Beirut: 'IDF ready to launch maxi-raid against Hezbollah'

Amnesty International has for the first time accused Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups of crimes against humanity in connection with the 7 October 2023 attack in southern Israel and subsequent actions. In a 173-page report, the human rights organisation alleges that these groups committed violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and crimes against humanity during those attacks. Amnesty also alleges that Hamas continued the violations by holding hostages, mistreating them and seizing the bodies of abducted people. According to the report, the mass killing of civilians on 7 October amounts to the crime against humanity of extermination.

Hamas branded the accusations as "lies". "The repetition in the report of the lies and accusations promoted by the occupation government regarding rape, sexual violence and mistreatment of prisoners clearly demonstrates that the purpose of this report is the incitement and distortion of the image of the resistance," Hamas said in a statement, calling on the human rights organisation to withdraw the "erroneous and unprofessional report"

In the meantime, the US administration has reportedly invited Italy and Germany to join the Peace Council for Gaza - see the end of the article - which will be chaired by President Donald Trump. Axios writes this, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Officials in US President Donald Trump's administration have begun deep discussions on the possibility of imposing sanctions on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa), in light of the agency's alleged ties to Hamas, according to a report in the Times of Israel. Unrwa operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, providing aid, education, healthcare, social services and housing to millions of Palestinians. Senior UN officials and the UN Security Council have described the agency as thebackbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza, where the war between Israel and Hamas has fuelled a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel and the Trump administration accuse Unrwa of links to the militia, accusations that the agency strongly rejects.

Israeli authorities have released evidence that, according to their reconstruction, would show the involvement of some Unrwa staff members in the 7 October 2023 attack and in the capture and holding of hostages, as well as accusing the agency's schools of glorifying terrorism and denying the State of Israel's right to exist. The US has long been Unrwa's main donor, but stopped funding in January 2024 afterIsraeli charges against a dozen staff members in connection with the massive Hamas attack that triggered the war in Gaza. In October this year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the agency had become "a subsidiary of Hamas", an organisation the US designated as terrorist in 1997.

Storm Byron has hit the conflict-affected Gaza Strip with heavy rain and flooding. The Palestinian Civil Defence reports thatfamilies displaced by the war are now trapped in flooded tents due to the rainfall, which has hit the southern part of the Strip in particular. Unrwa described how the winter rains are exacerbating daily difficulties: flooded roads and wet tents make already precarious living conditions more risky. According to the agency, the cold, overcrowding and lack of adequate sanitation increase the danger of disease and infection among the displaced population.

A little girl aged only eight months died last night from the cold in Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip, which is experiencing torrential rain, flooding and low temperatures due to storm Byron. The Palestinian agency Wafa and Al Jazeera write this. It concerns a newborn child whose family was displaced by Israeli military operations. 'It kept raining and the cold was getting worse. Suddenly, I found my baby girl motionless, dead,' the mother of the child told Al Jazeera.

Unrwa's appeal for unhindered humanitarian aid

In its update on the situation, UNRWA emphasised that such suffering could be avoided through unhindered humanitarian aid, including medical support and adequate housing. The agency argues that an unconditional flow of assistance would allow families to face the winter in greater safety and dignity. In this context, the combination of war damage and the effects of Storm Byron is cited by UNRWA as making access to essential services and suitable shelter even more urgent.

Time magazine is set to announce the Person of the Year 2025 today. The nominees include Nvidia's executive director Jensen Huang, OpenAI's executive director Sam Altman and the pontiff Leo XIV. Also on the list is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and New York's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. Among the names being considered is also that of US President Donald Trump, who has already received the title in 2024 after his return to the White House.

In an interview with al Jazeera, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal stated that the movement can 'stockpile' its weapons but not hand them over, as envisaged by US President Donald Trump's plan for a ceasefire in Gaza. Mashaal called the assumption of total disarmament unacceptable, instead describing the proposal as a freeze or storage of weapons to offer guarantees against new military escalations from the Gaza Strip. The Hamas leader also rejected as 'occupation' the International stabilisation force envisaged by the plan, pointing out however that Hamas has no objection to the presence of an international stabilisation force at the borders, taking Unifil as a model.

Meanwhile, Trump said thatthe announcement of the world leaders who will be part of the Gaza Peace Council is expected early next year. Speaking in the Roosevelt Room of the White House during an economic event, the president said that several leaders want to be part of it and that the council was established as part of a plan for Gaza that led to a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.The tycoon spoke of "kings, presidents and prime ministers" interested in participating and anticipated that the official announcement should come in the new year. He concluded by calling the Gaza council 'one of the most legendary councils ever', emphasising that 'everyone wants to be part of it'.

The Trump administration has invited Italy and Germany to join the peace council under the peace plan for the Gaza Strip. This is reported by the Axios website, citing sources privy to the discussions according to which Washington has already informed Israel that the international stabilisation force will be headed by an American general. In recent days, the Financial Times reported on the exclusion of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had been singled out by Trump when presenting his peace plan, due to opposition from Arab and Muslim countries. However, Blair should still be part of the executive committee that would have coordinating functions between the Council and the future Palestinian technical government in charge of the day-to-day management of the Gaza Strip.

According to sources heard by Axios,the United States has proposed the former UN envoy for the Middle East, Nickolay Mladenov, as the representative of the Peace Council: the Bulgarian diplomat now heads the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi.