Israel-Hamas Conflict: As Fighting Rages in Gaza, a US Envoy Is Set To Meet With the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Rafah, December 15: The Palestinian president was set to meet on Friday with US officials to discuss postwar arrangements for Gaza that could include reactivating Palestinian security forces driven out by Hamas in its 2007 takeover of the territory. Any role for Palestinian security forces in Gaza is bound to elicit strong opposition from Israel, which seeks to maintain an open-ended security presence there. The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank but is deeply unpopular with Palestinians.

While Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it wipes out Gaza's Hamas rulers, the international call for a cease-fire has grown in volume. Israel has drawn international outrage and rare criticism from the US — its main ally — over the killing of civilians. More than 18,700 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says 116 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages. Israel-Hamas War: Joe Biden Administration Urges Israeli Government To End Large Scale Ground Invasion in Gaza

Here's what's happening in the war:

ISRAEL SAYS OPENING KAREM SHALOM CROSSING WILL ALLOW HUMANTARIAN AID TO ENTER GAZA

JERUSALEM — Israel's Security Cabinet has approved the opening of a crossing to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip, backtracking from a previous policy of barring all imports into the besieged territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced the decision to open the Kerem Shalom crossing late on Friday.

Israel shuttered the crossing, the main entry point for Gaza-bound cargo, immediately after the October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war. Leaders have previously said they would not allow any aid directly into Gaza, instead requiring humanitarian supplies to be delivered through a smaller crossing with Egypt. The United Nations and other aid organisations have said Gaza is facing a dire humanitarian crisis due to a shortage of food, medicine and other key supplies.

Israel said the opening of Kerem Shalom will significantly increase the amount of aid able to enter Gaza each day. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan lauded the decision as he wrapped up a lightning trip to the region. He said President Joe Biden had brought up opening the crossing in phone conversations with Netanyahu, and that he had raised it in conversations with Israeli officials. Israel-Hamas War: Israeli Military Recovers Bodies of Soldiers Held Hostage in Gaza

“We hope that this new opening will ease congestion and help facilitate the delivery of life-saving assistance to those who need it urgently in Gaza,” Sullivan said. Netanyahu's office also said the US would finance an upgrade to allow Egypt's Rafah crossing to allow more aid trucks through.

ROCKETS AIMED AT CENTRAL ISRAEL, RESCUE SERVICE SAYS; SIRENS BLARE IN JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM — A rare rocket barrage directed at central Israel sent air raid sirens blaring across Jerusalem. Israel's rescue service said it had received reports of a hit on Friday, but said there were no immediate casualties. It was not immediately clear how many rockets had been fired, but an Associated Press reporter heard numerous launches of Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system.

Israeli media reported that it was the first time in a month and a half that sirens rang in Jerusalem. Since the war began on October 7, rocket barrages have been far more common in the coastal city of Tel Aviv and areas bordering the Gaza Strip.

AL-JAZEERA SAYS ITS CHIEF CORRESPONDENT IN GAZA HAS BEEN WOUNDED

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The Qatar-based television network Al-Jazeera says its chief correspondent in the Gaza Strip, Wael Dahdouh, suffered an arm injury from a drone strike at a school-turned-shelter in the southern city of Khan Younis. The network reported that a cameraman, Samer Abu Daqqa, was also wounded in the drone strike on Friday afternoon.

In October, Dahdouh's wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in an Israeli airstrike. The Committee to Protect Journalists says that since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, some 63 journalists and media workers have been killed, making it one of the deadliest conflicts for journalists since CPJ began documenting journalist fatalities in 1992.

EUROPEAN NATIONS, AUSTRALIA AND CANADA URGED ISRAEL TO STOP WEST BANK VIOLENCE BY SETTLERS

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Twelve European nations joined by Australia, Canada and the European Union have called on Israel “to take immediate and concrete steps to tackle record high settler violence in the occupied West Bank.” In a joint statement released on Friday by the Swedish government, the countries expressed “their grave concern about the record number of attacks by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank.”

They said “the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians is unacceptable” and that “Israel, as the occupying power, must protect the Palestinian civilian population in the West Bank.” The joint statement said that “those responsible for the violence must be brought to justice” and that attacks on Palestinians undermines “security in the West Bank and the region and threatens prospects for a lasting peace.” The European countries are Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

HAGUE COURT REJECTS BID TO BAN TRANSFER TO ISRAEL OF F-35 FIGHTER JET PARTS FROM DUTCH WAREHOUSE

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch court rejected a request on Friday by a group of human rights and humanitarian organisations to order a halt to the transfer to Israel of parts for F-35 fighter jets. The organisations went to court on December 4 arguing that delivery of parts for F-35 jets makes the Netherlands complicit in possible war crimes being committed by Israel in its war with Hamas. The parts are stored in a warehouse in the Dutch town of Woensdrecht.

In a written statement, the court said that the judge who heard the civil case concluded that the Dutch government “weighed the relevant interests” before agreeing to the delivery of parts. It was not immediately clear if the groups that brought the civil case would appeal. Government lawyer Reimer Veldhuis told the judge hearing the civil case that a ban on transfers from the Netherlands would effectively be meaningless as “the United States would deliver these parts to Israel from another place.”

A LIBERIAN-FLAGGED CARGO SHIP IS HIT BY A PROJECTILE FROM REBEL-CONTROLLED YEMEN

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A Liberian-flagged cargo ship caught fire on Friday in the Red Sea after being hit by a projectile launched from rebel-controlled Yemen, a US defence official and a private intelligence firm said. The attack on the Al Jasrah further escalates a campaign by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have claimed responsibility for a series of missile assaults in recent days in the Red Sea and its strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The attacks come as a response to the Israel-Hamas war and the pounding air-and-ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip, though linking the ships targeted in the rebel assaults has grown more tenuous — or nonexistent — as the attacks continue. The US official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the assault. The Al Jasrah is operated by German-based shipper Hapag Lloyd, which declined to immediately comment about the attack. It wasn't yet clear if any of the crew on board the vessel had been hurt in the attack, which may have come from either a drone or a missile.

A FRENCH ISRAELI HOSTAGE'S BODY IS FOUND IN GAZA, FRANCE SAYS

PARIS — France's foreign minister says the body of a French-Israeli citizen taken hostage by Hamas militants has been found in Gaza. The minister, Catherine Colonna, posted on social media her "immense sadness” at the death of Elia Toledano. She said the Israeli military announced that his body had been found. He was reported to have been taken hostage at a music festival attacked by militants during Hamas' October 7 assault on Israel.

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