Israel-Gaza war, live

EL PAÍS offers free updates on the Arab-Israeli conflict. If you want to support our journalism, subscribe.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and three other European Union prime ministers sent a letter to European Council President Charles Michel on Saturday, calling for a "serious debate" at next week's European Council with the aim of agreeing on "a clear and common position on the conflict" of the 7. Israel's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said on Saturday that more than 000,17 Palestinian militants have been killed during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "This is a minimum estimate," he said. 700,7 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 48, while another 780,14 have been injured to varying degrees, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Gaza Strip. The U.S. government has resorted to emergency legislation to allow the sale of some 000,106 projectiles to Israel without congressional oversight. The operation is worth $5.<> million, the Pentagon said Saturday.

• PHOTO GALLERY | Images of the war

Back to top

New Posts

El País

Sanchez and three other EU prime ministers call for a "clear and common" EU position on Gaza: "Our credibility is at stake"

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and three other prime ministers of the European Union (the Belgian Alexander de Croo, the Irishman Leo Varadkar and the Maltese Robert Abela) sent a letter to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on Saturday, calling for a "serious debate" at the European Council next week with the aim of agreeing on "a clear and common position on the conflict" of the Twenty-Seven.

"Two months after the start of hostilities, the death toll and the dire humanitarian situation have reached alarming levels," the letter states. "These are dark hours for millions of people in Palestine and Israel. Anti-Semitic incidents have resurfaced across Europe and we cannot tolerate this."

After reiterating their condemnation of Hamas' attacks on Israeli territory and insisting that Israel has the right to defend itself "within international and humanitarian law", the four leaders called on the EU to "go further".

The prime ministers want the EU to adopt three positions: the first is to call for a "lasting" humanitarian ceasefire that "can lead to an end to hostilities".

The second is to "take immediate and effective measures to protect innocent civilians". "Humanitarian aid must reach those in need in a sustained manner and in sufficient quantity," the letter said. "Preventing aid from reaching civilians may contravene international law."

The third, and arguably most controversial, is to "open a political process to materialize the two-state solution" and "provide adequate financial and political support to the Palestinian Authority to take control of Gaza," something, they say, "also vital to Israel's security." "There can be no return to the status quo prior to October 7," the letter states.

All three positions stand in stark contrast to Israel's stated intentions.

The prime ministers also call for "a ban on displacement in specific areas and the freezing of assets of violent settlers who are attacking communities of displaced Palestinians" to "avoid an escalation in the West Bank."

The four European leaders urged the convening of an international peace conference with the parties "as soon as possible", as agreed by the European Council on 26 October. "The credible prospect of recognition of a Palestinian state, alongside the State of Israel, is the basis for progress towards mutual recognition, peace and security in the region," they said.

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 21:16

Miguel JimenezWashington

Israeli soldiers in a Merkava tank on November 30 in Gaza. / ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / REUTERS

Enlargement | Biden Skips Congress to Send Ammunition to Israel

Joe Biden's administration has decided to skip congressional review for the sale of some 14,000 tank shells to Israel. To this end, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has taken advantage of an emergency declaration "in the interest of the national security of the United States" that is contemplated in the Arms Export Control Act, the Pentagon explained in a statement on Saturday. Blinken told Congress he was proceeding with the urgent sale of ammunition to Israel on the same day the U.S. vetoed a U.N. resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Read the full information here.

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 20:53

El País

Israel says "at least" 7,000 Palestinian militants have been killed in Israeli offensive in Gaza

Israel's national security adviser said on Saturday that more than 7,000 Palestinian militants have been killed during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "This is a minimum estimate," Tzachi Hanegbi said in an interview on Israel's Channel 12 television. "There could be more, because we don't know everything that's underneath the collapsed buildings, the tunnels, and so on. But that's a conservative estimate."

According to Gaza's Hamas-controlled health ministry, 17,700 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of Israeli military operations on October 7.

Meanwhile, the Israeli chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, said during a meeting with soldiers that Israeli forces must "press harder" against Hamas, because "the terrorists are surrendering." "It's a sign that the system is sinking." (Reuters)

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 20:15

El País

A cloud of smoke and dust rises from Gaza during fighting in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. A cloud of smoke and dust rises from Gaza during fighting in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. / JACK GUEZ / AFP

What has happened in the last few hours?

This is the latest news on the war in Gaza, at 20:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 9.

The U.S. announces the shipment of 14,000 tank shells to Israel in an urgent operation without congressional approval. The U.S. government has resorted to emergency legislation to allow the sale of some 14,000 projectiles to Israel without congressional oversight. The operation is worth $106.5 million, the Pentagon said Saturday. The sale is part of a larger operation that does require the approval of parliamentarians and includes 45,000 shells for Israel's Merkava tanks, worth about $500 million. The Merkavas are being used by Israel in its offensive in Gaza, which has killed thousands of civilians. They are also involved in the incident on the border with Lebanon in which a Reuters journalist was killed.

Israel strikes Hezbollah targets in response to several attacks received from Lebanon. The Israeli army has attacked targets of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah from the air, in response to several attacks received from Lebanon. According to the Israeli army, during the night it detected "several launches from Lebanon into Israeli territory" and "in response" fired at the source of the attacks. In addition, Israeli warplanes attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including "command centers" of the Shiite group, Israel said in a statement. The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, posted on the social network X that his forces have attacked "the headquarters of the operational command used by the organization" Hezbollah.

Guterres replies to Israel: "Humanitarian law cannot be applied selectively." UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Israel on Saturday that while Hamas' "indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel and the use of civilians as human shields" is "against the laws of war," this "does not absolve Israel of its own violations." "International humanitarian law cannot be applied selectively," Guterres warned on his X account. "It is binding at all times and does not depend on reciprocity."

Yemen's Houthis are threatening to attack ships bound for Israel if aid is not facilitated into Gaza. Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on Saturday threatened to attack any ship heading to Israel through the Red Sea, regardless of nationality, amid an escalation of attacks and hijackings of commercial vessels in the Red Sea by Yemeni insurgents. The Houthis' military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said in a statement that the insurgents "will prevent the passage of ships of any nationality heading to the Zionist entity" unless food and medicine enter the Gaza Strip.

Abbas accuses the U.S. of being "responsible for the bloodshed" in Gaza following its U.N. veto. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he holds the United States "responsible for the bloodshed" in Gaza, after Washington vetoed a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Abbas, who heads the West Bank government, has called the U.S. stance "immoral." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for reform of the United Nations Security Council following the U.S. veto. "Is this justice?" Erdogan told a human rights conference in Istanbul. "The U.N. Security Council needs to be reformed."

17,700 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, Hamas claims. The Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Gaza Strip on Saturday published a new toll on the number of casualties in the Palestinian enclave since the start of Israeli military operations on October 7. According to these figures, 17,700 people have lost their lives, while another 48,780 have been injured of varying degrees of seriousness.

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 20:00

El País

Guterres responds to Israel: "Humanitarian law cannot be applied selectively"

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned Israel on Saturday that while Hamas' "indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel and the use of civilians as human shields" is "against the laws of war," this "does not absolve Israel of its own violations."

Guterres is responding to Israeli accusations of bias in favor of Hamas this week, in which Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen went so far as to call the secretary-general a "threat to world peace" and in favor of "the kidnapping of children and the rape of women."

"International humanitarian law cannot be applied selectively," Guterres warned on his X account. "It is binding at all times and does not depend on reciprocity."

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 19:38

El País

Palestinian detainees released in Gaza denounce ill-treatment by Israel

Palestinian men from Gaza released after being arrested by the Israeli army for questioning have reported abuse, ill-treatment and violence by soldiers, local journalists in the Gaza Strip reported on Saturday.

This comes after controversy spread on Thursday over images on social media showing Israeli soldiers arresting and leaving half-naked and handcuffed Palestinians who were taken for interrogation before Israeli intelligence apparatus on suspicion that they belonged to Hamas.

"They beat the elderly, not us minors, but when we asked for water, they told us that there was none, and if we wanted to go to the bathroom, they didn't allow us to," a young man explained to local media on Saturday, after arriving at the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Gaza. There, several men showed bruises on their bodies that they claimed were caused by aggression by Israeli forces.

"They arrested us, covered our eyes and put our heads on the ground, we don't know where we were, when we asked where we were they shouted at us to be quiet," the young man said. "When someone said something, they were kicked and beaten." (Image: EFE)

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 19:10

María Antonia Sánchez-VallejoNew York

War between Israel and Gaza

El veto a un alto el fuego en Gaza, el último fiasco de la ONU

María Antonia Sánchez-Vallejo

Ruanda, Srebrenica y, ahora, Gaza son sinónimos del horror. También ejemplos de la impotencia de la ONU a la hora de desempeñar uno de sus cometidos como árbitro de la comunidad internacional: el mantenimiento de la paz y la seguridad en el mundo. Por acción u omisión, o por mirar hacia otro lado, como los cascos azules holandeses en Srebrenica mientras 8.000 bosniacos eran asesinados por las fuerzas serbobosnias, los dos primeros casos forman parte de la historia universal de la infamia. El tercero podría sumarse a la lista si la sangría en el enclave palestino no cesa. Invocando un artículo de la Carta fundacional raramente usado, el 99, la apelación del secretario general de Naciones Unidas, António Guterres, al Consejo de Seguridad para forzar un alto el fuego humanitario pareció esta semana el último recurso antes del colapso definitivo de la Franja, según los dramáticos términos de su mensaje.

Lea aquí la información completa.

ACT.9 DIC 2023 - 18:59

El País

EE UU anuncia el envío de 14.000 proyectiles para tanques a Israel en una operación urgente sin aprobación del Congreso

El Gobierno estadounidense ha recurrido a legislación de emergencia para permitir la venta de unos 14.000 proyectiles a Israel sin control del Congreso. La operación tiene un valor de 106,5 millones de dólares, según ha comunicado este sábado el Pentágono.

La venta es parte de una operación mayor que sí requiere el visto bueno de los parlamentarios e incluye 45.000 proyectiles para los tanques Merkava de Israel, por valor de unos 500 millones de dólares. Los Merkava están siendo utilizados por Israel en su ofensiva en Gaza, que ha matado a miles de civiles. También están involucrados en el incidente en la frontera con Líbano en la que murió un periodista de Reuters.

A pesar de que Washington ha insistido en reiteradas ocasiones que el Gobierno de Benjamín Netanyahu debe esforzarse más para reducir el número de bajas civiles, no hay planes para detener o incluso poner condiciones a la ayuda militar a Israel.

Para el envío de este paquete en concreto basta una justificación detallada del Departamento de Estado indicando que es necesaria para la seguridad nacional estadounidense. Esta justificación fue proporcionada, según el Pentágono, por su secretario, Antony Blinken. “Israel utilizará la capacidad [militar] mejorada como disuasión ante amenazas regionales y para fortalecer su defensa nacional”, ha asegurado el Pentágono, que ha añadido que la venta no supone ningún impacto adverso en la posición militar de Estados Unidos. (Reuters)

ACT.9 DIC 2023 - 18:27

El País

Los hutíes de Yemen amenazan con atacar a los barcos que se dirijan a Israel si no se facilita la entrada de ayuda a Gaza

Los rebeldes hutíes de Yemen, respaldados por Irán, han amenazado este sábado con atacar todo barco que se dirija a Israel por el mar Rojo, independientemente de su nacionalidad, en medio de una escalada de ataques y secuestros de buques comerciales en el mar Rojo por parte de los insurgentes yemeníes.

The Houthis' military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, said in a statement that the insurgents "will prevent the passage of ships of any nationality heading to the Zionist entity" unless food and medicine enter the Gaza Strip. (Image: EFE)

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 17:28

El País

17,700 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, Hamas says

The Hamas-controlled health ministry in the Gaza Strip on Saturday published a new toll on the number of casualties in the Palestinian enclave since the start of Israeli military operations on October 7.

According to these figures, 17,700 people have lost their lives, while another 48,780 have been injured of varying degrees of seriousness. (Reuters)

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 17:22

El País

WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL AND GAZA

War reverberates in the oasis of peace where Israeli Jews and Arabs live together

Trinidad Deiros Bronte (Special Correspondent)

Neve Shalom reigns like an island of greenery on a hill above the Ayalon Valley, in a land considered a no-man's-land between Israel and the West Bank, 35 kilometers west of Jerusalem. It's midday and there's not a soul on the street in this orchard dotted with houses and gardens with palm trees and bougainvillea. The chatter of birds and the laughter of children arriving from the village school do not disturb the idyllic appearance of the only town where Jews and Palestinians with Israeli nationality have chosen to live together. Neve Shalom or Wahat as Salam — its Arabic name — means "oasis of peace," but the mirage of serenity contained in that name is soon dispelled by the roar of a fighter jet heading toward Gaza.

Read the full information here.

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 16:40

El País

Erdogan believes it is necessary to reform the UN Security Council, after the US veto prevented a request for a truce in Gaza

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called for reform of the United Nations Security Council and criticized the United States for vetoing a ceasefire proposal for Gaza despite outsized support from other countries. "The United Nations Security Council's demand for a ceasefire is only rejected by the U.S. veto. Is this justice?" Erdogan told a human rights conference in Istanbul. "The UN Security Council needs to be reformed," he reiterated. (Reuters)

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 16:17

El País

Abbas accuses U.S. of being "responsible for bloodshed" in Gaza after UN veto

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said he holds the United States "responsible for the bloodshed" in Gaza, after Washington vetoed a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Abbas, who heads the government in the West Bank, has called the U.S. stance "immoral," according to a statement from his office. "The U.S. stance makes it complicit in the crimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes committed by the occupation forces against Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem," Abbas said.

The veto of the United States, Israel's main ally, in the U.N. Security Council on Friday halted an attempt to call for a truce in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. For the U.S. deputy representative to the UN, Robert Wood, the resolution was dissociated from "reality" and "would not have moved a needle on the ground."

This effort to establish a truce was driven by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and several Arab countries. Israel welcomed the veto, but the resolution's sponsor, the United Arab Emirates, expressed "deep disappointment." (AFP)

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 13:56

El País

Israel Strikes Hezbollah Targets in Response to Several Attacks Received from Lebanon

The Israeli army has attacked targets of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah from the air, in response to several attacks received from Lebanon. According to the Israeli army, during the night it detected "several launches from Lebanon into Israeli territory" and "in response" fired at the source of the attacks. In addition, Israeli warplanes attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including "command centers" of the Shiite group, Israel said in a statement. The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, posted on the social network X that his forces have attacked "the headquarters of the operational command used by the organization" Hezbollah.

Hostilities between Israel and Lebanese militias in the border area, the most serious since 2006, escalated in the wake of the war that broke out on 7 October between Israel and the Hamas militia in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of hostilities in the area, more than 120 deaths have been recorded: 11 in Israel - 7 soldiers and 4 civilians - and at least 110 in Lebanon, including some 80 members of Hizbullah, 12 members of Palestinian militias, one soldier and 17 civilians. Israel has evacuated more than 60,000 people from northern communities, while violence has forced the displacement of some 55,000 in Lebanon. (Image: EFE)

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 13:15

El País

Firefighters try to put out a burning building in Khan Younis on Saturday. /AFP

What has happened in the last few hours?

This is the main news of the war at 13:00 p.m. on December 9:

The UN Security Council refuses to call for a ceasefire in Gaza because of the US veto. The United States on Friday exercised its right to veto as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and blocked a resolution, requested by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on humanitarian grounds.

Human Rights Watch warns the US that it risks contributing to Israeli war crimes.The organization criticizes the veto introduced by the United States in the UN Security Council in order to prevent the request for a ceasefire in Gaza, and has warned that this measure risks contributing to Israel's war crimes.

The Israeli army kills two Palestinian youths in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Health has reported that a young Palestinian man has been killed in the West Bank by gunfire from the Israeli army, while another has died from wounds sustained the previous day during clashes with Israeli forces.

UNICEF reports that nearly one million children have been displaced in Gaza. The UN agency denounces that minors are "pushed" into overcrowded and unserviced areas in the southern end of the enclave in the face of Israel's offensive, according to UNICEF.

The World Food Programme says the situation in Gaza is "no longer sustainable". The organization said Friday that the situation in the Gaza Strip "is no longer sustainable" and lamented that "people are desperate."

ACT.9 DEC 2023 - 13:00