Portal:Current events/2024 December 2

Armed conflicts and attacks

• Gaza war
  • Gaza war hostage crisis
    • Hamas says that 33 hostages have been killed in the 14 months since the war started. (The Times)
    • The Israel Defense Forces say that Israeli-American soldier Omer Maxim Neutra, previously believed to be a living hostage, was killed during the October 7 attacks last year and his body was kept in Gaza. (Haaretz)
    • U.S. President-elect Donald Trump says there will be "all Hell to pay" if all the hostages are not released prior to the start of his second term. (AP)
  • Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
    • The Gaza Health Ministry says that around 37 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours, increasing the Palestinian death toll in Gaza to 44,466. (The Hindu)
• Israel–Hezbollah conflict
  • Despite the ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire, with Israel targeting Talousa and Haris in Lebanon, killing at least eleven people. (Reuters) (Al Jazeera)
• Syrian civil war
  • 2024 Syrian opposition offensives
    • Operation Dawn of Freedom
      • Significant populations of Kurds in Syria are displaced from the northern Aleppo countryside, after factions of the Turkish-backed National Army take control of Kurdish-held territories. (SOHR)
• Russo-Ukrainian War
  • Military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War
    • U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces that the United States will provide Ukraine with a $725 million weapons package. (Reuters)
• Allied Democratic Forces insurgency, Kivu conflict
  • At least 10 people are killed during an attack by Allied Democratic Forces gunmen in Batangi-Mbau, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Several houses are burned. (AP)
• New People's Army rebellion
  • Six suspected New People's Army guerrillas, including two ranking leaders of a regional committee, are killed in an encounter in Las Navas, Northern Samar, Philippines. (Daily Tribune)

Business and economy

• German economic crisis
  • Workers of the German metalworkers' union IG Metall begin a labor strike after failed negotiations with Volkswagen following the closure of three automotive manufacturing plants. (DW)

Law and crime

• COVID-19 pandemic
  • COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
    • The U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Accountability Committee releases their final reports on the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States investigating the origins of COVID-19, Operation Warp Speed's vaccination program, and mask mandates and lockdowns. (The Hill)
• 2024 Georgian post-election protests
  • Georgian police arrest opposition leader Zurab Japaridze, accusing his party of "coordinating violence" during the protests against Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. (Al Jazeera) (The Guardian)
• Maritime drug smuggling into Australia
  • Australian Federal Police announces they have arrested thirteen men, including the vice president of the outlaw Comanchero Motorcycle Club and two teenagers, for illegally smuggling 2.34 tonnes of cocaine into the country after their fishing boat broke down off the coast of Urangan, Queensland, Australia. (Al Jazeera) (RNZ) (ABC News)
• Forty-four children are injured, including one critically, when a person sprays an unknown gas inside a school in Berlin, Germany. (Blue News)
• Three people are killed and eight others are injured after a mass shooting at a gathering in Gage Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States. (NBC News)

Politics and elections

• 2024 Irish general election
  • In Ireland, Fianna Fáil remains the largest party in Dáil Éireann, increasing its number of seats to 48. Its governing partner Fine Gael wins 38 seats, with the two parties combined winning 86 seats, two shy of a majority. (AP)
• 2024 Romanian presidential election
  • The Constitutional Court of Romania upholds the results of the first round of the presidential elections following a recount last week after far-right independent candidate Călin Georgescu won a plurality of the vote, triggering a run-off. (Al Jazeera) (France24)