Israel - Hamas War News Updates -- December 24, 2025

 

Reuters: Israeli airstrikes kill dozens, Gaza officials say, in Christmas bloodshed 

Pope Francis lamented the war in the Holy Land where Palestinian health officials said airstrikes killed at least 78 people on Christmas Eve in one of the Gaza Strip's deadliest nights in Israel's 11-week-old battle with Hamas. 

Israeli strikes that began hours before midnight persisted into Christmas Day on Monday. Local residents and Palestinian media said Israel stepped up air and ground shelling against al-Bureij in central Gaza. 

At least 70 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting Maghazi in central Gaza, health ministry spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said, adding that many were women and children.  

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 Israel - Hamas War News Updates -- December 24, 2025 

Israel-Gaza war live: at least 70 killed in Israeli strike on refugee camp – as it happened -- The Guardian  

As It Happens: Israeli forces head deeper into Gaza in pursuit of 'total victory', Netanyahu says -- France 24  

Live Updates: Humanitarian crisis worsens in Gaza as Israel-Hamas war rages -- CNN  

Live Updates - Israel-Hamas war: Israel expands ground operations in Gaza -- DW

Israel Gaza war: Hamas says 70 killed in Israeli air strike on camp -- BBC  

At least 70 killed in Israeli strike on refugee camp in central Gaza, health ministry says -- The Guardian  

At Least 68 Killed in Central Gaza in Airstrike, Adding to Weekend's Bloodshed -- AP  

Deadly 24 hours of fighting across Gaza Strip kills scores of Palestinians -- The Guardian  

IDF says 14 soldiers killed over weekend amid heavy fighting in south, central Gaza -- Times of Israel  

Fourteen Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza as Hamas militants dig in, despite continued Israeli bombardment -- ABC News Australia  

Israel's "heavy cost" in Gaza: 15 soldiers killed this weekend -- Salon  

Israel says five Gaza hostages found dead in tunnel, circumstances being probed -- Reuters  

Israel-Gaza war: Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel paying 'heavy price' -- BBC 

Israel’s Military Says Battles Intensifying in Southern Gaza -- New York Times  

Israel-Gaza: Israel says it has arrested hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad members -- BBC 

Israel says it holds hundreds of Palestinian militants -- France 24  

Food aid failing to reach Gaza residents despite ‘catastrophic’ hunger crisis -- The Guardian  

Gaza facing famine if fighting continues, UN says -- BBC  

Egypt submits proposal to free hostages, end war, form PA-Hamas government in Gaza -- Times of Israel  

Bethlehem: Gaza war mars Christmas festivities -- DW  

Palestinians feel 'no joy' as Israel bombs Gaza on Christmas -- France 24  

Pope: ‘Futile Logic of War’ Drowns Out Message of Peace -- VOA  

Human Rights Watch alleges Israel is breaching the rules of war in Gaza — what are they? -- ABC News Australia

Israeli Forces Conduct A Brief Raid Into Gaza

 

CBS News: Israeli forces raid Gaza as airstrikes drive up civilian death toll before expected invasion 

Tel Aviv — Israel carried out an hours-long, overnight ground raid into the northern Gaza Strip, the country's military said Thursday, as part of "preparations for the next stages of the war" with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. 

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) released video of the raid showing a bulldozer leveling a raised bank amid explosions and tank fire in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory. The timing of a long expected full-scale Israeli ground invasion remained unclear Thursday, but the consequences of Israel's relentless airstrikes, which started immediately after Hamas' brutal terror attack on Israel, have already been catastrophic for the 2.3 million people trapped inside Gaza.  

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WNU Editor: This assessment on why Israel conducted this raid is probably correct .... 'Reconnaissance by fire' - What Israel's Gaza raid tells us (BBC). 

Israeli Forces Conduct A Brief Raid Into Gaza  

Israel ground forces raid Hamas sites in Gaza, withdraw - military statement -- Reuters 

Israeli troops conduct brief raid in Gaza to ‘prepare’ for an expected full-scale incursion -- AP 

IDF tanks, troops push into Gaza in limited raid ahead of ground offensive -- Times of Israel  

Israeli Military Says Troops Conducted Ground Operation in Gaza Strip -- VOA  

Israeli troops, tanks and bulldozers enter Gaza in overnight raid -- The Guardian  

Israeli forces conduct tank raid in Gaza ahead of expected invasion -- FOX News 

Israeli troops carry out brief raid into Gaza -- The Hill

U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby Says Civilian Casualties Are Inevitable

 

Antiwar.com: White House Says Israel Will Continue to Kill ‘Innocent Civilians’ in Gaza  

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says civilian casualties are inevitable 

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that Israel will continue to hurt “innocent civilians” in its onslaught on Gaza. 

“This is war. It is combat. It is bloody, ugly and it’s going to be messy and innocent civilians are going to be hurt going forward,” Kirby said when asked if the US thought Israel’s bombardment was a disproportionate response to the Hamas attack on southern Israel. 

“I wish I could tell you something different and wish that there wasn’t going to happen, but it is going to happen. And that doesn’t make it right, doesn’t make it dismissible,” Kirby added.  

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WNU Editor: The death toll is now surpassing 7,000 .... Death toll in Gaza surpasses 7,000 as aid groups raise alarm about fuel (NPR).

For The Third Day In A Row, Israel And Gaza Exchange Fire

 

BBC: Rocket kills man in Israel as strikes target Gaza militant commanders 

The Israeli military has killed two Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders in air strikes in Gaza during a third day of fighting with militants there. 

A pre-dawn attack on an apartment in Khan Younis killed the head of PIJ's rocket-launching force and two others, who the military said were militants. 

In the afternoon, his deputy was killed in a strike in a nearby town. 

 Later, one man was killed when a rocket fired from Gaza hit a building in the central Israeli city of Rehovot. 

It was the first fatality in Israel since it began an operation against PIJ on Tuesday morning with a series of air strikes that killed another three of the group's commanders. 

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For The Third Day In A Row, Israel And Gaza Exchange Fire 

Multiple killed amid new fighting in Israel and Palestinian territories as Egypt pushes truce -- AP  

Israeli forces launch mass strikes in Gaza targeting Palestinian Islamic Jihad commanders -- The Hill  

Israel kills senior Gaza commanders as rockets cause first death in Israel -- Reuters  

Israel kills 30 Palestinians in Gaza as violence escalates -- Al Jazeera  

Gaza strike kills deputy commander of Islamic Jihad rocket forces, after chief slain -- The Times of Israel  

Israeli Killed Outside Tel Aviv As IDF Says Over 800 Rockets Fired From Gaza -- Zero Hedge

Israeli - Gaza Conflict Intensifies As Jerusalem Clashes Resume

 

FOX News: Israel-Gaza conflict escalates following Palestinian rocket, terror attacks  

The escalation comes weeks after Arab terror attacks rocked Israel 

Conflict between Israel and Gaza militants continued to escalate Thursday following a series of rocket attacks launched into Israel and corresponding Israeli countermeasures. 

Hamas militants fired the first rocket into Israel in months Monday and continued to ramp up the aggression, leading to a flurry of rockets Wednesday evening. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have responded each time with airstrikes on Hamas militant targets within Gaza. 

"In the last month, terrorist activity against Israel has been on the rise: 14 Israelis were murdered in terror attacks. Palestinians chose to violently riot at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Terrorists in Gaza launched multiple rockets into Israel—including last night," the IDF tweeted Thursday.  

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Update #1: Gaza violence intensifies as Jerusalem clashes resume (AP)  

Update #2: Clashes erupt in Jerusalem, Israel responds to Gaza rockets with airstrikes (CNN)  

WNU Editor: Here is an easy prediction. This violence shows no signs of ending.

Diplomatic Efforts To End The War Between Israel And Gaza Are Starting

 

France 24: Diplomatic efforts under way to de-escalate outbreak of violence in the Middle East 

The US spearheaded diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the violence in the Middle East on Wednesday, with President Joe Biden speaking to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calling Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. 

France, meanwhile, said “everything must be done” to avoid the conflict escalating further. 

The UN Security Council is preparing for another emergency meeting on the outbreak of violence, the worst in the region since 2014. 

Biden, who spoke to Netanyahu by telephone on Wednesday, told reporters that “my expectation and hope is that this will be closing down sooner than later".  

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Update #1: U.N. Security Council to meet on Sunday about Israel, Gaza -- Reuters  

Update #2: US now backs Security Council meet on Sunday to ‘give time for diplomacy’ -- Times Of Israel  

WNU Editor: There is no real diplomacy happening right now to end this conflict. Just people talking on a phone. 

And as for those who think the Biden administration will be able to defuse the conflict by sending an envoy .... Amid warnings of a 'full scale war,' Biden administration dispatches envoy to Middle East (USA Today). 

I hate to disappoint everyone, but the person that President Biden dispatched to the Middle East is the wrong person to send there to de-escalate the conflict .... Biden Sends Anti-Israel Official, Hady Amr, to Israel to Encourage ‘De-escalation’ (Breitbart).