Three Palestinian babies freeze to death in Gaza - as it happened

Ahram Online , Wednesday 25 Dec 2024

As Israeli aggression in Gaza, Lebanon, and Post-Assad Syria deepens human suffering and regional instability, and amid growing international calls for ceasefires and de-escalation, Ahram Online covered the latest developments in the Middle East as they unfolded on Wednesday, 25 December.

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A girl watches as people inspect the site of Israeli bombardment on tents sheltering Palestinians displaced from Beit Lahia at a camp in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on December 25, 2024

 

23:13 A baby girl froze to death overnight in a Gaza tent camp, her family and doctors say, after two other infants also died of cold in recent days.

The father of 3-week-old Sila, Mahmoud al-Faseeh, wrapped her in a blanket to try and keep her warm in their tent in the al-Muwasi area outside Khan Younis, but it wasn't enough, he tells The Associated Press. He says the tent was not sealed from the wind, and the ground was cold, as temperatures Tuesday night dropped to 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coastal zone that Israel has attempted to funnel civilians into.

"It was very cold overnight and ,we couldn't even take it as adults. We couldn't stay warm," he says. Sila woke up crying three times overnight, and in the morning, they found her unresponsive, her body stiff, he recalls.

"She was like wood," says al-Faseeh. Doctors at a field hospital tried to revive her, but her lungs had already deteriorated. Images of Sila taken by the AP showed the little girl with purple lips, her pale skin blotchy.

Ahmed al-Farra, director of the children's ward at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, confirms that the baby died of hypothermia. He says two other babies – one 3 days old, the other a month old – had been brought to the hospital over the past 48 hours after dying of hypothermia.

A Palestinian man holds the hand of his niece, three-week-old Sila al-Faseeh, who died of hypothermia, as it lies in the morgue of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on 25 December 2024, amid the Israeli brutal war and blockage of humanitarian aids. AFP 

22:32 The Israeli army is preparing to possibly stay in southern Lebanon after the 60 days agreed upon in the ceasefire agreement, Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported.

The report said that the army would stay in the area if the Lebanese army did not achieve complete control of southern Lebanon.

In that scenario, the Israeli army would remain in the territory until the Lebanese army took over.

Thursday marks 30 days since the ceasefire was announced. During that time, Israel has violated the ceasefire on countless occasions

22:00 Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said during a visit to the Philadelphi corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border that "security control in Gaza will remain in the hands of the Israeli army.

According to Katz, Israel will ensure "security areas, buffer zones and controlling positions that will guarantee the safety of the communities [near the border]."

21:45 A Syria war monitor said one protester was killed and five others wounded in central Syria after security forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators protesting an attack on an Alawite shrine.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that the demonstrator was killed after security forces in the city of Homs opened fire to disperse those demonstrating against the attack on the shrine after video footage of the incident emerged earlier in the day.

21:00 The Israeli occupation forces launched airstrikes on central and southern Gaza, killing two Palestinians.

Local sources reported that a woman was killed when warplanes bombed a group of people in the Al-Nazla neighbourhood in Jabalia, north of Gaza, while another citizen was killed by a drone strike on the coast of Rafah, in the south of the Strip, WAFA reported.

In addition, the Israeli artillery targeted tents sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, while warplanes bombed the vicinity of Abu Iskandar Bakery in northern Gaza City.  

Medical sources confirmed that Israel has killed at least 45,361 Palestinians, most of whom are children and women, since the start of the war. The number of injured has also climbed to 107,803, while thousands remain trapped under the rubble.


Men mourn by one of the bodies of victims who were killed earlier in Khan Yunis, during Israeli bombardment on tents sheltering Palestinians displaced from Beit Lahia, outside the morgue of Nasser Medical Complex camp in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

 

20:24 Only a few hundred Christians remain in Gaza. Like all Gazans, they endure the horrors of war, but they have not abandoned their churches despite Israeli evacuation orders. Today, they are preparing to celebrate Christmas without joy.

Although a minority, many Christians are determined to stay despite the circumstances. The Greek Orthodox Church estimates Gaza's Christian population at 1,020 before the outbreak of the Israeli war on 7 October 2023.

They belonged to the Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical churches. "Today, the Catholic and Orthodox churches in Gaza shelter the remaining 600 Christians (300 in each church) after closing down the Evangelical Church following the bombing of the Baptist Hospital," says Kamel Ayad, the Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza's public relations director.

Gaza has celebrated Christmas since the advent of Christianity in the second century AD. Today, fear, terror, and tears define the daily lives of these children deprived of everything.

 

Father Gabriel Romanelli, Parish Priest of the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family Church, census during Christmas Eve mass at the church in the Zaytoun neighbourhood of Gaza City amid the genocidal Israeli war. AFP

 

"Today we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ... here in our land in Palestine... Here in Palestine, we live under the harshest and most difficult conditions. Bethlehem is besieged. Jerusalem is wounded. And Gaza is being annihilated. This year, we say that Christ is still under the rubble in Gaza," Evangelical Lutheran Pastor in Bethlehem, Munther Isaac, said.

 

 

20:05 Al Jazeera quoted unnamed Syrian security sources as saying that "everyone who fired at security forces and tried to cause chaos will be prosecuted."

Syrian security sources added that there is a heavy security deployment in Damascus, the capital, Aleppo, the country's largest city, Latakia, the country's main seaport, and Homs, the country's main transportation centre.

The Syrian authorities have imposed a curfew in the northern Syrian cities with an Alawite majority, such as Latakia, Tartous, and Jableh, in addition to Homs, until 8 am tomorrow, Thursday.

The new security services, which control the country's political situation, justified the curfew as preserving "Syrian state institutions and citizens' property."

20:00 Israeli Army Radio is reporting that Yair Lapid said the Israeli prime minister does not want a deal that would secure the release of the captives held in Gaza, Al Jazeera reported.

"If he did, he would fly to Qatar himself," said Lapid.  

"He's doing the same trick he's done all the previous times. The negotiations are progressing and becoming possible, and then he goes to foreign media and explains that he won't stop the war and signals to Hamas that there's no reason to make an agreement with them."

Hamas said earlier that new conditions imposed by Israel had delayed the finalization of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza but acknowledged that negotiations were still proceeding.

19:41 Israeli occupation forces have continued their aggressive campaign on Tulkarm refugee camp In the West Bank for a second consecutive day, injuring at least five Palestinians, including a girl and a paramedic.

Israeli forces have escalated their presence in the area, sending additional reinforcements to Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, where they have been stationed at strategic entrances. Their bulldozers have continued to destroy infrastructure and vandalize citizens' properties.

Local sources reported widespread destruction in the streets of both camps. Key neighbourhoods like Al-Mahjar, Al-Manshiya, and Al-Maslakh in Nour Shams camp were blocked off with earthmounds. Significant damage was also caused along Nablus Street, the main route into the city.

In a further escalation, Israeli forces turned several homes into military observation posts, deploying snipers on rooftops. After raiding homes, soldiers demolished internal walls and moved through various buildings in Nour Shams camp, causing significant structural damage.

In Tulkarm camp, Israeli forces blew up a house belonging to the Sarouji family in the Al-Sawalma neighbourhood.

The violence extended to the Dhnaba suburb and Ezbet al-Jarad, east of Tulkarm, where Israeli patrols stormed streets, raided homes and interrogated residents during their searches.

 

 

19:36 Israeli occupation forces raided the al-Amari camp south of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, injuring three Palestinians.

The Red Crescent Society reported that its teams treated a young man who was shot in the foot with live ammunition, as well as two others: one was run over by a military jeep, and the other was assaulted, according to WAFA.

Local sources also revealed that Israeli forces assaulted several journalists present in the camp, firing sound bombs and toxic gas to prevent coverage of the raid.

A large-scale arrest campaign followed the raid, with Palestine TV driver Shadi Kifaya being detained. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli forces also brought Palestinian detainee Firas Jaber, handcuffed, to the camp and used him as a human shield during the raid.

19:35 Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged Israeli leaders to use all their "power and means" to secure a deal for the release of captives held in the Gaza Strip.

"I call on our leadership to act with all its power and with all the means at our disposal to bring about a deal," Herzog, whose role is mainly symbolic, said in a statement.

19:28 Syria's new authorities said that video footage of an attack on an Alawite shrine in Aleppo is "old and dates to the time of the liberation" of the northern Syrian city by rebels earlier this month after protests erupted in the minority community's heartland.

An interior ministry statement said the attack was carried out by "unknown groups" and that "republishing" the video served to "stir up strife among the Syrian people at this sensitive stage." 

19:00 Israeli colonists razed agricultural lands in Nabe Ghazal, Al-Farisiya, in the northern Jordan Valley, within the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Mahdi Daraghmeh, head of the village council in Al-Maleh, reported that colonists, backed by an agricultural tractor, began ploughing the lands of Palestinians in Al-Farisiya. Despite efforts by residents to resist, this marks the second time in two weeks that colonists have attempted to plough these lands.

There is growing concern among residents that the ongoing attacks are part of a broader strategy to seize the land, which lies close to their homes and tents, threatening displacement.

The colonist assaults carried out under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces have already forced several families to abandon their homes, including those in "Umm Al-Jamal," "Khallet Khader," and "Wadi Al-Faw" in the northern Jordan Valley.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation forces demolished a park in the town of Nahalin, west of Bethlehem, WAFA news agency reported.  

The Israeli soldiers entered the town, targeting the Khallet al-Daliya area to the south, and began demolishing the park, which included a swimming pool, a restaurant, a café, and various other facilities. 

This demolition follows a similar pattern of destruction, as just three weeks ago, Israeli forces demolished three homes and three agricultural facilities in Nahalin's Qarnat al-Damas area.  

18:54 The director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, Hussam Abu Safiya, reported that the Israeli occupation army is maintaining a heavy and ongoing siege on the hospital.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, he described a very bloody night marked by relentless Israeli attacks that destroyed the hospital's water and fuel tanks.

Dr Abu Safia also revealed that the blasts from Israeli strikes had blown out all the doors and windows of the hospital.

In northern Nuseirat, Israeli drones have reportedly dropped grenades on civilians and their homes. 

Meanwhile, Gaza City's civil defence teams reported that at least three Palestinians were killed during an Israeli attack on a tent sheltering displaced families. Several others were wounded in the same assault.

 

 

18:32 Angry protests broke out in several areas of Syria after a video circulated showing an attack on an Alawite shrine in the country's north, a war monitor and witnesses said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said large demonstrations took place in the coastal cities of Tartus and Latakia, provinces that are the heartland of the Alawite minority which deposed ruler Bashar al-Assad hails from.

The Britain-based Observatory also reported protests in parts of the central city of Homs and other areas, including Qardaha, Assad's hometown.

Witnesses told AFP demonstrations broke out in Tartus, Latakia and nearby Jableh.

Images from Jableh showed large crowds in the streets, and some chanted slogans such as "Alawite, Sunni, we want peace."

State news agency SANA said police in central Homs imposed a curfew from 6:00 pm (1500 GMT) until 8:00 am on Thursday, while local authorities in Jableh also announced a nighttime curfew.

The Observatory said the protests erupted after a video began circulating earlier Wednesday showing "an attack by fighters" on an important Alawite shrine in the Maysaloon district of Syria's second city, Aleppo.

It said five workers were killed, adding that the shrine was set ablaze.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the exact date of the video was unknown.

He said it was filmed early this month, after rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham seized control of major cities, including Aleppo, on 1 December, ousting Assad a week later.

18:12 An Israeli army jeep attempted to run over the Palestinian journalist Raghad Salameh while she was covering the occupation raids into Nour Shams camp in Tulkarem.

 

 

18:00, Syria police imposed curfews in Homs, State news agency SANA said.

17:52 A drone launched from Yemen fell in an open area in southern Israel, the Israeli army spokesman said.

17:00 Three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike north of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, WAFA news reported.

Two of the victims were killed and others injured, most of them in critical condition, in an Israeli bombardment on the Al-Mashrou' area, while the third person was killed in a bombardment on the town of Al-Nasr, WAFA added.

16:30 The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner's Society say Israeli occupation forces arrested 25 Palestinians from various parts of the occupied West Bank last night and this morning.

Over the past few days, the commission has reported arrests in the occupied governorates of Nablus, Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Qalqilya, Tubas, Tulkarem and Salfit.

The Israeli occupation forces besiege a Palestinian home in the town of Qaffin, in Tulkarm, Quds News Network reports. Additional military reinforcements from Israeli occupation forces are heading towards the besieged town.

 

14:45 Hamas said that new conditions imposed by Israel had delayed the finalization of a ceasefire agreement in Gaza but acknowledged that negotiations were still proceeding.

"The ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations are continuing in Doha under the mediation of Qatar and Egypt in a serious manner... but the occupation has set new conditions concerning the withdrawal of troops, the ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of displaced people, which has delayed reaching an agreement," the Palestinian group said in a statement.

14:30 At least three people, including a child, were killed and several others injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting the vicinity of the Al-Mawhubin School, which shelters displaced people in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in western Gaza City.

14:10 The Israeli occupation has committed three massacres in Gaza during the past 24 hours, killing 23 Palestinians and injuring 39 others, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The total number of casualties in the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza since October 2023 has risen to 45,361 people killed and 107,803 injured.

14:00 Three Syrians were injured after the Israeli army opened fire on civilians who were protesting against the incursion of Israeli forces into the town of Sweisah in the Quneitra countryside, according to Al Jazeera.

The residents of the town took to the streets in a demonstration against the Israeli forces' occupation of their land following the fall of Bashar Al-Assad. 

Israeli soldiers opened fire on the protesters from their positions, injuring three people, Al Jazeera said.

13:35 Syria's new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of the amphetamine-like stimulant Captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar Al-Assad.

"We found a large quantity of captagon, around one million pills," said a member of the security forces, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Osama. An AFP journalist saw forces pour fuel over and set fire to a cache of cannabis, the painkiller tramadol, and around 50 bags of pink Captagon pills in the capital's security compound.

13:22  Pope Francis denounced the "extremely grave" humanitarian situation in Gaza and appealed for the freeing of Israeli captives in his traditional Christmas address in Rome.

"I think of the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave. May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released, and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war," he said.

13:08  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Kurdish militants in Syria would either lay down their weapons or "be buried" amid hostilities between Turkey-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad this month.

"The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons," Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament, as reported by Reuters.

He also said Turkey would soon open its consulate in Aleppo and added that Ankara expected an increase in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year as some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts begin returning.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Defence Ministry announced that the Turkish military has killed 21 Kurdish militants in northern Syria and Iraq.

In a statement, the ministry said that 20 militants from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) were killed in northern Syria while preparing to launch an attack, and one militant was killed in the north of Iraq.

The ministry added: "Our operations will continue effectively and decisively."

13:00 A Palestinian infant has died due to extreme cold inside a displacement tent in the Al-Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

This is the second infant to die as a result of the severe cold in displacement camps, as another infant passed away last Friday morning inside a tent in Al-Mawasi.

12:15 Lebanon's state media said an Israeli airstrike targeted the Baalbek region in the east of the country before dawn, in another Israeli violation of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Wednesday's strike near the town of Tarya did not result in casualties, the state-run National News Agency said, calling the attack the "first violation of the ceasefire agreement" in the Baalbek area.

A Lebanese security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strike targeted "warehouses believed to belong to Hezbollah."

11:30 A Palestinian officer from the General Intelligence Service was killed in gunfire clashes in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority security forces said.

"Captain Hassan Nader Abdullah, affiliated with the General Intelligence Service, succumbed to his injuries a few days ago after being hit by gunfire from outlaws while performing his national duty in the Jenin camp," the spokesperson for the Palestinian security forces, Brigadier General Anwar Rajab, said.

Tensions have escalated in Jenin over the past two weeks after the Palestinian Authority launched a security campaign targeting fighters from other Palestinian armed factions, especially the Islamic Jihad.

Jenin and its refugee camp are considered among the most significant strongholds of Palestinian factions in the northern West Bank, who do not align with the Palestinian Authority.

11:2: According to the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini,0 Greece rejected Turkey's intention to sign a maritime agreement with Syria. The Syrian government is described as a "transitional authority" incapable of legally signing valid contracts.

The Greek stance follows an announcement by Turkish Minister of Transport Abdulkadir Uraloğlu on Tuesday, in which he declared Turkey's intention to begin talks with Syria to demarcate maritime boundaries.

Greek officials warned that such an agreement could undermine their country's sovereign rights and set a precedent challenging the maritime rights of islands like Crete and Cyprus.

Greek diplomatic sources stated that "the situation in Syria is transitional and does not legitimize such agreements," adding: "We are closely monitoring developments and are in constant with Cyprus, neighbouring countries, and the European Union."

11:00 Palestinian writer and artist Walaa Jomaa Al-Ifranji, her husband, and his sister have been killed in an Israeli airstrike that struck their home south of Nuseirat refugee camp, according to Quds news.

The bodies of the couple were brought to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital amid deep sorrow from the community of intellectuals and writers in the Gaza Strip.

Artist Al-Ifranji began her journey in writing with a novel titled Mood of a Messenger before transitioning from writing on paper to creating art on stones and wood, transforming them into necklaces and rings.

Before 7 October 2023, Walaa Al-Ifranji worked at a shop called "Surprise," specializing in preparing gifts in the historic Al-Rimal neighbourhood in central Gaza City. However, like hundreds of thousands of Gaza Strip residents, she lost her livelihood due to the consequences of displacement following Israel's aggression on Gaza.

 

 

10:30 New satellite images reveal that Israel has conducted large-scale demolitions and established military fortifications in residential areas in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the Washington Post.

The satellite images show that nearly half of the Jabalia refugee camp has been demolished.  

According to the United Nations, over 100,000 Palestinians have fled the area in the past 11 weeks, leaving fewer than 50,000 people — approximately one-eighth of the population before the war.

 

 

Moreover, humanitarian organizations have reported severe Israeli restrictions on the delivery of aid to the area.

10:15 Syrian television reported that the Israeli army has begun advancing into the outskirts of the town of Sweisah in the Quneitra countryside in southwestern Syria.

Israeli bulldozers and machinery entered the area of Al-Mantara Dam in Quneitra province. Israeli forces established military positions and erected earthen barriers around the dam, according to the state TV.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that "Israel advanced approximately 7 kilometres into the demilitarized zone and informed the residents of the villages of Umm Al-Adham and Al-Adnaniyah of specific times for entering and exiting the area."

10:00 Amid reports of an upcoming visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, five Turkish ministers are planning to visit Damascus to hold discussions with their counterparts, who will soon be appointed in the new Damascus government, according to Turkey's Hürriyet newspaper.

Turkish ministers to discuss issues related to energy, maritime border delineation, security, and counterterrorism, according to Hürriyet.

Turkish state media reported President Erdogan will visit Syria with a large delegation. Yet, the date of the visit to Damascus has not been determined.

09:45 Two Palestinians were injured, and four were detained during an Israeli military incursion into the city of Nablus and the Balata refugee camp east of the city in the occupied West Bank.

Security sources informed WAFA that Israeli military vehicles stormed several neighbourhoods in the city of Nablus, raiding several homes.

The sources added that clashes erupted following the occupation forces' raid, during which Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition.

Furthermore, the sources reported that several military vehicles, accompanied by an army bulldozer, entered the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus and began demolishing streets and infrastructure in the market street area within the camp.

A woman holds a child near the site of Israeli bombardment on tents sheltering Palestinians displaced from Beit Lahia at a camp in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

 

9:30 Three Palestinians were killed, and others were injured in Israeli airstrikes targeting various areas in the Gaza Strip.

WAFA news agency reported that a citizen and his wife were killed in a strike that targeted a residential south of the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Additionally, a strike killed a young man after targeting his family's home in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.

09:00 Yemen's Houthis said that it had fired a ballistic missile at central Israel.

The missile was aimed at the Tel Aviv area, the Houthis said. The Israelis reported it was shot down before it entered Israeli territory.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces targeted a military target of the Israeli enemy in the occupied area of Yaffa (Tel Aviv) using a hypersonic ballistic missile, type Palestine 2," a Houthi military statement said.

"The operation has successfully achieved its objectives," it added.

In response to the recent missile attack, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority stated that the political level is considering launching a fourth strike on Houthi targets in Yemen and that the Israeli army has already begun formulating plans for the attack.

 

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