UN aid resolution, diplomatic efforts could yield some relief for Gaza

Khan Younis, Dec 21: The UN Security Council has a long-delayed vote scheduled for Thursday on a new resolution about desperately needed aid to Gaza, where the Israel-Hamas war has created a dire humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands of people are crammed into shelters and tent camps amid shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies. Israel’s foreign minister travelled to Cyprus to discuss the possibility of establishing a maritime corridor that would allow the delivery of large amounts of humanitarian aid. At least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded Wednesday after Israel bombarded the Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City, according to a senior official in the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
The Israeli military said its troops located “a vast tunnel network ” under Gaza City that included command and control positions, meeting rooms and hideout apartments for the most senior Hamas leaders. Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.
Israel says more than 130 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and taking about 240 hostages.
Israeli shelling targeting Hezbollah kills
Lebanese woman
Israeli shelling in the Lebanese border town of Maroun El-Ras Thursday killed an elderly woman in her 80s and wounded her husband, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.
The Israeli military said that it launched artillery and airstrikes on Hezbollah militant positions in southern Lebanon late Wednesday and early Thursday. It did not immediately comment on the strike that was reported to have killed the Lebanese civilian.
Israeli forces and members of Hezbollah have clashed along the Lebanon-Israel border almost daily since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
Lebanese state media said Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes deep inside Lebanon late Wednesday. (AP)