Gaza war puts US’s extensive weapons stockpile in Israel under scrutiny

Israel appears to be receiving munitions from stockpile, but there has been little transparency

Their precise location is classified, but somewhere in Israel there are multiple closely guarded warehouses that contain billions of dollars’ worth of weapons owned by the US government.

Long shrouded in secrecy, the warehouses are part of an extensive but previously little-known stockpile now facing scrutiny as pressure mounts on the Biden administration over its support for Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.

Continue reading...

UN names Netherlands’ Sigrid Kaag aid coordinator for Gaza – as it happened

This blog is now closed. See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

Iraq’s government has condemned overnight US air strikes on Iraqi military positions that it said killed one serviceman and injured 18 other people, calling them a “clear hostile act”.

The US carried out retaliatory air strikes on Monday in Iraq after a one-way drone attack earlier in the day by Iran-aligned militants that left one US service member in critical condition and injured two others, Reuters reports.

Continue reading...

Fears of regional escalation as Israel warns of ‘multi-front’ war

Defence minister tells Knesset that country under attack from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, West Bank, Iraq, Yemen and Iran

Israel is engaged in a “multi-front war”, its defence minister has said, hinting at military operations across the Middle East as the war in Gaza showed new signs of a dangerous regional escalation.

Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Yoav Gallant said Israel was “coming under attack from seven theatres: Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria [an Israeli term for the West Bank], Iraq, Yemen and Iran”.

Continue reading...

Marjorie Taylor Greene among US public figures hit by threats and swatting

Congresswoman said hoaxer tried to trigger police response while Colorado justices who ruled against Trump face threats

The political became personal over the Christmas holiday as the homes of politicos and judges were targeted by threats, protests and “swatting” hoaxes by pranksters who call in fake emergencies to authorities in the hopes of prompting a forceful police response.

A swatting hoax targeted the Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. Authorities said they were investigating threats against the Colorado supreme court justices who ruled that Trump could not appear on the state’s ballots in the 2024 presidential election because he incited an insurrection on the day of the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Continue reading...

Netanyahu says war ‘isn’t close to finished’ – as it happened

This blog is now closed. See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

Here are more details of the Egyptian plan to end the conflict, as reported by the Associated Press:

The call is for an initial ceasefire of up to two weeks during which Palestinian militants would free 40 to 50 hostages in return for the release of 120 to 150 Palestinians from Israeli prisons, the Egyptian official said.

At the same time negotiations would continue on extending the ceasefire and the release of more hostages and bodies held by Palestinian militants, he said.

Egypt and Qatar would work with all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to agree on the establishment of a government of experts, he added.

The government would rule Gaza and the West Bank for a transitional period as Palestinian factions settled their disputes and agreed on a roadmap to hold presidential and parliamentary elections.

In the meantime, Israel and Hamas would continue to negotiate a comprehensive “all-for-all” deal, the official said. This would include the release of all remaining hostages in return for all Palestinian prisoners in Israel, as well as the Israeli military’s withdrawal from Gaza and the Palestinian militants’ halting of rocket attacks into Israel.

Continue reading...

Carols by Candlelight: Melbourne woman arrested after pro-Palestine supporters storm stage

Two other protesters were denied entry at the gates to the concert at Sidney Myer Musical Bowl

Thousands of people joined in to sing along at Carols by Candlelight in Melbourne on Sunday, with the festivities momentarily interrupted by two Pro-Palestine protesters who stormed the stage as children were performing.

The protesters were tackled and quickly removed, with host David Campbell appealing for calm and assuring people the children were safe.

Continue reading...

‘No Xmas as usual’: pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate in US cities

Organizers focus on second-most popular shopping day in cities including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters waved the pan-Arab colors flag and wore the symbolic Palestinian keffiyeh in a series of coordinated “No Xmas as Usual in a Genocide” rallies and marches across the US on Saturday.

Organizers with Shut It Down for Palestine said the organization had focused its protests on the second-most popular shopping day of the year – the day before Christmas Eve – as part of ongoing civic and commercial disruptions. Organizers said they planned to “organize actions to boycott, disrupt and rally at commercial centers”.

Continue reading...

Israel-Gaza war live: at least 70 killed in Israeli strike on refugee camp – as it happened

Spokesperson says attack on the Maghazi camp in central Gaza is a ‘massacre’ and warns that death toll is likely to rise further

See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage

The UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, has said a “humanitarian ceasefire” is the only way to ensure aid reaches civilians in Gaza, hostages are released and to stop the “devastating loss of lives”.

The death toll from Israeli strikes inside Gaza has climbed to 20,258, the majority of them women and children, said the health authorities on Saturday.

Continue reading...

EU foreign policy chief fears rightwing surge in June elections

Josep Borrell is concerned voters will be scared into choosing populist parties for European parliament because of nearby wars

European parliamentary elections in June could be as fateful as the US presidential race, the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has warned, saying he believes voters’ fear of the unknown may lead them to back rightwing populist parties.

“I am afraid of fear, I am afraid Europeans vote because they are afraid. It’s scientifically proven that fear in the face of the unknown and uncertainty generates a hormone that calls for a security response. This is a fact,” Borrell told the Guardian.

Continue reading...

US says it shot down four drones in southern Red Sea launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen

Drone attack follows the Pentagon openly accusing Iran of directly targeting ships for the first time since the start of Gaza war

The United States shot down four drones headed towards a US destroyer in the southern Red Sea and launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Saturday, US Central Command (Centcom) said.

“These attacks represent the 14th and 15th attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi militants since Oct. 17,” Centcom said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Continue reading...

Death toll from Israeli attacks tops 20,000 – As it happened

This blog is now closed.

See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage

An Israeli airstrike has killed 76 members of an extended family in Gaza, Associated Press reported rescue officials as saying on Saturday.

Friday’s strike on a building in Gaza City was among the deadliest of the Israel-Gaza war, Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence department said.

Continue reading...

London protest calls for Gaza ceasefire and boycott of Israel-linked brands

Demonstrators in and around Oxford Street campaign against retailers including Puma, Hewlett-Packard and Axa

Hundreds of people have marched along Oxford Street in London calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a boycott of “Israel-linked” brands, as traffic in the busy shopping district was brought to a standstill days before Christmas.

“There can be no Christmas as usual while a genocide is happening,” the organisers and activist group Sisters Uncut wrote on social media on Saturday, calling for the boycott of brands including Puma, HP and Axa.

Continue reading...

Food aid failing to reach Gaza residents despite ‘catastrophic’ hunger crisis

People vent their frustration on social media as many given just beans and biscuits to eat, and donated food is found for sale in markets

A couple of biscuits and a can of beans is all that many Palestinians in Gaza say is being given to families to live on, if they receive aid at all, and that they are finding donated items for sale in the markets.

The risk of famine is increasing every day, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), which said this week that Gaza’s entire population is suffering “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity”, the highest proportion of a population with acute food insecurity the monitor has ever recorded.

Continue reading...

Revealed: how US residents are funding illegal settlements in the West Bank

Crowdfunding site IsraelGives allows US residents to donate millions to paramilitary groups, IDF units and settlers

An Israeli crowdfunding platform, IsraelGives, has allowed US residents to donate millions of dollars since 7 October to causes including illegal West Bank settlements, paramilitary groups, and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) units currently operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Legal experts say that some of these campaigns may be illegal under US tax law, but that this is rarely enforced on donors to Israeli causes.

This article was amended on 23 December 2023 to correct the year given in which IsraelGives was founded. It was 2009, not 2019. It also was amended to correct the spelling of Joseph Gitler’s name.

Continue reading...

Flooding Hamas tunnels with seawater risks ‘ruining basic life in Gaza’, says expert

Senior hydrologist warns Israeli plan would constitute one element of the crime of genocide

A potential plan by Israel to flood the Hamas tunnel network with seawater risks “ruining the basic conditions for life in Gaza”, one of the elements of the crime of genocide, a senior hydrologist has told the Guardian.

Environmental experts have warned the strategy – which Israel has yet to commit to – risks causing an ecological catastrophe that will leave Gaza with no drinkable water and devastate what little agriculture is possible in the 141 sq mile territory.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden’s reluctance to call for ceasefire may leave him at odds with his party

Many young voters disapprove of how the US president is handling the conflict in Gaza, a new poll suggests

It was a messy compromise. On Friday, after a week of wrangling, the United Nations security council (UNSC) staggered across the finish line, approving a watered-down bid to boost aid to Gaza and calling for urgent steps “to create the conditions for a sustainable cessation of hostilities”.

The US, a staunch ally of Israel, abstained to allow the 15-member council to adopt the resolution. Joe Biden’s allies will claim that it represents progress of sorts. But it will have little impact on the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe as Israel’s bombardment continues.

Continue reading...

UN security council backs resolution on large-scale aid to Gaza but not ceasefire

US opposes making demand for suspension of hostilities, lack of which International Rescue Committee calls ‘unjustifiable’

The UN security council has voted for a resolution calling for large-scale delivery of aid to Gaza in an effort to contain the imminent threat of famine and deadly epidemics.

The resolution did not however demand a suspension of hostilities, which was opposed by the US, which also insisted on removing a clause giving the UN exclusive control of humanitarian deliveries.

Continue reading...

Israel widens ground offensive in Gaza as UN aid resolution talks continue

More evacuations ordered in west of strip, 11 weeks into war that has now killed nearly 1% of people in Gaza

Israel is expanding its ground offensive in Gaza, ordering new evacuations in the west of the strip, as UN security council negotiations over a resolution intended to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies stretched into another day.

Israel’s military told people to leave their homes in al-Bureij, an urban refugee camp. It also said extra ground troops would head to fight in southern Khan Younis. Both areas were originally declared safe for civilians fleeing from the north.

Continue reading...

UN security council vote delayed yet again and now set for Friday – as it happened

This blog is now closed

The World Health Organization said on Thursday that northern Gaza had been left without a functional hospital due to a lack of fuel, staff and supplies.

“There are actually no functional hospitals left in the north,” Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO representative in Gaza, told reporters via video link from Jerusalem.

Continue reading...