Fighting between Israel and Hamas continues throughout the Gaza Strip before the end of the year

The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it had destroyed two Hamas military installations in Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip. Dozens of "terrorists" were also killed in the city of Gaza. The deployment of Israeli ground troops against the Islamist Hamas is being supported by the Israeli navy with shelling from the sea, the statement continued.

Smoke rose above the southern city of Chan Junis on Saturday. A reporter for the AFP news agency reported continuing night-time artillery fire in Khan Yunis, where Israel suspects Hamas leaders and the hostages they are holding. Further south, more and more people sought refuge in Rafah near the border with Egypt.

The war in the Gaza Strip has now been going on for almost three months. There was no sign of the fighting abating. Israel's military action in the coastal region is a response to the attack by the radical Islamic group Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7, in which more than a thousand people, mainly civilians, were killed, some of them brutally, and others were abducted. According to Israeli information, 129 hostages are still being held in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Hamas-controlled health authorities, at least 21,672 people have since been killed in the Gaza Strip in connection with the Israeli attacks, most of them civilians. According to the Israeli army, 168 soldiers have been killed in the fighting in the Gaza Strip so far.

Meanwhile, the US government approved the renewed sale of artillery ammunition and other military equipment to Israel without the usual congressional review. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has determined that "an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale" of the weapons to Israel, explained the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA). For this reason, the review by Congress has been waived.

The ammunition will reportedly come from US army stocks. Washington had already granted the sale of almost 14,000 rounds of ammunition to Israel in the same way at the beginning of December. "Israel will use the improved capabilities as a deterrent against regional threats and to strengthen its national defense," the statement continued.

On Friday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres once again called for an "immediate humanitarian ceasefire" in light of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. The World Health Organization (WHO) published footage of a staff member at Nasser Hospital in Chan Junis, according to which staff were struggling with severe shortages. "The beds are full," said doctor Ahmad Abu Mustafa. "We basically have too little medication."

Ahmed al-Baz, 33, who fled to Rafah, described the year that is coming to an end as "the worst in my life". "We just want the war to end and the new year to start at home with a declared ceasefire."

Meanwhile, Egypt and Qatar continued their efforts to broker another ceasefire. Citing unnamed Israeli officials, the US news portal Axios and the Israeli news site Ynet reported that Qatari mediators had informed Israel that Hamas was prepared to resume talks on new hostage releases in return for a ceasefire.

In November, a total of 105 hostages abducted from Israel and 240 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli jails as part of a one-week humanitarian ceasefire brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the USA. In addition, several urgently needed aid supplies were delivered to the Gaza Strip.

As AFP learned from Hamas circles, Hamas representatives were in Egypt for talks on Friday. A new three-stage plan presented by Cairo envisages prolonged ceasefires, a gradual release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and ultimately a ceasefire.

The Islamist Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, which rivals Hamas, declared on Saturday that the Palestinian groups were in the process of evaluating the Egyptian proposal. An answer would be given "within a few days".

Israel has not yet officially commented on the plan. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously told the families of the hostages that "we are in contact" with the Egyptian mediators.