Not less than 68 individuals had been killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza, well being officers stated Sunday, whereas the variety of Israeli troopers killed in fight over the weekend rose to 17.
Related Press journalists at a close-by hospital watched frantic Palestinians carry the useless, together with a child, and wounded following the strike on the Maghazi refugee camp east of Deir al-Balah. One bloodied younger lady appeared surprised whereas her physique was checked for damaged bones.
The 68 fatalities embrace at the least 12 ladies and 7 youngsters, in line with early hospital figures.
“We had been all focused,” stated Ahmad Turkomani, who misplaced a number of members of the family together with his daughter and grandson. “There isn’t any protected place in Gaza anyway.”
Earlier, the Well being Ministry in Gaza gave the loss of life toll as 70. The Israeli navy had no speedy remark.
As Christmas Eve fell, smoke rose over the besieged territory, whereas within the West Financial institution Bethlehem was hushed, its vacation celebrations known as off. In neighboring Egypt, tentative efforts continued on a deal for one more trade of hostages for Palestinians held by Israel.
The warfare has devastated elements of Gaza, killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the territory’s 2.3 million individuals.
The mounting loss of life toll amongst Israeli troops — 156 because the floor offensive started — might erode public assist for the warfare, which was sparked when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage.
Israelis nonetheless largely stand behind the nation’s said objectives of crushing Hamas’ governing and navy capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 captives. That’s regardless of rising worldwide stress in opposition to Israel’s offensive, and the hovering loss of life toll and unprecedented struggling amongst Palestinians.
Hamas exacts a value
“The warfare exacts a really heavy value from us, however we’ve no selection however to proceed preventing,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated.
In a nationally televised speech, Israeli President Isaac Herzog appealed for the nation to stay united. “This second is a take a look at. We is not going to break nor blink,” he stated.
There was widespread anger in opposition to his authorities, which many criticize for failing to guard civilians on Oct. 7 and selling insurance policies that allowed Hamas to realize power over time. Netanyahu has prevented accepting accountability for the navy and coverage failures.
“Over time, the general public will discover it onerous to disregard the heavy value paid, in addition to the suspicion that the goals that had been loudly heralded are nonetheless removed from being attained, and that Hamas is exhibiting no indicators of capitulating within the close to future,” wrote Amos Harel, navy affairs commentator for the Haaretz newspaper.
The Israeli navy stated it had accomplished the dismantling of Hamas’ underground headquarters in northern Gaza, a part of an operation to take down the huge tunnel community and kill off high commanders that Israeli leaders have stated might take months.
Efforts towards negotiations continued. The pinnacle of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, arrived in Egypt for talks. The militant group, which additionally took half within the Oct. 7 assault, stated it was ready to contemplate releasing hostages solely after preventing ends. Hamas’ high chief Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Cairo for talks days earlier.
Inside Gaza
Israel’s offensive has been one of many most devastating navy campaigns in latest historical past. Greater than two-thirds of the 20,000 Palestinians killed have been ladies and youngsters, in line with the Well being Ministry in Gaza, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.
On Friday, Israeli airstrikes on two properties in Gaza killed 90 Palestinians, together with dozens from an prolonged household, in line with rescuers and hospital officers. One of many properties, situated in Gaza Metropolis, turned one of many deadliest airstrikes within the warfare after 76 individuals from the al-Mughrabi household had been killed, stated Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Protection division.
The Palestinian Purple Crescent stated a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed in an Israeli drone assault whereas inside al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, part of Gaza the place Israel’s navy believes Hamas leaders are hiding.
An Israeli strike in a single day hit a home in a refugee camp west of the town of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt. Not less than two males had been killed, in line with Related Press journalists within the hospital the place the our bodies had been taken.
Not less than two individuals had been killed and 6 others wounded when a missile caught a constructing within the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
And Palestinians reported heavy Israeli bombardment and gunfire in Jabaliya, an space north of Gaza Metropolis that Israel had claimed to manage. Hamas’ navy arm stated its fighters shelled Israeli troops in Jabaliya and Jabaliya refugee camp.
Israel faces worldwide criticism for the civilian loss of life toll however it blames Hamas, citing the militants’ use of crowded residential areas and tunnels. Israel has launched 1000’s of airstrikes since Oct. 7. It says it has killed 1000’s of Hamas militants, with out presenting proof.
Israel additionally faces allegations of mistreating Palestinian males and teenage boys detained in properties, shelters, hospitals and elsewhere in the course of the offensive. It has denied abuse allegations and stated these with out hyperlinks to militants are shortly launched.
Chatting with the AP from a hospital mattress in Rafah after his launch, Khamis al-Burdainy of Gaza Metropolis stated Israeli forces detained him after tanks and bulldozers partly destroyed his dwelling. He stated males had been handcuffed and blindfolded.
“We didn’t sleep. We didn’t get meals and water,” he stated, crying and overlaying his face.
One other launched detainee, Mohammed Salem, from the Gaza Metropolis neighborhood of Shijaiyah, stated Israeli troops beat them. “We had been humiliated,” he stated. “A feminine soldier would come and beat an outdated man, aged 72 years outdated.”
Worldwide stress
The United Nations Safety Council has handed a watered-down decision calling for the speedy supply of humanitarian support for hungry and determined Palestinians and the discharge of all of the hostages, however not for a cease-fire.
But it surely was not instantly clear how and when deliveries of meals, medical provides and different support, far under the every day common of 500 earlier than the warfare, would speed up. Vehicles enter by way of two crossings: Rafah, and Kerem Shalom on the border with Israel. Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, stated 123 support vans entered Gaza on Sunday,
The pinnacle of the World Well being Group, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reiterated U.N. requires a humanitarian cease-fire, including on social media that “the decimation of the Gaza well being system is a tragedy.”
Amid issues a few wider regional battle, the U.S. Central Command stated a patrol ship within the Purple Sea on Saturday shot down 4 drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, some time two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles had been fired into worldwide delivery lanes.
The Iran-backed Houthis say their assaults are geared toward Israel-linked ships in an effort to cease the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
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