The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they happen.
Ottawa youth arrested for alleged terror plot targeting Jews
Canada’s national police force says a youth in Ottawa was arrested and charged with terrorism-related offenses that allegedly targeted Jewish people.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police says the young person arrested Friday was charged with facilitating terrorist activity by communicating instructional material related to an explosive substance.
The youth is further charged with knowingly instructing a person to carry out terrorist activity against “Jewish persons.”
Police do not release further details about the alleged offenses. Officials also say no further information about the youth could be released due to the suspect’s age.
In a news release, the national police force says it is seeing a concerning trend of violent extremism and terrorist use of the internet, including among young people.
Many officials have been raising the alarm about a reported rise in hate crimes against Jewish communities since Hamas’s October 7 attack in Israel, prompting that country’s military offensive in Gaza.
“I was shocked to learn the details of a planned attack against Ottawa’s Jewish community,” Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says on X, formerly known as Twitter. “There has been a rise in antisemitism in Ottawa in recent weeks.”
I was shocked to learn the details of a planned attack against Ottawa’s Jewish community. J'ai été choqué d'apprendre les détails d'une attaque planifiée contre la communauté juive d'Ottawa. There has been a rise in anti-semitism in Ottawa in recent weeks. I’m grateful and…
— Mark Sutcliffe (@_MarkSutcliffe) December 16, 2023
He adds police will continue to patrol synagogues and other Jewish institutions.
Palestinians say several killed in clashes across West Bank
Palestinian reports say that several people have been killed in clashes with Israeli forces across the West Bank in recent hours.
In Deir Ammar, a refugee camp northwest of Ramallah, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reports that a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed while confronting Israeli forces.
In Tulkarem and the neighboring Nour Shams refugee camp, where reports indicate soldiers are carrying out a nighttime raid, a 25-year-old man died after being shot earlier in the day, the Ma’an news outlet reports. According to reports, Israel carried out a drone strike during the fighting.
???? An IOF drone strike targeted a home in Al-Manshiya neighborhood in Nour Shams camp, #Tulkarem during the ongoing large-scale invasion. Local sources report no injuries.
Fierce armed clashes continue in the camp. The attached footage shows the moment that an IOF bulldozer was… pic.twitter.com/uVe9R6jtSv
— RawFootage (@RawFootage9) December 16, 2023
Ma’an also reports that a 20-year-old man was killed by a bullet to the stomach while battling Israeli troops near Beit Ummar, outside of Hebron in the southern West Bank.
In Jenin, WAFA reports that a man injured in a drone strike during a nearly 3-day raid in the northern West Bank city earlier in the week has died of his wounds.
There is no comment from the Israeli military.
According to Ma’an, 291 Palestinian have been killed in the West Bank since October 7.
UK and Germany call for ‘sustainable ceasefire’; don’t think it’s possible ‘right now’
UK foreign minister David Cameron and German counterpart Annalena Baerbock say the “need is urgent” for a “sustainable ceasefire” in Gaza, while also making clear that they are not demanding a ceasefire now.
The two ministers write in a joint UK Sunday Times article that “too many civilians have been killed” in the conflict, and note: “We must do all we can to pave the way to a sustainable ceasefire, leading to a sustainable peace. The sooner it comes, the better — the need is urgent,” they write.
“But let us be clear,” they continue. “We do not believe that calling right now for a general and immediate ceasefire, hoping it somehow becomes permanent, is the way forward.
“It ignores why Israel is forced to defend itself: Hamas barbarically attacked Israel and still fires rockets to kill Israeli citizens every day. Hamas must lay down its arms,” they say.
Days after the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for an immediate ceasefire, in a resolution that did not mention Hamas, the two foreign ministers acknowledge that many others have demanded an immediate end to the fighting. “We know many in the region and beyond have been calling for an immediate ceasefire. We recognize what motivates these heartfelt calls,” they write.
“It is an understandable reaction to such intense suffering, and we share the view that this conflict cannot drag on and on. That is why we supported the recent humanitarian pauses.”
Britain and Germany abstained in the December 12 non-binding General Assembly vote, which passed 153-10.
‘All those who want to end the suffering need to work together on a solution that delivers long-term security for both peoples,” Cameron and Baerbock say, affirming their long-term backing for a two-state solution.
“The rise of extremism is a threat to all of us, not just to Israelis and Palestinians. A two-state solution requires both sides to feel safe living side by side.”
USAID contractor killed in Gaza airstrike, humanitarian group says
An Israeli airstrike killed a US Agency for International Development contractor in Gaza last month, his colleagues have alleged in a statement.
Hani Jnena, 33, was killed November 5 along with his wife, their 2-year-old and 4-year-old daughters, and her family, the US-based humanitarian group Global Communities says.
An internet-technology worker, Jnena had fled his neighborhood in Gaza City with his family to escape the airstrikes, only to be killed while sheltering with his in-laws, the group says. His employer was an on-the-ground partner for USAID, the US agency says.
The Washington Post first reported the death.
In a final message to a colleague, Jnena had written, “my daughters are terrified, and I am trying to keep them calm, but this bombing is terrifying,” Global Communities says.
USAID employees have been prominent in recent open letters by US government employees objecting to US policy in support of Israel’s continued offensive, including President Joe Biden’s decision not to join many other governments in calling for a ceasefire.
Security cabinet convenes for expected talks on new hostage agreement
The war cabinet is convening at the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv to discuss the ongoing fighting in Gaza against Hamas.
The cabinet is also expected to deliberate efforts to reach another deal for a release of hostages held by Hamas.