Note to reader: We wanted to give you a trigger warning on what you may read below. We have chosen, as with every night of these briefings, to not share horrific images, however we want to alert you as sensitively as we can to the reports coming out of Israel and Gaza.
What to Watch and Read Today
- FOLLOW: CFI Instagram and Twitter
- SHARE: Hamas used the Al-Azhar University in Gaza as one of their many terror strongholds
- READ: Israel agrees to open Kerem Shalom crossing for screening and inspection – US official
- READ: Red Cross reprimanded hostage families: ‘Think about the Palestinians’
- READ: IDF begins arming defense teams in communities near Gaza ahead of return of residents
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps lights Channukah candle with Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant at Kfar Aza
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps was given a tour yesterday of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, which was attacked by Hamas on October 7th. He lit a candle alongside Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to mark the first day of Channukah.
On Thursday morning, Shapps visited Ramallah to meet with a British military team and the interior minister of the PA, Major General Ziad Hab al-Reeh. The British team has been reportedly preparing the Palestinian Authority (PA) to take over governance of the Gaza Strip after the Israel-Hamas War.
“This is about trying to increase their ability and capability”, said Shapps. “We have to use this appalling crisis to improve the security of Israelis and the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians. And I think you do that by bringing together an international coalition which is led by Arab states in terms of the on-the-ground reconstruction of Gaza and also administratively”.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden: “The United Kingdom Government stands four square behind the central missions of Israel”
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden joined the Chief Rabbi today at a community vigil in Borhamwood for the hostages captured by Hamas, saying that as a “proud friend of Israel and a supporter of our Jewish community”, the “United Kingdom Government stands four square behind the central missions of Israel”, “to secure the release of every one of these hostages and we will stand four square until that is delivered”.
“Not only that, we must ensure that this cannot happen again and that means, however difficult it is, we have to remove the threat of Hamas”. He added that, “the quiet dignity” of the weekly vigils held in Borhamwood “stands in such stark contrast” to the “violence and the antisemitism” of the “marches that we see on the streets of London” and said the Government will ensure the “security of the Jewish community” and take “necessary powers to make sure that those marches cannot interrupt the way of life in London”.
The Government is working “hand in glove with the Israeli forces”, “sharing information with them and working together with them”, Dowden stated. “The Prime Minister and I, and the Defence Secretary and the Foreign Secretary take a daily, hourly interest and support in the release of every one of those hostages including of course those that also have British nationality”.
Culture, Media and Sport Secretary tells the BBC: Call Hamas “a terrorist organisation”
Yesterday in the House of Commons, Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Lucy Frazer said that “I have stated on the record and raised with the BBC privately that Hamas is a terrorist organisation both legally and factually, and that it is important to call them what they are”.
Pledging to evaluate the corporation’s coverage, she added that the Government “are looking at impartiality in the mid-term review, which we will publish shortly”.
Frazer’s comments were in response to Anna Firth MP, who said that “many have written” about both the “BBC’s failure to talk about Hamas as an internationally proscribed terrorist organisation” and the “genuine belief that BBC bias is stoking anti-Israel sentiment in our country”, calling its impact “very disturbing”.
Conservative Friends of Israel, Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, Labour Friends of Israel co-sign letter to the President of the International Red Cross
Conservative Friends of Israel, Labour Friends of Israel and Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel have written to Ms Spoljaric, President of the International Red Cross, to express “deep concern about the fate of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza”.
“Hamas has not granted the ICRC access to the more than 130 hostages still being held in Gaza, which is believed to include 20 women, two children, and 10 people over the age of 75”, the letter reads, adding that reports “paint a very worrying picture of their mistreatment by Hamas. This includes accounts of a 12-year-old boy being held for a prolonged period in solitary confinement; children being drugged and branded with motorcycle exhaust pipes; and some captives being beaten with cables”.
The letter asked the body to “provide our British parliamentary colleagues with an account of what actions the ICRC has taken” and to confirm “that the ICRC is in discussions with these governments to that end”.
Israel reopens second aid crossing into Gaza
Israel has said that it will reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing “in the next few days” to reduce pressure on Nitzana and advance the entry of humanitarian aid, according to Col. Elad Goren, head of the civil department at the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).
Hamas continued to fire rockets in the direction of the crossing today. The Kerem Shalom crossing was used for over 60% of aid truckloads going into Gaza before the Hamas massacres on October 7th.
On Thursday, 61,000 litres of fuel entered into Gaza from Israel, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed. Israel has pledged to try and double the number soon, and eventually to reach 180,000 litres per day.
As of December 1,25,510 tons of food, 9,890 tons of water, 5,960 tons of medical equipment, 4,790 tons of shelter supplied and 4,500 tons of mixed aid has entered Gaza since the beginning of the war, according to COGAT.
Hamas infrastructure, weapons found Gaza City’s Al-Azhar University and “under beds of children”, “outside kindergartens”
The IDF reportedly destroyed Hamas infrastructure at Gaza City’s Al-Azhar University. “The findings show that the Hamas terror organisation used the university building for the purpose of fighting against our forces”, the IDF stated.
On the campus, troops discovered a tunnel entrance leading to a nearby school, explosive devices, rocket parts, launchers and other equipment in the area.
In Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighbourhood of Gaza City, the IDF found “ammunition boxes hidden under the beds of children, rocket launchers placed outside of kindergartens. 95% of the buildings we’ve entered contain military materiel,” according to IDF Lt. Col. Tal Turjeman.
“There isn’t a building where there isn’t weaponry”, according to Deputy Commander Col. Oded Adani.
Hamas broke temporary truce 15 minutes after it came into force – IDF report
An unnamed Israeli senior officer revealed that the Hamas terror group broke the recent temporary halt in fighting with Israel a mere 15 minutes after it began.
The commander of the “Alon” Battalion commented, “at 7AM the ceasefire started, and at 7:15AM, dozens of terrorists ran toward us from every direction. Some of them opened fire and our forces killed them”.
The temporary truce was agreed two weeks ago and lasted one week.
International Red Cross tells hostage families to “think about the Palestinian side”
The International Red Cross has told hostage families to “think about the Palestinian side”, according to Israeli media reports on Thursday night.
“It’s hard for the Palestinians, they’re being bombed”, the Red Cross was reported to say. The comments have sparked national outrage across Israel, and Israelis have reportedly criticised the institution for not accomplishing more than a taxi service for the transport of freed hostages.
Simona and Roni, parents of Doron Steinbrecher who was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists from Kfar Aza on October 7, left the meeting with the Red Cross “without new information [on her daughter], without something new, and with disappointment”.
Simona believed that the Red Cross would finally transfer daily medication required by Doron’s medical needs, but instead they were allegedly chided by the international body.
Operational update
Israel has struck over 450 military compounds, observation posts and weapons depots in Gaza over the past 24 hours. Israeli Air Force drones (IAF) drones carried out strikes against Hamas in the Khan Younis area. Israel’s Navy hit Hamas naval targets in central and southern Gaza.
The IAF reportedly targeted a series of Hezbollah posts in south Lebanon late last night, including launch sites used to fire rockets, Hezbollah military infrastructure, and an observation post.
Today in Nablus, West Bank, Israeli forces killed two terror suspects and exchanged fire with gunmen in the Far’a refugee camp, killing six, according to Palestinian authorities.
A further five suspects in the Jordan Valley were arrested, according to the IDF, with weapons and ammunition confiscated. Terror activity has continued across the West Bank since the Hamas-led massacre of October 7th.
Hamas rockets continue fire into Israel
Four rockets were fired from Gaza at the southern Israeli town of Sderot. The Iron Dome intercepted two rockets and the other two landed in open areas.
Sirens blared and shrapnel was reported falling in Tel Aviv, and a drone infiltration alarm reportedly sounded in Kiryat Shmona, an Israeli city near the Lebanon border.
“Return of the Wind” programme launched across Gaza border communities
The IDF and Defense Ministry has reportedly began the implementation of the “Return of the Wind” programme, aimed at bolstering border defence.
As residents return having fled following the October 7th terror attacks, defence teams in the areas near the Gaza border are initially providing communities with “basic combat equipment”, including weapons, ceramic vests, and helmets.
The programme will “allow better conditions for the return of residents to the communities in the coming weeks.” Recently released videos have shown groups receiving rifles, webbing, and other equipment.
The move is set to be followed by additional medical and logistical equipment, together expanding weapons distribution to wider areas.
