22:00 The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported that the Israeli army committed a massacre against displaced Palestinians when Israeli airstrikes deliberately targeted the Mawasi area in Khan Younis, resulting in the killing of 20 Palestinians, most of them children.
The monitor confirmed that what happened is a clear expression of the genocide Israel is committing against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with deliberate targeting, including in the area Israel claims to be a “humanitarian zone.”
It condemned the disturbing silence and lack of accountability from the Western community regarding these unprecedented massacres committed by the Israeli occupation since the beginning of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
A boy cries as the body two-year-old child who was killed from shrapnel following an Israeli strike in Gaza City, is prepared for burial at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital. AFP
21:20 "We congratulate the people of Hama for their victory," said the message, bearing an image of Jolani and signed "Commander Ahmed al-Sharaa".
The message was posted on the Telegram channel of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham factions' leadership, created just days after the offensive began on 27 November.
In an interview in 2021 with American public broadcaster PBS, Jolani confirmed his real name was Ahmed al-Sharaa, and said his more frequently used nom de guerre was a reference to his family origins in Syria's Golan Heights.
Israel occupied much of Syria's Golan Heights in 1967 and later annexed it in a move largely unrecognised by the international community.
Jolani, born in 1982, told PBS his grandfather was displaced from the Golan when the Israeli army invaded the area.
The apparent switch in names comes as his militants seize control of swathes of Syrian territory from the government, including the key cities of Aleppo and Hama.
Ahmed Al-Sharaa
21:00 Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Thursday that his Lebanese group, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, would be by Damascus's side as armed militias press a sweeping offensive.
In a televised address, Qassem denounced "terrorist groups" who want to "destroy Syria again... to bring down the regime" and "create chaos."
"They will not be able to achieve their goals despite what they have done in past days, and we as Hezbollah will be by Syria's side in thwarting the goals of this aggression as much as we can," Qassem said.
Qassem accused the United States and Israel of supporting "takfiri" factions, a term the group uses to refer to jihadists or supporters of radical Sunni Islam.
20:30 Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories who championed global efforts to condemn the Israeli war on Gaza and deem it a genocide against a people, had this to say in a tweet after Amnesty International published a report on Thursday accusing Israel of committing genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in the strip.
19:30 The leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, whose insurgent factions have launched a lightning offensive against the Syrian government, urged Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani of neighbouring Iraq to keep his country distant from Syria's war.
"We urge him (Sudani) to distance Iraq from entering the new furnace of what is happening in Syria," said Jolani in a video message posted on the opposition faction leadership's Telegram channel.
Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah armed group on Monday called on Baghdad to send troops to Syria to support the Damascus government.
Kataeb Hezbollah is part of Hashed al-Shaabi, an alliance of former paramilitary groups now integrated into Iraq's regular armed forces.
The Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces, is under the Iraqi prime minister's command.
Jolani urged Sudani to "prevent the Iraqi Hashed al-Shaabi from interfering in what is happening in Syria."
He added: "There are many fears and illusions -- that some Iraqi politicians believe -- that what is happening in Syria will extend to Iraq. I say firmly that this is 100 percent wrong."
On Monday, Iraq said it had sent armoured vehicles to bolster security along its 600-kilometre (370-mile) border with Syria.
Sudani told Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday that his country's security is "closely linked to Iraq's national security" while playing a "crucial role in regional security and efforts to establish stability in the Middle East," Sudani's office said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, earlier this week reported about 200 Iraqi fighters entered Syria to back government forces.
18:30 Pro-Palestine protesters from the Led by Donkeys group have unfurled a huge banner condemning the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip outside the Parliament in London, UK.
16:30 Hamas said in a statement that its delegation has concluded its meetings in Cairo, where it held talks with the lead Palestinian faction Fatah about forming a committee to manage the Gaza Strip.
Hamas’s delegation confirmed in the statement that the talks aimed to implement national agreements designed to achieve unity and end divisions between Palestinian factions.
The group expressed its approval of a proposal from Egyptian officials to establish a “Community Support Committee” to manage Gaza, which would operate through “inclusive national mechanisms.”
The delegation also met with the leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to discuss the latest political and military developments in Gaza and the West Bank.
Hamas briefed prominent Palestinian figures in Cairo on its discussions with Fatah and its stance on the Egyptian proposal, calling it a significant step toward national reconciliation.
The proposal, which requires approval from President Mahmoud Abbas, outlines the creation of a committee made up of 10 to 15 non-partisan figures with authority over economic, educational, health, humanitarian, and reconstruction matters, according to a draft of the proposal seen by AFP.
Fatah’s delegation, led by central committee member Azzam al-Ahmad, was expected to return to Ramallah on Tuesday to seek Abbas’s final approval.
The Hamas delegation was headed by politburo member Khalil al-Hayya.
The initiative comes amid renewed diplomatic efforts to end the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023.
15:50 Syrian air defences shot down two "enemy" drones over Damascus, state news agency SANA reported, citing a military source.
"A short time ago, our air defences confronted enemy drone aircraft in the skies over Damascus," the statement from the military source said, adding that "two aircraft were shot down, without any human or material losses".
15:30 The Syrian insurgents announced that they had taken control of the Police Command building in the city of Hama.
15:15 Leader of "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham," Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, said his forces had entered Hama "to cleanse the wound that has endured in Syria for 40 years".
"I ask God almighty that it be a conquest with no revenge," Jolani said in a video message on the Telegram channel of the insurgent factions' joint operations room. He also addressed Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani, urging him to remain neutral and avoid involvement in the Syrian conflict. Al-Jolani stressed that "the ongoing clashes in northern Syria will not extend to Iraqi territory."
14:55 The Syrian insurgents announced control of Hama Military Airport.
14:00 Syria's army acknowledged it had lost control of the strategic central city of Hama for the first time since war broke out in 2011 amid a lighting insurgency.
"Over the past few hours, with the intensification of confrontations between our soldiers and terrorist groups... these groups were able to breach several axes in the city and entered it," a statement from the army said, adding that "military units stationed there have redeployed" outside the city.
13:50 Hayat Tahrir al-Sham claimed that it had entered the 'Hama Central Prison' and released its prisoners after taking control of some neighbourhoods in the northern countryside of Hama, according to Al Arabiya.
Circulating images showed armed factions at the Al-Arbaeen Roundabout in Hama.
Director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told Al Arabiya that the nature of the battles in Hama changes every moment. He added that clashes around Mount Zayn al-Abidin have not stopped for days.
13:00 The Palestinian Authority welcomed an evidence-based Amnesty International report accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
"Amnesty is a credible global organisation that bases its reports on evidence. It has clarified that it possesses evidence of Israel committing genocide," Ahmad Al-Deek, adviser to the Palestinian foreign minister, told AFP.
12:40 Syrian insurgents claimed they had entered parts of the central city of Hama after three days of intense clashes with the Syrian army forces on its outskirts.
Syrian state media confirmed violent clashes between Syria’s army and insurgents on the eastern outskirts of Hama city but denied that the insurgents had breached it.
The insurgents claimed on their Military Operations Department channel on the Telegram app that they had entered Hama and were marching toward its centre.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said gunmen have entered parts of the city, mainly the neighbourhoods of Sawaaeq and Zahiriyeh to the northwest. It added that gunmen are also on the edge of the northwestern neighbourhood of Kazo.
12:30 Israel has presented an updated proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, two Israeli officials told Axios.
Israeli officials said the updated framework for a deal is not significantly different from the proposal negotiated in August and did not materialize. However, the focus now is to try to implement mainly the first phase of that deal with some changes.
They also said the updated Israeli framework was agreed upon in a Sunday meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, several senior ministers, and the heads of the Israeli security services.
According to Axios, senior Egyptian intelligence officials were told the principles of the updated framework, which they presented to Hamas representatives in talks on Monday and Tuesday in Cairo.
Israeli officials said it is still unclear what Hamas' position is on the updated framework proposed by Israel.
"We are waiting to understand from the Egyptians what Hamas' response is. In a few days, we will understand whether Hamas is willing to negotiate within the framework we presented or not," an Israeli official said.
If Hamas gives a positive response, an Israeli delegation will travel to Cairo to try and finalize the details — the number of days of the ceasefire, the number of captives to be released, and the number of Palestinian prisoners to be released for each captive, Axios said.
11:35 Several Palestinians were killed and injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting citizens gathering behind the Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Beit Lahia project, Al Jazeera reported.
Israeli drones also targeted water tanks at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza.
Additionally, several Palestinians were injured in a strike in the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood east of Gaza City.
11:20 The Syrian Ministry of Defence said that Syrian-Russian warplanes destroyed terrorist vehicles in the northern Hama countryside and killed dozens of them.
The ministry also denied claims that the militants had reached the Al-Zarab Bridge or entered the neighbourhoods of Hama.
A Syrian Kurdish man, fleeing from north of Aleppo, carries a child upon arriving in Tabqa, on the western outskirts of Raqa. AFP
11:15 Hamas reaffirmed that there is no alternative to ending the Israeli aggression in Gaza, the withdrawal of the occupation forces from the Palestinian Strip, and a captive-prisoner exchange deal.
This came as part of Hamas' comment on the Israeli army's acknowledgement of its responsibility for the death of six Israeli captives, which confirms the accuracy of Hamas' narrative and refutes the occupation's claims.
"The killing of more captives by their army confirms the failure of Netanyahu's theory of freeing captives by force, and that military pressure does not release the captives but kills them," Hamas said in a statement.
The group added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is directly responsible for the death of dozens of captives due to his failure to reach an agreement.
11:00 Extremist Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he has high hopes that US President-elect Donald Trump will work with Israel to encourage emigration of Palestinians from Gaza and push the Israelis to settle in the strip.
“I would tell the president to join us in this endeavour,” Ben-Gvir said in an interview with the Maariv podcast, espousing what he claims would be the “moral” and “logical” choice.
10:30 Massad Boulos, US President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East advisor, said that key elements of a Gaza ceasefire deal have been outlined.
Boulos said in an interview with the French newspaper Le Point that a roadmap for implementing the deal has been set for the next month or two within a framework of a "temporary" ceasefire.
However, he noted that some details remain regarding the Gaza deal, mainly specific names and the number of captives to be released.
Boulos confirmed that the top priority of the incoming US administration is the immediate release of the Israeli captives without further delay.
He added, "Trump's vision is to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East". He explained that discussions about a "roadmap leading to a Palestinian state" will be an essential part of the talks between the United States and Israel.
10:00 Six Palestinians were killed, and others were injured in Israeli strikes on the central and southern Gaza Strip, WAFA news agency reported.
Local sources reported that a strike hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing three people, while rescue teams recovered the bodies of three people who were killed in a strike on the Al-Jneina neighbourhood, east of the southern city of Rafah.
On Wednesday, the Israeli bombing of the Al-Mawasi area, northwest of Khan Younis City in the southern Gaza Strip, killed at least 21 Palestinians.
The aerial bombardment targeted makeshift camps for displaced Palestinians in the so-called Israeli-designated "humanitarian zone" in Al-Mawasi, also wounding dozens.
9:15 Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure, and preventing the delivery of food, medicine, and other aid.
The human rights group released a report on Thursday saying that such actions could not be justified by Hamas’ 7 October attacks in Israel or the presence of fighters in civilian areas.
Amnesty said the United States and other allies of Israel could be complicit in genocide and called on them to halt arms shipments.
“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” Agnès Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International, said in the report.
A boy stands on the rubble of a building after an Israeli strike in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
Palestinians sit on the ruins of a building destroyed after an Israeli strike in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
09:00 Donald Trump's Middle East envoy travelled to Qatar and Israel to kickstart the US president-elect's diplomatic push to help reach a Gaza ceasefire and a captives release deal before he takes office on 20 January, a source briefed on the talks told Reuters.
The source said Steve Witkoff, who will officially take up the position under Trump's administration, met separately in late November with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Witkoff’s conversations appear to be building on nearly 14 months of diplomacy by the Biden administration, Qatar, and Egypt aimed at a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The source said the meetings also signal that the Gulf state of Qatar has resumed its role as a key mediator after suspending it last month.
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