For today, links to reports from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Agence France-Presse, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on its initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Heavy fighting in Gaza halts most aid delivery and leaves civilians with few places to seek safety, by Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy | AP DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli forces battled Hamas militants across Gaza today in intense fighting that has prevented the distribution of vital aid in much of the territory and brought some of the devastation and mass displacement seen in the north to the south. On the Gaza side of the border with Egypt . . . READ MORE . . .
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Dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza grow worse as Israel widens its offensive. From AP. Israel’s widening air and ground offensive in southern Gaza has displaced tens of thousands more Palestinians and worsened the territory’s dire humanitarian conditions, with the fighting preventing distribution of food, water and medicine outside a tiny sliver of southern Gaza and new military evacuation orders squeezing . . . READ MORE . . .
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In a rare action against Israel, U.S. says extremist West Bank settlers will be barred from America, by Matthew Lee | AP WASHINGTON — In a rare punitive move against Israel, the State Department said Tuesday it will impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced . . . READ MORE . . .
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Israel is expanding its offensive in Gaza, forcing more Palestinians to flee south. Reported by Scott Neuman and Daniel Estrin | NPR JERUSALEM — Israel’s military on Tuesday appeared to be encircling Gaza’s second largest city, Khan Younis, pushing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians deeper south and hobbling international relief groups already struggling to deliver aid to the besieged territory. While the Israel Defense Forces expanded its offensive in northern and central Gaza . . . Click HERE to listen and read.
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NEWER Israel approves new homes in east Jerusalem settlement: NGO. From AFP. JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities have approved the construction of more than 1,700 new homes, a non-governmental organisation said Wednesday, a move constituting the expansion of settlements in occupied east Jerusalem. Half the “new neighbourhood” comprising 1,738 housing units will be in the city’s annexed east, the Israeli NGOPeace Now said. READ MORE . . .
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NEWER Erdogan sees Netanyahu balancing on brink of collapse. From Tass. ANKARA, December 6. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is balancing on the verge of collapse, something that he may indicate any time soon, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said upon returning from Qatar, according to the state-run Anadolu agency. “And then there is the West, which . . . READ MORE . . .
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NEWER An exodus of Palestinians from Gaza would be ‘catastrophic’: UN refugee chief. From AFP. An exodus of Palestinians from Gaza into neighbouring countries would be “catastrophic”, the United Nations refugee chief Filippo Grandi said today, stressing the need for a ceasefire. “It is very, very important to address [the humanitarian crisis and insufficient aid going into Gaza] to prevent . . . READ MORE . . .
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An Israeli man remembers his Gazan friend. Reported by Fatma Tanis | NPR A Palestinian living in Gaza and a Jewish Israeli bonded over their hopes for peace and dreamed of one day getting a coffee together. But with one killed in the war in Gaza, that’s now impossible. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.