Live: Israel kills at least 58 Palestinians in 24 hours

Anadolu news agency is reporting, citing medical sources, that at least 16 people were injured in an Israeli attack on an apartment block in central Gaza that killed at least seven people.

Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told the agency that the bodies of four Palestinians and several injured people were brought to the facility.

Meanwhile Al-Awda Hospital reported that three more bodies, and 16 injured people were brought to the hospital after the same attack.

A 15-year-old Palestinian child was shot and injured by Israeli forces during confrontations in the occupied West Bank town of Beit Furik east of Nablus, Wafa news agency is reporting.

According to the report, the child was shot in the knee during confrontations which broke out in the wake of an Israeli military raid on the area. He was transferred to hospital for treatment.

The agency also reported that a disabled 25-year-old man was injured by Israeli fire near the town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit, also in the West Bank.

Seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike targeting an apartment in central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, Reuters is reporting, citing medics.

Wafa news agency reported earlier, citing local sources, that four Palestinians were killed in the attack.

An Israeli air strike on central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp has killed four people, including two children, Wafa news agency is reporting citing local sources.

Gaza's Health ministry reported earlier today that at least 77 Palestinians have been killed and 174 wounded in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the last 24 hours.

Israeli soldiers operating in Gaza have told Haaretz that they were instructed to kill unarmed women, children and men who entered the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land that cuts through central Gaza.

The corridor was created in recent months by Israeli forces to monitor Palestinians.

The Israeli army cleared the area of its Palestinian residents, demolishing their homes to make way for the construction of military roads and positions.

The unnamed soldiers, officers and reservists  reported that the seven kilometre strip of land is now considered a "kill zone", with every Palestinian "crossing an imaginary line" into the corridor considered a terrorist, even children..

"We're killing civilians there who are then counted as terrorists," a recently discharegd Division 252 officer told Haaretz.

He added that casualty numbers became "a competition between units. If Division 99 kills 150 [people], the next unit aims for 200."

One officer recalled an incident in which a commander had announced that 200 fighters had been killed, when actually “only 10 were confirmed as known Hamas operatives”.

One commander said that the boundaries of the corridor are marked by a "line of dead bodies".

"After shootings, bodies are not collected, attracting packs of dogs who come to eat them. In Gaza, people know that wherever you see these dogs, that's where you must not go."

An Israeli man has vandalised the entrance to a Palestinian Christian village in the Galilee, just days before the Christmas holiday. 

According to the Shams Radio website, the man defaced the Virgin Mary statue at the entrance of the village of Fassouta on Friday, damaging its glass casing and other decorations around it. 

The suspect, who was described as a "religious Jewish man" by locals, was caught by a young man from Fassouta and handed over to Israeli police in the city of Maalot-Tarshiha. 

Shams Radio spoke to Father Michael Assi, the priest of the Fassouta parish, who confirmed that the attack happened in the early hours of Friday morning.

"We condemn this provocative action, especially as it comes ahead of Christmas," Assi told the news outlet. 

Read more: Israeli man vandalises entrance to Palestinian Christian village ahead of Christmas

Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting that an Israeli drone targeted the Kamal Adwan hospital, in northern Gaza's Beit Lahia.

The Palestinian Information Centre also reported that Israeli artillery struck the hospital's gate.

◾مدفعية الاحتلال تستهدف بوابة مستشفى كمال عدوان pic.twitter.com/hJA4kge0QI

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) December 20, 2024

The Palestinian Football Association has reported that at least 644 athletes, including nearly 400 football players have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023.

It added that at least 91 of them are children.

They are among the 45,206 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 2023.

A Palestinian baby has died from the cold while sheltering in a tent in the Mawasi 'safe zone' near Khan Younis.

The Palestinian Information Centre published a video on X of Aisha Adnan Sufyan al-Qassas, lifeless and swaddled in white cloth.

According to the report, her family were sheltering in Mawasi after having fled their home in another unidentified area of Gaza.

Israeli forces arrested at least seven Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Montaser Samour, the director of the Prisoners’ Society in Jenin, said three Palestinian men were arrested as Israeli soldiers raided their homes in Jenin governorate, while another man was arrested in the village of Deir Ghazala.

Israeli forces also detained a Palestinian couple and their son early on Friday morning in the village of Roujeib, located to the east of Nablus, the agency said.

Senior Israeli officers have presented army chief Herzi Halevi with the initial findings of an internal investigation into the actions of the top Israeli army leadership in the hours leading up to the 7 October Hamas attack on southern Israel, the Times of Israel reported.

Each senior officer will present their findings to Halevi, and the details will be cross-referenced to reach conclusions.

The investigation will not be completed today and will likely take several more weeks. The investigation’s findings are unlikely to be presented to the public anytime soon.

A couple and their two daughters were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza on Friday morning, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Several others were also reported to have been injured in the attack.

Local sources also reported that Israeli forces carried out demolition operations targeting residential buildings in Beit Lahiya, a town in the northern Gaza Strip.

At least 45,206 Palestinians have been killed and 107,512 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement.

It added that 77 people were killed and 174 injured in the past 24 hours of Israeli attacks.

Abdullah Kamil, the governor of the occupied West Bank’s Salfit, said the Israeli government is fully responsible for the crimes of illegal Israeli settlers in the Marda village near the city of Salfit, according to the Wafa news agency.

Earlier today, illegal settlers stormed and set on fire the village’s mosque, writing vengeful and racist slogans against Arabs and Muslims as well as threatening villagers.

Kamil said these acts are a direct result of the continuous incitement of far-right Israeli ministers and carried out under the protection and support of the Israeli army.

Israeli authorities reportedly launched an investigation into the incident, Israeli media reported.

“We view the incident with severity and will work with determination to bring those responsible to justice,” a joint statement by Israel’s police and the Shin Bet internal security service reportedly said.

🚨Breaking: Israeli settler terrorists stormed the village of Marda in the West Bank, setting the mosque on fire while worshippers were praying inside, and spraying hateful graffiti. pic.twitter.com/EZQQmnzpA0

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) December 20, 2024

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly planning to skip next month’s events in Poland marking the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation, fearing potential arrest, Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita reported.

Polish news outlet Rzeczpospolita reports that Israeli officials have not reached out to their Polish counterparts regarding Netanyahu's attendance. Warsaw believes the absence is tied to its commitment to the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu "for crimes against humanity and war crimes" committed since 7 October.

The report says Israeli President Isaac Herzog also does not plan to attend the event.