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IDF Announces Death of Soldier in North Gaza, Bringing Israeli Ground Offensive Death Toll to 251
Israeli soldiers inspect the Al Shifa hospital complex, amid their ground operation against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Gaza City, Nov. 15, 2023 in this handout image. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Tuesday announced the death of a soldier killed during an operation targeting Hamas at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, bringing the Israeli death toll of the ongoing ground offensive against the Palestinian terror group to 251.
Warrant Officer Sebastian Haion, a 51-year-old commander in the 401st Armored Brigade from Rosh HaAyin, was killed during battle, the army said.
The announcement came hours after the IDF announced the death of Staff Sgt. Matan Vinogradov, 20, of the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, from Jerusalem. He also died fighting Hamas in the area by Shifa Hospital, which according to the US and Israel has been used by the terror group to run military operations and even hold hostages.
Israeli forces killed Hamas’ head of internal security in Gaza during its counter-terrorism operation in the hospital and, according to a statement on Monday, found a large cache of weapons in a room next to where the terrorist was found.
With the announcement of Haion’s death, a post from his Facebook page went viral in which he said, “We have no other home and we cannot afford to lose. We must win.”
Israel launched its ground offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, in which the Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 253 others as hostages.
The latest raid on Shifa Hospital came months after international pressure trying to prevent the IDF from entering the complex, fearing the army would kill doctors and patients. The Israeli army ended up eliminating most of Hamas’ terror infrastructure in the hospital, and the Jewish state offered both fuel and incubators to the medical facility.
Israel killed over 50 terrorists at the hospital in its latest operation and arrested several others, according to the IDF.
In total, “more than 200 terrorists have been arrested at the hospital,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari. “The terrorists there took care of themselves first, at the expense of patients and civilians who were in the hospital. Hamas uses civilians and patients as human shields. We will continue to attack wherever Hamas tries to restore its hold.”
Hagari added, “The IDF began the operation following established intelligence information that required immediate action. We know that Hamas officials have regrouped in Shifa and are commanding operations against Israel from there. Our focused activity is not only an operational necessity, it is a global obligation. We call on all Hamas terrorists hiding in hospitals to surrender immediately. It is forbidden to use medical facilities for terrorist purposes; Hamas must be held accountable.”
The IDF expects that the raid will continue for a few days, with Hagari saying, “We have more buildings to search in Shifa, and we know of additional terrorists in the area.”
The post IDF Announces Death of Soldier in North Gaza, Bringing Israeli Ground Offensive Death Toll to 251 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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