Updates on the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict:
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| The Al-Omari Grand Mosque - the largest and oldest mosque in the Gaza Strip - was extensively destroyed during the Israel-Hamas conflict on December 8. (Source: AP) |
According to the Times of Israel on December 8, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it had attacked more than 450 targets in the Gaza Strip, including military areas, observation posts and weapons depots.
Two Israeli soldiers were seriously injured during a hostage rescue operation in the Gaza Strip, according to IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari. The army raided a Hamas location, killing the kidnappers and hostage takers. However, the operation failed and no hostages were rescued.
Two more Israeli soldiers were killed in clashes in northern Gaza, bringing the number of Israeli soldiers killed in the ground offensive against Hamas since late October to 91.
* THX quoted Palestinian security sources as saying that Israeli warplanes on December 8 destroyed the oldest and largest mosque in Gaza.
“The Al-Omari Grand Mosque, the largest and oldest mosque in the Gaza Strip, was extensively destroyed in the Israeli attacks,” the sources said.
The Omari Mosque was built more than 1,400 years ago and covers an area of about 4,100 square meters. The minaret of the building was destroyed in an Israeli shelling three weeks ago.
The Islamist movement Hamas has condemned Israel’s attacks on an “important historical and religious site in Gaza.” Hamas noted that the Israeli army has so far destroyed 104 mosques across the Gaza Strip.
* AFP news agency on December 8 quoted the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) Rami Abdel Rahman as saying that four Hezbollah-affiliated gunmen were killed in an Israeli drone attack on the town of Madinat al-Baath in Quneitra province, southern Syria.
Mr. Abdel Rahman did not confirm whether these gunmen were Syrian or not but affirmed that the four gunmen were not part of the Syrian army.
A day earlier, SOHR said Israel fired eight missiles at sites near Damascus in response to Hezbollah's attack on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.
* On the same day, December 8, the US vetoed a resolution of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The resolution drafted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) received approval from 13 of the 15 Security Council members, while Britain abstained.
The United States used its veto power to block calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza led by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Arab states. Secretary-General Guterres convened an emergency meeting of the Security Council, after weeks of fighting that has killed more than 17,487 people in Gaza, mostly women and children.
The UAE representative expressed deep disappointment and regret that the Security Council was unable to request a humanitarian ceasefire.
Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council, the US declared its opposition to an immediate ceasefire in the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
“While the United States strongly supports a lasting peace in which both Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security, we do not support calls for an immediate ceasefire,” US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said. “This will only sow the seeds for further war, because Hamas does not want to see a lasting peace,” Wood explained.
* Meanwhile, the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas on December 8 also called on the UN Security Council to end the "cruel war" in the Gaza Strip , with more than 17,400 Palestinians killed in more than 2 months of fighting.
In a statement, Hamas's media office said the movement called on the Security Council, the international community and all countries of the world to end this brutal war and save the Gaza Strip before it is too late. The statement came before the Security Council was set to vote on a draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
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