WORLD BRIEFING: December 31, 2023

Israel - Gaza War

At least 100 people killed, 286 wounded in Israeli attacks on homes in central Gaza in the past 24 hours, health ministry says. Meanwhile, the Israeli war cabinet will meet to discuss captive-prisoner exchanges as Netanyahu vows to continue the war - Al Jazeera

Israel is prepared to let ships deliver aid to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip "immediately" as part of a proposed sea corridor from Cyprus, the Israeli foreign minister said on Sunday, naming four European countries as potential participants. Under the arrangement first suggested by Nicosia in November, cargo would undergo security inspection in the Cypriot port of Larnaca before being ferried to the Gaza coast, 370 km (230 miles) away, rather than through neighboring Egypt or Israel. If the plan goes ahead, it would mark the first easing of an Israeli naval blockade imposed on Gaza in 2007 after militant Hamas Islamists seized control of the Palestinian enclave - Reuters

The former Endowments Minister in the Palestinian Authority Sheikh Yousef Salama was killed on Sunday morning in an Israeli strike in the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said - Haaretz

Hamas-run Health Ministry: 21,822 killed, 56,451 wounded in Gaza

Ukraine War

  • Russia said it launched retaliatory strikes on military sites and “foreign mercenaries” in Kharkiv after Ukraine’s bombardment of the Russian border city of Belgorod killed at least 24 people. Residential buildings, hotels and medical facilities also were damaged in the strikes. The Kharkiv landmark, the Palace Hotel, which is favoured by foreigners, was heavily damaged. A member of a foreign press team was reported injured.

  • A businessman from western Ukraine has been detained in connection to Hr 1.5 billion ($39.5 million) false contracts for clothes and underwear to the military. He was reportedly nabbed when trying to bribe officials. Igor Grinkevych is said to be one of biggest suppliers to Ministry of Defense. Reports such as these are not the kind which Ukraine would want western donors to see

Elsewhere

  • The US Navy has destroyed Houthi "small boats" whose crew attempted to board a container ship in the Red Sea. Four vessels from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen fired upon the Maersk Hangzhou and got within metres of the ship, the US military said. Helicopters from nearby US warships responded to a distress call - and, after being fired upon, sank three boats "in self-defence". The crews were killed and the fourth boat fled the area - BBC

  • President Félix Tshisekedi has been declared the winner of Democratic Republic of Congo's election, which has been condemned as a "sham" by several opposition candidates demanding a rerun. The president won about 73% of the vote, with his nearest challenger, Moise Katumbi, on 18%, officials said. The 20 December election was marred by widespread logistical problems - BBC

Michael BociurkiwComment