Israel Hamas war: what to remember from Tuesday, December 26

The United Nations has appointed a coordinator to organize humanitarian aid for Gaza, while Israel has vowed to intensify fighting in the territory.

Published on December 26, 2023 11:41 p.m

Reading time: 3 minutes

A building destroyed by an Israeli attack in Deir al Balah in the Gaza Strip, December 26, 2023. (ASHRAF AMRA / ANADOLU / AFP)

Israeli attacks on Gaza continue to increase, increasing the concerns of the international community. Here are the main events of this 81st day of fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

According to Hamas, more than 240 Palestinians were killed in 24 hours

According to the Hamas Health Ministry, Israeli strikes have killed 20,915 people and injured 54,918 others in the Gaza Strip since October 7 – a figure Franceinfo cannot confirm due to a lack of independent verification on the ground.

UN appoints humanitarian coordinator for Gaza

Sigrid Kaag, Dutch finance minister and deputy prime minister in Mark Rutte's outgoing government, has been appointed by the United Nations as coordinator for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction in Gaza, the organization announced on Tuesday, December 26.

Sigrid Kaag, who is due to take office on January 8, will “facilitate, coordinate, monitor and review the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza” and will also be tasked with “establishing a UN mechanism to accelerate the delivery of humanitarian assistance.” to Gaza via states that are not involved in the conflict,” said spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Nine soldiers in Israel injured by fire from Lebanon

The army said nine Israeli soldiers and one civilian were injured by rocket fire from Lebanon's Hezbollah, including one that hit a church in an Arab village in northern Israel. By “indiscriminately attacking places of worship,” Hezbollah is committing “war crimes,” an Israeli army spokesman said.

Telephone and internet are once again completely cut off in Gaza

Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel announced a new general outage in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the fourth since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7. Paltel explains this blackout as “the continuation of Israeli aggression” in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian MP arrested by Israeli army

Khalida Jarrar, one of the figures of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was arrested on Tuesday by the Israeli army in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, her family said. Israeli army soldiers stormed into the family's home in Ramallah “by breaking down the door at 5 a.m.,” her husband Ghassan Jarrar told AFP.

Khalida Jarrar, a suspended member of the Palestinian Parliament since 2007, was arrested in October 2019 following the death of a 17-year-old Israeli girl killed in an attack in the occupied West Bank that the Israeli army attributes to the PFLP, a movement Obedient Marxist considered “terrorist” by Israel, the United States and the European Union. She was released in September 2021 after two years in an Israeli prison.

In a statement, the PFLP said the Israeli army “carried out an extensive arrest campaign among PFLP leaders and members in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday morning.” The Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it had arrested Khalida Jarrar, portraying her as a “leader of the PFLP” in the West Bank and claiming she was “wanted for terrorism.”

Paris is “seriously concerned” about the intensification and prolongation of the fighting

In a press release issued on Tuesday, December 26, France states that it is “seriously concerned by the announcement by the Israeli authorities that the fighting in Gaza will intensify and prolong.” The Quai d'Orsay “strongly reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire leading to a ceasefire” and reiterates its call for “concrete measures” from Israel “to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza.”

80 bodies returned by Israel buried in mass grave in Gaza

The bodies of 80 Palestinians killed during the war in Gaza were returned to local authorities by Israel through the Red Cross on Tuesday. They were then transported on a truck and buried in a mass grave in the Rafah region of southern Gaza, dug on a site used as a makeshift cemetery.