The central Gaza refugee camp, Al-Maghazi, lost at least seventy people to an Israeli air strike, according to the health ministry run by Hamas in Gaza. Health officials reported on Sunday that around 70 people had died in one of the most hazardous attacks of the war in Gaza, bringing the total number of Israeli warriors killed in action over the weekend to 15.
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Following the attack targeting the Maghazi refugee stay (camp) east of Deir al-Balah, Associated Press reporters at a hospital close by witnessed distraught Palestinians carrying corpses, involving a baby, and wounded. A young girl covered in blood appeared stunned as her body was examined for any fractures.
Spokesman for the Gaza Health Ministry Ashraf al-Qidra predicted that the death toll would likely increase. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Ahmad Turokmani, who dropped multiple family members, such as his daughter and grandson, claimed, “We were all targeted.” “In any case, there is nowhere safe in Gaza.”
Smoke billowed over the besieged area as Christmas Eve approached, and Bethlehem in the West Bank was silent, its festivities cancelled. Tactical negotiations over a second hostage exchange for Israeli-held Palestinian hostages proceeded in neighboring Egypt. About 20,400 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, which has also destroyed parts of Gaza and forced nearly all 2.3 million residents to flee their homes.
The public’s support for the war may be weakened by the growing number of Israeli troop deaths (154 since the ground offensive started). The war was started on October 7 when militants led by Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 240 others.
For the most part, Israelis continue to support the nation’s declared objectives of dismantling Hamas’ political and military power and freeing the remaining 129 prisoners. This is true despite mounting international criticism of Israel’s offensive, a record number of deaths, and unheard-of levels of suffering among Palestinians.
Hamas Estimates a Wage
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, stated, “We pay a very substantial price for the war, but we have no option but to fight.” Israeli head of state Isaac Herzog pleaded for the nation of Israel to stay united in a nationally broadcast speech. “This is a test right now. We won’t crack or flinch,” he declared.
His government has been widely criticized for failing to defend civilians on October 7 and for advancing policies that have given Hamas greater power over time, which has led to a great deal of anger directed towards it. Israel’s policy and military setbacks have not been acknowledged by Netanyahu.
Amos Harel, a military affairs analyst for the newspaper Haaretz, predicted that eventually the public would find it difficult to ignore the high price paid as well as the belief that the much-heralded goals are still not yet being accomplished while Hamas is not showing any signs of giving up anytime soon.
The Israeli military announced that it had finished demolishing the Hamas underground base in northern Gaza. According to Israeli officials, this operation could take months in order to destroy the extensive network of tunnels and eliminate the organization’s top leaders.
Negotiations remained underway. Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, arrived in Egypt for negotiations. The militant team, which was also involved in the attack on October 7, declared that it was ready to think about freeing the hostages only when the fighting was over. Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, had gone to Cairo a few days earlier for negotiations.
Within Gaza
The Israeli offensive ranks among the bloodiest military operations in recent memory. The Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that over two thirds of the twenty thousand (20,000) Palestinians murdered were women and children; the ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, an Israeli drone attack inside Khan Younis’ al-Amal Hospital resulted in the death of a 13-year-old boy. Israel’s military believes the boy was hiding among Hamas leaders in Gaza.
A home in a camp for refugees west of Rafah, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, was struck by an Israeli strike overnight. Journalists for the Associated Press who were present at the hospital in which the bodies were admitted stated that at least two men had died.
In the central Gazan refugee camp of Bureij, a missile struck a building, resulting in at least two fatalities and six injuries.
Furthermore, in Jabaliya, an area that Israel claimed to control north of Gaza City, Palestinians reported intense Israeli artillery and gunfire. According to Hamas’ military wing, Israeli soldiers in Jabaliya and the Jabaliya refugee camp were shelled by its fighters.
International criticism of Israel’s civilian death toll is directed towards Hamas, as the militant group uses tunnels and densely populated residential areas. Since October 7, Israel has carried out thousands of airstrikes. It does not provide proof to support its claims that it murdered thousands of Hamas militants.
According to accusations, Israel also mistreated teenage boys and men from Palestine who were held during the offensive in hospitals, homes, shelters, and other locations. It has refuted claims of abuse and stated that those without ties to extremists are promptly freed.
After being freed, Khamis al-Burdainy of the Gaza Strip told the AP while speaking from a hospital mattress in Rafah that he was arrested by Israeli forces after his home was partially demolished by bulldozers and tanks. Men, he claimed, were blindfolded and handcuffed. “We had no sleep. We were denied food and water,” he sobbed, hiding his face.
Mohammed Salem, another freed prisoner from the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, claimed that the Israeli soldiers had physically assaulted him. He declared, “We were humiliated.” “A 72-year-old man would be attacked and beaten by a female soldier.”
ASIA-WIDE PRESSURE
A resolution that was watered down by the UN Security Council demanded that all hostages be freed, and humanitarian aid be delivered quickly to the hungry and destitute Palestinians, but it did not call for a cease-fire. Though far fewer than the 500 daily average before the war, it was unclear how and when supplies of food, medical equipment, and other aid would pick up speed. Both the Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel allow trucks to enter. According to Palestinian Crossings Authority spokesman Wael Abu Omar, 123 relief trucks arrived in Gaza on Sunday.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization, posted on social media that “the decimation of the Gaza medical system is a tragedy” and restated calls for a beneficial cease-fire from the United Nations. The U.S. Central Command reported that on Saturday, two Houthi anti-ship ballistic bombs were fired into the world’s shipping lanes, and a patrol ship in the Red Sea shot down four drones that were launched from Houthi-controlled regions in Yemen, raising fears of a wider regional conflict. The Houthis, who receive support from Iran, claim that their attacks are meant to halt the Israeli obnoxious in Gaza by targeting ships with ties to Israel.
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