Military and Diplomatic Highlights:
· Between December 6 and 7, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have eliminated seven senior Hamas leaders, these included:
o Asam Abu Rakba, Head of Aerial Division
o Rafat Salman, Aid Battalion Commander
o Ahmed Al-Ghandoor, Northern Brigade Commander
o Wael Rajab, Deputy Northern Brigade Commander
o Ibrahim Al-Biari, Central Jebaliya Battalion Commander
o Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi, Senior operative in Hamas Military Intelligence Unit
o Ahmed Aiush, Operative in the Observation Unit of Hamas Carrara Battalion
· On December 7th, the Israeli Ministry of Defense has begun distributing weapons to the settlement defense forces.
Civil Protection and Humanitarian Assistance Highlights (Gaza Strip):
· The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) is reporting the following:
o PRCS teams assisted in the evacuation of injured people in Deir al-Balah after increased Israeli airstrikes.
o On December 7th, operations at the PRCS ambulance center in Northern Gaza ceased due to the depletion of fuel.
· The UN Secretary General has invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter to try and avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
· Eighty trucks carrying relief supplies and 69,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza on December 6th. This is still well below the daily average of 170 trucks and 110,000 liters of fuel that had entered during the humanitarian pause.
· The ability of the UN to receive incoming loads of aid has been significantly impaired over the past few days by several factors:
o Shortage of trucks within Gaza, with some being stranded in the Middle Area.
o Telecommunications blackouts.
o An increasing number of staff who were unable to report to the Rafah crossing due to the hostilities.
· As of December 7th, through the 30th humanitarian air bridge flights, the European Union (EU) continues to deliver essential humanitarian supplies to Gaza.
· Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Update:
o As shelters in Rafah city have exceeded their capacity, newly arriving IDPs have settled in the streets and in empty spaces across the city, as well as in public buildings:
ü The UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has distributed hundreds of tents, which have been erected in two separate sites alongside hundreds of makeshift shelters.
o The World Food Programme (WFP) has begun distributing community-cooked hot meals, aiming to reach more than 8,500 IDPs over two days.
o The IDF has begun ordering rapid evacuation of facilities and areas. This includes Khan Younis City:
ü These evacuations have affected 25% of the city which houses 178,000 original residents and an estimated 170,000 IDPs.
· Healthcare and Public Health Updates:
o On December 7th, the World Health Organization (WHO) delivered trauma and emergency care supplies to the European Gaza Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza. These supplies will cover the needs of 4,500 patients. This was the first delivery mission since November 29th.
o WHO provided an update on the status of the hospitals in Gaza:
ü There are 14 partially functioning hospitals.
ü Three hospitals are functioning at minimum levels.
ü 19 hospitals are non-operational.
ü There are two field hospitals currently functioning.
o Only two small hospitals in Northern Gaza are still admitting patients.
o Only nine out of 22 UNRWA health centers are still operational in Middle and Southern Gaza.
· The WFP published a Food Security Assessment for the Gaza Strip. The assessment is reporting the following:
o In the Northern Governorates (Gaza and North Gaza):
ü 97% of households have inadequate food consumption.
ü 95% of households are adopting extreme consumption strategies to cope with food shortages.
ü 48% of households are suffering from severe levels of hunger.
o For IDPs in the Southern Governorates (Deir Al Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah):
ü 83% of households have inadequate food consumption.
ü 82% of households are adopting extreme consumption strategies to cope with food shortages.
ü 38% of households are suffering from severe levels of hunger.
Violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL):
· A total of 16,248 people has been killed in Gaza since the start of the conflict.
· The PRCS reports that their colleague Awni Khattab (head of Khan Younis Emergency Medical Center) is still being held by the Israeli government.
· On December 6th, the EU reported that Israeli settlers demolished a school in Zamuta.
· WHO has so far documented 212 attacks on health care in the Gaza Strip:
o These attacks have killed 565 people and injured 732 people.
o The attacks affected 56 health facilities and 59 ambulances.
Dis-Information Highlights:
· Donald Trump has asserted that the Abraham Accords amounted to peace in the Middle East. This agreement did not address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or other conflicts in the region.
Sources:
· Levant - Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #2, Fiscal Year (FY) 2024
· Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel | Flash Update #61
· Israeli Ministry of Defense Twitter Page
· Israeli Defense Forces Twitter Page
· Palestine Red Crescent Society Twitter Page
· United Nations Facebook Page
· UN Agency for Palestine Refugees Twitter Page
· WHO Occupied Palestinian Territory Twitter Page
· WFP Palestine Country Director Twitter Page
· EU ECHO Twitter Page
· International Crisis Group, UN Director Twitter Page
· PolitiFact Twitter Page
Resources
Policy Alert: UN Secretary-General Invokes Article 99 in Letter to Security Council on Gaza (New)
Aqaba Process Joint Statement on Gaza’s Humanitarian Situation (New)
ADL, We Stand with Israel Website
Monetary Donations:
Before you donate please review the organization’s track record by using CharityWatch and Charity Navigator.
· UN Crisis Relief, Occupied Palestinian Territories
· IsraAID
· WHO Foundation, Gaza Crisis: Help Save Lives
· UN Migration Agency, Gaza