Israeli military vehicles patrol the streets and alleys of the area during the second day of the raid on the Tulkarem Refugee Camp in the West Bank on December 25, 2024 [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]
Palestinian factions called, Monday, for escalating resistance operations in the Occupied West Bank in retaliation for Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports.
Three illegal Israeli settlers were killed and six others injured early Monday in a shooting attack near the Kedumim settlement in the northern West Bank.
In a statement, Hamas hailed the attack as
a heroic response to the ongoing crimes and war of extermination committed by the (Israeli) occupation against our people in Gaza, the displacement plans in the West Bank, and the settler aggression on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and holy sites
“This operation is a message to the extremist Israeli government and its ministers that there is a free and rebellious nation that will not abandon its rights and that the resistance will continue until the occupation is removed from all of our lands,” it added.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) called the shooting attack a “powerful message” to the Israeli occupation.
It called for escalating resistance operations in the West Bank “to confuse the occupation’s calculations and weaken its security system.”
The Popular Resistance Committees termed the attack “a natural response” to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and the Judaisation and annexation plans in the West Bank.
Tension has been running high across the Occupied West Bank due to Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 45,800 people, mostly women and children, since 7 October, 2023.
At least 835 Palestinians have also been killed and nearly 6,700 others injured by Israeli army fire in the Occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian figures.
In November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
A Palestinian child plays amid the rubble of destroyed buildings at the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, Palestine on January 2, 2025. (Photo: Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images)
The Knesset members are urging the Israeli military to destroy all sources of water, food, and energy—and to kill “anyone not flying a white flag of surrender.”
At least seven far-right members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, are calling on the country’s defense minister to order the total destruction of northern Gaza’s food, water, and energy sources—most of which have already been obliterated by 15 months of relentless attacks—and the killing of any Palestinian who isn’t clearly surrendering to the attackers.
In a letter to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz dated December 31, the lawmakers assert that the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) campaign to forcibly expel Palestinians from northern Gaza—which critics have called ethnic cleansing—”isn’t being done properly” and is not “achieving the war objectives as defined by the government, which is the dismantling of Hamas’ governing and military capabilities.”
According to a translation by international humanitarian law expert Itay Epshtain on Thursday, the letter calls on the IDF to:
Destroy all energy sources including fuel, solar systems, generators, and power lines;
Destroy all food sources including warehouses, water, and water pumps; and
Lay siege and remotely kill everyone not flying a white flag of surrender.
That last demand apparently includes men, women, and children. IDF troops would then “enter gradually for a complete cleansing of the enemy’s nests,” according to the letter.
Lawmakers who signed the letter and their party affiliations include: Avraham Bezalel (Shas), Amit Halevi (Likud), Limor Son Har-Melech (Jewish Power), Osher Shkalim (Likud), Zvi Sukkot and Ohad Tal (Religious Zionism), and Nissim Vaturi (Likud).
Vaturi, the deputy Knesset speaker, previously called for Gaza to be “wiped off the face of the Earth” and argued for Israel to “stop being humane” and “burn Gaza now,” because “there are no innocents there.”
Notably, the lawmakers’ letter does not mention anything about freeing the more than 60 hostages believed to be alive and imprisoned by Hamas and possibly other groups in Gaza.
As Israeli journalist Bar Peleg reported Friday from the Jabalia refugee camp:
When the soldiers and officers in Jabalia are asked about their mission, the answer is destroying Hamas and its infrastructure, until the last terrorist is laid to rest. When they are asked, “And what about the hostages?” One soldier answered, “That concerns us, like it does everyone, but it isn’t a part of our operational considerations.”
Northern Gaza is already in ruins. As Peleg noted, “not a single habitable building remains” in Jabalia. Nearly all homes, hospitals, schools, and other infrastructure have been destroyed or damaged.
“Look at the extent of the destruction and annihilation here,” one IDF officer said. “No one has done this before.”
An IDF officer recently told Haaretz that one commander, Brig. Gen. Yehuda Vach, seeks to personally execute the so-called Generals’ Plan—a blueprint for the starvation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from northern Gaza—by besieging and expelling 250,000 Palestinians from the area. United Nations officials estimate that more than 100,000 Palestinians have been forced from northern Gaza, even as the IDF says it disavows the Generals’ Plan.
Israeli policies and actions, as well as written and spoken calls for the destruction of Gaza and its people, have been presented as evidence in the South African-led genocide case against Israel currently before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister who ordered the siege of Gaza, are fugitives from the International Criminal Court, which in November issued arrest warrants for the pair and Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.
Israel’s 455-day bombardment, invasion, and siege of Gaza has left at least 165,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, according to officials there.
Protesters in the million man march in Yemen on December 27. Photo: Screenshot
Israel has escalated its attacks against Yemen, most recently launching airstrikes on civilian infrastructure at Sanaa Airport which almost resulted in the death of the WHO Director.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) intensified aerial attacks on Yemen in the last several days, as Ansar Allah-led Yemeni Armed Forces continued operations against Israel in retaliation for the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, and against Israel’s allies who attempt to bypass the blockade imposed by Ansar Allah of Israel.
On Thursday, December 26, Israeli warplanes targeted civilian facilities of Yemen’s Sanaa International Airport, including the airports’ main runway, control tower, and an aircraft, according to the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post.
At least three people were killed in the assault and 16 others injured including the assistant to the captain of a United Nations’ plane. The plane had landed in Sanaa International Airport to transport the Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the UN resident coordinator in Yemen, Julian Harnis, shortly before the airstrike was launched.
The Yemeni Foreign Minister Jamal Amer considered the timing of the attack as a “direct affront and a mockery of the UN”, particularly as the co-pilot of the UN aircraft was injured.
For his part Ghebreyesus issued a statement on Thursday, explaining the circumstances of the airstrike on the airport, and confirming his presence along with other WHO and UN colleagues there at the time of the attack.
“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa, about three hours ago (around 5 pm local time), the airport came under aerial bombardment. One of our plane’s crew members was injured. At least two people were reported killed at the airport,” the statement reads.
“The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge — just a few meters from where we were — and the runway were damaged. We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave,” the statement continues.
Israeli fighter jets also targeted other sites in Hodeidah governorate in western Yemen including Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations, and military infrastructure located in the ports of Hodeidah, according to IOF.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his deep concern “about the risk of further escalation and has urged all parties to cease military actions and exercise restraint.” Guterres also warned “that airstrikes on Red Sea ports and Sanaa airport pose grave risks to humanitarian operations at a time when millions of people are in need of life-saving assistance.”
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) strongly condemned the aggression on Yemen, which it said “proves the Zionist-Western alliance’s bankruptcy in facing Yemen’s resistance.” Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) called the onslaught “a flagrant violation of sovereignty and acts of terrorism”.
Israel claimed that it escalated its aggression on Yemen after the Yemeni Armed Forces stepped up its missile and drone attack on Israel during the past few weeks. Speaking to local media on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to launch an open war on Yemen. “We’re just getting started with them,” Netanyahu said. “We won’t allow them [to attack Israel] these days, today and any other day. We will strike them to the bitter end until they learn. As I said, Hamas learned, Hezbollah learned, and Syria learned. The Houthis will learn too,” he added.
However, the Yemeni Armed Forces defied Netanyahu’s threats by carrying out three significant military operations against the Zionist entity on Friday, December 27. The operations included targeting Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv with a hypersonic missile, striking a military site in Jaffa with a drone, and the interception of a ship in the Arabian Sea after it violated the blockade imposed on Israeli ports.
The spokesperson of the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Sare’e said in a televised statement on Friday, that these operations were carried out as part of the fifth phase of support for Gaza, and in response to Israeli aggression in Yemen, including recent airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in Sanaa and Hodeidah. Saree further emphasized that Israel’s aggression on his country “will only increase the resolve and determination of the great Yemeni people to continue supporting the Palestinian people, fulfilling their religious, moral, and humanitarian duty.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement praised the Yemeni missile strike on Lod (Ben Gurion) Airport, considering it “a legitimate response to the aggression on Sana’a Airport and Yemeni civilian facilities.”
Since the genocidal aggression on Gaza began in the aftermath of October 7, Israel has launched sporadic attacks on Yemen viewing it as one of seven fronts alongside Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, which represent the Axis of Resistance.
During the last couple of months, the Axis of Resistance received heavy blows after Gaza’s support front in Lebanon had to temporarily stop its confrontations with Israel as per the fragile interim ceasefire agreement reached last November. Following the overthrow of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, Israel destroyed the country’s military infrastructure and the transitional government showed its willingness to establish “peace” with Israel.
All these factors made Netanyahu more determined than ever to demolish the military capabilities of Yemen, even if this would mean expanding the genocidal aggression to other parts of the West Asia region at the expense of civilians.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during a press briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 10, 2024. (Photo: Lian Yi/Xinhua via Getty Images)
State media reports at least four people were killed and 21 others injured.
As part of Israel’s assault on various countries across the Middle East, Israeli fighter jets on Thursday bombed multiple sites in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, killing multiple people and threatening the life of a leading United Nations official.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and colleagues were at the airport, wrapping up a trip “to negotiate the release of U.N. staff detainees and to assess the health and humanitarian situation in Yemen,” when the attack occurred, the agency leader said on social media. “We continue to call for the detainees’ immediate release.”
“As we were about to board our flight from Sanaa, about two hours ago, the airport came under aerial bombardment. One of our plane’s crew members was injured,” Tedros explained, noting the reported deaths. “The air traffic control tower, the departure lounge—just a few meters from where we were—and the runway were damaged. We will need to wait for the damage to the airport to be repaired before we can leave. My U.N. and WHO colleagues and I are safe. Our heartfelt condolences to the families whose loved ones lost their lives in the attack.”
According to The New York Times: “At least four people were killed and 21 others injured in the attack on Thursday after Israel struck the international airport in Sana and the city of al Hodeida, the Saba state news agency said, citing Yemen’s Health Ministry. The report could not be independently verified.”
A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, told the Times that Israel had no prior knowledge that the WHO leader would be at the airport during the attack. “We didn’t know,” he said. “We wish him well.”
It's hard to imagine the Israelis didn't know Tedros & his staff were at the airport before their strike. Either this proves their incompetence or indifference in targeting civilians & NGOs (thus undermining their claims of judicious targeting), or prove they do it deliberately https://t.co/p4F7Uwe32J
The IDF said in a statement posted on social media that “fighter jets conducted intelligence-based strikes” with approval from Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The targets that were struck by the IDF include military infrastructure used by the Houthi terrorist regime for its military activities in both the Sanaa International Airport and the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations,” the military continued. “In addition, the IDF struck military infrastructure in the al Hodeida, Salif, and Ras Kanatib ports on the western coast. These military targets were used by the Houthi terrorist regime to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials.”
Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the U.S.-armed IDF has not only decimated the Gaza Strip and killed over 45,000 Palestinians there but also ramped up strikes on other groups tied to Iran, including the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Additionally, Israel has exploited the recent collapse of Syrian former President Bashar al-Assad’s government, seizing more territory in that country.
“The targeting of Sanaa International Airport and other civilian infrastructure is a Zionist crime against the entire Yemeni people,” a Houthi spokesperson, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said in a statement. “If the Zionist enemy thinks that its crimes will deter Yemen from supporting Gaza, it is delusional.”
The strikes on Yemen came a day after Netanyahu said that “the Houthis, too, will learn what Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime, and others have learned, and even if it takes time, this lesson will be understood across the Middle East.”
Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza has led to a genocide case at the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as a Hamas leader.
Thousands of Israelis gather in front of the Israel’s Ministry of Defense building, holding banners and Israeli flags to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government for not signing the ceasefire agreement with Gaza and to demand hostage swap deal with Palestinians in Tel Aviv, Israel on November 16, 2024 [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]
Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza threatened legal action on Thursday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of blocking a prisoner swap deal with Palestinians, Anadolu Agency reports.
“We will petition the High Court if you persist in abandoning our loved ones in Hamas captivity,” the families said in a letter to Netanyahu cited by Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
The letter accused the Israeli premier of hindering efforts to reach a prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas.
“Refusing to end the war sacrifices the hostages and diminishes their chances of returning alive,” it reads.
On Wednesday, Hamas said that a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap has been delayed due to new Israeli conditions.
“The (Israeli) occupation set new issues and conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which delayed reaching an agreement that was available,” it added in a statement.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu said that an Israeli negotiating team would return from Qatar for consultations on a potential prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.
Observers, however, view Netanyahu’s announcement as part of a pattern of delays in negotiations.
Since the lone ceasefire in late November 2023, the Israeli premier has hinted at progress in talks for a prisoner swap and a potential cease-fire, only to later insist on continuing military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu told The Wall Street Journal last week that the Gaza war will continue “until Hamas is entirely eradicated,” emphasizing Israel’s rejection of Hamas’ presence near its borders.
His Defense Minister Israel Katz also said that Israel will maintain security control in Gaza and establish buffer zones along the border.
Their remarks drew fire from officials in Israel’s negotiating team for jeopardizing talks to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap deal with Hamas.
Israel is believed to hold more than 10,300 Palestinian prisoners, while approximately 100 Israeli captives are in Gaza. Hamas has said that dozens of the captives were killed in indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes.
Israel has continued a genocidal war on Gaza that has killed nearly 45,400 people, most of them women and children, since a Hamas attack on 7 October, 2023.
Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
