Israel-Hamas war live updates: Dozens killed as Israel ramps up Gaza strikes on Christmas Day

Hamas leader killed as Israeli operations go on in Khan Younis, IDF spokesperson says

A warplane killed a Hamas leader in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza as Israel’s navy, ground forces and air forces, engage in joint combat across the Gaza Strip, a spokesperson for the country’s military in a statement today.

Avichay Adraee added that militants “holding a rocket-propelled grenade in their hands,” had also been “eliminated by an Air Force plane.”

An IDF brigade also found weaponry inside a building, Adraee added, saying its troops destroyed Hamas infrastructure inside home of a militant.

NBC News has not independently verified the claims.

Maersk prepares to resume shipping operations in Red Sea

Denmark’s Maersk is preparing to resume shipping operations in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the company said today, citing the deployment of a U.S.-led military operation designed to ensure the safety of commerce in the area.

The shipping giant paused sending vessels through the Bab el-Mandeb strait earlier this month because of attacks against its ships. That rendered the Suez Canal, which is key to global commerce, unusable for most routes.

The U.S. said Tuesday it was launching a multinational operation to protect commerce in the Red Sea from Iran-backed Yemeni militants, who have been firing drones and missiles at international vessels since last month in what they say is a response to Israel’s war in Gaza.

As a result of this, Maersk said it was “preparing to allow for vessels to resume transit through the Red Sea both eastbound and westbound.”

Mother of Vermont shooting victim says leaders contributing to hate

Elizabeth Price, a former U.N. consultant who contributed to the 2014 post-reconstruction plans in the Gaza Strip, is intimately familiar with the region’s cycle of violence.

However, that cycle hit even closer to home when her 20-year-old son, Hisham Awartani, and his two friends were shot in Vermont in a possible hate crime. The incident left her son partially paralyzed, but Price and her family remain hopeful.

“He draws great strength from his experience of being Palestinian. Even though he has had this terrible thing happen to him, he’s luckier than many Palestinians right now,” Price said.

142 UNRWA staff members killed in Gaza

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency said today that six more staff members had been killed in Gaza, bringing the total to 142 since the war began.

Today’s situation report said at least two of its staff were killed in airstrikes near a school in Rafah last week. Information about the four other deaths was not provided.

The agency said 301 internally displaced people have been killed sheltering in UNRWA facilities since Oct. 7, with more than 1,000 others injured in its installations.

It cited the current death toll provided by Ministry of Health in Gaza in its report, adding that 53,320 Palestinians have been injured.

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