West Asia latest Israeli strike on home in northern Gaza kills 19 people

     Deir Al-Balah, Dec 11 (AP) An Israeli strike on a home sheltering displaced people in the northern Gaza Strip killed at least 19, Palestinian medical officials said Wednesday.
     Kamal Adwan Hospital said it received the bodies after the overnight strike in the town of Beit Lahiya. Hospital records show that a family of eight were among those killed, including four children, their parents and two grandparents.
     There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has waged a renewed offensive against Hamas militants in northern Gaza since early October.
     Another strike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed at least seven people, according to al-Awda Hospital. Records show the dead included two children, their parents and three relatives.
     The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people, including children and older adults. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
     Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed over 44,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials. They say women and children make up more than half the dead but do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their count. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
    
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     UN appeals for USD 4 billion for humanitarian operations in Palestinian territories
     JERUSALEM — The United Nations is asking donors for over USD 4 billion to fund humanitarian operations in the Palestinian territories, most of it earmarked for war-ravaged Gaza.
     The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also called for the “lifting all impediments to the entry of aid” in its appeal issued Wednesday.
     UN agencies say aid operations in Gaza are hindered by Israeli restrictions and the breakdown of law and order. Israel says it allows enough aid to enter and blames the UN for not distributing it within the territory.
     The appeal for 2025 includes USD 3.6 billion for Gaza and about USD 450 million for Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
     Israel's offensive, launched after Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack, has destroyed vast areas of the besieged territory and displaced around 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million. Many have been displaced multiple times and are now crammed into squalid tent camps with little in the way of food or other essentials. Most of the population relies on international aid.
    
     Paraguay's president addresses the Knesset ahead of embassy reopening in Jerusalem
     JERUSALEM — The president of Paraguay addressed the Israeli parliament Wednesday ahead of the reopening of the country's embassy in Jerusalem.
     The decision to reopen the embassy in Jerusalem and recognise the city as the capital of Israel is a diplomatic win for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and puts Paraguay in a small group of countries that have taken the move.
     Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1967 but it wasn't recognised by the international community, and most countries run their embassies out of Tel Aviv.
     “Without Jerusalem, the land of Israel is a body without a soul,” President Santiago Peña said in a speech to the Knesset. “So I say here today that without an embassy in Jerusalem, diplomatic relations with Israel do not have a real heart.” He said he hoped the move would inspire other countries to do the same.
     The embassy is set to open Thursday.
     Pena's move was welcomed by Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, along with other Israeli leaders.
     “Tomorrow we will inaugurate together the embassy of Paraguay in our eternal capital, and that will happen not for the first time, but for the second time,” Netanyahu said.
     Paraguay had an embassy in Jerusalem in 2018, under Former President Horacio Cartes. That embassy was moved back to Tel Aviv by Cartes' successor, Mario Abdo Benitez, prompting Israel to close its embassy in Asuncion.
     Israel reopened its embassy in September.
    
     Russia says it's in touch with new authorities in Syria
     MOSCOW — Russia said Wednesday it has maintained contacts with the new authorities in Syria.
     Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “we are monitoring most closely what is happening in Syria.”
     “We, of course, maintain contacts with those who are currently controlling the situation in Syria,” Peskov said in a conference call with reporters.
     “This is necessary because our bases are located there, our diplomatic mission is located there and, of course, the issue related to ensuring the security of these facilities is extremely important and of primary significance.”
     Peskov wouldn't give details of those contacts, saying only that Russia has contacted “those who are controlling the situation on the ground.”
     He wouldn't give the number of Russian troops in Syria.
     Asked to comment about Israel's seizure of a buffer zone on the border with Syria, Peskov called them destabilising.
     “The strikes and actions in the Golan Heights area, in the buffer zone area, are unlikely to help stabilise the situation in an already destabilised Syria,” he said.
     Russia has granted political asylum to ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad and his family after they fled rebels who seized Damascus over the weekend. (AP) GRS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)