For today, links to eight reports: from Middle East Eye, the Associated Press, Reuters, the Cradle, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (SYRIA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM
– – –
Cats eat Palestinian corpses in Gaza amid devastating Israeli onslaught, by Ahmed Aziz and Ahmed Dremly | Middle East Eye GAZA STRIP, occupied Palestine The Gaza-based government media office today condemned the “horrific war crimes” committed by Israeli forces in its latest ground assault on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, in which 17 tanks and other military vehicles stormed the camp under the cover of drones and air strikes, according to local media. READ MORE . . .
– – –
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say. From AP. One of the strikes overnight hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies today. READ MORE . . .
– – –
Some gaps have narrowed in elusive Gaza ceasefire deal, sides say, by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Maayan Lubell | Reuters CAIRO / JERUSALEM — Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials’ remarks on today, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved. READ MORE . . .
– – –
FROM DEC. 22 Israel orders evacuation of northern Gaza hospital; ‘next to impossible’ to obey, say medics, by Nidal al-Mughrabi | Reuters CAIRO — Israel ordered the closure and evacuation on Sunday of one of the last hospitals still partly functioning in a besieged area on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, forcing medics to search for a way to bring hundreds of patients and staff to safety. READ MORE . . .
– – –
PA intensifies siege on Jenin camp as Israeli ‘deadline’ for West Bank operation nears. From the Cradle. Fierce clashes between resistance fighters and Palestinian Authority forces continued today in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, where Ramallah’s security services maintain a brutal siege against the city’s camp. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for Dec. 22 report from Middle East Eye.
– – –
FROM DEC. 22 Hezbollah contends with rising resentment in Lebanon. Reported by Emily Feng | NPR After signing a sweeping ceasefire with Israel, the Lebanon-based paramilitary organization and political party is falling out of favor with some of its most ardent supporters.. Click HERE to listen and read.
– – –
What the Israel-Hezbollah war did to Lebanon’s cultural heritage sites. Reported by Lauren Frayer | NPR TIBNIN CASTLE, Southern Lebanon — The walls of a limestone citadel towering over olive groves near the frontiers of Lebanon, Syria and Israel tell the history of various civilizations that ruled here. Click HERE to listen or read.