Gaza Live: Israeli air strike takes out 25 members of same family

A statement released by Public Safety Canada on Monday announced the listing of Ansarallah, commonly known as the Houthis, as a terrorist entity under the Canadian Criminal Code. 

"Ansarallah is... closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force and Hezbollah, two listed terrorist entities in Canada," Dominic LeBlanc, Canada's minister of public safety, democratic institutions and intergovernmental affairs, said. 

"The Criminal Code prohibits certain actions in relation to terrorist groups, including those related to terrorist financing, travel and recruitment. For example, it is a criminal offence for anyone in Canada and Canadians abroad to knowingly deal with property owned or controlled by a terrorist group."

The decision follows the US announcement to re-designate the Houthis as a terror group in January 2024. 

A new video released by al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing, warns Israel against furthering the war on Gaza and says 33 Israeli captives held in the strip have already been killed by Israeli airstrikes.

"By continuing your crazy war, you may lose your captives forever. Do what you must before it is too late," the video states.

#فيديو | حركة "#حماس"، في رسالة للاحتلال #الإسرائيلي:
باستمرار حربكم المجنونة قد تفقدون #أسراكم إلى الأبد؛ افعلوا ما يجب عليكم فعله قبل فوات الأوان.#غزة #طوفان_الأقصى #الضفة_الغربية pic.twitter.com/G9jFzumtMF

— وكالة قدس برس (@qudspressagency) December 2, 2024

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Hezbollah's rocket fire toward Israeli army positions "will be met with a harsh response, and we promised to act against any violation of the ceasefire, and this is exactly what we will do".

Rockets have been fired into Israeli airspace from both Lebanon and Gaza over the last two hours.

This follows Israel's own repeated violations of the ceasefire brokered last week, according to France, which is acting as a monitor. 

Hezbollah said it carried out a "defensive warning strike" on an Israeli military position in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area on Monday, citing what it called repeated Israeli ceasefire violations including air strikes and shelling in Lebanon.

Hezbollah said Israel has repeatedly violated the ceasefire by conducting air raids across Lebanon and killing two people in a strike on the south on Monday.

"Following the repeated violations...the Islamic Resistance carried out an initial warning defensive response this evening, targeting the Ruwaysat al-Alam site belonging to the Israeli enemy army in the occupied Lebanese Kfar Shouba Hills," Hezbollah said in a statement.

Earlier, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said Israeli forces fired two artillery shells toward the southern Lebanese town of Beit Lif in the Bint Jbeil district, while heavy machinegun fire targeted Yaroun. No injuries were reported in either incident, NNA added.

Israeli forces have demolished 1,528 Palestinian-owned structures in the occupied West Bank since the start of the year, according to the latest figures published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).

The UN data, published on 29 November, indicated that 3,637 Palestinians have been displaced as a result of an ongoing Israeli demolition campaign.

The destroyed infrastructure included inhabited residences (700), agricultural infrastructure (398), and livelihood-related assets (205), such as shops and businesses.

According to Ocha's findings, the most targeted areas in the West Bank were located near the city of Tulkarm, which has faced a greater number of Israeli raids and demolitions over the past year, as well as other West Bank cities.

The Tulkarm refugee camp is at the top of the list of areas with demolished infrastructure (171), with the Nur Shams refugee camp next (118). 

Read more: Israel has demolished over 1,500 West Bank facilities in 2024, says UN

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected accusations that Israel is violating the ceasefire in Lebanon, telling his French counterpart that it was rather "enforcing it in response to Hezbollah’s violations”.

“The presence of Hezbollah operatives south of the Litani [River] is a fundamental violation of the agreement and they must move north,” Saar said.

France's foreign minister told his Israeli counterpart that all sides should respect the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the French foreign ministry said.

In a phone with Israeli minister Gideon Saar, Jean-Noel Barrot stressed "the need for all sides to respect the ceasefire in Lebanon", the ministry said, after several Israeli strikes hit Lebanon since the ceasefire started Wednesday.

A Hamas delegation discussed a ceasefire in Gaza with Egyptian intelligence officials, two officials from the Palestinian group told AFP.

The "delegation met with the head of the Egyptian general intelligence, Major General Hassan Rashad, and a number of Egyptian intelligence officials, and discussed ways to stop the war and aggression, bring in aid, and open the Rafah crossing" at Gaza's border with Egypt, said a senior Hamas official who was part of the Cairo meeting on Sunday evening.

A second Hamas official also present in Cairo said that "Egypt, Qatar and Turkey are making great efforts to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and prisoner exchange".

"Our Palestinian people are waiting for American and international pressure on (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu to stop the war and reach an agreement as happened in Lebanon," the official said.

The first official said any deal Hamas agrees to should include the conditions the movement has brought forward since the start of the war.

These include a full ceasefire, complete Israeli military withdrawal, unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, "a serious deal to exchange prisoners in one go or in two stages", and reconstruction of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Reported by AFP

Gaza's Media Office has reported that around 3,700 Palestinians have been killed or are missing in northern Gaza since Israel laid siege to region in early October.

In a statement on Telegram, the office said that 2,400 of this figure were "buried" under the rubble.

It added that Israeli forces detained 1,750 people during the military offensive, and that they "targeted and prevented the work of civil defence crews," as well as destroying vital health and water infrastructure.

The Israeli army has said it targeted military vehicles near infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in Lebanon's Bekaa.

It added that its fighters conducted a separate attack on military vehicles used to transfer weapons near the border between Syria and Lebanon, in which a Lebanese soldier was injured.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri stated that the actions of Israeli occupation forces amount to a breach of the ceasefire agreement.

Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini emphasized the agency's central role in Gaza's humanitarian response, urging the establishment of "a robust international legal and political framework" to guarantee the steady flow of aid into the territory.

Speaking in Cairo, Lazzarini warned that without such measures, humanitarian efforts would falter. "Without this, humanitarians, however selfless and courageous, cannot stay and deliver," he said.

The agency recently halted aid deliveries through the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing due to worsening security. Unrwa highlighted the severe insufficiency of aid, noting that Gaza's population of 2.2 million had received far less assistance over the past year than needed.

“While attacks continue, people, including children, are facing hunger, living in shelters and tents, and relying on humanitarian aid,” Unrwa stated on X.

The agency reported that only 65 aid trucks entered Gaza daily this past month, a sharp drop from the pre-war average of 500. International groups have warned that conditions in Gaza are deteriorating rapidly, with civilians nearing famine and aid deliveries at their lowest since the war began.

Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari stated that "what is happening in Syria is relevant to Syria and not connected to Israel."

In an interview with Sky News Arabia, he emphasised Israel's stance as a sovereign state and its commitment to preventing Iran from smuggling weapons to Lebanon and Hezbollah through Syria.

Hagari added: "The Israeli army will act accordingly" against any attempts to smuggle weapons to Lebanon and confirmed that the army is monitoring developments in Syria.

Discussing the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, he noted that the 60-day period aims to ensure the absence of "terror bases" in the region. "It’s a step to make sure Hezbollah doesn’t breach the agreement, as it did in 2006," he said.

Hagari also stressed the responsibility of the Lebanese government and Unifil forces in upholding the ceasefire, saying, "It’s in their interest too."

Al Jazeera Arabic reported that 12 bodies were recovered following Israeli air strikes on various areas in the city of Rafah earlier on Monday.

It is hard to imagine a more challenging environment for shooting a film than the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip in 2024. But that is the setting for a groundbreaking new anthology by Palestinian filmmakers.

A collection of 22 short films by artists on the ground in Gaza, From Ground Zero is a landmark in Palestinian filmmaking, serving as a testament to life under Israel's relentless military campaign in the besieged territory, which began in October 2023.

Curated by renowned Palestinian director, Rashid Mashawari, the collection has had a successful global tour and was selected as the launch title for this year’s Bristol Palestine Film Festival, opening it on 30 November.

Mashawari’s 1996 film Haifa was the first Palestinian production to be officially selected at the Cannes International Film Festival. 

He then founded The Cinema Production and Distribution Centre in Ramallah, dedicating years to organising mobile cinemas and workshops.

Read more: Made in Gaza: From Ground Zero gives voice to filmmakers trapped in war zone