6:30am AEDT, Tuesday 19 December
What’s happening?
Israel has announced the death of five more soldiers, bringing the death toll since the ground operation began to 127.
BP has announced it will temporary stop transiting the Red Sea, as US Defence Minister Astin said that Iran must stop its support for the Houthis attacking shipping. Options open to the US are in this useful Haaretz backgrounder.
Israeli soldiers found suitcases stuffed with over 5 million shekels in the home of a senior Hamas figure.
Hamas has released a propaganda video of three elderly Israeli hostages.
The Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem has accused ‘an Israeli sniper’ of killing two women in a Gazan church. Israel has denied the claim and is looking into it.
Background
The northern front appears to be heating up, with Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria. Israeli Defence Minister Gallant again warned about increased military action, if Hezbollah doesn’t move away from the border.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has been launching attacks into Israel from adjacent to UN positions.
Normal schooling and other activities have now resumed in the Ashkelon region, after in-person activities had been suspended after 7 October due to danger from Hamas rockets.
