what to remember from December 18

The United States says it is “ready” to continue supplying weapons to Israel, but is pleading for more humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.

The United States said Monday, December 18, that it was ready to “continue to provide” weapons to Israel, while calling for more aid to be delivered to Gaza, where Israeli strikes have still killed dozens of Palestinians and the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic. Ten days after an American veto, the UN must decide on Tuesday on a text calling for a ceasefire. Here is what to remember from this new day of conflict.

Washington paves the way for new arms deliveries to Israel

Visiting Israel on Monday, the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, assured Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States would continue to “provide Israel with the equipment you need (…), including critical munitions, tactical vehicles and air defense systems”. The United States does not want “impose a timetable” to Israel for the continuation of hostilities, he said again as Washington recently began to show signs of impatience with its Israeli ally. The context is marked by growing international indignation at the very heavy civilian losses in the Palestinian territory managed by the Islamist movement Hamas.

France to deliver 700 tonnes of additional aid to Gaza

France will deliver 700 tonnes of additional aid intended for the Palestinian population in Gaza, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs announced on Monday. Half will leave from the port of Le Havre on Wednesday by boat. “The other half will leave the following week”declared Catherine Colonna during a press conference in Beirut, the day after a visit to Israel and the West Bank.

Private convoys enter the Gaza Strip

Dozens of trucks loaded with humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing point, near Rafah, which Israel agreed to open at the request of the United States. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Ocha) welcomed a “positive progress”. “But the conditions necessary to carry out humanitarian operations at the level necessary for the populations are still not met”she nevertheless lamented.

New Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip

New Israeli strikes caused dozens of deaths on Sunday and Monday, according to Hamas, which also broadcast images presented as those of an Israeli military vehicle hit by a missile, in the north of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army lost two soldiers on Monday, bringing the toll of soldiers killed since the start of the conflict to 128.

The organization Human Rights Watch on Monday accused Israel of using “the starvation of civilians as a technique of war (…), which constitutes a war crime”accusations to which the Israeli government reacted by calling HRW “anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli organization”.

Catherine Colonna denounces violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank

Visiting the Middle East, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs took advantage of her visit to the West Bank to denounce the violence suffered by Palestinians by extremist Israeli settlers. These are “physical threats, physical destruction, serious acts which further undermine the prospect of a political solution”, castigated Catherine Colonna. France wants the European Union to sanction these extremist settlers.

A new truce in sight?

On the diplomatic level, ten days after an American veto, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on Tuesday on a new text calling for an “urgent and lasting cessation of hostilities” in Gaza, a vote initially scheduled for Monday.

At the same time, negotiations are continuing for the implementation of a new truce. A seven-day break allowed the release of 105 hostages in Gaza at the end of November, including 80 in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. In addition, the armed wing of the terrorist organization released a video on Monday showing three elderly Israelis, alive, among the hostages it has been holding in the Gaza Strip since the October 7 attack.