Day 84 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 29

Clashes on the Lebanon-Israel border are intensifying as the United Arab Emirates calls for an urgent UN Security Council meeting.

Rina Bassist, Ezgi Akin, Beatrice Farhat, Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, Jack Dutton, Jared Szuba and Al-Monitor’s contributors on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel contributed to this blog.

Click here for our most recent updates.

Live updates (all times EDT):

Friday, Dec. 29, 2023

5:30 pm: US approves $147.5M weapons sale to Israel, skipping congressional review

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved the sale of military equipment to Israel worth nearly $150 million, the State Department announced Friday, using an emergency designation that allows the White House to bypass congressional review requirements. The sale included 155mm artillery shells and related equipment. 

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self defense capability,” the State Department said in a statement. “This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives.”

The approval comes as the Israeli military is intensifying its operations in the Strip and is the second time in less than a month that the Biden administration has used the emergency designation. On Dec. 9, it approved the sale of around 14,000 tank shells.

2:11 pm: UN accuses Israel of firing on aid convoy

Israeli troops fired on a United Nations aid convoy that was returning to the south of Gaza after making deliveries in the north, UNRWA said Friday. None of the 13 UN staff members in the convoy were injured, yet one vehicle was “severely damaged,” UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma said in statement. 

The incident, which occurred late Thursday afternoon, came as the convoy was traveling “along a route designated by the Israeli army,” according to director of UNRWA affairs Thomas White in a post on X. “Aid workers should never be a target,” White added.

The IDF did not immediately comment on the incident. 

1:00 pm: Israel slams South Africa over ICJ petition

Israel criticized the petition South Africa submitted to the International Court of Justice in a statement by the Foreign Ministry.

The ministry accused South Africa of “cooperating with a terror group that calls for the elimination of the state of Israel.”

12:00 pm: South Africa files petition at International Court of Justice

In a petition to the International Court of Justice, South Africa filed proceedings against Israel under the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The African nation wrote that since Oct. 7, “Israel has failed to prevent genocide.” South Africa seeks to pursue a preceding on grounds of Article 36.

11:32 am: Denmark to send frigate for US-led Red Sea task force

Denmark confirmed it would send a frigate to participate in the US-led Red Sea operation next month.

The United States and several other countries agreed on Dec. 19 to patrol the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to safeguard commercial shipping against attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the area. The Iran-backed group has been stepping up attacks in the region in response to the war in Gaza.

"We are concerned about the serious situation unfolding in the Red Sea, where unprovoked attacks against civilian shipping continue," Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a statement.

9:00 am: Israeli strikes hit several areas in south Lebanon

A series of Israeli strikes and artillery shelling was reported in Lebanon’s southern border areas on Friday, according to the official National News Agency. An Israeli strike also hit the Wadi Hamoul area on the outskirts of Naqoura in the south.

The Israeli army said it struck several Hamas sites, including rocket launching positions and a site in the Wadi Hamoul area. Israeli warplanes also hit an anti-tank missile launch site in the southern village of Aitaroun and a missile launcher in the village of Yaroun, the army added.

Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in heavy cross-border fire since the war began in Gaza in October.

6:40 am: Gaza death toll rises

Some 21,507 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes and 55,915 injured in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry there. In the past 24 hours, 187 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, the ministry said.

5:50 am: Hezbollah, Israel trade cross-border fire

The Lebanese Hezbollah movement said it had struck Hadab Yaron in northern Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Iran-backed group said it also hit a crane mounted with surveillance equipment in Dovev Farms. The Israeli army earlier reported several missiles being fired from Lebanese territory toward Dovev Farms and retaliated by striking the source of the fire. Violence along the Israel-Lebanon border has escalated in recent days, raising fears of all-out war.

3:03 am: Israeli soldier killed in Gaza

An Israeli soldier was killed overnight during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, bringing the death toll of Israeli soldiers in Gaza to 168 since the start of its ground offensive in late October.

Earlier in the day, the IDF said it was expanding its operation in the southern Khan Younis area.

2:45 am: Dozens killed in intense Israeli airstrikes in Gaza

At least 35 people have been killed in massive Israeli airstrikes and shelling of the Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps, in central Gaza, Al Jazeera reported. WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, had earlier reported the death of at least 20 people in strikes that hit several houses in Nuseirat, with dozens reported missing under the rubble. More than 21,500 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza since Oct. 7.

1:30 am: Iran executes four accused of spying for Israel

Iran has executed four people convicted of collaborating with Israel. The Iranian judiciary's website reported that four members of a “sabotage group linked to the Zionist entity” who allegedly acted upon the direct orders of Mossad officials were hanged in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan.

Iran and Israel are engaged in a proxy war in the region, with the Islamic Republic backing several groups that act against Israel, including Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.

1:13 am: Israeli forces fire at aid convoy in Gaza

Israeli forces fired at an aid convoy returning from northern Gaza, damaging one vehicle, said Thomas White, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency, in a post on X. White said the convoy was driving along a route designated by the Israeli army when it came under fire. No casualties were reported. “Aid workers should never be a target,” White added.

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