Live: At least 74 children killed in Gaza in first week of 2025

Good evening Middle East Eye readers. On Wednesday, an Israeli drone attack in the occupied West Bank town of Tammun killed three Palestinians, including two children.

The attack came a day after Israel killed at least five children in a bombing in Mawasi in the Gaza Strip. The intensity of Israeli bombings in Gaza, as well as the ramping of up raids in the West Bank, come amid reports that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could be reached soon.

Trump's incoming envoy to the Middle East is headed to Doha on Wednesday night to attend the ongoing talks, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that a ceasefire deal was very close. The next 24 to 48 hours will be key to whether a deal is achieved.

Here's what else you need to know about Wednesday's developments in Israel's war on Gaza:

• Hamas' armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, on Wednesday claimed responsibility for Monday's attack in the West Bank that killed three Israelis.

• Jeremy Corbyn, a British MP for Islington North and former leader of the UK Labour Party, sent a letter to the UK Foreign Office demanding answers regarding what role the country is playing in assisting Israel's military.

• The Israeli military said in a statement on Telegram that three soldiers were killed during fighting in northern Gaza. It named two of the soldiers.

• The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis has registered its first death of a patient from kidney failure. The hospital didn't have enough fuel to run its dialysis machine.

• The Tulkarem Battalion, a Palestinian armed group operating in the West Bank, said its fighters ambushed an Israeli infantry force.

• Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer was expected to meet with Trump's incoming US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, where the discussions would be about a Gaza ceasefire.

• Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday called for Israel to withdraw from Syrian territory after Israel took control of Syrian territory beyond the already occupied Golan Heights following the rebel takeover of Syria last month.

• Israel said its military found the bodies of two Israeli captives, Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne, in Gaza.

• A report by Haaretz said that Israel is obstructing a UN investigation into alleged sexual violence committed during the Hamas-led 7 October attacks.

Hamas's armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, on Wednesday claimed responsibility for Monday's attack in the West Bank that killed three Israelis, according to Al Jazeera.

The group said it was a joint operation with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's armed wing, the Quds Brigades, as well as the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

The shooting attack on Monday took place near the village of al-Funduq, east of Qalqilya, where Israeli settlers often transit through to the illegal settlements of Kedumim, Shavei Shomron, and others.

Jeremy Corbyn, a British MP for Islington North and former leader of the UK Labour Party, sent a letter to the UK Foreign Office demanding answers regarding what role the country is playing in assisting Israel's military.

Corbyn's letter specifically highlighted British army bases and asked whether the UK will continue supplying Israel with weapons and if it is using the RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus as a route for those weapons shipments.

Corbyn also demanded answers on whether or not the UK would suspend the licences of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel.

"I remain astounded by your government's admission that it is making an exception to the UK's legal obligations. The Foreign Secretary has accepted the fact that F-35 jets are being used in violation of international humanitarian law. By justifying the continued licencing of F-35 jet parts, your government is admitting its complicity in war crimes," the letter said.

I have written to the Foreign Office asking them to tell the truth about RAF Akrotiri and arms exports to Israel.

We deserve to know the full scale of our government’s complicity and participation in genocide. pic.twitter.com/KEBZzJP8CJ

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 8, 2025

An Israeli bombing in the area of Gaza's Deir al-Balah on Wednesday killed at least four Palestinians.

The bombing targeted the home of the al-Djabi family.

The Israeli military on Wednesday said in a statement on Telegram that three soldiers were killed during fighting in northern Gaza.

The identities of two of the soldiers are Staff Sergeant Matityahu Ya’akov Perel, 22, and Staff Sergeant Kanaoo Kasa, 22.

The Israeli military did not identify the third soldier who was killed.

Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed reported on Wednesday that the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis registered its first patient death from kidney failure.

The kidney failure was caused by the hospital's lack of fuel, which is needed to run its dialysis machine, Abed reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, Hamas accused Israel of hindering fuel deliveries to Gaza's hospitals, and called on the UN to assist the enclave's healthcare facilities.

Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis has registered the first death from kidney failure due to fuel lack that runs the dialysis system.

The story below shows horrific results of deaths because of the overcrowding in the past.

All the patients I have reported on are in extreme… https://t.co/aECAUOKczW

— Abubaker Abed (@AbubakerAbedW) January 8, 2025

The Tulkarem Battalion, a Palestinian armed group operating in the West Bank, said on Wednesday that its fighters ambushed an Israeli infantry force.

The group said the ambush caused several "confirmed casualties". The operation comes amid continued Israeli military raids into parts of the occupied West Bank, in what Israel says is an attempt to root out Palestinian fighters opposed to Israel and the rule of the Palestinian Authority.

Axios reported on Wednesday that Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer is expected to meet with Trump's incoming US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.

The two officials will be discussing efforts to reach a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Axios further reported that Witkoff is headed to Doha later on Wednesday night, and will be in the Qatari capital as indirect talks between Israel and Hamas continue.

“We’re making a lot of progress, and I don’t want to say too much because I think they’re doing a really good job back in Doha,” Witkoff said on Tuesday during a news conference.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday called for Israel to withdraw from Syria, after Israel took control of Syrian territory beyond the already occupied Golan Heights following the rebel takeover of Syria last month.

The remarks were made after Pezeshkian met with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

“The need for the Zionist regime to withdraw from the territories it occupied and the importance of respecting religious sentiments [in Syria], particularly regarding Shiite holy places and shrines, were among the concerns,” Pezeshkian and Sudani discussed, according to the Iranian president.

Hamas on Wednesday released a statement in which it accused Israel of preventing fuel from reaching Gaza's hospitals, and called on the international community to send medical teams to aid the enclave's medical facilities.

Throughout the Israeli war on Gaza, Israel's military has targeted Gaza's hospitals and killed doctors and medical workers.

"The [Israeli] occupation prevents fuel from reaching hospitals and tries to deceive the international community into allowing aid in, while continuing its open war on it," Hamas said in its statement.

"We renew our call to the United Nations and the relevant UN agencies, especially the World Health Organisation and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to take immediate action and save the health sector in Gaza from the risk of complete collapse."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said that more than a third of Israeli forces in Lebanon have withdrawn from the country since the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Blinken said while speaking to reporters in France the oversight mechanism put together by the US and France to address ceasefire violations is working well.

Hezbollah has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement with strikes inside Lebanon, while Israel has blamed Hezbollah for not adhering to the parameters of the ceasefire.

At least 46 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israeli raids across Gaza since daw, Al Jazeera Arabic reported on Wednesday, citing medical sources.

The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday that Israel found the bodies of Youssef and Hamza Ziyadne, two Israeli captives being held in Gaza.

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz expressed condolences to the family on X.

אני מבקש להביע תנחומים עמוקים למשפחת אלזיאדנה עם מציאת גופותיהם של יוסף וחמזה, שנחטפו בידי מרצחי חמאס ב-7 באוקטובר, וחולצו במבצע גבורה של לוחמינו הגיבורים.

במהלך כהונתי כשר החוץ ליוויתי את המשפחה האמיצה ברגעים הקשים, ונקשרתי במיוחד לעלי, אחיו של יוסף ודודו של חמזה, שליווה אותי…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) January 8, 2025

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said that Israeli forces have handed over the bodies of the three Palestinians, including two children, who were killed in an Israeli drone strike on the occupied West Bank city of Tammun.

PRCS said they received the bodies of Reda Basharat, nine, Hamza Basharat, 10, and Adam Basharat, 23, who were killed during the attack this morning, adding that they were transferred to the Tubas Turkish Hospital.

Wafa agency reported that Tammun's mayor, Najeh Bani Odeh, said the funerals will be held this evening.

An Israeli commander shot and killed a Palestinian man while he was being used by the Israeli army as a human shield in Gaza in August last year, a report by an Israeli news site has revealed.

An expose piece by Hamakom Hachi Ham Bagehenom, or The Hottest Place in Hell in English, said that the 931st Battalion of the Nahal Brigade was using a Palestinian as a human shield during one of their operations in Rafah, southern Gaza, when he was targeted.

According to the report, a commander who was not aware that the Palestinian man, who has not been identified, was part of the operation shot him dead. 

"He did not know that [the Palestinian man] had received permission to enter the building and stay with the fighters. He also did not bother to check. He believed that he was a danger and quickly pulled the trigger," the piece read. 

An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the events to the publication, and did not deny the use of Palestinians as human shields.

Read more: Israeli commander killed Palestinian 'human shield' during Gaza operation