- As dozens are reported killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza and staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital were “soaked in blood” after multiple Israeli drone strikes on the besieged medical facility.
- The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warns that bitterly cold weather in Gaza is making conditions harder for forcibly displaced families “struggling to survive” in makeshift shelters without warm clothes or blankets.
- Lebanon’s Health Ministry said five people were wounded in an Israeli attack near Bint Jbeil town as a ceasefire with Hezbollah holds despite numerous truce violations by Israeli forces.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 44,580 Palestinians and wounded 105,739 since October 7, 2023.
- At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.
- In Lebanon, at least 4,047 people have been killed and 16,638 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began.
Israeli army announces exercise in Jordan Valley, Golan Heights
In the coming hours, a military exercise will begin at two locations in the northern Jordan Valley and southern occupied Golan Heights, according to a brief military statement.
It added that the exercise is aimed at “improving readiness and preparedness”.It added: “As part of the exercise, there will be a high level of vehicle and security force movement. There is no fear of a security incident.”
Israel says it hit Hezbollah ‘smuggling route’ on Syria-Lebanon border
Israel’s army says it has conducted air attacks on Hezbollah “weapon-smuggling routes” on the Syria-Lebanon border, just over a week into a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon.
The Israeli air force “conducted strikes on weapon-smuggling routes and terror infrastructure sites located near the Syrian regime’s crossings at the Syrian-Lebanese border”, the military said in a statement that included a map identifying the crossing as Arida.
Meanwhile, the Syrian state news agency (SANA) has reported that the Arida border crossing is out of service due to an Israeli attack.
Israeli army says it killed senior Hamas fighters
The air attack was carried out in collaboration with Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, according to an Israeli military statement on Telegram.
Majdi Aqilan, one of the commanders who took part in the attack on Nahal Oz settlement in Israel on October 7, was among the several senior fighters killed, it said.
The army claimed Aqilan served as deputy commander of the Shati Battalion in the northern and central Gaza Strip.
Ahmed Suwaidan, another commander, and Mamdouh Mehna, a senior member of the tunnelling unit of Hamas, were also killed, the statement added.
Hamas did not immediately respond to the Israeli military’s statement.