Strip which is under a devastating Israeli onslaught.
The Israeli army said the rocket landed in an open area in the Nir Am settlement, adjacent to Gaza, without causing injuries or major damage.
According to the Times of Israel news website, the incident triggered the activation of sirens in Nir Am area.
This is the first rocket attack from Gaza in over a week, according to an Anadolu reporter.
No Palestinian group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
A UN official on Friday voiced concern over the ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip.
“We are alarmed by ongoing attacks across the Strip that have left scores of Palestinians dead,” spokeswoman Stephanie Tremblay told reporters.
Earlier on Friday, a medical source from Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza told Anadolu that the Israeli army set fire to several hospital sections.
Tremblay said an airstrike near Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza governorate on Thursday night is said to have killed dozens of people, including health workers.
“In Kamal Adwan hospital today, staff, patients and their companions were forced out of the facility. Arrests and significant damage to the hospital have been reported,” she added.
The official underlined that the UN teams continue to face “systematic denials” of humanitarian access to North Gaza.
“Just today, another attempt by the UN to reach besieged parts of North Gaza governorate was denied by the Israeli authorities,” she added.
Turning to the occupied West Bank, Tremblay said as of Dec. 26, Israeli forces had killed 20 Palestinians over a 10-day period, including at least 12 deaths due to airstrikes.
“Our humanitarian colleagues say Israel’s military operation in Tulkarm’s refugee camp caused extensive damage to infrastructure.
“Lethal, war-like tactics are being applied repeatedly during these operations in the West Bank, raising concerns over use of force that exceeds law enforcement standards,” she added.
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), she said, as of Dec. 24, a total of 4,706 Palestinians have been displaced across the West Bank this year, including 1,949 children.
UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said that babies in the Gaza Strip are freezing to death due to cold weather and lack of shelter.
“Meanwhile, blankets, mattresses and other winter supplies have been stuck in the region for months waiting for approval to get into Gaza,” added Lazzarini in a post on X.
He called for an immediate flow of much-needed basic supplies, including for winter, reiterating the call for an immediate ceasefire.
Two civilians were killed on Friday evening in Israeli drone attacks that targeted civilians in Gaza City.
At least three individuals were killed and several others were injured when an Israeli airstrike struck a group of Palestinians in the Al-Shati refugee camp, located in the northwestern part of Gaza City.
Six civilians were also killed and several others were injured in a series of airstrikes carried out by Israeli warplanes on the city of Beit Hanoun in the northern Strip.
In another attack, a Palestinian man was killed, and others were wounded when Israeli forces launched an airstrike on the Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City.
Later in the day, two more Palestinians were killed, and others were injured in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Asqoula area in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City.
Additionally, Israeli military vehicles fired at civilians and their homes north of Abasan, located east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
WAFA correspondent reported that Israeli drone strikes targeted civilians in the al-Jundi al-Majhool area of the Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City, resulting in the killing of a displaced woman.
In a separate attack, a civilian was killed after an Israeli drone opened fire on civilians near the Jordanian Field Hospital in the al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City.
In addition, Israeli forces besieged approximately 300 families in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun. Sources indicated that Beit Hanoun is enduring violent Israeli aggression, with systematic attacks on residential areas.
Residents of Beit Hanoun have appealed for urgent assistance to save several people injured in the ongoing Israeli shelling of areas where civilians are gathered.
A medical source told Anadolu that four of the Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the Shujaiya neighborhood.
Another three were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a home belonging to the Harara family in the Sabra neighborhood, said another source at the Baptist Hospital.
Additionally, an Israeli airstrike targeted a gathering of civilians in the Al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City, killing one Palestinian and injuring others.
Emergency teams in the Gaza Strip today retrieved the bodies of two children who were killed by Israeli occupation forces in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, according to local sources.
WAFA correspondent reported that the bodies of the two victims, identified as 16-year-old Yusuf Ibrahim Abu Mahareb and 14-year-old Mohammed Ghiyad Abu Mahareb, were recovered from the Abu al-Ajeen area, east of Deir al-Balah in the central part of the Gaza Strip.
Meantime, a number of individuals were killed and several others injured in an Israeli drone attack in Jabalia al-Balad area, located in the northern Gaza Strip.
According to local sources, the victims were targeted by an Israeli drone, leading to fatalities and injuries.
The identities of the individuals have not yet been disclosed, and the exact number of casualties remains unconfirmed.
At least 14,500 Palestinian children have been killed in Israel’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip since last year, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said earlier this week.
WEST BANK
Israeli bulldozers uprooted on Friday several trees and seized a bulldozer in the village of Madama south of Nablus, according to a local official.
Abdullah Ziyada, head of Madama Village Council, stated that Israeli forces stormed the village and began uprooting olive and forest trees near the bypass road to the west of the village.
Ziyada also confirmed that the military seized a bulldozer owned by a local resident, which was used to reopen blocked roads in the village.
The bulldozer was taken to the Huwara military camp, built on Palestinian land south of Nablus.
This incident follows an earlier Israeli raid on Madama on Thursday, during which forces fired live ammunition, beat up a young man and forced shop owners to close their stores. The military also closed all entrances to the village.
Israeli forces today prevented several Palestinian farmers from continuing their work on their agricultural lands in the Umm al-Qaba area in the northern Jordan Valley, northeast of the occupied West Bank.
Mahdi Daraghmeh, the head of the Al-Malih Village Council, reported that the Israeli military, acting under the influence of illegal Israeli settlers, detained the farmers for over two hours.
Subsequently, he added, the farmers were obstructed from completing the plowing of their lands in preparation for planting dry crops. The farmers were eventually expelled from the area by the Israeli forces.
As a result of ongoing settlers encroachment, large portions of agricultural land previously owned by Palestinian citizens have been effectively seized, leaving farmers unable to access or work their own fields.
LEBANON
The Israeli army committed eight additional violations of a cease-fire with Lebanon on Friday, bringing the total breaches since last month to 319, according to an Anadolu tally.
Israeli artillery shelled twice the town of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese state news agency NNA said, without providing details about injuries.
Israeli forces also blew up several homes in the towns of Yaroun and Naqoura, while warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting three sites in the forests of Qousaya in eastern Lebanon. Israeli fighter jets also flew at low altitude in the eastern Zahla district.
At least 32 people have been killed and 38 others injured in Israeli attacks since the cease-fire took effect Nov. 27, according to an Anadolu tally based on Lebanese Health Ministry figures.
Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel is required to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line — a de facto border — in phases, while the Lebanese army is to deploy in southern Lebanon within 60 days. The Israeli army committed eight additional violations of a cease-fire with Lebanon on Friday, bringing the total breaches since last month to 319, according to an Anadolu tally.
Israeli artillery shelled twice the town of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese state news agency NNA said, without providing details about injuries.
Israeli forces also blew up several homes in the towns of Yaroun and Naqoura, while warplanes carried out airstrikes targeting three sites in the forests of Qousaya in eastern Lebanon. Israeli fighter jets also flew at low altitude in the eastern Zahla district.
Under the terms of the cease-fire, Israel is required to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line — a de facto border — in phases, while the Lebanese army is to deploy in southern Lebanon within 60 days.
Israel on Friday confirmed airstrikes on facilities at the Janta crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border, claiming they were used to transfer weaponry to Hezbollah.
In a statement, the Israeli army said that its air forces “carried out airstrikes on infrastructure at the Janta crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border which had been used to transfer weaponry from Syria to Hezbollah.”
The Janta crossing is located on the Lebanese side of the border.
Israel claimed that “Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 is responsible for smuggling weapons from Iran and its proxies to Lebanon.”
In its efforts to respond to what it describes as “threats from Hezbollah,” Israel has violated the cease-fire that came into force on Nov. 27 over 300 times in Lebanon, leading to a total of 32 deaths and 38 injuries, according to a tally by Anadolu, based on data from the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Under the cease-fire terms, Israel is required to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line – a de facto border – in phases, while the Lebanese army is to deploy in southern Lebanon within 60 days
Israel Friday said the two-month deadline for its troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon, stipulated in a cease-fire agreement, is “not a sacred date.”
The cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon, which took effect on Nov. 27, 2023, stipulates that Israel should complete its withdrawal within 60 days.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation quoted on Friday unnamed Israeli security officials as saying: “The two-month timeline for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon is not a sacred deadline, and the implementation of the withdrawal depends on field developments.”
The officials added: “The plans presented to the US mechanism, which coordinates between the Israeli and Lebanese armies and UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon), include gradual timelines based on steps taken by the Lebanese army.”
They also stated that Israel had informed the US that the withdrawal would only take place after the necessary conditions are met, without providing further details.
The broadcaster claimed that “Israel has monitored Hezbollah’s attempts to move personnel from Syria to Lebanon over the past two weeks.”
The agency also reported that “Israel has emphasized to the international community that it will not withdraw from southern Lebanon unless Hezbollah withdraws to the northern bank of the Litani River and the Lebanese army deploys along the border.”
The Israeli army continues to issue statements about carrying out attacks in southern Lebanon, citing violations of the cease-fire. It is also preventing residents from returning to their homes in several villages in the region.
In response, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday denied reports that Lebanon had been informed through intermediaries that Israel would not withdraw from southern Lebanon after the 60-day period.
In a statement, Mikati’s media office emphasized: “This information is completely false.”
“The firm position that Mikati has conveyed to all relevant parties, including the US and France, is that pressure should be exerted on Israel to withdraw from the Lebanese territories it occupied and stop its violations and hostile actions,” it said.
On Thursday, the Lebanese News Agency reported that Israeli military vehicles had crossed the Wadi al-Hujair area into the town of Qantara in southern Lebanon, marking yet another violation of the cease-fire.
This brings the total number of violations to over 300 since the agreement came into effect 30 days ago.
[Photo: Palestinians living in the area inspect the area among the rubbles of destroyed buildings following an Israeli attack on Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on December 27, 2024. Photojournalist: Dawoud Abo Alkas/AA]
