200 people were killed as a result of the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours
More than 200 Palestinians were killed during the past 24 hours, as a result of the Israeli army’s ongoing bombardment and ground operations in Gaza, according to what the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced.
About 3 months after the start of the war, the Hamas movement announced the discovery of the bodies of dozens of Palestinians, saying that a number of them had been “executed” during an Israeli ground operation in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.
For its part, the Israeli army announced the killing of 5 of its members in battles in the Gaza Strip since Friday, bringing the death toll to 144 since the start of the ground invasion on October 27.
According to the ministry, 201 people were killed during the past twenty-four hours in several places in the small, densely populated Palestinian Strip, which is subject to an applied Israeli siege.
The war broke out as a result of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation carried out by the Hamas movement after its members stormed the border between Gaza and southern Israel. The Israeli retaliatory bombardment with thousands of bombs by land, sea and air led to the deaths of 20,258 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, and the injury of more than 53,000 others, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
The Ministry of Health confirmed that Israeli aircraft and artillery bombed several areas from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, including the Nuseirat refugee camp (centre); A night raid killed 18 people.
This comes at a time when the United States is once again putting pressure on its ally, Israel, to make more efforts to protect civilians, according to Agence France-Presse. Yesterday (Saturday), US President Joe Biden made a “long” phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to protect civilians, according to what the White House announced in a statement.
The statement said: “The President stressed the urgent need to protect the civilian population, including those supporting the humanitarian aid operation, and the importance of allowing civilians to move safely away from areas of ongoing fighting.”
Israeli officials issued a brief statement about the call, saying, “The Prime Minister made it clear that Israel will continue the war until it achieves all its goals.”
“Heinous massacres”
In the large city of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza; As columns of smoke rose after the bombing, the bodies and wounded were transported to Nasser Hospital. Men carried a woman crying after seeing the bodies of her loved ones, while a man was seen crying and placing his hand on a shrouded corpse, and outside others held funeral prayers in front of a corpse.
Yesterday (Saturday), the spokesman for the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, Ashraf Al-Qudra, accused the Israeli forces of committing several “heinous massacres” this week that “resulted in the death of dozens of martyrs in the Jabalia camp, the Tal al-Zaatar area, and in the town of Jabalia.” According to the report, the Israeli army “executed” dozens of citizens in the streets. He said that “dozens of martyrs were recovered,” adding that “the occupation executed a number of them in front of their families.”
Houses destroyed by Israeli bombing in Jabalia (AP)
In response to a question from Agence France-Presse, the Israeli army did not want to specifically answer the accusations about executions carried out by its soldiers. But he stressed that his strikes were “against military targets that comply with the provisions of international law,” and were carried out after “an assessment that the expected collateral damage to civilians and civilian property is not excessive, compared to the expected military result of the attack.”
A video clip showed a body under the rubble on a street in Jabalia, and massive destruction in various areas.
In Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, the Civil Defense announced that “dozens of decomposed bodies were recovered” from the streets.
“Hunger, famine, and the spread of disease”
In light of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stressed that “the most urgent request is an immediate ceasefire.”
He pointed out that the Strip, which has an area of 362 square kilometers, and where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians live in temporary camps, is greatly threatened by “hunger, famine, and the spread of diseases.”
Displaced Palestinians waiting for bread in the Rafah area in the Gaza Strip (AP)
After repeated drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea carried out by Houthi rebels in Yemen, in solidarity with the Palestinians, a drone struck a commercial ship in the Indian Ocean on Saturday, two shipping agencies said, one of which indicated that the ship was linked to Israel. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Protests by the families of the hostages
For its part, the Israeli army published pictures showing its soldiers advancing through the rubble and firing at targets south of Gaza City. He said that “armed terrorists who tried to attack the soldiers were eliminated,” and that many “buildings used by Hamas as military sites were destroyed.”
A photo published by the Israeli army shows Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevy (centre – right) while assessing the situation with Israeli army soldiers in Khan Yunis (AFP)
The Al-Qassam Brigades announced that it ambushed an Israeli force in the Juhr al-Dik area (central) and targeted a number of Israeli army vehicles in different areas, in addition to bombing operations.
Abu Ubaida, spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement yesterday (Saturday): “We lost contact with a group responsible for 5 Zionist prisoners, as a result of Zionist bombing, and we believe that the prisoners were killed as a result of the bombing,” including 3 elderly men who appeared in a video clip released in December 18.
Hamas demands an end to the war before any negotiations regarding the hostages begin. Israel does not reject the idea of a truce; But it rules out any ceasefire before “eliminating” the movement.
Demonstrators raise pictures of hostage Naama Levy during a march by supporters and relatives of Israelis detained in Gaza in Tel Aviv (AFP)
Israelis, including friends and relatives of hostages, demonstrated again on Saturday in Tel Aviv, demanding that measures be taken to ensure their release.
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2023-12-24 10:34:37
