War’s toll on education in Gaza casts shadow over children’s future

With pupils and teachers uprooted and buildings destroyed, it is likely to be many months before classes can resume

Mohammad Mosa packed his laptop when he fled his home in October and hoped he would still be able to Zoom into classes between airstrikes. The 14-year-old has his heart set on a competitive scholarship and has studied through wars before.

Two months later, the only new thing he has learned is how to bake bread over an open fire. Intense bombardment and a tight blockade have meant that civilian life in Gaza has turned into a daily fight to survive, and education is one of the many casualties.

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Israeli airstrikes kill dozens as calls for Gaza ceasefire and hostage talks grow

Fatalities in last 24 hours come amid public anger over mistaken killing of three hostages by Israeli forces

Airstrikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 100 people over the last 24 hours, as Israel’s leadership faces growing international pressure for a ceasefire and calls at home to resume hostage negotiations after the Israeli army shot and killed three men kidnapped by Hamas.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory said on Sunday that at least 90 people had been killed by Israeli bombardment in the Jabalia camp in the north, and another 12 had died in bombings in the central city of Deir al-Balah, as fighting was reported in several parts of Gaza.

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MP Layla Moran fears family trapped in Gaza church ‘will not survive until Christmas’

Oxford and Abingdon MP’s extended family among those sheltering in besieged Holy Family church in Gaza City

“I fear my family under siege by Israeli forces in a church in Gaza will not survive until Christmas, between the snipers and the lack of water.”

Those were the stark words of Layla Moran, the MP for Oxford and Abingdon whose extended Christian Palestinian family members are among those who have been trapped inside the Holy Family church complex in Gaza City for 60 days.

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Two-state solution would mean relocating 200,000 settlers, says Israeli lawyer who has David Cameron’s ear

Lawyer who has advised foreign secretary says Israel has the capacity, but not the will, to relocate even one settler

Nearly 200,000 of the 700,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank would have to be relocated to Israel to create a viable Palestinian state, according to an Israeli lawyer from whom the UK foreign secretary, Lord Cameron, has sought advice on his visits to Israel.

Cameron has said he realises reaching a two-state solution would be tough, but he has not spelled out the practical consequences in terms of borders, including the need to persuade so many Israelis to relocate.

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Pro-Palestine rally leaders credit public ‘pressure’ with Labor’s shift on Gaza

Change of heart on ceasefire shows ‘collective action is working’, Sydney protest speaker says

Speakers at Sydney’s pro-Palestine rally have said public outcry against the war in Gaza has pushed the Albanese government to shift its position and back calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, while criticising Labor for not calling for a permanent end to the conflict.

On Wednesday Australia joined 152 other nations in voting in favour of a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and an immediate and unconditional release of all hostages in an emergency session of the United Nations general assembly. The move followed Australia’s decision in late October to abstain from casting a vote on a similar motion.

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Israel-Gaza war: UK and Germany call for ‘sustainable’ ceasefire

UK foreign minister David Cameron and German counterpart Annalena Baerbock say goal must be peace lasting ‘generations’

The foreign secretary, David Cameron, has called for a “sustainable” ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, as he warned that “too many civilians have been killed” by Israel in spite of its right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas.

In a significant shift in tone by the UK government, Cameron, in a joint article with the German foreign affairs minister Annalena Baerbock, wrote: “Our goal cannot simply be an end to fighting today. It must be peace lasting for days, years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable.

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USAid contractor and family killed in Israeli Gaza airstrike, agency says

Deaths of Hani Jnena, 32, wife and daughters aged 2 and 4 led NGO to call for Biden to demand Israeli accountability

A contractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAid) in Gaza was killed with his wife and two daughters aged four and two in an Israeli airstrike in November, his employer said on Saturday.

“We are deeply saddened to confirm the tragic loss of our colleague, Hani Jnena (33), along with his family in Gaza, including his wife, Abeer (32), and their two young daughters, Mariam and Zayna, aged 4 and 2,” the non-profit organization Global Communities, which partners with governments and private-sector entities for humanitarian work, said in a statement.

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Al Jazeera asks legal team to refer journalist’s killing to ICC – as it happened

This blog has now closed. Read our full report on the latest developments here.

Israel has said it is opening a military police investigation into the killing of two Palestinians in the West Bank after an Israeli human rights group posted videos that appeared to show Israeli troops killing the men – one who was incapacitated and the second unarmed – during a military raid in a West Bank refugee camp.

The B’Tselem human rights group accused the army of carrying out a pair of “illegal executions”.

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Israeli military says its troops shot and killed three hostages by mistake

IDF identifies hostages killed as Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer El-Talalqa, saying they were mistakenly believed to be a threat

The Israeli military has said that its troops shot and killed three hostages being held by Hamas after mistakenly identifying them as a threat during fighting in a battle-torn neighbourhood of Gaza City.

The announcement on Friday came amid heavy fighting across the embattled territory that led to an influx of dead and wounded into hospitals in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah.

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Bernie Sanders demands answers on Israel’s ‘indiscriminate’ Gaza bombing

Senator introduces resolution to investigate ‘humanitarian cataclysm … being done with American bombs and money’

The US’s support for Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza is facing new scrutiny in Washington following a resolution by the independent senator Bernie Sanders that could ultimately be used to curtail military assistance.

It is far from clear whether Sanders has the support to pass the resolution, but its introduction in the Senate this week – by an important progressive ally of the US president Joe Biden – highlights mounting human rights and political concerns by Democrats on Capitol Hill.

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Lufthansa to resume flights to Tel Aviv in January – as it happened

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The Israeli heritage minister, Amichai Eliyahu, of Otzma Yehudit, the far-right party led by Itamar Ben-Gvir, said in a radio interview that the Gaza Strip must be “fully” occupied.

In comments reported by Haaretz, Eliyahu said: “Anyone who sells an illusion that [Hamas] will return to manage things does not want to remember what happened on Simhat Torah.”

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Israeli forces recover body of French-Israeli hostage in Gaza

Elya Toledano was among estimated 240 hostages taken during Hamas attacks on 7 October

The Israeli army has recovered the body of the French-Israeli hostage Elya Toledano, who was kidnapped and taken to Gaza by militants during the 7 October attacks.

Toledano, who turned 28 in captivity, was among an estimated 240 people taken hostage during the Hamas attacks in southern Israel. A resident of Tel Aviv, he was at the Nova music festival along with his friend and fellow French-Israeli Mia Schem, who was released under a truce agreement at the end of November.

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Israel says it will open new aid crossing into Gaza Strip

Announcement follows pressure from allies in US to alleviate humanitarian crisis in besieged territory

Israel has said it will open a new aid crossing into the Gaza Strip in the face of pressure from allies in Washington to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory and wind down its wide-scale bombings and armoured ground operations against Hamas.

The Kerem Shalom crossing between Gaza and Israel, previously used for goods and aid deliveries, would reopen to process humanitarian supplies, the office of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Friday.

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Israel-Gaza war live: White House says it wants Israel’s war in Gaza to ‘end as soon as possible’ and be of lower intensity

Spokesperson adds ‘we’re not dictating terms … about how long it has to be’ as Jake Sullivan says Israel being urged to lower intensity of military operations

A pro-Palestinian group temporarily hacked into the Israeli army website on Wednesday.

The group, calling themselves Anonymous Jo, left a message on the homepage of the website warning of further attacks against Israeli forces.

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Israeli ministers block Mossad head’s effort to restart Gaza hostage talks

Relatives of the abductees say they are shocked, as reports say David Barnea was stopped from visiting Qatar

Israel’s war cabinet has blocked a planned visit to Qatar by the head of the country’s foreign intelligence service that was aimed at kickstarting negotiations over a new hostage release deal.

According to several reports, David Barnea, the head of Mossad, had wanted to travel to Qatar but was blocked by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and other cabinet ministers.

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Gaza a ‘living hell’ after heavy winter rains drench makeshift tents

Conditions deteriorate amid floods, escalating food shortages and waves of disease

Heavy winter rains have lashed Gaza, washing out tents and flooding some areas, as the head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees described deteriorating conditions in the coastal strip as a “living hell”.

Amid escalating shortages of food, spreading waves of communicable disease and the near collapse of Gaza’s health system, the winter storm turned large areas to mud and drenched many of those sleeping in makeshift plastic tents.

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Gaza: Israeli commanders among nine soldiers killed in Hamas ambush

Senior officer from Golani Brigade dies after failed attempt to rescue injured troops in Shejaiya area

Two senior Israeli commanders and seven other soldiers have been killed by Hamas in a complex ambush in the Gaza City suburb of Shejaiya, an area that has seen intense urban fighting in recent days.

The latest Israeli combat deaths came amid fears of a rapidly escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza as heavy winter rains lashed the region and after reports by aid agencies of dwindling food stocks for the vast number of Palestinians who have been displaced to southern Gaza.

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Israel reports its heaviest combat losses in six weeks – as it happened

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The Times of Israel is reporting a little more detail on the incident in the Red Sea earlier, which caused the UK maritime trade operations (UKMTO) agency to issue a warning. [See 7.46 GMT]

Citing US officials, it reports that two missiles fired from Yemen missed a commercial tanker near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It also reports that a US navy vessel shot down a drone that was heading towards it.

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War has left Gaza economy at almost total standstill, says World Bank

Washington-based development organisation providing $20m for citizens suffering ‘multidimensional poverty’

The economy of Gaza has ground to an almost total standstill as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas that has left about 85% of workers without jobs, the World Bank has said.

In an assessment of the economic impact of the two-month-long conflict, the Washington-based development organisation said Gaza was operating at only 16% of its productive capacity and was in “deep recession”.

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Israeli military kills six in Jenin, Palestinian officials say – as it happened

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Reports are coming in from the Reuters news agency that three Palestinians were killed on Tuesday during an Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin – that’s according to the Palestinian health ministry.

An Israeli drone attack killed the three Palestinians and injured others, medical sources say, adding that the Israeli raid included the city of Jenin and its refugee camp.

Between the afternoons of 10 and 11 December, 208 Palestinians were killed and another 416 were injured, according to the [Hamas run] Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza. Heavy Israeli bombardments from air, land, and sea across Gaza continued, especially in the central part, including Al Maghazi and An Nuseirat Refugee Camps, as well as in parts of northern Gaza. Meanwhile, intense ground operations and fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continued, especially in Khan Younis, Jabalya, and the northern parts of Gaza Strip. Additionally, air strikes have reportedly targeted residential homes in the western and central parts of Rafah, areas designated as safe for displaced Palestinians by the Israeli army. The firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israel also continued.

Limited aid distributions are taking place in Rafah governorate. In the rest of the Gaza Strip, aid distribution has largely stopped over the past few days, due to the intensity of hostilities and restrictions of movement along the main roads, except for limited fuel deliveries to key service providers and a one-off high-risk mission on 9 December to Al Ahli hospital.

On 11 December, as of 22:00, 100 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Egypt, the same volume recorded on most days since the resumption of hostilities on 1 December. This is well below the daily average of 500 truckloads (including fuel) that entered every working day prior to 7 October. The ability of the UN to receive incoming aid has been significantly impaired over the past few days by several factors. These include a shortage of trucks within Gaza; the continuing lack of fuel; telecommunications blackouts; and the increasing number of staff who were unable to travel to the Rafah crossing due to the intensity of hostilities.

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