AFP Video

London (AFP) – More than 100,000 people welcome the New Year in central London as they watch the city’s “biggest ever” fireworks and drone display.

Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Francis offers a prayer “for the people who suffer because of war” as the pontiff delivers his last Angelus of 2023 to the crowd gathered on St Peter’s Square.

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Rio de Janeiro welcomes the start of 2024 with fireworks over its famous Copacabana beach. 

Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinians rally in Ramallah on New Year’s eve in solidarity with Gaza. Israeli strikes pounded Gaza as both sides near the end of a dark year and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7 attack will last for “many months.” 

Deir el-Balah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – “They bombed the infrastructure at the entrances.. there are now two craters in the southern entrance,” says a resident of Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah. Fighting between Israel and Hamas is raging in the besieged Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, and 250 people taken hostage, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. In response, Israel launched a relentless air and ground offensive that has killed at least 21,822 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Deir el-Balah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinian rescuers mourn one of their fellow first responders killed in a strike near the Al-Aqsa Hospital in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah. Fighting between Israel and Hamas is raging in the besieged Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, and 250 people taken hostage, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. In response, Israel launched a relentless air and ground offensive that has killed at least 21,822 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Tel Aviv (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls South Africa’s accusation of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip “false”, after Pretoria launched a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel. Fighting between Israel and Hamas was triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, and 250 people taken hostage, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. In response, Israel launched a relentless air and ground offensive that has killed at least 21,822 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Seoul (AFP) – Snowfall blankets the South Korean capital of Seoul and its surrounding areas as the Korea Meteorological Administration issued a weather warning for heavy snow.

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at least 39 people had been killed by Russian strikes on 29 December, one of the deadliest attacks since the war began.

Az Zuwāydah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Gazans comb through rubble on 30 December after an overnight strike in the central Al-Zawaida area. Fighting between Israel and Hamas is raging in the besieged Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, and 250 people taken hostage, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. In response, Israel launched a relentless air and ground offensive that has killed at least 21,507 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.