For today, links to four reports: from the Associated Press, Middle East Monitor, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Middle East Eye; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (SYRIA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM
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FROM DEC. 19 Israeli strike on a Gaza school kills 17 people sheltering there. From AP. Israeli airstrikes slammed into two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday, a Health Ministry official said, killing at least 17 people including five children in one of the schools. Israel said Hamas operated command centers inside the shelters . . . READ MORE . . .
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Hamas: Israel soldiers’ testimonies on Gaza war ‘evidence of unprecedented war crimes.’ From Middle East Monitor. Israeli occupation soldiers’ testimonies published by Haaretz regarding the war in Gaza are “new evidence of unprecedented war crimes and complete ethnic cleansing operations, carried out in an organised manner and under the army’s leadership and its fascist government,” Hamas said Thursday. READ MORE . . .
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A loverboy and a Palestinian: Saint Levant’s new album is about loss and growth. Reported by Majd Al-Waheidi | NPR Saint Levant has been selling out U.S. and European venues with his album “Deira,” an ode to his heritage and the Gaza hotel his father built, which was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in the war. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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FROM DEC. 19 Israel and Hamas appear close to a ceasefire deal. These are the sticking points, by Samy Magdy and Tia Goldenberg | AP CAIRO — Israel and Hamas appear closer than they have been in months to agreeing to a ceasefire that could wind down the 14-month war in Gaza and bring home dozens of people held hostage there. READ MORE . . .
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How Israel turned Gaza’s ‘safe zones’ into graveyards, by Ghada Ageel | Middle East Eye In Gaza, the targeting of civilians is not an aberration; it has been the reality, in “safe zones” and elsewhere, both before and since 7 October 2023. Families are killed everywhere they might seek refuge. In these so-called safe zones, more than 60 members of my extended family have been killed, with four generations wiped out in one day. READ MORE . . .