WORLD BRIEFING: December 24, 2023

Israel - Hamas War

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Gaza war has come at a "very heavy price" for his side. The military says more than a dozen soldiers have been killed in the territory since Friday, bringing the total of the ground assault to 154. Saturday was one of its deadliest days - but the Israeli PM there was "no choice" but to keep fighting - BBC

Egypt has reportedly proposed a three-phased truce to the Israel-Hamas war, which includes the formation of a temporary government in Gaza in charge of rehabilitating the Strip and holding elections. A Palestinian Islamic Jihad delegation has arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian security officials. The UN estimates that nearly 80 percent of Gaza's 2.4 million population have been displaced by the fighting - Haaretz

Meanwhile, the health ministry in Gaza - run by Hamas - says another 166 people were killed in the last day. More than 20,000 people have been killed - mostly women and children, and 54,000 injured in Gaza since 7 October, the ministry says.

Ukraine War

  • Ukraine will mark its first official Christmas holiday on December 25, further distancing itself from the traditions of the Putin-aligned Russian Orthodox Church, which celebrates Christmas on January 7. Ukraine’s parliament voted over the summer to move the holiday to help Ukraine “abandon the Russian heritage of imposing the celebration of Christmas on January 7,” and help Ukrainians “live their own life with their own traditions (and) holidays.” However many, such as myself, plan to stick to the ‘old calendar’ on January 7. Read my explanation in this Globe and Mail OpEd here

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-when-zelensky-changed-the-date-of-christmas-it-left-ukrainian/

  • Russian troops fired 71 shells at Kherson, hitting the city center, residential areas, medical and educational institutions, and "critical infrastructure facilities," Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration wrote on Telegram.

  • Ukraine will likely receive it first shipment of advanced F-16s in the next few days, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a phone call as Kyiv seeks to disrupt Russia’s air superiority over Ukrainian skies - RFE/RL

Elsewhere

  • On the heels of a call last week between President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to address the migrant crisis at the US-Mexico border, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall are expected to travel to Mexico to discuss further actions with Mexican officials. Border security — which remains a vulnerability for Biden in 2024 — has been at the forefront this month as Senate negotiators tried to reach an immigration deal tied to the administration’s national security supplemental request. Those talks stalled, keeping Biden from clinching additional aid to Ukraine and Israel before the end of the year. The White House request also included $14 billion for border security.

  • A chemical tanker in the Indian Ocean was hit by a drone launched from Iran on Saturday, the US military says. A fire on board the Chem Pluto was extinguished. There were no casualties. Iran has not commented. Houthi rebels in Yemen - who are backed by Iran and support Hamas in its war with Israel - have recently used drones and rockets to target vessels in the Red Sea. But this event is the first of its kind so far away from there, according to maritime security firm Ambrey - BBC

Michael BociurkiwComment