Live: Israel kills at least 58 Palestinians in 24 hours

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has voiced opposition to the proposed ceasefire-hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, describing it as a “serious error," Israeli media reported.

“It’s a serious error that neither serves the goals and interests of the State of Israel in the war nor [brings] the return of the hostages because, in the end, it is a partial deal,” Smotrich told the Haredi radio station Kol Barama, as reported by Ynet.

Several civilians were killed and injured on Wednesday in Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Local sources said two citizens were killed and others injured in Israeli air strikes on the Mufti Land park, north of the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip. An Israeli drone also targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in the city of Deir al-Balah, killing two people and wounding others.

In another incident, several people, including a paramedic, were killed and injured as Israeli warplanes targeted three houses opposite Kamal Adwan Hospital, north of the Gaza Strip.

In southern Gaza, a Palestinian man was killed after an Israeli drone bombed Rafah. He was transferred to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

A medical source at al-Awda Hospital reported that several members of the medical staff and patients were injured after an Israeli robot loaded with explosives detonated near the hospital in northern Gaza.

Three others were injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting the eastern parts of Gaza City.

Israeli forces also detained two fishermen off the coast near Deir al-Balah beach in central Gaza.

Israel violated the November 27 ceasefire deal with the Lebanese group Hezbollah 248 times, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

The violations were documented yesterday in the southern districts of Tyre, Marjayoun and Hasbaya, as well as the eastern districts of Rashaya and Western Beqaa. Three people were injured in the latest 12 Israeli violations.

Good morning Middle East Eye,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 438th day:

• Five Palestinian families in the US sued the State Department on Tuesday over Washington's support for Israel's military amid its war on Gaza that has killed tens of thousands and caused a humanitarian crisis, a court filing showed.

• The US administration, joined by mediators from Egypt and Qatar, has made intensive efforts in recent days to advance the ceasefire talks, a deal could be signed in the coming days with talks in Cairo making progress, sources briefed on the meeting said on Tuesday.

• UN General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution on Palestine's statehood as some 172 countries voted in favour of the resolution, which affirmed the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. Eight countries opposed the resolution.

• Israeli air strikes hit two houses in southern Kfar Kila, in violation of a ceasefire agreed upon with Hezbollah last month, reports the National News Agency (NNA).

• An Israeli attack has sparked a fire in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, a facility in besieged northern Gaza that has come under repeated attack by Israeli forces in recent weeks, Al Jazeera reported.

• US Congressman Greg Casar says he and 19 other members of the House of Representatives have demanded the Biden administration to “withhold offensive weapons from the Israeli military.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• The Palestinian health ministry said on Tuesday that at least 45,059 people have been killed during Israel's war on Gaza, including 31 deaths in the past 24 hours

• The ministry added that 107,041 people have been wounded in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023. More than 10,000 are missing and presumed dead under the rubble.

• The Ministry of Education said that 12,799 students were killed and 20,942 were injured in Gaza and occupied West Bank since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported

• Israeli MP Avichai Boaron, from the Likud party, has submitted a draft proposal to allow freedom of movement for Israelis within the Gaza Strip, overturning the long-standing ban imposed under the 2005 "disengagement" law, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported

• Over 13,500 soldiers and officers have been wounded during Israel's war on Gaza, with about 1,500 of them sustaining injuries on two separate occasions, the Israeli Ministry of Defence's Department of Rehabilitation said

• Over 7,000 writers and book industry workers have joined forces for the largest boycott in history against Israeli literary institutions "complicit in the dispossession of the Palestinian people", according to the Palestine Festival of Literature, an annual event held throughout the occupied West Bank

• Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has stated that fortifications and so-called defensive measures on Mount Hermon must be finalised, indicating that Israeli forces plan to occupy the newly aquired land for a long time

• Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), has strongly condemned the Israeli bombing of a school-turned-shelter in Khan Younis, southern Gaza

• The United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, has accused Israeli authorities of “overwhelmingly” blocking aid missions to northern Gaza, where a prolonged siege has left civilians in desperate need of food and water

• Both Israel and Saudi Arabia have rejected reports suggesting progress in negotiations to normalise relations, with The Times of Israel citing denials from officials in both nations

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has been trying to stay relevant as events in Gaza, the West Bank and across the region have been moving at a much faster pace than the octogenarian politician is able to cope with.

This week, amid an Israeli genocide that has been unceasingly raging in Gaza for 14 months, Abbas's security forces brazenly killed several prominent resistance fighters in Jenin in an attempt to appease the Israelis and their American benefactors.

When then-US President Donald Trump announced in January 2020 the so-called "deal of the century", a proposal that was wholly aligned with Israel on all issues of contention, Abbas said: "I want to say to the duo - Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu - that Jerusalem is not for sale, and all of our rights are not for sale or bargaining. Your deal, the conspiracy, will not happen...we say a thousand times no, no, no to the deal of the century."

Yet, when Trump was re-elected on 5 November, Abbas called to congratulate him and vowed to work with him on a political settlement that he himself rejected out of hand five years earlier.

Read more:  Mahmoud Abbas is in his final act as betrayer of the Palestinian cause

Both Israel and Saudi Arabia have rejected reports suggesting progress in negotiations to normalise relations, with The Times of Israel citing denials from officials in both nations.

Earlier, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz claimed that Saudi Arabia had dropped its demand for the creation of a Palestinian state as a condition for normalisation.

The report sparked controversy among Israeli right-wing politicians, who interpreted it as suggesting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a Palestinian state. Netanyahu's office swiftly refuted the claim, describing it as “a complete lie.”

Saudi officials also rejected the allegations, emphasising their ongoing commitment to Palestinian statehood. “The notion that the kingdom’s leadership has somehow modified its longstanding commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is equally baseless,” a Saudi official said in a statement to reporters.

The statement reiterated Saudi Arabia’s focus on addressing the crisis in Gaza and supporting Palestinian aspirations for independence, rejecting any suggestion of policy change in this regard.

The United Nations humanitarian agency, OCHA, has accused Israeli authorities of “overwhelmingly” blocking aid missions to northern Gaza, where a prolonged siege has left civilians in desperate need of food and water.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Tuesday that “three humanitarian missions planning to bring food and water to parts of besieged North Gaza were once again denied by Israeli authorities.” He noted that efforts to reach areas like Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun and parts of Jabalia had been particularly obstructed.

“As the Israeli siege on North Gaza continues, OCHA stresses once again that civilians who remain there must be protected, and their essential needs must be met,” Dujarric added.

The UN highlighted the dire situation in northern Gaza, where famine looms after more than 70 days of siege coinciding with an intensified Israeli ground offensive. Between 1 and 16 December, OCHA attempted to send aid to the region 40 times. Of these, 38 attempts were denied, while the two missions that initially received approval were ultimately hindered.

In a post on X, OCHA reiterated the urgency of delivering aid to the besieged population, underscoring the severe humanitarian crisis unfolding in the area.

Israel and Saudi Arabia have reached a breakthrough in talks around normalising relations, Haaretz reported on Tuesday, adding that the normalisation could be related to an elusive ceasefire deal that would bring about an end to Israel's war on Gaza.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told Haaretz that rather than Israel agreeing to Saudi Arabia's demand for the recognition of a Palestinian state, the two sides agreed that Israel would give a vague commitment on a "path towards Palestinian statehood".

However, Axios reporter Barak Ravid on X cited a Saudi official who denied the report, saying there had been such a breakthrough.

"The notion that the kingdom's leadership has somehow modified its longstanding commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is equally baseless," the Saudi official said.

"The kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to work towards ending the war in Gaza and helping the Palestinian people achieve their right to an independent state."

Read more: Israel, Saudi Arabia closer to normalisation deal: Report

A group of five Palestinians living in the US and Gaza filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over accusations that Washington is not abiding by a law that they say should restrict American military aid to Israel because it is engaged in human rights violations in its war on Gaza.

The lawsuit, which was filed with the help of the rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now, centres around the Leahy Law, which restricts the US from providing arms or military assistance to foreign militaries that violate human rights.

According to the plaintiffs, as well as several former State Department officials who've backed the lawsuit, the complaint outlines how the Biden administration created loopholes that allowed Israel to continue committing human rights violations without a suspension of aid from Washington.

One such loophole is the State Department's establishment of the "Israel Leahy Vetting Forum", which the lawsuit says is designed "to impede any prompt and effective determination that Israeli units have committed" grave violations of human rights.

Read more: Palestinians sue Blinken over continued US military aid to Israel despite rights abuses

At least one person has been killed and five others, including children, wounded in an Israeli air strike on a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza.

The victim, identified as a displaced woman, was seeking refuge in what Israel had previously designated as a "humanitarian safe zone."

Sources from Wafa news agency confirmed that the attack targeted a shelter for displaced families, raising further concerns about Israel’s continued assault on civilian areas.

Louise Wateridge, spokesperson for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), has strongly condemned the Israeli bombing of a school-turned-shelter in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

“Each day brings a new level of horror,” Wateridge said, reflecting on the relentless violence faced by displaced Palestinians.

A 17-year-old girl, one of the survivors of the strike, sustained severe shrapnel injuries and lost her mother in the attack.

“It just feels very hopeless… the same tragic stories keep emerging,” Wateridge continued. “Families are being displaced repeatedly, and countless lives are being torn apart.”

An Israeli air strike on a house in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahia has left six Palestinians dead and several others wounded, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.

The targeted house had been sheltering displaced families at the time of the attack. Wafa reported that at least five individuals sustained injuries from the bombing.

The US State Department has expressed cautious optimism about the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza.

“I think cautious optimism is a fair way to characterise it, though very much tempered by realism,” said Matthew Miller, the department's spokesperson, in Washington.

However, Miller acknowledged that previous hopes for a ceasefire had ultimately been dashed, making the current outlook more tentative.

In a separate statement, Hamas suggested that a ceasefire could be achieved if Israel refrains from imposing new conditions.

Two Palestinians were killed, and several others wounded in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a house west of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The bombing is part of ongoing Israeli military operations in the region, which have intensified in recent weeks.