Description
Added on the 15/12/2023 10:27:12 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
US President Joe Biden's Middle East advisor is holding talks in the region on a new, possibly longer deal for the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for a pause in fighting in Gaza, the White House says. SOUNDBITE
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators chant slogans and make public speeches in Cape Town as Israel will face accusations lodged by South Africa at the UN's top court that it has committed "genocidal" acts in Gaza, charges the country's president dismissed as "atrocious" and "preposterous". IMAGES
In an address in Tel Aviv, Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy lists Israel's top three "principles for the day after Hamas" in Gaza:"total demilitarisation, deradicalisation and sustainable reconstruction." Israeli forces are now encircling Khan Yunis, Gaza's main southern city, forcing already displaced civilians to pack up and flee again. SOUNDBITE
The EU's top foreign policy official Josep Borrell calls for an extension of the truce in the Gaza Strip, which is due to end on Tuesday. "The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution," he says on Monday, at the start of a meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona. The pause in fighting is the first since the October 7 attack in which Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people in Israel and took 240 hostages. Israel's response, a sustained air and ground campaign in the Gaza Strip, has killed nearly 15,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. SOUNDBITE
In a video taken from Israel's Sderot along the border with the Gaza Strip, an Israeli flag is seen raised on top of a destroyed building in the north of the Palestinian enclave. IMAGES
Supporters of Zambian President Lungu hold a rally in Lusaka during a tense presidential race, which has been marked by clashes between rival supporters. The presidential election will take place on Thursday. IMAGES.