The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they unfold.
Rocket sirens in Kissufim
Rocket sirens are sounding in Kissufim, near the border with Gaza.
The community is largely evacuated of civilians.
Literary event features orange balloons for redheaded Bibas children held hostage in Gaza
Dozens of writers and journalists gather in Tel Aviv for a children’s literary event which is used as an opportunity to raise awareness to the plight of an Israeli family held hostage in Gaza for 82 days.
Attending the annual SASA Setton Prize for Children’s Literature award ceremony, Ofri Levi Bibas from Moshav Giv’at Yoav says she “would have come anywhere to remind anyone” of her brother, Yarden Bibas, and his wife Shiri and two children, Ariel and Kfir, aged 4 and 11 months respectively.
The mother and children from Kibbutz Nir Oz, known to many in Israel as “the redheads,” are a symbol of Hamas’s barbarity for countless Israelis.
Hamas has claimed that the Bibas family was killed in an Israeli strike, though Israel’s government has not confirmed what it has said is a “cruel” claim by the terror group.
“We have not heard anything since that report, and we are trying to stay optimistic,” says Ofri Levi Bibas, standing next to orange balloons, whose color is a reference to the redheaded children.
Organizers plan to release the balloons at the end of the award ceremony, held at Microsoft’s Tel Aviv offices, to symbolize the intense hope of Israelis to see the Bibas family return.
The judging panel for the award, which includes author Lihi Lapid, wife of Opposition Leader Yair Laid, gives this year’s prize to Orit Bergman’s “Shoshana, the Bored Dung Beetle.”
It is believed that 129 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza — not all of them alive — after 105 civilians were released from Hamas captivity during a weeklong truce in late November. Four hostages were released prior to that, and one was rescued by troops. The bodies of eight hostages have also been recovered and three hostages were mistakenly killed by the military. The Israel Defense Forces has confirmed the deaths of 22 of those still held by Hamas, citing new intelligence and findings obtained by troops operating in Gaza.
Baby dies in fire in south
A baby was killed in a fire in an unrecognized village near the southern Bedouin town of Ar’ara BaNegev, Magen David Adom says.
The child was aged around six months.
A 3-year-old girl was in moderate to serious condition, the emergency service says. A number of other people receive treatment for smoke inhalation.
Rescuers tell the Ynet news site that the single-story building was completely on fire when they arrived.
It is unclear what sparked the blaze. Many of the homes in Bedouin communities, as well as in Arab Israeli cities, are not connected to the power grid and are instead reliant on dangerous, makeshift solutions.
On Sunday, a 2-year-old died in a fire in an apartment in the central city Kfar Qasim. Three other children were treated for light injuries.
Hezbollah claims responsibility for barrage of at least 18 rockets fired at Rosh Hanikra
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group claims responsibility for the barrage of at least 18 rockets on Rosh Hanikra.
Hezbollah claims it targeted an Israeli military position near a Navy base in the area.
At least six rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, and there are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Several interceptions in rocket barrage on Rosh Hanikra near Lebanon border
There are a number of interceptions after a barrage of rockets is fired at the northern border town Rosh Hanikra.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Video circulating on social media shows several interceptions.
Barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon at Rosh HaNikra. Several Iron Dome interceptions seen. pic.twitter.com/BnNemxJupX
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 27, 2023
Videos show fallen soldier Shaul Greenglick being hugged tightly by mom, auditioning for TV talent show
A video from a few weeks ago circulating on social media shows a soldier whose death was announced yesterday being tightly hugged by his mother as his family sings around the piano.
The video was filmed when Cpt. (res.) Shaul Greenglick, 26, was home for a break from reserve duty.
Greenglick’s siblings are gathered round the piano singing Shlomo Artzi’s “Teta’aru Lachem,” a song of longing for a world without sadness or fear, as his mother holds him with her eyes closed.
סרטון שצולם לפני כחודש,שאול גרינגליק הי״ד יצא לאפטר. המשפחה שרה,האמא מחבקת אותו.כמו סצנה מפרק סוף עונה של דרמה משפחתית.
היום הזה באמת הציף אותי מכל הסיפורים של הגיבורים הנופלים אבל משהו בסיפור של שאול נגע בי כאילו אני מכיר אותו שנים. חיבוק למשפחה, הלוואי ותחזרו מהר לשיר ולחבק. pic.twitter.com/IqMXhAaRB9
— חי שמואל- hai shmuel (@HaiShmuel) December 26, 2023
Greenglick, from the central town Ra’anana, was a talented singer who appeared in uniform in an episode of the reality TV singing competition “The Next Star” some three weeks ago.
Judges told Greenglick he was “a natural talent with an amazing voice.”
רק לפני 3 שבועות: האודישן ב"הכוכב הבא" של סרן שאול גרינגליק ז"ל שנפל ברצועה – "יש לך כישרון טבעי"https://t.co/8mPDE1EdQ2 pic.twitter.com/jhhBGp8FwJ
— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) December 26, 2023
Greenglick was killed in fighting in the northern Strip, along with Cpt. Shay Shamriz, 26, a relative of Alon Shamriz who was one of three Israeli hostages accidentally slain by IDF soldiers in Gaza.
Alon’s brother Ido Shamriz tweets: “Shay the hero and the brave rest in peace. Hug Alon and watch over us from above. This war took a heavy toll on our family. My spirit will not be broken I am prouder than ever. Be Shamriz, a family of heroes.”
Rocket sirens sound in Rosh Hanikra
Sirens sound in northen town Rosh Hanikra, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group has carried out daily rocket, missile and drone attacks from Lebanon on northern Israel in recent months, while the IDF has been battling Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the devastating assault on October 7.
IDF says troops still battling Hamas in northern Gaza
The IDF says it carried out strikes from the air, ground, and sea against some 200 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, as fighting continues.
In Gaza City’s Shejaiya, where Hamas’s battalion is believed to be largely defeated, reservists of the Yiftah Brigade identified Hamas operatives running between buildings from which gunfire was previously directed at troops, the IDF says.
The reservists then called in an airstrike against the Hamas operatives, which the IDF says led to secondary blasts, indicating the area was booby-trapped.
Also in northern Gaza, the IDF says troops of the 261st Brigade (the Bahad 1 officers’ school in wartime) spotted two Hamas operatives entering a vehicle and driving to a building used as a weapons depot.
The troops then called in an airstrike against the operatives, and later a fighter jet struck the building, the IDF says.
In the Gaza City neighborhoods of Daraj and Tuffah, the IDF says troops of the 401st Armored Brigade identified a Hamas operative wielding a short-range anti-tank missile.
Tanks in the area shelled the operative before he could open fire, the IDF says.
Hamas’s Daraj-Tuffah battalion is believed by the IDF to be the last standing battalion in northern Gaza, as the military shifts its focus to the southern and central parts of the Strip.
Iran dismisses report that it raised production rate of near-weapons-grade uranium
Tehran dismisses the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report that Iran has increased the rate at which it is producing near-weapons-grade uranium in recent weeks.
“We did not have any new work and our current activity is being carried out according to the framework and regulations,” says Iran’s atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami, according to the official IRNA news agency.
The IAEA said yesterday that Iran had reversed a previous slowdown that started in the middle of this year.
Iran had previously slowed down the rate at which it was enriching uranium to 60 percent purity. Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
Rocket sirens sound in Nahal Oz near Gaza border
Sirens sound in the Gaza border community Nahal Oz, warning of incoming rocket fire from the Strip.
The sirens come after a lull of some 16 hours.
The towns close to the border with the enclave have been largely evacuated of civilians since October 7.