Hamas

Dec. 19 (UPI) — An international hunger watchdog group said that while Gaza is no longer in famine conditions since the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, it’s still food-insecure and many people still go hungry.

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a United Nations-backed group, released a report Friday that said on X that at least 1.6 million people are still facing high levels of acute food insecurity.

It said that acute malnutrition is still critical in Gaza City and is serious in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis with nearly 101,000 children under 5 likely to suffer acute malnutrition through mid-October 2026 throughout Gaza.

Israel’s foreign ministry called the IPC report “deliberately distorted” and “doesn’t reflect the reality in the Gaza Strip,” the BBC reported.

Between “600 and 800 aid trucks enter the Gaza Strip every day, 70 percent of them carrying food — nearly five times more than what the IPC itself said was required for the Strip,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Since the cease-fire, humanitarian agencies have been better able to get aid into Gaza, easing the famine that caused widespread hunger and malnutrition in the area during fighting, when Israel blocked aid from the Palestinians.

“Over the next 12 months, across the entire Gaza Strip, nearly 101,000 children aged 6-59 months are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition and require treatment, with more than 31,000 severe cases,” the report said. “During the same period, 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will also face acute malnutrition and require treatment.”

UNWRA, the U.N. agency for Palestine, supported the report from the IPC.

“The latest report from the IPC info underscores how fragile the gains have been since the cease-fire began in October,” UNWRA said in a statement. “While Gaza Governorate is no longer classified as being in famine, 1.6 million people still face high levels of acute food insecurity. To end this catastrophe, supplies must be let in at scale and humanitarians allowed to do their job.”

Responding to reports that Hamas may be willing to partially disarm, handing over heavy weaponry but keeping its small arms, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said peace will never happen if the group has the capability to “threaten or attack Israel.”

The army claims the member was working to re-establish Hamas’s capabilities in the Strip.

The Israeli military has said it struck a “key” Hamas member in the area of Gaza City, without elaborating on who they may be.

In a post on Telegram, the army alleged that the member had been operating to re-establish Hamas’s capabilities, which have been severely depleted by more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian group.

The Wafa news agency reported that an Israeli drone hit a vehicle at the Nabulsi junction in the west of Gaza City, resulting in casualties.

The agency did not report on specific numbers, and it was not clear if the attack was the one that allegedly killed the Hamas member.

Since the ceasefire started in October, Israel has continued to attack Gaza daily – reaching nearly 800 times – in a clear breach of the agreement, according to authorities in Gaza.

Israel also continues to block the majority of aid trucks from entering the enclave. The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly backed a resolution demanding that Israel open unrestricted humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, stop attacking UN facilities, and comply with international law, in line with its obligations as an occupying power.

According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, Israeli fire since the start of the ceasefire has killed at least 377 people.

Hamas has said the ceasefire cannot move forward while Israel continues its violations of the agreement, with Gaza authorities saying the truce has been breached at least 738 times since taking effect in October.

Husam Badran, a Hamas official, called on mediators to increase pressure on Israel to fully implement its existing commitments.

“The next phase cannot begin as long as the [Israeli] occupation continues its violations of the agreement and evades its commitments,” Badran said.

“Hamas has asked the mediators to pressure the occupation to complete the implementation of the first phase,” he added.

The ceasefire, which came into effect on October 10, focused on the exchange of captives held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

But details of the next phase, including Gaza’s future governance, the potential deployment of an international stabilisation force, and the establishment of what has been termed a “board of peace”, remain unresolved.

Meanwhile, anger continues to rise among Palestinians and the international community as Israeli attacks persist. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks since the start of the ceasefire have killed at least 377 people and wounded 987.

Talks progressing, but major challenges remain

A United States official told Al Jazeera Arabic that negotiations on the next phase of the ceasefire are advancing, but key obstacles still need to be overcome.

The official said Washington expects the first deployment of an international stabilisation force to begin in early 2026.

Talks are currently focused on which countries would contribute to such a force, how it would be commanded and what its rules of engagement would be.

It comes as former United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair has reportedly been dropped by the “board of peace”, a panel envisioned by the US to oversee redevelopment in Gaza.

The official said the US-backed ceasefire plan, endorsed by the United Nations Security Council, clearly stipulates Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza and Hamas’s disarmament.

They added that discussions are under way to form a police force drawn from the local population in Gaza.

The US is also aware of the increasing demands for humanitarian access, the official said, and is working to remove barriers to aid delivery.

Meanwhile, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric responded to a claim by Israeli Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir that the so-called “yellow line”, currently marking Israeli-held territory inside Gaza, constitutes a “new border”.

Israeli forces have remained in about 58 percent of Gaza since a partial withdrawal to the yellow line. Under the ceasefire plan, Israeli forces are meant to withdraw fully from the territory, although there is no timeframe for a withdrawal in the agreement.

More Israeli strikes reported

The Israeli military has launched an air strike and artillery attacks on areas of Khan Younis still under its control. There have been no reports of casualties.

In northern Gaza, the Israeli army has continued building demolitions in Beit Lahiya.

“These actions constitute a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and a deliberate undermining of the essence of the ceasefire and the provisions of its attached humanitarian protocol,” Gaza authorities said in a statement.

Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza has killed at least 70,366 Palestinians and wounded 171,064 since October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities.

At least of 1,139 people were killed during the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, according to Israeli statistics, and more than 200 others were seized as captives.

As Israel and Hamas prepare to move towards phase two of a United States-led blueprint to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, disagreements loom over the as-yet undefined role of an international stabilisation force in the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Sunday that the US draft required “a lot of clarifications”. While the group was ready to discuss “freezing or storing” weapons during the ongoing truce, he said it would not accept that an international stabilisation force take charge of disarmament.

“We are welcoming a [United Nations] force to be near the borders, supervising the ceasefire agreement, reporting about violations, preventing any kind of escalations,” he said, adding that Hamas would not accept the force having “any kind of mandates” on Palestinian territory.

His comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier in the day that he would meet with Donald Trump to discuss entering a new phase of the US president’s plan at the end of the month. The focus of the meeting, he said, would be on ending Hamas governance in Gaza and ensuring it fulfilled its “commitment” to the plan, which calls for demilitarisation of the enclave.

“We have a second phase, no less daunting, and that is to achieve the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarisation of Gaza,” Netanyahu said during a news conference with visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

It was not clear whether Naim’s comments on the group freezing or storing arms would satisfy Israel’s demands for full disarmament. The Hamas official said the group retained its “right to resist”, adding that laying down arms could happen as part of a process leading to a Palestinian state, with a potential long-term truce lasting five to 10 years.

The US-drafted plan for Gaza leaves the door open to Palestinian independence, but Netanyahu has long rejected this, asserting that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas.

Vague plan

Trump’s 20-point plan offers a general way forward on such plans as the establishment of the stabilisation force and the formation of a technocratic Palestinian government operating under an international “board of peace”, but does not offer concrete details or timelines.

US officials have said they expect “boots on the ground” early next year, but while countries like Indonesia have agreed to contribute troops, there is no roadmap for setting up the force, and its exact makeup, command structure and responsibilities have not been defined.

Netanyahu appeared to recognise the plan’s vagueness. “What will be the timeline? What are the forces that are coming in? Will we have international forces? If not, what are the alternatives? These are all topics that are being discussed,” he said on Sunday.

The Israeli prime minister said that phase two of the plan, which will be set in motion once Hamas returns the last Israeli captive, a policeman killed in the October 7 attack on southern Israel, would be “more difficult”.

Stage one of the plan has already proven challenging, with Israel continuing to bomb Gaza throughout the ceasefire, killing more than 370 Palestinians, according to health officials. Meanwhile, it has accused Hamas of dragging out captive returns.

Israeli army says yellow line ‘new border’

The plan’s initial steps saw Israeli forces withdraw to positions behind a so-called yellow line in Gaza, though the Israeli military remains in control of 53 percent of the territory. The Israeli military said on Sunday that the line of demarcation was a “new border”.

“We have operational control over extensive parts of the Gaza Strip, and we will remain on those defence lines,” said Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir. “The yellow line is a new border line, serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity.”

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani warned at the Doha Forum on Saturday that the truce was at a “critical moment” and could unravel without rapid movement towards a permanent deal.

He said a true ceasefire “cannot be completed unless there is a full withdrawal” of Israeli forces, alongside restored stability and freedom of movement for Palestinians, which has so far not transpired under phase one of the plan. He did not allude to the yellow line in his comments.

Amid growing momentum for a move to phase two of the peace plan, Israeli and Qatari officials met with US counterparts in an effort to rebuild relations after Israel’s air strike on Doha in September, Axios reported, citing unnamed sources.