On December 19, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia issued a statement on the recent calls for the creation of ballot boxes for Georgian citizens living abroad and the related petitions, saying that they could not have any legal consequences as the Electoral Code of Georgia does not provide for such a procedure and that CEC establishes the polling stations on the basis of the data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In response, the allied parties Girchi-More Freedom and Droa announced that Georgians abroad are indeed sending the petitions to both the CEC and the Georgian Foreign Ministry, and pledged to continue the “Ballot Box in Your City” campaign, which aims to get Georgians abroad to vote in the October 2024 parliamentary elections.
On November 28, the allied “Girchi-More Freedom” and “Droa” parties announced a “Ballot Box in Your City” campaign, calling on Georgian citizens abroad to request the opening of polling stations in cities where there is no Georgian consulate. At the briefing of “Girchi-More Freedom” and “Droa” on December 19, the leaders said that the collection of signatures to open polling stations abroad is underway in 42 cities abroad and has been completed in three cities.
CEC Statement
The CEC said that the ongoing appeals already seem to be turning into a campaign, and “the misinterpretation of the issue may harm the electoral environment and mislead voters”.
It said that it is committed to the participation of the largest number of Georgian citizens, both inside and outside the country, in the elections, which is confirmed by the information campaigns launched by the CEC.
However, the CEC stated that it opens the polling stations abroad only on the basis of the information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. The CEC also noted that the polling stations abroad can be opened no later than 30 days before the election day for a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 3000 people.
According to the CEC, the general list of voters will be drawn up on the basis of information provided by the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on persons who are on a consular register abroad. There is also a special list of voters, which is drawn up for people who are registered abroad but are not on a consular register, and also for people who are neither registered abroad nor on a consular register, but who will register at the district election commission, at the Georgian diplomatic mission abroad or at the Georgian consulate no later than 19 days before the elections.
“We appeal to all parties involved to respect and follow the election procedures, not to mislead voters for political purposes and not to damage the election environment,” – said the CEC statement.
On December 20, the allied political parties “Girchi-More Freedom” and “Droa” responded to the CEC with their joint statement, stressing that the CEC in its statement confirmed its obligation, in accordance with the Georgian Electoral Code, to open a polling station abroad for at least 50 voters and that in its official statement, the CEC used exactly the same legal norm that the “Girchi-More Freedom” and “Droa” parties are using to ensure the participation of immigrants in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
The allied opposition parties also said that they had been aware of the need for the MFA’s involvement in the process since the beginning of the campaign and that “this is why our compatriots living abroad are sending an appeal not only to the CEC, but also to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.
The opposition parties also regret that although the CEC acknowledges its “direct responsibility to ensure the participation of our compatriots outside the country’s borders in the 2024 parliamentary elections” its actions “contradict the mission announced by the organization itself.” Noting that that since December 5 it has been possible to mobilize Georgian emigrants in 44 cities in 9 countries of the world, “which indicates their high motivation to participate in the 2024 parliamentary elections” Girchi-More Fredom and Droa express regret that CEC is not involved in the efforts to facilitate the voting for the Georgians abroad.
They noted: “Against this background, it remains unclear why we, and not the CEC itself, are conducting this campaign” and pledge to continue the “Ballot box in your city” campaign “with more enthusiasm and energy”, calling on Georgian immigrants to participate as much as possible in next year’s elections.
On December 19, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia issued a statement on the recent calls for the creation of ballot boxes for Georgian citizens living abroad and the related petitions, saying that they could not have any legal consequences as the Electoral Code of Georgia does not provide for such a procedure and that CEC establishes the polling stations on the basis of the data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In response, the allied parties Girchi-More Freedom and Droa announced that Georgians abroad are indeed sending the petitions to both the CEC and the Georgian Foreign Ministry, and pledged to continue the “Ballot Box in Your City” campaign, which aims to get Georgians abroad to vote in the October 2024 parliamentary elections.
On November 28, the allied “Girchi-More Freedom” and “Droa” parties announced a “Ballot Box in Your City” campaign, calling on Georgian citizens abroad to request the opening of polling stations in cities where there is no Georgian consulate. At the briefing of “Girchi-More Freedom” and “Droa” on December 19, the leaders said that the collection of signatures to open polling stations abroad is underway in 42 cities abroad and has been completed in three cities.
CEC Statement
The CEC said that the ongoing appeals already seem to be turning into a campaign, and “the misinterpretation of the issue may harm the electoral environment and mislead voters”.
It said that it is committed to the participation of the largest number of Georgian citizens, both inside and outside the country, in the elections, which is confirmed by the information campaigns launched by the CEC.
However, the CEC stated that it opens the polling stations abroad only on the basis of the information provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. The CEC also noted that the polling stations abroad can be opened no later than 30 days before the election day for a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 3000 people.
According to the CEC, the general list of voters will be drawn up on the basis of information provided by the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on persons who are on a consular register abroad. There is also a special list of voters, which is drawn up for people who are registered abroad but are not on a consular register, and also for people who are neither registered abroad nor on a consular register, but who will register at the district election commission, at the Georgian diplomatic mission abroad or at the Georgian consulate no later than 19 days before the elections.
“We appeal to all parties involved to respect and follow the election procedures, not to mislead voters for political purposes and not to damage the election environment,” – said the CEC statement.
On December 20, the allied political parties “Girchi-More Freedom” and “Droa” responded to the CEC with their joint statement, stressing that the CEC in its statement confirmed its obligation, in accordance with the Georgian Electoral Code, to open a polling station abroad for at least 50 voters and that in its official statement, the CEC used exactly the same legal norm that the “Girchi-More Freedom” and “Droa” parties are using to ensure the participation of immigrants in the 2024 parliamentary elections.
The allied opposition parties also said that they had been aware of the need for the MFA’s involvement in the process since the beginning of the campaign and that “this is why our compatriots living abroad are sending an appeal not only to the CEC, but also to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.
The opposition parties also regret that although the CEC acknowledges its “direct responsibility to ensure the participation of our compatriots outside the country’s borders in the 2024 parliamentary elections” its actions “contradict the mission announced by the organization itself.” Noting that that since December 5 it has been possible to mobilize Georgian emigrants in 44 cities in 9 countries of the world, “which indicates their high motivation to participate in the 2024 parliamentary elections” Girchi-More Fredom and Droa express regret that CEC is not involved in the efforts to facilitate the voting for the Georgians abroad.
They noted: “Against this background, it remains unclear why we, and not the CEC itself, are conducting this campaign” and pledge to continue the “Ballot box in your city” campaign “with more enthusiasm and energy”, calling on Georgian immigrants to participate as much as possible in next year’s elections.
Baku/20.12.23/Turan: The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA), chaired by Hasan Ahmedov, today rejected an appeal against the arrest of investigative journalist Hafiz Babala. The editor of the economic department of the Turan agency, Hafiz Babaly, was detained on December 13 on charges of “smuggling foreign currency.” He is involved in…
Baku/20.12.23/Turan: On December 20, the head of state visited the Khojavend and Khojaly regions of Karabakh.
According to the press service of the president, Aliyev and his wife visited the village of Krasny Bazar, the village of Shykh and the village of Shushakend. -0-
Baku/20.12.23/Turan: Citizens who returned to the territories liberated from the Armenian occupation will be able to vote in the early presidential elections there on February 7, Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Azerbaijan Mazahir Panahov told reporters today. According to him, today there are 23 thousand voters in…
Georgian political scientist Levan Mamaladze considers Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, as one of the real destinations for signing a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
]Smoke rises from different points of the city as Israeli attacks continue on Khan Yunis, Gaza on December 20, 2023. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
TikTok moderators have struggled to assess content related to the Israel-Gaza conflict because the platform removed an internal tool for flagging videos in a foreign language, the Guardian has been told.
The change has meant moderators in Europe cannot flag that they do not understand foreign-language videos, for example, in Arabic and Hebrew, which are understood to be appearing more frequently in video queues.
The Guardian was told that moderators hired to work in English previously had access to a button to state that a video or post was not in their language.
Internal documents seen by the Guardian show the button was called “not my language”, or “foreign language”.
At least 66% of jobs have been lost in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted in October, the International Labour Organization(ILO) said on Wednesday, warning that employment losses could continue to increase in the enclave.
The losses amount to a total of 192,000 jobs in the small Palestinian territory, the ILO said in its second assessment of the impact of Israeli ground and airstrikes on Gaza which began after a deadly cross-border incursion by Hamas.
In a first assessment released in early November, ILO estimated that 182,000 jobs had been lost in Gaza, a figure representing more than 60% of employment.
“Today hardly anybody in Gaza is able to earn income from work,” said Peter Rademaker, ILO deputy regional director for the Arab states.
“It’s clearly a still growing curve,” he said of employment loss. “It might even get worse.”
Greece has advised commercial vessels sailing in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to avoid Yemeni waters, keep only the necessary crew on the bridge and follow alerts issued by maritime authorities to avoid attacks in the area.
Greek ship-owners control about 20% of the world’s commercial vessels in terms of carrying capacity.
A shipping ministry advisory was issued on Saturday, as recent attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi militant group on vessels have forced leading shipping companies to reroute via the cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal, the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
According to a document seen by Reuters, vessels should also conduct fire drills for regular checks of their safety equipment before they reach Yemeni shores, and are advised to sail through the southern Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait at night.
The Houthis, who control much of Yemen, say the shipping attacks are a response to Israel’s military campaign in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and have said they will continue until Israel stops the offensive.
The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, will travel to Jordan and Egypt this week to push for a sustainable ceasefire and further humanitarian pauses in Gaza, the Foreign Office said on Wednesday.
Cameron will travel with Britain’s Middle East minister, Tariq Ahmad, and “progress efforts to secure the release of all hostages, step up aid to Gaza and end Hamas rocket attacks and threats against Israel”.
In Jordan, Cameron will meet his counterpart, Ayman Safadi, and in Egypt, he will travel to Al Arish, near the Egypt-Gaza border, to see the impact of UK aid being sent to Gaza.
Smoke billows after an Israeli bombardment seen from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Intensive Qatari and Egyptian-mediated talks are under way for a possible second Gaza truce under which Hamas would return some hostages in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
While the number of people slated to go free was still being discussed, Israel is insisting that women and infirm male hostages be included, said the source, adding that Palestinians jailed for serious offences could also be on the roster.
The Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to hold talks with Egyptian officials, mainly on developments in the war with Israel in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian group said.
In case you missed it last night, the US has announced the creation of an enhanced naval protection force operating in the southern Red Sea in an attempt to ward off mounting attacks from Yemen’s rebel Houthis on merchant shipping.
Britain said it would be among the countries participating but notable absentees were Arab nations Egypt and Saudi Arabia, while analysts speculated that shipping would continue to be disrupted with attacks.
Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said the new effort would be called Operation Prosperity Guardian and was necessary to tackle the “recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen”.
Other participants in the effort, Austin said, included Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on 20 December. Photograph: Bassam Masoud/Reuters
Israel appears to be nearing the final stages of its clearing operation in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
The US-based thinktank said Israel had degraded Hamas’s north Gaza brigade, with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announcing on Tuesday that it had completely “dismantled” Hamas’s three battalions operating in Jabaliya, just north of Gaza City.
It said in its update with the Critical Threats Project that about 500 suspected Palestinians fighters had surrendered to Israeli forces in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
Israeli Army Radio reported that the IDF fought “hard battles” in Jabaliya against Palestinian militias for more than two weeks and Israeli forces had killed more than 1,000 fighters, the update said. It added that the IDF estimated there were only a few militia fighters left in the Jabaliya area.
The update also said Palestinian militias were continuing to use the “relative safe haven” of the Gaza Strip’s central governorate to attack Israeli forces south of Gaza City.
Circling back to the latest casualties in Gaza, Israeli missiles hit the southern city of Rafah on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens as they slept at home, health officials in the Hamas-run territory said.
Hundreds of thousands of refugees have amassed in Rafah in recent weeks.
Reuters also reports that residents said they had to dig in the rubble with bare hands.
Mohammed Zurub, whose family lost 11 people in the attack, said:
This is a barbarian act.
Palestinians search for survivors and bodies in the rubble of a residential building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza. Photograph: Fatima Shbair/AP
In the north, another strike killed 13 people and wounded about 75 in the Jabaliya refugee camp, the health ministry said. Palestinians reported intensifying Israeli aerial and tank bombardment of Jabaliya as darkness descended late on Tuesday.
As reported earlier, Gaza health officials said 12 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, while residents reported intensifying gun battles between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces in the city’s central and eastern districts.
Israeli military officials said on Tuesday that heavy civilian casualties were the cost of Israel’s campaign to destroy Hamas and the militants’ urban warfare strategy, despite global alarm at the huge human toll.
Here are some of the latest images coming in from the Gaza Strip and Israel over the newswires, as residents of Khan Younis in southern Gaza reported intensifying gun battles between Hamas militants and Israeli forces on Wednesday.
Smoke rises over the Bani Suheila area of Khan Younis after Israeli strikes. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Injured Palestinians including children are brought to Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Friends and family mourn Israeli army reservist Capt Rotem Yoseff Levy, 24, who was killed while serving in Gaza, at his funeral in Petah Tikva, Israel. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters
Palestinians inspect a destroyed house after an Israeli airstrike in Deir al Balah, central Gaza. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA
A rabbi brings sweets to Israeli solders in southern Israel. Photograph: Maja Hitij/Getty Images
A truck carrying humanitarian aid moves at the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with southern Gaza. Photograph: Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty Images
In case you missed this report from Julian Borgerin Washington earlier, a vote on a Gaza ceasefire resolution has been postponed for a second time at the UN security council amid reported policy differences inside the Biden administration.
His report says:
The UN draft resolution, drafted by the United Arab Emirates, had been changed on Tuesday in an effort to avoid a third US veto since the conflict began more than two months ago. Instead of calling for an “urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities,” the amended text referred to “the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities”.
According to diplomatic sources, the US mission in New York believed it had negotiated a text that it could at least abstain on, but when Washington was consulted, new objections were raised, with the White House reportedly taking a more pro-Israel line than the state department.
The full report is here:
The head of Hamas was due in Egypt on Wednesday for talks on a fresh ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel said it was willing to agree to another pause in exchange for more hostages.
Agence France-Presse reports that international pressure is mounting for a new truce that could ramp up aid to the besieged Palestinian territory, with the United Nations security council due to vote Wednesday on calling for a ceasefire.
The Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was expected to lead a “high-level” delegation to Egypt for talks with the country’s spy chief and others on “stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners”, a source close to the group told the news agency.
Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’s most senior political leader. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Israel’s leaders are facing growing calls to secure the release of 129 hostages they say are being held in Gaza and, on Tuesday, signalled a willingness to return to the negotiating table with Hamas.
The Israeli president, Issac Herzog, said his country was “ready for another humanitarian pause and additional humanitarian aid in order to enable the release of hostages”.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had recently sent his spy chief on two trips to Europe in an effort to “free our hostages”.
US news site Axios reported Monday that David Barnea, head of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, met with the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and the CIA director, Bill Burns, in Europe to discuss a potential new deal to free hostages.
Axios also reported on Tuesday that Israel had offered to pause the fighting in Gaza for at least one week in exchange for more than three dozen hostages held by Hamas.
Welcome back to our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war. This is Adam Fulton and here are the latest developments as it nears 7am in Gaza City and Tel Aviv.
The leader of Hamas is due in Egypt on Wednesday for talks on a fresh ceasefire in Gaza after Israel said it was willing to agree to another pause in exchange for more hostages.
The Qatar-based Hamas chief, Ismail Haniyeh, was expected to lead a “high-level” delegation for talks with the country’s spy chief and others on “stopping the aggression and the war to prepare an agreement for the release of prisoners”, a source close to the Palestinian militant group told Agence France-Presse.
International pressure is growing for a new truce that could ramp up humanitarian aid to the battered Palestinian territory, with the UN security council due to vote on Wednesday on a resolution for an urgent ceasefire after the vote was postponed for a second time amid reported policy differences within the US government.
More on those stories. In other news:
Twelve Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, health officials in the territory said. Residents on Wednesday reported intensifying gun battles between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces in the centre and eastern districts of the city. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday that 19,667 Palestinians had been killed and 52,586 wounded in the war.
Residents and civil defense teams carry out search and rescue under the rubble after an Israeli attack on a building in Khan Younis, Gaza. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
The Israeli military attacked a military structure of the Hezbollah militant group after intercepting six rockets launched from Lebanon on Tuesday, the military said. It also attacked a squad that carried out a shooting at a Israeli military post in the Malkia border area which left two reserve soldiers “moderately injured”, Israel Defence Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari said.
Talks between Qatar’s prime minister and the heads of the CIA and Mossad spy agency on Monday were “positive”, a Qatari official said. But no imminent deal for a truce involving hostages releases was expected, he said.
The United States has launched a multinational operation to safeguard commerce in the Red Sea as attacks by Iran-backed Yemeni militants over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza forced major shipping companies to reroute, stoking fears of sustained disruptions to global trade. The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said Britain, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain were among nations involved in the Red Sea security operation, which would conduct joint patrols in the southern Red Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Aden.
Israeli forces raided one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza, putting it out of action, according to the hospital’s director. The nighttime raid at al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City led to the arrest of doctors, medical staff and patients, according to reports, and damaged the hospital. Israeli forces took control of the facility after surrounding it for 12 days, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières. The hospital still had dozens of patients inside, including 14 children, it said
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said the Israeli ground operation would “expand to additional areas” of the Gaza Strip. It is thought he was referring to the central Gaza Strip or the southern city of Rafah.
An Israeli soldier operating as smoke billows in Gaza. Photograph: Israeli army/AFP/Getty Images
The military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad has released a video it claimed showed two hostages who were taken to Gaza during the 7 October attack on Israel. The video posted by the al-Quds Brigades comes a day after Hamas’s military wing released video footage it claimed showed three elderly Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
The International Committee of the Red Cross president has insisted on the organisation’s neutrality and said criticism was making it increasingly hard to operate in the Israel-Gaza war. The Swiss-based organisation has been accused by both sides in the conflict of not providing adequate help to those being held hostage. ICRC chief Mirjana Spoljaric Egger said in Geneva: “The pressure we experience now in the context of Gaza and Israel is so much more than what we experienced a year ago on Ukraine and Russia.”
The Israeli army has said it is investigating the deaths of Palestinian detainees who were arrested in military operations across Gaza. At least six Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons or Israel Defence Forces (IDF) detention facilities since the start of the war, including “several” held at the Sde Teiman base near the city of Be’er Sheva in southern Israel, according to a report in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.
The leader of Hamas made his first visit to Egypt for more than a month on Wednesday, a rare personal intervention in diplomacy amid what a source described as intensive talks on a new ceasefire to let aid reach Gaza and get hostages freed.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who normally resides in Qatar, typically intervenes in diplomacy publicly only when progress seems likely. He last traveled to Egypt in early November before the announcement of the only agreement on a ceasefire in the war so far, a week-long pause during which more than 100 hostages were released.
A source briefed on negotiations said envoys were discussing which of the hostages still held by terrorists in Gaza could be freed under a new truce agreement and what prisoners Israel might release in return.
Israel was insisting that all remaining women and infirm men among hostages be released, the source said, declining to be identified. Palestinians convicted of serious offenses could be on the list of prisoners to be freed.
The source described the negotiations as intensive and said a breakthrough could be possible within days.
PHOTO: IRAN’S FOREIGN Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (left) meets with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar, last month. (credit: Iran’s Foreign Ministry/West Asia News Agency/Reuters)
A Palestinian official said Haniyeh was keen to listen to Egyptian officials for a possible new approach and noted that the official position of Hamas was to reject any new temporary ceasefire and demand a permanent halt to fighting.
“Hamas’s stance remains they don’t have a desire for humanitarian pauses. Hamas wants a complete end to the Israeli war on Gaza,” the Palestinian official said.
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“Haniyeh and Hamas always appreciate the Egyptian effort. He is in Cairo today to listen to whether Israel has made new proposals or whether Cairo has some too. It is early to speak of expectations.”
A senior Israeli official repeated the government position that the war could end only with the release of all hostages and the destruction of Hamas: “As the prime minister has said, the war will end with total victory.”
The negotiations come as Israel has faced increasing pressure from its international allies to curb a campaign in Gaza that has laid waste to much of the coastal enclave in retaliation for a Hamas killing spree on Oct. 7.
Washington, Israel’s closest ally, has publicly called over the past week for it to scale down its all-out war into a more targeted campaign against Hamas leaders and end what US President Joe Biden called “indiscriminate bombing.”
UN vote delayed
At the UN Security Council, where Washington has twice used its veto to shield Israel from international demands for a ceasefire, negotiators put off a vote on the latest resolution for another day in hope of reaching an agreed text.
When asked if they were getting close to an agreement, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on Tuesday: “We’re trying, we really are.”
Since the last truce collapsed at the start of this month, the war has entered a more intensive phase, with ground combat previously confined to the northern half of the Gaza Strip now spread across the length of the coastal enclave.
Israel has sworn to defeat Hamas, which rules Gaza, since its fighters killed 1,200 people and captured 240 hostages in the Oct. 7 attacks. Gaza health officials say nearly 20,000 people have since been confirmed killed in Israeli strikes, with thousands more believed lost and buried under rubble.
Israel’s government has faced domestic political pressure to reach a further agreement to free hostages, especially after acknowledging last week that troops mistakenly killed three of those taken. Israel believes 129 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom 21 are feared to have died in captivity.
In the north, where Israeli forces claimed to have achieved most of their military objectives last month, fighting has been more intense than ever. Huge orange balls of flame and towers of black smoke soared into the sky over the northern Gaza Strip as seen from across the fence in Israel, as Israeli warplanes pounded the area at dawn.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces had besieged its ambulance depot in Jabalia, a northern settlement that has been the site of some of the most intensive fighting. There are 127 people in the facility, including workers, displaced people and wounded.
In the south, where most of Gaza’s residents are now sheltering after fleeing other areas, there has been intense fighting around the center of the main southern city Khan Younis, which Israeli forces have partly stormed.
“All the night bombing didn’t stop. Their focus now is Khan Younis. People here have to deal with two wars all the time, bombing and hunger,” said Samir Ali, 45, a father of five from Gaza City in the north now sheltering in Khan Younis.
Israel says it is doing what it can to protect civilians, including warning them in advance of strikes, and blames Hamas for harm to them for operating in their midst, which Hamas denies.
International aid organizations say the enclave’s 2.3 million residents have been driven to the brink of catastrophe by destruction that has forced 90% of them from their homes and a blockade restricting access to food and medical supplies.
![]Smoke rises from different points of the city as Israeli attacks continue on Khan Yunis, Gaza on December 20, 2023.](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e4dc92f9528279c91a66095c6e0598eb13def42b/0_95_2835_1701/master/2835.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none)
