Live blog: Israeli army to 'fight hard' in southern Gaza

Monday, December 4, 2023

0100 GMT — The Israeli army said that its forces will fight in southern Gaza against Hamas fighters “as they did in the north.”

"We fought hard and thoroughly in the north of Gaza and we will do it now in the south,” said Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.

Halevi “toured the Gaza Division and had a conversation with the reservists in the sector,” according to an army statement.

Meanwhile, Israeli Army Radio reported that the army embarked on a ground invasion in the southern Gaza.

It said the army began operating in the north of Khan Yunis.

“The Israeli army is expected to advance its forces in the region and expand its ground operation,” it added.

At least 509 Palestinians have been killed and 1,316 injured since Friday in Israeli air strikes, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza.

0030 GMT — Yemen’s Houthi group says it targeted 2 Israeli ships in Red Sea

Yemen’s Houthi group said that it targeted two Israeli ships in the Bab al Mandab Strait in the Red Sea with a naval missile and a drone.

“The Naval Forces in the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against two Israeli ships in Bab Al Mandab, namely the ship Unity Explorer and the ship Number Nine, where the first ship was targeted with a naval missile and the second with a marine drone,” said spokesman Yahya Saree.

Saree said “the targeting operation came after the two ships ignored the warning messages from the Yemeni Naval Forces.”

“The Yemeni Armed Forces continue to prevent Israeli ships from navigating in the Red and Arabian Seas until the Israeli aggression against our steadfast brothers in Gaza stops,” he said.

0019 GMT — At least 4 killed in Israeli attack on hospital in northern Gaza

At least four people were killed and nine others wounded in an Israeli strike late Sunday that targeted the entrance to a hospital in the northern Gaza, local media reported.

An Israeli drone fired a missile targeting the northern gate of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the city of Jabalia, said the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

“Over 10,000 displaced people are seeking shelter at the hospital,” WAFA noted.

2330 GMT — Qatar to continue efforts to resume humanitarian pause in Gaza: Premier

Qatar said that it will continue its efforts with other countries to resume the humanitarian pause in Gaza with the goal of reaching a permanent ceasefire.

“The State of Qatar spared no effort in the mediation process to stop that retaliation war,” Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said in a speech during the 158th Preparatory Ministerial Council meeting of the 44th session of the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in Doha, according to the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

Al Thani reiterated “the State of Qatar's condemnation of the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation and its calling for an immediate, comprehensive and impartial international investigation into those crimes, especially the attacks that targeted civilian, relief and humanitarian facilities.”

For our live updates from Sunday (December 3), click here.