Where can you find a hospital, with all its patients, doctors, nurses and paramedics, a military target, besieged, bombed, burned, and many of its medical staff killed and wounded, live on air, except in Palestine, and specifically in the Gaza Strip?!

Where could all this happen without the international community, with its various institutions, and the governments of the “free world” taking action to stop all this killing and tampering with people’s lives and destinies, for no reason other than that the one who is practicing all these atrocities and committing all these blatant violations of all international and humanitarian laws and norms is the State of Israel, which has open immunity and unlimited support from the “lady of the free world,” the United States of America, and all those who follow its orbit?!

During the time of the first Nakba, the cries and screams of the Palestinian victims did not find their way to the ears of the “free world” and its nascent institutions carrying the banner of freedom and justice, nor even to our near and distant brothers, because at that time there were no satellite channels, radio stations, the Internet, Facebook, WhatsApp, X, or Instagram to transmit news and events moment by moment and in many cases by live broadcast.

Now, does the “free world” and the international community, as well as our brothers and friends, have any excuse to justify this terrible silence? Haven’t they received news of the open and ongoing massacre in the Gaza Strip for fourteen months?! Haven’t they seen all this blood, destruction and dismembered bodies?!

Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia is the latest chapter in this ongoing catastrophe that has been ongoing for a whole year and two additional months, where no sanctity has remained untouched by the Mongols of the twenty-first century. The occupation army has made Kamal Adwan Hospital a title and a "criminal sign" for the generals' plan to completely wipe out the northern Gaza Strip. What the occupation state has been doing there for more than two months now goes far beyond mere military operations to cleanse the area of pockets of Palestinian fighters. Rather, it is an act of genocide, uprooting, and complete erasure of all aspects of Palestinian life by completely destroying homes and expelling their original inhabitants, in preparation for settlement plans that their owners have declared and are no longer hidden from anyone.

One of the medical staff working at Kamal Adwan Hospital had no choice but to record a voice message, through which she addressed a final distress call to all concerned, in order to make her voice heard and “inform the world of what the hospital is being subjected to, from being targeted by shelling, bullets, siege and killing, as fires spread everywhere.”

The day before yesterday, Thursday, the occupation forces burned the hospital after committing a horrific massacre in its vicinity, leaving 50 dead, including 5 medical staff members: pediatrician Ahmed Samour, laboratory specialist Israa Abu Zaida, paramedics Abdul Majeed Abu Al-Aish and Maher Al-Ajrami, and maintenance specialist Fares Al-Hudali.

This hospital employee, in a tone that was a mixture of fear and composure, said that the occupation forces were evacuating the hospital of its residents, numbering about 90 patients, to the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia as well, including patients connected to artificial respirators, who were taken out to the hospital courtyard, which puts their lives in danger. She also confirmed that the fate of the medical staff is unknown, and that Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyeh, the hospital director, is under threat and could be arrested at any moment.

This voice/cry for help found its way to all media outlets. Did the world hear it, or does it not want to hear, and does not care about the voice of the victims unless they are Israelis?!

The official spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, Brigadier General Anwar Rajab, announced the death of Major Hussein Ahmed Hassan Nassar, a member of the Presidential Guard, while performing his national duty as part of Operation "Protect the Homeland" in the Jenin camp.

The martyr Nassar is from the city of Yatta, north of Hebron.

This brings the number of those killed in the security operation to 9 Palestinians, 5 of whom were from the security forces and 4 citizens, including one of the leaders of the Jenin Battalion affiliated with the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement.

For about three weeks, Palestinian security forces have been continuing a military operation in Jenin camp, under the pretext of pursuing those they call "outlaws."

The Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Qafin, north of Tulkarm, tonight.

Local sources reported that a number of occupation vehicles stormed the town, roamed its streets and neighborhoods, and were stationed in its eastern neighborhood.

She added that the occupation forces sent military reinforcements to the town, after one of its vehicles broke down following the outbreak of clashes during which the occupation soldiers fired live bullets, without any injuries being reported.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that children in Gaza are freezing to death due to the cold and lack of shelter.

"We need a ceasefire and an immediate flow of essential supplies, including winter supplies," he added in a press statement on Friday.

He pointed out that blankets and winter supplies have been stuck for months awaiting approval to enter Gaza.

Channel 12 Israel said that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is the one who forced the negotiating team to try to reach a partial deal due to threats from his coalition partners.

It added that Netanyahu is the one preventing a comprehensive deal and Hamas has never changed its terms.

It stressed that the conditions for reaching a deal that would return all detainees remain the same: an Israeli withdrawal, a complete ceasefire, and the release of important prisoners.

The World Food Programme said on Friday that hunger is spreading everywhere in the Gaza Strip, "and we have only been able to bring in about a third of the food we need to support people in the Strip."

In a post on the X platform, the programme reiterated its calls for safe and sustainable access, and the restoration of law and order, stressing the need for a ceasefire more than ever.

Two citizens were killed this evening, Friday, when the occupation's drones opened fire on citizens in Gaza City.

Wafa News Agency said that the occupation's drones fired bullets at citizens in the Unknown Soldier area in the Al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City, which led to the death of a displaced citizen.

Rhe citizen Mohammed Ahmed Hamada was also martyred after a drone fired bullets at citizens near the Jordanian field hospital in the Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City.

In the same context, local sources said that the occupation forces are besieging about 300 families inside the city of Beit Hanoun, north of the Gaza Strip, indicating that Beit Hanoun "is being subjected to a violent Israeli attack that systematically targets residential neighborhoods."

It added that citizens are appealing for the rescue of a number of those injured as a result of the occupation's intensive shelling of the areas where citizens are gathering.

Sources revealed that the Egyptian authorities issued a decision to prevent Palestinians coming from Syria and 4 Arab countries from entering Egypt.

The sources revealed to Al Arabiya.net that the authorities have taken a decision to prevent Palestinians coming from Syria, Sudan, Libya, Iraq and Yemen from entering Egypt until further notice.

A few days ago, the Egyptian authorities took a similar decision, deciding to stop the entry of Syrians holding European, American and Canadian residency into the country without obtaining security approval.

The sources explained to Al Arabiya.net that the decision included stopping the entry of Syrians holding Schengen visas to Egypt, and also included preventing the entry of Syrians, whether they are the husband or wife of an Egyptian man or woman, without security approval.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced Egypt's support for the Syrian state, respect for its sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, and strengthening coordination between regional and international actors with the aim of supporting Syria.

Egypt also renewed its support for the efforts of the Syrian people to rebuild their country and its institutions through a comprehensive political process led by Syria in which all components of the Syrian people participate and guarantee their rights.

Axios quoted Israeli and American officials as saying they are concerned that the chances of reaching a swap deal in the Gaza Strip before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump next month are slim.

A source close to Trump told Axios that there is no plan for what to do if Trump's deadline for a deal is missed.

Israeli officials said Trump could back measures such as cutting aid if a swap deal is not reached, and a US source familiar with the talks said a deal was still possible within the next three weeks.

US and Israeli officials said that if the negotiations do not achieve results, they could be delayed for months due to the transition of power to Trump.

The White House accused Hamas of being the main obstacle to reaching a ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

• The White House said in a statement, "Hamas refuses to move to bridge the differences to reach an agreement, and we believe that we are close to reaching an agreement and will continue to work to achieve that."

On Friday, the Lebanese General Security Service arrested the wife and daughter of Duraid Rifaat al-Assad, the cousin of the deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while they were trying to travel abroad from Beirut International Airport.

A judicial source explained that Duraid Al-Assad's wife and daughter entered Lebanon illegally, and were about to travel from Beirut Airport to abroad. When their passports were examined by the General Security Department at Beirut Airport, it was found that there was forgery and tampering in their pages and that the passport data had been changed, especially with regard to their validity.

The source indicated that the Public Prosecutor of the Court of Appeal in Mount Lebanon, Judge Raed Abu Shakra, gave a signal to arrest them, and informed the Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, Judge Jamal Al-Hajjar, of what happened, who ordered their detention and investigation.

The source pointed out that the investigation is focused on the reasons for forging the passports and not on a security background, unless it turns out that they are wanted in Syria.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Rifaat al-Assad's current whereabouts are unknown. He has lived abroad, mostly in France, since the mid-1980s, after being accused of trying to overthrow his brother, former President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father.

The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the Israeli occupation forces' burning of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, and forcing patients and medical staff to evacuate it.

The official spokesman for the ministry, Ambassador Sufian Al-Qudah, considered in a statement today, Friday, that these practices are a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and a heinous war crime that is added to Israel's ongoing crimes in the Strip, holding Israel responsible for the safety of civilians and medical staff working in the hospital.

He stressed the Kingdom's absolute rejection and condemnation of this systematic targeting of medical facilities and personnel, which constitutes a violation of international law, especially the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 1949, and a dangerous attempt to destroy vital facilities necessary for the survival of the population in the northern Gaza Strip.

The judges called on the international community, especially the Security Council, to assume its legal and moral responsibilities, to compel Israel to stop its aggression on Gaza and its targeting of civilians, to end the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe caused by the aggression, to provide the necessary protection for the Palestinian people, to stop the crimes against them, to hold those responsible accountable, to ensure the protection of humanitarian and health facilities and shelters, and to stop the ongoing Israeli violations of international law.

On Friday, Syrian security forces in Latakia province arrested Hayyan Mia, one of those accused of “major crimes” against citizens.

This came according to what the official news agency "SANA" reported, quoting its correspondent in the province located in northwestern Syria.

She stated that "the Public Security Department in the governorate arrested the notorious outlaw, Hayyan Mia, who is responsible for a number of major crimes against Syrians."

Some Syrian accounts on social media reported that the aforementioned person leads a terrorist gang and is a drug dealer.

For days, the security forces of the new Syrian administration have been pursuing the most wanted persons accused of crimes against the Syrian people in the country's various provinces.

On December 8, the Syrian factions took control of the capital, Damascus, days after taking control of other cities, thus ending 61 years of rule by the bloody Baath Party regime and 53 years of rule by the Assad family.

The next day, the leader of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, announced that Mohammed al-Bashir, who had been running Idlib for years, had been tasked with forming a new Syrian government to manage the transitional phase.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati denied on Friday that his country had been informed by any party that Israel would not withdraw from the south after the expiry of the sixty-day period agreed upon in the ceasefire agreement.

Since November 27, a fragile ceasefire has prevailed, ending the mutual shelling between Israel and Hezbollah that began on October 8, 2023, and then turned into a full-scale war on September 23.

In a statement, Mikati's media office said: "Press information is being circulated that Lebanon is being informed through intermediaries that Israel will not withdraw from the south after the expiration of the sixty-day truce period."

The statement stressed that "this talk is absolutely untrue, and the firm position that Mikati conveyed to all concerned parties, most notably the United States and France, the sponsors of the ceasefire understanding, stipulates the necessity of pressuring the Israeli enemy to withdraw from the Lebanese territories it has penetrated, and to stop its violations and hostile acts."

He continued: "Mikati reiterated this position during the intensive diplomatic and military contacts he conducted in order to have the enemy withdraw from several towns in the south, namely Qantara, Adshit, Qusayr, and Wadi al-Hujayr."

He added: "Mikati had conveyed this position to the representatives of Washington and Paris in the five-member security committee for the ceasefire, during the meeting at the Grand Serail last Tuesday, and demanded that Israel fully commit to the withdrawal."

He stressed that "the army, which is doing its duty in the areas where it is deployed, has begun to strengthen its presence in the south in accordance with the understanding."

The five-member committee includes representatives from the Lebanese army, Israel, and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in addition to the United States and France, the two countries mediating the ceasefire agreement.

On Thursday morning, the Lebanese National News Agency reported that Israeli army vehicles had penetrated through Wadi al-Hujayr into the town of Qantara in southern Lebanon, in a new violation of the ceasefire, bringing the number to more than 300 violations since the agreement went into effect 30 days ago.

Hours later, the Lebanese army announced the withdrawal of Israeli forces that had penetrated into three southern towns, about 6 kilometers from the border.

One of the most prominent provisions of the ceasefire agreement is Israel's gradual withdrawal to the south of the Blue Line separating it from Lebanon.

Within 60 days, the Lebanese army and security forces will be deployed along the borders, crossing points and the southern region.

The Israeli aggression on Lebanon resulted in 4,063 deaths and 16,663 injuries, including a large number of children and women, in addition to the displacement of about 1,400,000 people. Most of the victims and displaced persons were recorded after the escalation of the aggression on September 23.

The Israeli occupation committed 3 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, resulting in 37 dead and 98 injuries arriving at hospitals during the past 24 hours.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that the death toll from the aggression has risen to 45,436 dead and 108,038 injuries since October 7, 2023.

It pointed out that there are still a number of victims under the rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

Today, Friday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested two brothers from Khirbet Al-Markaz in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.

According to local sources, the forces arrested the two brothers, Ibrahim and Khalil Issa Rabie, while they were trying to confront the settlers who had released their livestock towards the olive trees they own near Khirbet Al-Markaz in Masafer Yatta.

Al Jazeera's correspondent reported that the Israeli occupation forces burned Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, north of the Gaza Strip, today, Friday, after committing a horrific massacre in its vicinity, leaving 50 martyrs, including 5 medical staff.

In turn, the Palestinian Ministry of Health appealed once again to the international community to protect patients, medical staff and treatment centers in Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli war of extermination continues, and after the storming of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahia.

The ministry added that the Israeli occupation's persistence in its crimes is mainly due to the silence of the world and major countries on the ethnic cleansing and massacres taking place.

She added in a press statement, today, Friday, that the war on the Gaza Strip did not exclude anyone, and its damages and atrocities included fetuses in their mothers' wombs, who were killed before they reached the world, and the dead in the graves whose bones were trampled by Israeli bulldozers.

The Ministry of Health held the international community and the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the lives of the patients, their companions and the medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital, numbering 350, after contact with the medical staff, patients and injured there was cut off.

The occupation forces surrounded the hospital and this morning demanded that the medical staff, patients and companions go down to its courtyard in preparation for storming it, after a massacre committed yesterday against five of its staff, namely pediatrician Ahmed Samour, laboratory specialist Israa Abu Zaida, paramedics Abdul Majeed Abu Al-Aish and Maher Al-Ajrami, and maintenance specialist Fares Al-Hudali.

The death toll from the Israeli war of extermination on the Gaza Strip has risen to more than 45,400 dead and more than 108,000 wounded, since October 7, 2023.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is the largest hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, and it provided services to more than 400,000 people.

Today, Friday, the Israeli occupation army prevented a number of Palestinian farmers from completing their work on their agricultural lands in the Umm al-Quba plain in the northern Jordan Valley.

Local sources reported that the occupation, incited by the settlers, detained the farmers for more than two hours, preventing them from completing the plowing of their lands in preparation for sowing rain-fed crops, before expelling them from those lands.

Large areas of citizens' agricultural lands became off-limits to them due to the colonists' seizure of them.

Fear and uncertainty are spreading across many U.S. college campuses ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, as some schools have advised international students to return early from winter break amid promises of another travel ban like the one that stranded students abroad at the start of Trump’s first term in January 2017, when Trump imposed his first executive order warning citizens, including students from seven Arab and Muslim countries, of travel restrictions.

In a country where more than 1.1 million international students are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities during the 2023-24 academic year, the former (and incoming) president has pledged tougher immigration policies upon his return to the White House, including expanding his previous travel ban on people from Muslim-majority countries and revoking student visas for “anti-American and anti-Semitic aliens” in a cover-up targeting students who protested last year, and continue to protest, Israel’s war of genocide in Gaza.

International students generally have nonimmigrant visas that allow them to study in the United States but do not provide a legal path to remain in the country.

From New York to California, students are reportedly not only scrambling to take final exams before the winter break (mid-month), but some are also preparing for potential disruption to their lives and the possibility of not being able to complete their studies, with some universities urging students to postpone or shorten travel plans outside the United States before Trump's inauguration.

The Office of Global Learning at Cornell University in New York advised students traveling abroad to return before the spring semester begins on Jan. 21, the day after Trump's inauguration, or "contact an advisor about your travel plans and prepare for delays," according to the university announcement.

The university warned students late last month that “the travel ban is likely to go into effect shortly after the inauguration.” “The ban is likely to include citizens of countries targeted by the first Trump administration: Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Myanmar, Sudan, Tanzania, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, Somalia, and the Palestinian territories. New countries could be added to this list, particularly China and India.”

At the University of Southern California, which had more than 17,000 international students last academic year, officials urged international students in an email to return to the United States a week before Trump returns to the White House, saying “one or more executive orders may be issued that impact travel … and visa processing.” USC has the largest international student population in California.

The university advised students: “While there is no certainty that such orders will be issued, the safest way to avoid any challenges is to be physically present in the United States before the start of the spring semester on January 13, 2025,” according to a report on the student-led media site.

Moreover, Trump’s promise of “mass deportation” resonates beyond critical industries like agriculture, entertainment, hospitality, construction, and health care: It could complicate things for some students regardless of their winter break travel plans. Meanwhile, the president-elect has promised to grant “automatic” green cards to foreign nationals who graduate from U.S. colleges, a proposal that—if Trump pursues it and Congress passes—could pave the way for millions of international students to become legal permanent residents.

But shortly after Trump made the pledge in June, a Trump campaign spokesman said the group would be limited to “the most talented graduates” and would be vetted “to weed out all communists, radical Islamists, Hamas supporters, America haters, and people who rely on or seek public assistance.” Trump has not mentioned the proposal publicly since June, and it’s unclear how his new administration will address the issue.

One day after last month's presidential election, UCLA's Center for Immigration Law and Policy reminded students that the university "will not disclose immigration status or related information in confidential student records... without a court order, subpoena, warrant, or as otherwise required by law."

“The university also has a strict policy that generally prohibits campus police from engaging in joint efforts with federal immigration enforcement or detaining individuals at the request of the federal government,” the center said.

In October 2023, after Israel launched a genocide in Gaza and protests erupted on college campuses across the United States, Trump said at a campaign event that he would revoke student visas and deport “radical, anti-American, anti-Semitic foreigners” enrolled at universities. He criticized pro-Palestinian protests and said he would send Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to what he called “pro-jihadist demonstrations.”

Trump also vowed to reimpose and expand an earlier travel ban on people from Muslim-majority countries — which limited travelers from Iran, Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen. The administration later expanded the travel ban to include several African countries. President Joe Biden rescinded the travel ban after taking office in 2021.

Trump also pledged to implement "strong ideological screening of all immigrants" and said the United States would prevent "dangerous, hateful, bigoted, and deranged lunatics from ever gaining residency in our country."

In the midst of the ongoing war of extermination in Gaza, where people are dying from bombing, hunger and cold, and how difficult is that death that creeps in with cold and frost to snatch young children and infants on a cold night in Gaza’s winter, where the tents do not warm or prevent the cold, and where life is impossible to live in the midst of everything that is happening, and nothing has changed the situation so far, and no force is moving to stop the extermination, and no safe space for people to shelter, and this is the reality of the difficult situation that is becoming more difficult with the passing of days. Three infants died in one day due to cold and frost, as their weak and small bodies could not bear the winter cold in a tent that lacks all the necessities of life, without sufficient blankets, and they are in constant hunger, where food is very scarce, if it exists at all.

A childhood dying of cold, and its sin is that it was born in Gaza, which is experiencing all the chapters of devastation and genocide, and lives under the fire of bombing, devastation and destruction, and the impact of the ongoing massacre for 448 days. The tents of the displaced have become worn out and torn, and the shelters are places unfit for living because they have become a health hazard in which epidemics and diseases spread. In the midst of this bitter situation and difficult circumstances, children are dying of severe cold, and there is nothing more painful to the soul than those images and scenes that we see through the eye of the camera.

The pain and cries of the people of Gaza have not received a response to this day from the international community, from the major countries, and from the bodies and organizations whose role was absent throughout the days of the genocide. This is a shame that will haunt them, as they could have done and still can do a lot to save human lives from the death that is looming over them, but they stood neutral and witnessed the genocide that affected everything in Gaza.

Children, elderly and women are out in the open, where it is cold, frost and rain, and there is nothing in Gaza to warm their bodies. The tents are made of cloth, and the ground is made of mud and silt, and there are no clothes or blankets enough to cover themselves with. The siege is on all sides, the bombing is continuous, and the chapters of torment are crowded together to snatch more innocent lives, in an ongoing war and genocide that has not stopped, as Gaza has turned into this hell in which the innocent live and death lurks for them.

There is no feeling of helplessness equal to it, how can we see and hear everything that is happening in Gaza, scenes that hurt the soul and pain the spirit, and every day that the genocide continues, a new tragedy appears, and suffering is added to the record of pain and suffering that continues under the eyes of the world, and calls for help are met with nothing but more threats and intimidation, and more oppression, as the death of infants from the cold is another stain of shame on the forehead of silent humanity.

Infants in Gaza are dying of cold. How can the world accept this image?! How can its conscience remain calm and remain committed to this foolish neutrality?! Is there a more hideous image?! Doesn’t the matter deserve urgent intervention to impose a halt to the killing and to this multi-faceted death?!

Seela Al-Fasih, Aisha Al-Qassas, and three other children who died as their bodies froze to death in the first days of their lives, died because of the blindness that afflicted the conscience of the world, and they died because of the weakness and fragility of international agreements in the face of the unjust occupation.

An elderly woman was killed shortly after being critically injured in a stabbing attack in Herzliya on Friday, while the suspected stabber was seriously injured after being shot.

A medical team said in a statement that it was "providing first aid at the scene of the unusual event, which took place on a street in Herzliya," noting that a woman was critically injured and was pronounced dead shortly after.

The Israeli police said that the stabbing in Herzliya was an operation, noting that the perpetrator was shot by security forces.

Another crew noted that the perpetrator had been "neutralized," while a video clip taken from the scene showed several gunshots being fired at a person in the area.

Later, a medical team said that the perpetrator had been seriously injured.

A member of the medical team who arrived at the scene of the operation said, “We received a report about a woman being stabbed. We quickly arrived at the scene and saw the woman lying on the ground, unconscious, suffering from a stab wound to her body. We provided her with initial medical treatment, which included stopping the bleeding, while transferring her to the hospital, where she is in critical condition.”

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced today, Friday, the death of Dr. Ahmed Al-Zaharna, who works at the Gaza European Hospital, as a result of the severe cold that the residents of the Gaza Strip are suffering from.

The ministry confirmed in a statement that Al-Zaharna's body was found inside his tent in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Yunis city, in the southern Gaza Strip.

At least 11 citizens were killed and more than 30 were injured, most of them children and women, in Israeli shelling of the cities of Gaza and Rafah at dawn on Friday.

Local sources reported the martyrdom of four citizens as a result of the occupation forces’ bombing of a house belonging to the Abu Baid family in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood east of Gaza City. A girl was confirmed to have been martyred after the occupation targeted her family’s house in the Al-Sidra area in Gaza City.

It pointed out that a female citizen died of her wounds after the occupation targeted their home in the Al-Nasr neighborhood east of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip.

Civil defense crews recovered 3 martyrs and wounded from a house belonging to the Harara family in the vicinity of the Istijaba Mosque in the Sabra area, south of Gaza City.

The bodies of the two dead child, Yousef Ibrahim Abu Muharab (16 years old) and Muhammad Ghayyad Abu Muharab (14 years old), were recovered from the Abu Al-Ajeen area east of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The death toll rose to 45,399 citizens, and the number of injuries to 107,940, while medical teams were unable to rescue thousands from under the rubble, due to the continued bombing and the dangerous conditions on the ground, in light of the stifling siege on the sector, and strict restrictions on the entry of fuel and urgent vital aid, to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian conditions.

This morning, Friday, the Israeli occupation army stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip and began searching the wounded and sick after taking them out to its yard.

The occupation army had surrounded Kamal Adwan Hospital, demanding that medical staff, patients and companions go down to the hospital yard in preparation for storming it.

Yesterday, Thursday, five of the hospital’s staff were martyred, as a result of the continued targeting of the hospital by the Israeli occupation forces. They are: pediatrician Ahmed Samour, laboratory specialist Israa Abu Zaida, paramedics Abdul Majeed Abu Al-Aish and Maher Al-Ajrami, and maintenance specialist Fares Al-Hudali.

The Israeli occupation army continues its tight siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where 91 patients are present, amidst appeals for the necessity of intervention to save the patients and medical staff, and provide them with medical supplies and food.

The hospital was subjected to continuous Israeli bombing and targeting, and drones dropped bombs in its courtyards and on its roof, which once again threatens the supplies of fuel and oxygen, while the entry of medicine, food, medical crews, ambulances, and any other services is prohibited.

Dr. Jamal Harfoush: Netanyahu is evasive to gain time to arrange his priorities and benefit from international pressure to frame the deal in a way that serves his agenda

Fayez Abbas: The current Israeli position makes reaching a swap deal almost impossible at the present time

Muhammad Abu Allan Daraghmeh: Netanyahu's repeated statements regarding his withdrawal from completing the deal are part of the psychological warfare

Nizar Nazzal: Netanyahu focuses on small details to postpone big decisions as a means of procrastination and giving him more time

Yasser Manna: The Israeli opposition suffers from clear weakness and impotence and lacks a coherent vision or program that counters Netanyahu’s policies

Negotiations over a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and the Palestinian resistance are witnessing increasing complications, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to adopt a policy of procrastination and evasion, which Netanyahu has mastered for more than a year, coinciding with his commission of war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

These days, negotiating delegations are conducting shuttle tours in an attempt to make progress towards concluding the deal. Despite all that has been said about these negotiations, statements that may be described as positive, on the ground, procrastination remains present, and with it the suffering of the Palestinians increases.

In separate interviews with “Y,” writers, analysts, and specialists believe that this policy practiced by Netanyahu is not just a random delay, but rather a deliberate strategy aimed at strengthening his authority internally and achieving diplomatic and security gains that serve his agenda.

They believe that Netanyahu is seeking through this procrastination to exhaust the Palestinian resistance, exploiting international pressure to arrange Israel’s priorities in line with its interests. At the same time, he is working to enhance his popularity among his supporters and maintain the cohesion of his right-wing government, while not exploiting the absence of an Israeli opposition that would prevent this policy, and is trying to delay concluding a partial deal that he wants in order to continue his policy.

They stress that Netanyahu's continued procrastination regarding concluding the deal increases the complexity of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, which has been ongoing for about 15 months, in light of the international inability to stop Netanyahu from the daily crimes he commits in the Strip.

A political and security strategy aimed at achieving internal and external gains.

Professor Dr. Jamal Harfoush, Professor of Scientific Research Methods and Political Studies at the University of the Academic Research Center in Brazil, confirms that Benjamin Netanyahu’s evasions regarding concluding a deal in the Gaza Strip are nothing but a political and security strategy aimed at achieving internal and external gains at the expense of realistic solutions.

Harfoush explains that Netanyahu seeks to enhance his popularity with the Israeli right and maintain the cohesion of his fragile government coalition by exploiting the deal as a card to emphasize his strength in the face of the Palestinian resistance.

He points out that Netanyahu is trying to exhaust the Palestinian resistance by prolonging the negotiations, believing that this may lead to reducing its demands.

Harfoush explains that Netanyahu is managing this file carefully to avoid angering the Israeli street, especially the families of the detainees, who are demanding urgent solutions, which makes him maneuver without committing to a radical solution.

Harfoush asserts that the maneuvers allow Netanyahu to gain time to arrange Israel's diplomatic priorities and benefit from international pressure to frame the deal in a way that serves the Israeli agenda.

Harfoush believes that Netanyahu’s talk about “obstacles that require a political decision” means that the pending issues go beyond technical or procedural details, and require courage and political will to overcome pressures and obstacles. Obstacles arise when solutions require political concessions that may weaken the position of the party making the decision.

Harfoush points out that the political decision here is the key to overcoming internal divisions or external pressures, and reflects the extent of the leadership’s ability to reconcile national interests and potential losses. Moreover, decision-making requires accepting its consequences at the local and international levels, which highlights the importance of political courage.

On the other hand, Harfoush asserts that Netanyahu's actions reveal a deliberate management of crises to achieve personal political gains, regardless of the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Harfoush believes that creating crises reflects an internal political division that Netanyahu is using to strengthen his hold on power, despite opposition objections. These crises give him room to maneuver between the demands of the street and the pressures of his allies.

Harfoush points out that the continuation of these crises deepens human suffering, as it leads to the disruption of any steps towards easing the siege or improving living conditions, while this behavior obstructs any attempts at international mediation, which reinforces the state of political stagnation.

Harfoush believes that Netanyahu is using crises as a means to prolong the status quo, realizing that any breakthrough could give the Palestinian resistance a political or moral victory, which he seeks to avoid at all costs.

In addition, Harfoush explains that there are repercussions of the political maneuverings on this file, which cast a shadow over the Israeli detainees in Gaza, as the continued detention weakens the confidence of their families in the Israeli government, increases popular pressure on the leadership, creates a state of frustration among Israeli soldiers, and affects the morale of the army.

As for the Palestinian prisoners, Harfoush explains that delaying the deal deepens the suffering of the prisoners and their families, but it strengthens their steadfastness as symbols of the Palestinian struggle, and pushes the Palestinian resistance to intensify qualitative operations, especially attempts to capture them, which leads to a field escalation.

He stresses that the continued stalemate exacerbates the suffering of the people in Gaza and the West Bank, and increases the complexity of the conflict, and that any delay in concluding the deal shows the political inability of both parties to find sustainable solutions, which reinforces the idea that the conflict is the permanent tool for imposing conditions.

Harfoush explains that managing this file requires courageous decisions and positions that go beyond narrow political calculations, as the fate of Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners remains a symbol of the conflict and a bridge towards achieving justice if it is dealt with wisely and responsibly.

Netanyahu seeks to avoid any deal that leads to a ceasefire

Israeli affairs expert Fayez Abbas believes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to avoid any deal that would lead to a ceasefire or an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Abbas points out that Netanyahu does not explicitly declare this position for fear of the reactions of the families of the detainees and the Israeli society, which demands their return at any price. However, he realizes that his partners in the government, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and Orit Struck, may bring down his government if he concludes a deal that obligates Israel to withdraw from the Strip. Therefore, he considers his survival in power to be his main priority, not the lives of the detainees.

He explains that the obstacles that hinder reaching a deal require political decisions, not security or military ones. Among these obstacles are the issue of withdrawal from strategic axes such as the Philadelphi and Netzarim axes, in addition to Israel’s refusal to release prisoners sentenced to long terms, most notably Marwan Barghouti. These issues are considered “red lines” by the current Israeli government, which complicates the negotiations and thwarts any significant progress.

Despite media talk about possible progress in the negotiations, Abbas points out that the reality is devoid of any real breakthrough, as the administration of US President Joe Biden is trying to promote alleged progress in the negotiations, indicating that the deal may be completed within weeks or very soon, but Abbas confirms that these statements have not translated into tangible steps due to the stubborn Israeli position.

Abbas points out that recently, the head of US intelligence visited Doha in an attempt to accelerate negotiations, but left after one day after becoming convinced that a deal was not possible in light of the current Israeli position. Despite this, the Biden administration insists that Hamas’s leadership is the main obstacle to reaching a deal, which shows the difference in visions between the two parties.

Abbas points out that the conditions of the Israeli detainees in Gaza are getting worse, especially in light of the harsh conditions the Strip is experiencing, as many of the detainees are elderly or were injured during their captivity, which makes it difficult to preserve their lives in the tunnels, especially with the onset of winter, and this situation puts additional pressure on the Israeli side to expedite reaching a solution.

Abbas stresses that at the same time, the Netanyahu and Ben Gvir government continues to abuse Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

He explains that Palestinian prisoners suffer from catastrophic humanitarian conditions, including lack of food and health care, overcrowding in cells, and humiliating daily searches. Since October 7, this suffering has escalated significantly, as more than 35 prisoners have been killed as a result of repressive Israeli policies.

Abbas stresses that the current Israeli position makes reaching a swap deal almost impossible at the present time.

Abbas points out that despite international mediation efforts and internal pressures, the priority of Netanyahu's government remains maintaining power, even if it is at the expense of the lives of Israeli detainees or the suffering of Palestinian prisoners.

Netanyahu's positions are not just political maneuvering

Writer and expert on Israeli affairs, Muhammad Abu Allan Daraghmeh, believes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s positions on the prisoner exchange deal are not merely political maneuvers, but rather reflect a clear strategy based on continuing the war in the Gaza Strip and rejecting any deal that leads to a ceasefire or a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from the Strip.

According to Daraghmeh, Netanyahu is seeking to achieve a partial exchange deal that would release a limited number of Israeli detainees, which would guarantee the continued presence of the occupation forces inside Gaza, and allow him to continue the war indefinitely.

Draghmeh believes that this policy comes within the framework of Netanyahu's declared goal since the beginning of the war, which is to control Gaza for a long period.

Draghmeh refers to international and Israeli reports that indicated that the occupation army is working to build a military infrastructure inside the Strip, which confirms Israel's intention to remain for a long time.

Draghmeh believes that Netanyahu does not hide his policy, but rather expresses it using different names that aim to mislead local and international public opinion.

Regarding the ongoing negotiations on a prisoner exchange deal, Draghmeh points out that the obstacles facing this process relate to the powers of the Israeli negotiating delegation, which moves within narrow limits.

Draghmeh points out that when developments arise that go beyond the delegation’s powers, it is obligated to return to the political level to make the necessary decisions. This explains the recent return of the Israeli delegation from Doha, where the goal was to conduct more internal consultations. This dynamic reflects the political constraints imposed by Netanyahu’s government on any progress in the negotiations.

Draghmeh asserts that Netanyahu does not pay any attention to the positions of the opposition within the Knesset or to the popular pressures in the Israeli street, thanks to his parliamentary majority of 68 members of the Knesset, and he is able to implement his policies without any significant obstacles.

As for the media talk about possible progress in the negotiations, Draghmeh considers it part of the propaganda game of negotiations, where unreliable leaks are circulated about achieving progress, but it is difficult to determine the extent of the veracity of these claims.

Draghmeh describes the situation in the Gaza Strip as catastrophic, as the people have reached a stage where it is difficult to bear the current conditions, and thus delaying the deal means more suffering.

Draghmeh believes that Netanyahu's repeated statements about his withdrawal from completing the deal and not moving forward with it come within the framework of the psychological war he is waging against the people of Gaza.

According to Draghmeh, these statements initially raise hopes for the possibility of ending the war, but they quickly turn into disappointment that exacerbates the suffering of the people of Gaza who live under the burden of continuous bombing and daily genocide.

On the other hand, Draghmeh explains that the Palestinian prisoners are awaiting the exchange deal that may lead to the release of a large number of them or at least improve their detention conditions. At the same time, the Israeli detainees in Gaza are living in difficult conditions similar to those facing the residents of the Strip, as fears for their lives are increasing due to the ongoing military operations and Israeli bombardment. Some of the detainees have also been injured during these attacks, which exacerbates their suffering.

Draghmeh points out that the Israeli war in Gaza does not only aim to achieve military goals, but also carries catastrophic humanitarian dimensions, as the policy of genocide against the people of the Strip is evident.

Draghmeh asserts that this war, which Netanyahu is waging without regard to the number of martyrs or wounded, is leaving devastating effects on Palestinian civilians who have become prisoners of a slim hope of stopping the war and ending the suffering.

Draghmeh points out that Netanyahu's policy expresses a long-term vision to control Gaza, with complete disregard for the humanitarian suffering in the Strip. In light of the ongoing political obstacles and the intransigence of the Israeli government, the horizon of reaching a comprehensive exchange deal remains elusive, which deepens the difficult suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip that has continued for 15 months.

Netanyahu seeks to avoid making any major concessions at this stage

Researcher Nizar Nazzal confirms that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is adopting a policy of evasion and buying time to achieve his strategic and personal goals.

Nazzal believes that Netanyahu is seeking to avoid making any major concessions at this stage, as he is working to postpone making crucial decisions until Donald Trump assumes the presidency of the United States on January 20.

Nazzal points out that Netanyahu is aware of the importance of not offering any political gift to the Democrats who are about to leave the White House. At the same time, he is seeking to offer a “political achievement” to Trump, who is a personal friend of Netanyahu’s and a strong ally of Israel. Therefore, any comprehensive ceasefire agreement is currently out of the question. Instead, Netanyahu is working to formulate a time-bound and conditional truce that will be implemented in conjunction with Trump’s entry into the White House.

Nazzal believes that this truce will be a “political tactic” that will allow Netanyahu to resume military operations later, citing arguments such as changes in Palestinian resistance tactics, as this aims to ensure the continuity of Israeli military pressure, while maintaining a political balance that serves his personal interests and his strategy with the United States.

Regarding the ongoing negotiations, Nazzal points out that Netanyahu is focusing on small details to postpone big decisions. As an example, in the talks on the Salah al-Din axis, Israel wants to withdraw from the border area between the Gaza Strip and Egypt to avoid violating the Camp David Accords. However, the nature of this withdrawal is still under discussion, as Israel seeks to maintain a limited military presence in some areas, such as Kerem Shalom and the Rafah crossing.

According to Nazzal, Netanyahu is also discussing the Netzarim axis, which has seen initial Israeli approval for withdrawal, but with conditions related to the installation of surveillance cameras supervised by an international body.

Nazzal believes that these conditions are being used as a means of procrastination, as the Israeli delegation is asking to return to Netanyahu for consultation before making any final decisions, which gives Netanyahu more time.

On the domestic front, Nazzal believes that Netanyahu has succeeded in fragmenting the Israeli opposition, which suffers from clear weakness and division.

Nazzal points out that despite the warnings of opposition leaders such as Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, Netanyahu completely ignores them and even works against their directions. For example, Gantz refused to allow the Israeli army to enter Rafah, which Netanyahu considered an opportunity to further marginalize the opposition.

Nazzal asserts that Netanyahu is using the Israeli prisoners’ file as a pressure card to justify the continuation of the war and distort the image of the Palestinian people in the West. Despite the popular perception in Israel of Netanyahu’s lack of seriousness regarding the prisoners’ issue, the government continues to exploit this file to achieve internal and external political goals.

On the other hand, Nazzal points out that the release of Palestinian prisoners faces major obstacles due to the conditions created by Netanyahu.

Nazzal points out that in the first stage of any exchange deal, hundreds of prisoners with long sentences and life sentences may be released, but outside the Palestinian territories, which contradicts the demands of the resistance.

Nazzal believes that the internal Israeli political disputes have disastrous repercussions on the Palestinian people, as the Palestinians pay the price of blood and destruction as a result of Israeli political calculations.

Nazzal asserts that Palestinian blood has become a “bidding market” among the ruling elites in Israel, which deepens Palestinian pain and suffering as the conflict continues.

Nazzal points out that Netanyahu continues to use political and evasive tactics to achieve personal and strategic gains, while neglecting humanitarian issues such as prisoners. In contrast, the Palestinian resistance continues to face major challenges, in light of the ongoing killing and destruction and the absence of a real political horizon to end the conflict.

End the war and complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza

Writer and expert on Israeli affairs Yasser Manna believes that understanding the potential deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis requires understanding the different visions of both parties.

Manaa explains that the Palestinian vision focuses on ending the war with a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and ensuring reconstruction, a vision that seeks to achieve peace and stability.

Manna points out that, in contrast, Israel views the deal completely differently, seeing it as partial and humanitarian, to be implemented in stages that may be characterized by evasion.

Manna compares this vision to the approach of the Oslo Accords, which began as a temporary framework and was then extended through subsequent stages to achieve strategic gains.

Manaa points out that the current war presents Israel with a historic opportunity to achieve multiple strategic goals. On the domestic level, the Israeli right is strengthening its control by passing legal decisions that enable it to control the state’s joints. Israel is working to expand settlements and annex lands in the West Bank, in addition to reshaping the Gaza Strip demographically and geographically, in a way that serves its security and settlement interests.

Manaa asserts that Israel is exploiting the war as an opportunity to implement its plans, such as re-settling in the northern Gaza Strip and re-engineering the Strip in line with its strategic vision.

Manna points out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements about the deal that “there are obstacles that require a political decision” raise fundamental questions, most notably: Is Israel prepared to end the war? Will it withdraw completely from Gaza? And who will run the Strip in the future? It seems that Israel seeks to run the Gaza Strip as it does the West Bank, by imposing security control and strategic positioning, which contradicts Palestinian demands.

Regarding the Israeli opposition, Manna points out that it suffers from clear weakness and impotence, as it lacks a coherent vision or a program that counters Netanyahu’s policies.

Manna explains that the Israeli opposition is not really an opposition in the traditional sense; on some issues, such as the aggression against Lebanon, it supports the continuation of military operations. As for the Gaza file, the opposition may support a prisoner exchange deal and will oppose a complete withdrawal, but it does not have an alternative vision for managing the war.

Manaa explains that Israel does not consider the Israeli prisoners in Gaza a top priority, as evidenced by its readiness to target sites where they are believed to be located.

Manna stresses that, on the other hand, the prisoners’ file is a top priority for the Palestinians, who seek to release the prisoners as part of any potential deal. However, Manna expects that Israel will place obstacles in the way of implementing any agreement related to the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Manna believes that the crises facing Israel are not the work of Netanyahu alone, but rather the result of the movements of decision-makers and the deep state in Israel. Despite Netanyahu's ability to overcome some crises, the challenges still exist.

Three citizens were injured, Friday morning, and others were arrested during the Israeli occupation forces' raid on the West Bank.

In Ramallah, the Red Crescent Society said that our crews in Ramallah and Al-Bireh dealt with two live bullet injuries during the occupation forces’ storming of Jalazone camp.

In Nablus, sources in the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that a 20-year-old man was injured in the hand by live ammunition from Askar al-Jadeed camp, and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

The occupation forces also closed all entrances to the camp and prevented any medical and civil defense crews from entering it.

The occupation bulldozer collided with one of the vehicles, causing it to catch fire, and preventing firefighting crews from approaching to extinguish the fire.

In the same context, occupation jeeps stormed several neighborhoods of the city and raided a number of homes in the northern mountain area, searched them, ransacked them, caused damage inside them, assaulted some of their residents, and conducted a field investigation with some of them, before arresting three young men, namely, Muhammad Mar’i, Ahmad Mar’i, and Mahdi Mar’i.

In Qalqilya, the occupation forces stormed the town of Azzun and raided a number of homes, including the home of citizen Bassem Awad in the "Al-Mansour" neighborhood, in the eastern part of the town. They searched the house and stole an amount of money worth 5,000 shekels, and caused extensive damage to it.

In Jenin, the occupation forces arrested the young man, Ilaaf Tayseer Muhammad Zioud (22 years old), after raiding his home, searching it and vandalizing its contents.

The Israeli occupation forces also stormed the town of Rammana, west of Jenin, and raided a number of homes, including the home of citizen Amr Abu Asba.

"General Bard" recently joined the "Generals' Battalion", in the early days of the square, which has just entered with its deadly stings and savage fangs that prey on tender bodies, turning the transparent displacement tents into refrigerators in which the bodies of young and old freeze, who have found nothing to warm their hearts, or protect their shivering bodies from the cold and freezing, and the bitterness of living in the darkness of the night.

What the "generals" could not achieve with raids, drones, and tank tracks, "General Cold" achieves with his stings that freeze hearts in their chests, so that the pulses suddenly stop without a shiver, or even a cry for help, while this general continues to pursue his prey, snatching their souls in the displacement tents and tin houses, where warmth is absent, and the cold inhabits the hearts and eats away at the bones in the bodies that are at odds with sleep.

"Seela" is a baby in her early days. She opened her eyes one winter night, inside a tent set up on the pasture land in Khan Yunis. It lacked everything that newborns need, such as beds, clothes, heating, milk, and toys, which every mother usually prepares before giving birth.

Like Sila, three children, a little older than her age, died in the “cold pinch” that roams among tender hearts, amidst similar living conditions that threaten more victims, which deepens the pain in our hearts and shakes our souls from the bottom of their hearts.

Stop the genocide now...!

A leading organization that monitors food crises around the world withdrew a new report this week warning of impending famine in northern Gaza under what it called a “near-total Israeli blockade,” after the United States demanded its withdrawal, U.S. officials told The Associated Press. The move came after public criticism of the report from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew.

The Biden administration’s rare public challenge to the work of a U.S.-funded famine early warning system, which is supposed to reflect data-driven analysis by neutral experts, has drawn accusations from aid and human rights figures of U.S. political interference to falsify the facts, as the famine finding is a rebuke to close U.S. ally Israel, which has insisted that its 15-month-old war in Gaza is aimed at the militant group Hamas, not its own civilian population.

Earlier this week, US Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew called the internationally recognized group’s warning inaccurate and “irresponsible.” Lew and USAID, which funds the monitoring group, said the findings failed to properly account for rapidly changing conditions in northern Gaza.

The U.S. Embassy in Israel and the State Department declined to comment on the AP report. FuseNet confirmed Thursday that it had retracted its famine warning and said it expected to reissue the report in January with updated data and analysis.

It is noteworthy that FEWS, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, is an American monitoring organization funded by the US government.

“We are working day and night with the UN and our Israeli partners to meet the humanitarian needs — which are vast — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible,” Lu said Tuesday.

The U.S. Agency for International Development confirmed to The Associated Press that it had asked Famine Watch to withdraw its escalating warning of impending famine, which was issued in a report dated Monday, December 23, 2024.

The dispute partly reflects the difficulty of assessing the extent of the famine in largely isolated northern Gaza, where thousands have died in recent weeks. Thousands of Gazans have fled an intense Israeli military crackdown that aid groups say has allowed just a dozen trucks of food and water into the territory since October.

The Views Net program said in its withdrawn report that unless Israel changes its policy, it expects the number of people dying from hunger and related diseases in northern Gaza to reach between two and fifteen people per day between January and March.

The internationally recognized death threshold for famine is two or more deaths per day per ten thousand people.

The FUSE program was created by USAID in the 1980s and continues to be funded by the agency. But its purpose is to provide independent, impartial, data-driven assessments of hunger crises, including in war zones. Its findings help guide aid decisions by the United States and other governments and agencies around the world.

Scott Paul, a senior director at the nonprofit humanitarian group Oxfam America, told AP that the U.S. ambassador “used his political power to undermine the work of this expert agency” by publicly challenging the findings.

“The whole point of the Famine Early Warning System is for a group of experts to make assessments of impending famine without any political considerations,” said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor of international affairs at Princeton University. “It’s as if USAID is letting politics—the Biden administration’s concerns about its funding of Israel’s famine strategy—into the picture.”

Israel says it has been operating in recent months against Hamas militants still active in northern Gaza. It says the vast majority of the area’s residents have fled and moved to Gaza City, where most of the aid destined for the north is delivered. But some critics, including a former defense minister, have accused Israel of carrying out ethnic cleansing in the far north of Gaza, near the Israeli border.

Northern Gaza has been one of the areas hardest hit by fighting and Israeli restrictions on aid throughout its war on the blockaded territory. Global famine monitors and U.N. and U.S. officials have repeatedly warned of the imminent threat of malnutrition and starvation deaths reaching famine levels.

The United States and the United Nations said that the people of Gaza as a whole need between 350 and 500 trucks of aid per day, but the Israeli occupation army is preventing the vast majority of aid from entering.

Earlier this month, Cindy McCain, head of the UN World Food Programme, called for political pressure to get food to the Palestinians there.

The United Nations and other aid organizations say Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting, looting and inadequate security by Israeli forces make it impossible to deliver aid effectively.

US Ambassador Lew, known for his staunch support for Israel, claimed the famine warning was based on “outdated and inaccurate” data. He pointed to uncertainty over the number of people who have fled northern Gaza, estimated at between 65,000 and 75,000 in recent weeks, saying this could skew the results. The Famine Early Warning System said in its report that its famine assessment would still be valid even if as few as 10,000 people remained in the country.

In a statement to The Associated Press, USAID said it reviewed the report before it was made public, and noted “inconsistencies” in the population estimates and some other data. It said the agency asked the famine warning group to address these uncertainties and be clear in its final report how those uncertainties affected its famine forecasts.

“This was communicated prior to Ambassador Lu’s statement,” USAID said in a statement. “The Famine Early Warning System did not address any of these concerns and was published despite these technical comments and a request for substantive engagement prior to publication. As such, USAID has requested that the report be withdrawn.”

The Associated Press reported that Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered police to open an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wife on suspicion of harassing political opponents and witnesses in Netanyahu's corruption trial.

The Israeli Justice Ministry announced this in a brief message on Thursday, saying that the investigation will focus on a report by the investigative program "Uvda" about Sara Netanyahu.

The program revealed a series of WhatsApp messages in which Sara Netanyahu appears to have instructed a former aide to organize protests against political opponents and intimidate Hadas Klein, a key witness in the trial.

The ad did not mention Netanyahu's wife by name, and the Justice Ministry declined to comment further.

But earlier on Thursday, Netanyahu slammed the report as "lies."

A young man was killed by Israeli occupation forces, Thursday evening, in the town of Ya'bad, southwest of Jenin.

According to local sources, the young man, Zain Ali Tawfiq Atatrah (18 years old), was killed after the occupation forces opened fire on citizens during their storming of the town of Ya'bad.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that its crews dealt with a serious chest injury to a young man after he was shot with live ammunition in Ya'bad.

The Prisoners Club confirmed that the number of female prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons whose identities are known is (88) living in difficult and harsh conditions, especially in “Al-Damon”, including 4 from the Gaza Strip.

The club said in a statement, today, Thursday, that among the detainees are (30) mothers, (22) administrative detainees, two minors, and (18) female students, after the release of four female students recently, the last of whom is the student at Birzeit University, Shahd Awida, who was released this evening.

He confirmed that 5 female journalists and 2 female lawyers are still in the occupation's prisons, noting that this data does not include all the female prisoners in the Gaza Strip, and that what is available is the information about their number in Al-Damon prison.

He explained that it is likely that there are female detainees from Gaza in other detention centers and camps, and they are subject to enforced disappearance, as are hundreds of detainees from Gaza.

The club pointed out that since the beginning of the war of extermination, the occupation has escalated the arrest and targeting of women at an unprecedented level, and the level of crimes and attacks against them.

He pointed out that the number of arrests in the West Bank, including Jerusalem and the territories in 1948, amounted to about (450), which includes those who were arrested and kept in detention by the occupation, and those who were released later, including women who were held for periods as hostages with the aim of pressuring a family member to surrender himself, and among them were elderly mothers, in addition to targeting a number of pregnant women, who were arrested for several months, and were released after legal efforts.

The Prisoners Club stressed that the occupation continues to isolate the administrative detainee Khalida Jarrar in the isolation of the (Neve Tartessia) prison in difficult conditions.