Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider crisis in the Middle East.
Thousands of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men have clashed with Israeli police in central Jerusalem, during a protest against a supreme court order for them to begin enlisting for military service.
Tens of thousands of men rallied on Sunday night in an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood to protest against the landmark decision last week. But after nightfall, the crowd made its way toward central Jerusalem and turned violent.
Israeli police said protesters threw rocks and attacked the car of an ultra-Orthodox cabinet minister, pelting it with stones. Water cannon filled with skunk-scented water and police mounted on horses were used to disperse the crowd.
Military service is compulsory for most Jewish men and women in Israel. But politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have won exemptions for their followers to skip military service and instead study in religious seminaries. The longstanding arrangement has bred resentment among the broader public, a sentiment that has grown stronger during the eight-month war against Hamas.
More on that in a moment, first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events.
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Israeli forces advanced further on Sunday into the Shejaiya neighbourhood of northern Gaza and also pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes, residents said.
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Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaiya four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, the residents said. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the devastated neighbourhood, where the Israeli army said it has carried out raids and fought Palestinian militants both “above and below ground” in tunnels.
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Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that there is no substitute for victory in the war against the Hamas. “We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he said.
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Israeli troops carried out an airstrike in the northern West Bank on Sunday, killing a Palestinian militant and wounding five other people, Palestinian health officials said. The strike took place in Nur Shams, an urban refugee camp which is reputed as a stronghold of Palestinian militants. Islamic Jihad identified the dead man as Saeed al-Jaber, one of its local commanders. The Israeli military confirmed an attack on the home, saying that militants inside, including al-Jaber, were responsible for recent attacks on Israeli targets.
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Israel’s military said on Sunday 18 of its soldiers were injured, one of them seriously, when a drone struck their position in the occupied Golan Heights, near Lebanon. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said in a statement the strike happened earlier on Sunday. It said since then, it had struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon with airstrikes and artillery fire.
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In a speech marking Egypt’s 30 June 2013 Revolution, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi addressed the conflict in “the heinous Israeli war in Gaza.” Sisi said that humanity’s conscience has been absent and the international community has turned a blind eye to the suffering and displacement in the region. He added: “Egypt’s position has been noble, honourable, and patriotic. Egypt did not stay idle in providing relief to our Palestinian brothers with actions before words.”
Key events
Here are some of the images of protests in Jerusalem overnight in which Israeli security forces intervened. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as Haredim, were protesting against plans to end their exemption from compulsory military service.
Al Jazeera reports that Muhammad Abu Salamiya, director of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, has been released by Israeli forces.
Israel has been holding him in detention since 23 November.
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli government since early May.
IDF: approximately 20 projectiles fired at Israel from Khan Younis
Israel’s military has said in a statement that about 20 missiles were fired from Khan Younis inside the Gaza Strip. It reported:
Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in communities near the Gaza Strip, approximately 20 projectiles were identified crossing from the area of Khan Younis. A number of the projectiles were intercepted and some of the projectiles fell inside southern Israel. No injuries were reported. IDF Artillery is currently striking the sources of the fire.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider crisis in the Middle East.
Thousands of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men have clashed with Israeli police in central Jerusalem, during a protest against a supreme court order for them to begin enlisting for military service.
Tens of thousands of men rallied on Sunday night in an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood to protest against the landmark decision last week. But after nightfall, the crowd made its way toward central Jerusalem and turned violent.
Israeli police said protesters threw rocks and attacked the car of an ultra-Orthodox cabinet minister, pelting it with stones. Water cannon filled with skunk-scented water and police mounted on horses were used to disperse the crowd.
Military service is compulsory for most Jewish men and women in Israel. But politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties have won exemptions for their followers to skip military service and instead study in religious seminaries. The longstanding arrangement has bred resentment among the broader public, a sentiment that has grown stronger during the eight-month war against Hamas.
More on that in a moment, first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events.
-
Israeli forces advanced further on Sunday into the Shejaiya neighbourhood of northern Gaza and also pushed deeper into western and central Rafah in the south, killing at least six Palestinians and destroying several homes, residents said.
-
Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaiya four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, the residents said. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the devastated neighbourhood, where the Israeli army said it has carried out raids and fought Palestinian militants both “above and below ground” in tunnels.
-
Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated his stance that there is no substitute for victory in the war against the Hamas. “We are committed to fighting until we achieve all of our objectives: Eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages, ensuring that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and returning our residents securely to their homes in the south and the north,” he said.
-
Israeli troops carried out an airstrike in the northern West Bank on Sunday, killing a Palestinian militant and wounding five other people, Palestinian health officials said. The strike took place in Nur Shams, an urban refugee camp which is reputed as a stronghold of Palestinian militants. Islamic Jihad identified the dead man as Saeed al-Jaber, one of its local commanders. The Israeli military confirmed an attack on the home, saying that militants inside, including al-Jaber, were responsible for recent attacks on Israeli targets.
-
Israel’s military said on Sunday 18 of its soldiers were injured, one of them seriously, when a drone struck their position in the occupied Golan Heights, near Lebanon. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said in a statement the strike happened earlier on Sunday. It said since then, it had struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon with airstrikes and artillery fire.
-
In a speech marking Egypt’s 30 June 2013 Revolution, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi addressed the conflict in “the heinous Israeli war in Gaza.” Sisi said that humanity’s conscience has been absent and the international community has turned a blind eye to the suffering and displacement in the region. He added: “Egypt’s position has been noble, honourable, and patriotic. Egypt did not stay idle in providing relief to our Palestinian brothers with actions before words.”
